amaotonovel Chapter 471 The Jingzhou gentry plead guilty with thorns on their backs
Chapter 471 The Jingzhou gentry plead guilty with thorns on their backs
The Wei army fled in panic. Jiang Ji, who was in charge of leading the troops, was a strategist but lacked both Yu Jin's prestige and military leadership. He was unable to organize the army in the rush and could only urge the Wei army to speed up. In his view, as long as they were fast enough, Guan Xing would not be able to catch up with them.
This idea resulted in the column stretching for miles, with soldiers at the back unable to see the scene ahead and forced to run after the battle flag.
If they could keep running, it would be fine, but trouble would ensue when the road ahead was blocked. The Wei army in front was stunned by the Wu army and stood still, not knowing what to do. The soldiers behind did not see the Wu army and continued to charge forward, so they naturally bumped into their teammates' backs, making the already chaotic formation even more chaotic.
Then, the Wei army, caught in the chaos, was met with a brutal attack from the Wu army. Sun Huan gave the Wei army no chance to react, charging into their ranks and wielding his broadsword in a chaotic and devastating manner.
The Wei army had no courage to resist and saw the Wu army flee decisively. Jiang Ji knew that the situation was hopeless, so he quickly dismounted, changed into the clothes of an ordinary soldier, and fled northwest with dozens of his personal guards.
At the same time, Guan Xing also arrived at the battlefield. Guan Xing wasted too much time fighting with Yu Jin. After leaving the city, the Wei army had long since disappeared. But don't forget that he was a criminal police officer and was best at tracking traces. The Wei army left too many traces, so they couldn't be lost even if they wanted to.
Thus, Guan Xing led his army in full pursuit, but after passing Changbanpo, they did not encounter any resistance from Zhu Ran and Sun Huan, and Guan Xing began to feel uneasy.
Since Zhu Ran and Sun Huan did not appear at Changban Slope, the hope of annihilating the Wei army was extremely slim. Since it was impossible to annihilate them all, killing one more or one less seemed to make little difference. Helpless, Guan Xing began to consider retreating.
But now they were really unwilling to retreat, so they prepared to chase after Dangyang before retreating. Who would have thought that God was so good at playing tricks on people, always making them despair first and then giving them hope, tormenting their mentality in this way.
Before Guan Xing could even reach Dangyang, chaos erupted in front of the Wei army, followed by familiar screams and sounds of fighting.
What does this mean? It means that the Wei army was attacked. Otherwise, why would they be making a fuss instead of fleeing for their lives while being pursued?
Guan Xing was overjoyed upon realizing this and shouted impatiently, "The Wu army will flank us from the left, and our private troops from the right. We must annihilate the Wei army here!"
At a single command, the three armies quickly separated. Hu Zong led the Wu army to the left wing, Pan Zhu led his private troops to the right wing, and Guan Xing led the Han army straight to the center of the Wei army.
In less than a quarter of an hour, Wu's army and private troops arrived at their designated positions and surrounded Wei's army. Wei's army was now surrounded by a coalition force several times its size, with Zhu Ran and Sun Huan in front, Guan Xing behind, Hu Zong and Xu Xiang on the left, and Pan Zhu and Huang Zhe on the right.
The most desperate thing was that with Jiang Ji's escape, the Wei army was completely plunged into chaos without a leader. Without a commander and without morale, how could the Wei army deal with the allied forces pressing in from all sides? What else could they do but surrender?
Upon hearing Guan Xing's shouts urging them to surrender, the Wei army decisively threw down their weapons and knelt down to surrender. After all, they had already surrendered to Guan Yu once, so surrendering to Guan Yu's son wouldn't be too shameful.
With the Wei army surrendering, the allied forces should now regroup. The first to arrive before Guan Xing were Hu Zong, Xu Xiang, Zhou Shao, and Zhou Cheng. Upon seeing Guan Xing, the four men exclaimed excitedly, "General Guan, your military strategy is divine! We are truly impressed. This battle was incredibly satisfying!"
This is the truth. After Guan Xing's raid on Jianye, they received bad news every day. Over time, they accumulated countless frustrations and resentments, and were so depressed that they were almost depressed. But today, they chased after the Wei army and slaughtered them. They used this battle to vent all the resentment that had been accumulating for so long. The feeling of relief was like recovering from a serious illness, which made them feel comfortable all over.
