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

Chapter 260 Facing Lu Xun, Guan Xing is guaranteed to win.

Guan Xing's battle this time was significantly different from the historical Battle of Yiling. The biggest difference was that this time Lu Xun was on the offensive and needed to achieve a quick victory.

Sun Quan couldn't afford to drag this out any longer. This battle was his last chance. If it dragged on for too long and Liu Bei returned from his northern expedition to launch another eastern campaign, Sun Biyan would be completely finished.

At that time, they will not only face attacks from both sides by Liu Bei and Guan Yu, but also be taken advantage of by the Wei army. Even Shi Xie of Jiaozhou may defect on the spot, giving Sun Quan a hard time.

In that case, Sun Quan would be surrounded by enemies on all sides, completely besieged by enemy forces and allies. In addition, there would be the Jingzhou and Jiangdong gentry who would betray Sun Quan in order to find a way to survive. Just thinking about that scene is exciting.

If that really happened, let alone Sun Quan, even Emperor Gaozu of Han (Liu Bang) might not have been able to handle it. No matter how skilled Sun Quan was in politics, he couldn't have managed to control such a disastrous start.

Thinking of this, Guan Xing couldn't help but worry for his father-in-law.

Therefore, this battle doesn't require much skill. Just keep Lu Xun trapped in the Zhejiang-Jiangxi corridor and waste time. If we can drag it out until Guan Yu defeats Cao Ren or Liu Bei finishes his Northern Expedition and launches another Eastern Expedition, we can win easily.

But Guan Xing didn't intend to do that, because he was worried about Guan Yu and wanted to finish the battle with Lu Xun as soon as possible to go north and support Guan Yu. It wasn't that he doubted Guan Yu's abilities, but rather...

Although Guan Yu had nearly 100,000 troops under his command, they were all newly recruited soldiers. Even the 20,000 troops from Meng Jun and Gansu that Guan Yu had given him had not experienced many tough battles and were not as strong as his own 40,000 to 50,000 troops.

More than half of Guan Xing's 40,000 troops were elite veterans who had fought against Cao Wei or Guan Yu under Lü Meng, and their combat skills and experience were far superior to those of Guan Yu's group of new recruits.

Then some people might ask, since you, Guan Xing, have so many veteran soldiers, why did you give Guan Yu only new recruits? Was it because you couldn't bear to part with the veteran soldiers, so you were keeping it from your father?

That's a misrepresentation. When Guan Xing returned to Jianye, he had just captured Zhang Cheng twice. The captured veterans hadn't been reformed yet. If they were transferred to Guan Yu at that time, it would be easy for trouble to happen. If these surrendered soldiers defected to Guan Yu's command, wouldn't that be putting Guan Yu in a difficult position?

Don't forget that Cao Ren also has Zhu Huan, the head of the most powerful family in Jiangdong. If Zhu Huan were to step forward, he could easily win over the surrendered soldiers to Cao Ren's side.

Therefore, at that time, we could only train the soldiers who had already been trained by Guan Yu first, and keep the surrendered soldiers for us to reform. Now that the reform is complete, their combat power is naturally showing.

Everyone was stunned by Guan Xing's idea of ​​a quick victory. After a long silence, Shen Yi said, "But General, the Wu army has just arrived and their morale is high. It would be unwise to fight Lu Xun at this time."

Guan Xing sneered, "You're overthinking it. I only said we should finish this quickly, not that we should immediately engage Lu Xun in battle. There are methods and approaches to warfare."

"As you just said, apart from the plain around Poyang Lake, the rest of Yuzhang County is all mountains. There shouldn't be any problem hiding several thousand troops in so many mountains, right?"

"Besides, don't we still have the dozen or so Yue tribes that Ning Huan has contacted? We can ask them to help find a hiding place for the Xuanjia Army. After Lu Xun breaks through Yuhanyu Mountain and crosses the Gushui River to reach Damu, and fully enters the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Corridor, the Xuanjia Army can then break out from the mountains and cut off Lu Xun's retreat. Wouldn't Lu Xun then be trapped in the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Corridor?"

"Besides, don't we also have the help of the traveling merchants? These traveling merchants are opportunistic, each with their own backers and networks. They can speak to local officials and outposts, and can get any information you need. Even some officials who want to play both sides and secure their own future will establish contact with us through the traveling merchants. With the help of the mountain tribes, the traveling merchants, and even the corrupt officials of Eastern Wu, we will definitely achieve great things behind enemy lines."

