Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3866: Martyrdom

Private soldiers, tribe.

Now, all that's left for Han Hao are his own retainers...

From a certain perspective, these are the true sources of Han Hao's power.

These small groups may have originated from the retainer system of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. Retainers and private soldiers were private, individual, or small-group armed forces. Retainers attached themselves to nobles or powerful ministers, providing not only military force but also wisdom and even emotional support, in return for protection, livelihood, and certain opportunities for advancement.

After the Qin and Han dynasties, the central government's power was strengthened to a certain extent, and this highly private system of retainers was strictly prohibited and suppressed.

For example, hundreds of members of the Mohist school committed suicide.

Perhaps the blade is in front, or perhaps it's behind.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, imperial power declined, and after the Yellow Turban Rebellion, local powerful clans rose to prominence. The central government was unable to maintain a unified army, and private armies became a necessary means of self-preservation and vying for supremacy. At the same time, powerful landlords controlled large amounts of land and population, and their retainers combined the identities of peasants and soldiers. Amidst the warlord conflicts, there was a need for a stable source of manpower, and the high loyalty and tight organization of private retainers made them superior to temporarily conscripted armies.

Han Hao's private troops were, in the Han Dynasty, Han Hao's personal property.

Even if Han Hao is stripped of his military power, these retainers will still follow him...

The private armies and retainers in Shandong were relatively better, and their size was somewhat controlled. The situation was much more serious in the Jiangdong region. In the later stages, Sun Quan simply couldn't control them. He could only superficially reduce military pay to try and suppress the private armies and retainers, but this was completely ineffective. After all, how many members of the Jiangdong gentry truly relied on Sun Quan's salary to live and support their retainers?
The long period of division during the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties was directly related to the separatist rule of private armies, which is why later feudal dynasties tried their best to prevent the growth of local military forces...

The problem is that once the central government's control weakens, these local "new and old nobles" will try every means to form "small teams" and "large clans," openly provoking the people and trampling on central authority under the name of a certain family or aristocratic clan...

This is undoubtedly a very interesting phenomenon.

Han Hao's current statement implies a desire to sever ties with the vassal state, but...

Han Hao told his men that those who wanted to escape could do so on their own. This was not just a casual remark or a test of loyalty; he genuinely felt that he was about to die and thus allowed his private soldiers to flee.

'General...'

A young soldier, his face still bearing the innocence of a teenager but covered in wounds, stared longingly at Han Hao, clutching a tattered flag embroidered with the character "Han" tightly in his hand.

Han Hao smiled at the young soldier, "Little Eleven, you just came from the village last year, right?"

The boy nodded repeatedly, but didn't know what to say. "Yes, yes, sir..."

Han Hao's gaze slowly swept over the last faces around him.

The third son in the Zhang family, with an elderly mother and young children at home...

Li Silang has been with me for five years...

Familiar faces, all now etched with weariness.

Han Hao repeated what he meant by their willingness to live: their own escape.

Still no one moved.

They were his retainers, his private soldiers. In a sense, their lives and the fate of their families were already tied to Han Hao.

One glory and one glory.

If their commander fought to the death, they fought to the death; if their commander fled, they protected their commander as he fled.

If they abandon their commander and flee, they might survive, but their families will never be able to hold their heads high in the village again, and they might even be held accountable.

This is the cruel yet unbreakable bond between subordinates and their commanders in this era.

Han Hao took a deep breath of the cold air, which even carried a faint scent of death, and straightened his back. He reached out and took the somewhat tattered flag from the soldier, then forcefully planted it in the ground beside him.

The flag trembled in the cold wind, yet stubbornly continued to flutter.

"My comrades...no, my brothers!" Han Hao spoke, his voice hoarse yet exceptionally clear, overpowering the howling wind on the mountaintop. "Han Hao is incompetent, I have dragged you all down with me, trapped in this desperate situation! No hope of reinforcements, no way to break out! I am ashamed! I am ashamed!"

He paused for a moment, watching as the last faint light in everyone's eyes gradually dimmed, replaced by a deathly stillness.

Han Hao said slowly...

