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

Chapter 283 Xu Sheng Receives Han Dang's Last Words

Accompanied by thunder, raindrops the size of broad beans cascaded down, shattering into eight pieces upon hitting the ground.

Ding Feng, who was leading the people and soldiers to set up traps on the west side of the county town, decisively retreated upon seeing this and ran towards the county town as fast as he could.

The west is the direction from which Lu Xun is coming. Xu Shengding was afraid that too many traps would block Lu Xun, so he only set up a ten-mile trap, and it was dug from ten miles away towards the county town. At present, it is less than three miles away from the county town, and it has almost dug to the foot of the county town. If he wants to return to the city, he can just take a step.

Despite this, Ding Feng was still soaked to the bone when he returned to the city. He found Xu Sheng, wiped the rain off his face, and cursed, "The trap will have reached the city walls in half a day. Damn this downpour, what difference would it make if it rained half a day later?"

Ding Feng's mission was to deliver supplies to Xu Sheng, then retreat into the mountains to provide cover for Xu Sheng, while guarding the mountain passes to prevent the Han army from infiltrating.

However, after meeting up with Xu Sheng, Ding Feng was conscripted by Xu Sheng. Xu Sheng felt that it would take some time for the Han army to arrive, so he asked Ding Feng to help set up traps and that it would be better to retreat into the mountains after the defenses were completed.

Little did Han Dang know that this move would backfire, as Wu Yue slipped past right under his nose.

Xu Sheng looked at Ding Feng, who was soaking wet, and said, "The existing traps are enough. Ten miles to the west and twenty miles to the east, these traps are enough to delay the Han army for one or two days. It's just strange that I can understand why the Han army hasn't arrived at the Great Mo location yet, but why hasn't the Han army that set up the traps arrived at the corridor?"

"You said that when you were flanking, you saw the Han army left behind at Yushan fleeing in that direction. Logically speaking, the Han army in the corridor should have already received news of the fall of Yushan. Why weren't they launching a counterattack?"

Upon hearing this, Ding Feng also sensed something was amiss. He frowned and pondered, "I'm sure the Han army in the corridor has received the news. The fact that they haven't counterattacked only means that the Han army in the corridor doesn't take us seriously and thinks that the Han army in Da Mo alone is enough to deal with us."

Xu Sheng pondered, "There is another possibility: the Han army commander saw through my intentions and decided to block Grand Commander Lu before attacking us. As long as he blocks Grand Commander Lu halfway, our intention to attack them together with Grand Commander Lu will not be able to be fulfilled, and we may even be entangled and worn down by the Han army that came from Damo."

To put it bluntly, Xu Sheng's role was simply to block the road and prevent the Han army from escaping; the task of annihilating the Han army needed to be accomplished by the main force led by Lu Xun.

However, if the Han army in the corridor does not attack Yushan but continues to set up traps and seeks favorable terrain to ambush Lu Xun, and wastes time with Lu Xun, Xu Sheng will be in trouble.

After all, their supplies were limited and they could not fight for long. If the Han army arrived and surrounded Yushan, and Lu Xun was unable to break through the Han army's blockade to come to the rescue, Xu Sheng would be finished.

Actually, there is another way, which is to immediately rush out of Yushan to attack the rear of the Han army in the corridor. However, the Han army in the corridor also has tens of thousands of men, and it is entirely possible to send two or three thousand men to block them while waiting for reinforcements from the direction of Damo.

In that case, he would be caught in a pincer attack by two Han armies, and without city defenses, he would probably die even faster.

Thinking about this, Xu Sheng suddenly regretted his intervention. He realized that his intervention in Yushan might have been impulsive.

But it was too late for regrets now. Xu Sheng pondered, "We just received news that Guan Xing has set up camp at the edge of the trap. Since Guan Xing has arrived, the Han army's infiltration force should be here soon. Why don't you proceed with the plan and go into the mountains to ambush them?"

Logically, Guan Xing and Wu Yue's infiltration troops should have arrived at the same time, and since the infiltration troops traveled slower along the mountain roads, they should have lagged behind Guan Xing.

However, Xu Sheng was unaware that Wu Yue had already led his troops into the mountains to seize various crossroads before Xu Sheng's infiltration. In other words, Wu Yue's army had long been distributed in the mountains. After receiving Guan Xing's order, Wu Yue went into the mountains alone to reach the front line and led the front-line soldiers to carry out the infiltration mission.