Now everyone can see that Sun Quan's days are numbered. Apart from a very few loyalists, most of the officials of Eastern Wu must have begun to think about their own future.

These officials are more cunning than monkeys when it comes to getting involved with corruption. They would never follow Sun Quan to the bitter end. Once Sun Quan is defeated, they will surrender faster than anyone else.

For example, in the Battle of Guandu many years ago, before the battle, many officials and generals under Cao Cao wrote letters to Yuan Shao, hoping that Yuan Shao would show them leniency after defeating Cao Cao. In other words, before the battle even started, these opportunists were already thinking of currying favor with their new master, Yuan Shao. As a result, Cao Cao won, and the opportunists were all dumbfounded.

If Cao Cao had so many opportunists, Sun Quan's forces would have been even more numerous, with far more two-faced opportunists than Cao Cao's.

These opportunists dared not openly surrender to Guan Xing, but they certainly couldn't just sit idly by and wait for Sun Quan to be defeated and the Han army to come to their door. If they did, what would be left for them after Liu Bei recovered Jingzhou?

You have to understand that Liu Bei is not short of talent. If he doesn't contribute to the Han army before the war, how can he expect to get a share of the spoils after the war, maintain his current position, or even advance further? Do you really think Liu Bei is stupid?

Therefore, Guan Xing was certain that these corrupt officials of Eastern Wu would secretly contact the Han army in order to maintain their positions in front of Liu Bei.

Moreover, corrupt officials are best at colluding with unscrupulous merchants and engaging in power-for-money transactions. Therefore, Guan Xing concluded that as long as they establish contact with the merchants and spread the word, corrupt officials who want to play both sides will definitely take the initiative to contact the merchants and use them as intermediaries to curry favor with Guan Xing.

With the help of corrupt officials and unscrupulous merchants, not to mention anything else, Wu Jun's supply lines would be easily cut off. Even if Lu Xun had extraordinary abilities, he could only watch helplessly.

Shen Yi was greatly encouraged and slapped his thigh excitedly, saying, "General, you are brilliant! I was wondering why you had Ning Huan contact the Yue people and the merchants. So that's what you were waiting for. You knew all along that the Wu army would invade again, so you started making arrangements long before the Wu army even set out, right? General, you have thought things through so far ahead."

Wu Yue, his face full of excitement, said, “General, if that’s the case, can we emulate your and the old general’s feat of launching a surprise attack on Jianye? After Lu Xun enters the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Corridor, we can lead the Xuanjia Army to attack Nanchang. If we succeed, we can completely cut off Lu Xun’s retreat and trap him in the Poyang Lake Plain.”

Nanchang was the capital of Yuzhang Commandery and the most important grain supply point for the Wu army. Taking Nanchang would completely cut off the Wu army's grain supply.

Thinking of the consequences, the generals excitedly echoed in unison, wishing they could attack Nanchang City right now.

Guan Xing remained calm and shook his head, saying, "Nanchang will definitely be attacked, but not now, because no one will fall into the same trap twice. After the lesson learned from Jianye, how could Wu's army not strengthen its defenses in Nanchang?"

"Besides, you are currently the Prefect of Yuzhang, Yu Fan. Yu Fan has led troops and fought battles, and his martial arts skills are even better than mine. You can call him foul-mouthed, but you can't say he's bad. If I'm not mistaken, Yu Fan has definitely already laid an ambush in Nanchang and is waiting for us to take the bait. So don't think about attacking Nanchang in the short term, lest you make a mistake."

Shen Yi looked slightly disappointed upon hearing this, but quickly composed himself and asked, "General, since you have a complete plan, why don't you just give the order?"

Guan Xing stood up at attention, stared at the crowd, and shouted sternly, "All generals, listen to my command!"

The generals' expressions changed drastically, and they hurriedly bowed their heads.

Guan Xing scanned the crowd and said in an unquestionable tone, "Shen Yi will lead his troops to attack Yushan. After taking the county town, continue westward to seize Yuhan. If you can take Yuhan, then take it; if you can't, then so be it. But remember, set up many traps and outposts along the way and keep ambushing as you retreat. I want Lu Xun to pay a bloody price for every step he takes from Yuhan to Damu."

"Deng Hongning and Huan, you two lead the Xuanjia Army and follow Shen Yi. After passing Yushan, turn south and go to the mountains of Linru County (Fuzhou) to await my orders."

Shen Yi, Deng Hong, Ning Huan, and the other two bowed simultaneously and said, "Yes..."