There was no other choice but Zhang Jue led the Yellow Turban Army to retreat a mile to find a safe place to spend the night. At the same time, they maintained the defense line, trapping Dong Zhuo in the center to prevent anyone from breaking out. However, when the next day dawned, the Yellow Turban Army was completely stunned - these Guanxi people did not sleep at night. They spent a whole night digging a deep ditch, and by the way, they cut down all the nearby groves, and built a fairly solid temporary camp inside the ditch with the wood from the baggage! The civil engineering is still being reinforced! Seven thousand Guanxi soldiers hid in the deep ditch and high fortifications, ready to fight with them. Not only that, Li Ru also urgently dispatched some Confucian scholars from Guanxi to use Confucianism to fly, transform, become invisible, teleport, and other methods to bypass the Yellow Turban Army's defenses and immediately go to Yecheng to ask for reinforcements. ------------------------------------- Jizhou - Yecheng "Ha! Have you heard? Those Guanxi people had a bad start. Dong Zhuo was defeated by the Yellow Turban Army in the first battle after entering Jizhou. They are waiting for our rescue!" "You see, these Guanxi people are just lame. We want to let His Majesty know that Guanxi people are useless. If His Majesty wants to govern the world, he still has to use us Guandong people." After a group of aristocratic families received Dong Zhuo's emergency letter, Ju Shou, Tian Feng and others immediately pulled Liu Bei, Liu Zhuang and others to have a happy drink. Although they could sit at the last table to eat with the aristocratic families due to their master's relationship, they were all young men who had just entered the officialdom and were ambitious and wanted to make achievements. They had nothing in common with this group of scheming elders. However, they controlled all the food and resources in Jizhou, so they could only accompany them with a forced smile. Everyone's morale was low. Only Liu Zhuang knew that Lu Zhi was fine, so he went back to go through the motions and released him. The emperor just wanted to take away his military power. "However, Dong Zhuo is the General of the Eastern Army after all. Her orders have been handed down to us. If we refuse to carry them out, we may be beheaded."
Ju Su thought about it and came up with a plan. "Gongsun Zan, Liu Zhuang, Liu Bei, the three of you go to rescue Dong Zhuo. Bring fewer soldiers and more flags to show that your team is grand. Don't really save him, just pretend. It would be best if Dong Zhuo was beaten to death by the Yellow Turban Army. There will be no evidence. Tomorrow, the three of you will raise your army immediately." "As ordered." Liu Zhuang nodded and bowed. It seemed that this matter was a token of allegiance given to the three of them by the Guandong noble family. If the three of us could cooperate with the Yellow Turban Army to kill Dong Zhuo, then we would be in a circle that would share honor and disgrace in the future. But... screw it, although Dong Zhuo was not a good guy in history, the aristocratic family was not a good thing either. This time, it is better to defeat the Yellow Turbans first, gain enough military merits, and be promoted to a higher position. This way, you will have a greater voice and will not feel aggrieved. Moreover, according to history, only after defeating the Yellow Turbans will the emperor grant amnesty to the whole country, and release the teacher without damaging the emperor's face. After more than a month of training in Jizhou, Liuzhuang Baimaying recruited some more militiamen from Yecheng, expanding the force from 1,800 to 2,000, now with 1,000 cavalry and 1,000 infantry. Not only that, these two thousand men have been professionalized, and all of them are at least first-level professionals. There is not a single unemployed farmer in the entire army of two thousand men, and they have reached the minimum standard of a professional force. The level of each village chief is also level four or even above, and they have sufficient combat experience. Tuoba Yun's two hundred troops all started at level five. With their innate physical advantages, as long as they reach adulthood, they are already level four monsters. Their physical fitness directly meets the recruitment requirements of the Northern Army's Five Battalions, but they lack combat experience, which can only be tempered slowly in the flames of war. The guards Liu Zhuang personally selected numbered as many as fifty people, all of whom were professionals starting at level 3. They were led by Zhao Yun and served as his own guards. No matter what, the White Horse Camp at this moment has become a thoroughly powerful army. After the banquet, Liu Zhuang reviewed his plan and words several times in his mind. Before he ordered his troops to leave, he implemented his last plan in Yecheng and stopped a woman from an aristocratic family who was sitting at the end of the table like himself. The long blue skirt shows her slender figure; the willow waist and the sword further showcase her feminine charm. She has a quirky and beautiful face, very playful and cute, her brows are full of wisdom, her beautiful eyes with upturned corners are bright and seem to be able to see through people's hearts. She looks exceptionally smart and clever. As daughters of aristocratic families, if Guo Huai is the proud red plum blossoming in the snowstorm, then the woman in front of him is the clever and cunning fox wandering in the forest and grassland. "Juan Yi, I have something important to discuss with you. Are you free?" Liu Zhuang bowed politely and extended an invitation to Zhang He, who was currently at the bottom of the list but would become one of the Five Elite Generals in the future. "Okay, I wonder what Yan Sheng wants to talk to me about?" Zhang He asked curiously. Although he didn't have much in common with Liu Zhuang, he was one of the disciples chosen by Lu Zhi himself. The vision of the great scholars in the world could never be wrong. Such a person was worth making friends with. "This matter is of great importance. Please come to my humble abode for a small gathering."
