Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 57: Setting up camp amidst the dangers of the plains

"You mean, the Moth Bandits are breaking camp?"

On the top of the city wall, Huangfu Song heard the scout's report, and his originally calm face suddenly tensed up. His two thick eyebrows were tightly twisted together, forming a deep "chuan" character.

The noise of 60,000 people breaking camp was quite loud. The shouts of the Yellow Turban soldiers and the sounds of pulling out the wooden fences and packing up their luggage could be heard even from the top of the city wall.

These voices surged like a tide, constantly impacting Huangfu Song's thoughts. His eyes were fixed on the direction of the Yellow Turban Army camp, his eyes unblinking, as if he wanted to penetrate the layers of tents and see the enemy's true intentions.

It was originally thought that the Yellow Turban Army was planning to follow Xiang Yu's example of fighting with their backs to the river, abandoning the looted money, burning the camp and fighting to the death with the Han army outside the city. Therefore, Huangfu Song sent scouts to investigate the enemy situation, but unexpectedly, the scouts found that the Yellow Turban Army was in the process of withdrawing from the camp.

This result really caught him off guard. He subconsciously took half a step back, as if shocked by the news. Then he slowly turned around and paced back and forth on the top of the city wall. His steps were quick and heavy, and the bricks on the city wall made a banging sound with every step.

This just happened to disrupt his next deployment.

Yesterday, after discussing with the Crown Prince, Huangfu Song planned to divide the army into three parts and set up three camps to form a three-sided siege. He would only surround the Yellow Turban Army but not attack it. He would wait for the Yellow Turban Army's morale to collapse or their food and grass to be exhausted so that he could easily surround and annihilate them.

Of course, it is not impossible to wipe out the Yellow Turban Army with an all-out frontal attack, but the men under his command are all good men from the six counties and three rivers, and they are good men of the Han Dynasty. The prince also hopes that Huangfu Song will minimize the losses of his soldiers.

At least for now, the financial resources of the Prince's Mansion can well guarantee the logistics of the battle to quell the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

However, the Yellow Turban Army actually wanted to break camp?
This was beyond Huangfu Song's expectations. He frowned and paced while thinking to himself, wondering if the Yellow Turban reinforcements from Yuzhou had arrived and were planning to lure him out of the city and then ambush the pursuing troops.

But in Yanzhou, Yuan Pang's suppression of the Yellow Turban Army was extremely successful. The three leaders of the Taiping Dao in Yanzhou, Bu Si, Zhang Bo, and Liang Zhongning, were all beheaded by Yuan Pang. After their heads were sent to Yangdi, they were inspected by the prince and then sent to Luoyang City to appease the people.

Thinking of this, Huangfu Song shook his head slightly, a hint of doubt appeared on his face, and muttered to himself: "This is strange..."

The Yellow Turban Army in Xuzhou was extremely weak, and Cai Yong was able to deal with it. At least, he would never let the Yellow Turban Army in Xuzhou free up its hands to support Yuzhou.

The remaining Yellow Turban tribes in other counties of Yuzhou seemed to have been defeated by Wang Yun. Wang Yun was not good at leading troops in battle, but he had Lu Fengxian, who was as powerful as a thousand men, under his command.

Lu Bu only needed to lead 800 Yue cavalry to launch a surprise attack, and the Yellow Turban Army, which had only 3,000 to 4,000 people in each unit and lacked spears, shields and armor, would be broken up in an instant. Then Wang Yun could lead the county and state soldiers and the young and strong to take advantage of the situation and win a great victory.

In Wang Yun's words, it was not a war at all, but clearly a battle to capture prisoners.

Therefore, Huangfu Song was puzzled. What did the Yellow Turban Army rely on to dare to openly break camp in front of him?

Huangfu Song stopped and rubbed his temples.

"General, this is a godsend opportunity. I am willing to lead the cavalry to attack and kill the moth bandits by surprise, and then you can lead the main force to kill them and achieve a great victory!" Sun Jian stood up excitedly, his face flushed, his eyes flashing with high fighting spirit, like a cheetah about to pounce on its prey.

He had gained confidence since the last battle. He used to be nervous about leading so many cavalrymen, but now he took the initiative to request to go into battle.

"Cao is also willing to defeat the moth bandits for Your Highness and the General of the Central Army!"

Cao Cao had been very jealous of Sun Jian's military achievements in recent days. He clenched his fists and took a step forward, with an anxious and unwilling look on his face.

