Chapter 52: The White Wave Bandits

There is never any shortage of enemies in Bingzhou; the wild monsters on this map seemed to Su Yao to be utterly inexhaustible.

And lo and behold, while dealing with side quests recently—escorting previously rescued civilians back to their village alongside Lü Bu and the others, while taking the opportunity to mop up wandering remnants of scattered Xiongnu soldiers and opportunistic bandits—Su Yao discovered the traces of yet another new faction of "monsters."

"You say it's actually the White Wave Bandits?"

Zhang Yang's expression changed drastically in alarm.

Compared to the Xiongnu, Zhang Yang considered these remnants of the Yellow Scarves to be far more dangerous to their current situation.

While the Xiongnu were bogged down in their own internal power struggles and would merely loot and flee within the Jinzhong Basin, these Yellow Scarf bandits not only killed and plundered, but they would also directly seize territory and establish themselves as lords, fundamentally destroying the foundations of the imperial court's rule.

For instance, the Heishan Yellow Scarf bandits, who had been plaguing Shangdang Commandery in Bingzhou ever since the Yellow Scarf Rebellion began, remained unpacified to this day.

Yet in terms of the level of danger, Zhang Yang deemed the White Wave Bandits to be the most perilous of all.

For no other reason than that this faction of rebels, which had risen last month south of Taiyuan and in Xihe, was centered around White Wave Valley beside the Fen River, straddling both Xihe and Hedong Commanderies.

Occupying the riverways and the hub of the road network, the expansion speed of the White Wave Bandits far surpassed that of their peers hiding within the Taihang Mountains. Advancing, they could menace Taiyuan above, strike Hedong below, and threaten the imperial capital; retreating, they could sever roads and block river transport, splitting Bingzhou in two and cutting off communications between north and south.

Had Su Yao known of Zhang Yang's thoughts here, he likely would have commended Zhang Yang for his insight.

Because in history, the White Wave Army did precisely this, and they executed it even better than Zhang Yang imagined.

Their threat to the throat-like choke point between the capital Luoyang and the Western Capital Chang'an directly led to Dong Zhuo's decision to burn Luoyang and relocate the capital to Chang'an, making an indelible contribution to the downfall of the Later Han regime.

However, the vast majority of people could not see this at present.

"Where did you find them?" Lü Bu asked, puzzled.

Previously, the two of them had escorted refugees south together. Although their routes were not completely identical, he had not detected the slightest sign of the White Wave Bandits.

"I happened to find them on the way back and captured two prisoners. We can talk about the details when we return."

This was a lie. In truth, Su Yao had done this entirely on purpose, prioritizing the southern route.

Upon arrival, he had divided his forces into two routes, leading an elite cavalry detachment south all along the Fen River. Under the pretext of scouting paths, he explored the villages along the river one by one, forcibly triggering this event.

Why would Su Yao go to such great lengths?

This was closely tied to his upcoming strategy focused on the northern Xiongnu; he could not allow his rear to be raided while he was busy putting out fires at the front.

Therefore, before returning to Jinyang with the main army, he had to preemptively thwart any potential ambitions of this southern White Wave Army to push northward.

Yes, with his current strength, it was impossible to completely annihilate this faction of White Wave Bandits, but no matter what, he could not let the White Wave Bandits successfully march north.

Otherwise, if the plot were left to progress naturally, he couldn't say whether Jinyang would be breached, but Qixian County in the southern part of Taiyuan Commandery would certainly be doomed.

Although the quests of the新手村 (novice village) might be over, whether for the sake of continuing to recruit new recruits in the future, or for his newly acquired home and young maidservants, Su Yao would never allow Qixian County to fall.

The crux of the matter, however, was that Su Yao did not know the exact timing of the White Wave Army's invasion of Taiyuan and the severing of Bingzhou's north and south.

Nevertheless, he discovered through various clues that the rise of these White Wave forces and the actions of the Xiongnu army could not be said to be unrelated; rather, they were intimately connected, almost as if the two sides were executing a tacitly coordinated combination attack.

The Xiongnu would destroy and devastate Bingzhou's military and political power, and then the White Wave army would swiftly follow up to take over the remnant situation. Ultimately, the two sides tacitly divided Bingzhou, using the Lüliang Mountains as the boundary.

If one reasoned along these lines, the moment the Xiongnu soldiers retreated would likely be the very time the White Wave army advanced.

