Chapter 81 Onslaught

The shortage of food in Linji City became increasingly apparent. The grain and forage in the city could barely sustain 5,000 soldiers for ten days. Meanwhile, the grain and forage from Xipingchang had not yet arrived. Zhao Yun quickly made a decision and dispatched two messengers with letters to request help from Dongping Ling.
两位信使骑马在官道上行驶一上午，选了一处阴凉之地休息，两人将马绳捆在树上，取出干粮、水袋坐在树下休息。
“五哥，你先去休息吧！我来捆马！”六子抢过五哥手上缰绳。
“唔，我说六子啊，我听说你家又添了一大胖小子，你小子可真行，都生了两个小子了，现在又生一个，恭喜啊！”五哥拿起水袋往口中灌了一口水。
"Ha, one more person means one more mouth to feed. What's there to congratulate?" Although Sixzi appeared unhappy on the surface, he was actually very happy inside.
Both Liu Zi and Wu Ge were from Pingyuan County. When Liu Bei was appointed as the county magistrate, he encouraged the people to have more children and offered rewards of money and farmland for each additional child born.
"You, little brat..." Wu Ge took a bite of the dry rations in his hand.
"Ah, Wuguo, I heard that your son has already entered the county school established by Wang Junqing to learn how to read. He'll be able to become an official as soon as he comes out." Liuzi took Wuguo's water bag and asked.
“是啊！”五哥脸上洋溢骄傲的表情。
五哥正要吹嘘的时候，地平线上尘烟滚滚，脚步声震天。
“这是……”六子看着来势汹汹的黄巾贼寇，手上的水袋不知不觉掉在了地上。
五哥急忙站起来，丢掉手中的干粮“不可能！前几天赵将军就肃清了临济的治内，怎么还会有如此多的贼寇。”
两人立马上马观望，只见烟尘滚滚，烟尘中夹杂着凌乱的脚步声。
"I can't see clearly. Shall we get closer and investigate?" Liu Zi asked.
"Okay! There are a lot of them and they entered Linji without our knowledge. That's really suspicious," replied the other person.
两人解下捆在树上的缰绳，驾马来到靠近的高坡上观望。
烟尘中人头攒动，数万人的步伐混乱，阵形混乱不堪，个个头裹着黄巾，人群中还有些“徐”字的黄色旗帜。
"Yellow Turban Rebels!" Liu Zi and Wu Ge exclaimed.
One of the Yellow Turban Rebels shouted and pointed at the two people who were watching from the high slope. When the other Yellow Turban Rebels saw the direction they were pointing, there was a commotion among them. Soon, more than ten Yellow Turban Rebels riding horses chased after them.
"Sixth Brother, hurry and withdraw!" Fifth Brother saw someone chasing after them and immediately pushed Sixth Brother onto the horse.
After Sixth Brother got on the horse, Fifth Brother held onto his hand and said, "Sixth Brother, let's split up! There are at least thirty to forty thousand Yellow Turban bandits here, and they're in the vicinity of Linji. You go back to Linji city right away and warn General Zhao to be careful. I'll stay behind and hold off these pursuers, then I'll go to Jinan to ask for reinforcements."
```html“Urgent military situation, I won't shirk. Fifth Brother, take care of yourself and be safe!” Sixth Brother left on horseback.
Watching the departing figure of Sixth Brother, Fifth Brother immediately waited for the pursuers to arrive. When the Yellow Turban rebels' pursuers arrived, Fifth Brother taunted them and cursed a few times before heading towards the territory of Jinan. The pursuers of the Yellow Turban rebels chased after him relentlessly, but Fifth Brother's horse was a fine northern steed sent by Gongsun Zan, gradually widening the gap between them and him as he departed gracefully.```
黄巾贼队伍中，刚才十几个追兵向一个头目汇报了情报，那头目脸顿时黑下来，臭骂了十几个几句后去徐和哪里汇报。
"General! The brothers we sent to pursue just returned and reported that the horses on the opposite side are better than ours, so they lost track. But they did see the man's clothing clearly and it's identical to that of Liu Bei's army."
