amaotonovel Chapter 280 Han Dang's Dying Struggle
Chapter 280 Han Dang's Dying Struggle
Who is Wu Yue? Why does that name sound familiar?
Han Dang was momentarily dazed upon hearing this. He frowned and pondered for a long time before finally remembering and exclaiming incredulously, "It was you?"
Society is structured like a pyramid, with fewer people at the top. The Wu army was not as large as the Wei army, and its troops were few, with even fewer captains. Therefore, Han Dang had basically met all the generals above the rank of captain, or at least heard of them.
After some thought, Han Dang quickly remembered who Wu Yue was and couldn't help but explode in anger: "If I remember correctly, you were promoted by Grand Commander Lü, right? Wu Yue, as a subject of Jiangdong, you betrayed your lord and joined Guan Yu. Don't you feel ashamed?"
It's one thing for a lowly soldier to betray you, but even a captain like you has betrayed you. Do you even have the concept of loyalty anymore?
Wu Yue sneered, "The old general should know how I was promoted to captain and why I was demoted to platoon leader, so why should I feel ashamed?"
“Since I joined the army, I have always been the first to charge into battle. In the Battle of Xiaoyao Ford, I was wounded in seventeen places while covering the retreat of Lord Wu. As a result, instead of being promoted, I was demoted to the rank of platoon leader. I want to ask the old general, why?”
"Over the years, the officialdom of Eastern Wu has been firmly controlled by you veterans who followed Wen Tai in the public campaign against Dong Zhuo and the Jiangdong gentry. When have you ever given us poor people a way to survive?"
"General Guan Xing is right. The world shouldn't be like this. Why should the world always be like this? Why should you always be high and mighty while we can only depend on your whims and survive on your charity?"
Wu Yue's words were full of resentment and every word was sharp, leaving Han Dang speechless. Not knowing how to refute, he could only angrily shout, "Is this your reason for betraying your lord?"
Wu Yue retorted confidently, "Isn't this reason enough?"
“A good bird chooses a good tree to perch on, and a wise minister chooses a wise lord to serve. I, a humble man from Wuyue, may not be considered a wise minister, but I do know who the wise lord is. Old general, I respect your character, and I sincerely advise you that you have no way to escape today, so you would better surrender as soon as possible.”
Han Dang was seething with anger but didn't know how to vent it, so he said in grief and indignation, "A subject cannot serve two masters. I, Han Dang, am a retainer of Lord Wentai and would never side with Guan Yu. If you really have the ability, you can kill me, but don't insult me."
Wu Yue said, "Since the old general has made up his mind, let's meet on the battlefield. Farewell."
After speaking, he bowed to Han Dang and turned to retreat back into the formation.
Han Dang gripped his sword hilt, about to order an attack, when he suddenly remembered something and pulled his personal guard aside, saying, "I'm afraid I won't be able to leave today, but we can't let the Han army get too comfortable. After the battle, you ten men will split into two groups and escape in the chaos. One group will go find Xu Sheng and tell him that the army can't get through, that his pincer attack plan has failed, and that if he doesn't want to die, he should break out immediately. Also, tell Xu Sheng that if I manage to get back alive this time, I'll beat him to a pulp and I'll change my surname to his."
"Another team went to report to Grand Commander Lu, telling him that the Han army was treacherous and that they must be extremely careful in the upcoming battles."
Although he hated Xu Sheng, he didn't want Xu Sheng to be killed by the Han army. After all, Xu Sheng and Ding Feng had six or seven thousand men. If they were all wiped out at Yushan like he was, it would be a huge blow to Lu Xun. So he decided to give Xu Sheng one last push and hoped that he and Ding Feng could break through the encirclement.
Upon hearing this, the guard anxiously said, "But General, what will happen to you if we leave? Who will protect your safety?"
Of the five hundred personal guards, only ten remained. How could they dare to leave Han Dang so easily?
Han Dang said firmly in an unquestionable tone, "Don't worry, I will definitely break out when the fighting starts. I won't be stupid enough to fight the Han army to the death. But you guys must send out the message so that Xu Sheng can break out as soon as possible before the two Han armies encircle him. This is his best and only chance to break out. Once the Han army defeats us and joins forces with the Da Mo Han army at Yushan, Xu Sheng will have nowhere to go. Stop arguing and carry out the order."
