Three Kingdoms: A Million Soldiers Grown from the Fields

Chapter 106 Capturing the Thieves—Capture the King First! (Please read 4k more)

Zhang Xian and Zhao Yun led fifty cavalrymen through the Hutuo River Valley to Yanmen Pass, and then turned towards Guangwu County, heading straight for Yinguan County.

It took a day and a half, which can be described as traveling two hundred miles during the day and eighty miles at night.

However, after this one swift dash, Zhang Xian realized that the Peach Blossom Cavalry had truly mastered their skills.

Ordinary cavalrymen simply could not withstand such harsh travel conditions.

Three poles in the sun.

Several dozen miles outside Yinguan County, the seat of Yanmen Commandery, Zhang Xian and his party rested on a flat grassland.

"How are you feeling, Brother Yun?"

On their way there, they passed through the Sanggan River Plain, where hundreds of Hu cavalry, clearly not dressed as Han cavalry, followed them all the way.

Zhao Yun, wiping the bloodstains beside his white horse, nodded.

"My heart pounded like a drum during the first battle, and my blood was boiling with excitement!"

Zhang Xian chewed on a piece of bread: "These Xianbei cavalrymen have distinct characteristics. Compared with the Hu cavalry who are good at shooting, these cavalrymen are more capable in close combat. I am very pleased that you are so brave and fierce on your first battle."

Zhao Yun put the brush back into his saddlebag and turned back with a smile.

"I am far inferior to my elder brother!"

"Hahaha," Zhang Xian laughed loudly, then took a swig of water from his water bag and shook his head, saying, "After the spring, I plan to send you as the vanguard into the grasslands."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yun clasped his hands in a respectful salute and said, "I am willing to lead the way for my brother!"

Smoke from the campfire drifted out.

After finishing the flatbread, Zhang Xian got up.

The fifty cavalrymen had also finished their food.

"We've killed the men and eaten the food. Now, it's time for my men to go and meet Ding Jianyang!"

"I am willing to lead the charge for my lord!"

Everyone mounted their horses, but this time, there were many more horses among the fifty riders.

Here, a cold wind swept across, pressing down the withered grass stems and revealing dozens of headless corpses not far away.

Unlike Taiyuan Commandery, Yanmen Commandery had a trade market, and people of Hu and Xianbei descent often lived there.

Horses from the grasslands, wine, silk, salt, and tea from the Central Plains were all essential supplies and utensils for both sides.

As the seat of Yanmen Commandery, it encompasses the vast Sanggan River Plain, a region known for its fierce and unyielding people.

The saying that border residents are skilled in martial arts is not without merit.

In such an environment, if you are even slightly weak, you will be devoured without a trace.

The Han and Hu peoples have a long history of rivalry.

They have been fighting since the Qin Dynasty, and even thousands of years later, they still occupy a significant place in Chinese history.

Ever since Emperor Wu broke the spine of the Hu people, the Han dynasty was strong and the Hu people were weak for most of the time thereafter.

But the Hu people are also ungrateful wretches; once their master is weak, they will gang up and bite.

Upon arriving in this era, one of the things Zhang Xian was determined to do was to break the spines of these barbarians that had grown back once again!
People from the grasslands should be able to sing and dance!

With their cloaks billowing in the wind, over fifty riders, their iron hooves clanging and surging with bloodlust, headed straight for the gates of Yinguan City.

"Who is coming!"

On the city gate tower, the sentry shouted, and below the city gate, the city guards raised their spears.

"Zhang Zixu, the magistrate of Lüchi County, has been summoned to pay his respects to Prefect Ding!"

Zhang Xian threw out an iron plaque and shouted.

The gatekeeper picked it up, checked it, and once he confirmed it was correct, he waved his hand and shouted, "Clear the way!"

"promise!"

The barricades were moved aside, and the main gate of the city gate creaked and groaned.

Zhang Xian and his men rode straight into the city without stopping. As they passed the city gate token, Zhang Xian bent down and grabbed the token, which he then presented to his head.

Seeing the imposing presence of over fifty cavalrymen, the city guards exclaimed in amazement, "What fierce cavalrymen!"

The Prefectural Governor's Office within the city.

Ding Yuan, who was reading a book, raised his eyes as he listened to the report from the messenger below.

