mesbooks Chapter 138 Deng Zhi's Army Approaches Wu County
Chapter 138 Deng Zhi's Army Approaches Wu County
Life is a grand stage, and everyone is the protagonist on their own stage, performing different stories at the same time.
While Guan Yu was joyfully celebrating his wedding night in the city, Deng Zhi was fighting desperately outside the city.
Deng Zhi was ordered to lead an army of over ten thousand men on an expedition, aiming to reach Wu County before the rebel Zhang Zhi and thus seize the entire Wu Commandery.
Fearing that Zhang Zhi would get ahead of him, he didn't dare to travel slowly. Instead, he left the baggage to Han Lin and personally led three thousand elite soldiers to set off first.
Led by a guide, Deng Zhi rushed frantically, covering eighty or ninety li each day, and arrived at the city of Wu in just five days.
Then something interesting happened. When they arrived outside the city, they were surprised to find that the sounds of battle were deafening outside Wu County. Looking further into the distance, they saw a large banner with the character "Zhang" fluttering in the wind among the attacking army. Despite their best efforts, Zhang Zhi had already gotten ahead of them.
However, it seems that Zhang Zhi did not enter the city as he wished, but was blocked outside the city.
Lieutenant Li Feng asked in surprise, "Isn't Zhang Zhi a member of the Zhang clan of Wu Commandery? How come he got into a fight with his own people just for returning home?"
Deng Zhi sarcastically remarked, "Isn't that obvious? Zhang Zhi wanted to offer Wu Commandery to Cao Cao in exchange for high-ranking positions and generous salaries. Didn't Zhu Zhi, the governor of Wu Commandery, want the same thing?"
"Although Zhu Zhi is not a member of the Zhu clan of Wu Commandery, he was a veteran minister during Sun Jian's time and had been managing affairs in Wu Commandery for many years. How could he let Zhang Zhi steal his home?"
"Actually, if Zhang Zhi could join Zhu Zhi and defend Wu Commandery together, we might really have to put in a lot of effort. But now it seems that Zhang Zhi's ambition has grown greatly because he has troops under his command. He wants to bypass Zhu Zhi and take all the spoils for himself. If you were Zhu Zhi, would you let him have his way?"
Wu Commandery was the largest commandery in Jiangdong and the main source of revenue for Eastern Wu. Deng Zhi already knew the list of officials in such a place by heart, so it was impossible for him to arrive in the area and not know who was in charge.
Li Feng asked, "So what do we do now? Should we let them keep fighting until they're exhausted before we step in to clean up the mess?"
Deng Zhi shook his head and said, "No, what if they find out we're here and shake hands and make peace? You immediately lead five hundred men to charge, and I'll cover you. Let's wipe out Zhang Zhi first."
"As for Zhu Zhi, after defeating Zhang Zhi, try to persuade him to surrender first. If he does not surrender, it will not be too late to attack the city."
As long as Zhang Zhi doesn't enter the city, there aren't many elite troops left, and it can be taken even with a strong attack.
"This subordinate will go immediately." Li Feng waved his hand and led five hundred vanguard troops to attack Zhang Zhi, who was besieging the city.
Outside Wu County.
Standing under his banner, Zhang Zhi personally commanded the army. Watching the soldiers charging wildly, the image of himself standing atop the city wall, dominating the battlefield, instinctively flashed through his mind.
On that day, he was ordered by Zhang Cheng to gather the remaining troops of Quan Cong and then retreat to Fuchun to rest and await Zhang Cheng's orders. However, instead of receiving orders, he received news that Zhang Cheng had been captured again.
This news left him dumbfounded for a long time. Zhang Cheng had led a full 30,000 troops, how could they have been wiped out by Guan Xing in an instant?
After the initial shock, Zhang Zhi keenly realized that his opportunity had arrived. The news of Zhang Cheng's capture would surely cause unrest in Jianye, and various ethnic groups would be eager to secure their own future, rise up in rebellion, seize cities, and wait for the Wei army to come and take them over.
Whoever occupies the largest territory will have more say in the Wei army's affairs. This is an opportunity that will not come again.
Moreover, Zhang Zhao has already exiled the Zhang family patriarch, his own brother, to Jiangling, and now he is the most powerful member of the Zhang family.
More importantly, he still had five thousand remnants of his army that he had gathered. This number of troops may not seem like much, but it was enough to help him seize the initiative. If he could take the opportunity to capture the poorly defended Wu County and present it to the King of Wei, he could at least be granted a title of marquis.