While feeling relieved, they also admired Guan Xing immensely, and now they truly believed that Guan Xing was a living Huo Qubing.
Guan Xing grasped Hu Zong's hand and said with a face full of gratitude, "We owe you all our help by risking your lives. Rest assured, I will report your contributions to the King truthfully and will never let the Wu army brothers down."
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Zhu Ran and Sun Huan arrived. Upon coming before him, Zhu Ran immediately clasped his hands in apology and said, "This humble general failed to arrive at Changban Slope in time, causing a delay in military operations. Please punish me, General."
Guan Xing helped them up, feigning confusion, and said, "I only ordered you to intercept the Wei army. When did I say you were to intercept them at Changban Slope?"
"Besides, as long as the Wei army is blocked, it doesn't matter where you block it. You successfully blocked the Wei army and completed your mission, so what crime have you committed?"
The two were overjoyed and quickly bowed, saying, "Thank you, General."
Guan Xing reassured the group for a few more minutes before turning to look east, his face grim. "Where are Pan Zhu and Huang Zhe? Are you expecting me to go and pay my respects to them if they don't come to see me?"
Wu Jun's generals have all arrived, but the private army generals such as Pan Zhu and Huang Zhe are nowhere to be seen. What does that mean?
He didn't know that Pan Zhu, Huang Zhe, and the others didn't not want to see him, but rather dared not. Although Guan Xing had pardoned their crimes, there was still a grudge between them, and it would inevitably be awkward if they met.
The gentry of Jingzhou surrendered to Wu first and then to Wei, which is equivalent to betraying the Guan family twice. They must have owed the Guan family a huge debt of gratitude. The last person you want to see in your life is your creditor.
But even an ugly daughter-in-law has to meet her in-laws eventually.
After discussing it for a long time, Pan Zhu, Huang Zhe and the others finally decided that they still had to meet, but they couldn't just go by so casually; they had to show their attitude.
As for what attitude to adopt, Lian Po, one of the four great generals of the Warring States period, had already taught him: simply apologize with a bundle of thorns on your back.
Pan Zhu, Huang Zhe, and several other scions of noble families, shirtless and carrying firewood they had gathered, knelt and crawled from their own positions toward Guan Xing's location in front of their private soldiers and surrendered Wei soldiers.
That's right, we have to go on our knees. Now is not the time to worry about saving face. We must take advantage of Guan Xing's good mood after his great victory to arouse his sympathy and completely dispel his idea of settling scores later. We can't let Guan Xing verbally forgive us while secretly plotting to settle scores later.
With this in mind, Pan Zhu, Huang Zhe, and the others slowly knelt and crawled to Guan Xing's side.
Guan Xing's expression softened considerably upon seeing their kneeling figures, but instead of going forward to greet them, he stood there with his hands behind his back, waiting.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Pan Zhu, Huang Zhe, and six or seven others finally knelt down before Guan Xing and respectfully bowed, saying, "This sinful general pays his respects to General Guan and begs for your punishment."
Guan Xing, looking down at him, said, "I keep my word. Since I said I would pardon you for surrendering to Wu and Wei on behalf of the King, I will keep my word. From today onwards, your crimes are wiped clean. If the King asks about it, I will take the blame. However..."
"I will only pardon past crimes. If you commit them again, I will show no mercy. Do you understand?"
Pan Zhu, Huang Zhe, and the others were overjoyed and bowed in unison, saying, "Thank you, General."
"Get up." Guan Xing did not help them up but let them get up on their own, showing a completely different attitude towards Wu Jun's generals and private army generals.
Pan Zhu, Huang Zhe, and the others dared not utter a single complaint. They obediently stood up and stood behind Guan Xing, as well-behaved as children who had done something wrong.
Although they are not children, they did do something wrong, and they deserve this treatment.
Guan Xing ignored them and instead looked around, asking, "Has Jiang Ji been captured?"
Everyone shook their heads; none of them saw Jiang Ji.
Guan Xing frowned and said, "Go and interrogate the prisoners. Ask them if they know where Jiang Ji is. Also, inquire about the King's whereabouts. The Wei army is so close to Hanzhong, they should know more about the King than we do. At the very least, they should have received Xu Huang's battle report, right?"