“General Mi!
Young Master!
This subordinate has urgent matters to report!” Outside the command tent, a sudden burst of hurried footsteps rang out accompanied by the call.
Tao Shang looked up and saw a figure kneeling on one knee outside the tent.
Under the light from inside the tent, the shadowy outline of the body was cast onto the tent curtains and sandy ground, appearing particularly tall and slender in the already pitch-black night.
“Come in and speak if you have something to say!” Mi Fang put away his obsequious demeanor in front of Tao Shang, put on a stern face, and displayed the bearing and grace expected of a commander of the three armies.
The scout quickly entered the tent, saluted the two men respectively, and spoke concisely: “One hour ago, this subordinate discovered a force of over ten thousand troops from the north migrating southward hidden in the Qiong Mountains fifty li to the north.
Their current movements are unclear.” Upon hearing that there were over ten thousand troops nearby, Mi Fang’s face instantly turned somewhat pale.
His legs secretly trembled, and the innate cowardice deep in his bones began to stir again in that moment.
Mi Fang’s slight change naturally did not escape Tao Shang’s eyes.
After spending some time together, he already understood this good partner thoroughly.
“Brother Mi, do you have the urge to pack up your belongings and gather your valuables…” Mi Fang subconsciously replied: “The Young Master is truly divine in his calculations.” Tao Shang smiled slightly and said: “Brother Mi, calm down…
There are others here.” Mi Fang immediately came to his senses.
He glanced sideways at the scout still kneeling before them and could only force himself to put on the appearance of a tough man again, stiffly asking: “Have you found out which province or commandery these troops belong to?” Although the scout wanted to laugh, he dared not be disrespectful in front of the commanding general and could only hold it in with great effort.
“This subordinate secretly investigated and saw that although the army has fairly complete weapons and equipment, it has no banners or insignia of any provincial or commandery forces, nor standardized armor.
I fear they are not provincial troops…
but observing their camp layout shows considerable order, so they are not ordinary bandits.
Therefore…
therefore, this subordinate suspects…” Mi Fang urged: “Suspects what?” “They are Yellow Turbans!” Upon hearing this, Mi Fang’s face turned red then white.
It seemed as if he breathed a sigh of relief, yet also appeared tinged with some worry.
His expression changed several times, quite eye-catching.
Seeing that Mi Fang remained silent for a long while, Tao Shang coughed lightly twice and asked: “Brother Mi, the Yellow Turban forces were destroyed six years ago.
If these truly are Yellow Turbans, they should be remnants from the great battles of the past and not worth fearing, right?” Mi Fang let out a long sigh.
He first waved his hand to dismiss the scout, ordering him to go and investigate more carefully.
After the scout left, Mi Fang then explained in detail to Tao Shang: “Young Master, although the Yellow Turban rebels were defeated six years ago, their influence is like prairie fire, repeatedly flaring up again and again over the years without cease.
Jizhou, Yanzhou, Guanzhong, Yangzhou, Qingzhou, and even our Xuzhou have all been plagued by Yellow Turban bandits.
Their forces are not small, several thousand, tens of thousands, even a hundred thousand…
Especially the Black Mountain Yellow Turbans, who even claim to have a following of a million!
They cannot be underestimated.” Tao Shang nodded as if understanding but not fully, gaining a deeper level of understanding regarding the Yellow Turbans.
This was an uprising of a religious nature.
Although it had failed, its influence could remain endless.
What was terrifying about a religiously driven uprising was not its military strength or resources, but the ideological guidance that could lead to its long-lasting endurance.
During the late Han period, natural disasters struck, large numbers of peasants wandered everywhere, and starvation was widespread.
Zhang Jiao was able, in this specific era, to go against the entrenched Confucian thought and propose ideas such as “There is no distinction of noble or base among people; all are born of Heaven” and “The Blue Heaven is dead; the Yellow Heaven shall rise.” One can imagine how greatly such thoughts influenced the lower-class people of that time who lived from hand to mouth.