"In my life, Han Hao, I have witnessed the turmoil of chaos and the depravity of human nature. Back then, Dong Zhuo threatened my uncle's life, forcing me to serve him… I stood atop the city wall, watching the blood and mud splattered beneath the hooves of the Xiliang army, and said to myself… If I were to serve a traitor for the sake of survival, what would become of the three generations of my Han family's reputation? I rejected Dong Zhuo's order, kowtowed towards Luoyang, and then drove the envoy back…"

Han Hao coughed twice, and blood splattered onto his cold armor.

Later, Yuan Gonglu recruited me, boasting of his family's long line of high-ranking officials, promising me the titles of Cavalry Commandant and Marquis of a Thousand Households. I laughed and asked the messenger, "How is Yuan Shao doing in Hebei? And how is Yuan Gonglu doing in Huainan? Fighting among ourselves only wastes the people's strength; is that the behavior of a wise ruler?" I abandoned the seal of office and crossed the river that very night.

The wind picked up.

The bugle call of the cavalry assembling their ranks echoed from the foot of the mountain.

Until I met Cao Cao…

Han Hao's eyes suddenly lit up, like the last embers in ashes. "On the ridges of the fields outside Qiao County, he stood barefoot in the mud and asked me, 'Yuan Si, what do you think is the most lacking thing in this world?' I said it was weapons, it was warhorses… Cao Cao shook his head, grabbed a handful of soil, 'It's to let grain grow from this soil… it's to let the Han Dynasty restore order!'"

Han Hao's voice gradually rose in pitch.

"At that moment, I knew I wasn't looking for a wise ruler, but for the last path in this chaotic world to restore order to the Han Dynasty! So I followed him to conquer Guandu and pacify Hebei... I also brought you from the fortified villages and the fields, so that you could join me in restoring order to the Han Dynasty! To ensure that the land is no longer desolate!"

"But this world...it always reverts to its old ways. Just like today, we're still trapped on this mountain, trapped here by these Bingliang cavalry..." Han Hao surveyed every face, "But I want you to know! We! Are different from them! They want to disrupt the order of the Han Dynasty! But we! We are the ones who uphold order, uphold the Emperor, uphold the Han Dynasty!"

"Zhang Laosan!"

The man shuddered.

Han Hao smiled. "Your mother sent a message last year saying that your son can recite the *Jijiupian*, right?"

"Yes... Thank you for your concern, General..." Zhang Laosan grinned and replied.

"Li Silang, when your wife gave birth to your second daughter, you said that daughters are good because they don't have to carry a knife to make a living anymore..." Han Hao turned to the next soldier, still smiling, and said, "I've remembered those words for three years."

Li Silang was a little embarrassed. "My lord, I was just saying..."

"No!" Han Hao waved his hand. "Well said! That's the truth! That's good! We die today so that our families can choose how to live! We want to tell those Xiliang bandits that the Han Dynasty cannot exist without order! The world cannot exist without order!"

Han Hao grinned, his lips cracked. "And Little Eleven, last year you asked me why our flag has a red background? Now I'll tell you... it's because of the blood of loyal ministers stained with the blood of the Han Dynasty for three or four hundred years!"

"We're like grasshoppers tied to the same string, the dumbest bunch in this cannibalistic world!"

Han Hao raised his voice, "So foolish as to believe a promise and then expect to keep it for life! So foolish as to follow someone and then commit to their death! But it was precisely us fools who, when Dong Zhuo burned Luoyang, followed Cao Cao and protected the people of our neighborhood! When those high-ranking officials abandoned the nation, it was we who followed Cao Cao and protected the Emperor of Han!"

Han Hao drew his battle sword, the blood-stained blade reflecting the graying temples of his hair.

"Today we will die here. Future generations may say, they may write, 'Han Hao and his men fought valiantly and perished'... They will not understand, we were not fearless of death, but a group of people who chose how to die!"

Han Hao turned to face the cavalry formation charging up the mountain. "Those who wish to flee, I will not resent. Those who wish to stay—"

Han Hao paused, his voice suddenly becoming hoarse, "Then follow me, let's stain this banner of the Han Dynasty with our burning passion! Even in the afterlife, we can reassure our ancestors... that we are worthy of being called Han people!"

Not a single person moved.

Zhang's third son picked up the spear from the ground, while Li Silang silently tightened the silk ribbons on his armor.

The boy named Xiao Shiyi wiped his face and suddenly shouted with all his might, "Truly worthy of being called a Han Chinese!!"

