Chapter 259: Ambition Finds Its Own Satisfaction

The Yellow Turban army not only cut off Fan Chou’s unit, but also sent out roughly two thousand cavalry to take the initiative and attack the Han army’s main formation, instantly turning the situation around and seizing the initiative.

Like everyone else, the Han army commander, East General of the Household Dong Zhuo, also changed color in an instant… but clearly, his anger outweighed his shock. His own earlier strategic misjudgment had caused the battle situation to shift drastically, and all the siege preparations Lu Zhi had painstakingly built were now wasted — that was one thing. But now, these mere Yellow Turban moth-bandits were so rampant that they actually intended to use him to establish their prestige. Was this not looking down on him, Dong Zhongying?

To think that he, Dong Zhuo, had grown up in the border commanderies since childhood, transferred into the Feathered Forest Gentlemen, and followed Zhang Huan to suppress rebellions — he could fully claim to be a battle-hardened veteran of a hundred campaigns. How could he be so underestimated by mere Yellow Turban bandits?!

Just as Dong Zhongying’s fury was hard to conceal, the Yellow Turban cavalry had already charged straight up to them.

Of course, although the army’s officers generally had some violent reactions, the Han army’s great formation remained orderly and towering, showing no sign of wavering whatsoever. Without even needing the ashen-faced Dong Zhuo to give the order, large numbers of spearmen behind him had already surged out calmly under the command of several two-thousand-bushel Captains and positioned themselves at the front of the formation. Then, two units of Han cavalry also began automatically massing on both wings, and with a single order from the enraged Dong Zhuo, they directly surged out from both flanks.

At the same time, Li Jue’s unit also readjusted and turned around. For a time, the large force of Han cavalry composed of Western Liang troops, Hedong riders, and Qiang tribesmen clashed back and forth continuously in front of the formation with the Yellow Turban cavalry led by Zuo Zi and Zhang Ba.

However, after the situation was stabilized, the senior officers at the front of the Han army’s great formation still all wore awkward expressions, and from time to time they cast their gazes toward Fan Chou’s unit, trapped on the earthen hill.

That’s right!

Everyone understood clearly that although Dong Zhuo had made a strategic error, after he brought the Hedong and Western Liang troops to provide support, from the overall perspective, the Yellow Turbans were still at a general disadvantage. Relying on the city to defend, the enemy might still be able to hold out, but if they wanted to counterattack and win a complete victory, that was nothing short of a fool’s dream.

In other words, no matter how this battle went, the overall situation between the two sides afterward should still be a quagmire of siege and stalemate.

Therefore, this time the Yellow Turban cavalry’s direct charge at the Han army’s main formation might have had a sliver of wishful thinking, but more than that, it was intended to create the situation before their eyes — a chaotic cavalry melee blocking the battlefield, thereby allowing the Yellow Turban Warriors to devour Fan Chou’s unit on the earthen hill in full public view.

And once an intact, organic Han army unit was completely swallowed up in public, the blow to Han army morale and the boost to Yellow Turban morale would both be obvious.

“The bandits are crafty and treacherous!” Dong Zhuo came back to his senses, but there was nothing he could do. He could only force a laugh and console himself. “Let us see how our cavalry annihilates the moth-bandit horsemen, and then we can calmly rescue Commander Fan and bring him back to the formation.”

The surrounding officers were all speechless… At this moment, other than hoping that their own cavalry could quickly resolve the fight, there really was no particularly good method.

Were they supposed to press the entire army forward under the enemy’s city walls without any preparation?

If anything went wrong somewhere and they suffered a major defeat, that would probably be worse than letting Fan Chou’s several hundred men die out there! Dong Zhuo, whose prospects were already worrisome, was even less likely to undertake a large-scale military gamble.

Given this situation, they could only count on the cavalry to decide the fight quickly.

However, although the Han cavalry appeared quite valiant and clearly outnumbered the head-wrapped Yellow Turban horsemen, once several thousand cavalry were let loose in a chaotic melee, how could a victor be decided in a short moment?

Especially since Zhang Jiao personally appeared on the city gate tower behind them!

Fan Chou’s position was growing more precarious by the moment. The Yellow Turban Warriors, as the personal guard warriors Zhang Jiao had prepared long ago, possessed fierce and valiant combat strength that was evident to all.

And at the same time, the Yellow Turban cavalry before them also fought as if each man feared no death. Dong Zhuo and the others witnessed with their own eyes: a head-wrapped Yellow Turban rider was wounded and fell from his horse, yet he struggled to his feet on the ground, directly grabbed a Han army horse’s hoof, and bit and tore at the horse’s leg, causing the Han cavalryman’s mount to panic, and both man and horse perished together.

