The Battle of Counterattack at Xu Village has begun!
On the outskirts of Xu Village, the rear formation of the Yellow Turban Army had already been broken through by the Xuzhou troops.
The sound of horns urging continued attack rang out once again.
The soldiers of the Xuzhou Army, filled with joy, began to organize their offensive once more amid the stirring horn calls and charged again toward the front formation of the Yellow Turbans inside the village.
Amid the earth-shattering shouts and killings, the Xuzhou soldiers poured in layers upon layers through the breach in the Yellow Turban formation into the village, striking down those Yellow Turban soldiers who were burning, killing, and plundering.
Meanwhile, the militia inside Xu Village had already formed their counterattack.
Nearly a thousand strong men, wielding knives, spears, or even hoes and rakes, joined forces with the Xuzhou troops in a pincer attack, causing the Yellow Turban Army’s casualties to rise sharply.
The Yellow Turban Army, which had just held an absolute numerical advantage, now found itself overwhelmed, facing attacks from both front and rear!
Once their formation was broken, they proved utterly vulnerable…
In contrast, the militia of Xu Village now seemed like tigers entering a flock of sheep, unstoppable.
“Commander He!
The situation is irreversible!
We should retreat quickly!” Facing the already collapsing and demoralized situation, the Yellow Turban generals all panicked and urgently urged He Man to withdraw.
“Retreat!
Retreat where?” He Man roared in anguish: “The Han army planned this in advance…
pincer attack from front and rear, enemies on all sides.
Where do you want me to retreat?!” A Yellow Turban general hastily said: “Commander He!
Even if the lads under our command cannot escape, we will protect Commander He and surely carve out a bloody path!” “I won’t leave!” He Man’s eyes were bloodshot: “If the troops are all gone, what’s the point of keeping this old man alive?
Listen up, anyone who dares speak of retreat again will be executed!” After He Man said this, the Yellow Turban colonels around him could not help but lament in their hearts…
This time, it was truly over.
The Xuzhou soldiers swiftly devoured the Yellow Turban forces, like a small river embankment being gnawed open by ants, instantly collapsing and being swallowed by the flood in the blink of an eye.
At this stage of the battle, even Tao Shang could see it…
The overall situation at Xu Village was decided.
“Report~~~!” A mounted messenger galloped swiftly to Tao Shang and Mi Fang, saying: “Reporting to General Mi and the Supervisor!
Frontline Commander Li reports that some in the Yellow Turban Army are willing to surrender.
Please give instructions, General Mi and Supervisor.” Mi Fang turned to look at Tao Shang and consulted: “Young Master, what do you think?” Tao Shang solemnly asked in return: “What is Brother Mi’s intention?” Mi Fang pondered for a moment, then said in a low voice: “They are nothing but a bunch of rebellious commoners and bandits…
Kill them!” Tao Shang was stunned upon hearing this, then turned his head toward the battlefield.
All kinds of emotions unconsciously surged into his mind.
Regret, pity, helplessness…
All sorts of emotions mixed together flooded his brain.
The bloody scenes of slaughter on the battlefield earlier, the mournful roars, the painful cries, all mixed with these lower-class people’s angry accusations and protests against this merciless era.
The so-called Yellow Turban bandits were nothing more than ordinary common folk…
Their needs were actually not many, just a bite to eat, a place to sleep.
They were merely the most basic biological requirements for living beings in this world.
As human beings, yet only demanding the same needs as livestock, isn’t this the sorrow of this era?
Yet this era was unwilling even to satisfy its most basic needs!
If not driven to desperation, who would willingly take this path of resistance?
They were all living people.
Their resistance was not because of ideals or ambition…
but because the environment had forced them from good citizens into beasts, and these beasts’ ferocious attacks on people were merely for a mouthful of food.
They just wanted to survive.
“Tell all the Commanders and Colonels: for the enemy troops in the front formation, regardless of their position or whether their surrender is genuine…
accept their surrender.” Tao Shang instructed word by word, without any hesitation.
Mi Fang was startled and quickly said: “Young Master, we don’t have that much grain!” Tao Shang smiled lightly and said: “Send word to your elder brother to procure more provisions.
