flstandardbreds Chapter 103 Quan Cong: Those are my nine clans!
Chapter 103 Quan Cong: Those are my nine clans!
This was the most dangerous battle Guan Xing had fought since arriving in Jiangdong; he almost lost his life.
Quan Cong wasn't a fierce general, but neither was Guan Xing. The two were evenly matched, and their fight was a true clash of titans.
Seeing that Guan Xing was nearly exhausted, Deng Hong ignored him and rushed to Wu Jun's battle flag, chopped the flagpole in half with a single stroke, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Quan Cong has been captured! You all must surrender immediately!"
The commando team behind him quickly repeated their words, and the shouts of hundreds of people came together and soon spread throughout the entire camp.
Guan Xing brought a full three thousand elite soldiers to this battle, but he only had less than a thousand men by his side. The rest of them were scattered and attacked various parts of the Wu army, creating chaos in the camp and preventing the Wu army from quickly regrouping.
At this moment, the camp was completely intertwined. Upon hearing the shouts, both sides stopped fighting at the same time. By the light of the fire, they looked at the fallen battle flags, and Wu Jun was immediately filled with grief.
The Han army, however, had a different feeling, waving their weapons and bursting into a deafening cheer.
Amidst the cheers of the Han army, Meng Jun, mounted on horseback, roared: "Quan Cong has been captured; those who do not surrender will be executed!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than his warhorse let out a mournful neigh, collapsed weakly to the ground, and pinned him beneath it.
The nag was not a warhorse; its endurance and speed were far inferior to those of a warhorse. However, the battle situation was urgent just now, and in order to pursue speed, Meng Jun did not hesitate to plunge his knife into the horse's rump, using the pain to stimulate the nag's potential.
The poor old horse charged forward, bleeding profusely, but now it has finally reached its limit and is giving up.
Meng Jun, who was pinned down by the horse, was not the only one; almost all the cavalrymen were still standing. Of the more than eighty riders, less than ten were still able to stand, which left the Wu army completely bewildered.
Meng Jun pulled his leg off the horse, stood up, and shouted somewhat awkwardly, "Quan Cong has been captured and his battle flag has been cut. Give me a straight answer: fight or surrender."
After a moment of staring at each other, some of the Wu soldiers couldn't help but throw away their weapons, and the others followed suit.
With Wu Jun surrendering, all that remained was to clean up the battlefield. Exhausted, Guan Xing handed over temporary command to Meng Jun and Deng Hong, entrusting them with the aftermath.
The cleanup was quite tedious, and the two of them didn't arrive until noon to report to Guan Xing.
Meng Jun bowed and said, "General, the statistics are in. In this battle, we killed more than 2,000 Wu soldiers and captured 10,000. The remaining 7,000 or 8,000 escaped in the chaos and their whereabouts are unknown."
"In addition, we also captured the armor and weapons of prisoners, as well as nearly 10,000 bows and crossbows, more than 80,000 arrows, and more importantly, we captured 120,000 shi of grain from the Wu army."
Guan Xing had long regarded Wu's army's provisions as his own, so he had instructed his troops before the battle that they could set fires, but were not allowed to burn the provisions.
That's their own food, after all.
Guan Xing asked, "What about our casualties?"
Meng Jun's smile froze instantly. After a moment of silence, he sighed helplessly, "Four hundred and seventy-three people were killed, five hundred and twenty were seriously injured, and almost everyone had minor injuries."
This was the largest casualty spree for the Han army since they marched south to Wushang. In the last counter-encirclement campaign, Guan Xing displayed various skillful maneuvers, leading the Han army to annihilate Zhang Cheng almost without bloodshed.
But last night was different; it was truly a life-or-death struggle. If Deng Hong hadn't used his superior equipment to defeat Quan Cong's personal guards, the battle probably wouldn't have ended yet.
Guan Xing, equally somber, said, "Remember the names of all the fallen soldiers. Go back and reward and provide them with pensions and compensation. Has Quan Cong woken up yet?"
Deng Hong replied, "He's awake, but he's lying in bed without saying a word, as if he's been quite traumatized."
That's obvious. With 20,000 troops being defeated like this by 3,000, who wouldn't be discouraged?
Guan Xing struggled to get out of bed and said weakly, "Let's go take a look."
They followed the two men to the tent where Quan Cong was being held, and found him lying on the bed in a stark, vacant stare at the ceiling.