It must be said that Zhang Jiao was truly innovative and bold in breaking new ground!
This was also an important reason why, even after Zhang Jiao’s death, these starving lower-class Yellow Turban masses continued to be active in various places…
Wait…
starving?
Thinking of this, Tao Shang suddenly had a flash of insight.
He stood up with a “whoosh,” startling Mi Fang, who cried out: “Young Master, what are you doing?” Tao Shang ignored him and quickly walked to the table in the center of the command tent.
He looked at the leather map that had been spread out on the table the whole time.
His eyes went from wide open to slightly narrowed, shooting forth two subtle, sharp gleams from the slits.
After an unknown length of time, Tao Shang shifted his gaze away from the leather map, wearily rubbed his brow, and murmured: “I understand what they want to do.” Mi Fang, standing beside him, looked bewildered and asked in confusion: “What does the Young Master mean?
What have you understood?” Turning his head to look at the utterly puzzled Mi Fang, Tao Shang sneered coldly: “Brother Mi, do you still remember what our original purpose was in stationing troops here?” Upon hearing this, Mi Fang’s face involuntarily reddened.
He lowered his head uneasily and said: “Steal…
steal pigs.” Tao Shang nodded and said: “If that army hidden in the Qiong Mountains is truly the Yellow Turbans, their purpose should be the same as ours originally was.” Mi Fang’s pupils dilated, his eyes widened, and his mouth opened wide in shock.
“The Yellow Turbans also lack livestock for a feast?” Tao Shang raised one finger and waved it, saying: “More precisely, they lack grain!
And the only place nearby with both grain and livestock is one location!” Mi Fang finally understood: “The Xu clan’s manor?” “Correct.” Tao Shang turned his head to look at the pitch-black night sky outside the tent and said: “The Yellow Turbans have come from afar and cannot stay long.
If my guess is correct, they will definitely launch an attack on the Xu manor tonight!” Hearing this, Mi Fang’s face instantly lit up with joy.
“Young Master, this is excellent!
This is what they call dogs biting dogs!
Let the Yellow Turban bandits and that boor Xu Chu fight each other to the death!
We don’t need to leave either—just camp here and watch the two sides kill each other.
Wonderful!
Delightful…
delightful…
delightful…” Suddenly feeling two sword-like gazes shooting straight at the back of his neck, Mi Fang felt goosebumps all over his body.
He slowly turned his head to look at Tao Shang behind him.
“Young Master…?” Tao Shang’s face was completely calm.
He neither agreed nor opposed, simply looking at him very peacefully and gently.
Mi Fang had felt uneasy about this harmless expression of Tao Shang’s for some time now.
He swallowed a mouthful of saliva and forced a smile: “How is my strategy?” The corners of Tao Shang’s mouth twitched into a smile that did not reach his eyes: “Heh.” Even if Mi Fang was slow, he could tell that these two “heh”s were not good…
they sounded somewhat like scolding.
“Then according to the Young Master’s intention, what should we do?” Tao Shang spoke word by word: “Muster the troops, send out all scouts to carefully investigate.
Once the bandits attack the Xu manor, we will immediately harass their rear and strike the Yellow Turbans together with Xu Chu in a pincer attack from both sides.” This time it was Mi Fang’s turn to want to say “heh.” “Young Master, this morning Xu Chu led troops to our camp and blocked the gate demanding that you hand me over.
We haven’t even settled the score with him yet, why should we help that boor deal with the Yellow Turbans?” Mi Fang said indignantly, offering a rebuttal.
Tao Shang extended three fingers and folded them down one by one, saying: “There are three reasons.
First, I want to recruit Xu Chu into the Xuzhou army.
Second, you and I are both officers of the Xuzhou army after all.
You are the commander of an army, and I am the Inspector’s personally appointed Supervisor.
