The first time Chu Yan received an order for reinforcements was on the way to pursue Liu Bei, that is, when he pursued to the city of Jianjin on the edge of the river.

Chu Yan chose to return to the teacher as soon as possible. When he rushed to the territory of Jingxian in Julu County with his army, Sima Xiaoyan hurried from the front line. When she heard that Xiao Zuo's entire army was annihilated, Chu Yan's heart was suddenly filled with ominous thoughts.

The cavalry general drove the Youzhou Iron Cavalry led by Yue Fei to Wei County, which became a turning point on the battlefield in Jizhou. His arrival gave the Yellow Turban Army a head-on blow.

Chu Yan felt the resistance from the battlefield of Wei County, and attacking Yecheng was not as simple as Zhang Jiao imagined. Now the attack of the Yellow Turban Army on the battlefield of Wei County has been blocked, and the official army in the direction of Yanzhou East County is gathering. A battle could start at any moment at two places more than a thousand miles apart.

If this is the case, it will be a disaster for the Yellow Turbans.

When they arrived in Quzhou, they received the news that the Yellow Turban Army was attacked by the cavalry of the Youzhou Army outside Yecheng City and suffered heavy casualties.

Chu Yan immediately ordered the troops to stop advancing.

Xiao Yan's meaning is very clear, the thief Zhonglang blocked Huangfu Song in the line of Qingyuan and Guantao by Zhang Liang, the general of the Imperial Army, and now there is no definite news that Cao Cao, another official army, has the intention of going north to support Yecheng, but Yecheng has the last blow left, and taking Yecheng is equivalent to taking the entire Wei County.

Chu Yan's meaning is simpler, now the Yellow Turban Army no longer has the ability to inevitably conquer Yecheng. Even if his own support army arrived at the Yecheng battlefield, the total strength was only 1340,000 horses. And there are still more than 20,000 defenders in Yecheng, plus 15,000 Youzhou iron cavalry led by Yue Fei who is cruising in the Zhangshui area, the possibility of the Yellow Turban Army capturing Yecheng is already very small.

Moreover, even if you can defeat Wei County, what is the use? If you can't take the whole of Hebei or at least the whole of Jizhou, you won't be able to solve any problems at all. Once Huangfu Song broke through the Qingyuan and Guantao lines, then Guangzong, the base camp of the Yellow Turban Army, was exposed to the enemy's front, and the Yellow Turban Army suffered from the enemy on its back, how to deal with it?

What should I do if I fight the army in Wei County and attack Hanoi and Hedong? What to do with the attack and annexation of the state? And what about Youzhou further north? At present, the Yellow Turban Army does not have the strength to capture the entire Hebei region, so it is better to face up to the reality and withdraw its troops from Wei County and retain its strength. If the Yellow Turban Army does not have an army, it is either the Yellow Turban Army or a dead end.

Xiao Yan saw that Chu Yan was so resolute, so he had no choice but to retreat. He decided to disobey the military order and temporarily not stay in Julu County and Anping Kingdom to raise food and grass for the army. He decided to rush back to the Yecheng camp in person, tell Zhang Jiao what Chu Yan meant, and let the great sage and good teacher decide whether to withdraw the army from Yecheng, and only the great sage and good teacher can decide.

He hoped that Chu Yan would still follow the military orders of the great sage and good teacher, and lead the army to march westward quickly. Blatantly disobeying military orders is a capital offense, and there is no need to turn against the great sages and good teachers because of this matter. This matter is related to the future of the Yellow Turban Army, and the great sage and mentor are also brave and resourceful people, and will not ignore the future of the Yellow Turban Army and insist on going their own way.

In addition, Sun Qin mentioned in the last letter that he hoped that the reinforcements would secretly rush to the ancient city of Ping'en to see if there was a chance to lure the cavalry of the Youzhou Army to come and rob the grain, and take the opportunity to beat them hard. The cavalry of the Youzhou Army led by Yue Fei has recently won a series of battles, and the soldiers are arrogant and underestimate the enemy, and they will definitely be defeated.

Chu Yan shook his head again and again, and said with a wry smile: "If this plan is implemented before the big camp is attacked, there is still a possibility of success. Right now...... It's not easy to do it, it's self-defeating, and even the grain and grass are dangerous. ”

Xiao Yan looked at Chu Yan strangely, a little disbelieving.

"When the main forces of our army are damaged, reinforcements must be requested. Sun Qin was stagnant for a long time in the ancient city of Ping'en, and suddenly marched boldly, there was only one possibility, that is, the follow-up reinforcements arrived. Otherwise, even if Sun Qin was given a hundred dares, he would not dare to take a step. Of course, a person like Yue Fei, who is good at using soldiers, will not be fooled. Only the people who came up with this idiotic idea were fooled. ”

Xiao Yan was stunned, and then his face turned red, and he secretly admired it in his heart, and sighed to himself.

At this moment, one of Chu Yan's subordinates rushed in, holding a roll of bamboo slips tied with five red silk in his hand. In the Yellow Turban Army, five red silk threads were added to the paperwork to represent the most urgent military situation.