And as it turned out, he had guessed correctly.

In the valley south of Jiexiu, the vanguard of the White Wave Bandits was already closing in.

......

"Quick, move fast, get a wriggle on, all of you!"

Bathed in the bright sun and sitting tall in the saddle, Wang Daying brandished his sword and shouted noisily:

"As long as we enter the county town ahead of the fellow surnamed Xu, everyone will be rewarded!
The first troop to enter the city—I'll grant every single one of you two wives!"

Looking at his subordinates marching in a hurried, howling frenzy across the hills, Wang Daying, a former bandit himself, nodded inwardly and hardened his resolve. This time, he had to let the various leaders of the White Wave army know who the true foremost general under General Yang Feng was.

Once he seized the county town first this time, he would finally have a solid foundation. Taking the supplies in that city and coercing the common people, expanding his force of two thousand to over five thousand would be completely effortless. By then, not to mention mere Xu Huan, even Yang Feng himself would probably have to sit on equal footing with him, Wang Daying.

"Charge, charge, charge! Charge, charge, charge!"

The more he thought about it, the more excited Wang Daying became, howling as if a bright future were within arm's reach.

And then, he was met with a blow right to the head.

At first, it was merely a tiny, discordant shriek amidst the loud chants of the White Wave soldiers.

Before long, however, that shriek escalated into a chorus of screams and furious roars.

Alarmed and enraged, Wang Daying looked toward the neighboring hill on his right flank. The soldiers on the right were unmistakably descending into chaos.

"???"

"Messenger, go quickly and see what is happening!"

Wang Daying was baffled. The Qu Shuai (commander) of the right wing was a neighbor he had grown up with; although that man was not as skilled at commanding troops in the field as he was, it shouldn't have been possible for his ranks to collapse simply while marching along.

Yes, he had never once considered the possibility of an ambush. Jiexiu had just been plundered by the Hu tribes, and any Han soldiers who hadn't died were cowering within the county town—how could anyone possibly be here to attack him?

And who on earth would come to attack him?

Before his personal guards could even set off, a messenger from the opposite side came shouting frantically:

"Boss, it's bad! The government troops... the government troops and the Hu people are attacking together!"

——"Puff!"

Wang Daying nearly spat out a mouthful of aged blood. What kind of situation was this? A trap? Could that bunch of shameless Hu people actually have hoodwinked them?!

For the White Wave army's movements to be so swift, they naturally had intelligence support from the Xiongnu. The Xiongnu needed the White Wave army to sever Bingzhou's north and south, and the White Wave army needed the Xiongnu to sweep away the northern government forces, acting as mutual shields. Thus, the two sides had already colluded with each other as early as the Xiutuge rebellion last year.

Therefore, the moment he heard this preposterous news, Wang Daying assumed they had been betrayed by the Xiongnu:

"Retreat, prepare to retreat quickly!"

As their commander wavered, the center army, which had not yet engaged in battle, instantly descended into chaos. For a moment, they lost all coordination between advancing and retreating—the front ranks wanted to fall back, while the rear ranks were still pushing forward.

"Boss, wait!"

It was only then that the dispatched personal guard returned:

"There are only a little over a hundred enemies, and the right-wing commander requests that you send troops to reinforce them!"

"What? Ho-how many?"

"A hu-hundred and odd..." The guard swallowed hard.

Hearing this, Wang Daying glared with eyes as round as copper bells and angrily scolded the blockhead who had brought the first report:

"Damn it, I'll execute you for disrupting my army's morale!"

"And you, you need reinforcements for just a little over a hundred people? His right wing has a full six hundred men! Hold your ground, all of you, hold your ground!"

"No, Boss, this bunch of people is extraordinary!"

Just then, right before Wang Daying's eyes, the great banner of the right wing toppled over......

Immediately afterward, a warrior on a jujube-red horse leaped out from the chaotic ranks, a general brandishing a massive long halberd in both hands. He stood proudly upon the mountain crest, and with a single sweep of his great halberd, three or four cowering White Wave soldiers before him fell like harvested wheat.

Such peerless valor and high-spirited vigor suddenly startled many of the Xiongnu mounted archers who were accustomed to a certain someone's silhouette.

This person was surprisingly not Su Yao, but Lü Bu, Lü Fengxian!