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

Chapter 106 I don't trust using it, but I'm unwilling to leave it.

Zhang Cheng ordered his army to set up camp and sent scouts forward to investigate, while he himself stood outside the camp, gazing at Zhuji and lost in thought.

The walls of Zhuji were not high, and there were not many Han troops inside. It seemed easy to take the city, but Zhang Cheng dared not attack rashly.

Guan Xing left a deep shadow on him, and now he has easily annihilated the armies of Quan Cong and Shan Yue, causing his encirclement plan to die in the womb. Under such circumstances, how could Zhang Cheng dare to make any rash moves?

What he feared more than an unsuccessful attack was an attack that went too smoothly, causing the Han army to quickly withdraw from Zhuji, then from Wushang, and even from Damu, leaving him to follow Guan Xing around the mountains like last time.

So how should we fight the next battle? It's like trying to eat the sky – there's no way to know where to start.

For a moment, Zhang Cheng even considered turning around and going home to quit the fight. The encirclement plan had already failed, so what was the point of continuing? It would be better to retreat and preserve his strength.

But how is he supposed to explain this to the Grand Commander now that he's gone back?

Moreover, the situation in Eastern Wu is already extremely precarious. If we don't achieve some decent victories soon, Jianye will collapse.

The Guan family can afford to wait, but the Eastern Wu cannot.

So even if they weren't confident of defeating Guan Xing, they had to grit their teeth and keep fighting. But how should they fight?

Before he could figure out how to respond, he suddenly caught a glimpse of two scouts helping a scout with an injured right foot walk toward him.

Zhang Cheng's lips twitched violently; he was all too familiar with this scene.

Sure enough, the scout came up and reported, "General, the road to Zhuji is full of small potholes, about a foot wide. We stepped into one without noticing and ended up stepping on a bamboo stick."

Zhang Cheng said with a gloomy face, "Find a military doctor to treat him, the rest of you rest."

After returning to his command tent and pondering all night, Zhang Cheng decided to launch an attack, intending to first capture Zhuji City to provide a foothold for his army.

At daybreak, he immediately ordered his men to clear the traps. This time, the distance was only ten miles, and with the experience from the last clearing, the speed was much faster. By late afternoon, they had cleared the traps to the foot of Zhuji City.

While clearing the traps, Zhang Cheng also ordered the construction of siege equipment. The traps were cleared, and the equipment was finished. Zhang Cheng stared at the city walls for a moment, about to order an attack, when suddenly…

The city gates opened automatically, and to the bewilderment of the 30,000-strong army, a group of ragged, black-faced beggars emerged from the city, numbering at least two or three thousand.

Chunyu Shi asked in surprise, "Who are they? What does the Han army mean by this?"

Zhang Cheng was speechless. You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?

He stared at the beggar for a moment, and was about to send someone over to inquire when the beggar, who had crossed the moat, turned tail and ran like a survivor who had escaped from hell and was afraid that evil spirits were still chasing him. As he ran, he shouted in a sobbing voice, "General Zhang, we have finally seen you! You have finally come to save us!"

Upon hearing the pitiful cries and seeing several familiar figures, Zhang Cheng instantly recognized them as the five thousand elite soldiers who had been captured with him during the last great battle.

But how come there are so few soldiers left out of the original five thousand? That's less than half.

Zhang Cheng was still wondering when Chunyu Shi shouted impatiently, "We can't let them come over! If they run over like this, they'll break up our formation!"

Zhang Cheng's expression changed slightly, and he shouted loudly, "Everyone, line up and retreat to the left flank!"

The beggar who ran over was once an elite soldier of Wu's army, and his discipline was impeccable. Upon hearing the order, he quickly stopped and lined up, returning to his formation as Zhang Cheng instructed.

When Zhang Cheng arrived in front of them, he found that You Yong, the magistrate of Damu County, was among them. Moreover, You Yong was dressed in rags and covered in black, and did not look like a magistrate at all.

Zhang Cheng hurriedly asked, "Magistrate You, what's going on? How did you end up like this? The Han army is mistreating you. Didn't Guan Xing say that prisoners of war should be treated well?"

