flstandardbreds Chapter 284 Xu Sheng Died His Own Trap
Chapter 284 Xu Sheng Died His Own Trap
Xu Sheng's current official position is General Jianwu, Prefect of Lujiang, and Marquis of Duting.
This promotion was a temporary measure by Sun Quan to appease his officials after Lü Meng's failed counterattack on Jianye and subsequent retreat to Jiangling. Previously, Xu Sheng was just a minor general in charge of troops, a rank slightly higher than a colonel.
Nevertheless, he was still someone the corporal looked up to. Normally, the corporal wouldn't even be able to catch a glimpse of Xu Sheng, let alone breathe in front of him. He would have to run up to him if he saw him from afar.
But today is different. The young master to whom the sergeant was loyal and his sworn brothers had both died while rescuing Xu Sheng, which filled him with resentment towards Xu Sheng, and he spoke with great venom.
As for whether Xu Sheng will retaliate in anger, it doesn't matter. My brothers are all dead, why should I be afraid of your retaliation?
Go ahead and kill me if you dare.
Normally, he would never dare to speak so arrogantly in front of Xu Sheng, but now that he is not even afraid of death, what else is there to fear?
Xu Sheng was furious that the junior sergeant dared to speak to him like that. He was so angry that his face turned red and his mouth twitched. He instinctively gripped the hilt of his sword, ready to teach this scoundrel who had offended him a lesson. But then he thought of Han Dang's situation and immediately deflated like a punctured balloon. He sighed helplessly and asked, "Cheng Yuan, what do you think?"
After waiting for a long time without hearing a reply, he instinctively looked up and found Ding Feng standing there like he had been struck by lightning, his eyes vacant, clearly still not recovered from the shock of Han Dang being surrounded.
Xu Sheng cried out helplessly, "Chengyuan, Chengyuan..."
After being called several times, Ding Fengcai suddenly snapped out of his daze and asked blankly, "What did you say?"
Xu Sheng rolled his eyes, wanting the sergeant to recount the battle situation on Han Dang's side, but to his dismay, he found the sergeant staring at the sky and completely ignoring him. He could only say, "This brother just said..."
Upon hearing this, Ding Feng said urgently, "Then what are we waiting for? Pack your things and run! Otherwise, once the Han army finishes dealing with General Han in the corridor and rushes into the corridor, and Guan Xing finishes clearing the traps and rushes to the city, we'll really be left with nowhere to go."
"Therefore, we must take advantage of the gap when the Han army is entangled with General Han in the corridor and Guan Xing is blocked by the trap to quickly evacuate. It will be too late if we are too late."
"Wait, I think I just dug a ten-mile-long trap to the west. Doesn't that trap us ourselves? And now with this torrential rain, we can't advance into the mountains. If we want to evacuate, we have to go through the trap zone. This is......"
Ding Feng dug the traps in the west himself. He knew all too well how dense the traps were in that area. But what happened? The traps he painstakingly dug not only failed to stop the enemy but also blocked his own escape route. Wasn't this just shooting himself in the foot?
Damn it, what kind of mess is this?
Xu Sheng gritted his teeth and said fiercely, "It's pouring rain outside, the roads are full of mud, and there are traps blocking our way, so it's not easy to retreat. If we are unfortunately discovered and caught up by Guan Xing during the retreat, we're doomed. Why don't we just give up and head east out of the city to charge into the Han army camp and wipe out Guan Xing?"
“Chengyuan, look, we’ve only taken Yushan for three short days and Guan Xing’s army is already at our gates. What does that mean? It means he marched here overnight and his preparations were definitely inadequate.”
“It’s more than 200 li from Yushan to Damo. It would take the garrison a day to escape back to Damo and report to Guan Xing. That means Guan Xing has traveled 200 li in just two days. He must be exhausted by now. If we suddenly attack, we can definitely catch Guan Xing off guard.”
They were well-rested and waiting in Yushan, while Guan Xing's troops were exhausted from their long march and had just arrived and were not yet settled. Launching a surprise attack at this time would definitely have a miraculous effect.
After defeating the Han army, we might be able to advance into the mountains and attack the Han army in the corridor, which is also exhausted from besieging Han Dang. If successful...
This is promising; we can do it.
The sergeant, who was glancing at the sky, perked up immediately upon hearing this and excitedly said, "I think it's a good idea. I'm willing to be the vanguard, charge into the Han camp first, and kill Guan Xing. I'll use Guan Xing's head to pay tribute to my young master and my brothers."
