Yesterday's siege battle allowed Liu Xiang to see the bravery of Liangzhou's soldiers and horses and the elite of the fifth battalion of the Northern Army. It also made Dong Zhuo's last effort fail.
Dong Zhuo was drinking wine in the camp, silently waiting for Huangfu Song's arrival and the imperial court's punishment on him.
"Uncle, why bother? Let's give some money to those eunuchs and let them say good things to His Majesty. Then we will have nothing to worry about."
Niu Fu was Dong Zhuo's captain and his son-in-law. He could speak privately. Only he and Dong Zhuo's younger brother Dong Min dared to speak when Dong Zhuo was in a bad mood.
Dong Zhuo glared at him and said nothing. He just cut the lamb ribs carefully with a knife and ate slowly, quite like a scholar.
Although Dong Zhuo was not of high origin and liked to make friends with the Qiang people, he also started his career by quelling the Qiang and Hu rebellions. On the surface, he looked rough and heroic, but his father was a county lieutenant. He and his younger brother were both born in Yingchuan County, Yuzhou, and grew up there.
The literati in Yingchuan had a great influence on him, and he was a serious member of the gentry family.
Later, he was conscripted as Yulinlang during the reign of Emperor Heng. In order to get ahead, he embarked on the road of quelling the Qiang and Hu rebellions. Making friends with the Qiang people was just a way to strengthen his power.
Privately, he is not a fool.
Seeing Niu Fu's nonchalant look, he shook his head and was not satisfied with the son-in-law's stupidity. Thinking that his son-in-law was loyal to him, he gave some advice:
"This time is different from the past. The Yellow Turban bandits implicated eight states, shocked the world, shaken the foundation of the Han Dynasty, and made His Majesty angry. On this battlefield, let alone defeat, slow victory is wrong. Lu Ziqian won seven out of seven battles, just because he could not
He quickly annihilated the thieves and chieftains and was thrown into prison. If he is really a small yellow sect who can bring down a big Han lieutenant general with just a few words, His Majesty is dissatisfied with him."
"Then... what should we do?" Niu Fu had sweat on his forehead and his hands and feet were cold. Dong Zhuo was the pillar of the family. If he fell, the family would definitely be in ruins.
There is still a layer of worry in Niu Fu's heart: Lu Zhi won the battle and was imprisoned. They have been defeated several times. Who knows what Dong Zhuo will end up with? The coach will end badly, and we, the old Niu, will not be able to escape. This is going to be bad.
Food.
Niu Fu was frightened and uneasy. Dong Zhuo scolded him: "Why are you panicking? I'm still here."
After taking a sip of wine, he continued: "I have to change my path this time. Those eunuchs are no longer useful and are going to join the noble family. The third son of the fourth generation of the Yuan family is a good place to go. Hehe, as long as the army is at hand,
You can sell it for a good price wherever you go.”
After finishing speaking, he reminded Niu Fu: "Gather your subordinates together, remember?"
"My son-in-law understands."
He wanted to mention his son-in-law a few more words, but the school captain Dong Yue came into the tent and reported: "General, the thieves have left the city and are heading straight to the camp."
Dong Zhuo was a little disappointed and said nonchalantly: "Come here, don't make a fuss, you and your men will guard the camp, don't worry about the little boys from the Northern Army, they can hold it on their own."
Dong Zhuo didn't care about the Yellow Turban Army. Although he lost several battles, they were all siege battles and field battles. The Yellow Turbans lacked combat equipment, the quality of their soldiers was poor, and they had nothing but a large number of people. How could they possibly attack the camp?
Zhang Liang didn't think so. The Yellow Turbans were at a critical moment, and he had to defeat the army and establish prestige.
Once the news of Zhang Jiao's death spreads, if his reputation is not enough, the Yellow Turban Army will be divided, and he will be dead.
This time he led his soldiers and horses out in full force. Hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turbans left the city in the early morning and arrived at the Han army's camp in the morning. They did not stop as a whole team, but swarmed up directly, surrounding the enemy camp on three levels inside and three levels outside.
They attacked from all sides without stopping until dusk. If it weren't for the fact that there were so many people who were night blind, Zhang Liang would have wanted to start a night battle.
Dong Zhuo was dumbfounded. Are these moth thieves crazy? They have fought against each other before. Did they take the wrong medicine today? Why are they fighting so fiercely?