With a sob in his voice, You Yong said, "General Zhang, you don't know this, but after we were captured, Guan Xing began to reform us. But all the soldiers were loyal to our lord and refused to surrender. When Guan Xing saw that the reform was useless, he sent us to mine."

"General, we've been mining a lot lately. Fortunately, the Han army still has some conscience. Although they force us to do hard labor, they haven't skimped on our food. They can guarantee us two meals a day."

“But three days ago, Gan Xun, who was guarding the city, learned that the general was coming, so he increased our workload and reduced our food. For the past three days, we have only drunk a bowl of thin porridge each day, but we have to do more hard labor than before. Everyone is starving. General, can you prepare some food for us first?”

Zhang Cheng's face instantly fell. He glanced at the Zhuji city wall, knowing that there was no way to attack the city today, and simply shouted, "Withdraw the troops and return to camp."

After returning to camp and settling the prisoners, Zhang Cheng summoned You Yong to the commander's tent and asked, "Magistrate You, what did Guan Xing order you to do in the mining?"

While enjoying his meal, You Yong shook his head and said, "I don't know. Guan Xing only allowed us to mine and not to contact the outside world. The iron ore we mined was transported away by the Han army and its whereabouts are unknown. But I guess Guan Xing must have set up a blacksmith workshop."

Iron ore has only a few uses; besides smelting iron and forging weapons, what else can it be used for?

Zhang Cheng frowned and asked, "What kind of iron smelting workshop is this that's worth having thousands of people mining it?"

He understood Guan Xing's plan to build an iron smelting workshop, but wasn't the mining volume a bit too large?

You Yong shook his head and said, "I don't know, but recently the Han army has sent us a lot of mining tools, such as iron bars, hammers, and pickaxes. They are very useful, and these tools are all new. I guess they were made from the ore we mined."

Chunyu Shi frowned and said, "Iron bars, hammers, and pickaxes. Why are we using the iron ore we finally managed to mine to make these pieces of junk instead of weapons?"

Zhang Chengsi pondered, "This only shows that Guanxing has a huge demand for iron ore, far beyond our imagination. It seems we need to send someone to infiltrate Wushang to investigate in detail. We can't remain deaf and blind forever."

"By the way, Magistrate You, why did only half of the five thousand prisoners return? Where is the other half?"

You Yong shook his head and said, "I don't know. We've been in the mine recently and haven't been in contact with the outside world."

Seeing that he couldn't get any information from him, Zhang Cheng told him to go down and rest, and then he knelt on his heels and fell into deep thought.

Chunyu Shi exclaimed excitedly, "The Han army actually released the prisoners on their own initiative. They're incredibly stupid! Now we have several thousand more elite troops. Let's see how Guan Xing deals with this!"

Zhang Cheng smiled bitterly and said, "None of these people can be used, not even You Yong."

He dared not use the prisoners Guan Xing released; who knew if one or even many Zhu Chaos were hiding among them, ready to defect at the last minute?

The lesson he learned last time was so profound that he still feels lingering fear to this day.

Zhang Cheng naturally wouldn't publicize such an embarrassing matter, so Chunyu Shi was unaware of it and asked in surprise, "Why is that?"

Zhang Cheng briefly recounted the painful lesson he had learned from being tricked last time, and said with a sense of frustration, "These prisoners are being held in solitary confinement. First, we cannot allow them to contact other soldiers, and second, we cannot skimp on their food. They must have the best of everything in terms of clothing, food, and lodging."

Chunyu Shi: "..."

I wondered why the Han army would be so kind; it turns out they were letting a bunch of old men go.

This group of people are not comfortable using it, but they are also unwilling to give it up. They are really stuck in a dilemma.

More importantly, what would the other soldiers think if prisoners were treated this way?

You bunch of useless people captured by the Han army and forced to mine have better food and lodging than us, and your treatment is so much better. Why is that?

If this is how we are treated when we are captured by the Han army, then we might as well become prisoners too.

The thought of that scene sent a chill down Chunyu's spine.

Guan Xing's move was ruthless!