Ding Feng was startled by this crude idea and quickly stopped him, saying, "Come on, we dug a twenty-mile-long trap between the county town and Guanxing. By the time we clear the trap, Guanxing will have already realized what was happening and set up the traps for us."
"General Xu, we can die, but don't forget that General Lü Ju is still by your side. If anything happens to Lü Ju, General Pingnan dares to make your whole family pay with their lives, believe it or not?"
General Lu Fan, who was in charge of pacifying the south, came from a prominent family in Runan. In his early years, he had hundreds of retainers and was a veteran minister who helped Sun Ce break free from Yuan Shu's control. His status in Jiangdong was no less than that of Zhang Zhao.
More importantly, Lü Fan has few heirs, and his eldest son died young. Currently, Lü Ju is the only remaining heir. If Xu Sheng kills Lü Ju as well, Lü Fan might even dig up his ancestral graves.
Thinking of Lü Ju, who was still setting traps outside the city and had not yet returned, Xu Sheng was furious. He slapped his thigh and cursed, "I never thought that the traps I dug with all my might would become Guan Xing's barrier. Damn God, are you trying to kill me?"
After a moment of impotent rage, Xu Sheng said with a bitter face, "Let's evacuate as soon as possible, just as General Han said. Go pack your things. We'll set off in half an hour. Throw away all the extra stuff and just bring three days' worth of rations."
“Look…” Ding Feng turned to leave, but as he passed the sergeant, he grabbed him by the neck and forcibly pulled him away, afraid that if the kid stayed, he would fight with Xu Sheng.
Xu Sheng's force that infiltrated Yushan was only about 3,500 men. With the 3,000 men brought by Ding Feng, the total was just over 6,000. The force was small and the supplies were even smaller, so there was not much to pack up. They finished packing up and left the city in just half an hour.
The rain had stopped by now. Thunderstorms come and go quickly, and the sky cleared up as soon as the rain stopped, but the roads were muddy and impassable from the rain. Xu Sheng led his army, making their journey extremely difficult, with each step sinking deep into the mud.
……
The Han army camp east of the city.
Rainy days are perfect for sleeping. Guan Xing, exhausted from two days of work, fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the bed. But he hadn't been asleep long when he felt someone pulling him. He tried to open his eyes to see which jerk was being so oblivious, but to his dismay, he found his eyelids too heavy to open. He could only mumble, "What?"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a familiar voice roared in his ear, "General, Han Dang is dead!"
Guan Xing's mind went blank for a moment, then he sprang up like a zombie, staring straight at the person who had spoken.
Although his body was awake, his soul was still asleep. Several double images appeared in his wide-open eyes, making him dizzy and disoriented.
Guan Xing resisted the urge to lie back down and continue sleeping, struggling to wrest a sliver of consciousness from the clutches of sleep. He then bit his tongue hard to force himself to wake up, and after biting it several times, his eyes gradually focused, and he finally saw who was in front of him.
The man before him was of ordinary appearance but covered in mud; he was none other than Li Gousheng, whom he had personally selected to join the scout camp.
Guan Xing glanced at the guards beside him and, knowing that it was they who had brought Li Gousheng into the tent, didn't say anything but asked, "What did you just say? Han Dang is dead?"
"Yes, General." Li Gousheng hurriedly recounted how Shen Yi had mobilized Wu and Yue to encircle and annihilate Han Dang, and then said, "Although the army has destroyed Han Dang, it is exhausted and in dire need of rest. Therefore, General Shen ordered me to come and report to you. At the same time, I ask you to attack the city and hold off Xu Sheng, so that we can buy a day of rest. At the latest, General Shen will be able to arrive at Yushan to meet you by tomorrow evening."
Guan Xing didn't hear a word of what was said after that; he only had one thought in his mind: Han Dang was dead.
Han Dang, a veteran general of Eastern Wu who fought alongside Sun Jian against Dong Zhuo, fought against Cao Cao at the Battle of Red Cliffs, and fought against Guan Yu in Jingzhou, lived in the same era as Liu Bei and fought for most of the late Han Dynasty, has actually died.
And he was driven to suicide by the recruits he trained?
Guan Xing felt his head buzzing and his soul almost floating. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly realized something, stood up abruptly, and exclaimed, "Oh no! Han Dang is dead, and Xu Sheng is probably going to run away!"