The Three Kingdoms: The Oath of the Peach Garden, the Rise of the Han Dynasty

Guo Dian returned to his main tent and immediately summoned all his generals.

The captains under his command mustered their troops, and found that several hundred had died, more than a thousand were wounded, leaving more than eight thousand. Later, more than a thousand more were sent to reinforce them, bringing the total to about nine thousand.

He rewrote Li Chang's strategy of exhausting the enemy, claiming it was the result of his own painstaking thinking over several days.

After making some modifications, gather 2,500 soldiers and divide them into five groups to take turns harassing the east, north, and west gates day and night.

The remaining 6,000-plus main force rested and prepared to attack the city once the Yellow Turbans were exhausted.

As for the dirty and tiring work such as transporting grain and fodder, caring for the wounded, and reinforcing the camps, they were all naturally pushed onto the civilian laborers and Liu Bei's army.

One of the scholars under his command suggested, "Prefect, why not report this plan to General Lu, so that the court may know of your strategy?"

Guo Dian stroked his beard and laughed. He immediately picked up his pen and wrote down his ingenious plan. He didn't mention Liu Bei at all, but only said that he had devised a brilliant plan to exhaust the enemy and that he would be able to break through the city in a few days!

Little did he know that just half an hour before he began writing, Liu Bei's messenger had already sped off on horseback to Guangzong with the letter.

……

That night.

In Lu Zhi's camp in Guangzong, the central command tent was brightly lit.

Lu Zhi had just finished reading Liu Bei's handwritten letter when he picked up the silk scroll that detailed the execution of the strategy to exhaust the enemy. Comparing the two, the handwriting was different, but the content was almost identical.

He tapped the table lightly, understanding the situation, but with a major battle imminent, he couldn't easily punish the general.

They didn't make a fuss, but simply put the two letters away.

Just then, the eunuch Zuo Feng walked in, fanning himself, and said with a standard eunuch-like, forced smile:

"Lord Lu, His Majesty has issued another decree urging us to fight. Guangzong has been besieged for months. If we can't take it soon, you'll have a hard time explaining to His Majesty."

He paused, then added meaningfully:

"A colleague of mine went to Youzhou to deliver an imperial edict a few days ago, and he came back with a full load of goods. That's what you call knowing how to get things done."

Lu Zhi's face darkened, clearly displeased!

He directly refused, saying, "Master Zuo, the army is short of food and supplies. The soldiers are not even full. Where would they find the extra money to offer as tribute?"

If the eunuch feels that I have failed in my duties, he may return to Luoyang and report to His Majesty.

After saying that, he made a "please" gesture.

Zuo Feng's smile froze instantly. He snorted coldly and turned away.

Stepping out of the tent, he gritted his teeth and muttered under his breath, "You bastard Lu Zhi! You're asking for it! Just you wait, I'll make sure you regret this!"

……

At midnight that night, drums suddenly sounded outside Quyang City, and torches lit up the city.

Guo Dian's five hundred soldiers, carrying thousands of torches, pushed ladders and rushed to the city walls, shouting in unison as if they were about to launch a night attack.

The Yellow Turban soldiers on the city wall panicked and immediately rang the alarm bell. Zhang Bao got up, put on his clothes, and personally went up to the city wall to supervise the battle, ordering all the guards to go up and defend the city.

But to everyone's surprise, the government troops only shouted for half an hour and didn't even fire a single arrow before retreating like a tide.

Zhang Bao was so angry that he cursed loudly, but he didn't dare to be careless. He left half of his soldiers to guard the city wall, and only after an hour did he dare to let them take turns resting.

But less than an hour after he fell asleep, deafening shouts of battle erupted from the west gate.

Zhang Bao had no choice but to get up again and lead his men to the West Gate.

This happened repeatedly. In one night, the government troops harassed the city three times, each time making a lot of noise but doing little, yet disturbing the Yellow Turban soldiers throughout the city!

This happened for two days in a row!