In this way, the Han army traveled dozens or even hundreds of miles less than Xu Sheng had anticipated, making it very reasonable for them to slip past Guan Xing before he arrived.

Although Ding Feng didn't know that going into the mountains now was a waste of time, he still reluctantly grinned and said, "General, it's raining outside."

Even if it rains, he doesn't want to go. The mountain roads are all muddy from the rain. If you step in, you won't be able to pull your foot out for a long time. Only a fool would want to go into the mountains in this situation. Isn't it better to stay in the city?

Xu Sheng knew it was a bit unfair to make Ding Feng go forward in the rain, so he chuckled and said, "Then let's go after the rain stops. Cheng Yuan (Ding Feng's courtesy name), you should know that harsh environments are often the key to victory, because the harsher the environment, the more difficulties it can create for the enemy or make them lazy. In such times, the diligent will win and the lazy will die."

Ding Fengye, a veteran, agreed with his statement and said with a bitter smile, "I'll go prepare. We'll go into the mountains as soon as the rain stops."

After saying that, he turned to leave, when a soldier rushed in and shouted urgently, "Generals, General Han's personal guards have arrived. They say there is urgent military information and they must see you immediately."

Xu Sheng's expression changed slightly, and he quickly shouted, "Bring him in quickly."

Ding Feng then stepped back to his original position.

Soon, five soldiers, battered and drenched in sweat, were brought inside. Their pitiful state made Xu Sheng's heart sink, and he quickly asked, "What happened? Has General Han been ambushed?"

Wu Jun had a unit called "wu" (伍), with five men forming a wu and a wu leader. Among the five personal guards who joined, there was one wu leader.

Upon hearing Xu Sheng's inquiry, the sergeant said with a gloomy face, "Reporting to the general, upon receiving news of your infiltration of Yushan, my general was ordered by the Grand Commander to come to your aid. However, the road was full of traps, and we couldn't get through even after a whole day. We had no choice but to go into the mountains at night, but we were ambushed by the Han army. My young master (Han Zong) died in battle while covering the retreat of the old general, and all five hundred of my Han family's personal guards were wiped out."

"The old general used the time bought by the young lord and his troops to return by the original route, but was ambushed by the Han army and forced to retreat north. Unexpectedly, the Han army blocked the way again. Now my old general is surrounded by the Han army. The army is hungry and tired, and I am afraid that the outcome is more likely to be bad."

The sergeant was seething with anger, so even though he knew he was facing the formidable general Xu Sheng, his tone remained rather impolite.

That damned Xu Sheng! He killed the young master who treated me like a brother, along with five hundred brothers who were like brothers to me, and even the old general might have been killed...

My Han family was almost wiped out because of you, do you expect me to be polite to you?

If I could beat you, I would definitely go up and slap you twice.

"What? The old general has been ambushed by the Han army?"

Xu Sheng was stunned by the devastating news, his ears ringing instantly. He asked incredulously, "How is this possible? How could the old general have done this?"

Xu Sheng's legs began to tremble. He knew he was doomed; he had completely offended Han Dang.

With his entire troop wiped out and his eldest son killed in action, it was obvious how furious Han Dang was. He knew he would be skinned alive by Han Dang when he returned.

It should be noted that Han Dang was one of the few remaining veterans from Sun Jian's time, and his status was much higher than Xu Sheng's. In front of Han Dang, Xu Sheng was just a new recruit.

Xu Sheng bit his tongue to force himself to stay awake, ran to the map and asked, "Help me see where the old general is surrounded, we need to go rescue him now."

Without moving, the sergeant said bluntly, "No need to look there, there's no way out. The old general is completely surrounded. There's no way out except for a frontal attack to break through. But given the army's morale at the time, the chances of a successful breakout are extremely slim."

"There's no need for rescue. The battlefield is more than fifty miles from the county town. By the time you get there, the battle will be over. The old general told me to tell you that you must break out immediately upon receiving this message. This is your last chance to escape. Once the Han army that was blocking us returns, and the Da Mo Han army arrives to attack from both sides, you will have no hope of escaping."

"General Xu, my old general is surrounded on all sides but he is still trying to send a message to remind you. You must not let him down."

"Also, my old general said that you, Xu Sheng, owe him a life. You should think about what to do."