webnovelfull Chapter 494 The Unfortunate Man Who Was Tragically Tricked by Guan Yu
Chapter 494 The Unfortunate Man Who Was Tragically Tricked by Guan Yu
When facing Guan Yu, Shen Yi bowed deeply, showing exceptional respect.
Guan Yu is now a national idol. Any ambitious young person would like to get close to Guan Yu and listen to his teachings.
Shen Yi was the same. He originally thought that he, a lowly clerk from a humble background, would never have the chance to meet Guan Yu in his life. Unexpectedly, after Guan Yu launched a surprise attack on Jianye, he was promoted to the army and provided with a platform for him to make meritorious contributions and quickly become the commander of the three armies.
Before becoming the commander-in-chief of the three armies, Shen Yi himself did not know how powerful he was. Now, standing in front of Guan Yu as the commander of tens of thousands of troops, the emotions and excitement in his heart were truly indescribable.
Guan Yu personally helped Shen Yi up, looked him over for a long time, and then said, "I have heard about your deeds. Indeed, heroes emerge from among the young."
Shen Yi was almost thirty, so what kind of youth was he? But he didn't take it seriously and said excitedly, "It's all thanks to the lord and the young general's guidance."
Guan Yu stroked his beard and said, "That depends on your ability. If you don't have the ability, no amount of promotion will help. Let's skip the pleasantries and get down to business. Let's prepare for our decisive battle with Cao Ren in Chaisang. This time, we must drive Cao Ren into the Yangtze River to feed the fish."
After joining forces with Shen Yi, he had nearly 200,000 troops, totaling 160,000 to 170,000. His total strength far surpassed Cao Ren's, not to mention that many of them were elite Wu troops brought by Lü Meng.
With such a large force, Guan Yu had unprecedented confidence. Since he was so confident, he naturally wanted to clash with Cao Ren.
Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. Guan Yu and Shen Yi rested for two days in Liling. Once the supplies were ready, they were about to lead their army north when Zhou Cang returned again.
Zhou Cang entered the county government hall, bowed to Guan Yu, and presented him with letters from Liu Bei and Guan Xing.
Liu Bei's letter was full of nonsense, rambling and without any key point, while Guan Xing's letter went straight to the point without a single wasted word. He used the excuse of insufficient supplies and soldiers' weariness of war to persuade Guan Yu to abandon the decisive battle with Cao Ren and send Cao Ren back to Jiangbei.
After reading the letter, Guan Yu was so angry he almost cursed. "I've been preparing for so long, and I'm finally going to have a decisive battle with Cao Ren, but you want me to give up?"
Although Guan Yu was unwilling, he knew that this was Liu Bei's intention, but he was just using Guan Xing's words to make Guan Xing take the blame.
As for Liu Bei's purpose in doing this, Guan Yu could guess some of it. Although he was extremely unwilling and had many questions, he wisely chose to obey rather than disobey.
After waiting for seven more days at Liling, and learning from scouts that Cao Ren had retreated to the north of the Yangtze River, he took action again. He ordered Xin Fei to lead 30,000 troops back to Jianye and, under Wang Fu's command, to establish a defensive line in the Ruxukou area to prevent the Wei army from advancing south. At the same time, he instructed Wang Fu to send all the prisoners, including Lu Xun, Lü Dai, and Zhuge Jin, to Jiangling to meet Liu Bei.
This time, there's no need to send a large army to escort them. Just send a few people to lead them, or even let them come on their own. Sun Quan has already surrendered, and the war is over. He doesn't believe these people will run away.
Even if they run away, it's okay. It's better to kick out people who aren't on your side of the team as soon as possible, so they don't cause trouble within the team.
After arranging matters in Jianye, Guan Yu ordered Shen Yi to lead 30,000 troops north to take over Chaisang, while he himself led the rest of the army to Jiangling to meet Liu Bei.
Chaisang was a key town for resisting the Northern Army. It could hold off the Northern Army but not the Southern Army. If the Northern Army only occupied Chaisang, it would not only be useless, but would also be besieged by the Southern Army.
Therefore, Cao Ren did not occupy Chaisang, which means that there were no Wei troops in Chaisang. Guan Yu did not need to send all of his hundreds of thousands of troops there; he only needed to send a small force to take over.
After making arrangements, Guan Yu led his army along the Yangtze River to Jiangling. At noon that day, just as they arrived in E County, a group of beggars suddenly appeared by the roadside. Looking at Guan Yu's banner from afar, they cried out, "General Guan, your humble servant has finally met you!"
The sudden shout startled the Han soldiers at the front, who all raised their weapons to attack. Seeing that the group of beggars were unarmed, they stopped in time and went up to inquire about their identities. After asking, they rushed to Guan Yu and reported: "My lord, there is a man named Sun Lang who is requesting an audience. He says he is your old subordinate."
