Chapter 22 Yingchuan Academy
Cao Cao had heard Xu Jing say that Xie Chengbin was a talented man from Wang Zuo, and wanted to take time to go to Jinan to recruit Xie Chengbin. Unexpectedly, the Yellow Turban Rebellion was delayed. Seeing that the visitor was really Xie Chengbin, he was very excited and quickly got off the horse and walked to Xie Chengbin, holding Xie Chengbin's (already dismounted)'s hand tightly. "After having been together for many days, is Zibin safe? I wonder why Zibin is here?"
"Thank you for your concern, Brother Meng De, I am safe and sound! I want to go to Yangdi to visit my old friend, but unexpectedly I met a Yellow Turban thief and was chased here. Thanks to Brother Meng De's help! Haha!" Xie Chengbin was clenched by Cao Cao, and he couldn't even hold his fists, so he could only smile.
At around three o'clock in the morning, at such a late hour, the officers and soldiers in Changshe who had been tired all day had no sleepiness because they were surrounded by the 100,000 Yellow Turban Army! The Yellow Turban Army had been tired all day and had already set up camps to rest and did not attack. Changshe was surrounded by the Yellow Turban Army, and even an ant could not get through it.
A simple house in Changshe was brightly lit, and more than a dozen people were discussing military affairs here. One of the men dressed as a strategist stood up, his face was not very good-looking, and he bowed to the men dressed as a general. "General, the wall of Changshe is very low. We should break through before dawn, otherwise it will be unimaginable once dawn!"
The person dressed in general nodded slowly when he heard this, saying that his words were reasonable. At this time, a man dressed in general clasped his fists at the person dressed in general, and was excited and looked at him as if he was home. "General! In the battle yesterday, our army suffered heavy casualties. It is difficult to break through head-on than climbing to the sky. It is better to lead the old, weak, sick and disabled people to the south gate, attracting the main force of the bandit army, and the general leads the elite troops to break north!"
As soon as the man finished speaking, the general pressed his hand. "Don't be impatient. I just went up to the city wall to look at it and learned that the bandits were built by the grass. This is a taboo for military strategists. In addition, with the help of the south wind, they can use fire attacks! Send a command! Let each of the soldiers tie up a handful of grass and ambush beside the village, and use three fires as a sign to light the fire together!"
"Here!" All the people dressed in military generals responded in unison, and then turned around and walked out. The generals led their troops to the Yellow Turban camps on the east, west and north sides quietly touched them. They saw that the soldiers on the camp and the tower were dozing off. The soldiers all placed the weeds they carried and sent people back to report everything was ready!
Three piles of haystacks on the three walls of Changshe City had already been placed on the three walls. At this time, the haystacks on the three walls were lit together, and soon a raging fire broke out! When the soldiers 500 meters away from the city wall saw the signal, they lit the weeds in their locations, and they bloomed everywhere for a while and caught fire everywhere!
Because it was the south wind, the fire attack effect on the east and west sides was not very obvious, but it was still possible to prevent the Yellow Turban Army from sending troops. The north side was amazing! The fire spread through the guardrail and quickly spread to the north. Yellow Turban sentries everywhere started to scream when they learned about the situation. Many Yellow Turban soldiers ran out in panic to put out the fire. Some of the soldiers who slept more dead were awakened from the tent, and were covered in fire and ran around with fire, which looked quite scary.
Not only the fire, but also the officers and soldiers! When the officers and soldiers came to the Yellow Turban camp in the north, they all shouted and rushed forward, and killed those who were different in costumes! In addition to being killed during resistance, some were killed while extinguishing fire, and some were even killed while sleeping. For a time, the officers and soldiers were out of power and no one could stop them!
Many people from the Yellow Turban Army in the north fled, and countless people died of trampling. The Yellow Turban Army in the east, south and west came to support one after another, but squeezed around with the deserters. The scene was very chaotic, and some deserters actually slashed at their companions with the sword! The two immediately fought and the scene immediately lost control.
Seeing that the situation was over, the Yellow Turban general led the remnants to flee north and went to Yizhou to make a round. Unexpectedly, there were officers and soldiers coming from the north after only a few steps! The panicked Yellow Turban Army was so scared that everyone was in danger and had no intention of fighting. Instead of attacking from the left and right here, it was better to venture northward to assault, so the Yellow Turban Army bit the bullet and bumped into these officers and soldiers.
The Yellow Turban soldiers have a lot more troops than these new officers and soldiers, but their combat power is far inferior to those of these officers and soldiers. Because they fought all day yesterday, they were attacked without much rest. Now they are so tired that they are soft-hearted and have little physical strength. The Yellow Turban soldiers, who are not willing to fight and have no physical strength, have to attack others. It is already very modest to describe them as terrible.
Xie Chengbin himself did not participate in the war, and the personal guards did not go up to help Cao Cao, but it would be a bit unreasonable to watch, so he only sent Ding Jie to the point of being alone. In fact, Xie Chengbin was originally thinking about whether to take the opportunity to kill Cao Cao. In this way, history will definitely change 180 degrees! But if he just helped himself, if he killed Cao Cao in such a situation, he would not even say that he could not recruit talents in the future, and even his subordinates would look down on him!