"Chu Shuai, General Rengong is in a hurry."

When Chu Yan and Xiao Yan heard this, their expressions changed drastically.

………………

July 186.

The situation of the war in Jizhou has changed again.

In the Qingyuan, Guantao line and the Yellow Turban military general Zhang Liang confronted the thief Zhonglang divided the Huangfu Song soldiers into two routes, sent the general Xu Rong to lead an army of 10,000, sent troops to the Ganling State (because the maps used are all maps from 140 AD, only recently found the information, Qinghe Kingdom was changed to Ganling State in 148 AD, and later this book will also change the name of Qinghe Kingdom to Ganling State), and the new Ganling Minister Liu Yu joined forces to conquer Ganling City, the seat of Ganling State, and threatened Guangzong City, the base camp of the Yellow Turban Army; Cao Cao, the captain of the cavalry, led his army north from Liyang, crossed the Qingshui River, and approached Yecheng.

Chu Yan immediately ordered that the general of the subordinate led 30,000 troops to rush back to Guangzong City to assist in the garrison.

Xiao Yan took his personal guards, rode alone and in pairs, and rushed to Yecheng to report to Zhang Jiao with Zhang Liang's documents.

Chu Yan led the remaining 20,000 horses to quickly rush to the ancient city of Ping'en and retreat to meet the retreat of Zhang Jiao's army.

Zhang Jiao finished reading Zhang Liang's urgent paperwork, and his face was expressionless.

He looked at Xiao Yan's anxious face, and asked coldly, "Zigan, didn't you receive my order?" Why didn't you stay in Guangzong and return to Daying? ”

"Great sage and good teacher......" Xiao Yan wanted to speak and stopped.

"Say something." Zhang Jiao touched the red silk on the bamboo slip and said slowly, "Is it that the swallow is unwilling to come." ”

"Great sage and good teacher......" Xiao Yan thought of a lot of rhetoric along the way, and was ready to persuade Zhang Jiao. But now he was sitting opposite Zhang Jiao, feeling that what he wanted to say was actually nonsense, and he didn't know what to say.

There was a dead silence in the tent.

Zhang Jiao stroked the red silk in his hand very carefully and gently, with a focused expression.

"Great sage and good teacher, the swallow is also for the Yellow Turban Army and for the common people in the world." Xiao Yan let out a long sigh, broke the silence, and whispered.

A few hints of anger flashed across Zhang Jiao's face. He looked at the red silk in his hand, silently for a long time, and his expression became more and more gloomy.

Suddenly, Zhang Jiao raised his head to look at Xiao Yan, and said with a lonely expression: "Zigan, although we are nominally master and apprentice, in fact we have been friends for many years. You say, are we doing something wrong? ”

Xiao Yan was shocked, his brows tightened, and he said nervously: "Great Sage and Good Master, why do you think so? ”

Zhang Jiao said in a low tone, and said slowly: "Taiping Dao is tightly organized, working together, everyone has worked together, and has been carefully prepared for more than ten years, and finally we led the common people in the world to rise up, and fight to the death with all the evil people in the world and all the injustices in the world, even if we die." We don't have any self-interest, nor do we have any grand aspirations, we just want the people in the world to have three meals a day, a piece of clothing to wear a year, a longer life, a better life, and a little hope. ”

"But what did we bring to the world in the end? Death, except for death and death. If you follow us, you will die, and if you don't follow us, you will die. Those who followed us were killed in battles, those who committed suicide by jumping into the river, those who were buried alive by the enemy, and the thirty-six canals that started in the years and months, and more than one million people, except for those of us who are still alive, are now all gone. Those who don't follow us will die even worse. Those poor civilians, unarmed, were arbitrarily killed by the enemy as our comrades, and almost every village was killed, and rivers of blood flowed. After half a year of fighting, the fields were barren and there was no harvest, and the surviving civilians did not escape the fate of death in the end, they all starved to death, and there were starving people everywhere. In half a year, millions of poor and innocent civilians have died. ”

Zhang Jiao's face was very terrifying, and he gritted his teeth and patted his chest and asked, "What have we done?" What have they done? We thought that by doing this, we could keep these people alive, a little longer, a little better, but in the end, what? Is it dead, millions dead, more than any plague, any flood, what have we done? What did you do? Without us doing this, they could have lived a little longer, a little better, and although there was no hope, they were still alive and still breathing. ”

"Why? Zigan, why do you say? Why is this the case? What are we doing wrong? Why can't we kill not only those wicked people, but also those wicked people who rob us of our food and everything, why? ”

"Heavens? The heavens only protect the wicked, the powerful and the rich, and has always harmed us poor and poor people. ”

"The sky is dead, the yellow sky should stand ......" Zhang Jiao muttered in his mouth, bitter and sad, tears soaked his eyes.

Xiao Yan couldn't hold back any longer, stood up and turned around and left, tears spilling down his clothes.