Han officials

Chapter 3: War is a place of life and death!
The first day of August, Dongwuyang County, Dongjun.

Although it was noon, the sky was still gray and gloomy.

Under the vast sky, countless soldiers were seen fighting on the plain like ants, and only ruins were left of the Cangjie Temple.

As a hail of arrows rose from the front of the Han army, a group of Yellow Turban soldiers fell silently. But before they could draw a last breath, the cultists in the back row, wearing yellow headbands, immediately rushed forward with spears in hand, roaring angrily.

At this moment, human life is like grass, fleeting.

However, Wei Zhe had no sentimental feelings at all. Seeing his formation's "response flag" move forward, he immediately stared at the cloud chariot with a solemn expression. As expected, the strong men under the cloud chariot then began to beat heavy drums. Wei Zhe, hearing the rhythm, immediately confirmed that it was the "beat of horse drums." His expression immediately straightened, and he ordered his followers to mount their horses and give orders.

But don’t be fooled by the fact that Wei Zhe just did it effortlessly. He actually put in a lot of hard work in private.

After all, the battlefield is no joke, and military orders cannot be conveyed simply by "advance when the drum is beaten, retreat when the horn is sounded."

Especially in a battle involving tens of thousands of people, it is impossible to convey military orders in a timely manner by human voice alone.

At this time, changes in the "golden drums and flags" are needed to convey the commander-in-chief's orders.

In fact, the drum sounds that just came from the banner of the central army can be divided into seven types of rhythms, namely "drums for flags, drums for chariots, drums for horses, drums for infantry, drums for soldiers, and drums for soldiers." Different orders of beating the drums represent different military orders.

Moreover, the "Seven Orders of War Drums" is relatively simple, because different musical instruments are often used in conjunction with each other in the army.

In fact, the "jin" in the sound of golden drums is a general term for four musical instruments in the Han army:
Use a golden bell to harmonize the drum, a golden bracelet to regulate the drum, a golden ring to stop the drum, and a golden bell to pass through the drum.

The so-called "sounding the horn to withdraw troops" actually means retreating after hearing the changes in the horn and drum sounds.

Each instrument has its own command and must be coordinated with the sound of the war drums.

It was through this complete command system that Huangfu Song, as the commander-in-chief, was able to command the Han army to carry out various precise operations.

For example, at this moment, after the third drum beat, the sound of the golden bell rang out behind Wei Zhe, and his troops also leaned left three times to "recognize the flag".

Seeing this, Wei Zhe immediately took the long spear, pulled the reins, jumped on his horse, and led his troops out to attack from the left.

There is no way, military law is strict.

The gongs, drums, banners and flags each have their own orders. When the flag is waved to the left, it goes left; when the flag is waved to the right, it goes right.

Those who disobey will be executed immediately!

Of course, mishearing military orders or executing incorrect military orders is also a capital crime!

……

"Kill~"

Amidst the chaotic army, Wei Zhe swung aside several spears in front of him, raised his halberd slightly, and as he rode past, the head of a short-bearded yellow turban flew off.

Because the halberd is longer than a spear, with a sharp tip and blades on both sides, it resembles a long sword. Compared to the difficult-to-master halberd, the halberd is the most common cavalry weapon.

In the jungle of spears, Wei Zhe's eyes had turned bloodshot and his face was covered in blood, and he didn't know whether it was his own blood or someone else's.

However, Wei Zhe did not care, because he found that the more you want to survive on the battlefield, the less you can be afraid of death.

Soon, there were more "weeds" on the armor plates of Wei Zhe and his mount, but the man and the horse became more and more crazy.

After a while, the cavalry, with Taishi Ci and Wei Zhe as spearheads, pierced through the Yellow Turban formation in front of them.

However, Wei Zhe did not stop when he saw this. Instead, he led his Liaodong volunteers to attack again from another direction.

In fact, the method of cavalry warfare is nothing more than using the fast to defeat the slow, and using the high to defeat the low.

Once the cavalry loses its speed, it is no different from death.

Amid the rumbling sound of horse hooves, the Yellow Turban believers in front of Wei Zhe finally couldn't suppress the panic on their faces.

