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

Chapter 285 Guan Xing's Adventure in Pursuit of Xu Sheng

While the achievement of forcing Han Dang to his death is certainly exciting, let's not forget that Guan Xing's target in this battle was Xu Sheng.

So the question is, did Xu Sheng receive news of Han Dang's suicide?

Guan Xing got up and walked around, his brows furrowed as he fell into deep thought. He muttered to himself as he pondered, "Huaiyu Mountain is so big, and there are so many rebel soldiers. Shen Yi can't possibly surround all the Wu troops. There will always be a few who escape. Even if only one of the escaped rebel soldiers goes to inform Xu Sheng, it could lead to Xu Sheng's early escape."

The Han army arrived hastily and was blocked by a trap. The torrential rain also disrupted their plans, leaving Guan Xing with no time to send scouts to the county town. Therefore, he knew nothing about Xu Sheng's current situation.

Since they didn't know, they abandoned their illusions and made the worst-case scenario plan. What was the worst-case scenario plan? Naturally, it was that Xu Sheng had already received the devastating news of Han Dang's death in battle and had begun to consider his way out.

So here's the question: how will Xu Sheng react after receiving the bad news?

There are only three possibilities. First, given Xu Sheng's tendency to gamble everything, he will most likely attack our camp instead of retreating. Since both he and Shen Yi are exhausted, Xu Sheng can easily brave the rain and go into the mountains to deal with Shen Yi as well after repelling us.

That would mean huge losses for himself, while Xu Sheng would transform from a reckless and arrogant fool into a hero who could turn the tide.

However, Xu Sheng had dug a twenty-mile-long trap between the county town and himself in an attempt to stop him. There had just been a torrential rain, so it would be difficult for Xu Sheng to catch him off guard by wading through the muddy road after the rain without alerting him. Therefore, it was unlikely that Xu Sheng would head east.

Secondly, they should continue to hold Yushan and wait for Lu Xun's reinforcements. Now that Shen Yi is exhausted by Han Dang, Xu Sheng's pressure to defend the city is much less, and theoretically it is entirely possible to hold Yushan and wait for Lu Xun's rescue.

But there is another factor that cannot be ignored: morale. If the Wu army in the city knew the bad news of Han Dang's death, would they still have the will to fight?

Or, to put it another way, once Xu Sheng learns that he has caused Han Dang's death, will he still be able to remain calm and make the right judgment?

That was Han Dang, a veteran general of Eastern Wu. Upon suddenly receiving news of his death, not only Xu Sheng, but even Cao Cao would probably feel a jolt in his heart, and in a moment of confusion, he might make a wrong judgment.

In his panic, Xu Sheng was very likely to make one last choice: to flee west and join Lu Xun.

Thinking of this, Guan Xing said urgently, "We can't wait any longer. We must leave the camp as soon as possible to pursue Xu Sheng and leave him in the corridor forever. Order the army to assemble immediately and follow me in pursuit."

The guard said with difficulty, "But general, the soldiers have been running for two days and have just fallen asleep. I'm afraid it will be difficult to wake them up now."

Have you forgotten how hard it was to wake you up? Those soldiers were sleeping even more soundly than you. How could you possibly wake them up?

Guan Xing said urgently, "We still have to call for him. If we can't wake him up, we'll splash him with cold water. We need to gather as many people as we can. We only have one chance to catch Xu Sheng. If we miss it, we'll never have another one."

After seeing off his personal guards, Guan Xing said to Li Gousheng, "Gousheng, I know you're tired, but there's no other way. You might have to work hard again. Immediately go back the way you came and inform Wu Yue and Shen Yi to gather their troops and rush into the corridor to block Xu Sheng for me. Now that the mountain road is impassable, Xu Sheng can only retreat along the corridor if he wants to escape. So tell them not to worry and to enter the corridor as soon as they receive the message."

Li Gousheng looked at the new shoes he had just received yesterday and had already used today, and grinned, saying, "But General, Xu Sheng might have already set off. We are twenty miles further away than Xu Sheng, and I have to travel through the mountains, which are even more difficult to traverse than a corridor. How can we catch up? Perhaps before I can even contact the two generals, Xu Sheng will have already crossed their defense zone and escaped."

Guan Xing noticed Li Gousheng's worn-out shoes and quickly pressed him onto the bed. He took off his own boots and helped Li Gousheng change while advising him, "What you said is true, but we can't give up just because it might fail. What if we succeed?"

