Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 195 What is the Chivalrous Spirit?
On the eighth day of April, the rain started to drizzle and the roads became thick and muddy.

All the horses had their hooves shod, and more people were assigned to push the baggage carts to prevent the equipment from sinking too deep into the mud.

Not only military equipment, but also food and fodder should be transported in a way that they do not get wet with rain, as they will easily become moldy once exposed to moisture.

The bean feed provided for war horses and pack horses became moldy and if the horses accidentally ingested it, they would soon suffer from diarrhea and become weak.

Zhou Yu and Lu Su, along with their assistants, covered the food and military equipment with multiple layers of waterproofing to prevent moisture and mildew.

The drums began to beat in the military camp, and the soldiers and auxiliary soldiers hurried to finish the work. After all the equipment, big and small, was packed up, everything in the camp needed to be dismantled.

Some auxiliary soldiers had been taken by Chen Qun to the Qiaoshui River to cut wood and build a bridge. Guan Hai led the soldiers of the Selected Vanguard Camp to check the equipment, put on armor, and crossed the river first to be on guard. The auxiliary soldiers followed closely behind them, pushing the baggage carts across the bridge, one after another in an orderly manner.

Then they went to the Huben Cavalry to cross the Qiao River, with Liu Bei leading the Rui Chongying and walking last to cross the Qiao River.

While crossing the bridge and looking at the river water that had swollen rapidly due to the rain, Liu Bei could not help but think of Kong Ming's last Northern Expedition, in which he also ordered Meng Yan to lead his troops to cross the east bank of Wugong River first. Sima Yi took advantage of the rising water to attack Meng Yan's camp, which had not yet established a stable foothold. Kong Ming then quickly ordered his soldiers to build a pontoon bridge, and used crossbows to shoot back Sima Yi across the river. When the bridge was completely built, the Wei army also retreated.

Attacking the enemy while they are halfway across the river is a common method to defeat the enemy. Even if the Yellow Turban bandits did not use it, it would not affect Liu Bei's preparations for prevention.

Even if the news of the fierce battle in Dan County and the killing of Qu Shuai Huang Shao by Dian Wei was not spread in time, we must be cautious in using troops so as not to defeat the enemy or be defeated by the enemy.

Today, Liu Bei owns several states and cannot afford to be defeated. If he is defeated, his fighting spirit will be gone.

This would give the princes of the world the illusion that Liu Xuande was not invincible.

……

In Qiao County of Pei State, shouts of killing were deafening. The nobles and the county soldiers on the city wall fought with the Yellow Turban bandits who were attacking the city, and blood and flesh flew everywhere. Smashed heads and mutilated bodies were everywhere. The blood on the parapets had dried and turned dark red.

The 20,000-strong Yellow Turbans drove the common people to besiege and tried every means to consume the rolling logs and stones of Qiao County. In order to avoid being easily consumed by the common people, the defenders set up a large cauldron directly on the city wall, piled firewood under the cauldron, and then poured boiling water on it.

For a while, the wailing and screaming of the people driven away by the Yellow Turbans were endless.

Even though the defenders were reluctant, they dared not stop because they knew that these were the elders of the village. If the Yellow Turban bandits broke into the county, everyone would die.

In order to encourage the Yellow Turbans to capture Qiao County, He Yi and He Man promised that after the city was captured, the soldiers could massacre the people, plunder the property, and loot all the children, wives and concubines.

They also sent people to plunder the common people and attack the city, intending to exhaust the defenders' arrows and rolling logs. After all the common people were killed, the Yellow Turban bandits would step on the corpses of the old and the young and begin to rush to the top of the city.

By now, many roof beams in the city had been dismantled, and the arrows had been used up two days ago. At this moment, the morale was low. If no reinforcements arrived, they would soon be out of weapons and would find it difficult to hold on to Qiao County.

Most of the troops looked listless and dispirited, but this did not affect the rangers who came rushing over after hearing the news.