Liu Zhuang pulled the young Zhang He into his room and, in front of her curious gaze, threw out the words he had prepared long ago. "Putting aside personal prejudice, what do you think of Dong Zhuo's ability? What about the three battalions of troops in Guanxi that she commands?" "Very strong, probably second only to the five battalions of the Northern Army, which gather the best troops in the world. The Qin people of Guanxi have been notorious since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. During the reign of Emperor Gaozu, it was the Guanxi Army that swept the world; during the reign of Emperor Jing, it was also the Guanxi Army that quelled the rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms; during the reign of Emperor Wu, the main force of the expedition outside the Great Wall was still the Guanxi troops; since ancient times, the Guanxi people have always maintained an extremely strict fighting tradition." Zhang He told the truth. "I was still young, and I didn't know why my uncles always had such huge prejudice and hostility towards people from Kansai." "So, what do you think of my wife, Fengxian's fighting power? How about the fighting power of my senior sister and I's White Horse Camp and Yanshan Camp?" "Very strong, especially your wife's bravery, which is rare in the world." Zhang He blinked, not understanding what Liu Zhuang wanted to say. You specially asked me to come here, didn't you, just to let me flatter your wife and army? So boring? "Then, Jun Yi, do you think that if we do not complete the tasks assigned by those adults this time, but cooperate with the Eastern Army General to attack the Yellow Turban Army, is it possible to capture and kill the leader of the bandits and achieve a rare great achievement in the world?" Liu Zhuang slowly revealed a crazy smile. I finally understood why Dong Zhuo and the notorious Guanxi Army were no match for Zhang Jue. After all, the Yellow Turban Army's combat effectiveness was just so-so. Considering the high-intensity efforts of the Jizhou aristocratic families to hinder and trip him up, it was a miracle that Dong Zhuo could defeat them. But now it’s different. No one knows who rescued Dong Zhuo in history, but now, the person who rescued Dong Zhuo has become me - fame, wealth and honor are right in front of us! As soon as these words were spoken, Zhang He quickly fell into deep thought. She was one of the first rebel leaders to respond to Lu Zhi and join the anti-bandit army. She participated in Lu Zhi's battle throughout the whole process. The combat level of the Yellow Turban Army was really not high. The trouble was the Thunder Warriors and Taoists who led them. He did not show up in the training grounds later on, but it was because his family had enough background that almost no one from the noble families in Jizhou participated in Lu Zhi's competition. If Liu Zhuang and Gongsun Zan's two battalions were matched with Dong Zhuo's three battalions, a total of five battalions of soldiers and tens of thousands of elite soldiers, it would be nothing to charge at 100,000 peasants. As for Zhang Jue - because she was defeated by Lu Zhi, no one from the Guandong family thought she was very strong. At least in Zhang He's eyes, Lu Bu was more terrifying. After all, the scenes of tearing the dragon apart with bare hands and cracking the ice with a halberd were too shocking. With this calculation...it seems that our side does have a chance of winning. The Zhang family of Lu County was not considered a big family, but it had begun to take shape. However, compared with super famous families like the Cui family of Qinghe, it was as humble as an ant, so much so that it could only sit at the last seat at a banquet. There was also a gap between one family and another. And now, Liu Zhuang has put an opportunity for Zhang He to change her status and make great achievements. How can she not be excited and her heart not beat faster? "I only have one question, why did Yan Sheng choose me? And why didn't he choose someone else to accomplish this great thing?" In addition to being excited, Zhang He also asked curiously, why did this man, a stranger to me, choose me? Liu Zhuang couldn't explain that he had read the script and knew that Zhang He was the most capable fighter among the group and most likely to be recruited directly, so he changed his tone. "Because those adults are complacent, they only want to preserve their own strength and troops, and have no ambition to make progress. They have an inexplicable contempt for the people of Guanxi. The predicament