A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

Seeing that the Yellow Turbans' situation had deteriorated to its lowest point, Cao Cao sent someone to contact the allied forces of the powerful clans and arranged to attack them from both sides at dawn.

The Yellow Turbans had been rendered powerless by Cao Cao these past few days. When they saw Cao Cao leading his troops again, they could hardly muster the will to resist, since Cao Cao would only plunder a little and then leave.

Many of the Yellow Turbans inside were even about to go back to sleep, since they knew the attack wouldn't reach them anyway.

But this time Cao Cao was serious. He led all his elite cavalry in a charge, heading straight for the Yellow Turban leader's camp.

The allied forces of the powerful clans also attacked from their rear, waiting in ambush and striking when they were caught off guard. The Yellow Turbans were caught completely off guard.

The failure to form an effective defense allowed Cao Cao's cavalry to directly attack Zhang Mancheng's camp.

The brothers Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan were exceptionally brave. They charged into Zhang Mancheng's camp and fought him two against one, showing no regard for martial ethics.

Even one-on-one, Zhang Mancheng was no match for them, let alone two against one.

However, Zhang Mancheng was captured alive by the Xiahou brothers, Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan, in just over ten moves.

"Are you willing to surrender?"

Cao Cao asked Zhang Mancheng.

"Bah! The Great Teacher will surely overthrow the Han Dynasty and avenge us!"

Zhang Mancheng's eyes were filled with faith in Zhang Jiao and a longing for a peaceful and prosperous world.

"We commoners are not pigs or dogs!"

"The Azure Heaven is dead, the Yellow Heaven shall rise; in the year of Jiazi, great fortune shall befall the world!"

Cao Cao's eyes were complicated, and slowly his gaze overlapped with the look he remembered Zhang Jiao's eyes.

Cao Cao waved his hand and turned away.

"Take him away."

"Mengde, these Yellow Turbans..."

Xiahou Yuan looked at Cao Cao with unbearable sorrow, his heart filled with shock at Zhang Mancheng's will.

Cao Cao shook his head and said nothing.

Cao Cao and the Xiahou brothers grew up together, and the Xiahou brothers could tell that Cao Cao was in a bad mood.

"Don't spread the news that Zhang Mancheng is still alive."

The Xiahou brothers nodded.

"How's the fighting outside?"

Cao Cao stepped out of his tent and asked Wei Xue.

"The situation is not optimistic."

Wei Xue's expression was somewhat solemn. He had not expected that the Yellow Turban Army, an army that had risen from ordinary people, would possess such resilience.

Even the imperial court's elite troops would suffer a significant reduction in combat effectiveness if they lost 20% of their strength. Apart from the personal guards, almost none of them were capable of fighting to the death.

However, these hundreds of thousands of troops were just ordinary Yellow Turban soldiers, but with the blessing of their faith, they were all ready to die for their cause.

Upon learning that Zhang Mancheng had been beheaded, the morale of the troops did not collapse; instead, it rallied the already weakened forces, and for a time, neither the Han army nor the allied forces of the powerful clans could advance an inch.

"So what do we do next?"

Cao Cao frowned deeply; the current state of the war was completely beyond his expectations.

Cao Cao is still young and hasn't experienced many battles. Compared to the fully realized Cao Cao we know and love, he's far from being the perfect prime minister he will become.

"Keep fighting. The number of fanatics among the common people is ultimately small, and the momentum of a weakened army cannot last long. Fight until the ordinary people among the Yellow Turban rebels collapse, and we will win this battle."

This battle did not surprise Wei Xue twice. After the imperial army and the Yellow Turban army fought fiercely for two hours, the passion of those who had joined the Yellow Turban army after the uprising began to cool, and everyone felt insecure.

Once fear takes hold in one's heart, combat strength will inevitably decline, which in turn will affect those around them.

In the end, a large number of Yellow Turbans chose to surrender, and only a portion of those who had been inspired by Zhang Jiao to join the Yellow Turban army before the uprising continued to resist stubbornly.

However, they were no match for the imperial army and were quickly annihilated, either killed or captured.

Huangfu Song personally greeted Cao Cao outside his tent.

"Mengde's military achievements in this battle are unparalleled, and I will certainly petition His Majesty for a reward for you."

Huangfu Song stroked his beard and smiled.

After defeating Zhang Mancheng and gaining the support of the aristocratic alliance, he was confident that he could defeat Bo Cai and end the rebellion in Yingchuan.

"Kill all these prisoners and build a mound of heads to deter the rebels!"

Huangfu Song looked at the captured Yellow Turban soldiers behind Cao Cao and issued a cruel military order.

"General, you mustn't!"

Cao Cao objected.

Huangfu Song frowned. Although Cao Cao had just won a battle, he only paid more attention to Cao Cao. Cao Cao's victory was nothing to him.

Moreover, he is the commander-in-chief, and on the battlefield, it is most taboo for anyone to challenge the commander-in-chief's authority.

"General, you may not know this, but after I used the decapitation tactic against the Yellow Turbans, they not only did not collapse, but instead became a weakened force, and their fighting strength increased twice as much."

"If we kill the prisoners, not only will killing prisoners be an ominous sign, but it will also cause the million Yellow Turbans to fight to the death, which will be a disaster for the court."

Cao Cao spoke urgently to Huangfu Song.

"So what, Mengde? A merciful man cannot command an army."

"They committed the heinous crime of treason, which is punishable by the extermination of their entire family. I have only killed them, which is already an extraordinary act of mercy. They should be grateful."

Huangfu Song was getting impatient. What kind of person was Cao Cao? How dare he speak to him like that?

"Absolutely not."

"They are just ordinary people who have been misled, and all they want is a full meal. If the court can't give them that, should it kill them for it?"

Cao Cao continued to speak for the Yellow Turbans.

"Cao Mengde, do you know what you're saying?"

"You're speaking up for these rebels!"

"Are you trying to say that these rebels are doing the right thing?!"

Huangfu Song was furious. What did Cao Cao mean? All these traitors wanted was a full meal.

Is this enough to justify a rebellion?

He was a soldier from a military family. His father was known as the "Three Bright Ones of Liangzhou" for slaughtering the Qiang people who came down from the mountains, leaving no prisoners.

This also planted such a seed in Huangfu Song, who had followed his father since childhood. He was taught from a young age that traitors should be exterminated.

That's not what I meant.

"Then what do you mean?!"

Huangfu Song was not good at Taoism.

"I just feel that prisoners of war shouldn't be killed."

"These are 30 Han Chinese civilians. How can the general sleep at night if he slaughters them all?"

Cao Cao was shocked.

He hadn't expected Huangfu Song's killing intent to be so great; these were all Han Chinese, not foreigners.

"I implore the General to rescind his order!"

Under Cao Cao's leadership, all the soldiers in the camp pleaded with Huangfu Song for mercy.

Think about how Bai Qi is recorded in historical books now?

God of Slaughter, butcher—there's not a single good word for them.

They didn't want to leave such a bad reputation in history books.