October 185 A.D.

Zhuo County is the largest county in Youzhou, with a population of six or seven hundred thousand, accounting for almost half of the entire population of Youzhou. There are seven cities in Zhuo County, and now three of them have been lost. Beixincheng, Gu'an City, and Fanyang City are all occupied by the Yellow Turban.

The main force of the Yellow Turban Army is crossing the Juma River and killing all the way to Zhuocheng, the seat of Zhuo County.

Zhang Niujiao is a native of Boling, Lixian County, Jizhou, his real name is Zhang Yan, and his character is simple. When he was young, he used to sell illicit salt, he was a bandit, he was outstanding in martial arts, he was good at fighting unevenly, and he was bold and righteous. Because he always carried a horn with him when he sold smuggled salt, and he used it to inform his partners whenever there was a situation, so everyone called him Zhang Horn, but forgot his real name. He participated in the Taiping Dao in his early years, and was one of the 36 Daqu Shuai in the sect, and he was also a proud disciple of Zhang Jiao, the great sage and good teacher of the Taiping Daoist sect.

Zhang Niujiao followed Zhang Jiao in Jizhou last year, attacked and burned the prefecture and county, and made great contributions repeatedly. After Zhang Jiao died of illness, the main force of the Yellow Turban Army was led by Zhang Liang, the general of Rengong, to defend Guangzong. In late October, Huangfu Song led the army to attack the Yellow Turban camp, Zhang Liang was killed, more than 30,000 Yellow Turban Army main force was killed, and more than 50,000 Yellow Turban Army soldiers died without surrendering to Qinghe. Zhang Jiao was dissected and killed. Zhang Niujiao led his troops to break through and fled to Taihang Mountain.

As Huangfu Song and his troops moved to Xiliang, all the remnants of the Yellow Turban Army that had fled into Taihang Mountain began to regroup, and their strength became stronger and stronger. Since Zhang Niujiao's prestige in the Yellow Turban Army was unmatched, and the number of troops was the largest, he naturally became the leader.

During Zhang Niujiao's few months in Taihang Mountain, he and his subordinates also summarized and analyzed the defeat of the Yellow Turban Army.

Everyone believes that after the Yellow Turban Army uprising, under the command of the Dafang Qu Marshal in various localities, they fought separately and did not contact each other, nor could they coordinate and cooperate. In addition, although the number of the Yellow Turban Army was very large, most of them were mountain and wild villagers, ordinary people, who had not received systematic military training and lacked combat experience, so the Yellow Turban Army in various places was successively defeated by the superior forces of the officers and troops. What is even more infuriating is that the clan and the powerful people in various places took advantage of various relationships such as protégés and former officials, plus they had money in their hands, and organized their own armies and the Yellow Turban Army to be enemies everywhere, which not only attacked and cut off the supply of the Yellow Turban Army, but also blocked the connection between the various units of the Yellow Turban Army. This is also one of the reasons for the failure of the Yellow Turban Army.

After summarizing, Zhang Niujiao and everyone also discussed many ways to deal with it. For example, military training was carried out on the Taihang Mountain to strengthen the ties between the various Yellow Turban Armies.

Zhang Niujiao and the Yellow Turban generals realized that if they blindly attacked the city and plundered the land, without a stable territory, it would be difficult for the Yellow Turban Army to survive. Finding a place to survive for the future of the Yellow Turban Army has always been the primary issue for Zhang Niujiao. As for anything else to overthrow the Liu family and rebuild the dynasty, he was not very interested. The lessons of last year's big failure are too profound. I don't have a territory, I have a crisis of survival, and I talk about other things.

At present, the Yellow Turban Army's area of activity is basically in the hinterland of the Central Plains, such as Jizhou and Yuzhou. And both of these states are close to Sili and close to Luoyang, and if the Yellow Turban Army wants to survive in these places, it will definitely threaten the safety of Kyoto. As the Son of Heaven of the Great Han Kingdom, how can he tolerate it. So last year, in order to ensure the safety of the capital Luoyang, the Han army first launched an attack on the Yingchuan Yellow Turban. The Yingchuan Yellow Turban Army was soon defeated in Changshe, and the commander Bocai was killed. Subsequently, Nanyang, Julu's Yellow Turban Army was also annihilated one after another, which is an obvious example. This part of the Central Plains is not suitable for the long-term survival and development of the Yellow Turban Army.