After all, they were not the Yellow Turban warriors who had been trained in the religion with good food and wine, so it was normal that they could not control their instinctive reactions when facing cavalry.

So the position that was still holding began to become shaky. Seeing this, Wei Zhe was cheered up and immediately rushed forward again.

But there are always exceptions. A Yellow Turban soldier was clearly pierced but he still held on to the long halberd on his chest. Then another Yellow Turban soldier came to kill him immediately. Seeing this, Wei Zhe immediately let go of the long halberd and drew out the ring-handled sword to chop it down. However, he did not expect that this person would also step forward with a distorted face to face the blade. Even though he was spitting out blood, he tried to hold on to the sword and pull him off the horse. At the same time, the third Yellow Turban soldier stabbed him with a spear.

Thanks to the sacrifice of two of his comrades, Wei Zhe was about to die at the hands of a Yellow Turban soldier.

"Swoosh~" As a long arrow brushed past Wei Zhe's ear, the Yellow Turban spearman fell to the ground immediately.

"Zi Yi, what a great archery skill!" Wei Zhe laughed loudly and chopped off the hands of the Yellow Turban soldier in front of him with his sword, killing him with one blow. Then he casually pulled out a spear from the battlefield and charged into the battle again without any delay.

Seeing this, Taishi Ci, who was not far away, smiled slightly, followed Wei Zhe closely, and completely tore the enemy formation apart.

"Huala~" As the armor leaves collided and the cavalry charged forward, the Yellow Turban formation here finally collapsed completely.

Even though a ferocious-faced Yellow Turban leader personally came out to try to stabilize the situation, he was beheaded by Wei Zhe and collapsed.

In the blink of an eye, halberds and spears were lying across the ground, banners and flags fell to the ground, and blood flowed like water, dyeing the farmland beneath their feet red.

"Defeated~Defeated~"

The Yellow Turban soldiers who had been fearless before now seemed like different people, no longer having the same spirit as before. They only cried out in panic, and subconsciously fled backwards in confusion.

Wei Zhe naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity, and immediately led his cavalry, driving the fleeing soldiers deeper into the enemy territory like sheep. As waves of panicked cries rang out one after another, the Yellow Turbans' formation finally triggered a chain reaction, as similar events were also occurring on other local battlefronts.

Seeing that the formation was loosening and the front line was about to collapse, Bu Yi, who was under the Yellow Turban banner, couldn't help but turn pale.

But compared with Bo Cai, Bu Yi's military talent is obviously a level lower.

Faced with Huangfu Song's tentative attack, he not only couldn't tell which was false and which was real, but he actually chose to provide all his support, even mobilizing the reserve troops of the central army. Sure enough, he immediately stabilized the situation.

However, Huangfu Song, who was at the headquarters of the Han army, was not worried but happy when he saw this. He felt relieved when he saw that Bu had no tricks up his sleeve.

Attack the unprepared with the prepared, and you will surely win!
This was indeed the case. After the elite Han troops including the Changshui and Shesheng battalions of the Northern Army and the Sanhe Knights came out in full force, the Yellow Turban Army was helpless under Huangfu Song's precise attack and eventually collapsed.

Under the command of the Yellow Turban leader, Bu Yi's face immediately turned pale when he saw this, knowing that the game was over.

But he soon came to his senses, quickly jumped on his horse and fled.

As a result, the Yellow Turban Army lost the last glimmer of hope for a comeback and was completely routed.

……

With the defeat of the Yellow Turban Army in Dongjun, the battle outside Dongwuyang City was nearing its end.

Because Bu Yi had made no subsequent arrangements when he fled, the scattered Yellow Turbans fled in complete disarray. Pursued by the Han army, the Yellow Turbans were nearly completely annihilated, with over 7,000 heads cut off in the battle alone.

However, there is gain and loss.

Because he was the first to abandon his army and flee, the Han army searched the surrounding area but could not find the Yellow Turban leader Bu Yi.

Meanwhile, Wei Zhe, covered in blood, searched the battlefield for Bu Si but couldn't find him. After a moment's thought, he gave the order, "Let's go to Cangtingjin!"

