Chapter 44: The Prelude to the Yellow Turban Rebellion

Seeing that Cao Cao had taken his reminder to heart, Lin Yu showed a satisfied smile. Suddenly, as if he had remembered something, he pointed at Zhao Yun beside him and said, "By the way, Governor." "The ability of my third disciple Zilong is no less than that of my second disciple Dian Wei. It's really a pity to let him stay with me in the logistics and baggage troops all the time." "This time, to deal with the Yellow Turban Army, you, Governor, also need some help. Let Zilong follow you."

"What? Really?!" Cao Cao almost thought he had heard wrong. He had long been coveting Zhao Yun. Especially during the great victory in Puyang last time, when Zhao Yun and Dian Wei killed the enemy generals single-handedly, it almost made his mouth water. It was just that out of respect for Lin Yu, Cao Cao was too embarrassed to ask. Now that Lin Yu took the initiative to offer, how could he not be excited?

"Of course it's true." Lin Yu's proposal was also carefully considered. After Cao Cao became the Governor of Yanzhou, his power immediately expanded. Now under his command, besides Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan and other old followers, there were also Xun Yu, Guo Jia, Xi Zhicai from Yingchuan Prefecture, and Chen Gong, Bao Xin and other local forces of Yanzhou. If Lin Yu wanted to keep a low profile and not attract attention, he couldn't keep Zhao Yun by his side. After all, Zhao Yun's ability was definitely among the best in Cao Cao's forces!

"That's really great!" Cao Cao was so excited that he rubbed his hands together. After pondering for a moment, he said, "How about this? I'll transfer three thousand troops and put them under your command, sir." "Sir, don't rush to refuse. I know you like to keep a low profile and don't like to show yourself in public." "These three thousand troops will be nominally led by Zilong, but in fact, they will all follow your orders, sir."

After recruiting the Black Mountain Bandits, Cao Cao eliminated most of the old, weak, sick, and disabled, leaving only twenty thousand able-bodied men. Adding the previous troops, he had a total of no more than thirty thousand men in his hands. Taking out one-tenth of them and putting them under Lin Yu's command was enough to show Cao Cao's importance attached to Lin Yu.

"Your subordinate will follow the Prefect's orders!" Seeing that it was hard to decline the kind offer, Lin Yu had no choice but to accept the order.

...

The million Yellow Turban rebels were eyeing them covetously outside. Any delay of one day would cause huge losses. The war situation was urgent. Therefore, on the second day, Cao Cao called everyone over to discuss military matters together.

"Now the Yellow Turban Army is coming menacingly with several times more troops than ours. Do you have any suggestions?" Cao Cao looked at the people in the hall. On the left side stood Cao Cao's original team, including Xun Yu, Guo Jia, Xi Zhicai, Xiahou Dun and others. On the right side, most of them were local forces of Yanzhou such as Bao Xin, Zhang Miao, Chen Gong and others.

"These Yellow Turban thieves only rob the common people and run amok in the villages. In my opinion, we'd better wipe them out as soon as possible." Xu Si, the Attendant Officer, quickly said. "Yes, if we let the Yellow Turban Army be so rampant, it will be difficult to deal with them once they become powerful in the future!" "We hope the Governor can come up with a solution soon." The local people of Yanzhou all spoke up in agreement.

Cao Cao, however, sneered in his heart. Sure enough, just as Lin Yu had said, people like Xu Si, these local aristocratic families of Yanzhou, only had their own interests in mind. The bloody example of Liu Dai was still right in front of them, but they still urged him to send troops. But he didn't show any dissatisfaction. Instead, he said calmly, "What you said is right. Feng Xiao, do you have any good plans?"

Seeing Cao Cao's gaze turning towards him, Guo Jia then said unhurriedly, "Although the Yellow Turban Army has a million people, they are strong on the outside but weak on the inside and not worth worrying about. Our army can use guerrilla tactics to slowly deal with them. When their vigor is almost exhausted, we can take the initiative to attack and achieve a great victory."

Guerrilla tactics? The people of Yanzhou looked at each other in confusion, not understanding what Guo Jia meant. Only Cao Cao, Xiahou Dun and others who had read the military strategy written by Lin Yu understood Guo Jia's meaning. The guerrilla tactics written by Lin Yu were excellent and very suitable for the current situation.

Although Guo Jia had always wanted to compete with Lin Yu, who was hiding behind the scenes, he was not a narrow-minded person. So he recommended that Cao Cao deal with the Yellow Turban Army according to the guerrilla tactics.

"I also have the same idea." Cao Cao nodded, his eyes narrowing, and said in a deep voice, "Listen to my orders!" Everyone also became solemn and looked at Cao Cao together. "Immediately mobilize the troops and prepare to attack the Yellow Turban Army!" "Yes, sir!" Everyone replied in unison.

Now that Zhao Yun was leading an army alone, he was naturally qualified to participate in the discussion. After it ended, he returned to Lin Yu's residence and recounted everything he had seen and heard during the discussion. After hearing this, Lin Yu felt much more at ease. As long as Boss Cao followed his guerrilla tactics, basically defeating the Yellow Turban Army was a sure thing.

"Besides, the Lord has also appointed me as the vanguard general." Zhao Yun added. This Boss Cao was really determined not to let him take it easy. Lin Yu was a bit speechless. Cao Cao appointed Zhao Yun as the vanguard general, which clearly showed that he wanted Lin Yu to contribute. Alright. Since that's the case, then I'll show my skills!

...

The next day. As the vanguard general, Zhao Yun, together with Lin Yu, led three thousand troops and left Changyi, heading straight for the Yellow Turban Army in the north. After defeating Liu Dai's troops in Dongping, the Yellow Turban Army didn't stay long but continued to move westward, approaching Shouzhang.

"According to the information sent back by the scouts, the enemy has already learned of our arrival. Zhang Rao, the chief of the rebels, has divided thirty thousand troops and let Xu He, one of his subordinates, lead them to move south." Zhao Yun said in a deep voice. Cao Cao had sent out many scouts before and had a fairly good understanding of the internal situation of the Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou. The situation of the Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou was similar to that of the Black Mountain Bandits. Although they seemed to have a large number of people and looked imposing, most of them were old, weak, sick, and disabled with no combat effectiveness. Only one hundred thousand of them could be regarded as elite troops, led by Zhang Rao, the chief of the rebels.

"They've sent thirty thousand troops to deal with us. They really take us seriously." Lin Yu pondered. "Elder Brother, should we ask the Lord for help?" Zhao Yun asked tentatively. Thirty thousand troops were ten times more than their own. This was no small trouble.

"Before even engaging in battle, we start asking the Lord for help. Where will my face be?" Lin Yu curled his lips and said disdainfully. "It's just thirty thousand troops. Zilong, just watch how I defeat the enemy!"

...

In the Yellow Turban Army's camp dozens of miles away. In the central army's big tent. "General, there are only three thousand people on the opposite side. Why should we camp here and not move forward?" A Yellow Turban Army general couldn't help but ask. Sitting on the couch was a burly man. He was Xu He, the Yellow Turban general. Historically, this person was also quite capable. Even when most of the Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou was recruited by Cao Cao, Xu He still resisted stubbornly and finally died at the hands of Xiahou Yuan.

"Although there are only three thousand people, don't forget that the one leading them is Zhao Yun." Xu He said slowly. "Zhao Zilong has fought against Lu Bu before and killed leaders of the Black Mountain Bandits like Sui Gu not long ago. He can't be underestimated." "Moreover, before leaving, the chief of the rebels repeatedly told us that we only need to block the troops from Yanzhou. There's no need to take the initiative to attack."