At this moment, the battle was over, and Cao Cao's subordinates were disturbing the battlefield (handling the bodies and counting the seized materials). Cao Cao and Ding Jie rode over. "Zibin, Zibin, I really envy Zibin for having such a powerful general! The two generals were not at all inferior when fighting alone. Kill one of them, and the other scared away."
Ding Jie's face did not change at all for Cao Cao's praise, and he silently drove the horse behind Xie Chengbin. Seeing that Cao Cao was thrown cold water on his face and the atmosphere was wrong, Xie Chengbin quickly rescued the scene. "That... Brother Meng De, now the bandits have retreated. Will you take advantage of the victory to pursue it?"
Cao Cao was so arrogant, he was just stunned for a moment and then smiled, not caring about it. "Hehe! Take me to pay homage to General Huangfu and then go after the Yellow Turban Thief."
The Yellow Turban generals had already escaped, and the remaining Yellow Turban soldiers surrendered one after another, and the war was basically quelled. When Cao Cao saw Huangfu Song, he offered the enemy general's head. Huangfu Song laughed and praised Cao Cao. "Haha! The Cavalry Commander is so young and promising! This is Zhang Bao's head, so he should remember a great merit! After this general returns to the court, he will direct the emperor to ask for merit for the Cavalry Commander!"
"The general is too proud. This is not what Cao has made, but the achievements of Xie Cheng, the prefect of Jinan!" Cao Cao sought truth from facts and returned the achievements to Xie Chengbin. Following Cao Cao's words, Xie Chengbin, who was standing behind Cao Cao, had to stand up and clasp his fists at Huangfu Song. "I've seen the general!"
"Report to General! More than a thousand people came outside, claiming to be reinforcements sent by General Beizhonglang. Please decide!" Huangfu Song was about to say something, but a soldier ran in outside. Huangfu Song turned his gaze to the soldier and waved his hand. "Turn him to see him!"
The soldier agreed with his fists and turned around and left. Huangfu Song waved his hand and signaled Cao Cao and Xie Chengbin to stand aside. After a while, two people walked in. It was Liu Bei and Guan Yu! Liu Bei had a serious expression and bowed with his fists. "The Cao people came to help the battle with the order of the General of the North Central Army!"
"The remaining members of Yingchuan are no longer worth worrying. Zhang Bao was killed and Zhang Liang fled north. He must surrender to Guangzong to follow Zhang Jiao. Xuande can help him at the same time!" Huangfu Song stroked his beard. As soon as he finished speaking, a commissar ordered his soldiers to run in. "Report to General! The general was killed in the palace!"
"What!" Huangfu Song was shocked when he heard this and stood up. Cao Cao and Xie Chengbin looked at each other in disbelief.
After coming out of Huangfu Song's military consultation, Cao Cao expressed his intention to recruit Xie Chengbin, but Xie Chengbin politely refused. When he encountered a wall, Cao Cao was not angry and said a lot of words that he had met too late. When he said goodbye to Xie Chengbin, he said something like taking care of himself. To be honest, Xie Chengbin was indeed a little reluctant to leave.
Due to fatigue all day, Xie Chengbin returned to the inn and fell asleep. He went to bed from morning to around 2 o'clock in the afternoon. He washed up briefly, ate something and headed straight for Yangdi.
When it was dark, it arrived in Yangdi. The Yellow Turban Army had retreated and was occupied by the officers and soldiers again. There were broken walls everywhere. The officers and soldiers were busy carrying away the bodies of the people. Some people cried loudly at the bodies lying on the ground. The scene was very desolate!
First, I went to the inn (trunk) to fill my stomach and book a room. After dinner, I started to ask about Guo Jia’s news from house to house. When I met every passerby in the streets and alleys, I asked politely. Men, women, young and old alleys, but there was still no news from Guo Jia. From about six o'clock in the evening to about ten o'clock in the evening, no one knew Guo Jia. There were fewer and fewer passers-by in the streets and alleys, so Xie Chengbin had to give up. Go back to the inn to rest first, and let’s talk about it tomorrow.
"My friend, wait!" When I returned to the inn, I saw a young man walking out of the inn with a bottle of wine and preparing to get on the horse. Xie Chengbin stepped forward and clasped his fists. Seeing that there were so many people in Xie Chengbin, the young man was not afraid and bowed and bowed. "I wonder what the hell is worth doing?"
"I want to ask someone. This person's surname is Guo Jia. I wonder if my friend knows this person?" Even though he searched for him all night, Xie Chengbin was always polite. When the boy heard Guo Jia, he was obviously stunned. "Well... Guo Jia, I heard a little. There is a place called "Yingchuan Academy" more than 20 miles southeast of the city. You can find Guo Jia there! Hahaha! It's not too early, say goodbye!"
Looking at the boy riding a horse, Xie Chengbin suddenly remembered a person in his mind, his name was Sima Wei! Xie Chengbin didn't know much about Sima Wei, as if he was a well-known hermit, and he didn't know if he could invite him.
The next day, Xie Chengbin bought a lot of gifts and came to Yingchuan Academy. It was completely different from what Xie Chengbin imagined! Don’t talk about the grand buildings; don’t talk about the majestic stone lions; let alone the guards; there were not even decent floor tiles! Such a college is too shabby!
Chapter completed!