"How dare he come! Zhang Zixu is quite a character."

"Take them to the drill ground and have Fengxian muster the Bingzhou army!"

"promise!"

The messenger bowed, stood up, and left.

Ding Yuan put down the bamboo slips and got up from the soft couch.

"Is my cousin going to meet Zhang Zixu in person?"

Ding Kuang, the then governor of Yanmen, asked a question.

He was Ding Yuan's cousin. Because of the importance of Yanmen County, Ding Yuan also seized the position of governor of Yanmen County when he plotted to seize the governorship of Bingzhou.

Yanmen Commandery is arguably the most strategic location in Bingzhou. As long as it is firmly controlled, the northern barbarians can be controlled and Bingzhou can be held in the south.

As a typical example of someone who rose from humble beginnings, Ding Yuan has enough patience to do everything that benefits him.

He made this decision after careful consideration, as Wang asked him to take action.

He was merely a county magistrate, and compared to Wang Rou of the Wang family, who had already entered the imperial court, it was clear who was more important.

However, since he started from humble beginnings, he did not intend to go too far. He called Zhang Xian over for two reasons: first, to please Wang Shi, and second, to see if Zhang Xian could be subdued.

Ding Yuan placed the bamboo slips on the table and tapped them with his knuckles: "This Zhang Xian dared to attend the gathering with fifty riders; he certainly has more guts than those local tyrants hiding in their fortified villages." He picked up the iron helmet from the table, running his fingertip along the plume: "I do admire such a character; I must go and see him for myself."

The drill ground was located in the north of the city, backed by a tributary of the Sanggan River. It was the dead of winter, and the river was covered with a thin layer of ice. The horses' hooves made a soft cracking sound as they trod across it. Ding Yuan rode through the gate, and three thousand Bingzhou soldiers were already lined up in battle formation, their spears and halberds like a forest. Their breath condensed into a mist above the army.

"Fengxian!" Ding Yuan shouted, reining in his horse.

A rider suddenly appeared at the front of the formation, a red horse neighing and standing upright. The general on horseback was wearing a beast-faced armor and a long spear pointing diagonally at the ground. This man was none other than Lü Bu.

His arm guards clanged as he clasped his hands in a fist salute: "Godfather!"

Looking at his exceptionally handsome adopted son, Ding Yuan's eyes were full of admiration. Although he didn't know what had triggered his adopted son to work even harder after returning a few months ago, he knew it was a good thing, so he didn't ask any further questions.

He heard a noise in the distance and turned his head to look back.

Dust billowed outside the gate—fifty riders in black armor were breaking through the snow. The leader's bear-trimmed cloak was stretched taut by the wind, fluttering like a battle flag.

"Test Zhang Zixu's courage for me."

"promise!"

Lu Bu clasped his hands in a fist salute and looked in that direction.

Upon seeing this, his heart skipped a beat.

Why does this armor look so familiar?

Zhang Xian raised his hand a hundred paces from the army formation, and fifty riders simultaneously reined in their horses. The iron hooves scraped several white marks on the frozen ground, yet not a single man or horse overstepped their bounds. Zhao Yun's white horse lagged only half a body length behind Zhang Xian's black horse, his silver spear held horizontally as if grasping the moon.

"Impressive riding skills." Lu Bu raised an eyebrow, his attention gradually drawn to the riders on the black and white horses.

"Zhang Xian and Zhang Zixu, magistrates of Lüqi County, pay a visit to Prefect Ding!"

Ding Yuan glanced at him coldly: "Magistrate Zhang brought armored soldiers into the city to give me a martial arts demonstration?"

Zhang Xian did not dismount, but merely bowed slightly, his bear-patterned cloak fluttering in the wind. His gaze swept past Ding Yuan, landing on the three thousand Bingzhou soldiers arrayed in formation, a slight smile playing on his lips: "The governor is too kind. I have come not for a military demonstration, but to—present a gift."

"A gift?" Ding Yuan narrowed his eyes, tapping his knuckles lightly on the saddle. "What kind of gift requires fifty iron cavalry escorts?"

Zhang Xian laughed loudly, his voice like the clash of metal: "A grand ceremony naturally requires the protection of a strong man." He turned his head and gestured with his chin towards Zhao Yun, "Brother Yun."