"If we fail, you'll just have to go through some unnecessary trouble, but if we're lucky enough to succeed, we'll be catching Xu Sheng. Isn't it worth taking the gamble for such a huge reward?"

"Besides, didn't you just say that Wu Yue has returned to his position to intercept Xu Sheng? That means you are not as far away from Wu Yue as you were when you were annihilating Han. It is entirely possible that you can make contact quickly."

"Also, since Xu Sheng has set up traps on our side, he must have also set up traps to block Shen Yi on the west side of the county town. Now these traps have become obstacles for him. With traps blocking his way, he definitely can't go fast. You have a good chance of contacting Wu Yue before Xu Sheng passes through the Wu Yue defense zone. So, are you going or not?"

Having said all that, what else could Li Gousheng say? He patted his chest and assured, "General, rest assured, even if I have to run myself to death today, I will definitely contact Generals Wu and Shen."

After saying that, he put on his boots himself, got up, and set off again in Guan Xing's boots.

Well, being a scout isn't easy.

After seeing Li Gousheng off, Guan Xing asked his personal guards for a new pair of shoes to change into before leaving the camp to personally call out to the sleeping soldiers.

It took a full 35 minutes to wake up 2,000 men, but Guan Xing dared not wait any longer. He ordered his personal guards to continue calling out to the awakened soldiers so that they could arrive later. He then led his 2,000 troops to set off immediately for Yushan.

After leaving the camp and arriving at the edge of the traps, they were surprised to find that many of the traps had been exposed by the rain, and the situation was much better than before.

Wu's traps, like those of the Han army, were crudely made and could not withstand the erosion of heavy rain. The mud on the traps was washed away by the rain.

This made it much easier for the army to pass through, but it also meant that some traps were being buried more and more secretly.

Guan Xing turned around and shouted, "Step through the gaps in the traps. Before you go, use your weapon to poke the path ahead. It's better to go slowly than to take risks. Let's go."

After saying that, he took the lead and walked into the trap area, braving the muddy ground after the heavy rain, and hurried towards Yushan.

Guan Xing walked the short 20-mile distance for more than two hours without carrying any load, and injured more than a dozen people before he was able to pass through.

After passing through the trap area and arriving at the foot of Yushan City, Guan Xing breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the city gates were wide open and there were no guards on the walls. However, to prevent Xu Sheng from ambushing him inside the city, he did not enter immediately. Instead, he sent scouts into the city to investigate. Only after confirming that there was no danger did he enter the city and pass through it.

The Han army entered the city, and the people were excited. They had been waiting for the Han army to return for ages. You have no idea what those damned Wu soldiers did in the city. They did absolutely nothing!

The best thing about comparison is that, although the Han army had just entered the city and hadn't done anything yet, they were much more pleasing to the eye than the Wu army, which had committed numerous atrocities.

Therefore, as soon as they saw the Han army, the people of Yushan who had been harmed by the Wu army surrounded them and tearfully denounced the crimes of the Wu army.

Guan Xing initially listened patiently and tried to appease them, but as more and more people gathered and the road became blocked, he had no choice but to shout, "Fellow villagers, I know you are wronged and want us to help you get revenge, but how are we supposed to get through if you block the road? At least make way for us, or Xu Sheng will escape."

The last sentence was the most effective. When the people heard that Xu Sheng might be running away, they quickly stepped aside to let the Han army pass. Some even offered information: "General, Xu Sheng has been gone for about two and a half hours. Although he left early, he has to cross a ten-mile-long area of ​​traps, so he can't go fast."

“General, you may not know this, but Ding Feng forced us to dig that trap area. I know the situation of the trap area best, and I can lead the way for you.”

The fact that the common people actively helped the Han army fight against the Wu army shows how much Xu Sheng was hated.

Guan Xing was overjoyed upon hearing this and quickly summoned the young man who had volunteered to come before him. Led by the young man, they passed through the city and soon arrived at the edge of the trap area in the west of the city.

Guan Xing stared at the trap for a moment and said, "See the footprints left by Wu Jun? Following their footprints should avoid a lot of danger. Let's continue."

The army had no choice but to continue advancing with Guan Xing. Anyone who encountered such a broken road would feel resentful, and the further they went, the greater their resentment would become.

Having trudged through the mud for so long, the Han soldiers were filled with resentment stronger than ghosts. As they advanced, they all harbored a fierce determination in their hearts: "Damn Xu Sheng, you better pray that we don't catch up with you, or you'll be sorry!"