Chapter 87: Eve before the expedition

－In early September of the second year of Chuping, Xia Cai－

It has been two days since he went to Shouchun to attend the military meeting. In order to completely tie the Yellow Turban to his chariot, Yuan Shu once again transported a large number of weapons and supplies. Although it was inevitable that it would be a temptation to win over it, it was indeed a good thing for the Yellow Turban.

Since Chang'an was defeated and fled in a panic, the Yellow Turbans in Hebei led by Zhang Susu has made good progress since surrendering to Yuan Shu. Although it is still impossible to compare with the Yellow Turbans in its heyday, and even those who occupied Chang'an, there is always hope of making a comeback.

This group of Yellow Turbans in North Hebei was once again formed, and its composition was mainly composed of the Runan Yellow Turbans. Of course, there were also many Yellow Turban believers who came to join the world one after another. Especially when Chen Mozhen's deeds of killing Sun Jian were widely spread, there were endless Yellow Turban believers who came to join, so that there were currently no less than 28,000 soldiers in Xiacai City.

There are such a large number of soldiers in Cai and the few nearby counties below. Even under Yuan Shu and Cao Cao, it is extremely rare.

But unfortunately, due to the surge in the army, the combat effectiveness of the soldiers in the Yellow Turban Army was inevitably somewhat unfavorable. Therefore, before the war, Zhang Baiqi sent someone to inform Yuan Shu, requesting that the dispatch of troops be suspended for three days to rectify the army. This is also the first time that the Yellow Turban Army has been stationed in Xia Cai Yilai.

The purpose of rectifying the army is very simple, it is nothing more than to shrink 28,000 soldiers to within 15,000 to 20,000. After all, just Cai and the few nearby counties are not enough to pay such huge military pay.

No wonder, after all, Xia Cai was not a tax-intensive city in the Xiacheng towns ruled by Yuan Shu, and there were almost no special commercial products in the city. Therefore, although the military pay of soldiers in the Yellow Turban Army was generally much lower than that of other local troops, Zhang Susu still could not pay such a huge expense.

Therefore, the Xia Cai Huangteng Army conducted a screening, and some relatively weak soldiers were eliminated from the generals, maintaining the number of regular soldiers at about 15,000, while those removed soldiers were used as reserve soldiers for the half-agricultural and half-army army.

Among these 5,000 regular troops, because Yuan Shu had sponsored nearly 1,000 light cavalry free of charge, the number of cavalry in Xiacai City had reached about 3,300. Its commander was naturally Chen Mo. The deputy commander of the army was Wang Si, the former deputy general of the Sanhe cavalry, and Zhang Yan, the leader of the Yellow Turban Army, and the rest were appointed from top to bottom. Compared with a few months ago, its organization was obviously gradually becoming more regular.

In fact, Zhang Susu and Zhang Baiqi had long considered this matter. After all, after Dong Zhuo's death, the Sanhe Cavalry, which was originally stationed in Hanoi, had been annexed by Yuan Shao. Therefore, it was really inappropriate to continue to use Sanhe Cavalry to call the cavalry in his army. Therefore, taking advantage of the opportunity to rectify the army, Zhang Susu banned the original Sanhe Cavalry's organization title and named the cavalry team Black Wolf Cavalry.

The reason is nothing more than referring to the life-soul of Chen Mo, the commander of this cavalry. Therefore, even the flag of the Black Wolf Cavalry has changed. It uses white fabric as the base and painted a black wolf with fangs and claws on it, which looks quite imposing.

It can be said that the Black Wolf Cavalry is the only elite army with extremely powerful power in Cai Huangteng Army. In addition, there are 8,000 infantry under Zhang Baiqi, as well as nearly 4,000 troops directly under the city defense, totaling 15,000 soldiers.

Even Chen Mo felt a little embarrassed about this question. After all, it is extremely rare for the commander to appoint his commander's army with the soul of his life. However, it has to be said that in this era of worshipping individual heroes, the powerful commander's personality charm and the cohesion of the soldiers in the army are obviously incomparable to ordinary troops.