How could the Han Dynasty's General of the Western Expedition fall behind others?
However, Huangfu Song shook his head and said to the scouts in a serious tone, "Let's find out the direction the moth bandits will march after they break camp. Find out whether they are moving camp, retreating, or heading to other counties."

"Go quickly!"

"Yes!" The scout clasped his hands together and accepted the order. He then quickly ran down the city wall and mounted his horse with his comrades.

"General, the opportunity for battle is fleeting!" Sun Jian was so anxious that his face turned red and veins bulged on his forehead.

Cao Cao also echoed, his eyes full of anxiety: "However, if we don't seize such a good opportunity, we will suffer the consequences!"

Both Sun Jian and Cao Cao were eager to fight, but Huangfu Song remained unmoved, so they turned their attention to the prince.

They originally thought that Liu Bian would support them in fighting, but unexpectedly, Liu Bian turned a blind eye to the two people's requests for battle.

"What is Yizhen worried about?" Liu Bian leaned against the city wall and looked into the distance. Behind him, Xu Chu stretched out his hands and hugged the prince's waist to prevent him from falling off the city wall.

Seeing Huangfu Song's hesitation, Liu Bian did not urge him to fight. Instead, he gave Huangfu Song full trust: "Yizhen is a veteran general of the Han Dynasty. He would not fail to see such a good opportunity. He must have his reasons for not going into battle."

"It's just that my Cavalry Captain and Tiger Guards Lieutenant General are so anxious right now that they're almost ready to jump off the city walls and fight the bandits outside. Yizhen, please explain it to them and clear up my confusion at the same time."

Even when he heard that 120,000 Yellow Turban troops had gathered in Changsha, Huangfu Song had never fallen into such silence, nor had he ever pondered so hard and still been puzzled. He was really curious about what Huangfu Song was worried about.

"My first concern is that the Ethel Bandits are using this as a lure to lure the enemy, ambushing and defeating our pursuing forces." Huangfu Song rubbed his index finger and thumb together and said in a deep voice, "Second, I'm worried that the Yellow Turbans will break up and retreat in all directions."

"If it's the former, it's fine. I can test my patience with the moth bandits." Huangfu Song frowned, gazing in the direction the scouts had left from the city. "However, if the moth bandits scatter and retreat, hiding in the counties, plundering one county today and another tomorrow, our army will be in a passive position."

"Even if we divide our forces to clear them out, we will be pinned down by the E bandits. If Lu Zigan and Dong Zhongying don't receive support from our army and are defeated by Zhang Jue, Hebei's situation will be in jeopardy."

Liu Bian immediately understood what Huangfu Song meant. In terms of the Yellow Turban Army's armaments, troop quality and morale, Huangfu Song would be able to defeat them with restraint even if he brought 40,000 soldiers from the counties and kingdoms, not to mention the more than 40,000 men from good families and a group of imperial guards.

On the contrary, if these Yellow Turban troops retreated to avoid fighting, or even broke up into small groups and fled to various counties in Yuzhou, then the 40,000 good family men that he and Huangfu Song relied on would certainly be a strong and elite force, but also a gold-draining cave.

The daily expenditure of money and food is insufficient, and we are tied down and unable to support Hebei, so the overall situation will change.

"Look! This is the vision of a veteran general of the Han Dynasty. Wentai and Mengde, you two should serve as his teachers and learn from Yizhen's overall perspective and strategic vision." Liu Bian's slightly majestic almond-shaped eyes swept over Sun Jian and Cao Cao. "My expectation of you two is not to be a general who can only charge blindly, but a leader who can see the entire Han Dynasty!"

As they were speaking, a scout on horseback came running back, shouting from below the city walls, "Your Highness, General Lieutenant, the moth thieves are moving!"

"Where did the moth bandits move their camp?" Huangfu Song stuck his head out from the top of the city wall and shouted to the scouts below.

Liu Bian also wanted to stick his head out to listen more carefully, but was held back by Xu Chu. However, the scout's voice still reached his ears clearly.

"The moth thieves moved their camp to a place with dense trees!"

Huangfu Song was stunned, his eyes widened, and Sun Jian and Cao Cao beside him also looked at each other in confusion.

Liu Bian, who had only memorized a few lines of military strategy, couldn't help but clap his hands and laugh.

"Setting up camp in a dangerous and difficult area is a major taboo in military strategy. If we use fire attacks, how can we rescue the enemy?"

(End of this chapter)