Zhang Niujiao's fainting and the fact that his retreat was cut off caused many Yellow Turban Army commanders to panic. After discussion, Chu Feiyan and the other commanders decided to retreat in batches and at the same time block the news of Zhang Niujiao's fainting and the obstruction of his retreat.
On the first day, Chu Feiyan led a main force of 30,000 people and went south. On the second day, Bai Bo led 30,000 people and retreated. They wanted to retreat slowly so as not to arouse the suspicion of the Youzhou Army.
However, the news that their retreat was cut off by the Bingzhou Army quickly spread throughout the Yellow Turban Army camp, and even the news that Zhang Niujiao had died of illness reminded the Yellow Turban Army soldiers of Zhang Jiao's death last year.
The soldiers and generals became panicked, their morale was dispirited, and everyone was afraid of what happened last year.
The entire Yellow Turban Army soldiers began to panic. First, some taxis and vehicles left the camp without authorization, and then some small Yellow Turban leaders led thousands of people to Pingyuan County. Then things got out of hand. Everyone, please shout.
I called you, but many Yellow Turban generals did not report to the Commander-in-Chief and fled with their own men.
Fortunately, Zhang Niujiao woke up immediately. After he discovered that the morale of the Yellow Turban Army was completely lost, he appeared in front of the Yellow Turban Army soldiers to boost their morale, and led his own troops to cut off the entire army's rear.
Liu Yu and others received an urgent report from the scouts, saying that the Yellow Turban Army had begun to retreat southward, and there were even fleeing Yellow Turban thieves.
Liu Yu said happily: "Brother Nanrong must have cut off the Yellow Turban thieves' retreat, so they retreated in such a panic!"
Gongsun Zan immediately said: "Sir, the yellow turban army is in chaos, now is the time to take advantage of the victory and pursue it!"
Liu Yu pulled out his sword and said: "The yellow turban bandits' food route has been cut off, Zhang Niujiao is dead, the whole army goes south to destroy the yellow turban bandits!"
When the soldiers heard this, their morale was greatly boosted.
Immediately, the 30,000-strong army turned and attacked the Yellow Turban Army. The 10,000-strong cavalry were divided into two groups and outflanked them from the left and right. Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei personally led the white-horse Yi Cong into the formation from the front, while Xian Yufu and the others followed with 20,000 infantry to cover up and kill them.
Zhang Niujiao commanded three armies to fight, and the two sides fought fiercely. However, because the morale of the Yellow Turban Army was already in chaos, the Yellow Turban Army soldiers were unable to block the Youzhou Army's charge and retreated step by step.
Zhang Niujiao led his personal guards on the front line to continuously resist Youzhou's cavalry, and boosted morale by saying: "Fight back. Only by defeating the Han army can we return to Jizhou alive!"
Zhang Niujiao, the commander-in-chief of the Yellow Turban Army, rushed to the front line. The morale of the Yellow Turban Army soldiers who wanted to escape was greatly boosted. Encouraged by Zhang Niujiao, they began to fight back and quickly stopped their defeat!
Gongsun Zan, who was on the front line of the battlefield, quickly recognized Zhang Niujiao, who was also on the front line. He took out his oxhorn bow and aimed an arrow at Zhang Niujiao!
"Whoops!" The long arrow hit Zhang Niujiao's forehead instantly! He fell to the ground.
Gongsun Zan was overjoyed and said: "Zhang Niujiao is dead, why don't you kneel down and surrender!"
Gongsun Zan's personal guards also shouted: "Zhang Niujiao is dead, why don't you kneel down and surrender!"
After hearing this, the soldiers of the Yellow Turban Army found that Zhang Niujiao had really disappeared. They immediately thought that what Gongsun Zan and the others said was true. Their morale dropped greatly, and they began to flee south.
Gongsun Zan laughed loudly when he saw this scene and said: "Come forward, don't let these yellow scarf thieves escape!"