This is enough to see from the fact that Liu Pi, who was originally a city defense, was forced to squeeze into the Black Wolf Cavalry. Of course, this guy is not the only one who has this idea. Even Pei Yuanshao, who has a very good relationship with Chen Mo, is a little ready to move.

In desperation, Chen Mo had to join Liu Pi, Gong Du, Pei Yuanshao and others in the Black Wolf Cavalry. It has to be said that most of these people are the backbone leaders of the Yellow Turbans. Although they are not called brave generals, they are obviously much stronger than ordinary generals who don’t know what they are.

In fact, Chen Mo had already prepared for strengthening his soldiers a few months ago. Not to mention how Zhang Baiqi trained his soldiers, at least in Chen Mo's opinion, even if the soldiers didn't know what qi was, then once they set foot on the battlefield in the future, they would be going to die.

Therefore, during Chen Mo's rush to Chang'an, Wang Si and Zhang Yan, who were entrusted by him, gradually imparted their energy to the soldiers of the Black Wolf Cavalry. Although there was not much time and no results were achieved, it is not difficult to imagine that the army will definitely shine in the future.

In fact, similar things have also happened in the army of the princes in the world. After all, the princes in the world are not fools. How could they not know the importance of qi? Even if they are soldiers, if they don’t know what qi is, then at best they are just cannon fodder.

Although I don’t know how much impact it will have on the battle situation once the soldiers mastered their energy, one thing is certain that at least the generals with superb strength can no longer move forward and retreat as freely as before, such as Sun Jian under Changshe City and Chen Mo in Hongnong City.

Of course, this does not mean that the soldiers who have mastered the energy can have the combat power. At best, they only have some ability to save their lives and defeat the enemy. If you take a step back, there may not be an embarrassing scene where hundreds of people or thousands of people surround the enemy generals, but instead they are shocked by the opponent.

Three days later, Cai Huangteng's army had just come to an end. Yuan Shu's general order came from Shouchun. It turned out that General Ji Ling, who led 40,000 elite troops to the border, had already met the army attacked by Liu Bei at Lingbi.

In the first battle, it is said that Liu Bei had only about 13,000 soldiers, and his troops were far less than Ji Ling. However, his brother Guan Yu was too brave. In the first battle, he killed Xun Zheng, a general under Yuan Shu, causing chaos in Ji Ling's army and he had no choice but to suffer a defeat.

Fortunately, Ji Ling was also a warrior who had been through the battlefield for a long time. He had first ambushed a surprise soldier next to him, which made Liu Bei dare not pursue him deeply and withdraw his troops from his army.

As for the general order issued by Yuan Shu to Chen Mo, it was actually very simple. It was nothing more than killing Liu Bei and Guan Yu in the battle, and driving directly to Xuzhou with the victory, but...

Is this really a simple thing?

The moment he received the order, Chen Mo smiled bitterly and shook his head.

Not to mention Liu Bei, Guan Yu is not inferior to Sun Jian's enemy. Chen Mo had learned about this earlier under the Sishui Pass, and recalled the strange scene of Guan Yu killing Hua Xiong in a quiet manner...

"It's not easy!"

Chen Mo sighed with a wry smile, and placed the order in his hand on the table.

At this time, Tang Xiner lifted the curtain of the lying door, holding a stack of clean clothes and walked out from it. Seeing Chen Mo shake his head and smile bitterly, she asked curiously, "Why are you sighing, husband?"

Chen Mo chuckled and shook his head, threw away the troubles in his heart, and said, "I'm just thinking about my opponent in the future... Xin'er has been busy for a long time, so let's take a break. As for the luggage, I will organize it."

"How did this make it happen?" gently patted Chen Mo's hand that he wanted to help. Tang Xiner put the changing clothes into the package and whispered, "I am a weak woman and can't help my husband. What I can do is that. Besides... this is my duty!"

After hearing this, Chen Mo smiled slightly and felt a burst of warmth coming in his heart.

