Chapter 514: Youzhou

Governor Liu Yu of Youzhou is basically a good‑natured type; now he has been ordered to pacify Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun, and his subordinates are rather few. When Bai Lang arrived holding Liu Dai's recommendation letter, Liu Yu was overjoyed to see it, and ordered Bai Lang to serve as military scribe and command a thousand elite cavalry, and also gave him his famed warhorse and armor—Bai Lang is rather sincere, and after being dismissed by the court he turned in all his own armor and warhorse, only taking his personal weapons when he left.

Bai Lang, accompanied by his own junior men, also took over those thousand cavalry and horses—sorry, the juniors are still of little use, only able to serve as his bodyguards, and Bai Lang has no intention of exerting effort to control this cavalry. Although Liu Yu is a decent person, he never imagined Bai Lang would sell his life for him. "It's only to pacify the rebels for the country; afterwards some will still return home," he said to his own juniors.

These juniors are indeed devoted to him and have no ambition to rise through this; they still have the roving‑knight attitude, following the big brother's hustle and that's enough. Bai Lang's bravery has already won them over, and the light‑hearted freedom suits these roving knights perfectly; aren't all the ones who have stayed with Bai Lang up to now just such people?

Since Bai Lang has no intention of taking command of the thousand riders and does not interfere with the original commanders of these cavalry, the ornamental sedan‑chair people still carry people, and the original Quhou military lords naturally are willing to obey his orders openly.

That day Bai Lang saw three others also in Liu Yu's tent: "Yuzhu has arrived; this is LiuBei (Liu Xuande) of Zhuoxian, and the other two are his sworn brothers, GuanYu (Guan Yunchang) of Jiezhou and ZhangFei (Zhang Yide) of Zhuoxian. Gentlemen, this is Ren City's Bai Lang, White Jade Pillar, now serving as cavalry scribe." Bai Lang looked at the three before him; the one in the middle stood seven chi five cun tall, his earlobes indeed long, but actually the large ears were the wind‑catching kind, his arms also long yet not like a black‑chimpanzee, his face was indeed gentle and bore a slight beard.

The second was a towering man about nine chi tall, a bit taller than Bai Lang, roughly two meters fifty‑six centimeters, with a handsome long beard nearly two chi in length, very thick and supple. His eyebrows and eyes gave him a flushed complexion; his phoenix‑like eyes and silkworm‑like brows made him a truly handsome gentleman, unlike Bai Lang's flame‑like eyebrows and tiger‑like double eyes.

As for the third—a black man, a bit shorter than Bai Lang but very stout, like a black iron tower. His leopard‑spotted head and round eyes were larger than Bai Lang's by a margin, and his swallow‑jaw tiger‑whisker beard was comparable to Bai Lang's—each strand like iron, exploding outward. Bai Lang found these three figures quite familiar; he had to admit that in his memory the 1994 version of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms chose these actors well, and Bai Lang thought it was as if they were reborn across a thousand years—identical in appearance and aura.

For a moment Bai Lang felt rather affectionate; the brave name of Ren City's Bai Lang, White Jade Pillar, had some circulation, at least his reputation now surpassed those three, and Bai Lang himself had no particular arrogance. After Liu Yu's introduction, he proactively offered his hand in salute. The three returned the salute, and Liu Yu appointed LiuBei as Commandant, a rank already above Bai Lang's, to lead troops against the rebels.

Regarding the struggle for status, Bai Lang had no interest—competing for rank under a harmless good man like Liu Yu? Bai Lang thought that was disgraceful. The two Zhangs were stationed at Yuyang; Emperor Guangwu revived the Yan‑Han dynasty precisely by relying on the Youyan Cavalry of Yuyang's Shanggu. LiuBei treated Bai Lang like a brother—though Bai Lang's "age" was several years younger than LiuBei's, LiuBei still constantly took the initiative to visit Bai Lang to discuss military affairs, making Bai Lang feel embarrassed.

