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

Chapter 105 carries a hint of personal grudges.

On the official road leading to Zhuji, tens of thousands of soldiers marched slowly in a long line, led by Zhang Cheng.

Under the Zhang banner fluttering in the wind, Zhang Cheng rode his warhorse, gazing ahead with intense fighting spirit and anticipation for the impending revenge.

This time, he would not underestimate Guan Xing, so he did not speed up, but advanced slowly, maintaining his formation and stamina while waiting for news from the other two routes, striving to have all three armies advance at the same time and completely trap Guan Xing in Wushang City.

But after waiting and waiting without a reply, Zhang Cheng grew anxious and asked his deputy, Zhang Zhi, "Has there been any news from Zhou Xun and Zhuge Ke yet?"

Zhang Zhi was born into the Zhang clan of Wu Commandery and was the younger brother of the clan leader Zhang Wen. Some time ago, Zhang Wen was exiled to Jiangling by Zhang Zhao, and Zhang Zhi led the Zhang clan's private army to follow Zhang Cheng on the expedition.

Zhang Zhi shook his head and said, "This humble general also finds it strange. Logically speaking, even if the negotiations with Pan Lin broke down, someone should have been sent to inform them. It is indeed abnormal that there has been no news for so long. Could it be that the two of them have been detained by Pan Lin?"

Wu Jun and Pan Lin had a history of conflict, so it's not surprising that he was detained; he might even have been killed by Pan Lin.

Zhang Cheng frowned and said, "Then send someone to Shanyue again to see what's really going on between them. I don't believe Pan Lin would dare to offend us so badly."

Zhang Zhi nodded, but before he could leave, a rapid sound of horses' hooves suddenly reached his ears.

The two Zhangs turned their heads and saw that more than a dozen cavalrymen were rushing towards them, and the leader was none other than Chunyu Shi, the governor of Kuaiji.

Zhang Cheng's expression changed slightly. He quickly raised his hand to order the army to stop and instructed the soldiers along the way to let Chunyu Shi pass.

Chunyu Shi rushed to Zhang Cheng and reported in a low voice: "General, something has happened. There has been no news of Generals Zhou Xun and Zhuge Ke for a long time, so I sent people to Heilong Ridge to inquire."

"The messenger returned and said that the two of them had persuaded Pan Lin to send troops, but the various villages had just finished assembling and had not yet started their operations when Guan Xing launched a surprise attack on Heilongling. Nearly 10,000 Yue soldiers were wiped out, and Generals Zhou Xun and Zhuge Ke, as well as the chieftain Pan Lin, were all captured."

"what?"

Zhang Cheng nearly fainted, his vision blurred, and he grabbed Zhang Zhi's shoulders to steady himself, asking urgently, "They've been arrested again. Is the news reliable?"

Chunyu Shi said with a wry smile, "It's absolutely true. Guan Xing released all the old, weak, sick and disabled prisoners. We learned from the released mountain tribesmen that Guan Xing sent Pan Lin's son to Pan Lin's side as a spy. With Pan Lin's son as an inside man, Black Dragon Ridge is almost completely undefended against Guan Xing."

Zhang Cheng closed his eyes and remained silent for a long time before digesting the unfortunate news. He gritted his teeth and said, "Shanyue has always been unreliable. It's not surprising that something like this happened."

"As for Zhou Xun and Zhuge Ke, they will not be in any danger of death while they are with Guan Xing, so you two don't need to worry."

Zhang Zhi asked, "Then what do we do now? Without the Shan Yue, our encirclement will have a gap. If Guan Xing retreats into the mountains after his defeat, it will be difficult for us to capture him again."

Zhang Chengsi thought to himself, "It's not a big problem. As long as we join forces with Quan Cong's two armies to encircle Guan Xing and force him into the mountains, we will have won. The roads in the mountains are rugged and we can't carry many supplies."

"As long as we hold onto key towns like Wushang and Shan County and don't give Guan Xing the chance to go down the mountain to collect grain, Guan Xing will still be doomed."

Life in the mountains is tough. Poisonous insects and wild beasts roam everywhere, and there's a lack of food, clothing, and supplies. Guan Xing might collapse on his own before any attack even begins.

Even so, the fact that the carefully arranged encirclement was missing the Shan Yue piece still made Zhang Cheng feel a little uncomfortable.

Zhang Cheng composed himself and said again, "Order the army to continue advancing, and send another messenger to contact Quan Cong to find out where he is."

