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

Chapter 352 Guan Xing: Pan Zhang mistook me for Cao Cao?

Guan Xing led his troops eastward all night, and only set up camp at Changze Pavilion, seventy li east of the Riyue Lake camp, the next morning to rest and wait for Ning Huan to arrive.

When he left Riyue Lake, he wrote a letter to Peng Qi in the name of You Chong, inviting Peng Qi to come and discuss the encirclement and annihilation of Pan Zhang. However, Peng Qi was seriously injured and could not come, so Ning Huan, the newly promoted second-in-command, had to take his place.

So later he and Ning Huan will have to put on a show together. Whether they can persuade Peng Qi's bandit army to join and use the bandit army's strength to annihilate Pan Zhang depends on this.

Changze Pavilion, the temporary camp of the Han army.

While the soldiers were busy setting up tents and arranging the antler-shaped arrow towers, Guan Xing sat on the ground, frowning and deep in thought, pondering how to quickly bring Peng Qi's bandit army under his command.

Pan Zhang is not stupid. No one who has risen to his position is stupid. You can say he is bad, but you can never say he is incompetent.

Therefore, Pan Zhang should quickly realize his purpose in preventing Pan Zhang from retreating to Yu Han, and thus immediately lead his army to attack or join forces with Zhuge Jin to surround him...

Therefore, time is running out. We must quickly incorporate Peng Qi's bandit army and use their superior strength to deliver a fatal blow to Pan Zhang.

But how can we quickly incorporate Peng Qi's bandit army and make this large army work for us?

Guan Xing came up with two ideas. First, after Ning Huan arrived with the leaders of various tribes, he would reveal his identity and establish an alliance with the bandit army. He would then eliminate Pan Zhang first. Peng Qi had suffered a great loss at Pan Zhang's hands and had been hacked to a pulp. He must hate Pan Zhang to the bone. He would definitely agree to anything that was about dealing with Pan Zhang.

But if they don't agree or cooperate, they might have to resort to a trap, detaining Bi Kui and other leaders, and sending Ning Huan back to lead the bandit army to fight against Pan Zhang.

Both methods have their advantages and disadvantages. The advantage of forming an alliance is that the bandit leader can command his troops with ease and maximize the bandit army's combat power. The disadvantage is that the bandit leader may not obey your command.

The advantage of the Feast at Hongmen was that without the constraints of the bandit leader, Ning Huan could quickly take over the bandit army. The disadvantage was that Ning Huan had only been infiltrating the bandit army for a short time and his prestige was too low. Furthermore, without these leaders, there was a shortage of manpower at the command level, making it difficult to fully unleash the bandit army's combat power.

So what should we do? Form an alliance or set up a trap?

Guan Xing sat on the ground, caught in a mental struggle. After struggling for half an hour, he finally decided to try diplomacy first and then force. If the leaders of each tribe were willing to deal with Pan Zhang, there was no reason not to use their strength. If they were not willing, he would set up a trap and detain all the bandit leaders except Ning Huan.

As for incorporating them, it's not too late to do so after defeating Pan Zhang.

Thinking this, Guan Xing got up, dusting himself off and preparing to leave. But just as he took a step, Deng Hong rushed over with Yu Yang and bowed, saying, "General, great news! Li Tong, the sergeant under Pan Zhang, the one in charge of managing the military market, is willing to abandon his allegiance and betray Pan Zhang to serve you. Here's what happened..."

Yu Yang went on and on, and after listening, Guan Xing summarized: "You mean that after Pan Zhang returned to camp, he ordered the looting of the military market, but Li Tong, who was carrying out the order, was indebted to you because he had received too many benefits from you, so he informed you in advance so that you could escape. Then he dragged the goods that you had disguised with stones to report back to Pan Zhang, and was almost beaten to death by the enraged Pan Zhang. Li Tong was so angry that he decided to betray Pan Zhang and then sent someone to find you?"

Yu Yang flattered, "General's summary is indeed insightful and to the point. So, how do you intend to reply to Li Tong?"

Guan Xing frowned and said, "Why do I feel like this is like Zhou Yu beating Huang Gai? Pan Zhang is Zhou Yu, Li Tong is Huang Gai, and they're treating me like Cao Cao?"