The Youzhou Iron Cavalry outflanked the Yellow Turban Army from the left and right wings. The Yellow Turban Army soldiers could no longer resist and fled in defeat. The Youzhou Iron Cavalry launched a pursuit, chasing for hundreds of miles at a stretch. Hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turban Army soldiers were completely in chaos.
Many people had no strength to escape and no hope, so they simply lay on the ground and waited for the Youzhou Army to arrest them.
In this battle, the Youzhou Army defeated about 150,000 Yellow Turbans, killed 30,000 people, and captured nearly 100,000 people. It took 10 days to capture these people.
Liu Yu ordered Xian Yufu, Tian Kai, Yan Rou and others to immediately clear the battlefield, take care of the prisoners of the Yellow Turban Army, and report the victory to Luoyang City.
And he personally welcomed Gongsun Zan and other generals on the campaign!
Gongsun Zan returned to the camp with his bodyguard cavalry at lightning speed. When he saw Liu Yu in front of the door, he dismounted and said with a smile: "Sir, the main force of the Yellow Turban Army in Jizhou has been wiped out by us."
When Liu Yu saw Gongsun Zan and others, he couldn't help but said: "Okay, okay, Bo Gui, I have reported your achievements to the emperor, and the emperor will definitely reward you heavily!"
Hearing this, Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei both smiled. They were fighting so hard just to be crowned marquises and prime ministers.
Gongsun Zan said excitedly: "Sir, shall we attack Jizhou now and annihilate the remaining Yellow Turban bandits!"
But Liu Yu looked at the camp full of Yellow Turban soldiers. Although they looked decadent, they were more than three times more numerous than them. If there was a riot, all the previous efforts would be wasted. Not to mention that the Bingzhou Army had also entered Jizhou and they had already occupied it.
After the first victory, some military merits should also be allocated to the Bingzhou Army.
Thinking of this, Liu Yu said: "We'd better settle these Yellow Turban thieves. This can be considered a great achievement!"
Gongsun Zan frowned when he saw the 100,000 Yellow Turban soldiers. Apparently he also knew that it would be unsafe for so many prisoners in the military camp without a large army to suppress them, but he still wanted to make achievements.
So he said: "Why don't you learn from Huangfu Yizhen and kill these yellow scarf thieves to scare the refugees in the world and prevent them from rebelling?"
"Absolutely not!" Liu Bei said anxiously: "These are 100,000 people. Although they joined the Yellow Turban thieves, they were just forced by life. As court officials, how can we take the lives of Han people as our own achievements?
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Liu Yu was not Huangfu Song. He said solemnly: "I am not a vulgar warrior like Huangfu Song. I only know how to use the lives of the people to make achievements."
Gongsun Zan did not dare to offend Liu Yu. He could only look at his little brother Liu Bei and said angrily: "What should I do? These are 100,000 people. Can we support them? Does the imperial court have the money to support them?"
Everyone present knew that if the imperial court had the financial resources, it would not have killed 100,000 Yellow Turbans a year ago. Even if the imperial court had no choice, Huangfu Song had to help the imperial court take the blame.
Liu Bei thought for a while and said: "There are a lot of wastelands in Youzhou. If we let them farm in Youzhou, these Yellow Turbans can not only support themselves, but also guard the border to pay for their sins. This is a good thing for the imperial court."
After Liu Yu heard this, he laughed and said: "Xuande's method is good, I will report it to the court immediately. Xuande proposed this method, and I will recommend Xuande as the military commander of the field, specifically responsible for the Youzhou Yellow Turban Army's fielding affairs!"
Then he said happily: "Okay, this not only reduces the number of enemies in the court by 100,000, but also adds 100,000 generals to guard the border."
Gongsun Zan said angrily: "Sir, the cost of these 100,000 people working in the fields is not cheap. You have a way to solve it, but don't cause the Yellow Turban Rebellion to break out in Youzhou."
Liu Yu said: "I will find a way. I think after experiencing this Yellow Turban Rebellion, the powerful people in Youzhou will know that only by reducing the number of refugees can their safety be guaranteed."