As for whether Zhang Wen will be punished by Sun Quan for this, who cares? When disaster strikes, even husbands and wives can fly away separately, so what are brothers?
Without hesitation, Zhang Zhi mustered his troops and marched back towards Wu County.
To his surprise, he did not receive any news of other aristocratic clans rebelling on the way. The Wu army camp was as calm as if nothing had happened, which made him somewhat uneasy.
In Zhang Zhi's plan, Wu Jun would be thrown into chaos upon receiving the news, and the gentry would rebel one after another, frantically seizing cities. He would then take advantage of the information gap—knowing Zhang Cheng had been captured before them—to fish in troubled waters, seize the initiative, and thus gain the greatest benefit.
As it turned out, he was the only one who rebelled, which made him a sitting duck.
But the rebellion had already begun, and it was too late to back down. Zhang Zhi had no choice but to grit his teeth and continue, preparing to return to Wu County and, like Guan Yu, hold out to the death, waiting for the Wei army to come and take over.
But to his surprise, the old geezer Prefect Zhu Zhi refused to let him into the city. There was nothing more to say then. He was determined to take Wu County, so he immediately launched a strong attack on the county town.
Zhang Zhi stared at the familiar city walls with a chilling glint in his eyes, preparing to kill that old bastard Zhu Zhi once inside the city, so that he wouldn't steal his credit.
Just as he was imagining his bright future, a cheer suddenly came from ahead. Zhang Zhi looked closely and was pleasantly surprised to find that the vanguard had already climbed the city wall.
Zhang Zhi slammed his fist into his palm and roared excitedly, "Great! Charge with all your might..."
Before he could finish speaking, a battle cry came from behind him, startling him so much that he quickly turned around to look. As soon as he saw the enemy, he was terrified.
Four or five hundred fully armed elite soldiers were charging toward them desperately. A large Chinese character fluttered on the battle flag at the front of the army, and dust was billowing behind them, indicating that another army was approaching.
Zhang Zhi was so frightened by the scene that he trembled all over and almost lost his soul. He muttered to himself in a daze, "Why is Guan Yu here? Isn't he in Jianye? Why is he in Wu County?"
"What are Lü Meng and Zhang Zhao doing? How could they let Guan Yu come? What am I going to do now that Guan Yu is here? Someone save me!"
As the commander-in-chief, instead of thinking about calling for reinforcements or turning around and running away when faced with such an emergency, he keeps nagging like a gossipy old woman.
Zhang Zhi stood there stunned, but Li Feng, the deputy general of the Han army, did not wait for him to recover. He rushed into the Wu army's formation at top speed, shouting as he slashed, "The Han army has arrived! Those who do not surrender will die!"
These Wu soldiers were all defeated troops who had been terrified by Guan Xing's attack. They were fine against other people, but they were truly afraid of the Han army. When they saw Li Feng coming, they quickly threw down their weapons and surrendered, fearing that if they were too slow, Li Feng would kill them.
Li Feng was stunned for a moment by their incredibly swift surrender, then charged towards the commander's flag without hesitation, reaching within a hundred meters of it in just a few leaps.
It wasn't until this moment that Zhang Zhi came to his senses. Without thinking, he turned and ran, but he was running too fast and his foot slipped, causing him to fall flat on his face.
Zhang Zhi ignored the pain and tried to get up to continue running, but for some reason, his legs felt like they had been dislocated and he couldn't get up no matter what. After several attempts, he finally got up, but before he could stand up, he saw Li Feng rushing towards him and swinging his knife at him.
Zhang Zhi was so terrified he almost jumped out of his skin. Instinctively, he raised his hands to block and shouted, "Don't kill me..."
Before he could finish speaking, his head flew off. Li Feng raised his head and shouted, "Zhang Zhi is dead! Surrender now!"
Upon seeing this, the Wu soldiers all knelt down. Even those Wu soldiers who were charging towards the city walls knelt down. Only the Wu soldiers climbing the siege ladders were unable to advance or retreat and were forced to stand frozen on the ladders.
Upon seeing this, Prefect Zhu Zhi perked up and shouted impatiently, "Quickly, come up! Open the ladder so the brothers can all come up!"
While shouting, he reached out and personally pulled up the enemy soldiers who were about to climb the ladder to the city wall.
Previously, Wu Jun was the enemy, but now that Zhang Zhi is dead, the enemy forces attacking the city have become allies. We must rescue them; we should save as many as we can.
After all, the city lacks able-bodied men, and these people can become the backbone of the city's defense with just a few words of comfort.