Zhao Yun understood, took a long, narrow wooden box wrapped in black cloth from the side of the saddle, held it with one hand, and spurred his horse forward a few steps.

Ding Yuan did not move, but Lü Bu's spear had already been slightly raised, the cold light of the spear tip pointing directly at Zhao Yun's throat.

Zhang Xian ignored it, simply raising his hand to lift the black cloth—inside the box was a ring-pommel steel sword with a blade as smooth as a mirror!

Beside the steel blade lay a freshly severed skull, its face contorted in a grotesque grimace. Zhang Xian smiled and reached out, saying, "I have retrieved the skull of the Xianbei chieftain for the governor."

Zhang Xian lightly traced the blade with his fingertips: "With this knife, it serves as my formal invitation."

Yes, one of the Xianbei cavalrymen he killed when he arrived was a chief commander!
They originally came to trade horses for provisions, but when they saw the armor on Zhang Xian and his men, they became greedy and wanted to take advantage of their numbers.

Unexpectedly, he didn't gain much of a bargain; instead, he became the one who benefited. Ding Yuan's pupils contracted slightly.

The head of the Xianbei tribe was a nobleman who commanded a thousand cavalry under the Xianbei tribe. His head was not something that an ordinary border general could obtain.

"Magistrate Zhang, you have some clever methods," Ding Yuan sneered. "However, I'd like to ask—when you killed the Xianbei nobles, was it to rid the court of a threat, or…?" His tone turned icy, "to provoke conflict on the border?"

The three thousand Bingzhou soldiers trembled in unison, letting out a shout with overwhelming momentum.

Zhang Xian laughed.

He lifted the Overlord Halberd with one hand, holding it up to his chest, the tip pointing upwards. His eyes scanned the halberd, his fingers lightly tracing the blade: "The Xianbei barbarians have been raiding our borders for years, robbing our Han people and plundering our salt and iron. The court has repeatedly ordered the border prefectures to severely suppress them—" He raised his eyes, his gaze sharp as a blade, "They are clearly acting under orders, or are these Xianbei being raised by the governor?"

Before Ding Yuan could answer, Lü Bu roared, "Arrogant!"

Red Horseman stood up, his eighteen-foot-long spear like a poisonous dragon emerging from its cave, thrusting straight at Zhang Xian's face!
"How dare you!" Zhao Yun's eyes turned cold.

The white horse charged out, and the two spears clashed fiercely.

Ding Yuan stared directly at Zhang Xian.

Zhang Xian also looked at Ding Yuan.

Both had cold, stern eyes and faces as hard as iron.

The clang of metal on metal echoed across the drill ground, sparks flew, and the nearby soldiers felt a sharp pain in their eardrums.

Lu Bu felt a chill run down his spine and was secretly alarmed. Although this man's physical strength was inferior to his own, his agility in manipulating the spear was far beyond his own!
Where did this monster come from?!

The fight raged on the sidelines, but the two coaches remained completely silent, staring at each other like two stubborn rocks.

Red horses and white horses passed each other.

The white horse was placed in front of the three thousand Bingzhou soldiers, while the red horse stood a few meters away from Zhang Xian.

Zhao Yun turned around, his spear moving like a snake spitting its tongue, striking, thrusting, picking, and parrying, creating seven afterimages with his spear.

Lu Bu thrust his spear, using sheer force to overcome any skillful maneuver.

The two are also combined.

The two horses separated, and the two riders paced in circles.

Just as the third round began, a long halberd pierced the cold wind, its tip pointing upwards and its tail downwards, and was planted between the two riders. Its force was so great that it created a ring of even cracks in the frozen earth.

Lu Bu's eyes narrowed as he looked at Zhang Xian in horror.

"Brother Yun, return to the formation, and don't be impolite!"

"promise!"

Zhao Yun stared coldly at Lü Bu, then spurred his horse and rode back to Zhang Xian's side.

"Fengxian, you should come back too."

Ding Yuan's face was frosty as he looked at Zhang Xian and sneered, "Aren't you afraid that my three thousand Bingzhou wolf cavalry will capture you completely?!"

Zhang Xian chuckled, his domineering gaze sweeping over the Bingzhou army formation. He spurred his horse forward, retrieved the Overlord Halberd, and replied, word by word, "What are we afraid of, you mere chickens and dogs!"