After repeated consultations among more than a dozen leaders of the Yellow Turban Army, everyone finally set their eyes on Bingzhou and Youzhou. These two states are located in the northernmost part of the Han Kingdom, far away from Luoyang, especially Youzhou, the distance is even longer. Judging from the current situation, the conditions for attacking Youzhou are better.

First of all, Youzhou has the foundation of the Yellow Turban Army. Last year, the Yellow Turban Army of Guangyang County, together with the Tiangong general Zhang Jiao, rose up and captured Jicheng, killing Guo Xun, the assassin of Youzhou, and Liu Wei, the Taishou. Although this Yellow Turban Army was later eliminated, the common people supported the Yellow Turban Army, believed in the Yellow Turban Army, and supported the Yellow Turban Army. Secondly, this year, the Xianbei people and Karasuma people invaded the Koubian people, and the war stopped. The Han army in Youzhou was attacked repeatedly, and its strength was drastically reduced. At this time, the time to attack Youzhou is the most appropriate.

It is much more difficult to attack and annex states. First of all, the state is adjacent to a number of powerful Hu people, and the Hu people are bordering every year, which is not conducive to the development of the Yellow Turban Army. Second, the army of Hezhou has a certain number and its strength is also very strong, and third, the Yellow Turban Army in Hexi and Hedong is still in the early stage of development and cannot form a cooperation.

Zhang Niujiao set a plan of action. First fully bloomed, captured Zhongshan, Changshan, and Zhao, attracted the main force of Jizhou, and raised enough grain and grass for the troops. Then feint to attack Julu, attack Youzhou with the absolute main force, and strive to take Zhuo County, Guangyang County, and Yuyang County before the heavy snow comes, so as to lay a solid foundation for occupying the entire Youzhou next year.

After the summer, the troops descended one after another, and the Yellow Turban Army began to launch military operations, they attacked the city, burned the official palace, and swept the dock forts of the powerful people, and achieved a great victory.

Zhang Niujiao led the main force of the Yellow Turban to launch an operation in Zhongshan Kingdom, Chu Feiyan led the army to attack various prefectures and counties in Changshan Kingdom, and Yang Feng led a large army, with the cooperation of Chu Feiyan, quickly occupied the cities of Zhao State, and then pounced on Julu County.

The Yellow Turban Army rose up in Julu and was also wiped out in Julu, and today, we want to avenge the dead Yellow Turban brothers in Julu. So the battle in the Julu direction has been very fierce.

The new Jizhou Mu Guo Dian, that is, the former Julu Taishou, is one of the culprits in the killing of the Yellow Turban Army. Due to the joint efforts of him and Julu Taishou Feng Yi, he led the army to resolutely block the attack in Gaoyi and Gaotao City, and they were horns of each other, causing the Yellow Turban Army to be blocked and had to stop.

At the same time, Zhang Niujiao led the main force of the Yellow Turban Army, the Huanglong Division, the Zuo School Division, and Zhang Bai's Cavalry Department of 150,000 horses, and suddenly launched an attack on Zhuo County.

The three cities of North New Town, Fanyang, and Gu'an fell one after another.

Juma Water Dingxing Ferry.

Dense Yellow Turban soldiers lined up in a neat phalanx, lined up on the bank, waiting to cross the river.

The soldiers were all dressed as commoners in short robes (the Han Dynasty stipulated that the common people were not allowed to wear all kinds of colored clothing, only natural linen), wore boots and shoes, wore yellow scarves, and held swords, spears, bows and arrows and other weapons. Officers of the various ministries stood in front of the queue in armor.

"Marshal, 30,000 troops have crossed the river. Zhang Shuai's troops were pursuing the enemy's auxiliary troops. ”

Zhang Niujiao glanced up at the scout, but didn't make a sound.

Zhang Niujiao is of medium stature, in his forties, with a burly body, a long face and a long beard, high cheekbones, and a pair of piercing eyes under thick eyebrows. Behind him stood a young man in his twenties, tall, with slightly dark skin, a small round face, and a very clever look. His name is Sun Qin, and he is a brave and warlike general under Zhang Niujiao, and he is very talented.

Zhang Niujiao looked at the rushing river and asked thoughtfully:

"How far away are Huang Shuai's troops?"

