Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 53 Asking for help
July 19th, Huabei.

The sky is clear and cloudless.

More than 3,000 officers and soldiers from Runan County were engaged in a melee with the Yellow Turban soldiers led by Peng Tuo amid the sound of gongs and drums.

The soldiers who took over the battle line shouted hurriedly, and stabbed or blocked the enemy's spears with their spears subconsciously. Arrows flew randomly above their heads, and the soldiers in the back row raised their shields to avoid the arrows. If there were casualties, the soldiers would fill in to prevent the line from being breached.

During the fight, the cries of the wounded were heard constantly, and the shouts of fighting echoed throughout the wilderness.

Seeing the fierce battle, Runan Prefect Zhao Qian, who was standing on the hillside, frowned. The fighting power of the Yellow Turban Army was somewhat beyond his expectations.

Before the battle, he sent scouts to investigate many times and found that the Yellow Turbans were not well-organized and the soldiers lacked armor. Before the battle today, the Yellow Turbans' formation was not very tight. However, when they fought, he suddenly found that the Yellow Turbans' formation was much tighter.

At this point in the battle, Zhao Qian discovered that the Yellow Turban soldiers he was fighting were not rookies who would collapse at the first blow, but at least they were veterans of the Yellow Turban Army.

Peng Tuo really had a trick up his sleeve!
Zhao Qian cursed him inwardly for being cunning. If Peng Tuo had not shown such weakness, how could he dare to be so arrogant and let Yin Xiu stay out of his way.

"Fu Jun!"

Gong Cao Feng Guan stepped forward quickly and said, "After a long battle, the army has already lost its soldiers!"

"Zhong Ran, send the supervisory team forward!"

With his hand on the hilt of the sword, Zhao Qian said in a deep voice: "We must not retreat now. Order the soldiers in each camp to hold on."

"promise!"

With flags waving, the supervisory team in the battle array strode forward, cut off the heads of the fleeing soldiers, and sent them to the entire army.

Now the soldiers of Yingchuan County can no longer hold on, and the Yellow Turban Army is also in trouble. Fortunately, the Yellow Turbans still have religious propaganda to use.

Behind the fighting armies, the Yellow Turban priests, holding either wooden swords or magical instruments, marched in the Eight Direction Steps to the sounds of bronze bells and trumpets, praying for the kneeling soldiers.

The hundreds of soldiers kneeling on the ground had yellow scarves on their heads. They were quite strong, wearing iron or leather armor, or holding shields, with pious expressions on their faces.

"jingle!"

"Give the talisman water!"

The wizard held up the wine jars, and one by one, row by row, he poured the wine mixed with rune residue into the bowls held by the soldiers.

The magicians stopped the ceremony and shouted: "The blue sky is dead, the yellow sky is here, the year is Jiazi, good luck to the world!"

"With the blessing of the master, I am invulnerable to swords and guns!"

"drink!"

The Yellow Turban Warrior drank the magic water in one gulp and immediately felt his blood boiling. He showed a fanatical expression on his face and shouted slogans.

"The sky is dead, the yellow sky should be established, and the age of Jiazi will bring good luck to the world!"

Under the leadership of the officers, they struggled to stand up, stepped forward, and joined the front-line battle.

Seeing this, Peng Tuo stroked his short beard and a faint smile appeared on his thin face.

He was originally a minor military officer in Nanyang County. Under Zhang Jue's development, he became the leader of the Yellow Turbans. Because of his experience in leading troops at the grassroots level, his ability to use troops was outstanding among the Yellow Turban leaders. Therefore, Zhang Jue arranged him and Bo Cai to start an uprising between Runan and Yingchuan to cooperate with Ma Yuanyi to push directly to Luoyang.

Unfortunately, the plan failed, Ma Yuanyi was captured, and they were successively overthrown by Zhu Jun and Huangfu Song. After his defeat in Xihua, the capital for his comeback was the elite soldiers he had just sent out to fight.

But it is far from enough to defeat Zhao Qian's troops!
"Somebody come!"

"exist!"

"Light up the signal smoke and order Liu Pi to lead his troops to attack!"

"promise!"

The military order was issued, and a cloud of black smoke was ignited in the mountains and fields, which could be seen within several miles around.

Not long after the black smoke rose, Yellow Turban soldiers suddenly appeared from the side and rear of the Runan County soldiers. They appeared from the back of the hilltop, and led by flags, they passed through the mountains and forests and hurried to the battlefield.