The common soldiers fought fiercely and desperately, and the officers were no less impressive. So many mid- and low-level Yellow Turban cavalry officers, whether squad leaders or company commanders, all led from the front. And every time they charged to the edge of the battlefield and wheeled around to charge again, they would invariably shout repeatedly, “The Blue Sky is dead; the Yellow Sky shall be established!” to boost morale. Then those soldiers would actually seem as if they had drunk talisman water, all ailments cured and all fatigue vanished, and they would once again charge and fight fiercely without pause.

However, the most eye-catching figures in the chaotic melee were still the two commanders, Zuo Zi and Zhang Ba.

It must be understood that as renowned warriors within the Yellow Turban army, Zuo Zi and Zhang Ba had long been familiar to the Han army. The former had a thick, lush beard under his chin, and his face was also covered with needle-like stubble. Moreover, since the Han army only knew his surname was Zuo, or that he had held some Yellow Turban post beginning with the character ‘Zuo’ and seemed to have fought under a ‘Zuo’ banner, they thus called him Zuo Zi. The latter had a tall, lanky build, an agile frame, and outstanding horsemanship; the long spear in his hand was a full one zhang and eight chi long, so the Han soldiers had given him the nickname Zhang Ba!

In truth, the courage of an ordinary man should not be a derogatory term; at the very least, it should be a neutral one. After all, for a general who commands ten thousand men or more, going up to swing a staff himself is indeed rash and frivolous. But in a chaotic melee at the scale of a thousand men, having two unmatched warriors as unit commanders tells the opposite story!

Zuo Zi possessed boundless strength, and Zhang Ba’s horsemanship was exceptional. The two were not far apart and cooperated with tacit understanding. Those at a distance were skewered by Zhang Ba’s long spear, while those who came close were swept away by Zuo Zi wielding his lance… Moreover, the two specifically targeted Han army officers. In a short while, leading a dozen personal guards, they had slain over ten Han cavalrymen in succession, startling the Han cavalry into hastily avoiding them wherever they went.

Faced with such a situation, without even needing any signal from Dong Zhuo behind him, Li Jue — whose earlier moment of panic had led to Fan Chou being cut off — took the initiative and led his trusted guards to meet them, seeking to quickly finish off these two and atone for his crime with merit.

After all, he, Li Zhiran, was also a famously fierce and valiant warrior among the Western Liang troops Dong Zhuo had brought this time, and he rather wanted to test the true measure of these two.

Zuo Zi and Zhang Ba had naturally also spotted Li Jue’s trusted men heading their way early on. Did they not also wish to take out the opposing side? And so, with a great roar from each side before the formations, they tacitly led their personal guards in a direct charge at each other.

It must be said that Li Zhiran was a calculating man. Seeing that the long spear in Zhang Ba’s hand was extraordinarily long, he knew there was something unusual about it, so he slowed a step just before reaching him and hid behind one of his trusted guards. And sure enough, since Zhang Ba dared to use such an exceptional long weapon, he naturally had something to rely on. With just a squeeze of his horse’s belly, he easily stabbed the foremost man in the neck head-on.

Li Jue, following close behind, was not alarmed but rather delighted at this sight. He and the remaining guards behind him did not slow their horses’ momentum. The latter, relying on their numerical advantage, went to block Zuo Zi and the Yellow Turban cavalry on their own, while Li Jue himself directly accelerated along his path, emerging from behind the personal guard who had just been stabbed, to strike at Zhang Ba, who had just thrust out his weapon and was in an awkward position to retract it!

Zhang Ba had rich combat experience and dared not be careless. He immediately let go of the long weapon in his hand, first dodging Li Jue’s spear on horseback, then drawing his blade to meet the attack. However, as mentioned before, Li Jue was originally an outstanding warrior of the Western Liang army. Moreover, mounted combat inherently emphasizes advantages in height and reach. Having lost his long spear, Zhang Ba, wielding a ring-pommeled saber against his opponent, quickly fell into a disadvantageous position… He could only barely parry… Seeing this opportunity, Li Jue was overjoyed and simply used his long weapon and large horse to cling relentlessly to his opponent, seeking to finish this man off first.

