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

Chapter 120 Good Brothers Who Stab Each Other in the Back

Appearing before Guan Xing again as a prisoner of war, Zhang Cheng felt an unprecedented sense of frustration.

The main reason was that the loss was too unfair. He believed that his deployment was flawless and that, from a strategic perspective, his chances of winning were at least 60%.

Because while Guan Xing was blocking his retreat, Zhang Ming was also blocking Guan Xing's retreat. As long as Zhang Ming held out in Zhuji for a day, or even half a day, he could break through Shan County, reach Guan Xing's rear, and surround him.

But that damned Zhang Ming couldn't even hold out for half a day. His army of tens of thousands was instantly crushed by Guan Xing. Where could he possibly complain?

Compared to the frustrated Zhang Cheng, Guan Xing had a completely different feeling. The fatigue from days of travel vanished the moment he saw Zhang Cheng.

Guan Xing personally untied Zhang Cheng from his restraints and said warmly, "I've missed you so much, General Zhang, I've missed you terribly."

He was truly excited. Zhang Cheng's two armies totaled 50,000 men, and more than 80% of this Wu army had fallen into his hands. In addition, there were the accompanying weapons, armor, and supplies. He had made a killing!

Although he looked down on Wu Jun's equipment, what did it matter? He could just throw it into the steel furnace and remake it.

That's iron, after all.

Although there are losses involved in reworking the project, it's still better than mining it yourself, isn't it?

My future father-in-law is treating me so well; he's not an enemy, he's practically my lucky charm!

Zhang Cheng's face turned bright red from those words, his facial muscles twitched violently, and he was so ashamed that he wished he could crawl into a mouse hole.

He really wanted to die. Being captured twice by the same enemy general—not to mention in the present day, you probably can't find another one like him throughout history.

With the war fought so poorly, what right do I have to call myself a renowned general of our time? I'm ashamed of my ancestors.

Zhang Cheng asked, frustrated, "Where is Zhang Ming? I want to see him."

Now that things have come to this, he has no other requests but to see Zhang Ming and ask him in person how he lost.

I didn't expect you to beat Guan Xing, but you can't afford to lose so quickly, can you?

Guan Xing shook his head and said, "Meeting is no problem, the problem is that Zhang Ming said he doesn't really want to see you."

The Han army always adopted the principle of separating surrendered soldiers from their troops. Therefore, Guan Xing did not leave the two colonels, Zhang Ming and Chen Zan, in Zhuji, but kept them by his side to keep them away from the army.

Two Wu Jun captains are currently in the army, but Zhang Ming is most afraid of seeing Zhang Cheng. What can he say to Zhang Cheng if he sees him?

Zhang Cheng insisted, "I must see them, I must."

Guan Xing knew this was Zhang Cheng's unresolved issue. After a moment's thought, he turned and said, "Bring Captain Zhang and Captain Chen over."

The two were quickly brought before them, and they kept their heads down the whole time, never daring to look at Zhang Cheng's face.

Zhang Cheng stared intently at the two men, and only after they approached did he demand in a stern voice, "Tell me, how did you two lose?"

Chen Zan immediately pointed at Zhang Ming and said, "General, you are wise. I was deceived by Zhang Ming. He led his troops to trick us into opening the gates of Zhuji City. At the time, I did not know that he had already surrendered to the enemy."

Damn Zhang Ming, since you chose to screw me over, don't expect me to keep it a secret. You'll have to take the blame yourself.

Zhang Ming knelt down with a thud, tears streaming down his face, and cried, "General, I'm so sorry, but the Han army is too fierce, I really couldn't stop them."

Zhang Cheng kicked him, cursing as he did so: "You piece of trash, you ruined my plans! I really trusted the wrong person!"

Zhang Cheng originally thought Zhang Ming had only suffered a defeat, never dreaming that this bastard would take the initiative to open the city gates and invite Guan Xing into the city. Upon learning the truth, he was so angry that he immediately flew into a rage, punching and kicking Zhang Ming in a frenzy.

Guan Xing, however, did not gloat over the misfortune; instead, he thought of another unpleasant matter.

Historically, during Zhuge Liang's first Northern Expedition, he entrusted Ma Su with the important task of defending Jieting, but...

At that time, Prime Minister Zhuge Liang must have felt even worse than Zhang Cheng does now. After all, that was the last hope for the revival of the Han Dynasty. Since then, the Wei army has strengthened the defense line in Longxi and has never given the Prime Minister another chance.