Not long after, the Han army's scouts discovered the movement from the side and rear and quickly reported it to Zhao Qian.

"Report!"

The waiter dismounted and reported, "My Lord, there are ambush troops of moth thieves in the southeast!"

Zhao Qian was furious. He slammed the wheel and said angrily, "Before the battle, I asked you and other scouts to carefully explore the surroundings. Now when the battle is fierce, you reported that there are ambushes coming out. This really messed up my plan!"

"Shuzi!"

Zhao Qian angrily slammed the carriage to vent his dissatisfaction.

The war has reached a critical moment, but he is told that an ambush of Yellow Turbans has appeared, and he is afraid that he will lose the battle.

Zhao Qian was filled with regret. He should have waited for Yin Xiu's troops earlier!

At that moment, Zhao Qian also understood that this was basically a trap designed for him by Peng Tuo.

Feng Guan looked worried and said, "Master, what should we do now?"

Zhao Qian tried to calm down and said, "Order the infantry to form a battle array around the hill, and the archers to be stationed on the slope to meet the siege of the moth bandits!"

"My lord, the situation on the battlefield is unfavorable. It is better to leave now." The supervisor of the palace, Fan Yi, held Zhao Qian's hand and advised.

Hearing this, Zhao Qian flew into a rage and said, "I am following the emperor's orders to fight the enemy. How can I abandon my army and flee when we are in danger? I will live and die with my soldiers."

"Moreover, most of the bandits' soldiers are old and weak, and all they can rely on is their courage. Once their fighting spirit is worn out, it will be our chance to defeat them."

Zhao Qian knew very well that if he ran away, his family would not be able to protect him and his political career would definitely be over.

For the sake of his own political survival and the lives of two or three thousand of his subordinates, he must hold on.

"My Lord, it's good to lead the troops to defend the hilltop, but if we hold on for too long without any support, our army will surely be defeated!" said Secretary Yuan.

Zhao Qian remained silent, thinking about his way out.

"Send the cavalry north to seek help from the Yingchuan troops!" Zhao Qian said in a deep voice. "Yingchuan troops?"

Feng Guan hesitated for a moment and said, "I wonder if Yin Yingchuan will lead his troops south. If he keeps his troops stationed there, our army will be left without help!"

"Yin Yingchuan's troops must be on the way!"

Secretary Yuan said in a firm tone, "Yin Yingchuan crossed the border to fight the bandits because of Wang Yuzhou's order. Even if Yin Yingchuan is dissatisfied with the letter from the Lord, he has Wang Yuzhou's confidants in his army. Due to the overall military situation, he should still lead his troops south."

Zhao Qian was moved, and said with a lament, "I wanted to help you all in destroying the bandits, but I put you in danger instead. If you can get the troops from Yingchuan today, I will get off the carriage and welcome Governor Yin."

Yuan Mi looked serious, cupped his hands and said: "If the Lord of the Mansion does not forsake me, I am willing to lead my men to the north to seek help."

"it is good!"

Zhao Qian held Yuan Mi's hand and said sincerely, "Thank you for your help, Yongning!"

"promise!"

Yuan Mi was a descendant of the Yuan family of Runan, which had been three dukes for four generations. His father was Yuan Zhong, who was dismissed from office due to the Party Imprisonment. After the Party Imprisonment was lifted, Yuan Mi was recruited by Zhao Qian as a councilor and followed the army to the war.

Soon, Yuan Mi led several people around him to the north, and when Peng Tuo saw this, he immediately sent cavalry to chase and kill them.
-
Twenty miles away from Huabei, Zhang Yu led a hundred cavalrymen and marched slowly.

On the 17th, the whole army made it clear that they were heading south to join up with Zhao Qian's troops. On the 18th, Zhang Yu led a hundred cavalrymen to march 80 li, while the infantrymen marched 60 li at a rapid pace. On the 19th, in order to maintain the combat effectiveness of the cavalrymen, Zhang Yu marched 40 li, while the infantrymen continued to march 60 li at a rapid pace.

On the 20th, Zhang Yu set out early in the morning, marching in front of the infantry, and had already marched more than ten miles. He sent Shi Yi out to investigate the situation of the Yellow Turban Army and the Han Army in Huapi.

As they marched, Zhang Yu and Li Song turned their horses around and inspected the cavalry team from behind.