The distance was considerable, and with the dust of battle rising everywhere, squads and companies of cavalry moving back and forth ceaselessly, and the shouts of killing and the drumming shaking the eardrums, the officers before the Han formation could only roughly see that Li Jue’s personal guards, relying on their numerical advantage, had blocked Zuo Zi, and that Li Jue himself had suppressed Zhang Ba. At this, they could not help but look delighted one after another…

“Hahaha!” Dong Zhuo, shielding the sunlight overhead with his hand, laughed heartily at the sight. Then, standing on his chariot, he smiled and addressed the various officers to his left and right. “Those who lead troops must understand in their hearts: strong soldiers are the support of the general, but are not strong generals likewise the courage of the soldiers? If Li Zhiran can finish off these two, I fear the Yellow Turban cavalry ahead will lose heart. Then not only can we calmly rescue Commander Fan, we might even seize that earthen hill in the process.”

The surrounding group of two-thousand-bushel officers, whether Xu Rong, Cao Cao, or Zou Jing, all nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

This was not merely to echo their superior, but because most of those present had fought the Yellow Turbans before and knew very well in their hearts that although the Yellow Turban cavalry before them was incomparably fierce and valiant, their fundamental combat strength was still far inferior to that of the Han cavalry. The reason they could fight the Han army so vigorously at this moment was more due to their sudden attack and that desperate, life-staking momentum… If they truly lost heart, then the matter would indeed be easy to handle.

But just at this moment, as Dong Zhuo loudly emphasized the shift in the battle situation to boost morale, the ever-changing battlefield took a sudden turn for the worse. One moment the Han officers were looking delighted, and the next they were all struck with shock and horror.

The one displaying his might was Zuo Zi!

Compared to Zhang Ba, Zuo Zi was not as skilled in horsemanship or long weapons, but he was born with divine strength and appeared even more valiant and fierce. Earlier, he and his squad of a dozen or so guards had been completely surrounded by twenty or thirty cavalry guards under Li Jue. Outnumbered, and with Zhang Ba, with whom he cooperated so seamlessly, cut off from him, he had inevitably fallen into a disadvantageous position.

And just as Li Jue was using his long spear to bully the saber-wielding Zhang Ba, and Dong Zhuo over there was laughing heartily, a Qiang cavalryman on this side spotted an opening and suddenly hurled a short spear at Zuo Zi’s face.

Zuo Zi dodged in haste, but even so, half of his face, covered in dense stubble, was still sliced open by the spear. Roughly half the skin of his face immediately hung down, dripping with blood.

Seeing this sight, the surrounding Han cavalry naturally thought they had succeeded and were even more overjoyed, pressing forward one after another, preparing to finish him off. However, Zuo Zi, standing on his horse, let out a great roar. With one hand he wielded his spear in wide, sweeping arcs, forcing back the attackers, while with the other hand, he directly tore the sliced-off facial skin away in full public view and stuffed it into his own mouth, gnawing it down!

Such an act — its visual impact was far more than merely terrifying. The Han cavalrymen opposite him were almost instantly scared out of their wits. It must be understood that in this era, people placed great stock in the supernatural, in ghosts and spirits, and even more so in courage. For Zuo Zi to tear off his own face in the midst of battle and swallow it in public was practically an act of the supernatural. How could the Han army not be shocked? Some of the Qiang among them even acted as if they had seen a deity, their legs trembling uncontrollably, unable to even steady their mounts.

And Zuo Zi, chewing his own flesh and blood, blood gushing like a spring from half his face while the black stubble on the other half stood out like needles — his appearance utterly transformed beyond recognition — yet he remained as vigorous as ever. Not only did he show no intention of using the opportunity to retreat, he instead forcibly raised his spear and pursued, leading his guards, who had just been at a disadvantage, to slay several men in succession… The surrounding Han cavalry had long since lost their nerve, and now each scrambled to flee for his life.

Over on the other side, Li Jue was still bullying Zhang Ba. Turning his head in a daze, he saw a figure with a face like a ghost or demon charging straight at him, and he panicked too. Zhang Ba seized the opening, bent down to retrieve his long spear, and then raised it and charged over… Li Zhiran’s mind went completely blank; he had no idea what had happened. But suddenly turning around, the numerical advantage was gone, the weapon advantage was gone, and with such a monster before him, he would not dare to continue the fight even if the sky were falling. He immediately wheeled his horse and fled.

In all fairness, one truly cannot blame Li Jue for being cowardly or incompetent. Anyone in that situation would likely have panicked.

However, as his lordship the East General of the Household Dong had said, strong soldiers are the support of the general, but are not strong generals likewise the courage of the soldiers? The moment Commander Li Jue turned and fled, the surrounding Han cavalrymen followed suit in a great swath! The battlefield situation flipped once again.

Still, fortunately, the fellow’s mind was clear enough to know he should flee toward the flanks and not toward the main formation. Otherwise, having been forced back by the Yellow Turbans twice in one day, the enraged General of the Household Dong would absolutely not spare him!