I don’t know if it was because of Liu Xie that Chen Mo and Tang Xiner became closer. Although the two were legitimate couples, at least after that, their hearts seemed to be closer, so that Tang Xiner gradually began to express some views on the Yellow Turban to Chen Mo.

Of course, it’s also a blessing that her husband is Chen Mo. After all, this is an extremely rare thing in this era of favoring boys over girls... Oh, Zhang Susu is an exception.

After tidying up his bags under Chen Mo's gentle gaze, Tang Xiner sighed slightly, looked at the package in her hand and muttered as if she was talking to herself, "My husband has returned from Chang'an less than a few days, and he is going to lead his army to fight again..."

"Xin'er..."

"Uh?" After hearing Chen Mo's call, Tang Xiner came to her senses and said hurriedly, "This is my nonsense, husband doesn't need to..." As she was speaking, she suddenly saw Chen Mo sitting on the chair stretching out his right hand to her. After being stunned, her face turned red without feeling like it. She walked over hesitantly, and obediently leaned in Chen Mo's arms.

Chen Mo gently hugged Yiren in her arms and whispered in her ear, "For my husband, I promise you that once this battle is over, I will return to Xia Cai immediately. There will be no delay for a moment, okay?"

Listening to the gentle whisper, Tang Xiner felt a little accelerating and said softly, "My husband is so serious. Husband is a person who does big things. How can he delay his children's love? I just want my husband to be safe and triumphant. Besides, I don't want him to..."

"Um!" Chen Mo hugged Tang Xiner tightly in his arms.

I don’t know how long it took, but Tang Xiner suddenly whispered, “Envoy Yuan attacked Xuzhou this time, and it seems that more than 100,000 troops were dispatched…”

"Ah," Chen Mo nodded and said softly, "Shouchun is 80,000, Runan is 40,000, and other cities and cities are also sent, including our army of Cai, and I think there are probably no less than 130,000 troops..."

"Xia Cai," Tang Xiner raised her head, her eyes flashed slightly, and she said softly, "Will Zhang Qu Shuai go to Xuzhou with her husband?" The Zhang Qu Shuai she said was undoubtedly Zhang Baiqi. After all, there are only two people in Xia Cai City. One is Chen Mo, the Yingchuan Yellow Turban Qu Shuai, and the other is Zhang Baiqi, the Yellow Turban Qu Shuai, the Yellow Turban Qu Shuai. Unfortunately, when the Yellow Turban is withered, Qu Shuai has gradually become a nameless position.

Back then, the Yingchuan Yellow Turban Qu Shuaibo only held 80,000 elite troops to attack Changshe. His great momentum caused shock to the court. At present, Chen Mo, who is also the Qu general, only had more than 3,000 light troops in his hands. It has to be said that the Yellow Turban is indeed not as good as before.

"Is Zhang Baiqi? Ah, he will go. Now I, the Yellow Turbans, have committed to Yuan Shu. In any such a big battle, even if Yuan Shu doesn't appoint him, I, the Yellow Turbans, will not be out of trouble, so as not to cause criticism. In this world, I am afraid that only Yuan Shu can tolerate the Yellow Turbans..."

"Then..." Tang Xiner's eyes flashed with a hint of hesitation, and she lowered her head and said softly, "Where is her?"

"Uh?" Chen Mo was stunned. He could not guess who she was pointing to in Tang Xiner's mouth. He hesitated and said hesitantly, "Zhang Baiqi has persuaded this matter several times, but it's a pity that Su Su... She said that she was the lord of Cai Huangteng, so how could she live behind her and watch her subordinates rush to the battlefield, so..." As he said that, Chen Mo swallowed his saliva a little uneasy.

After a silence that was extremely uncomfortable for Chen Mo, Yiren in her arms sighed slightly.

"Is that... it's getting late, my husband will get up early tomorrow, so let's take a break..." As he said that, Tang Xiner was about to get up from Chen Mo's arms, but Chen Mo grabbed her arm.

"Xin'er?"

