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

Chapter 295 The army searches the mountains and captures Lü Ju and Ding Feng.

Xu Sheng is dead.

He was fatally wounded by Guan Xing's arrow to the throat and collapsed to the ground, powerless.

Zhu Chao, who was fighting desperately on the front lines, shouted upon seeing this, "Xu Sheng is dead, what's the point of fighting anymore? Don't you want to go home and see the land you've been allocated?"

Psychological warfare requires careful timing. While Xu Sheng was alive, everyone was willing to surrender but dared not act rashly, because surrendering would mean being killed by Xu Sheng, and Xu Yong's body was still warm.

Xu Sheng even killed the commander of his troops who had followed him for many years and was as close as a brother. Let alone others, who would dare to surrender without Xu Sheng taking the lead?

But things are different now. Xu Sheng is dead, so everyone has no qualms about surrendering.

Therefore, as soon as Zhu Chao finished speaking, some clever people threw away their weapons, skillfully covered their heads and squatted down. The others followed suit, and soon they were all squatting on the ground.

In just a short while, only Xu Sheng's hundred or so personal guards remained of Wu Jun standing in the field.

Zhu Chao looked at them defiantly and asked, "Judging from your posture, you're not planning to surrender, but rather to be wiped out like Han Dang's personal guards?"

The words "total annihilation" caused the facial muscles of the soldiers to twitch. After a moment of struggle, some chose to follow their hearts, throwing away their weapons and squatting down.

This time, no one stopped them, and no one killed them on the spot as Xu Sheng had done to Xu Yong. They were Xu Sheng's personal guards, and their loyalty was to Xu Sheng, not Sun Quan.

With Xu Sheng's death in battle, they lost their allegiance and thus their goal. After struggling for a long time, they all chose to surrender.

The rest was simple. Guan Xing ordered his army to collect the weapons and armor of the surrendered soldiers, then met up with Wang Tao to inquire about the situation. Finally, they drove the surrendered soldiers into the bottle-shaped area that Wang Tao had blocked, where the terrain was wide and suitable for setting up camp.

After finishing, Guan Xing summoned his generals and instructed them: "Xia Tian, ​​you should be almost fully recovered after sleeping last night. Go to the gap and inform Wu Yue that he should stop waiting there. Pack up and retreat along the corridor to Yushan as soon as possible to meet up with Shen Yi."

"Wang Tao, Lu Xun may enter the mountains to catch up with us, so your defense line cannot be withdrawn yet. Hold on for two more days to buy the army some time to rest and recuperate before we retreat."

With Xu Sheng dead, it's time to be wary of Lu Xun. After all, the Han army hasn't recovered yet, and Guan Xing doesn't want to encounter Lu Xun and fight to the death at this time.

Fortunately, Wang Tao's choice of a blocking position was clever enough. Blocking Lu Xun at the mouth of the bottle would definitely stop him and buy the army enough time to rest and retreat. However, in this case, Wu Yue's blocking would be meaningless, and it would be better to retreat to Yushan to rest as soon as possible.

"Yes..." Xia Tian and Wang Tao accepted the order and left.

Guan Xing then called Zhu Chao over and said, "I just learned from the surrendered soldiers that two deputy generals, Ding Feng and Lü Ju, went into the mountains with Xu Sheng, but we only saw Xu Sheng. We didn't even see a hair on Ding and Lü. Where did they go?"

Without a second thought, Zhu Chao replied, "They must have run over the mountain."

Guan Xing shook his head and said, "You've seen how high and steep the mountains are along the way. Without ropes, grappling hooks, or other tools, Wu Jun simply couldn't climb them. Besides, if there really was a place to climb up and escape, why didn't Xu Sheng go? Is he tired of living?"

"In this situation, there is only one way to escape: find a cave to hide in, wait until the fighting here is over and our troops have withdrawn, and then come out and leave calmly. After all, the mountain is so big, it is too easy to hide two people."

This is a common trope in later movies and TV series for evading pursuit, and Guan Xing was very familiar with it.

Zhu Chao cursed, "They're so cunning! So, General, you want me to lead men to search the mountains and find these two hiding ground rats?"

Seeing Guan Xing nod, Zhu Chao asked again, "But General, since you know they are hiding in the mountains, why did you still order General Wu Yue to evacuate? What if they sneak away during the gap in General Wu's evacuation?"

Guan Xing said, "Let them slip away if they want. I can't let Wu Yue's three thousand troops be stuck in the mountains because of just two people."

"You don't need to bring too many people, just eight hundred personal guards will do. And you only have two days. If you find them, great; if not, come back. We've already killed Han Dang and Xu Sheng, why are we afraid of these two?"