Hearing this, Yu Yang lost his confidence and tentatively asked, "Do you mean that Pan Zhang is playing a trick on you?"

Guan Xing pondered, "It's not impossible. After all, those rats from Eastern Wu are very good at playing the self-inflicted injury trick. Wait, how did he contact you?"

At that time, all the merchants in the military market had left. These cunning merchants had fled far and wide. Guan Xing did not believe that they would tell Li Tong their whereabouts after deceiving him. Wouldn't that be courting death?

If that's the case, how did Li Tong manage to contact Yu Yang? Surely he didn't find him through some underhanded means? If Li Tong had that kind of ability, would he still be just a minor band leader?

Yu Yang replied, "Although the military market set up by Pan Zhang is somewhat dangerous, it can indeed make money. After all, Pan Zhang needs to sell the stolen goods. So we have been in contact with Pan Zhang's people to ensure that we can receive the news as soon as Pan Zhang sets up the military market. The contact person between us merchants and Pan Zhang is Li Tong. Therefore, Li Tong knows several of our contact points in the nearby villages."

“I see…” Guan Xing pondered, “Given Eastern Wu’s past misdeeds, it’s highly likely that Pan Zhang is using a self-inflicted injury ruse, but what if it’s true?”

"Go back and tell Li Tong that I accept his loyalty, but he doesn't need to rush to join me. He just needs to stay by Pan Zhang's side and cause trouble in Pan Zhang's camp when our army fights Pan Zhang. If he can help me take down Pan Zhang during the decisive battle, I will promote him three ranks. But if he wants to be promoted higher, he has to show results. Do you understand?"

The scary thing about the self-inflicted injury ploy is that once you believe what the other party says, you will be led astray. So, can I just give orders without communicating?

I won't let you come and join me now, nor will I tell you the time, place, and specific plan for your decisive battle with Pan Zhang. Let's see how you scheme against me.

Yu Yang nodded and said, "No problem, I'll go back and tell Li Tong right away."

Two hours after Yu Yang left, a scout reported that Peng Qi's second-in-command had arrived with the other leaders.

Guan Xing immediately called You Chong over and followed him out to greet them. He had extended the invitation in You Chong's name, so naturally You Chong should take the lead now.

Not long after following You Chong outside the camp, they saw Ning Huan walking over with seven or eight people. You Chong took the initiative to greet him and began to perform, clasping his hands and laughing, "Brother Ning Huan, I knew long ago that you were no ordinary person, but I didn't expect you to be so amazing. In just a few days, you have replaced Xiao Dan and become the second-in-command under Brother Peng."

Ning Huan was someone he brought to Peng Qi's side, so naturally he had to act more enthusiastically at this time.

Ning Huan clasped his hands and smiled, "It's all thanks to Commander Peng's trust and the support of my brothers. But I still want to thank Brother You. If it weren't for your recommendation, I wouldn't be where I am today. If you ever need anything, please just ask. I'll go through fire and water for you."

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, the two turned and entered the camp. Before they could even sit down in the commander's tent, Bi Kui said in a sarcastic tone, "Chief You, this tent is quite magnificent. It seems you've made a fortune recently. No wonder you dared to let us come and see you."

Peng Qi, Bi Kui, and other leaders were quite dissatisfied with You Chong's invitation to meet them. They thought, "We are the bosses. Instead of coming to pay our respects, you're making us come to see you. Isn't that going against the natural order?"

So after receiving the invitation, Peng Qi and Bi Kui did not intend to come. It was Ning Huan who coaxed them to come over by saying that we should work together to deal with Pan Zhang and that it was not advisable to cause trouble for the time being.

Despite his past actions, the resentment in his heart remained, so Bi Kui took the initiative to challenge You Chong, wanting to hear his explanation.

You Chong smiled slightly and stepped back behind Guan Xing. Guan Xing walked to the main seat and stood there, smiling at Ning Huan, Bi Kui and the others, saying, "You have all wronged Chief You. I invited you all here. I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Guan Xing."

“Uh…” Bi Kui opened his mouth wide in surprise.

Ning Huan secretly glanced at him, and also pretended to be surprised by opening his mouth wide, his acting quite exaggerated.