"Who did you say..." Guan Yu thought for a moment before remembering who Sun Lang was, and quickly said, "Bring him here quickly."
Sun Lang was indeed his subordinate, but not a direct subordinate. He was a bandit leader like Xin Fei. During the Battle of Xiangfan, he killed the county clerk and led his troops to surrender to Guan Yu. Guan Yu gave him an official seal and his army, ordering him to harass Cao Wei's rear. Under Sun Lang's call, bandits and robbers in Liangjia and Luhun, south of Xuchang, accepted Guan Yu's seal and began to harass Cao Wei's rear without restraint.
However, Guan Yu's defeat at Xiangfan was too swift. Just as the bandits led by Sun Lang had raised their banners, Guan Yu marched to Maicheng. Then, the bandits suffered a terrible fate, being chased and beaten horribly by the Wei army like rabbits. This made Guan Yu feel quite sorry for Sun Lang and the others.
Sun Lang and his men, dressed in rags like beggars, were brought before Guan Yu. Before they even got close, they cried out in despair, "General, we've finally met you! We've suffered so much these past few days. You must do us justice!"
They were truly miserable. They had originally joined Guan Yu hoping to achieve great things and live a life of luxury with him, but Guan Yu was suddenly defeated at Maicheng, making them the main targets of the Wei army. These days, they have been hiding everywhere, living a very miserable life.
What's even more infuriating is that after Guan Yu's defeat at Maicheng, he not only didn't die, but instead used a powerful attack to capture Jianye. He continued to live a life of luxury, married a beautiful wife, and couldn't have lived a more comfortable life.
On the other hand, they faced attacks from the Wei army every day, living a life that was hardly human.
When the two sides are compared, Sun Lang's resentment towards Guan Yu becomes so intense that it could melt into water.
That damned Guan Yu, he can't do this to his own people!
Guan Yu bent down to help Sun Lang up, patted him on the shoulder and comforted him, saying, "You've suffered these past few days, I'm sorry."
Upon hearing this, Sun Lang cried even more bitterly.
Guan Yu continued to reassure them, and after preparing some water and food for them, he incorporated them into the army and continued onward. As they marched, he inquired about the current situation in Xuchang, while also thinking that once they reached Jiangling, he would hand over these Xuchang natives to Guan Xing for training, and then send them back to Xuchang when the Northern Expedition was launched, so that they could continue to fight guerrilla warfare in Liangjia, Luhun and other places.
Several days later, Guan Yu finally arrived at Zhouling and crossed the Han River from Zhouling to head to Jiangling.
While the army was on its way, it would certainly have to send messengers to notify Jiangling in advance. Going directly to Jiangling without prior notice would easily catch Liu Bei and his men off guard and could also cause misunderstandings among others.
The first message Jiangling received was naturally from Zhuge Liang.
Upon learning of Zhuge Liang's arrival, Liu Bei personally led his civil and military officials out of the city to welcome him.
Upon seeing Liu Bei's welcoming party in the distance, Zhuge Liang decisively broke away from the main army, quickly walked up to Liu Bei, bowed, and said, "Greetings, Your Majesty."
He then stood up and smiled at Sun Quan, Zhang Zhao and the others, saying, "Greetings, Lord Wu, greetings, Mr. Zibu. It has been many years since we last met. I hope you have all been well."
Sun Quan, Zhang Zhao, and others returned the greeting to Zhuge Liang. After they finished exchanging pleasantries, Guan Xing seized the opportunity to lead Zhang Bao and Jiang Wei in bowing and saying, "Greetings, Military Advisor."
Zhuge Liang stared at Guan Xing for a long time before patting him on the shoulder and saying with emotion, "Anguo, it's been a long time since I've seen you. You've finally grown up and can now share the burdens of the King and your father. If it weren't for you this time, we probably wouldn't have been able to return from Jiangling. Without Jiangling, relying solely on Bashu would have made the Northern Expedition very difficult."
The terrain of Bashu is a natural prison, with treacherous terrain and difficult roads, making it hard for outsiders to enter and for insiders to leave. Without Jiangling, Zhuge Liang could not imagine the difficulty of launching a northern expedition against Cao Wei if he had relied solely on Bashu.
Guan Xing scratched the back of his head and grinned foolishly, while Liu Bei grabbed Zhuge Liang's wrist and laughed, "It's all in the past, everything has gotten better. Strategist, don't look so gloomy. Let's go into the city."
Following Liu Bei through the city gate, Zhuge Liang was stunned by the scene inside the city and exclaimed incredulously, "How could Jiangling have been ruined like this? Who did this?"