The Three Kingdoms: I asked you to save Guan Yu, not to destroy Sun Quan.

Chapter 292 Xu Sheng's Slow Realization

Shen Yi came alone, leaving the main force behind. While reporting the situation to Guan Xing, he also negotiated some matters. After exchanging pleasantries for a while, he said, "General, in the battle to annihilate Han Dang, we captured nearly 10,000 surrendered soldiers. There are also thousands of wounded soldiers from both sides in the army. So, could you please make way for us?"

Guan Xing laughed and said, "Of course, no problem. Everyone should move to the sides to make way for the wounded. If we encounter the main force on the way to Yushan, we should also order them to move to the side of the road and tell the main force that I said that the wounded must be given priority."

Soon the army arrived, and the line of people carrying the wounded stretched for two miles, with even two coffins in the line.

Guan Xing stared at the coffin in astonishment and said, "Why are you carrying that thing? Isn't it slow enough already?"

Shen Yi smiled bitterly and said, "It was requested by the surrendered soldiers. Han Dang had too high prestige in the army, and he committed suicide for the sake of the surrendered soldiers. Therefore, the surrendered soldiers strongly requested a proper burial. I really dare not leave the father and son in the mountains and bury them hastily."

Guan Xing nodded in agreement, but Wu Yue had an idea and whispered, "General, should we leave the coffin here for Lu Xun to demoralize the Wu army? The main force of the Wu army led by Lu Xun will definitely be greatly shocked to see the corpses of Han and his son."

This is tantamount to slapping Lu Xun in the face with the sole of a shoe. If Lu Xun were to actually open the coffin and see the corpses of the Han family father and son, he would surely faint on the spot.

Guan Xing was somewhat tempted by this, but after a moment's thought, he shook his head and said, "No, there are some moral principles we must uphold. We can't exploit the dead. Respect for the deceased is paramount. Let's bury them as soon as possible."

"Oh, and one more thing. Shen Yi, once you return to Yushan, immediately send someone to Jianye as quickly as possible to report the battle situation to my father. Tell him that we can handle Lu Xun, so he doesn't need to worry. And don't rush into a decisive battle with Cao Ren because of your worries. Once I've dealt with Lu Xun, I'll head north from Poyang Lake and join forces with him to attack Cao Ren."

He wasn't entirely at ease with Guan Yu, and he guessed that Guan Yu wasn't at ease with him either. Guan Yu might already be preparing for a decisive battle with the Wei army and then heading south to support him. Therefore, he had to quickly demonstrate his strength to convince Guan Yu of his capabilities and thus make the right judgment.

Old Guan, Old Guan, you must never underestimate the enemy and advance recklessly again.

Shen Yi clasped his hands in acceptance of the order and turned to leave. Under Guan Xing's command and guidance, he smoothly passed through the defense area and calmly made his way to Yushan.

Shen Yi was carrying too many wounded soldiers and was too slow, but Lu Xun was carrying supplies and wasn't very fast either. If both sides maintained the same speed and moved in the same direction, Lu Xun would never catch up with Shen Yi.

Even if we assume Lu Xun is faster than Shen Yi, how much faster could he be? By the time Lu Xun arrives, Shen Yi will probably already be back at Jade Mountain, fast asleep.

Moreover, once they arrive at Yushan, Shen Yi won't be idle. He will definitely stay in Yushan to block the enemy while transporting the wounded to Damu for treatment.

With Shen Yi gone, Lu Xun no longer needs to worry about things and can now focus on dealing with Xu Sheng.

Less than a quarter of an hour after Shen Yi left, the scouts sent by Wu Yue to contact the main force returned, saying that the main force was already ten miles away and would arrive soon to join them.

Half an hour later, Zhu Chao led the main force to arrive successfully, thus bringing Guan Xing's forces to an astonishing 15,000.

Moreover, the main players had just taken a nap before arriving, so they were in excellent spirits and fully capable of waging a major battle.

It was just past noon, and Guan Xing, seeing that there was still plenty of time, decisively led his troops into the mountains to attack Xu Sheng, intending to annihilate Xu Sheng and end the battle before nightfall.

However, to prevent Lu Xun from suddenly attacking, Guan Xing ordered Wu Yue to lead three thousand men to intercept him in the mountains. In case Lu Xun did attack, he had to hold him off to buy time for the main army to annihilate Xu Sheng.