Everyone roared in unison, "Truly worthy of being called Han Chinese—!!"

Han Hao laughed loudly, but tears welled up in his eyes as he laughed.

He raised his knife, the tip pointing at the rising black tide.

The tattered Han banner fluttered in the silence before death.

The last hundred or so men erupted in a hoarse scream, like the roar of wounded beasts. They grabbed anything they could use as a weapon and, following Han Hao, launched a counter-charge against the slowly approaching torrent of death!

There were no formations, no tactics, only the most primitive and savage fighting.

Han Hao charged ahead, his blood-stained sword piercing precisely through a gap in a shield, stabbing a cavalry soldier through.

Several spears then thrust at him from different directions. Han Hao managed to parry two of them, but the third spear left a deep bloody gash on his thigh!
Han Hao grunted, then smashed the spearman's nose and face with the hilt of his sword. He staggered forward and continued charging, sweeping his sword to cut down another cavalry soldier.

The private soldiers and retainers around Han Hao were even more frenzied.

An old soldier with his arm severed clung tightly to a cavalryman with his remaining hand, biting him hard until he was hacked to death without letting go.

The young soldier, waving the flagpole of the "Han" character flag, shouted and banged wildly, until he was pierced by several spears at the same time, and the flag and his body slowly fell down together.

On the rocks and on the hillside, there were figures rolling, entangled, and tearing at each other everywhere.

Roars, screams, the sound of bones shattering, and weapons piercing flesh, mixed with the howling of the wind, played out an extremely cruel final chapter of death.

Han Hao was covered in blood, with countless wounds all over his body.

His personal guards fell one after another.

He was eventually surrounded by more than ten elite infantrymen of the Flying Cavalry on a slightly flat rock.

He leaned against the cold rock, panting heavily, but his eyes remained as fierce as a wolf's.

"Han Hao! Surrender! The General of the Cavalry, appreciating your bravery, may spare your life!"

A cavalry officer stepped forward and shouted.

"Pooh!"

Han Hao spat out a mouthful of blood and grinned maliciously, "My head may be severed, but my knees will never bend! If you want my head, come and take it!"

Sima said no more, and with a wave of his hand, the soldiers rushed forward.

The final battle was brief but brutal.

Han Hao brandished his broken sword and felled two more people, but more weapons came stabbing and slashing from all directions.

A spear pierced his abdomen, his body stiffened abruptly, and he immediately swung his sword back to cut the spear shaft in half.

But then, several knives simultaneously slashed at his shoulders, back, and legs...

He could no longer hold on and fell to his knees, but he still used the broken sword to prop himself up on the ground, refusing to fall completely.

Blood gushed from his wounds, flowing down his body and making him look like a blood-soaked figure.

My vision began to blur, and the sounds of battle seemed to fade into the distance.

His final gaze seemed to pierce through time and space, seeing the fields of Qiao County, the imperial palace of Xu County, and the blurred faces of his wife and children at home…

"My lord... Hao... did his best..."

Han Hao's lips moved slightly, and finally, his head slowly drooped down, and he breathed his last.

……

……

In the twilight, Yique Pass appeared exceptionally silent and somber.

On the wall, the Cao army's defenders, still shaken, watched their retreating comrades and Xun Yu, who was usually calm and composed but now looked utterly exhausted. An ominous premonition, like the howling wind from beyond the pass, irresistibly seeped into everyone's hearts.

Xun Yu didn't even have time to remove his armor or rest. He only drank a mouthful of water handed to him by his personal guard to moisten his parched throat before immediately summoning the generals left behind in the pass to take stock of the losses, arrange defenses, and reinforce the pass.

Although the Battle of Sanchakou did not result in a complete annihilation, nearly half of the elite troops were lost, and Han Hao's fate was unknown. More importantly, the cavalry forces under Jiang Jiong and Zhu Ling had merged and were advancing directly towards Yique, making the fall of the pass imminent.

"Hold the fortified walls firmly! Prepare plenty of rolling logs and stones, and check the crossbows! Double the manpower for night watch!"

Xun Yu tried to keep his voice steady, but his hoarse voice revealed that he was exhausted both physically and mentally.

