My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 821 Guan Yu Chases Sun Quan for Hundred Miles

"Report! General Cheng! It's bad. Liu Bei's army attacked Chenguanxing at night. They are probably on top of the city wall by now!"

While Gao Shun was engaged in a bloody battle with the defenders of Chenguanxing, in the Dongyuan County behind Chenguanxing, around the end of the fourth watch, the old general Cheng Pu was awakened from his sleep by an urgent scout.

"What? Aren't Liu Bei's troops in Henei attacking Shangdang and in a stalemate with General Xiahou? How come they suddenly arrived in Hedong overnight?" Cheng Pu was shocked and quickly ordered his troops to be armed and mobilized to reinforce Chenguanxing.

It turned out that when Guan Yu came to attack Hedong County this time, it was Sun Quan, Cheng Pu and others who helped Cao Cao defend Hedong County.

Over the years, Cheng Pu spent most of his time with Sun Quan. When Sun Quan was transferred back to Luoyang by Cao Cao, Cheng Pu did not go directly to Luoyang, but went to Hulao Pass to help Cao Zhen guard it for a while.

But later, Sun Quan was accidentally involved in a regicide case. His navy warships that intercepted the emperor's carriage overturned Liu Xie's boat, causing Liu Xie to drown. After this incident, Sun Quan felt scared and worried about being retaliated, so he asked Cao Cao to transfer Cheng Pu back.

Cao Cao also knew that his son-in-law had taken the blame for him. Moreover, Cao Cao had already made up his mind to become emperor, so he would naturally grant his son-in-law's request. Therefore, when Hulao Pass was breached by Zhou Yu and Zhang Fei and Cao Zhen died in battle, Cheng Pu was not buried with him.

Zhou Yu was relieved by this result. After all, he had a friendship with Sun Quan and Cheng Pu, and Zhou Yu really didn't want to fight Cheng Pu on the battlefield. Even if Cheng Pu was inevitably defeated or injured in the end, Zhou Yu didn't want to be the one to do it, and it would be best if he could turn a blind eye.

After Cao Cao lost the Heluo Basin, he only had three territories left: Guanzhong Yongliang, Hedong, and Bingzhou.

Cao Pi was in Guanzhong, and Cao Cao and his son Cao Zhang were personally guarding the gateways to Guanzhong, namely, Qiaohan and Tongguan. Xiahou Dun was in Bingzhou.

Considering that Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Cao Zhen and others were all dead, Cao Cao had very few close relatives to use, so Sun Quan, the eldest son-in-law, was considered a staunch supporter of the Cao family.

In addition, Cao Cao took into consideration that Sun Quan was closely related to the death of the previous emperor, so it was impossible for Sun Quan to surrender to Liu Bei in a critical moment. Even if he went to Liu Bei, Liu Bei would have to kill him.

After all, Liu Bei inherited the throne from Liu Xie, and Liu Xie's death was caused by Sun Quan. No one in the world would care whether it was a deliberate murder or an accidental traffic accident.

Liu Bei would be very happy to use Sun Quan's head to prove his loyalty to the late emperor.

Since Sun Quan had no other choice, Cao Cao could rest assured that he would be able to take charge of the situation. When Cao's own people were insufficient, Sun Quan was in charge of Hedong County, which was not large but absolutely a key area.

After all, Sun Quan was in charge of an entire county, so he certainly couldn't go to the front line in person, so he was stationed in Anyi, the capital of Hedong County. That place was also the capital of Wei State in the early Warring States Period and was very important.

Cheng Pu was deployed in Dongyuan County on the front line - it was not that Cheng Pu was lazy, or that Sun Quan was rash and did not let the veteran go to the front line in person.

The main reason was that Hedong County was a large county and there were too many places that needed to be guarded against. Cheng Pu was the only senior general in the county's garrison and had to help Sun Quan coordinate the overall situation. Sun Quan was not very good at military affairs.