Xuzhou is relatively prosperous in grain compared to other provinces and commanderies; it shouldn’t be difficult.” Mi Fang wiped his sweat and said: “But even if I send a letter to my brother, it will take more than twenty days for the next batch of military rations to arrive, and we still need scouts to inform my brother where to transport the supplies…
But what about the immediate grain shortage?” Troops move only after grain is prepared, this was indeed a problem.
“I’ll think of a way.
Brother Mi, just do as I say!” Tao Shang said earnestly.
“But…” Mi Fang’s voice was somewhat weak.
Tao Shang raised his hand to stop Mi Fang and smiled: “Brother Mi, do you trust me?” Mi Fang swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing, as if he had something to say, but ultimately held it back.
Truth be told, Mi Fang had genuinely trusted Tao Shang several times.
The most recent was stealing livestock, and the result…
never mind, better not mention it.
…..
Once the Xuzhou Army accepted surrenders, the Yellow Turban soldiers began discarding their weapons and ceasing to fight.
At first it was just a few people, but gradually it became dozens.
Seeing their comrades around them surrendering one after another, it spread like a plague, one telling ten, ten telling a hundred, a hundred telling a thousand.
In the end, Yellow Turban soldiers in units of thousands laid down their arms and stopped fighting.
All of this fell into He Man’s eyes.
This Truncated Heaven Yaksha could not help but close his eyes and sigh deeply toward the sky.
“Heaven wants me dead!” The Chancellor of Jibei, Bao Xin, had not destroyed him.
The government troops along the way had not destroyed him…
But who would have thought that the one to capsize him would be such a small village.
It seemed Heaven intentionally mocked He Man.
At this moment, the militia led by Xu Chu and the Xuzhou troops led by Tao Shang and Mi Fang simultaneously closed in.
It was truly a great irony.
Knowing that He Man was the bandit leader, Tao Shang, under the protection of the Xuzhou soldiers, approached within several zhang of this remaining leader of a dozen or so men and called out loudly: “Surrender!” He Man’s face was cold and fierce.
He led his remaining subordinates charging toward Tao Shang, only to be halted by a rain of arrows from the Xuzhou troops.
Looking at He Man, now forced into a desperate corner, Tao Shang called out loudly once more: “Those who surrender will be spared death!” Mi Fang rode forward and said in a low voice: “Young Master, others can be overlooked, but this man is the bandit leader of this Yellow Turban force.
Keeping him may invite criticism.” He Man turned a deaf ear to Tao Shang’s words.
He looked around in all directions and saw enemies everywhere.
Outside the encirclement came mostly loud calls of surrender, along with the sounds of weapons being thrown to the ground.
He Man cried…
In a short moment, everything he had was buried in this deadly encirclement.
“The Blue Heaven is already dead; the Yellow Heaven shall rise.
In the year of Jiazi, the world shall be greatly blessed!!” He Man let out a final mournful cry, then raised his sword and slashed it toward his own neck.
“Commander He!
Commander He!” The Yellow Turban guards never expected such a sudden turn.
They all rushed forward to seize the sword from He Man’s hand…
But things went against their wishes.
It happened too suddenly.
By the time they grabbed the blade, He Man was already clutching his spurting neck, glaring with wide, unwilling eyes, and collapsed dead.
In the first year of Chuping, the Floating Cloud Yellow Turban division that had plagued the central provinces was defeated by the Xuzhou Army in the Qiao region.
Their Qu Shuai He Man died.
Except for those killed, the majority of the Floating Cloud Yellow Turban division surrendered to the Xuzhou Army, with over five thousand surrendering.
…..
With the dust settled and dawn breaking, the Commanders, Commandants, and Hundred-Men Leaders of the Xuzhou Army all went to handle the aftermath.
Tao Shang and Mi Fang, however, were inside the command tent discussing subsequent matters.
Mi Fang shook his head and said with some incomprehension: “Thank goodness this Yellow Turban force came fleeing from Jibei.
Most of the old, weak, sick, and disabled died along the way!
The remaining ones are still fairly strong…
Otherwise, if they had been dragging along old and weak women and children, would Young Master really have accepted all of them as surrenders?” Tao Shang fiddled with a piece of damaged armor fragment he had picked up from somewhere and said while fiddling: “Then accept them all.