"Insanity!"

The generals and officers of Bingzhou roared!
A lone rider charged out of the enemy lines, heading straight for Zhang Xian.

"Jin Wu, Cavalry Commandant of Bingzhou! When your soul returns to Mount Tai, remember to inform your grandfather of your name!"

Zhang Xian's eyes turned cold, and he twirled the Overlord Halberd in his hand, slashing down with the halberd head. The chilling aura made the cavalry captain lose his senses on the spot.

When he came to his senses, his groin gave way and he fell to the ground.

Upon closer inspection, they saw that the horse's head had split open in two.

"If you utter any more arrogant words, you'd better watch out."

Zhang Xian looked down at Captain Jin Wu, who lay limp and bloodied on the frozen ground. The latter, now like a quail, slunk up and ran back to the Bingzhou army formation.

Both Ding Yuan and Lü Bu had their pupils constricted.

Suddenly, Lü Bu remembered a sentence.

"If one day you encounter a group dressed similarly to us but not led by me, run as far away as possible, or you won't even know how you died!"

"Excellent technique!" Ding Yuan's face was as cold as ice.

He looked at Zhang Xian with cold eyes and asked, "But no matter how brave you are, do you think you can withstand the force of my three thousand wolf riders!"

Zhang Xian suddenly burst out laughing.

"Haha...hahahaha!"

"Prefect Ding, have you ever heard this saying?"

"It's called 'Kill the horse first, capture the king first!'"

"you!!"

Ding Yuan pointed at Zhang Xian, and the horse involuntarily took a few steps back.

Zhang Xian smiled.

He knew Ding Yuan was afraid, and if he was afraid, then it was settled.

He waved behind him.

"Brother Yun, you do not accept gifts, but we still wish to present them. One should know how to be polite!"

"promise!"

Zhao Yun picked up the wooden box, rode forward, and placed it on the ground a few meters in front of Ding Yuan.

Zhang Xian shouted again: "Governor Ding, we have no enmity between us. Don't become someone else's pawn. Think about why others dare not take action themselves!"

He turned his horse around and looked at Lü Bu.

"You're good, but not enough!"

Having said that, he prepared to turn his horse around and return.

But then a voice rang out from behind: "Wait!"

Zhang Xian turned his head and asked,

Lu Bu rode a few steps closer and asked, "Huang Zhong, Huang Hansheng, are you under your command?"

Zhang Xian turned his horse around and laughed.

"You two fought?"

"What will the result be?" He was actually somewhat expectant.

"Someone lost."

Lu Bu's straightforward words surprised Ding Yuan, who was standing to the side. Others might not know the abilities of his adopted son, but he certainly did.

What do you mean?
Today, that young general had a brief encounter with him and they fought to a draw, so it's hard to tell his strength. But a few days ago, there really was someone who overpowered Fengxian.

Just who are the people under Zhang Xian's command?!

Zhang Xian smacked his lips in satisfaction.

"As it should be."

Lu Bu tightened his grip on his spear and said again, "He says you are stronger than him, but I don't believe it!"

"How are you doing?"

"Please enlighten me!"

As soon as Lü Bu finished speaking, his red horse charged forward, brandishing his spear.

Zhang Xian neither dodged nor yielded, his Overlord Halberd held horizontally—

clang--!
Dazzling fireworks burst forth.

Lu Bu's hand went numb, but he had expected it. The man's strength was evident from how quickly he could cut down a horse with a hot knife.

But Zhang Xian clearly had little interest in the competition. He took advantage of the moment when the spear's power was not exhausted and swung the halberd tail down from above.

He directly forced Lu Bu back, and then changed his move with the Overlord Halberd. The barbed ears of the halberd were like the stinger of a scorpion, locking the tip of the spear, Liu Ying!

He suddenly spun his halberd, and Lü Bu's spear shaft was twisted and bent like a bow!
"Let go!"

With a jolt, the immense force instantly caused blood to appear on Lü Bu's hand holding the spear. The thick, slippery blood transformed the spear into a series of arrows that shot out and embedded themselves in the frozen ground beside the red horse.

The entire audience erupted in uproar!
(End of this chapter)