We must learn from this experience in our future personnel management, and never make the same mistake as Zhang Cheng and the prime ministers in history, which led to eternal regret.

As Guan Xing made up his mind, he grabbed Zhang Cheng's hand and advised, "Forget it, forget it. We are both subjects of the Han Dynasty, there is no need to fight to the death. We will have to work together in the future. Someone, take General Zhang to rest. Also, have someone prepare some good food for him. General Zhang must be exhausted after fighting for so many days."

After appeasing Zhang Cheng, Guan Xing handed over the army to Gan Xun for temporary command and led Deng Hong, Wang Tao, and others to Shan County to visit the soldiers defending the city.

The reason why Zhang Cheng was able to be trapped under the walls of Shan County was largely due to the efforts of the defending soldiers. If they had not been able to withstand the fierce attack of the Wu army and Zhang Cheng had entered the Jinqu Basin, even if they were to capture Zhang Cheng in the end, their base would have suffered a devastating blow.

The consequences of that would be unimaginable, so we must properly comfort the soldiers defending the city.

As soon as Guan Xing arrived at the city gates, he saw Meng Jun and the others standing outside to greet him. He was shocked to see that they were covered in blood. He quickly ran forward, grabbed Meng Jun's shoulder, looked him over from left to right, and finally asked with heartache, "Are you badly injured?"

Meng Jun raised his hand and slammed it hard against his chest, causing blood to splatter everywhere, but he said with great bravado, "It's just a minor injury, I can still handle it."

Guan Xing continued, "What about the casualties?"

Mentioning this, Meng Jun could no longer laugh. He said with a heavy heart, "More than 500 were killed in battle, 400 or 500 were seriously wounded, and everyone had minor injuries. More than half of us were killed or wounded."

Wu Jun's attack is too fierce. It hasn't stopped since last night. The walls of Shan County are low and lack defense. They are really fighting with their lives.

Guan Xing sighed, "Let's go and see the wounded and the remains of the fallen soldiers."

Following Meng Jun into the city, Guan Xing saw the horrific battlefield littered with blood and flesh, and his heart ached more than if it were being pierced by needles.

It must be said that Zhang Cheng was a worthy opponent, and I only narrowly won this time.

After the visit, the entire army was summoned into the city for a temporary rest. Guan Xing called Zhang Ming over and said, "Go back to Jianye again and tell Zhang Zhao and Lü Meng that Zhang Cheng and the other three can be redeemed, but this time the ransom will be increased to 300,000 shi per person."

Zhang Ming was the one who went back to report last time, so he's quite familiar with the process.

The task was simple, just delivering a message, but Zhang Ming turned pale with fright and knelt down with a thud, grabbing Guan Xing's trouser leg and pleading, "General, I won't go, I'd rather die than go! Please, find someone else, I beg you."

This isn't delivering a message; it's sending him to his death! Zhang Zhao and Lü Meng are known for their tempers, and everyone else knows them, but Zhang Ming certainly does.

If those two gentlemen knew that Zhang Cheng's entire army had been wiped out again, they would definitely go berserk and kill people.

Zhang Ming said urgently, "General, you are wise. Jianye can no longer produce a million shi of grain. Even if they could, they wouldn't give it to you. We can't afford to aid the enemy like that."

Even Wu Jun from Jianye needs to eat. If all the food is given to you, what will Wu Jun do? Lay down your weapons and surrender en masse?

If they were willing to surrender, would they have persisted until now?

Seeing Guan Xing struggling with his decision, Zhang Ming continued to plead, "General, I'll do anything you ask, just don't send me to deliver the message. Otherwise, I'd rather become a bandit in the mountains than return to Jianye."

While these words carried a threatening tone, they were also true. Once Zhang Ming left the military camp, he would no longer be under Guan Xing's control. Whether Zhang Ming went to deliver the message or turned around and ran off to another place would be entirely up to Guan Xing.

Guan Xing hesitated, "I understand your concerns, but someone has to do the work. If you don't go, who will?"

Zhang Ming immediately said, "Let Chen Zan go; he knows the way."

Guan Xing was speechless. You two really are the kind of brothers who seize every opportunity to stab each other to death.

But if you're not willing to go, how could Chen Zan be willing?