"What! Liu Bei's spies have found our location so quickly?" exclaimed Xu He in shock.
Yes!
"Notify our brethren to advance at full speed to Linji and make sure to arrive there in the shortest possible time," ordered Xu He as he rubbed his head.
"But our brothers have been traveling for days and are already exhausted. If we don't stop to rest now, they won't be able to handle it!" said the leader.
"Hmph! You tell our brothers that if they don't want to become casualties of Liu Bei's army, they can take their time. Xu is not going to wait!" he said, riding his horse towards the front of the troop.
Linzhi City
A large crowd of people gathered at the city gate announcement area, and Zhao Yun explained to the people in the city that there was a shortage of food and he was buying food and forage in the city at a high price.
"Now, in these chaotic times, what use is money? It's more important to fill our stomachs," the people who read the announcement shook their heads and sighed, and the others dispersed as well.
During the morning, there wasn't a single person in charge of purchasing provisions that Zhao Yun had assigned, and the bored clerks were all sleeping on their desks.
"Ahem! Ahem!" Zhao Yun, who was patrolling the area, came to check on the situation regarding the procuring of provisions, but found that there was no one there and even the clerks were asleep.
"... General Zhao!" The minor official jumped up from his desk.
"We are buying grains at a higher price than our lord is in the field. Why is no one selling?" Zhao Yun asked perplexed.
“额……赵将军有所不知，城中百姓其实粮食也不多，更何况现在有命拿钱，却没命花钱。”小吏苦涩的说道。
“唉，算了，我也没有指望能在这里收到粮食。”赵云一想到之前来到这里的时候，看着瘦弱不堪的百姓就难受。
六子此时刚刚进城，就在城门口遇见赵云，将临济境内跑进来几万黄巾贼的消息传递给了赵云。
“什么！有几万黄巾贼！”赵云有些不可思议的问道。
“是的，小的和五哥在山坡上看的清清楚楚，而且我们两人还被发现了，五哥和我兵分两路，我回来与将军你报信，他去济南求救。”
"That's fine! You can go and rest first. Your horse will be temporarily entrusted to me. I'll head to the military camp right away."
"Yes, sir!" Liuzi dismounted and handed the reins over to Zhao Yun.
After mounting his horse, Zhao Yun gave a few instructions to the small officer in charge of collecting supplies before leaving.
A large area of ​​empty land east of Linji City has been fenced off by Zhao Yun as a military camp, because four thousand of his five thousand troops are cavalry and therefore require a large space for training, which is why the military camp was designed to be very large.
"General Zhao!" Zhao Yun rode his horse to the front of the camp and stopped. The soldier guarding the gate immediately greeted him.
"Send out everyone to notify all the colonels in the army to come to my camp for an important discussion." After handing his horse to a nearby soldier, Zhao Yun gave the order.
"Yes, sir!"
不一会的功夫，赵云军中五位校尉就来到赵云营帐中。
“赵将军！”一进营帐，就看见赵云站在地图前沉思，五人立马行礼。
“诸位，赵某也不多说客套话了，请上前来一看。”赵云朝五人招了招手，五人立马上前围观。
“据探子来报，Linzhi City西南几十里处发现数万黄巾贼，已经向我们袭来。”赵云指了指地图说道。

“What tens of thousands of Yellow Turban rebels! Didn't we just clear out all the bandits in Linji Prefecture a few days ago? How come...” one of the captains asked in confusion.
“General Zhao! I guarantee with my life that we have absolutely cleared out the bandits within the borders as you instructed. It's impossible for there to be so many Yellow Turban rebels within the borders. Could it be that Yellow Turban rebels from other places have come here?”

“嗯，按照军师给我的书信和探子看到的“徐”字旗帜，应该是在济南兵败的徐和部。”赵云点了点头说道。
“赵将军！那我们现在该如何是好！”另一位校尉说道。
"I have an idea, and I wonder if you dare to take a risk with me." Zhao Yun looked at the crowd with shining eyes.
"We will follow General Zhao's arrangement, spare no efforts, and do whatever it takes!" The five people answered in unison.
"We're taking the initiative this time!" Zhao Yun gritted his teeth.