From morning to night, the Yellow Turban Army's offensive did not stop. Many camp gates were breached, a large area of the village wall was knocked down, all Liangzhou soldiers and horses were injured, and more than a thousand people were killed in the battle.
The situation with the Northern Army was not much better.
If he hadn't seen that night was coming, he would have had to break out and escape. Of course he knew the weaknesses of the Yellow Turban Army, but his soldiers were seriously injured and weak. There were still more than 100,000 enemy troops. It would be difficult to achieve success by catching up, and it would only increase the number of soldiers.
casualties.
The casualties of the Yellow Turban Army were even heavier, with more than 10,000 people fallen. The rest of the troops simply cleaned the battlefield and took back their weapons and equipment. There was no time to collect the corpses. Each unit took turns to cover and slowly retreated to Guangzong.
Zhang Liang's command is the main force of the Yellow Turban Army. Zhang Jiao preached for more than ten years and worked hard to pull it up. The backbone of the team are all Taiping Taoists. The news of his death has not been made public. The spiritual pillars of these Taiping Taoists have not collapsed, and their fighting will is very strong.
Strong, they are a unit with faith that can fight to the death and dare to fight tooth and nail. Their combat effectiveness is not weak.
The Han army's camp was in dilapidated condition and it was difficult to rely on it. The soldiers were seriously injured and could no longer stay here.
"Gather the army, retreat twenty miles and set up camp."
If we retreat another twenty miles, we will be fifty miles away from Guangzong. The Yellow Turban Army may not be able to cover fifty miles in a day's march. This distance, in the era of cold weapons, was already considered to be out of the battlefield.
"This is a good opportunity for a sneak attack. What a pity." Liu Xiang, who was watching the battle from a distance, muttered with regret.
But looking at the 3,000 Liangzhou cavalry who opened the way and the three battalions of the Northern Army's cavalry who were behind, there are more than 7,000 elite cavalry in total. Although the enemy's physical strength is severely exhausted, our army is not a force with sufficient physical strength.
Rush forward, the outcome is unpredictable.
He could only watch the enemy go away with regret.
The Yellow Turban Army regained strength in the city, while the Han Army was licking its wounds fifty miles away.
Liu Xiang did not want them to confront each other safely, so he took the initiative to come to Guangzong City to discuss the dispatch of troops with Zhang Liang. It was here that he met Xia Houlan for the first time.
Xia Houlan was nominally the contact person, but in fact he was the hostage.
Xia Houlan was a little excited when he saw Liu Xiang, but he concealed his emotions very well. He didn't want Zhang Liang to know that this was the first time he saw Liu Xiang, so he said calmly: "Lan, I have met my lord."
Liu Xiang nodded and returned the greeting, pretending to be familiar with it and said: "Heng Ruo has worked hard. When we succeed, you and I will get drunk and rest."
"My lord is hosting a banquet, and I won't come home until I'm drunk."
The two looked at each other and smiled, with a tacit understanding of deceiving each other. They turned to look at Zhang Liang and agreed that this was a stupid boy who had been deceived.
Zhang Liang didn't realize it, and enthusiastically pulled Liu Xiang to prepare a banquet for him.
Thinking about his drinking capacity, he might as well forget it and delay his business. Liu Xiang quickly waved his hand and said, "General Zhang is so kind. Xiang is very grateful. It's just that the military situation is urgent and there is no room for delay. Once the enemy army is defeated, we can have fun with the general again."
"
"I know what Liu Jun wants, but I am only marching fifty miles. I am afraid that the Han army will attack at night and it will be difficult to pursue."
Liu Xiang frowned. Fifty miles away became an obstacle to the Yellow Turban Army. Are they a bunch of trash? Where is Zhang Bao? Why is there only Zhang Liang?
He suppressed his doubts and said to Zhang Liang: "You can choose elite troops to march at night and get close to the enemy during the day. Our army can provide sentries to cover the perimeter."
"Have Liu Jun's troops been organized? You can send troops together with our army to attack the Han army, and you will definitely win a great victory."
It turned out to be waiting for him here.
Then, there must be something fishy about the faceless Zhang Bao.
Liu Xiang narrowed his eyes. This battlefield was becoming more and more complicated. He felt quite emotional in his heart. They all had their own little thoughts and calculations. Let's see who can have the last laugh.