After saying this, he decisively turned his horse and galloped north. Taishi Ci, Zhong Hu and others did not ask the reason and immediately followed him on horseback.

Fortunately, Wei Zhe did not let them down this time.

Since Wei Zhe and others went straight to Cangtingjin, they did not need to avoid pursuers or take a detour, which enabled them to arrive in time at the last moment.

On one side were the defeated soldiers who had no will to fight and only wanted to escape, while on the other side were the Han cavalry whose morale was high.

What the result will be is self-evident.

After Taishi Ci shot down several of Bu Si's personal guards with a series of arrows, Wei Zhe led his cavalry in a single charge and completely captured the group. As the long halberd swept past, Bu Si's head finally became Wei Zhe's trophy.

……

Two hours later, the sky gradually darkened, and the Han army camp outside Dongwuyang City was gradually shrouded in darkness.

At this moment, there was laughter and joy in Huangfu Song's central military tent.

When he saw Wei Zhe bring back Bu Si's head, Huangfu Song, who was sitting on the commander's seat, immediately stroked his beard and smiled: "From now on, Dongjun has nothing to worry about!"

Upon hearing this, the generals in the tent looked at Wei Zhe with envy, wishing they could take his place.

However, after learning the entire process of Wei Zhe's capture and killing of Bu Si, Huangfu Song suddenly looked at him with a smile and said, "How did you know that Bu Si would definitely go to Cangtingjin?"

Wei Zhe did not hide anything after hearing this, and immediately explained in an orderly manner:
"Since May, the general and Zhu Zhonglang first destroyed Bo Cai in Yangdi, then killed Peng Tuo in Xihua, pacifying the Yellow Turbans in Yingchuan, Runan, and Chen counties in one fell swoop. South of the Yellow River, the only remaining Yellow Turbans are those of Nanyang, entrenched in Wancheng. Furthermore, ten days ago, after the general and Zhu Zhonglang split their forces, the Nanyang Yellow Turbans were surrounded by Han troops, and their days are numbered."

"Therefore, I suspect Bu Si will not flee south, but will instead flee north to Guangzong and seek refuge with Zhang Jiao."

After all, among all the Yellow Turbans in the world, the Jizhou Yellow Turbans are the strongest, which is undoubtedly a safe zone for Bu Si.

Even though there were tens of thousands of Han troops led by Lu Zhi threatening Guangzong City, it was still better than a deadly place like Wancheng.

Of course, if Bu Si is willing to remain anonymous, then Wei Zhe will agree.

At the same time, Wei Zhe used his sword sheath as a pen to draw a map in the open space in the tent. He said, "Before the battle, I surveyed the surrounding terrain. Dongwuyang City is adjacent to a large river, and the only accessible crossing is Cangting Ferry. Therefore, if Bu Si wants to escape north to Guangzong, he must pass through here."

As Wei Zhe finished speaking, the looks of the generals in the tent changed again.

The generals who previously thought that he was just lucky to have guessed the direction and gotten an advantage, now put away their contempt.

Huangfu Song, who was sitting at the top of the table, looked at Wei Zhe with admiration, and then asked him to take a seat.

Huangfu Song then nodded with satisfaction to the guard Sima Fuxie, who was the first on his left, and said, "Nan Rong, your troops deserve the greatest merit in this battle. I will write to the emperor to request credit for you!"

Only then did Wei Zhe realize that the other two small commanders of the Bu Si tribe, Zhang Bo and Liang Zhongning, had been captured alive by Fu Xie's troops.

Therefore, it is true that Fu Xie's troops were the main contributors to this battle, after all, Wei Zhe was also under Fu Nanrong's command.

However, Fu Xie did not show any complacency when he heard this. He still said solemnly: "It is my duty and responsibility."

Huangfu Song didn't care about this. After all, Fu Xie's uprightness was known to everyone in the court and the country, and he was the same in front of the emperor.

This is actually one of the reasons why Wei Zhe was unwilling to switch to Sun Jian's army.

For Wei Zhe at the moment, Fu Xie is actually a more suitable boss than Sun Jian, a warlord in the late Han Dynasty.

Because Fu Xie is a gentleman, but Wei Zhe is not!

(End of this chapter)