“I’ll kill Li Zhiran!” Dong Zhuo, watching clearly from his chariot, was practically jumping with rage. “Has he never seen a dead man or never killed a man? Losing an arm or a leg is nothing to fear, so what if a bit of face skin is torn off?”

There was no helping it; one could not blame General Dong for being unsympathetic. It was truly that this Li Jue had brought him far too much “honor”!

One must understand, why had Dong Zhuo not used Xu Rong earlier? Why, when so many people requested battle, did he insist on using Fan Chou for the assault and Li Jue to lead his trusted troops to provide support? Part of this was certainly because he had underestimated the day’s battle and wanted his trusted men to seize the credit. But more than that, it was because his earlier strategic blunder would inevitably cause the Han troops who had originally followed Lu Zhi in the arduous siege here to feel some contempt and disdain. He needed his trusted military officers and the Western Liang reinforcements closely tied to him to demonstrate their strength, in order to shut the mouths of everyone in the army!

In fact, this battle was probably eighty percent fought for that very reason.

And now, look what had happened… Li Jue had utterly disgraced the Western Liang troops!

“General, calm your anger!” Before the formation, one could not use private forms of address. Li Ru, Dong Zhuo’s son-in-law beside the chariot, hurriedly spoke to dissuade him. “Now is not the time to punish crimes. Please quickly send the army’s elite troops to annihilate the enemy cavalry before us. Commander Fan’s position can hardly hold out any longer!”

At these words, everyone looked toward the earthen hill. The view from here was better, so they could see clearly… Indeed, although the Yellow Turban Warriors were attacking upward from below, and Fan Chou’s unit above them was fully armored, they were still pressing forward step by step, advancing relentlessly. Looking closely, it seemed the front ranks of the Yellow Turban Warriors were actually equipped with axes and fist-sized war hammers, though it was unknown from which Hebei armory they had been captured — these were precisely the tools for breaking through armor.

What the onlookers did not know was that Fan Chou had already taken a hammer blow to the hollow of his shoulder and had been forced to retreat to the rear of the formation, finding even commanding difficult… There was no helping it; when a solid iron hammer the size of a fist was swung with full force and smashed down, what thing could possibly endure it?

Seeing the situation thus, the officers before the formation no longer requested battle. They merely gripped their weapons one after another and looked toward Dong Zhuo.

Dong Zhongying came to his senses. He also knew that if tens of thousands of men from both armies were to watch helplessly as Fan Chou’s unit on the earthen hill was slaughtered to the last man, then no matter what was said, today would be an unbearably ugly and disastrous defeat… He could not hold back, nor could he delay any longer!

“Pass down the order!” Dong Zhuo turned his head and drew his sword in fury. “Have Guo Si commit all the remaining cavalry of the central army. He must rescue Fan Chou… If he cannot bring him back, then have him kill Li Jue and then take his own life before the formation!”

A stir ran through the surrounding area… Clearly, even at this stage, Dong Zhuo still wanted the Western Liang troops to salvage their own reputation. It was not incomprehensible, but for the other officers who had wasted half a year at Guangzong with extremely few merits to their name, this kind of action was undoubtedly still somewhat displeasing.

Of course, seeing Guo Si heading to the rear to redeploy troops while the two men before him — Left Whisker and Zhangba — grew ever more reckless, Dong Zhuo knew he had gone too far. Once again he looked around and spoke: "A pity. I came in such haste that my personal guard commander Hua Xiong has only just finished recruiting troops in Liangzhou and has yet to arrive. Otherwise I would never allow these two to run so rampant… You do not know — that beloved general of mine, Hua Xiong, possesses a valor that ten thousand men cannot match. One man alone would be enough to slay these two wretches… I only wonder, is there at this moment in our Han army a warrior like him, who can slay these two wretches for me and restore the army's morale?"

This was blatant provocation.

But it must be said — the effect was remarkable.

No sooner had Dong Zhuo's words fallen than a general nearby could no longer contain himself: "General, since you have already sent those so-called Xiliang troops to rescue Company Commander Fan, then these two generals need no Hua Xiong of peerless valor to slay them… This subordinate will slay them on behalf of the General of the Household!"

With these words, this man actually led a dozen riders straight out from the ranks and went to take on Left Whisker and Zhangba himself — and it was none other than Gongsun Zan!

