After Xiao He left, Liu Bang returned to the passages on "Development Medicine" he had copied.
Recalling that, in history, he had died from an arrow wound that could not be cured, Liu Bang also wanted to develop medicine in the Great Han, establishing a Medical Academy, Medicine Schools, and the like.
Unfortunately, the Great Han had only been founded two years earlier. Even Changle Palace had been built upon the surviving halls of the Qin palace at Xianyang, and construction had recently begun on Weiyang Palace. There was simply no money and grain to spare for a Medical Academy or Medicine Schools.
"I may not have the money to establish a Medical Academy or Medicine Schools right now, but I can summon renowned physicians from across the realm to Chang'an and appoint them medical officials!"
Delighted by the idea, Liu Bang immediately brightened.
Inside Guangzong City.
Zhang Jiao tidied up the silk and bamboo slips on which he had copied notes during the group chat, then called, "Chu Yan!"
Chu Yan pushed the door open, entered, and bowed. "What are your instructions, teacher?"
A few days after taking Chu Yan on as a Yellow Turbans Strongman, Zhang Jiao had also accepted him as a disciple. Following the custom of the time, Chu Yan therefore addressed Zhang Jiao as his teacher.
"Take a few capable men and search the entire city for frost salt-an Eastern Han name for niter-and sulfur," Zhang Jiao said. "Get as much as you can find. Also, find some good charcoal and have someone grind it into powder."
Chu Yan hesitated, then asked, "Teacher, I've heard of frost salt, but what is sulfur?"
Zhang Jiao did not fault him for it.
At the time, niter was used only as medicine, and a superior-grade medicine at that. Ordinary people rarely saw it. Chu Yan came from a humble background and was still very young; having even heard of frost salt already showed some knowledge.
As for sulfur, it was also called stone sulfur at the time. Not only was it exceedingly rare in the Central Plains, but only adepts practicing alchemy used it. It was perfectly normal that Chu Yan had never heard of it.
Zhang Jiao, however, had seen sulfur before and promptly described its shape and color.
Only after Chu Yan left did his brow tighten into a deep frown.
Both niter and sulfur are rare in this age, especially sulfur. Guangzong City is small. Even if we can find them, there probably won't be much.
Still, even a small amount will let me experiment with making gunpowder and gain experience.
Then, once the siege of Guangzong is lifted, I can send people to gather more of both and produce gunpowder as quickly as possible. If there's enough time to make those cannons and hand cannons, so much the better.
After considering it for a while, Zhang Jiao locked all the bamboo slips and silk on his desk inside a chest, then went out to find Zhang Liang and discuss the details of the night raid on the Han Army's camps once more...
Early the next morning, at cockcrow.
Liu Bei was shoved off the plank-built sleeping platform by Zhang Fei, who tossed and turned in his sleep.
Jolted awake by the fall, Liu Bei rubbed his arm. Seeing Zhang Fei still sleeping soundly on the platform, he gave a wry smile. "You great oaf."
Zhang Fei was only seventeen or eighteen, after all. Being young, he naturally liked his sleep, and he had spent the whole day attending to military affairs. Liu Bei could understand why he slept so deeply at night.
Once up, he did not climb back onto the platform, but prepared to relieve Guan Yu on night watch.
Liu Bei had just straightened his clothes and slung on his sword when his slightly larger-than-average ears twitched. He had caught the faint sound of battle cries in the distance.
He was about to leave the tent when Guan Yu hurried inside. "Elder brother, the camps at the eastern and western ends seem to be under attack by the rebels at the same time!"
Guan Yu was twenty-five now. This was also his first time commanding troops, and he had no experience dealing with a night raid.
Liu Bei had no such experience either, but their camp was not near the front and lay some distance from both the eastern and western flanks, so he managed to remain calm.
"Quickly assemble the soldiers, put them in formation, and check their bows and blades," he said. "Wait for my orders!"
"Yes!"
After Guan Yu left, Liu Bei hurriedly woke Zhang Fei and helped him put on his clothes and footwear.
The two emerged from the tent to see their Volunteer Militia stumbling out of their tents under Guan Yu's urging. Many had put their clothes on incorrectly, and plenty had forgotten their weapons. (As volunteer militia, none of them had armor.)
At the sight, the veins on Liu Bei's forehead throbbed with anger.
Although the three sworn brothers had raised this Volunteer Militia in haste, they had trained it for a month or so, and it had looked fairly promising then. Its performance during their earlier operations against the Yellow Turbans rebels in the countryside had also been passable.
But it had proved inadequate during the recent assault on Guangzong City, falling back in a rout after suffering even a slight setback.
Now, merely hearing that the rebels were launching a night raid had thrown these volunteers into such confusion, even though the fighting was still far from their camp.
Had they been the first to come under attack, would they not already have broken and scattered in every direction?
It seems I still know little of military affairs and have much to learn.
With that realization, Liu Bei immediately began shouting stern orders, joining Guan Yu in restoring order. Zhang Fei was so angry that he lashed the volunteers who stood bewildered amid the shouting with his riding whip. Even after Guan Yu stopped him, he continued cursing them.
By the time the three had finally brought their several hundred volunteers into formation, the battle cries around them had grown deafening, and several camps had even burst into flames.