To put it bluntly, Ding and Lü were not worth Guan Xing sending tens of thousands of troops to search the mountains. If it were Lu Xun or Sun Quan, Guan Xing would definitely turn Wuyi Mountain upside down, and even dig up ant nests to check.

Zhu Chao pondered, "But General, this is a search of the mountains after all. Eight hundred men are a bit too few. I dare to ask for another two thousand men."

Guan Xing didn't care about the lives of Ding and Lü, but he did care. If he could find and arrest them, he would be one step closer to being ennobled.

When he was a tenant farmer in the Zhu family, he never thought that he could become a general and a marquis in his life. However, after following Guan Xing, he was surprised to find that becoming a marquis did not seem to be far away from him. Since that was the case, there was no reason not to give it a shot.

So Zhu Chao secretly vowed to find these two hiding rats, for they were his noble titles.

With his subordinate so enthusiastic, Guan Xing naturally had no reason to discourage him, and nodded in agreement, saying, "Okay."

Soon Zhu Chao led two or three thousand men back along the way they came, shouting as they went, "Look carefully, don't miss any rat holes, don't miss any holes on the mountainside. General Guan said that capturing one person will result in a promotion of three ranks."

Visible benefits are always the greatest motivation for struggle. Upon hearing this, the soldiers were all invigorated and swung their swords at the roadside bushes. When they saw a hole, they directly poked it with their guns, searching very carefully.

Slaying generals and capturing flags, charging into battle and being the first to scale the walls are known as the four great military achievements. Winning any one of them would lead to a high rank, a noble title, and a secure future for one's descendants.

Slaying a general is the foremost of the four great military achievements, and once one is granted a title of nobility, that is practically guaranteed.

Normally, ordinary soldiers would not dare to dream of such a thing, but now Ding Feng and Lü Ju are right beside them, seemingly within reach. Who could resist such a great temptation?

Zhu Chao led his men in an active search and soon found the vicinity of Ding Fenglu's hiding place.

Hearing the distant roar, Ding and Lü broke out in a cold sweat. Ding Feng whispered, "It seems General Xu has died in battle. We brothers have been betrayed."

Lu Ju said nervously, "Then what should we do? Should we continue to hide here and gamble that the Han army won't find us, or should we rush out and take a gamble before the Han army arrives?"

Judging from the sound, the Han army was still some distance away. They could leave easily now, but the problem was that there were definitely Han soldiers guarding the gap in the mountain. The two of them couldn't break through the Han army's blockade.

The Han army will find us soon. The situation is urgent and Ding Feng has no time to think. Hearing this, he said, "It seems that it is impossible for both of us to escape. We have to sacrifice one of us. I will go out and run towards the gap to lure the Han army away. Then you can come out and head towards Baopingyu. Find a place to hide in the area that the Han army has already searched. Although the Han army is unlikely to abandon you after capturing me, they probably won't bother to search the area again. Let's play a trick on the Han army and let one of us escape."

Lu Ju shook his head and said, "I'll go and draw the Han army away to cover your retreat. Your role is more important than mine."

Ding Feng said, "There's no time to dwell on this. Let's play rock-paper-scissors. Whoever loses has to draw the Han army away."

Lu Ju agreed to make a move at the same time as Ding Feng. As a result, Lu Ju played scissors while Ding Feng played paper, and Ding Feng lost.

This is a matter of life and death, and it seems a bit hasty for the two to decide by rock-paper-scissors.

But then again, men sometimes make decisions so hastily.

Ding Feng rushed to the cave entrance and secretly looked out. Seeing that the Han army had not yet arrived, he decisively came out of the cave, covered the entrance, and quickly ran to the bushes on the opposite side of the road. He went in, hid, and waited patiently. When the Han army came around the corner, he immediately stood up and shouted, "Guan Xing, you little thief, your grandpa Ding is here."

After saying that, he jumped out of the bushes and ran away. Zhu Chao heard the shouts and immediately ordered a chase. When they caught up with Ding Feng, they suddenly realized a problem: there were no caves around. Where did Ding Feng hide from the Han army?

You should know that tens of thousands of Han soldiers passed through here before. If Ding Feng had been hiding in the bushes at that time, he would have been discovered on the spot. How could he have been hiding until now?

And what about Lü Ju? Weren't there two of them? How come only Ding Feng came out?

Thinking of this, Zhu Chao decisively ordered, "Personnel, follow me and pursue him. The rest of you, continue searching the vicinity. Dig three feet into the ground and find the cave where Ding Feng is hiding."

Hearing this, Lü Ju, who was secretly observing from the cave entrance, felt a sudden tremor in his heart and muttered to himself in resentment, "It's over."