Standing atop the camp's watchtower, Guo Dian looked at the yawning, slumped Yellow Turban soldiers on the city wall and said smugly to the general beside him:

"Gentlemen, look! The Yellow Turban rebels are exhausted! Tomorrow morning, a full-scale attack will surely take Quyang in one fell swoop!"

The generals echoed this sentiment, praising Guo Dian's military prowess as divine.

Little did they know that Zhang Bao, standing atop the city wall, was burning with rage.

After two days, he had already figured out the government troops' tactics!

They only dared to bluff, and didn't dare to actually attack the city!

"These government troops are useless! How dare they make fun of me!" Zhang Bao slammed his fist on the battlement and gritted his teeth. "Pass down the order: each battalion shall leave 30% of its soldiers to guard the city, and the rest shall return to their camps to rest."

"Come with me out of town tonight and we'll crush these good-for-nothings in one fell swoop!"

That night, Guo Dian still sent 500 men to harass the East Gate.

This time, however, the city wall was quiet, with not a single guard in sight.

The captain in charge sensed something was wrong, but dared not attack without permission. He could only shout a few times as usual before preparing to retreat.

Just then, the city gates suddenly burst open! Zhang Bao personally led several thousand elite Yellow Turban troops, charging out like tigers descending a mountain!

"Kill them!"

The Yellow Turban soldiers, who had been holding back their anger for several days, finally unleashed it all, each one of them fearless of death.

Caught completely off guard, the hundreds of government troops were instantly routed, suffering heavy casualties.

The captain leading the troops scrambled back to the camp, shouting in panic, "Prefect! Something terrible has happened! Zhang Bao has led his army out to attack!"

Guo Dian was greatly alarmed and immediately ordered the entire army to meet the enemy.

But his soldiers had been resting and recuperating for three days, and their plan was to launch a general attack the next day. Caught off guard, they were no match for the Yellow Turban soldiers who had been holding back their energy.

As soon as the two sides clashed, the government troops suffered repeated defeats and countless casualties.

Zhang Bao, wielding a broadsword, charged ahead, slaying three officers of the government army in succession, and advancing directly towards Guo Dian's central command tent.

Guo Dian was terrified and turned to flee, shouting, "Retreat! Retreat back to camp!"

With the central army about to be breached, Guo Dian was about to become a victim of Zhang Bao's blade.

Just at this critical moment, a deafening sound of horses' hooves suddenly came from afar!

"Zhang Yide of Yan is here! Zhang Bao, don't run!"

A thunderous roar echoed across the battlefield. Zhang Fei, wielding his eighteen-foot spear, led five hundred vanguard soldiers, like a sharp dagger, plunging fiercely into the flank of the Yellow Turban army.

The eighteen-foot spear swept out horizontally, and wherever it passed, the Yellow Turban soldiers fell to the ground, and no one could stop it.

Zhang Bao was shocked and shouted, "There's an ambush! Retreat!"

These elite Yellow Turban rebels could still understand and execute orders.

They immediately followed Zhang Bao in retreat.

But at that moment, a white-horse cavalry appeared behind the city gate.

Zhao Yun led 120 light cavalry to circle around to the rear of the Yellow Turban soldiers, charging back and forth with archery to cut off their retreat.

He wielded his gleaming silver spear with impenetrable speed, and the Yellow Turban soldiers fell in droves, yet they couldn't even touch the hem of his clothes.

The government troops, who were originally in complete disarray, were greatly encouraged by the bravery of Liu Bei's army and turned around to fight back.

Zhang Bao was alarmed when he realized the situation was dire.

He never expected there to be a scheme within a scheme!

Especially those two fierce generals, each of them possessed the courage of ten thousand men, and he was no match for them at all!

"Retreat! Retreat back to the city immediately!" Zhang Bao dared not linger and quickly ordered a retreat.

However, their retreat route had been cut off by Zhao Yun's cavalry, and Zhang Fei attacked from both sides, with the two armies joining forces to completely block the direction of the city gate.

The Yellow Turban soldiers were thrown into chaos, trampling each other and suffering heavy casualties once again.

Zhang Bao had no choice but to fight desperately and manage to escape towards the south gate with several thousand remaining soldiers.