There were two reasons for keeping Wu Yue. First, he had a grudge against Xu Sheng, and Guan Xing was afraid that Wu Yue might do something irrational if he saw Xu Sheng.

Secondly, Wu Yue didn't sleep last night and needs to rest. Now that the situation is clear, there's really no need to stay up all night like before.

After making thorough preparations, Guan Xing led his army to attack Baopingyu.

……

Back to last night.

Xu Sheng stayed behind at the breach to hold off Ding Fenglu, and only turned to enter after the entire army had entered the breach.

Not long after entering the mountains, Xu Sheng passed through the crowd and rushed ahead to meet up with Ding Feng and Lü Ju.

Seeing him approach, Ding Feng asked curiously, "General, why aren't you keeping watch from behind? What are you doing running ahead?"

Xu Sheng grabbed the two men with one arm around each other and quickened his pace. After walking a dozen meters and making sure the army behind them couldn't hear him, he whispered, "Damn it, we've fallen into a trap again. If I'm not mistaken, there are Han soldiers blocking the road ahead. We can't get through."

Ding and Lü's expressions changed drastically, but they rationally lowered their voices and asked, "How is this possible?"

Xu Sheng said with a bitter smile, "Do you remember when we first met Guan Xing? Guan Xing only brought about two thousand men. When he saw us, he didn't turn around and run away, but instead took the initiative to attack us. Why was that?"

Ding Feng frowned and said, "That's right. Although Guan Xing has fewer troops, he has an absolute advantage and there's no need for him to fight us head-on. He could have just retreated when he saw us, but he charged forward instead. That's really unusual."

Xu Sheng nodded and said, "I had been keeping an eye on the breach and discovered that after we started the battle, a Han army force rushed into the breach before us, but there were only twenty or thirty of them."

"What can twenty or thirty men do? Guan Xing can't possibly expect that a few men to hold us off and buy him time for the main Han army to arrive, can he?"

"Therefore, there is only one possibility: this troop went into the mountains to deliver a message, and there are other Han troops stationed in the mountains."

Ding Feng pondered, "That's very possible. Guan Xing likes to infiltrate, so he must be wary of us doing so. It's not surprising that he sent people to guard the mountain pass in advance. But General, since you've discovered the problem, why did you still go into the mountains and put yourself in a deadly situation?"

Xu Sheng's face grew even more bitter at the mention of this, and he gestured behind him with his chin, saying, "Do you think I want this? If I were to order them to turn back again, these soldiers would dare to mutini immediately, kill us, and surrender to Guan Xing, do you believe me?"

What soldiers fear and resent most is not their commander's reckless actions, but rather his constant changes of orders.

You can ask us to take risks with you, no problem. You can even ask us to risk our lives to dethrone the emperor and sit on the throne ourselves, no problem. But you can't just do whatever you want, going east one minute and west the next, making us catch dogs one minute and chase chickens the next. We are human beings, not dogs. We can't be led around on a leash and walked around as you please.

Xu Sheng said bitterly, "Now that I think about it, we shouldn't have retreated from Yushan. Staying in Yushan and holding out with all our might, waiting for the Grand Commander, would have been the best way. We could have even held our ground by the trap and waited for Grand Commander Lu to come. But instead, we walked step by step into a dead end. It's all my fault."

Ding Fenglu remained silent. The decision was made jointly by the three of them, and even if they wanted to curse someone, they wouldn't know who to curse.

After a moment of silence, Ding Feng said fiercely, "So what if I die? There's nothing to be afraid of. To die on the battlefield is the proper end for a true man. But we can't die in vain. Before we die, we have to bite off a piece of Guan Xing's flesh so that this little bastard will never forget the pain."

Xu Sheng shook his head and said, "You're right, but the three of us can't all die. We have to leave a few to report to Grand Commander Lu. You two go back and I'll stay."

Ding Feng rolled his eyes and said, "Come on, look at the mountain peaks on both sides. Even monkeys can't climb up those cliffs that are tens of meters high. You expect the two of us to climb up and escape?"

"We are already surrounded. We only have two options: kill the Han army or be killed by the Han army. So stop making those futile struggles and accept your fate."

Xu Sheng shook his head and said, "Actually, there is another way. You two can find a cave to hide in and leave after I die in battle and the Han army has finished fighting and withdrawn."