Cheng Pu stayed in Dongyuan to take care of other places in time. Before the war, who could have thought that such an unexpected crisis would occur in Chenguanxing? In the eyes of Sun Quan and Cheng Pu, no matter what happened in Chenguanxing, it would definitely be in time to send reinforcements from Dongyuan.

Until this moment, Cheng Pu still felt that he had a chance to make amends.

That's why he hurriedly brought three or four thousand reinforcements and headed straight for the checkpoint.

……

It took more than half an hour for the scouts at Chenguanxing to notify Cheng Pu. Taking into account Cheng Pu's emergency reinforcement, when Cheng Pu's cavalry arrived at the battlefield, two hours had passed since Gao Shun launched the attack.

Some of Cheng Pu's rear infantry reinforcements had not yet arrived at the battlefield. If they wanted to wait for them to arrive, it would take at least another hour.

But after Cheng Pu breathlessly observed the situation on the battlefield, he immediately made a judgment. He did not dare to wait for the infantry to arrive and directly launched an attack with the cavalry.

Because he found that the enemy troops who came to attack the pass had already firmly established their foothold on the wall and seemed to have even taken control of the city wall!
In fact, at this moment, Gao Shun had already repelled several counterattacks by Cao's defenders. He was just unable to control the entire section of the wall and completely drive Cao's army back because of insufficient troops and too few people.

But this was enough for Gao Shun, because it would not be long before Guan Yu's main force arrived. Gao Shun occupied the tower and waited until Guan Yu arrived, and the subsequent battles were left to Guan Yu himself.

Gao Shun vaguely remembered that he had done this kind of thing nineteen years ago - at that time, Lü Bu and Liu Bei were still enemies, and he was still under Lü Bu. At that time, Zhang Fei was stationed in Xiapi, but Cao Bao, the leader of the Danyang soldiers in Xiapi, rebelled. Although Zhang Fei killed Cao Bao, the remaining Danyang soldiers were terrified and fought to the death, and they held the White Gate Tower until Lü Bu and Gao Shun arrived.

That time, Gao Shun did not carry any siege weapons, but it did not matter. As long as the White Gate Tower was in the hands of the Danyang soldiers and they were willing to open the gate and let people in, Lu Bu and Gao Shun would definitely win the Battle of Xia Pi.

Today's battle, at this moment, is just like that moment, except that it is Gao Shun's turn to play the role of defending the "White Gate Tower" and waiting for reinforcements.

"Brothers, work harder! Our rear troops will be here soon! Once General Guan arrives, what will these chickens and dogs mean to us?"

"Oh? The flag with the word Cheng on it is a pretty big general. Could it be old Cheng Pu? It's a good opportunity to show him how powerful our trap camp is! Brothers, hold the tower!"

Gao Shun shouted loudly, and of his 1,000 vanguard troops, only 500 to 600 were still able to move and continue fighting. The rest of the survivors, even if they were not seriously injured, were slightly injured and extremely exhausted, and could only take turns to rest and recuperate in the city tower.

But Gao Shun was not afraid at all. Even if he only relied on five or six hundred people, it would be more than enough to hold out for half an incense stick of time.

He is now in the advantageous position! Can't he defend a city tower with 600 elite soldiers from the Xianzhen Camp?

Cheng Pu on the opposite side quickly led his troops to charge forward, regardless of his fatigue from the long journey.

Gao Shun also personally led his troops to block several stairways on the wall. The two sides fought desperately, leaving no room for maneuver. Every move was life-threatening and every gun was aimed at the vital points, and the fierce battle was so intense that the blood boiled.

After all, Cheng Pu was old. He was the oldest among the Jiangdong generals, even older than Sun Jian. Now he was unable to lead the troops to fight in person.

Originally in history, Cheng Pu lived to the 20th year of Jian'an, and died of old age due to illness. The first year of Zhangwu in this life is equivalent to the 19th year of Jian'an in the previous life. In other words, if Cheng Pu's life span had not been changed by the butterfly effect, he would have only one year left to live.

