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

Five words, their sound resounded through the heavens and echoed throughout Guangzong City!

At the foot of Guangzong City, tens of thousands of Yellow Turban soldiers knelt down at the same time, their cries shaking the heavens.

There was no fear in that cry! No terror in it!

Only a fearless spirit that would lead a great man to his death to save the people from suffering!

As for where water and fire came from, let's not worry about that!

Standing on the high platform, Li Chang felt a jolt, and felt even more like a villain!

Looking at the lonely white figure on the top of Guangzong City, he suddenly felt an indescribable emotion welling up inside him.

Zhang Jiao knew he was acting, but he still acted until the very last moment.

Because tens of thousands of eyes were watching him from below the stage, and if he collapsed, the faith of those tens of thousands of people would truly die!

A dying man, with his last strength, held up one last flag for his followers!

In a flash, a name flashed through Li Chang's mind: Lu Zhi.

When Lu Zhi was put into the prison van, he remained calm and did not utter a single word in his defense.

He slipped the letter to Huangfu Song, left the message for Liu Bei, and took the blame for himself.

Two completely different people, at the same moment, chose the same stance.

Not only them, but also tens of thousands of people throughout Chinese history have been willing to die for their beliefs, for the people, and for their followers!

Together they forged a tragic and magnificent chapter in Chinese history!

Now, I myself have become a part of history, albeit on the opposite side.

Li Chang gripped the wooden railing at the edge of the platform tightly.

Zhang Jiao died so that his ragged Yellow Turban followers could hold on a little longer; Lu Zhi faced death so that his fledgling rebel army would not be implicated.

One was loyalty to their faith, the other loyalty to the Han Dynasty. What they ultimately gave up was far more important than themselves.

The thought flashed through his mind for only a moment. He suppressed the turmoil in his heart and gripped the peach wood sword tightly again.

Walk the Seven Star Steps clockwise and then counterclockwise, completing one cycle.

Li Chang took out a specially made scarecrow with the inscription "General Zhang Jiao, the Heavenly General!"

In an instant, three silver needles were inserted into the scarecrow's forehead and chest.

He shouted:

"Zhang Jiao defies the heavens! Today, I, Li Chang, will borrow the fortune of the Han Emperor and the murderous aura of the two generals to confront you, you monster!"

Upon receiving the signal, Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun bowed three times to the scarecrow!

The scarecrow floated towards Guangzong City and spontaneously combusted again without fire!

Zhang Jiao withdrew his gaze and slowly closed his eyes.

His face was unusually calm, even carrying a hint of relieved peace.

Time is up!

He spoke softly, his voice audible only to Zhang Liang and a few disciples who were closest to him:

"I, Zhang Jiao, am willing to die. With my lifeblood, I will unite with the Great Way of Peace and bring a glimmer of hope to all living beings."

boom!!

A dazzling golden light shot up from Zhang Jiao's body, as if piercing through the dark clouds above and illuminating the entire gloomy sky.

Everyone was blinded by the light.

The golden light dissipated.

Zhang Jiao fell straight down on the high platform.

The nine-section wooden staff slipped from his hand, rolled down the steps, and stopped on the last one.

He stared at the sky with his eyes open, a faint smile playing on his lips.

The rain stopped. The wind died down.

A gap appeared in the dark clouds, and sunlight poured down through it, landing directly on the top of Guangzong City.

The entire battlefield was deathly silent.

Zhang Liang collapsed onto Zhang Jiao, letting out a heart-wrenching cry: "Big Brother!!!"

His second brother is dead, and now his eldest brother is gone too! Of the three brothers, he is now all alone!

That cry seemed to have flipped some kind of switch.

Within Guangzong City, cries of grief erupted like a flood bursting its banks.

Tens of thousands of Yellow Turban soldiers knelt on the ground, their cries shaking the heavens. Some banged their heads against the wall, while others tore their yellow turbans to shreds.

Li Chang stood on the high platform, quietly watching this scene.

He neither cheered nor smiled; he simply sheathed his peach wood sword and bowed slightly towards the top of Guangzong City.

Not in the capacity of a military advisor for the Han army.

He was bidding farewell to an opponent as a disciple of the Taoist sect.