As the cavalrymen came from the frontier, their riding skills naturally needed no further explanation, but Zhang Yu was more concerned with checking the problems that arose during the march.

"Jian, Shi Yi is back!"

Li Song saw the smoke and dust ahead and shouted.

Zhang Yu turned around and saw six cavalrymen galloping towards him. When Shi Yi led his team to a nearby location, he saw that his other four cavalrymen were surrounding one person.

The man was hit by an arrow in the thigh, but fortunately the leather armor blocked the arrow and did not cause serious injury. However, because he was not good at riding, he could not keep up with Shi Yi's pace when the horse was galloping, and he had to bend his back to walk.

Zhang Yu's eyes moved slightly and he raised his hand towards the cavalry.

"Stop!"

The cavalry blew the horn to stop the march. As the sound spread throughout the cavalry, the cavalrymen reined in their horses and stopped.

"Master!"

Shi Yi urged his horse to Zhang Yu and said succinctly, "When I led the cavalry to explore the south, I encountered bandit cavalry chasing Han cavalry. I led my troops to rescue them. This man claimed to be Yuan Mi, the counselor of Runan, and he had important matters to discuss, so he asked to see the young master."

"Let him come here!"

Zhang Yu glanced at Yuan Mi, who looked anxious, and gave the order.

"promise!"

Soon, Yuan Mi rode forward and said hurriedly, "I am Yuan Mi, the governor of Runan. I have come here to ask for help from your army on the orders of the governor Zhao Jun!"

Zhang Yu returned the greeting with his whip in hand and asked, "I am Zhang Yu, the assistant of the governor of Yuzhou. I wonder how Mr. Zhao is doing?"

Yuan Mi's expression eased slightly, and he pleaded, "Reporting to Zhang Gongshi, this morning, Zhao Jun led more than 3,000 troops to fight Peng Tuo in Huabei. However, due to the many hills in Huabei, it was difficult to detect the movements of the ambush troops, and unfortunately we were attacked by the enemy. The situation is critical, and Zhao Taishou ordered me to break out, and I am asking for your help."

"What are the formations of the two armies?" Zhang Yu asked.

"Our army climbed the hill and fought hard, the Moth Bandits must be surrounding and attacking us!" said Secretary Yuan.

"good!"

Zhang Yu already had an idea in mind, and said, "Mr. Yuan, allow me to arrange the military orders!"

"Thank you, Mr. Zhang!" Secretary Yuan stepped back gratefully.

"How about it?"

Zhang Yu looked around at Hao Zhao, Li Song, Tuli, Zhang Maoshan and others who had gathered around him and asked for their opinions.

"Our army is 20 miles away from Huabei. If we ride fast, we will arrive within an hour." Shi Yi said, "We can report to the governor first, and then lead the cavalry to rush to boost the momentum of the army!"

"feasible!"

Hao Zhao nodded and said excitedly: "If what Yuan Shikai said is true, then Zhao Runan is now trapped in a battle on the hill, and the moth bandits are besieging them. If our army marches south quickly, we may be able to attack them from both inside and outside and defeat the moth bandits."

"We can proceed according to this plan!"

Zhang Yu nodded slightly, agreeing with the two's views, and said: "Bo Song sent a fast horse to report to Lord Yin that Lord Zhao was trapped in a siege. Our troops are heading south first. Now we ask the infantry to abandon the baggage and march quickly."

"Everyone return to your team, notify all units, and prepare for battle immediately!"

"promise!"

Seeing Zhang Yu arranging the military orders in a swift and decisive manner, Yuan Mi rode forward and said, "Zhang Gongshi, I know the way and can be your guide."

Zhang Yu looked at Yuan Mi's thigh and asked, "You have been shot in the thigh by an arrow. Why don't you let the military doctor treat you first?"

"Thank you, Zhang Congshi!"

Secretary Yuan shook his head stubbornly and said, "But now the soldiers in Runan are in danger, and I have no intention of recuperating."

"good!"

"Shi Yi, you and Yuan Yisheng stay in front and lead the way!" Zhang Yu ordered.

"promise!"

"Book of the Later Han": "Zhongzi Mi was a student of the county. When the Yellow Turbans rose up, Mi followed the governor Zhao Qian to fight against them. The army was defeated. Mi and seven other officials including Gongcao Feng Guan defended themselves against the swords. They all died in battle. Qian was spared. The emperor ordered Mi and his family to be called "Seven Sages". "

(End of this chapter)