Cheng Pu, who was already in his sixties, had just traveled such a long distance and led his troops to fight for a while, so he was a little hoarse and out of breath. He also saw Gao Shun's flag clearly and was quite horrified:

It turned out that Gao Shun had brought the Xianzhen Camp to sneak into the Chenguan Pass! No wonder the attack was so swift and fierce, and they rushed to the wall in such a short time.

Cheng Pu was shocked and lost his confidence. In addition, due to his old age, as the fight went on, he felt a sense of sadness as if the sun was setting.

He fought desperately several times but failed to reach the city wall. Gao Shun's defense was always as solid as a rock.

The two sides fought fiercely for only half a minute, and a new round of shouting and killing in the distance was getting closer and closer. The morale of the trap camp on the top of the city was also boosted: "General Guan is here! General Guan is here personally with the reinforcements! Open the gate!"

Gao Shun, who controlled the city wall, ordered his men to struggle to open the gate. Then he saw Guan Yu's first batch of vanguard cavalry, about several hundred cavalry, pouring directly into the gate.

"Guan Yu!" Cheng Pu saw Guan Yu's big flag and his iconic red face and long beard from afar, and his heart immediately died of despair.

The soldiers around Cheng Pu who had been fighting back and forth with Gao Shun became disheartened when they saw Guan Yu's flag and the momentum of the cavalry. They did not dare to resist at all and subconsciously dodged to the sides like waves breaking.

Guan Yu's cavalry charged straight towards Cheng Pu's flag formation, and Cheng Pu could only grit his teeth and hold his spear to resist.

"Dang!" There was a loud sound. When the sword and the gun collided, Cheng Pu tried his best to block the sword and avoided being killed directly.

However, he was already old and blood-weakened, and was completely suffocated by the pressure. He held his breath too hard and his vision went black, and a blood vessel burst.

He had a really rough life, and in the end, due to old age and high blood pressure, he lost his reputation.

Guan Yu originally respected his opponent very much. He knew that he was facing Cheng Pu, so he attacked with all his might.

When Guan Yu saw that Cheng Pu was able to block his first full-strength sword attack, a hint of appreciation and excitement flashed in his eyes.

However, he did not expect that this battle would end so anticlimactically. The opponent blocked the first knife, but he himself fell down with blood gushing out of his mouth and nose.

Guan Yu was so arrogant that he certainly didn't bother to kill the unconscious enemy general. He shouted loudly, swung his Qinglong sword, and ordered his men to charge forward. At the same time, he shouted in unison to force the enemy to surrender: "Cheng Pu has been captured! Those who surrender will not be killed!"

After a charge, only a few hundred enemy soldiers under Cheng Pu were killed or wounded. The remaining 2,000 soldiers and the 2,000 soldiers on the Chenguan Pass, a total of more than 4,000 people, were forced to surrender by Guan Yu's shout.

Cao's soldiers were dejected, dropped their weapons and armor, lined up to surrender, and were tied up.

Just two cups of tea after Guan Yu arrived at the battlefield, the battle was over and Chenguan Pass was completely captured.

Guan Yu did not bring a doctor with him, so he had to randomly find a few personal soldiers who knew a little about first aid. They lifted the tied-up Cheng Pu onto a door panel and then briefly examined him.

"General, this Cheng Pu must be old and blood-depleted. He used too much force just now, and his blood vessels burst. This person should be no threat at all. Even if he doesn't die, the burst blood vessels will most likely leave symptoms of paralysis in the hands and feet."

For older people whose blood vessels burst, even if the burst is not near the heart, brain or other vital organs, but instead bursts other less important blood vessels, it is normal to suffer from hemiplegia of part of the limbs.

Guan Yu didn't know that according to historical records, Cheng Pu only had one year left to live. Seeing how pitiful he was, he didn't bother to make things difficult for him anymore and just had him sent back to recuperate.

"You are so old, why not recognize the situation and submit to the court a year or two earlier? Why did you have to ruin your reputation in your old age? Sigh."