"Back to Dashuai, Huang Shuai's troops are still in Fanyang City, and they have not been dispatched." The scout hurriedly replied.

Zhang Niujiao's thick eyebrows immediately tightened, and his face was very ugly.

"Again. He was ordered to lead his army across the river tomorrow and attack in the direction of the country to cover the flank of the main army. If the military aircraft is delayed again, military law will be involved. ”

Sun Qin hurriedly stepped forward and whispered: "Dashuai, let's let Zuo Shuai talk about it." They are close friends, they are all Handan people, and they give face to each other. At this time, it's better not to make contradictions. What do you say? ”

Zhang Niujiao nodded, "It's okay." You go and make a run, tell Colonel Zuo, Huanglong, and let them lead their troops across the river tomorrow. After crossing the river, the troops were divided into two routes, Huanglong attacked the country, and the left colonel penetrated deep into the territory of Fangcheng, pinned down the enemy forces on both wings of the main force, and covered the large army to attack Zhuocheng. ”

Xian Yufu was exhausted and sat on the horse and fell asleep. He hadn't slept in two days.

Due to the timely retreat, his 10,000 troops were barely retained, which was a great blessing in disguise. This 10,000-strong horse has only been formed for more than four months, and it was an idea that he suddenly came up with when he was chatting with Gongsun Zhan in Shankoudu.

Youzhou is short of troops. Especially when the Yellow Turban was in Guangyang last year and the Hu people invaded this year, this situation was particularly prominent.

Because Zhuo County is adjacent to Jizhou, and Liu Yu, the Lord of the Assassin History, has a good reputation, many homeless people from Jizhou have fled to Zhuo County. Zhuo County's population instinct is large, but there is also little land to be cultivated, so a large number of displaced people are stranded in various parts of Zhuo County, and their lives are very miserable.

Recruiting displaced people into the army can not only solve the problem of a large number of displaced people and a lack of land, but also solve the living problems of displaced families. Because soldiers can eat military rations and get military salaries, and soldiers can also subsidize a little family if they save a province. As for how to solve the problem of military salaries when there are many soldiers, Liu Yu, Wei You, Xian Yufu and other government officials thought of many ideas, and finally decided to garrison the border.

The military Tuntian Zhou Dynasty already had. Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty in the previous dynasty adopted the suggestion of the minister Chao Cuo to "recruit people to migrate to the fortress", and relocated some slaves, sinners and civilians to the border area, and organized them into a Shiwu organization to garrison the border. These people work in the fields when they are busy farming, train when they are not farming, and respond to the enemy when they have trouble. This practice not only served the purpose of defending against the invasion of the Hu people, but also played a role in developing the border, which was the precedent of Tuntian in the Han Dynasty. In the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Tuntian garrisoned the border, and guarding against the Xiongnu became a major national policy at that time. Since then, the Tuntian border has been an important measure for the Han State to defend the frontier, and has become the basic method for the Great Han State to save national resources, solve the supply of the garrisons in the border areas, and deal with the invasion of the Hu people.

Liu Yu decided to settle in the sparsely populated Dai County, Shanggu County.

Just as he was about to implement this measure, he went home to recuperate because of illness, and the matter was immediately delayed. I didn't expect things in the world to be so strange, not even two months later, the Yellow Turban Army suddenly entered the attack, and these 10,000 infantry immediately became the straw that saved Zhuo County's life.

Relying on this 10,000 Han army, plus the defenders of each city, under the command of Zhuojun Taishou Wang Wei, Du Wei Wu Chi, and Assassin Shifu Gong Cao Xian Yufu, they even resisted for more than 20 days, which not only seriously delayed the enemy's offensive speed, but also bought valuable time for reinforcements.

By the time the troops withdrew to Jumashui, Xian Yufu counted that there were still more than 10,000 people left, which made him full of confidence in holding Zhuocheng.

Reinforcements? In fact, there are any reinforcements in Youzhou. Gongsun Zan is gone, Liaodong Iron Cavalry, Baimayi is never there, only the Fengyun Iron Cavalry in Li Hong's hand that has only been put together for more than two months is left.

When I thought of the 150,000 yellow turban army behind me, Xian Yufu felt a chill in the back of his head. The Yellow Turban Army is powerful, no wonder the strength of Huangfu Song, Zhu Jun, Dong Zhuo, Lu Zhi, and 100,000 soldiers and horses was also defeated at the beginning of the counterinsurgency.

