amaotonovel Chapter 293 Guan Xing arrives, Xu Sheng is surrounded
Chapter 293 Guan Xing arrives, Xu Sheng is surrounded
A gambler's mindset changes constantly depending on whether they win or lose a bet.
When I first sat down at the gambling table, I thought I would dominate and win big. Once I actually won, I wanted to keep going and try to make enough money to last the rest of my life.
When I started losing after winning a lot, I wanted to play it safe and not expect to keep winning. I just wanted to keep the money I had won.
After losing a little, I thought I didn't need to win too much; I just needed to win back what I lost and make sure I didn't lose anymore.
If you lose too much, you'll want to try to recoup some of your losses; you can't afford to lose all your capital.
Finally, completely blinded by losses, he bet everything in one go, and when he lost, he committed suicide.
Xu Sheng currently has this mindset; when he first infiltrated Yushan, he thought he would annihilate Shen Yi's army.
Upon learning that Shen Yi had not come but had instead annihilated Han Dang, he wanted to retreat as soon as possible to preserve his six or seven thousand elite troops.
Now that it seems even this small force is lost, they are thinking of protecting Ding Feng and Lü Ju, so as to at least have some chips to turn the tide and not lose all their resources.
So after entering the mountains, he kept thinking about how to save the two lives if they were surrounded. After thinking for a moment, he actually came up with an idea: have the two find a place to hide and wait until the fight was over before going out.
Although both sides are steep cliffs that even birds cannot climb, there are many caves of various sizes in the mountains, formed by water erosion or other reasons, so it should not be difficult to hide two people.
After hearing Xu Sheng's suggestion, Ding Feng was taken aback and said, "General, are you kidding me? Would I, Ding Chengyuan, be the kind of person who would abandon you and run away?"
Although Ding Feng did not want to die, he did not want to be a deserter, so he righteously refused Xu Sheng's request.
Xu Sheng insisted, "How can this be called desertion? This is to preserve our strength as much as possible. Moreover, we need someone to report the battle situation to Grand Commander Lu. We can't let Grand Commander Lu know nothing and fall headfirst into Guan Xing's ambush like us."
"I am the commander-in-chief of the army. This is my final order to you two, and you must obey it. I will now lead the army. You two take enough water and dry rations and find a cave to hide in. You must hide for at least five days. But remember, the hiding place must be known only to the two of you. You must not tell anyone else, including me."
“It’s impossible for all six thousand of us to have died. Some of us must have surrendered to the Han army. If the Han army learns from the surrendered soldiers that you two are hiding and then launches a massive search of the mountains, all my efforts will be in vain.”
Seeing Xu Sheng's insistence, Ding Feng could only sigh and say, "This subordinate will obey orders. Is there anything else the general needs to say?"
Xu Sheng said, "My son is young. If you two escape safely, please keep an eye on him for me."
This was Xu Sheng's selfish motive. He knew that if he insisted on interfering and causing the deaths of Han Dang and his son, he would not have a good outcome even if he returned safely, so he was already prepared to die.
He also knew that if he died now, there would be no one to take care of his family, and he might be devoured by his enemies, so he devised a plan to help Ding Fenglu escape.
If they escape, they'll owe me a life, and I'll definitely do everything I can to take care of my family.
He had fulfilled his duty to Sun Quan by dying in battle, and he had fulfilled his duty to his family by helping Ding and Lü escape. He could be considered to have achieved his goal.
Ding and Lü nodded emphatically, swearing that they would take care of Xu Sheng's family before taking the water and dry rations that Xu Sheng handed them and quickly leaving to find a cave to hide in.
Xu Sheng then returned to his troops and led the army towards Baopingyu without hesitation.
The gap in the corridor was only about 20 li away from Baopingyu. Xu Sheng arrived smoothly around 1:00 AM. He left the main army five li away and personally acted as a scout to investigate. Upon getting closer, he found that deer antlers had been set up at the mouth of the bottle ahead. Han soldiers in armor were standing behind the deer antlers with long spears, ready for battle. Archers were also hidden behind the spearmen.
Seeing this scene, Xu Sheng knew he had no chance of survival. He returned to his army and ordered his soldiers to eat and rest, and to attack again at dawn.