Gongsun Bogui was utterly desperate for merit. Moreover, back when Lu Zhi was in command, he had always been responsible for leading the cavalry and bore considerable grudges against these two men before him. It was a moment of overwhelming fury that drove him to charge straight out. His tactics closely resembled Li Jue's: he had his trusted guard commander Wang Men lead attendants to block Left Whisker while he himself faced Zhangba in single combat.

And indeed — at the first exchange of horses, after Gongsun Zan swept aside the opponent's long spear, he immediately whirled his double-headed long lance, and for a time held his own against the foe.

But seeing this scene, the men at the central army's front who had come to their senses were not pleased — on the contrary, they panicked… Because this was Gongsun Zan! The clan elder brother of that man in the north!

Cao Cao was stupefied. Without even caring whether Yue Wenqian and Li Tuizhi were skilled in mounted combat, he hurriedly turned and called for the two to mount up and follow… Left Whisker and Zhangba were so ferociously strong — if Gongsun Zan fell here, how could he, Cao Mengde, ever answer to that man in the north?

It was not only Cao Cao. Xu Rong, having come to his senses, was even more panic-stricken. Earlier, he had inexplicably let a trusted subordinate of Gongsun Xun, Jia Chao, die under his command, and he still did not know how to account for it. If Gongsun Zan died here as well, would he have to pay with his own life?

Zou Jing, who owed Gongsun Zan his life, felt the same.

Even Dong Zhongying's heart pounded with alarm, yet he could only leap up from his carriage: "Brave warriors of the army, quickly ride forth to support Colonel Gongsun!"

Hearing these words, Xu Rong, Zou Jing, and the others hurriedly led their personal guards to the rescue. Even Yue Jin and Li Jin under Cao Cao's command galloped out from the ranks.

But one rider, leading over ten men and with exceptionally superb horsemanship, was actually faster than everyone else by a single breath, and was the first to break out from the crowd.

Moreover, as this man galloped, he actually drew his bow directly from the saddle. From a great distance, a single arrow — like a shooting star — amid the chaotic battle of a thousand troops, struck Zhangba, who was likewise charging on horseback, and shot him down with one arrow!

Such accuracy, such power, such speed… Gongsun Zan fighting desperately ahead, the generals following behind, and Dong Zhuo on his carriage — all were utterly dumbfounded, scarcely able to believe that one of the two bandit generals who had been utterly unmanageable moments before had been dispatched so cleanly.

But it did not end there.

Seizing the moment when the cavalry of both armies were all stunned, this tall, strong, and agile rider — neither switching to a spear nor drawing another arrow — simply kept holding his great bow and led over ten riders straight toward the disfigured Left Whisker. Then, with a light extension of his ape-like arm, he first used the back of the bow to gently deflect Left Whisker's hastily thrust spear at the shaft, and then with a reverse hand, he looped his ox-sinew hard bow over the opponent's neck!

The dozen riders who had followed behind surged forward together to protect his flanks, while this warrior dragged the Yellow Turban champion — who moments before had been fierce and peerless like a demon god — straight off his horse and onto the ground, then pulled him along by the neck… The manner was as effortless as an adult carrying a child. Only after several dozen paces, when Left Whisker on the ground ceased struggling, did this man release his grip.

From Dong Zhuo to Zhang Jiao on the gate tower opposite, both armies fell utterly silent!

Only then did this tall warrior let out a rough breath. He dismounted, drew his blade, and unhurriedly cut off the opponent's head. Then he unhurriedly remounted, and facing the direction of the city gate tower ahead, he hurled the head fiercely, and at last roared out all the stifled frustration of having wasted half a year here without a chance to earn merit:

"The slayer of these men is the Han Protector Army Colonel, Jiuyuan Lu Bu!"

The Yellow Turban army and the Han army alike trembled in terror, as if facing a roaring tiger.

————I am the dividing line of the World's Roaring Tiger————

"When the Yellow Turbans rose, Bu was recommended by Liu Yan and followed Lu Zhi to campaign at Guangzong, serving as Protector Army Colonel. He saw that the imperial guards around him were all men of no ability, and he himself was not employed, so he grew long stifled and could not stretch his wings. One day before battle, he stayed awake through the night gazing at the moon. Those beside him asked, and he sighed deeply: 'Only today do I understand that those who occupy high positions in the world are not necessarily heroes. Yet, a true man born into this world — how can he remain stifled and long subordinated beneath men of no ability? He must exert himself.' The next day, he personally slew two generals before the battle lines. When the army heard of it, all called him 'Roaring Tiger.'" — Old Book of Yan, Volume 66, Biography 16

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Awkward. Only after posting did I realize the title is missing a "Part 2"… but I can't change it… sorry… though it shouldn't affect reading.

(End of Chapter)