Solitary happiness is not as good as collective happiness.” Mi Fang nearly choked with anger upon hearing this: “This general cannot find any happiness!
Young Master, our grain supplies were originally sufficient!
But suddenly adding several thousand more people has directly consumed half of the provisions!!!
Moreover, these people are all from famine-stricken origins and have never undergone proper military training!
Whether they can be used or not aside, we still have to guard against them everywhere.
Why bother?
It would be cleaner to just kill them!” Tao Shang did not answer Mi Fang directly.
He looked up at the sky, pondered for a while, and said: “Some matters, Brother Mi, cannot be viewed only in the short term.
You must think farther ahead…
You may not see through it now, but in the future you will surely understand my reasons for doing this.
Killing people is not the fundamental way to solve problems.
Excessive slaughter will only cause more accumulated weakness.
All things and principles in this world revolve around people…
If you kill all the people cleanly, everything becomes empty talk.” Mi Fang was rendered speechless with anger: “Leaving aside the distant future, what about the grain issue right now?” Tao Shang gave a faint smile with pursed lips and said: “I will come up with a solution before the grain runs out.
Brother Mi need not worry.” Although Mi Fang could not understand the reasons behind Tao Shang’s actions, as the son of the Governor serving as Supervisor, he did not dare say much more…
After all, along this journey, Tao Shang had been making the decisions in emergencies…
Although he was very young, his maturity and shrewdness far surpassed his own.
At some point, Mi Fang had actually developed a sense of reliance on Tao Shang in his heart, gradually regarding him as the pillar and backbone.
While they were speaking, a guard outside the tent came to report: “General Mi, Young Master, outside the camp gate, a fellow claiming to be Xu Chu of Qiao Commandery has come to request a meeting.” Tao Shang seemed to have anticipated it and nodded: “Let him in.” Mi Fang’s expression tightened, his eyes darting around: “Why has this fellow come?” Tao Shang revealed a gentle smile and said: “Xu Chu previously came to our army formation to curse us and even demanded compensation, and wanted me to hand you over…
But we repaid grievance with virtue, not holding it against him, and expended great effort to help him defend the village.
As long as this boorish fellow still has some humanity, how could he not be moved to tears?” Mi Fang wiped his sweat and said guiltily: “Is that so?
Young Master’s thinking may be too naive.
This general feels he doesn’t seem like such a reasonable person…” As his words fell, heavy and hurried footsteps came from outside the tent.
Before Tao Shang and Mi Fang could react, the tent curtain was yanked open with a “whoosh.” Xu Chu, wearing a short jacket, his upper body bare with a chest full of black hair, his face flushed red like a fierce god or evil spirit, burst into the tent and roared: “Mi, you bastard!
You dared to take advantage of the Yellow Turban bandits attacking the village to plunder in the chaos and secretly steal my family’s livestock!” Tao Shang was instantly stunned upon hearing this.
On the other side, Mi Fang was already scared out of his wits, yet still forced himself to retort: “You barbarian, don’t speak slander!
When did this general ever steal your livestock?” Xu Chu’s eyes widened: “Still dare to quibble?!
The children in my village saw it with their own eyes.
How could it be false?
Could a few-year-old child wrongly accuse you?!” Tao Shang suddenly turned his head to look at Mi Fang: “Is this true?” Mi Fang sniffed and snorted: “We came out with troops to help you exterminate the bandits.
How much effort did we expend?
Taking a couple of your livestock to replenish our strength, what’s wrong with that?” Xu Chu was by nature violent.
He paid no heed to Mi Fang’s excuses and without another word kicked out with his foot: “Fuck your mother!” A giant foot as big as a bear’s paw stomped onto Mi Fang’s chest.
Mi Fang’s eyes rolled back and he flew backward directly, smashing through the tent and flying out of it.
Tao Shang stared with his mouth agape in shock.
He had thought they had won Xu Chu over, but never expected this pig teammate Mi Fang to be incorrigible!
During the night’s encirclement and annihilation of the Yellow Turban Army, he still found time to send people to steal livestock?…
Steal if you must, but don’t get caught with evidence because of sloppy work!
No matter what, he would have to castrate this fellow later!