At that time, Nanyang Zhang Mancheng's Yellow Turban Army led the army to conquer Nanyang City and killed Taishou Chu Gong. The Yingchuan Yellow Turban Army led by Bocai defeated Zhu Jun in succession and besieged Huangfu Song in Changshe, if it weren't for Bocai's lack of combat experience, he would almost kill Huangfu Song. Guangyang's Yellow Turban Army was even more powerful, breaking through Jicheng and killing Youzhou Assassin Shi Guo Xun and Taishou Liu Wei. The Yellow Turban Army near Julu was even more bullish, and captured Liu Xu, the king of Anping, and Liu Zhong, the king of Ganling, in one go. Lu Zhi led his army to attack the Yellow Turban Army in Guangzong, but he was also invincible and failed. Dong Zhuo did not win the first battle at all.

Now that these Yellow Turban Corps have resurged, their military strength and combat experience are still better than last year's, and it will be even more difficult to fight.

Xian Yufu was a little discouraged, and the Overseer hurried along the way. Behind the Yellow Turban General Zhang Baiqi's troops were chasing after him, not stopping for a moment.

Zhang Chun, the prime minister of Zhongshan, was beaten by the Yellow Turban Army and fled all the way, embarrassed. finally escaped to Zhuocheng, and Zhang Niujiao led his troops to cross the giant horse water again. Zhang Chun had no choice but to bid farewell to Zhuojun Taishou Wang Wei, and then crossed the holy water to prepare to escape to Jicheng to live temporarily. Zhuocheng is overcrowded now, and it may soon be broken, so it is better to go to Jicheng as soon as possible.

Last month, he was also ambitious and ready to lead his troops to the Xiliang battlefield to kill the enemy and make meritorious contributions, but he didn't expect to be driven to the sky by the Yellow Turban Army this month, and there was no way to enter the ground. He hates Zhang Wen now and grits his teeth with hatred. His request to participate in the war was not approved, and he was scolded by Zhang Wen, the general of the cavalry, telling him to defend Zhongshan Country well, and not to toss around blindly if he has nothing to do. If he had arrived in Chang'an, he would not have been chased and killed so pitifully by the Yellow Turban Army now. What's more, he lost Zhongshan Kingdom, and if he can't regain it, I'm afraid it will be difficult to save his head. According to the current development momentum of the Yellow Turban Army, it is simply a joke to want to fight back in a short time.

It was at this time that he saw Li Hong in the Shengshui River.

Li Hong's troops had just arrived on the banks of the Seongsu River.

The 10,000 cavalry army lined up in a phalanx by the river, and its momentum was so majestic that people all felt like they were swallowing mountains and rivers.

Zhang Chun seemed to see a life-saving straw, and led his subordinates to rush over.

The two sides introduced themselves, and Li Hong saw that the other party was the minister of Zhongshan, so he hurriedly met him with the courtesy of his subordinates. He is the captain of the line, and he is the acting captain, so he is naturally a step worse.

Zhang Chun hurriedly humbled and praised Li Hong's young hero, and then proposed to let his men and horses join Li Hong's cavalry army, and did his best to exterminate the Yellow Turban.

Zhang Chun's purpose is very simple, following this person, this terrible cavalry army, can't do anything. He defeated tens of thousands of Xianbei people, and those Yellow Turban Army whose strength was too far behind was naturally no problem. If Li Hong defeated the Yellow Turban and helped him recover the Zhongshan Kingdom, he would not only be innocent but also meritorious. Li Hong is his lifeline. Of course, the premise is that he must let his army join Li Hong's army, so that he can be convincing when he writes about merit in the future.

He no longer had an army, only a hundred guards and personal soldiers. But that's enough. Because Li Hong agreed very happily.

Zhang Chun called out a big man from the county officials behind him.

"This is my thief Cao (the main attendant) in the Zhongshan Mansion, let him take the men and horses to serve behind the captain."

This person is twenty-five or sixteen years old, tall and strong, a little taller than Li Hong, with a square face and thick eyebrows, a dignified appearance, and a pair of big eyes with a hint of murderous aura, which makes people always feel a little afraid.

Dahan immediately knelt down on one leg and gave a military salute, and said in a deep voice:

"Xiaguan Yan Liang, I am willing to swear to follow the lord to the death, kill the enemy and defend the country."