After saying this, he led his army to continue their march, and in just two days they arrived at a place fifty miles outside Zhuji City.

Seeing that it was getting late, Zhang Cheng ordered his army to set up camp on the spot, preparing to rest for the night and leave at dawn. Unexpectedly, several remnants of the army suddenly arrived at the camp and shouted from afar, "We are under the command of General Quan Cong, and we have important matters to discuss with General Zhang Cheng."

The remnants of the army were quickly brought before Zhang Cheng. Looking at their disheveled appearance, Zhang Cheng felt a sense of foreboding and said before they could speak, "Let's talk inside the tent."

After entering the command tent and lowering the curtain to make sure their conversation wouldn't be overheard, Zhang Cheng asked, "What's going on? What happened to Quan Cong?"

The surviving soldiers cried out, "Two nights ago, Guan Xing led his army to launch a surprise attack on our camp. At that time, the main force had not yet crossed the Zhe River and was therefore unprepared. We were utterly annihilated by the Han army. More than half of General Quan Cong's personal guards were killed or wounded, and General Quan Cong was captured."

Zhang Cheng's face turned deathly pale instantly. He grabbed the broken soldier's collar and demanded, "Is this true? You're not lying to me?"

The surviving soldiers, with tears streaming down their faces, said, "I swear that if I utter a single falsehood, may I be struck by lightning. If General Quan Cong has truly been captured, our army has suffered more than half its casualties, and less than eight thousand have escaped."

Zhang Cheng let go of her hand, stood up but before he could even stand up straight, he fell straight back down.

Chunyu Shi reacted quickly, grabbing him from behind and gently placing him on the ground before frantically pinching his philtrum. It took a lot of effort to wake Zhang Cheng up.

Zhang Cheng stared blankly at the ceiling, his eyes unfocused as if he had lost his soul.

Chunyu Shi called out several times without response, then looked up and asked Zhang Zhi, "General Zhang, what do we do now?"

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Zhi swung his arm and slapped Zhang Cheng across the face.

Recently, the Zhang family of Wu Commandery had been severely wronged by that old scoundrel Zhang Zhao. Zhang Cheng was Zhang Zhao's son, so Zhang Zhi's slap was somewhat mixed with personal grudges, and it was quite a loud one.

Unfortunately, Zhang Cheng still didn't wake up, so Zhang Zhi had no choice but to slap him on the other side of his face, making it symmetrical.

Chunyu Shi broke out in a cold sweat after seeing the two slaps, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "The four great families really have the confidence. If it were him, he wouldn't dare to beat Zhang Cheng like that even if he had the guts."

The two slaps worked, and Zhang Cheng woke up. After waking up, he raised his hand and slapped himself again, using the pain to quickly regain his senses. Then, he grabbed Chunyu Shi's shoulder and slowly sat up, saying in a cold tone, "Guan Xing must have guessed our intentions, which is why he quickly dealt with the Shanyue and rushed to Damu to launch a sneak attack on Quan Cong."

"This person is so decisive and ruthless at such a young age, he is more troublesome than those veteran generals who have fought for many years."

Zhang Zhi said, "Now that Guan Xing has annihilated two of our three armies, leaving only our army, shouldn't we change our tactics?"

Zhang Cheng nodded and said, "Yes, there is no hope of encirclement. We can only advance steadily step by step, but there is something more important to do before we attack."

After speaking, he pointed to the remnant soldiers who came to report and instructed them: "Huiwen (Zhang Zhi's courtesy name), you immediately take them to Yuqian to gather up Quan Cong's remnant soldiers. Under no circumstances should the remnant soldiers escape into our army, understand?"

The remaining seven or eight thousand of Quan Cong's troops, scattered by Guan Xing, would surely destroy Zhang Cheng's army if they rushed into Zhang Cheng's camp and spread rumors and misinformation.

Therefore, the most urgent task at present is to silence the remaining soldiers and completely block the news, and absolutely not let the main army know the bad news of Quan Cong's defeat and capture.

Zhang Zhi understood the importance of this matter and nodded emphatically, saying, "General, rest assured, I will go right away."

After saying this, he grabbed the remaining soldiers and left quickly, while Zhang Cheng and Chunyu Shi faced each other in silence.

As dawn broke, the army continued its journey. This time, Zhang Cheng sped up and arrived ten miles outside Zhuji City before nightfall.

Gazing at the familiar city of Zhuji in the distance, Zhang Cheng felt even heavier than when visiting a grave.