Guan Yu couldn't help but sigh, as he also thought that he was no longer young.

My eldest brother is already 54 years old, I am 53 years old, and my third brother is also 50 years old. Fortunately, the war to unify the world will soon be over, at most there will be one or two years left, and I can still fight.

In the future, after the unification is completed, if after several years of recuperation, the eldest brother still wants to send people to conquer the four barbarians, it is better to let the younger generation of generals worry about it. They will stay in the center and command the troops in the capital.

Guan Yu, who had always been arrogant, after seeing Cheng Pu's lesson, actually had the idea of retreating while the situation was at its peak and stopping when his reputation remained at its peak.

……

After Guan Yu captured Cheng Pu, Cao's army in Chenguanxing and Dongyuan County naturally collapsed completely.

Guan Yu quickly took control of the Chenguan Pass, and his cavalry continued to pursue to Dongyuan County, but the county town was unable to organize any resistance.

When the military commander guarding the city saw that General Cheng's flags had been captured by the enemy and General Cheng himself was carried on a stretcher by Guan Yu and displayed in front of the city gate, the more than a thousand remaining soldiers in Dongyuan County were immediately defeated and opened the door without hesitation to let Guan Yu in.

Guan Yu rested for a day in Dongyuan, and the next day he continued to send out cavalry to attack and capture various counties in Hedong.

Gao Shun felt that the army was exhausted after days of marching, and wanted to persuade Guan Yu to be cautious.

Guan Yu said, "Zhongda, you should have a good rest. Your Xianzhen Camp captured the Chenguan Pass, which was the first achievement in pacifying Hedong! When I return, I will definitely ask His Majesty to promote you to a higher rank of general. Although I led troops to conquer various counties, it was just a battle of convenience. No matter how many counties we captured, it could not compare to your achievement of breaking through the pass in one night!"

Guan Yu spoke very sincerely. Firstly, he didn't need to take credit for himself, and secondly, it was the truth.

The key to pacifying Hedong was to launch a surprise attack and break through the Chenguan Pass as soon as possible. The rest was a simple task of advancing quickly within the basin.

Gao Shun advised again: "But judging from the general's intention, it seems that he wants to let the cavalry go ahead alone to seize, divide, surround, and persuade the counties to surrender.

If we go too far in this isolated way, will the enemy take advantage of us? Cavalry cannot attack a city. If we get behind the enemy lines and the enemy refuses to surrender, we may run the risk of being cut off from food supplies and roads. I know the general wants to encircle Sun Quan and not give him time to break out of Anyi County... but it's a bit risky after all."

Gao Shun's words came from the bottom of his heart. He felt that there was no need to steal the credit at this time. As for Sun Quan, it didn't matter whether he was killed or captured. The advantage was already so great that it was enough to ensure that Xiahou Dun's retreat was cut off. What was Sun Quan?
Gao Shun was calculating military costs, and his calculation was absolutely correct: Would a man like Sun Quan, even if he returned alive, increase the combat effectiveness of Cao Cao's camp? No, from a military perspective, there was no difference at all whether Sun Quan was there or not.

As for Cheng Pu, capturing Cheng Pu in today's battle is a considerable gain. For Cao Cao's camp, which is already lacking in generals, it is adding insult to injury.

But Guan Yu obviously would not just consider military matters like Gao Shun did.

He said proudly: "Zhongda, I also know that you look down on Sun Quan and think it is not worth wasting energy and risking for a waste like Sun Quan. But your majesty said that Sun Quan was the direct planner of the murder of the late emperor. If we can kill this beast, how can we let him go?

Zhongda doesn't know one thing. Hedong is Guan's hometown. If Guan returns to his hometown and raises his arms to call for help, many people will respond. Even if I only lead cavalry to penetrate the enemy's rear and have no siege capability, I believe that many counties will surrender without a fight. Even if Sun Quan sees the opportunity quickly and wants to run away immediately, as long as the people's support is with me, he can't run fast and will be constrained everywhere. How can I be willing to give it a try?"