The guards had no choice but to obey.
Han Dang, no longer hesitant, was about to order an attack when he suddenly remembered something and quickly withdrew his sword. He stared intently at the Wu-Yue position in front of him, carefully examining it while listening intently to the southeast.
The footsteps from the southeast grew increasingly hurried, proving that the main force of the Han army that had annihilated his troops last night was getting closer.
Looking ahead at Wu Yue's position, the terrain is treacherous and easy to defend, making it difficult to attack. Wu Yue is a captain who rose from the lowest ranks, and his combat experience is extremely rich. It will probably not be easy to break through his defensive position.
If we order an attack now, and fail to break through quickly and get bogged down, and the Han army swiftly attacks to cut off our retreat, then we will truly be powerless to turn the tide.
However, if they were to turn their attention to dealing with the main force of the Han army that was about to arrive, Wu Yue would certainly not break out of their lines to attack them in order to prevent any unforeseen circumstances, and even if they did attack, they would not send out their entire force.
More importantly, the main force of the Han army was on its way and had no time to establish defensive positions. Fighting the main force of the Han army would be an encounter battle, while fighting Wu and Yue would be a positional battle. It goes without saying which side would be easier to fight.
Han Dang was an experienced veteran, and even when he was in dire straits, he would not easily give up. Driven by his survival instinct, he quickly made the right choice, changed the direction of attack, left two thousand men to block Wu Yue, and led the others to attack Shen Yi who was on his way.
Han Dang's sudden turn infuriated Wu Yue, who stomped his feet and couldn't help but curse, "Old man who doesn't die is a thief! That damned old thief Han Dang is a real devil!"
Captain Sun Gang asked, "So what do we do now? Should we charge out and join forces with General Shen Yi to attack from both sides?"
Wu Yue pondered, "We definitely need to fight our way out, but we can't fight our way out completely, nor can we fight our way out now. We have to wait until Han Dang and General Shen Yi start fighting, and then we can kill the Wu army that is blocking us and they will be distracted by the battlefield."
"Now adjust the formation with me. Without affecting the defense of the position, detach a thousand soldiers. I will lead a thousand men to charge later. You lead the remaining soldiers to continue defending the position and prevent Han Dang from breaking out in the chaos."
"Remember, our mission is to block Han Dang and prevent Wu's army from advancing, so it's better to not attack at all than to prioritize securing our positions, understand?"
Sun Gang nodded emphatically and followed Wu Yue to adjust the formation and redeploy manpower.
at the same time……
Shen Yi led five or six thousand soldiers and rushed over quickly. Just as they were about to catch up with Han Dang and join forces with Wu Yue, a scout hurriedly returned and said, "General, something bad has happened! Han Dang is attacking us!"
Shen Yi thought for a moment and understood what was going on. He snorted and said, "This old man doesn't want to fight to the death with Wu Yue's defensive position. He wants to open a breakthrough from our side. He ordered everyone to attack with all their might. We are now evenly matched with Han Dang's forces. It's not certain who will win."
Someone questioned, "General, wouldn't it be too disadvantageous to launch a proactive attack? Should we retreat half a mile to establish a defensive position and wait for their attack?"
Shen Yi shook his head and said, "What you said makes sense, but it won't work. Who knows if Han Dang's attack is just a smokescreen? What if he's just feinting and then uses the time while we're setting up our positions to attack Hao Yu's side?"
"Hao Yu is already on his way, and his forces are too small. If he encounters Han Dang, he may not be a match for Han Dang. Therefore, we must keep Han Dang occupied and not give him a chance to break out from Hao Yu's side. Hao Yu is a detachment and cannot be used as the main force."
Generals know that they should prioritize attacking the enemy's weak points to create a breakthrough, and they also know that they should protect their own weak points to prevent the enemy from taking advantage of the chaos to break through.
Hao Yu is now Shen Yi's weak point. No matter what, Shen Yi will not allow Han Dang to break through Hao Yu's direction with all his might, and decisively leads his troops to attack Han Dang.
Han Dang was also charging towards Shen Yi. The two armies rushed towards each other and soon collided. Shen Yi suddenly brandished his sword and roared at the top of his lungs, "Soldiers, charge!"