Liu Bei climbed onto the high platform, walked to his side, and said softly, "Fourth brother, it's over."

"No." Li Chang slowly raised his head and looked at the yellow flag swaying precariously in the wind atop Guangzong City.

He thought to himself, "Zhang Jiao is dead, but this chaotic world has only just begun!"

He paused, his voice lowering slightly: "Guangzong City still stands, only Zhang Liang remains. The rest is up to the two lieutenant generals."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

After descending from the high platform, all the generals volunteered to fight, offering to be the vanguard!

But what was unexpected was...

Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun both waved their hands in refusal:

"Do not rush into battle! At this moment, the bandit leader Zhang Jiao has just died, and the Yellow Turban rebels are at their strongest due to their grief!"

"We must prepare a strong defense to prevent the Yellow Turban rebels from attempting a breakout!"

The generals were all stunned upon hearing this, and the fighting spirit on their faces instantly faded by more than half.

Huangfu Song looked around at everyone and explained:

"You all only know how to press your advantage, but you have forgotten the four words 'a desperate army will surely win.' Zhang Jiao has been running the Way of Peace for more than ten years and his prestige among the Yellow Turban Army is like that of a god."

Now that he is dead and his spirit has vanished, hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turban rebels have lost their leader, and are left with only grief, anger and despair.

At this moment, their desire to die far outweighs their desire to live. If we rashly attack the city, we will only force them to fight to the death, and our army will suffer heavy casualties.

"It would be better to fortify our defenses, build deep trenches and high walls, and simply surround the city without attacking. Their grief and anger will eventually dissipate. Once their supplies are exhausted and their morale is low, we can then launch a decisive attack and capture Guangzong at the lowest possible cost!"

Zhu Jun nodded in agreement: "General Huangfu is absolutely right. Although Zhang Jiao is dead, Zhang Liang is still alive, and he still has more than 100,000 elite Yellow Turban troops under his command. We must not underestimate the enemy and advance rashly, lest our efforts be in vain."

The generals suddenly understood and bowed, saying, "We will obey the orders of the two generals!"

On that day, the Han army fortified their camp, dug three trenches outside Guangzong City, and set up barricades and chevaux-de-frise, preparing for a long-term siege.

Sure enough, at the third watch of the night, the gates of Guangzong quietly opened.

Dressed in mourning clothes and wielding a large sword, Zhang Liang personally led 30,000 elite Yellow Turban troops, sneaking towards the Han army camp under the cover of night.

They were all expressionless, with bloodshot eyes, silently chanting "May the Heavenly General protect us," like warriors going to their deaths.

"kill!"

At Zhang Liang's command, tens of thousands of Yellow Turban soldiers surged toward the Han army camp like a tidal wave.

"Release the arrows!"

The prepared Han army immediately opened fire, a hail of arrows falling like locusts, instantly felling a group of Yellow Turban soldiers.

But those behind them disregarded their own lives, stepping over the corpses of their comrades to continue charging forward, smashing open the camp gates with their bodies and engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the Han army.

The fighting that night was far more brutal than any of the previous battles.

The Yellow Turban soldiers were fierce and fearless; even if their hands and feet were cut off, they would still rush forward and bite the throats of the Han soldiers.

Many Han soldiers were terrified by this frenzied momentum and retreated in defeat.

"Hold your ground! No retreating!"

Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun personally led the charge, fighting back and forth in the camp, barely managing to stabilize the formation.

The fierce battle continued until dawn. Seeing that he could not break through the camp, Zhang Liang led his remaining troops back to Guangzong.

In this battle, the Han army suffered nearly two thousand casualties, while the Yellow Turban soldiers lost more than five thousand.

Inside the camp, the generals were still shaken by the sight of the corpses and wounded soldiers scattered all over the ground.

"Fortunately, Huangfu Zhonglang had foreseen this, otherwise we would have suffered a great loss today." Liu Bei wiped the blood from his face.

Zhang Fei, unusually, didn't yell: "These guys are like madmen. When we fought the Yellow Turbans before, they scattered as soon as we charged, but today they're fighting to the death."

Li Chang stood to one side, gazing in the direction of Guangzong City:

"This is the power of faith. Even if faith has collapsed, its lingering influence is enough to make people risk their lives."