readytorunbook Chapter 289 Xu Sheng Walks into a Dead End
Chapter 289 Xu Sheng Walks into a Dead End
Guan Xing led his troops through the trap area, following the footprints left by Xu Sheng, and continued forward, following Xu Sheng's footprints again.
The road surface is soft after it has just rained. If you step on it with a weight of over 100 pounds, you can easily sink in and then get covered in mud.
But it was different after others had stepped on it. The soft mud was trampled to the sides of the footprints, while the middle of the footprints was relatively firm. At least it wasn't as easy to get muddy as when it was stepped on the first time. Guan Xing and his group did find it much easier to walk in the footprints.
It must be said that the path taken by predecessors is easier to walk. Thanks to Xu Sheng, the pursuit of Xu Sheng was not as difficult as Guan Xing had imagined.
After walking for several hours, Guan Xing was about to turn a corner and continue forward when Wu Jun suddenly appeared out from around the corner, appearing in front of Guan Xing without any warning.
Guan Xing was clearly taken aback when he saw Wu Jun suddenly appear, and instinctively tried to retreat and run away.
He was indeed chasing Xu Sheng, but he only wanted to entangle Xu Sheng and didn't intend to fight him to the death. Moreover, the fact that Xu Sheng turned back halfway meant that Shen Yi and Wu Yue were blocking their way.
Since that's the case, there's no need for me to fight desperately; I can just stall and wait for the main force to arrive.
So Guan Xing prepared to run without saying a word, but when he turned around, he was surprised to find that Wu Jun had instinctively glanced at the gap in the mountain entrance after seeing him.
I'm standing right in front of you, why aren't you looking at me but at the mountain?
In a flash, Guan Xingmeng realized that Xu Sheng's target was not him, but the gap in the mountain entrance; he wanted to escape into Wuyi Mountain.
After visually estimating the distance between the two sides and the gap, Guan Xing pulled Xia Tian, the garrison commander closest to him, and said, "Take your men and rush into the gap before Wu Jun. Once you're in the mountains, don't fight Wu Jun to the death. Send someone to find Wang Tao, who is stationed in the mountains, and have him lead his troops to block the road and stop Xu Sheng."
“Wang Tao is familiar with the mountain terrain and will be able to seize the crossroads and intercept Wu Jun before Xu Sheng. Tell Wang Tao to light the three beacon fires after blocking Xu Sheng to provide a position. The rest of you, follow me and charge to cover Xia Tian.”
After saying that, he drew his bow and charged forward at lightning speed, ready to fight Wu's army to the death.
The Han army was less than 100 meters from the breach, so they arrived at the breach before the Wu army. However, the Wu army was also rushing to this side, which meant that when Guan Xing arrived at the breach, the distance between the two sides had shrunk to less than 100 meters. Then, the two sides exchanged a barrage of arrows.
The Han army was only providing cover and did not intend to fight to the death. Therefore, when they fired arrows, the swordsmen and shieldmen instinctively raised their shields, protecting the archers and themselves under the shields.
Wu Jun did the same thing, resulting in relatively few casualties on both sides.
To put it bluntly, bows and arrows only serve to intimidate the enemy and disrupt their formation; to truly kill the enemy, one must engage in close combat and fight to the death.
After Wu Jun finished shooting his arrows, he threw away his bows and crossbows and charged forward with his sword. Guan Xing, however, had no intention of fighting them to the death. Seeing that Xia Tian had taken advantage of the gap in the exchange of fire between the two armies to enter the mountains, he decisively ordered, "Retreat. Those who haven't entered the mountains, don't go in."
Time was too short; of the nearly one hundred men under Xia Tian's command, less than twenty managed to enter. However, this was enough to inform Wang Tao, so Guan Xing chose to retreat without hesitation.
Xu Sheng was unwilling to let Guan Xing leave so easily and led his troops in a desperate pursuit. However, as anyone who has fought in battle knows, it is impossible to annihilate the enemy if there are no friendly troops blocking the way behind them. In addition, the roads were muddy and it was difficult to even stand. Many times, when he swung his long sword, he would stumble before hitting the enemy. Therefore, he could not achieve much success.
The two sides chased each other for about 300 meters. Ding Feng grabbed Xu Sheng, who was in a frenzy, and said, "Stop chasing. Brothers, we need to save our energy for climbing the mountain. Besides, Han reinforcements may arrive at any time. Continuing to chase will not do us any good."
The main force of the Han army led by Guan Xing may be far away from them, but the Han army besieging Han Dang in the mountains can arrive in no time. If they overshoot Guan Xing, and the Han army in the mountains catches up from behind to seize the gap, wouldn't they have wasted their efforts?