of the Eastern Army General was planned by these people. Among the whole hall, only a few of us are willing to risk our lives for this great event! Don't you want to have to look at the faces of those adults for the rest of your life? Don't you want to sit at the top of the banquet and see the heroes of the world? Success, fame, wealth, honor and splendor are all before your eyes!" Zhang He bit his red lips, feeling torn between his conscience and his desires. Liu Zhuang's words really hit the spot, and judging from his ability, it was possible for him to accomplish this. Finally, after a few seconds of thinking, Zhang He made up his mind. "Okay! Yan Sheng, the 1,000 Hebei troops led by Zhang He are at your disposal. We will go north with you tomorrow! Let's work together for this great cause!" The author says: Author's words: 1700 monthly votes~+5 explosive updates, starting on June st~
Chapter 94: Black Mountain Warmaster On June 15th of the seventh year of Guanghe, the coalition forces of Gongsun Zan, Liu Zhuang, Liu Bei, and Zhang He marched north to rescue Dong Zhuo. Among them, Gongsun Zan had one thousand Youzhou cavalry and one thousand Wuhuan troops. Liuzhuang had one thousand cavalry and one thousand infantry. Liu Bei had a thousand peasant infantrymen from Zhuo County. Zhang He also had a thousand servants and peasant infantry, of whom three hundred were loyal and wore armor. The four of them totaled six thousand people, which was already an extremely powerful force. Everyone reached a consensus: Screw the pretense, this time we are here to achieve great achievements, get the emperor to grant amnesty, and release our teacher! When these 6,000 soldiers, led by the Confucian scholars from Guanxi, arrived at the border of Julu County, they were immediately discovered by the local spies and scouts of the Yellow Turban Army. Zhang Jue was busy deploying an encirclement network for Dong Zhuo, hoping to swallow up these Guanxi troops in one bite. He had no time to pay attention to them. Seeing that they numbered only 6,000, he felt it didn't matter. So he sent his Black Mountain commander, Zhang Niujiao, to lead 20,000 soldiers to intercept them. Zhang Niu Jiao himself is a very powerful Thunder Warrior, and he also has six fierce generals under his command, all of whom are Thunder Warriors, namely Yang Feng, Yu Du, Bai Rao, Sui Gu, Tao Sheng, and Zhang Jiao's direct disciple Chu Yan. However, at this moment, because of her outstanding military exploits, her surname has been changed to Zhang, and she is known as the Flying Man. Together, they form the famous Black Mountain Army bandit leader Zhang Yan, who fought with Yuan Shao in Taihang Mountains for his entire life and was finally appointed as a general by Cao Cao. The two armies, one in the south and one in the north, were advancing rapidly towards each other. Liu Zhuang personally took Zhao Yun and thirty other riders as scouts to investigate the enemy's movements. With his double pupils, he was able to see the enemy's situation clearly when the two armies were still ten kilometers away. The enemy numbered 20,000, and their flag was the Black Mountain War Marshal. They were still the same, with mostly peasant soldiers, few elite troops, and not many horses. The Yellow Turban Army's scouts and spies basically relied on their own legs and the local people. When Liu Zhuang returned to the camp to report the intelligence, he found a large black shadow passing across the sky. Others did not take it seriously, but when Liu Zhuang's extraordinary vision locked onto the black shadow in the sky, he found that it was an extremely slender and slim girl with six wings on her back and a yellow cloth tied on her head. The golden threads had just woven half of the attributes above her head when the six-winged woman disappeared into a cloud, causing the golden threads in the sky to fall apart, leaving only a few words. Flying man Zhang Yan??? After returning to the camp, Liu Zhuang immediately warned the soldiers to prepare their bows and crossbows and be careful of the sky, as one of the enemies could fly and was extremely fast. He also prepared for the entire army's intelligence to be leaked. In the end, 6,000 Han troops and 20,000 Black Mountain Yellow Turbans fought on the banks of the Wenshui River outside the city of Dingtao. Although the Yellow Turban Army had a large number of troops, they were very afraid of the brave cavalry of the border army. In many battles, the Yellow Turban Cavalry never won a single battle. Every time they went into battle, they were wiped