If we encounter bandits plundering civilians and do not help, it would be unjustifiable both morally and logically.” Mi Fang was still somewhat sullen: “Then what about the third reason?” “Third, Brother Mi, do not forget, we are from Xuzhou, and we are a gentleman’s army!” The three righteous and solemn reasons did not achieve the desired effect.
Especially the third reason, looking at Mi Fang’s expression, it seemed he wanted to vomit a bit?
Past the middle of the zi hour, the moonlit night had grown deep.
The Xu manor in the deep night had already sunk into darkness.
Only a few households in the manor had oil lamps lit, their sparse lights scattered throughout the manor.
This peaceful and harmonious atmosphere was completely out of place in this chaotic world, yet it existed nonetheless, like sturdy bamboo in a violent storm, swaying precariously but never losing its roots.
At the rear of the Xu manor, the Floating Cloud Yellow Turban troops were slowly approaching.
The lead horses all had hemp coverings over their mouths and cloth wraps on their hooves to avoid making noise.
The entire army moved like a dark cloud under the moonlit night, a black mass of figures pressing toward the Xu manor at a steady, unhurried pace.
“Charge in!” In the center, He Man stared at the Xu manor close at hand with bloodshot eyes.
His hoarse voice contained a trace of suppressed excitement, like a starving wolf in the Gobi suddenly spotting a wandering hare.
Every cell in his body thirsted for fresh blood.
“Charge!” No one knew whose voice exploded in the night sky, immediately followed by the unified roar of nearly ten thousand men.
The three thousand Yellow Turban vanguard troops had already charged into the Xu clan’s manor first.
The quiet Xu manor instantly exploded like a pot of boiling oil!
The sturdy men of the manor who had been sleeping in their homes hurriedly got up, grabbed their tools, and rushed out to fight the Yellow Turban bandits.
For a time, the main roads and small paths, the farmhouses and courtyards within the manor all became battlefields.
Yellow Turban soldiers and the Xu manor militiamen fought desperately.
Knives, spears, axes, hoes, and rakes flew everywhere under the moonlight, splashing blood from time to time.
Women and children huddled inside the houses and farm buildings, desperately suppressing their cries.
The livestock in the pens neighed and howled, dragged and pulled out of the enclosures by the Yellow Turbans who had charged in.
It was fortunate that while attacking the manor, the Yellow Turban army also focused on looting grain and livestock.
Otherwise, although the manor’s clan warriors were brave, how could they have fought against dozens of times their number of Floating Cloud Yellow Turbans?
The final result would likely have been the tragic scene of all people and livestock dead, with nine out of ten houses empty.
Even so, the Yellow Turban army was truly numerous.
While looting supplies, they still held a clear upper hand in battle against the clan militiamen.
Before long, the number of dead and wounded inside the Xu manor had already reached over a hundred!
At this moment, regardless of gender or age, as long as they could walk, everyone in the manor stood up, using their own bodies to defend their homes, determined to fight the Yellow Turbans to the death…
But the disparity in strength between the two sides was too great, and the tide of battle remained difficult to reverse.
At this time, He Man, the Heaven-Severing Yaksha, had also led his personal guards straight into the manor, coldly surveying the various battlefields unfolding inside.
“Damn it!
Why are there farmhouses on fire?
Who allowed the brats to set fires!” He Man grew furious as he watched.
A Yellow Turban colonel hurriedly replied: “The people inside the manor are quite fierce and are fighting us to the death.
The brats set a few fires to intimidate them.” He Man gnashed his teeth and said: “You worthless fools!!
If you burn the grain and livestock, whose fault is that?
We came to seize grain, not to burn the manor!
Tell the brats!
Anyone who dares set fires again…
kill them!” “Understood!” “Also, quickly resolve the fighting, take the grain and livestock, and leave the manor.
Do not delay any longer!
Anyone who obstructs us, man, woman, old, or young, kill them without mercy!” “Understood!!”