Three Kingdoms: I, Yuan Shu, Loyal Officials of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 145: I'll tell my fellow villagers, I'm not a coward!
"Attack! Attack! Attack!"
"Defeat Yuan! Tonight is the only night!"

Looking into the distance, the camp that had just been evacuated was now lined with earthen walls and spiked trenches, and had once again become a defensive position for Yuan's army.

Dian Wei repeatedly gave orders, urgently commanding his soldiers to launch a fierce attack.

"General Dian, the casualties under your command are far too great."

Amidst the chaos of battle, a lieutenant dressed in the uniform of a general, covered in blood, pressed his arrow wound and knelt down on one knee before Dian Wei.

"General, we can't continue like this."

This place was originally Yuan's army camp. Now that they have familiarized themselves with it and rearranged their defenses, the defenses are already tight. To send soldiers to launch a fierce attack now would be to use the lives of their soldiers to exchange for Yuan's arrows and stones.

"Your casualties are high?"
You suffered casualties, but Yuan's army suffered no casualties!

How many people are there in total?

Even if it costs us lives to fill that trench tonight, we must charge in, join General Yue, and annihilate the main force of Yuan's army here!
If we miss tonight's attack, do you think we'll still have a chance to break through Xuchang? If we come back next time, we'll have to force our way through those twenty fortified camps outside Xuchang, and the casualties will only be greater!

Enough talk. If the vanguard is lost, let the central army take its place. Tonight I will see whether Yuan's army has more arrows and stones than my men.

"Go quickly! Maintain a full-scale attack! Yuan's army is outnumbered; if you can't hold them off, they certainly can't!"

"Ugh"

Knowing he couldn't dissuade Dian Wei, the lieutenant lowered his head, gritted his teeth, and bowed to accept the order.

"only!"

Arrows rained down, and rocks crashed down like thunder. The mangled corpses of Cao Cao's soldiers lay before earthen walls and in trenches.

The two sides fought fiercely for nearly an hour. The subsequent Cao army stepped over the corpses of their predecessors, climbed over the earthen walls, crossed the trenches, and charged towards Yuan's army in the bunker.

The lieutenant, covered in blood, approached Chen Dao.

"Young General, Cao's army is reckless. Their offensive is too fierce. The brothers can't hold on any longer."

Chen Dao, his face calm, stood on the high observation platform, observing the situation of the two armies, and asked:

How many casualties?

"It is difficult to count, but it is roughly close to a thousand people."

If the casualties continue to rise, even with the brothers' unwavering faith, things may change.

"Change? What kind of change?"

They dare to flee!
Go tell them!

Since leaving Shouchun, Yuan's army has been invincible. Wherever his adoptive father went, he was victorious in every attack and battle!
Under the banner of Yuan Shikai, there are only brave warriors who pursue and kill the enemy, and never cowards who flee in the face of battle!

Could it be that my troops are the first cowardly force to be routed by the enemy since my adoptive father left Shouchun?

If that is truly the case, I will have no face to see my godfather again, and I shall commit suicide here. Even if you manage to escape with your lives, what face will you have to face the elders of Jianghuai again?

Chen Dao looked directly at his deputy, his expression stern and unapproachable.

"You must tell them loudly!"

Since we left Shouchun, we have been invincible!
Cao Cao's army is no match for them; annihilation is imminent!

The Imperial Seal of the State is the mandate of Heaven. Can mortals defy the mandate of Heaven?
Victory will surely belong to Lord Yuan! I, his godfather, will beat the drums to cheer on all the soldiers! "Boom boom boom!"

The sound of drums shattered the silence of the night. On the bloody battlefield, from the lieutenant general to the captain and even the military commander, everyone was loudly repeating Chen Dao's words for the soldiers.

Yes! Since leaving Shouchun, General Yuan has been invincible wherever he went, earning a fortune of military merits, and there has never been a single soldier who fled in the face of battle.

Since Lord Yuan has treated us so generously, we can't expect him to get a share of the military merits when it comes to dividing up the spoils, but then be the first to run away when a tough battle comes.

Especially considering Yuan Gong's prestige on both sides of the Yangtze and Huai Rivers, if they were to bear the reputation of being among the first deserters in Yuan's army, not only would the young general be too ashamed to face Yuan Gong and have to commit suicide to atone for his sins, but they would also be too ashamed to face the elders of the Yangtze and Huai Rivers and would have to commit suicide by the Huai River.

If I were to escape back alive, wouldn't I be condemned by my fellow villagers and never be able to hold my head up again?

There's nothing else to it, why did everyone else run away, but you did? Why did everyone else win battles, but you lost?

Why is it that when other families return from war, they are rewarded with titles and land, bringing glory to their families, while you are branded as a deserter, making your whole family unable to hold their heads high?
After that, no one in the family wanted to marry a daughter-in-law, and their daughters couldn't get married either.

All because you're a coward!

Good heavens, when the soldiers thought about it, they realized, "No, this is too scary."

Even if I die now, it's better than going back alive!

At least Yuan Gong's pension would allow his family to live a good life, but if he escaped back, even if Yuan Gong didn't send anyone to arrest him, his whole family would have no face to live.

This is the result of Yuan Shu's series of policies to pacify and benefit the people, contrasting with the idea that he was destined to return to his former glory, and with the praise of Yu Ji of the Taiping Dao and the major aristocratic families, his popularity on both sides of the Yangtze and Huai Rivers reached its peak!

Of course, the key issue is that since leaving Shouchun, fighting in the north and south, the reputation of being the first batch of deserters is too heavy.

If everyone runs, and you run too, then it won't be a big deal.

But now everyone else is staying put, only your group has run away. Everyone else is winning and vying for credit, while you've lost.

The people of Jianghuai didn't understand the difference in troop strength or the heavy casualties. They only understood the result and were convinced that you were a coward!

Just then, the sound of war drums grew louder and louder behind them, their rousing and stirring tone accompanied by the hoarse shouts of Young General Chen Dao!

"My adoptive father, Lord Yuan, once said: 'A brave man either lives or dies, and he will make a great name for himself!'"
"My soldiers, shall we join me in achieving great fame today?"
In this battle, you and I shall be renowned throughout the world and go down in history!
Since leaving Shouchun, we have been invincible!
Cao Cao's army is utterly vulnerable; destruction is imminent!

Chen Dao's words could not resound throughout the entire battlefield, but everyone who heard them shouted in response!

"Since leaving Shouchun, we have been invincible!"
Cao Cao's army is utterly vulnerable; destruction is imminent!

As more and more people heard it, the shouts gradually resounded throughout Yuan's army, reaching the heavens!

"Since leaving Shouchun, we have been invincible!"
Cao Cao's army is utterly vulnerable; destruction is imminent!

One after another, their faces contorted with rage, they shouted slogans, their eyes seemingly already anticipating the inevitable victory of Yuan's army. They thrust their spears into the chests of the enemy soldiers, and even when they themselves were struck and fell, they did not retreat a single step.

In Cao Cao's army, a subordinate general with a blood-covered face approached Dian Wei and said, "General Dian, we really can't fight anymore. In just one hour, we've already lost two or three thousand men. If we continue, the brothers won't be able to hold on."

"You're talking nonsense! How dare a mere lieutenant disrupt the morale of my troops?"

"Where is the lieutenant? Is this how he obeys my orders and leads you all in this fierce attack?"

The lieutenant raised his face, his eyes already filled with tears, and said, "General Dian, in order to boost morale, Deputy General Zhang led us to personally brave arrows and stones to attack the city. Unfortunately, he was hit by a boulder and has died."

(End of this chapter)