After hearing what he said, Gao Shun stopped trying to persuade him.

After resting for only one day in Dongyuan to replenish his energy, Guan Yu personally led the cavalry westward to the Weishui River basin.

The Weishui River is the most important river in Hedong County, and eventually flows into the Yellow River at the famous ferry crossing Pubanjin.

The place of Pubanjin is also the throat and key point for crossing the Yellow River from Hedong into Guanzhong.

There are three county towns along the banks of the Wei River, namely Anyi County, the seat of Hedong County and the earliest capital of the Wei State during the Warring States Period.

In addition to Anyi, there is Yi County on the south bank of the downstream Weishui River, and Jie County on the north bank of the downstream - and Guan Yu himself is from Jie County, Hedong.

In other words, Guan Yu's hometown was right where Sun Quan was blocking his way in Anyi, on his way back to Guanzhong by crossing the Yellow River along the Weishui River at Pubanjin.

Therefore, after Guan Yu entered the Hedong Basin, his goal was very clear: he was too lazy to even besiege or seize Anyi City, and went straight downstream along the Huai River to take Pubanjin Pass and beat the dog first.

After Pubanjin was captured, none of Cao’s civil and military officers in the entire Hedong Basin could return to Chang’an!
Even the defenders of Hedong could not return to Guanzhong, let alone the defenders of Bingzhou.

What Guan Yu was pursuing was to kill nearly half of Cao Cao's armed forces in one battle, completely cut off from Cao Cao's direct jurisdiction, and then use Liu Bei's already extremely obvious strategic advantage to force the enemy to surrender.

Sun Quan, who was in Anyi County, soon received the news that Chenguanxing and Dongyuan County had been broken and that General Cheng Pu had been captured by Guan Yu after a fierce battle.

"General Sun! Something terrible has happened! General Cheng was captured by Guan Yu in Dongyuan. I heard that Guan Yu's army is heading towards Anyi!"

When Sun Quan received the bad news, he was so shocked that he was speechless.

"What? This is impossible! General Cheng has been with me for many years, assisting our Sun family and fighting for three generations. How could he be so vulnerable?"

"General, now is not the time to talk about this. Let's think about countermeasures first and think about what our army should do!" His staff and the last of his generals were also extremely anxious.

"Young Master, let's break out! I am willing to lead the troops to escort you back to Pubanjin first, and then wait and see!"

The person who said this was Ling Tong, the last personal guard of Sun Quan. Ling Tong's father, Ling Cao, was killed by Lu Yi's navy when he was fighting against Wang Lang and Lu Yi in Minzhong. Therefore, Ling Tong had a deep hatred for Liu Bei's camp, and he chose to follow Sun Quan whenever he could.

What's more, he was still very young at that time, and Sun Quan had always treated him well and promoted and trained him all the way. Even if it was considered that a scholar would die for his friend, Ling Tong would have always followed him.

"But Anyi is the seat of a large county. How can I abandon it without a fight? Won't Your Majesty blame me? And if I give up so easily, what will happen to General Xiahou Dun in Bingzhou? If I want to retreat, I must hold out for a while and send someone to inform General Xiahou, okay?"

Sun Quan couldn't help but hesitate for a moment. He was also afraid that if he retreated too decisively and did not resist at all, he would be convicted in the future.

Wouldn't that be equivalent to selling out Xiahou Dun completely? Sun Quan was well aware of how important Xiahou Dun was in Cao Cao's mind.

-

PS: Originally, the battle to take Hedong County didn’t need to be written into three chapters. But in the end, I thought that Gao Shun’s Xianzhen Camp would not appear later. In addition, Sun Quan and Cheng Pu were still there, so I wrote a little more in this part to give these characters an explanation.

Sun Quan will be beheaded tomorrow, and this episode will come to an end. Everyone please be patient, as this is the last day of the Battle of Hedong.

(End of this chapter)