On military matters Bai Lang had no real insight; after all, the two on his sides were just two guys causing trouble in the city, and their rebellion didn't even attack outward, indicating limited ambition, so the damage was naturally limited. In Bai Lang's view, the three were all heroes beyond ordinary men; a direct assault on the city would suffice, no need to overthink strategies.

GuanYu and ZhangFei felt a bit uneasy seeing big brother LiuBei treat Bai Lang like a brother. Seeing Bai Lang almost ignore military affairs made the two even less satisfied. However, when LiuBei asked GuanYu and ZhangFei to help Bai Lang organize the military matters, the White Jade Pillar completely ignored it, which improved the two's mood considerably.

Come to think of it, it's not just Guan and Zhang; even LiuBei can't quite figure out what kind of person Bai Lang is. He always feels this fellow has "no great ambition."

Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun naturally would not wait to die; they led tens of thousands of elite troops out of Yuyang, directly confronting the five thousand troops Liu Yu had recruited to quell the rebellion. The forces Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun commanded were mostly Youyan Cavalry, about three thousand men, plus over twenty thousand infantry. Seeing the enemy's large force, Liu Yu's strategist Yan Rou suggested first retreating to a defensive posture to embolden his soldiers, then sending elite troops on a flanking route to strike, thereby stretching the opponent's front and denying them a chance to return to Yuyang.

However, LiuBei, GuanYu, ZhangFei, and even Bai Lang opposed this; Liu, Guan, and Zhang insisted on a head‑on strike, being heroes beyond ordinary men, and GuanYu and ZhangFei never gave Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun a second thought. Bai Lang also laughed, "I see Zhang Ju's kind are merely flag‑planting sellers; if we lead our main force to charge straight in and cut off their heads, the battle for Youzhou will be settled."

No wonder Liu Yu is truly a good man; faced with Bai Lang's and Liu‑Guan‑Zhang's offensive, he could only permit them to fight. LiuBei would command the main body, Guan and Zhang would guard and assist, while Bai Lang, heedless, led his own bodyguards straight into the kill.

At this moment the enemy camp was still over ten li away, and both sides were merely scouting each other, already beginning to set up camps—yet Bai Lang at this moment rode out with a dozen or so cavalry to attack… Since he moved, the cavalry could not stay idle, so the riders spurred their horses and charged in formation—about two hundred riders in total.

The remaining infantry were held by LiuBei and Liu Yu, ready to be organized and march with the foot soldiers. Liu, Guan, and Zhang's expressions were not good; Bai Lang's impulsiveness disrupted their plan—originally the three had prepared to strike the next day, and a raid on the camp? That seemed unlikely.

Bai Lang also understood the situation, "Why wait for tomorrow? Since we're preparing a head‑on strike, we should raid while they're still unsettled and unprepared!" Bai Lang led his dozen riders, shouting his own name, and charged straight in.

The enemy also fielded cavalry while their infantry were building the camp; Bai Lang, as a blade, plunged straight in, his cloud‑water spear thrusting left and right, and in the blink of an eye he speared four or five riders off their horses. Bai Lang switched from his usual broad, forceful style to a technical flow. As he flickered, the opponent's spears all missed, and Bai Lang even managed to snatch two spears with one free hand.

He then casually discarded the spears, and Bai Lang, with one hand, seized the tail of the cloud‑water spear, swung it in a half‑circle. Within a radius of three to four meters, five or six riders and their horses were swept down—those struck by the shaft were not just killed, and those cut by the blade were split, horse and rider alike.

Bai Lang's strike completely shattered the enemy's spearheads, allowing his trailing bodyguards to follow him into the opposing cavalry formation unharmed. Because the enemy's left and right evasions were caught off guard, his juniors could calmly stab without being surrounded. Bai Lang cleanly exterminated all cavalry within a one‑eighty‑degree arc, three meters radius, in front of him.