Before I die, I should at least let my brothers have a good meal and a good night's sleep.
Its daybreak.
Xu Sheng no longer hesitated, woke up the soldiers and gave them a brief pre-battle pep talk, then led the army to attack Baopingyu.
Upon arriving at Baopingyu, he ordered his troops to charge ahead, launching a general offensive against the Han army without any further probing.
Although he was determined to die, he also harbored a sliver of hope that he could defeat the Han army ahead, break through their blockade, and escape alive. Therefore, he did not give up, but instead commanded his army to launch a full-scale attack while keeping a close eye on the battlefield, trying to find loopholes in the Han army's defenses.
Wu Jun also learned from the previous mobilization that he was surrounded, and his instinct for victory unleashed a powerful fighting force.
On the Han army's side.
Wang Tao, standing at the rear, also surveyed the battlefield. Watching the two sides fighting, he sneered, "Xu Sheng, you're dreaming if you think you can get past my lines."
He was not originally at Baopingyu but at another position. After seeing the beacon fires set off at Baopingyu last night, he led his troops here overnight and summoned the garrison troops from the other positions as well.
Currently, the garrison at Baopingyu numbers nearly three thousand. Although their strength is only half that of Wu's army, they are in a favorable defensive position. I dare not say more, but I am confident that they can hold off Xu Sheng for two or three days.
The question is, can Xu Sheng's meager food reserves last for three days?
The two sides fought back and forth until late afternoon. Wang Tao also retreated two lines of defense under Wu Jun's fierce attack. After retreating to the third line of defense, he refused to retreat any further because he only had four lines of defense. Beyond the fourth line of defense was the wide body of Baopingyu. If he could enter the body of ...
Therefore, we absolutely cannot retreat any further. We must hold out on the third line of defense until nightfall, and then defend the last line of defense to the death, waiting for Guan Xing to arrive.
The question is, will Guan Xing let Xu Sheng hold out until dark?
On the mountain road leading to Baopingyu, Guan Xing led his army forward at a rapid pace, and they were now only ten miles away from Baopingyu.
Guan Xing, who was in a hurry to catch up with Xu Sheng, did not notice that there was a cave by the roadside that was blocked by rocks and bushes. There were two pairs of eyes in the cave secretly watching them. They were Lü Ju and Ding Feng, who were hiding.
After the Han army had all passed through the cave, Ding Fengcai said in a low voice, "Guan Xing actually brought so many men. General Xu is finished."
When the two sides met at the gap yesterday, Guan Xing only had two or three thousand men, but now the number has increased five or six times. This does not even include the Han army blocking the way at Baopingyu. Under such circumstances, how can Xu Sheng survive?
Lu Chuo said, "The Han army has passed through. Should we return to the corridor and contact the Grand Commander?"
Ding Feng shook his head and said, "It's not possible now. I guess Guan Xing will definitely leave people to guard the gap to prevent the Grand Commander from attacking his rear. If we go out now, we'll be walking into a trap. Let's continue to wait. According to General Xu, we should hide for five days. In five days, the Grand Commander should be able to get here and open up the corridor. Then we can leave without any problems."
Lu Ju said with a wry smile, "I'm afraid that Guan Xing will send troops to search the mountain after defeating General Xu Sheng. If they find this cave, we'll be in big trouble."
Ding Feng also smiled bitterly, "There's nothing we can do about it. We can only gamble on whether Guan Xing will abandon the search of the mountains and retreat quickly after defeating General Xu to prevent the Grand Commander from pursuing us."
After saying this, he pulled Lü Ju into the cave, beginning the darkest and longest wait of his life.
Meanwhile, Guan Xing arrived safely at Baoping Valley and appeared behind Xu Sheng. Seeing that Xu Sheng had left a large army to guard against them, he couldn't help but sneer, "Even at this point, you're still thinking about blocking them. Xu Sheng's will to survive is extraordinary, but what's the use?"
"Zhu Chao, you lead the charge, the rest of you shout and persuade the Wu army to surrender. These Wu soldiers, how much pay does Sun Quan give them? Is it worth them fighting so desperately?"