Chapter 567 Follow me

Early in the morning, a light cavalry marched out of the Yellow Turban camp and walked slowly towards Changsha City. Seeing their calm appearance, it seemed that they were not going to attack the city.

Even the Wu and Shu soldiers on the city walls just watched them approach, and did not attack the Yellow Turban cavalry until they reached the city gate.

Both parties seemed to have some tacit understanding, as if they were going to accomplish something here.

Not long after, a group of people came up from the top of the city wall. They were the group led by Zhou Yu. Zhou Yu came to the top of the city wall and looked down. He exchanged glances with the general who led the Yellow Turban Cavalry from a distance.

Zhou Yu was finally relieved when he saw that the Yellow Turbans had sent people on time as agreed yesterday.

"Open the city gates and release the people!"

After nodding to the yellow turban and silver armored generals below, Zhou Yu gave the order.

This cavalry unit consisted of only a hundred people and posed no threat to the city. The Yellow Turbans had already shown enough attitude, so Zhou Yu naturally took decisive action.

At Zhou Yu's order, the Changsha city gate was slowly pushed open. Zhao Yun, who was below, saw the densely packed people inside through the increasingly larger doorway. However, at this sight, he took a breath of cold air.

There was a crowd of people that seemed to have no end. They were all haggard and ragged. Many of them were even naked. You could see that their ribs were deeply squeezed out. Even when they walked, their steps were slow and weak. It was scary that if one person fell, the people behind them would fall down as well.

Each of them had a numb look on their face, as lifeless as the living dead, and they just walked mechanically under the scolding of the Wu and Shu soldiers.

Just by looking at their physical condition, one can imagine what kind of life they have been living in the past few months.

This is not simply a matter of starving for a few months, but surviving for a few months with only the minimum survival needs. Most people are already on the verge of death. Even the strongest person will have several layers of flesh and blood scraped off after being tortured like this for a few months.

The eyes of the cavalrymen around Zhao Yun suddenly became cold, and murderous intent emanated from them.

The Yellow Turbans' army was composed entirely of local soldiers, each of whom was a member of the lower-class civilian population who had suffered untold hardships. No one could empathize with the people before them more than they could.

Thinking of Lu Su's righteous look when he entered the Yellow Turban camp yesterday, they suddenly felt sick.

If it weren't for Wu and Shu forcing the people to take control, how could the people become like this today? They even have the nerve to pretend to have sympathy for the people and threaten the Yellow Turbans!

At this moment, the faces of the old nobles made the Yellow Turban soldiers feel even more disgusted.

They exploit the people to their heart's content, and when they are no longer of any use and have become a burden, they pretend to care about the people, but in fact they are using the people to threaten the enemy.

It seems that they still have a bottom line and do not kill all the people. In fact, it is just to preserve the last bit of reputation for themselves. Even if all the people in front of them died, how many of the old nobles would have compassion from the bottom of their hearts?

Anyone who truly has compassion for the people will not let them suffer such hardship from the beginning.

Zhao Yun also shook his head and sighed. The more he saw, the more he felt that there was a reason why the old era was eliminated.

Although he himself was a scholar from a poor family, he no longer had any pursuit for the glory of the former aristocracy.

Damn it, it's better to die early. "Folks, follow me, there is food ahead!"

Zhao Yun stretched out his hand and raised his spear. The yellow black flag tied to the spear spread out in the wind. The emblem of the Natural Religion Church suddenly appeared in front of everyone. The numb expressions of the people were finally slightly moved.

They didn't understand what the flag represented yet, they were just attracted by the "food" in Zhao Yun's words.

Without any extra words, Zhao Yun turned his horse around and walked slowly back. The yellow flag became a guide for the people. The huge team walked slowly towards the Yellow Turban camp, and it took a long time for these hundreds of thousands of people to walk.

The generals of Wu and Shu standing on the city walls couldn't help but sigh at this moment. Who would have thought that the two sides fighting each other to the death could reach a temporary cooperation for the sake of the people.

In this way, the urgent logistical problem of Wu and Shu was solved. Although there was still not much food left, they could still save some food until reinforcements arrived. Only then would they have the capital to launch a decisive battle.

But it was difficult for everyone to be happy. Almost no one had confidence in the upcoming decisive battle.

"After all the people in the city have left, immediately close the city gates and tell the soldiers to rest well for the next few days. When Emperor Liu and His Majesty arrive, it will be time for our army to counterattack and win!"

Zhou Yu said this in a deep voice, then turned and walked into the city, leaving everyone on the city wall speechless.

In the current situation, let alone the senior generals, even the soldiers would not believe in any counterattack victory. Using such statements to motivate the soldiers is tantamount to deceiving oneself.

But there is no other way. No matter how hopeless we are, the war must be fought.

On the other side, the Yellow Turban camp had already cleared a large area in the rear as a resettlement camp. When the people came under the leadership of Zhao Yun, the crowd, which had been lifeless just now, suddenly became agitated.

When they were still about a hundred meters away, they saw mist and smoke rising from the earth wall, and then waves of fragrance came.

They were very familiar with this aroma, it was the smell of porridge.

They didn't know how long it had been since they had smelled such a rich aroma of corn. This smell made their dried up and dying cells slowly wake up. Then an intense desire began to spread through their bodies, as hard to suppress as a long-drought thirsty for rain.

Just as the crowd was about to lose order, the Yellow Turban Army, which had been lined up on the side long ago, suddenly moved out.

Following the general's command, teams of Yellow Turbans spread out and transformed into sharp blades that cut through the crowd, like a giant net that encompassed the entire crowd. The crowd was suppressed in an instant before any riot could occur.

The Yellow Turbans naturally had enough expectations about what might happen after taking over the people, and would not make any low-level mistakes in such matters.

Under the orderly control of the soldiers, although the people were already starving, they still maintained basic order, entered the wall one by one, and had their first hot meal in several months.

Ju Su, who was watching all this in the barracks, sighed: "My lord, this will save the people, but the sudden increase in logistical burden is also very strenuous. If we can't end the battle as soon as possible after the decisive battle, I'm afraid these people will become a hidden worry for our army."

Xu Chen was unmoved upon hearing this, and didn't seem to be worried about it.

(End of this chapter)