out by the Han cavalry. The Yellow Turban Cavalry had been psychologically traumatized. How could they have so many cavalry? They accounted for half of the total force. There was no way out. The Yellow Turban Army lined up by the river, with the right army close to the Wenshui River, giving the cavalry no chance to charge the right army. In addition, five thousand spears were deployed in the left army to prevent cavalry charges. The central army was composed of one thousand defected Jizhou soldiers, armed with swords, shields, halberds and spears, and carrying heavy crossbows. They served as the spearhead of the 10,000 Black Mountain Army and were ready to use their numerical advantage to blow up the Han army's central army in one fell swoop. The last five thousand were kept as reserves just in case. Faced with this situation, the Han army also began to deploy their troops. The 3,000 infantrymen of Liu Zhuang, Liu Bei, and Zhang He were the central army, resisting the frontal charge of the Yellow Turban infantry. The central army was commanded by Sima Liu Zhuang of the other department. Gongsun Zan's 1,000 Wuhuan troops and Liu Zhuang's 1,000 cavalry formed the left army, trying to break through the Yellow Turban Army's spear phalanx on the left. They were handed over to Lu Bu for command. Although she was only a general, she was undoubtedly the strongest fighter. As for Gongsun Zan himself, he led a thousand Youzhou cavalrymen as the right army. It's just a river, isn't it? You still want to stop me? Look, I'll bypass it and freeze it directly! With flags waving, spears gathering, drums beating, and trumpets blasting, Liu Zhuang first led the 3,000 central troops forward and directly attacked the enemy's main force. This was exactly the "attack by the right force" in military books; then the cavalry on both sides were given the opportunity to launch a flank charge, which was to win by surprise. Leading the Yellow Turban Army were a thousand defected Jizhou troops. The two Han armies waved different flags, deployed the same formation, and approached the enemy with the same tactics. "shooting!!!" When they were still a hundred meters away from the enemy, the commanders of both sides gave the order to shoot at the same time. Thousands of bows and crossbows fired a huge black cloud of arrows with the sound of strings vibrating, splashing densely at the other side, hitting the shields and armor with clanging sounds, and sparks flying; hitting the limbs and faces with blood splattered and flesh flying everywhere; soldiers on both sides suffered casualties under the huge rain of arrows. However, the core of the Black Mountain Army is these one thousand Jizhou infantrymen, and the rest are peasant soldiers. They are lucky to have a spear in their hands, but where do they get bows and crossbows? Jizhou is the heartland of the Central Plains, not a frontier grassland. The combat effectiveness of these one thousand Jizhou troops is only equivalent to that of Liu Zhuang's one thousand infantrymen. On Liu Zhuang's side, Liu Bei's men from Zhuo County and Zhang He's servants were all fully armed with the Han army. The number of bows and crossbows was three times that of the enemy. With absolute firepower advantage, they suppressed the Yellow Turban rebels. The overwhelming rain of arrows shot down the sturdy shields and armored bodies, making them look as miserable as hedgehogs. Unable to withstand long-range shots, the Yellow Turban Army had no choice but to charge. Liu Zhuang's two hundred sword and shield soldiers waited until they were thirty meters away and then launched a round of devastating javelins, which directly destroyed the shield wall of the Jizhou Army. After being pierced by the javelins, the shields could no longer be used normally. The shield formation completely collapsed after the first round of javelin throws. Then the front row of the Yellow Turbans were hit by the Han Army's bows and crossbows, and the corpses were everywhere. The Yellow Turban Army, without the protection of their shields, fell down like weeds! At this time, the sword and shield soldiers threw out the second wave of javelins. The javelins weighing three or four pounds burst out with extremely terrifying killing power at a distance of more than ten meters. It was easy to pierce the gaps in the armor and penetrate the limbs and torso. A large number of Jizhou elite soldiers were hit by the javelins, and the whole person was stabbed and flew away, nailed to the ground by the javelins, and turned into a carpet of flesh and blood corpses.