Under Chen Mo's concerned gaze, Tang Xiner turned her head and still had that gentle smile, but there was a little loss hidden in her eyes.

"I'm just asking casually, and there's no other meaning. Husband. Don't care... I just hope that my husband will finish the battle as soon as possible, and when I have free time, I can accompany me to the city to relax like today..." As he said that, Tang Xiner turned her head, looked at Chen Mo affectionately, and smiled slightly.

"Like it today..." Chen Mo murmured to himself, slowly letting go of his right hand, looking at Tang Xiner with a slight gift, and walked into the bedroom.

Relax, like today...

Chen Mo turned his head and looked at the lampstand on the table, looked at the flickering flame and sighed slightly.

That was evening...

After learning that he was appointed by Yuan Shu as the vanguard of the troops along the way to fight Xuzhou, Chen Mo told his wife Tang Xiner about this after returning to Xia Cai.

It can be seen that she was in a very depressed mood.

No wonder, after all, Chen Mo has only been back from Chang'an for a few days. In this era of patriarchal power supremacy, what is more important for a married woman than accompanying her lover?

After all, in ancient times, women would rather marry into scholars from wealthy families and compete for favor with their wives and concubines than marry warriors who have been fighting abroad for many years. Even if the other party is dedicated to their affection, there is no reason. After all, staying alone in the empty room and looking forward to their lover, is probably extremely cruel torture for every woman. Whether they look at their own temples in the mirror, their faces gradually fade, or their hearts are afraid of hearing the news of their lover's death, no matter which one, it is enough to make a woman's heart feel ashamed.

Perhaps it was because of the melancholy in Tang Xiner's heart that Chen Mo should accompany her as much as possible in this extremely limited time. Not to mention the distance, at least it can be done in the city.

Although Tsai is still there, under the afterglow of the sunset, the houses and streets in the city seem to be covered with a layer of hazy tones, making people feel a different charm.

During this period, most of the people in the city had already finished their day's trivial matters and returned to their homes to prepare their dinner for the day. Even though those who were still staying on the streets, except for the guards who were patrolling routinely, there were probably only those ignorant children, running from the street to the end of the alley, yelling, or playing.

In Chen Mo's eyes, this is the best proof that Xia Cai Huang Turban has not committed any crimes to the people in the city, and it is also one of the reasons why he is willing to help Zhang Susu to make the Yellow Turban comeback.

Who says that the Yellow Turbans are all thieves? At least the Yellow Turbans in northern Hebei are not!

Suddenly, Chen Mo noticed that Tang Xiner did not seem to have followed. He turned his head in confusion and saw her standing quietly at the intersection of the street, silently looking at the kid playing at the alley at the end of the alley.

Chen Mo opened his mouth slightly and wanted to call her, but in the end, he didn't do that.

Tang Xiner obviously didn't notice that her husband was looking at her a few steps away, because her mind was all on the group of playing and playing children...

I am already nineteen years old. If I remember well, today should be my birthday. After today, I will be twenty...

An ordinary woman probably already has her own child at this age...

Thinking of this, Tang Xiner couldn't help but stretch out her hand to stroke the long hair that fell on her chest, then quietly lowered her hand, grabbed a corner of her sleeve, and then tightened tighter.

In the evening of late August, the breeze blowing across the streets unknowingly brought a little coolness. The coolness made Tang Xiner subconsciously hug herself tightly.

Suddenly, Tang Xiner felt a pair of powerful arms wrapping around her. She turned her head and saw her husband's eyes full of concern.

"What's wrong, Xin'er?"

Feeling the warmth from behind, Tang Xiner opened her mouth slightly.

Should I tell him?

But it will make him feel troubled?

Well, will...

Even if my weak self can't help my husband, I don't want to...

I don't want him to worry about himself...

"The wind is a little cold," Tang Xiner gently caressed her long hair that was blown by the wind. She tried hard to make herself smile and said softly, "Let's go back, husband..."

Looking at the seemingly sweet but vaguely feeling a little reluctant, Chen Mo nodded slowly.

“Um…”

...

"Click!"
To be continued...