The person leading them was Liu Bei, holding a sword in both hands, and through the firelight, he looked at the person in front of him with excitement!
That was Zhang Bao, one of the three great Yellow Turban leaders. If he could die by his own hands, wouldn't this heaven-defying fortune arrive?
“Yellow Turban leader, Zhang Bao, where do you think you're going?”
“Second Brother, Third Brother, charge for me! We must kill Zhang Bao!”
The two strong men beside him, upon receiving the order, charged forward without any hesitation!
Zhang Bao was greatly alarmed by this situation and continuously directed his personal guards to block while he retreated backward.
Facing the resistance of the personal guards, the two strong men found it difficult to break through for a time. Instead, they became entangled in the street, unable to advance an inch.
Liu Bei gritted his teeth in anger at this situation. His Second Brother and Third Brother were, in the end, not as good as Liu Jin's Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.
The duck that was at his mouth, he still couldn't eat.
Watching Zhang Bao about to disappear into the darkness, just then!
A General under Dong Zhuo, holding a crossbow, shot an arrow forward with a whistling sound!
A sharp arrow cut through the air, incredibly fast, and shot directly towards Zhang Bao's back, with a thud.
Zhang Bao, still fleeing, felt a bursting pain in his back. His legs instantly gave out, and he fell backward to the ground.
The young General, riding a swift horse, glanced at Liu Bei beside him, a look of amusement in his eyes.
He squeezed his horse's belly with his legs and charged directly forward.
A long spear instantly appeared in his hand. Seeing Zhang Bao still wailing in pain on the ground, he said nothing more and thrust it directly into him.
With a thud.
The long spear directly penetrated his body. Blood gushed out, and Zhang Bao's wailing instantly ceased.
The young General pulled out his long spear, a look of excitement on his face, and shouted coldly to the surroundings!
“Western Liang's Zhang Xiu is here! Zhang Bao, the Yellow Turban General, has been executed!”
“You Yellow Turban remnants, surrender quickly!”
After saying this, he directly drew his blade, cut off Zhang Bao's head, wrapped it in cloth, and placed it on his horse's back.
Holding his long spear, he led his soldiers and continued to kill in the surroundings.
He didn't even look at Liu Bei and left Elegant ly.
Liu Bei, riding on his horse with two swords in hand, watched the credit that was within his grasp disappear.
He was filled with anger, glanced at his Third Brother and Second Brother, and sighed.
He could only lead his Second Brother and Third Brother to charge forward, hoping to kill more Yellow Turbans to gain merit, and at least receive a reward.
With Zhang Bao's execution, the Yellow Turbans in the city were utterly terrified, throwing down their weapons and fleeing in disarray, without any power to resist.
Soon, the sounds of fighting in the city gradually diminished.
Large numbers of the Han Army, under the command of their Generals, were capturing and imprisoning these captives.
Dong Zhuo, riding a tall horse and wearing a long robe, slowly entered Quyang City, surrounded by his Generals.
Seeing that the city had been captured, the smile on his face simply couldn't be suppressed.
He looked at Li Ru beside him, feeling a newfound respect. This person was a great talent, and he couldn't miss out on him.
He laughed loudly!
“This city could be occupied so quickly, thanks to Wen You for solving my problems and devising strategies.”
“I see you are no longer young. After this battle, General will marry my youngest daughter to you. Are you willing?”
Li Ru, hearing this, naturally knew that Dong Zhuo wanted to completely bind him.
After a moment of silence, he did not object. Instead, he bowed and said!
“Ru has followed General for several years. I will let General decide.”
Dong Zhuo heard this, threw his head back and laughed heartily, appearing very satisfied!
As long as Li Ru became his son-in-law, he would plan and strategize for him in the future, and his own path would become even longer.
Just then, Zhang Xiu, riding a swift horse, holding a blood-stained long spear, galloped towards this spot.
He raised the bloody head with both hands and bowed, saying!
“Reporting to General, your subordinate has already executed Zhang Bao. His head is here.”
Dong Zhuo looked at the bloody head, extremely satisfied, and said loudly!
“Good!”
“Truly worthy of being a fierce General of my Western Liang. Since you killed Zhang Bao, General will surely request a reward for you from the imperial court.”
Zhang Xiu was extremely excited to hear this. He immediately walked over to the middle-aged General beside him, respectfully called him Uncle, and then stood to the side!
Dong Zhuo looked at the situation in the city, which had returned to calm, and loudly ordered!
“Process all the bodies in the city, imprison the captives, and then rest and reorganize in the city.”
“In three days, reward the entire army, report the merits of this battle to the imperial court, and request rewards for all Generals.”
The surrounding Generals heard this, their eyes filled with excitement, their bodies trembling with emotion, and they all bowed and said!
“Thank you, General!”
Dong Zhuo nodded in satisfaction, then immediately waved his horse whip and led everyone slowly into the city.
Three days later!
Outside Guangzong City's military camp, Liu Jin walked out of the main tent, greeting the beautiful sunlight, and slowly stretched.
After several days of rest and rewards, the morale of the entire army was high.
As for the captives, after ten were executed for every one, they had become utterly compliant. Two days ago, they had been handed over to Guo Dian, the Prefect of Julu Commandery, for handling.
Liu Jin looked at the bright sunlight and fell into deep thought.
The Yellow Turban Rebellion had entered its final stages. With only Quyang left, it wouldn't be long before it was also breached.
With his merits, being enfeoffed as a marquis and appointed as a General would not be a problem. At that time, where should he choose as his base?
Although the Great Han entered a brief period of stability after the Yellow Turban Rebellion, it was only superficial.
Because the Yellow Turban Rebellion had shaken the very foundation of the imperial court. The power of local prefects was too great, and many ambitious individuals had emerged.
After a period of time, the implementation of the Provincial Governor system completely formed the embryonic shape of warlords carving up territories. It could be said that chaos in the world was imminent.
Especially after Emperor Liu Hong's death and Dong Zhuo's tyranny, the world completely descended into chaos, truly forming an overt struggle among warlords.
He also had to make early preparations to welcome the arrival of true chaos and contend with various warlords for the empire.
To rise, command his own army, and carve out a territory, he could only choose a border region. The most important reason was that he could raise bandits to maintain his own importance, have great autonomy, and the imperial court's vigilance would be less.
After all, to guard the border, the number of troops in his hands naturally could not be small, and the imperial court would turn a blind eye, tacitly allowing him the right to recruit soldiers and buy horses.
Conversely, if he chose an inland area, it would be impossible to expand his army at will, and it would be difficult to control military power. A slight misstep would lead to him being labeled a rebel by the imperial court.
He could only stay put honestly and wait for Dong Zhuo's tyranny before he could rise. If that were the case, it would inevitably waste several years, which would be detrimental to contending for the empire.
Therefore, if he wanted to command a large army and accumulate strength, he still had to choose a border region.
Western Liang naturally could not be his base. Firstly, he was not a Western Liang native, so he couldn't establish a foothold.
Moreover, rebellions frequently occurred there, especially a year later, Han Sui, Beigong Boyu, and others would raise armies to rebel, commanding hundreds of thousands of troops to threaten the imperial court.
That place was simply a mess, and there was no way to rise there.