Afterwards, the two armies entered into a melee, with dense forests of one-meter-long swords, two-meter-long halberds, three-meter-long infantry spears, and five-meter-long battle array spears intertwined together, turning into a forest of steel and death! For a moment, the clanging of swords, the shouts of armored soldiers, and the sound of flesh being torn apart soared into the sky! The two groups of infantrymen in the White Horse Camp resisted the thousand defecting Jizhou infantrymen. However, on both sides, a group of peasants with spears were completely unable to defeat Zhang He and Liu Bei's troops. No matter how large their numbers were, the battle surface was so long that only the front rows of the two armies could fight at the same time, resulting in them being beaten back step by step. Liu Zhuang was in the center, resisting the frontal charge of the defecting Jizhou army. Zhang He and Liu Bei easily gained the upper hand on both sides, pushing the battle line forward and gradually surrounding the two wings of the defecting Jizhou soldiers! Three thousand armored soldiers blocked the charge of ten thousand infantrymen in the front and even gained the upper hand.
Chapter 95: Flying Man Zhang Yan Seeing that the battle in the center army was not going well, Black Mountain commander Zhang Niujiao wanted to send up 5,000 reserve troops to crush the 3,000 Han troops with the advantage in numbers. However, Lu Bu of the left army did not give him the opportunity and pressed up from the left side with 2,000 cavalry. The Wuhuan and Xianbei troops drew their bows and shot an overwhelming rain of deadly arrows, killing and wounding the 5,000 spearmen of the Yellow Turban left army. These 5,000 spearmen could indeed be an effective weapon against cavalry in close combat, but they had no armor and very few shields. The only remaining bows and crossbows they had were no match for the army of Liu Zhuang, Liu Bei, and Zhang He. Facing the rain of arrows from the cavalry of the left army, they were powerless to turn the tide. Lu Bu couldn't figure out so many human relationships and twists and turns, but once he led the cavalry to charge, his intuition was as sharp as a wild beast. He could clearly perceive every weakness of the enemy and every gap in the battle formation. Then, with his terrifying military force, he led his soldiers to launch fierce charges again and again, winning brilliant results one after another. After repeating this several times, her prestige among the army that worshipped the strong and longed for victory was second only to Liu Zhuang. The cavalrymen of the White Horse Camp were all happy to charge into battle with this invincible cavalry general. This time, too, Lü Bu divided the White Horse Cavalry into ten groups, each with fifty light cavalry and fifty heavy cavalry. The thousand Wuhuan troops first harassed the 5,000 spearmen with archers, and once they showed a flaw, Lü Bu immediately ordered the nearest White Horse Cavalry to charge! Each time they charged, they never fought to the death, relying on their speed, using long spears and long halberds to kill a large number of enemy troops, and then immediately withdrew, leaving behind corpses trampled by horses and weapons. Under her command, the two thousand cavalrymen hunted and surrounded like wolves, slowly biting the flesh of the Yellow Turban Army, and constantly bleeding the behemoth. Soon, Zhang Niujiao was forced to move the five thousand reserve troops to the left army to stabilize the morale of the left army. How could these two thousand cavalrymen be so powerful? It's only been a short time since the war started, and they are about to destroy the morale of my five thousand spearmen? ! "Zhang Yan, I'm afraid this won't work if we continue. We can't deal with the two thousand cavalrymen of the left army. We must find a way to kill their commander of the central army. The old way is to behead him!" Black Mountain commander Zhang Niujiao gave the order helplessly and sent out his trump card: Zhang Yan, who had six wings on her back after awakening the dragon blood. The slender girl nodded and disappeared from the ground as quickly as lightning, leaving behind only the whistling wind and a withered white feather. On the central battlefield, Liu Zhuang, under the general's flag, commanded the entire army to fight. On the one hand, he withdrew the exhausted front-line soldiers, and on the other hand, he sent the well-rested reserve troops to the front line for fierce fighting. He was becoming more and more skilled in this job, and his ability to command the army became more and more sophisticated in the battle against the Yellow Turban Army. In the sky, Zhang Yan also saw the flag