"The rebels have broken into the camps!"
"The provisions are burning!"
"We've lost! Run!"
As these cries drew closer and closer, the faces of Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei darkened.
Guan Yu went to look through the camp fence, then returned. "Elder brother, there are lots of routed soldiers outside. Some are coming straight toward us. What should we do?"
At this point, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei were all still inexperienced in warfare, but they had already shown qualities that set them above ordinary men.
Liu Bei suppressed his panic. "Even with a rebel night raid, elite troops like the Northern Army and the Western Liang Army couldn't possibly break so quickly. Most of those fleeing outside must be from the other Volunteer Militia units."
"We cannot leave the camp. If we do, the fleeing troops will sweep us along, and we'll have no choice but to join the rout. Pass on my orders: hold the camp, and do not let the fleeing soldiers storm inside!"
Now that Liu Bei had made a decision, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei also steadied themselves. Following his orders, they deployed their men inside the camp and prepared to hold it to the death.
Perhaps because their camp was far from Guangzong City and in a relatively out-of-the-way location, although plenty of routed soldiers fled past on either side until daybreak, no Yellow Turban Army troops ever came charging toward them.
Only when the sun rose in the east did a somewhat bedraggled troop of Western Liang cavalry gallop over and halt outside the camp.
The cavalry officer at their head was mildly surprised to see that the camp did not appear to have been overrun by fleeing soldiers and that the volunteers inside were still in organized units. Then he shouted, "Where is your leader?"
Liu Bei had the gate opened and came out with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. Cupping his hands, he said, "Liu Bei, leader of the Zhuo County Volunteer Militia, is here."
"Commandant Dong orders all Volunteer Militia leaders to report to his command tent immediately for a council!" the officer said.
With that, the cavalry officer led his men toward the next camp.
Liu Bei immediately ordered Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to remain and guard the camp, taking only two personal attendants with him...
Half a double-hour later, Liu Bei returned with a grim expression.
Seeing him, Guan Yu asked, "Elder brother, why do you look so troubled?"
Liu Bei had an attendant fetch a large gourd of water. After drinking and steadying himself, he said, "Commandant Dong executed several Volunteer Militia leaders today for leading their troops in flight last night. Thankfully, we didn't flee. Otherwise, my head would probably have fallen by now."
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei exchanged a glance, their hearts still pounding with fear.
Liu Bei continued, "During last night's Yellow Turbans raid, most of the Northern Army's and Western Liang Army's camps held, but several were breached, and many officers and soldiers were killed or wounded."
"As for the Volunteer Militia camps, the Yellow Turbans overran seven or eight out of every ten. Several thousand men were killed or wounded, and much of the provisions and other supplies were burned."
"Commandant Dong said that under these circumstances, the army can no longer maintain the siege of Guangzong. He intends to withdraw elsewhere to regroup and seek another opportunity to fight."
Withdraw?
Seek another opportunity to fight?
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei could not help staring at each other.
Then Guan Yu said, "Elder brother, Commandant Lu led us through tremendous effort to finally hem Zhang Jiao's Yellow Turbans rebels into Guangzong. Is Commandant Dong simply abandoning the siege now?"
Half of Liu Bei's grim expression came from the execution of the other Volunteer Militia leaders; the other half came from this.
He sighed. "I tried to persuade Commandant Dong, but a man of little standing carries little weight. Instead, he gave me a scolding."
On hearing this, Zhang Fei grabbed his spear. "Whatever else, elder brother is a member of the Han Imperial Clan! How dare that fellow treat you with such disrespect? I'll go demand an explanation for you!"
Guan Yu quickly held him back. "Third brother, don't be rash."
Liu Bei also said, "Third brother, this is an army camp, not a place where we can do as we please!"
Zhang Fei was not a brainless brute. After hearing their admonitions, he drove his spear deep into the ground and returned to the tent to sulk...
That afternoon.
Dong Zhuo led nearly twenty thousand Han Army troops away from the outskirts of Guangzong City. He planned to join Guo Dian in capturing Xiaquyang, which Zhang Bao defended, then invite Guo Dian to besiege Guangzong with him.
Still, he did just barely rank among the renowned Han Army commanders of the day. Though he was no match for Lu Zhi, Zhu Jun, or Huangfu Song, he was far better than an ordinary general.
His ability to keep his elite troops steady and hold the core camps during the Yellow Turban Army's night raid was proof enough of that.
Now that he was withdrawing, he would not be foolish enough to pull every soldier out at once. Instead, he ordered Hu Zhen to lead Li Que, Guo Si, and more than a thousand Western Liang cavalry in keeping watch on Guangzong City.
Atop the gate tower.
Zhang Jiao gazed out at the bands of Western Liang cavalry roaming the outskirts of Guangzong, his brow deeply furrowed.
Beside him, Zhang Liang said, "Elder brother, with these Western Liang cavalry here, it'll be difficult for us to send help even though we know the Han Army is going to attack Xiaquyang."
"We have no cavalry and little armor. We can only hold off the Han Army by defending the city. If we go out to fight them in the open, I'm afraid we won't last even a day."
Zhang Jiao sighed. "I know."