He must stay here to buy Cao Cao more time, even if it's just one more day or one more hour!
Just as Gouhuo was forcing himself to be energetic, inspecting the gate and trying to rebuild the morale of the garrison, a quartermaster in charge of logistics and supplies scrambled up the gate tower, his face pale and his lips trembling, and he collapsed to the ground.

"My lord...my lord! Something terrible has happened!" the quartermaster cried, his voice trembling with tears. "The granary at Tiger's Mouth Gorge...it's been...destroyed!"

"What?!" Xun Yu whirled around, his face twitching involuntarily. "Tiger Mouth Gorge?! What happened? Explain yourself!"

Tiger Mouth Gorge is located deep in the Songshan Mountains, southeast of Yique Pass. It is an extremely secluded valley.

Xun Yu had previously taken advantage of the terrain to secretly build several grain storage points in preparation for unforeseen circumstances.

This place is extremely secluded and unknown to anyone but core personnel. Moreover, the route is fraught with dangers and passes, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.

But now...

The quartermaster, tears streaming down his face, gave his report in fits and starts.

Just the night before, the cavalrymen appeared out of nowhere in Tiger's Mouth Gorge, like mountain spirits. For some unknown reason, they bypassed all the outer sentry posts, both visible and hidden, and infiltrated directly into the core area of ​​the valley.

The hundred or so soldiers guarding the grain supply were caught off guard and were quickly wiped out by the enemy using highly skilled close combat and bizarre methods such as poisoned arrows and blowguns.

Subsequently, this cavalry force set fire to various places, burning thousands of bushels of grain stored in caves and makeshift warehouses to ashes!
The fire, fueled by the wind, ignited the forest, turning the entire Tiger Mouth Ravine into a sea of ​​fire!
"They...they weren't ordinary cavalry...they were like savages from the mountains...their faces were painted in all sorts of colors, they moved as fast as mountain demons, and they killed ruthlessly..."

Xun Yu felt a sudden dizziness, and he barely managed to stand by holding onto the cold crenellations of the city wall.

The grain stored at Huzuijian has been destroyed!
what does this mean?
This means that the garrison at Yique Pass, as well as other troops that may retreat deep into the Songshan Mountains, will lose a crucial logistical support point!
With a third less food supplies, it's not as simple as just eating two-thirds of the original food every day to break even!

A powerful enemy is pressing in from the front, and supplies are running into problems at the rear!
This blow was more ruthless and fatal than the defeat at the Three Crossroads!

It was like delivering a devastating blow to Xun Yu and the garrison at Yique!
It almost made Xun Yu breathless...

Xun Yu closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths of the cold air, and forced himself to calm down.

He had previously planned to capture this group of mountain cavalry, but unfortunately it didn't work. Later, he was busy with other things and couldn't pay attention to this matter anymore. However, he didn't expect that this group of mountain cavalry would launch a surprise attack on Huzuijian at this very moment, when the attention of the Yique Pass garrison was completely attracted by Jiang Jiong and Zhu Ling's cavalry in front, and the garrison was at its most vulnerable and relaxed!

"My lord, what should we do now...?"

The deputy general beside him spoke in a trembling voice, clearly realizing the seriousness of the situation.

Xun Yu opened his eyes, his gaze becoming firm once more.

"Immediately inventory all grain reserves within the pass, including those privately hoarded by generals, and redistribute them uniformly! From today onwards, the rations of all soldiers will be halved, and officers will be subject to the same measure! Gather more wild vegetables and hunt more game to supplement your supplies."

This is like drinking poison to quench thirst, but there is no other way.

"Send double the number of soldiers to protect the supply wagons and retreat to Taigu first!" Xun Yu issued the second order.

The granaries at Yique Pass were burned down; continuing to hold Yique Pass would mean certain death.

The only solution is to move the soldiers and supplies here to Taigu Pass.

Xun Yu paused, his voice lowering as if to himself, "As for General Han... I hope he can escape... If not... I, Yu, will have failed Yuan Si."

Now, by utilizing the strategic passes of Yique Pass and Taigu Pass, and with the remaining troops, we should delay as much as possible, wear down the morale and fighting spirit of the Flying Cavalry, and strive for that last glimmer of hope for the Prime Minister's plans on the eastern front.

As for his personal life and death, and the fate of Yique Taigu Pass, they seemed insignificant in the face of this sweeping trend across the world...

Xun Yu was like this, just as Han Hao was.

(End of this chapter)