of Liu Zhuang, the commander of the Han army, which was particularly conspicuous. It was a long flag with a red background and black edges. The left side was fixed on a five-meter-long spear pole, and twelve black ribbons on the right side fluttered in the wind. On the top of the red flag, "Biebu Sima" was written in small characters, and "Liu" was also written in large characters. Below was a mighty Wuhan dragon carrying a black sun on its back. It's him! Zhang Yan retracted her six wings, and the whole person dived down like a meteor! In the blue sky, a yellow scar was torn. As her slender figure dived down, thousands of storms passed through the long feathers of her six wings, emitting a series of horrifying death screams! The sound was even more terrifying than a dive-bombing Stuka bomber. With the help of the dive force, Zhang Yan threw two flying axes from a high position, spinning and tearing the air, heading straight for Liu Zhuang's neck! Liu Zhuang, whose five senses were extremely sharp, immediately discovered Zhang Yan's presence. He stared intently at Zhang Yan in the sky and the flying axes that were swooping down. After easily dodging two axes, he bent his bow and shot three arrows at her face, forcing Zhang Yan to spin and dive. After dodging these deadly arrows, he continued to throw the flying axes forward with his two slender arms. "clang!!!" With a dazzling white light, Zhao Yun in silver armor and white robe flashed in front of Liu Zhuang in an instant, wielding a silver spear to knock away two flying axes. With Zhao Yun's protection, Liu Zhuang did not even try to dodge, and shot three times in rapid succession, gaining an advantage in the duel with Zhang Yan. An arrow shot through Zhang Yan's left arm. Seeing that things were not going well, she flapped her six wings and suddenly accelerated. The whole person seemed to be an arrow shot from a bow, and disappeared directly from Liu Zhuang's sight? ! "This guy is so fast!" Liu Zhuang immediately called thirty guards to his side, and all of them loaded their crossbows and aimed at the sky. He also put an arrow on the string. As long as she dared to appear again, he would just fire a volley of arrows and shoot down the flying woman Zhang Yan. "This guy's archery is so accurate!" Zhang Yan reluctantly pulled out the arrow that pierced his left arm and used magic to heal the wound. He was a little nervous at the moment. This shouldn't be the case? He was flying dozens of meters in the air, but in Liu Zhuang's eyes, he was just a tiny dot. I can throw so accurately because of my dragon blood talent. How can you shoot more accurately than me? ? ? Zhang Yan didn't believe it and launched a second dive. This time, her feathers were arranged in a very special structure, so that no sound was made after the strong wind blew, as if she was a night owl - the whistling sound couldn't scare him anyway, so it was better to be hidden. "rear!" When a guard saw a black dot approaching rapidly, he immediately shouted a warning. Liu Zhuang turned around and found Zhang Yan a hundred meters away. He then began to shoot rapidly, but Zhang Yan was like a peregrine falcon, leaving an afterimage. He dodged the rain of arrows easily and threw out deadly flying axes, but they were easily dodged by Liu Zhuang and blocked by the guards with their shields. Zhang Yan's eyes were as sharp as an eagle's, emitting a terrifying murderous light. Every long-range throw he made at a distance of hundreds of meters was extremely accurate.
Liu Zhuang's eyes had double pupils that looked like four golden flying stars, and his rapid shooting from a distance of hundreds of meters was also extremely deadly. The two of them shot at each other frantically from a distance of hundreds of meters, and for a while neither could do anything to the other. What a tricky enemy. There is no other way but to use ruthless force! Zhang Yan raised her chin and suddenly flew hundreds of meters into the sky. This place was already beyond the maximum range of the crossbow, but it didn't matter if she threw things down, because they would fall to the ground anyway. She flapped her six wings to stabilize her body, then took out an ordinary bag, facing down, and shook it slightly. More than fifty stone bricks of different sizes fell out of the palm-sized bag, whistling down from the sky! It was like a rainstorm falling on everyone's heads! Seeing that the situation was urgent, a silver light flashed on Zhao Yun's body, and he took Liu Zhuang and thirty guards to a place thirty meters away. The more than fifty stone bricks still smashed the open space under the general's flag into thousands of holes and dust. "Don't worry about the other Sima, I'll kill her!"