The leader was a burly man with broad shoulders and a round waist, who had great strength. He could hurl stones at the enemy and smash the Yellow Turban bandits' siege equipment. He was extremely cruel in killing people. Any bandits who climbed up the city wall were smashed to pieces by blunt weapons and bled profusely, with flesh splattered everywhere. The bandits were so frightened that they dared not to confront him and retreated in fear.

The city walls that he led many rangers to defend were not something the Yellow Turban bandits were willing to attack.

"Kill, kill!"

At this moment, there were shouts outside the city wall, and the bandits were waving flags and shouting to cheer. Xu Chu still sat on the ground opposite him as usual, holding the rice in the bamboo container and chewing it with water. There were some hard objects in it, but he could swallow it calmly. In contrast, the ranger next to him couldn't help but frowned in pain when he ate the hard objects, and almost cried in pain.

He spit it out hastily, picked it up and saw that it was actually gravel.

The black-faced ranger cursed angrily, "We heard that the bandits were attacking the city, so we abandoned our hometown and risked our lives to come to Qiao County to help. Unexpectedly, the county lieutenant dared to withhold dry food. He is such a mean person. Tonight, you will go to the county government office and kill the bandits with your own hands to vent your anger for you all."

After saying that, he picked up his sword and was about to go down the city wall to ask for the direction of the county lieutenant.

Not wanting to be grabbed by a big hand, he looked down and found it was Xu Chu. The black-faced ranger asked in confusion, "Why did Mr. Xu stop me?"

The bearded ranger next to him couldn't help laughing and jokingly said, "Do you even need to ask? Of course I don't want you to die."

"Do you think you are the Nie Jun Nie Zheng who walked into the Han Mansion with a sword, killed dozens of armored soldiers, easily stabbed Han Xianglei to death on the steps, and just committed suicide?"

"Let's not talk about whether the dry food was withheld or not. Just to mention that the county government is heavily guarded, the Yellow Turbans are attacking the city and the county magistrate, county magistrate, and county lieutenant are all surrounded by more than ten soldiers. What can you do even if you break in? Moreover, the Yellow Turbans are offering a reward for the county lieutenant's head. Do you want to help the bandits secretly in order to make their enemies suffer?"

The bearded knight thought it was very funny, so he squinted his eyes and said sarcastically.

"You dare to insult me ​​for having secret dealings with bandits? I will not forgive you."

The black-faced knight was so humiliated that his eyes immediately turned red. He drew his sword with a clang and pointed at the other party angrily, cursing: "How dare you come and fight me to the death?!"

"Come if you want. Why would I be afraid of you?"

The bearded knight stood up with his sword drawn, saying angrily.

"Well, why do we have to do this? You all put your lives above your own, and sacrificed your lives to come here to save Qiao County. If you fight here for no reason today, wouldn't that be a disgrace to the heroes of the Rangers? For my sake, put away your swords, or you two will both be in trouble, because I can't stop myself."

After Xu Chu finished speaking, he snatched the sword from the black-faced ranger and, with a "click", thrust it heavily into the crack of the city wall, going several inches deep. The sword was only one-third of the way in and almost broke on the spot.

The black-faced ranger saw that everyone was looking at him, and the bearded young man raised his head and turned to the side. He angrily opened his robe to reveal the wound with blood scabs, and glared at him and said, "I have fought thirteen times with bandits and bandits while guarding this wall. I was wounded four times, and five of my fellow villagers were killed. Today, I was insulted by a villain like this. How can I still have the face to live in this world and return to my hometown?"

"It's just death, why should I be afraid?"

After saying this, he quickly pulled out the sword from the ground, put it to his neck and intended to kill himself to prove his honesty.

"Don't!" The bearded knight's eyes suddenly widened and his throat made a broken sound. It was too late for him to rescue him and he could only watch the chivalrous man die tragically in front of him.

I felt so regretful and blamed myself for talking too much.

Why didn't you say anything when you were injured? You didn't need any doctors or herbs to treat it, but just relied on your strong body to hold on, right?

If I knew you were a generous and principled person, I would have become your good friend a long time ago. How could there be such a misunderstanding?

The bearded ranger was so frightened that he forgot to breathe. He tried to grab the sword with his hands, but missed.

(End of this chapter)