Xu Sheng said helplessly, "You go into the mountains, I'll cover your retreat."
Ding Feng knew this was not the time to be sentimental, so he did not hesitate to lead his army into the mountains and leave. Xu Sheng, on the other hand, led his personal guards and stared intently at Guan Xing, his eyes filled with a fierce hatred that wished he could tear Guan Xing apart.
Seeing this, Guan Xing did not retreat. Instead, he stood 300 meters away with his arms crossed and calmly watched Wu Jun enter the mountain. 300 meters was a safe distance. If Xu Sheng attacked, he could easily run away, so there was no need to worry. He could leisurely watch the show.
But just standing there and looking at it seemed like something was missing. After thinking for a moment, Guan Xing couldn't help but shout, "Brothers of Wu army in front, General Han Dang has already died in battle, what are you still struggling for? Surrender quickly, the King of Hanzhong is always benevolent and will not make things difficult for you."
Fearing that Wu Jun might not hear him, he had the army behind him repeat the message in unison. The combined voices of thousands of people clearly conveyed the message to every soldier in Wu Jun's army.
Hearing the shout, Xu Sheng's heart skipped a beat, and he couldn't help but shout in his heart, "Han Dang is dead? How is that possible? How dare you Han soldiers kill him? He was a man who drank wine with the King of Hanzhong and called him brother!"
After Xu Sheng left Yushan, he never received any news from Han Dang again. Although he guessed that Han Dang was probably in grave danger, he never dreamed that Han Dang would die.
Han Dang's death has really put me in a lot of trouble. I'll owe him a huge favor. That damned Guan Xing, how am I ever going to repay such a huge debt of gratitude?
"General Han is dead? How could that be?"
The shock felt by Wu Jun behind him was no less than that of Xu Sheng. Upon hearing this, their heads were spinning and they unconsciously uttered soul-searching questions.
Xu Sheng's face changed drastically at their questioning. He keenly realized the fatal blow Han Dang's death would deal to their morale. Without thinking any further, he hurriedly turned around and scolded, "Don't listen to Guan Xing's nonsense. General Han has even beaten Dong Zhuo. What storms hasn't he weathered? How could he possibly capsize in a ditch? This must be Guan Xing's fabrication to undermine us. If you don't believe me, have him bring General Han's body here for us to see."
The soldiers thought it made sense. How could General Han, who could reach for the moon in the sky and catch turtles in the deep sea, be so easily killed by his grandson Guan Xing?
With this in mind, Wu Jun quickly regained his composure.
Seeing that no one believed him when he told the truth, Guan Xing became too lazy to bother and simply stood there watching the show.
Meanwhile, after Xia Tian led his troops into the breach, he did not dare to delay and quickly moved along the valley, shouting as he ran: "General Wang Tao, is General Wang Tao here? General Guan has new orders for you."
In the days before radio, communication relied solely on shouting. In the summer, with no one knowing where Wang Tao had set up defenses, people could only run and shout, hoping to stumble upon a sentry post left by Wang Tao somewhere.
As the saying goes, perseverance pays off. After running along the mountain road for less than twenty miles, they saw a cluster of fires.
It was already dark, and the firelight was particularly bright. No one except sentries would spend the night in the deep mountains and forests in the middle of the night, so Xia Tian walked towards the firelight without hesitation, shouting to identify himself as he ran.
The shouts startled the soldiers at the outpost, and dozens of them suddenly rushed out and shouted at Xia Tian, "Hey, we're from General Wang Tao's reconnaissance team. Which general are you under?"
Xia Tian ran up to them, and upon seeing their attire, exclaimed with delight, "It's so good to meet you! I am Xia Tian, a garrison commander under General Zhou Shan. I was ordered by General Guan Xing to enter the mountains to find General Wang Tao. You must be able to contact General Wang, right? Quickly tell General Wang Tao that Xu Sheng has entered Wuyi Mountain. General Guan has ordered him to immediately lead his troops to block the road to prevent Xu Sheng from escaping."
The captain didn't dare to delay and immediately turned around and shouted, "Quickly send a signal to Baopingyu, we should also pack up and retreat towards Baopingyu."
After saying that, he turned back to Xia Tian and smiled, "Don't worry, there's only one road here, Baoping Valley. If Xu Sheng enters Baoping Valley, he'll be walking into a dead end."
Xia Tian ignored him completely, staring intently at the iron pot they had placed over the fire, and asked, "Are you stewing meat? Can I have some?"