Guan Xing whispered a reminder: "General Quan, it's lunchtime. Would you like to eat something? What would you like to eat? I'll have someone make it for you."
Quan Cong turned his head blankly, his gaze towards Guan Xing devoid of any emotion.
He feels very sad.
Not only was his 20,000-strong army completely routed, but even his personal guards suffered more than half casualties.
Those were his entire family's private retinue, most of whom were Quan Cong's uncles and brothers. They weren't Wu Jun; they were Quan Cong's entire extended family.
With so many dead, how can he face his fellow villagers?
Damn Guan Xing, why didn't you kill me too?
"General Quan, General Quan..."
Guan Xing's shouts gradually brought Quan Cong's gaze back to focus. Quan Cong asked blankly, "Guan Xing, is it? I'm still in Yuqian, and you've already launched a sneak attack before I've even crossed the Zhe River?"
Quan Cong felt particularly wronged by this defeat. He was still on his own territory, not even within Guan Xing's sphere of influence, when he was ambushed in his own home. Can you believe it?
Nevertheless, he did not fall asleep like Zhuge Ke had that day. Instead, he arranged all the defenses, and the patrol teams of the deer antler arrow towers were all present. Moreover, the patrol teams did discover the traces of the Han army and issued warnings, but in the end, they still lost.
Quan Cong had been reflecting on the reasons for the defeat, and finally realized that it wasn't his fault, but rather that his soldiers were simply not up to par.
Ordinary soldiers did not have the sense of responsibility and vigilance of their commander. Knowing that they had not yet crossed the Zhe River, they felt from the bottom of their hearts that the Han army was still far away and there would be no problem, so they could sleep soundly.
The result is what it is now.
However, Wu Jun cannot be entirely blamed. The main problem was that Guan Xing went too far, venturing deep into enemy territory with his own troops to launch a sneak attack. This clearly violated common sense in military strategy and was a major taboo in warfare.
Guan Xing laughed and said, "Look at what you're saying. If we don't launch a sneak attack now, are we going to wait until you're on the verge of defeat? Do you think you'll still give me the chance to launch a sneak attack then?"
Quan Cong closed his eyes in anguish and sighed sadly, "I have no face to see the elders of Jiangdong. Kill me."
Guan Xing shook his head and said, "How could I bear to part with you? You're worth two hundred thousand shi of grain."
Quan Cong suddenly opened his eyes and glared angrily at Guan Xing.
He naturally knew what those words meant. Zhang Chengzhou and Zhuge Ke were redeemed by Eastern Wu with grain, and the Grand Commander was still feeling the pinch from that much grain.
Guan Xing laughed and said, "Don't keep talking about death. You're still young. How can you be so disrespectful to life? Think about your parents, your wives, children, uncles, and brothers. They all need you."
Upon hearing this, Quan Cong felt even more like dying. "You've almost killed all my uncles and brothers."
Seeing that the boy was pretending to be stupid again, Guan Xing stopped trying to persuade him, ordered someone to get him some food, and then went to prepare for the return.
The returning column was too large, with a lot of supplies and many wounded, so it was destined not to be as swift as it had been on the way there.
Guan Xing had no choice but to slow down, rushing towards Damu while simultaneously working on the prisoners' mindset.
It took them seven days to reach the city of Damu. Shen Yi went out ten miles to greet them and, upon seeing Guan Xing, excitedly bowed and said, "General, you are amazing! You captured Quan Cong in a single battle!"
Guan Xing waved his hand and laughed, "Basic stuff, just basic stuff. Zhou Xun and Zhuge Ke, have they been causing trouble lately?"
These two were his money bags, and he didn't feel comfortable leaving them in Wushang, so he brought them to Damo as well.
Shen Yi replied, "Don't worry, they're eating and sleeping well, and they haven't neglected themselves at all."
Guan Xing smiled and said, "That's good. I'll introduce them to a brother later. Zhou Xun might like him."
Who is Zhou Xun? He is the husband of Sun Quan's eldest daughter, Sun Luban.
Quan Cong was Sun Luban's husband.
Historically, Zhou Xun died young, and Sun Luban took Zhou Xun's family property and remarried Quan Cong, thus becoming known as Princess Quan.
Thinking of the scene of Sun Luban's two husbands meeting, Guan Xing's face showed excitement at the prospect of hearing a big juicy story.