Three Kingdoms: Ten Times Speed, Diao Chan Says I'm Too Fast

Guangzong City.

The defeated cavalrymen gradually returned to the city in small groups after their defeat at Jieqiao.

After a thorough count, more than two thousand cavalrymen were found dead, missing, or never to return.

The loss was more than one-third.

However, this number is still within Lu Zhi's acceptable range.

The loss of two thousand cavalrymen did not damage the main force of the army.

Guangzong City has now been recaptured by the Han army, and Zhang Jiao's escape route has been confirmed.

Although the boundary bridge blocked their escape route to Qinghe, this also had a drawback.

There are no cities within a hundred miles of Qinghe Kingdom.

It was simply a pipe dream for Zhang Jiao to lead over 100,000 followers on foot for a single day.

As a result, Zhang Jiao was forced to continue stationing his troops in the field.

Sitting in the county government hall, Lu Zhi looked at the map in front of him, then looked up at his deputy general beside him and said:

"Order the soldiers in the city to rest. Tomorrow morning, leave two thousand soldiers to guard Guangzong City, and the rest of the army will head towards Qinghe Kingdom."

Having not slept all night and having suffered another defeat, Lu Zhi went to rest in the inner quarters after issuing the order.

............

Night is approaching.

Lu Zhi, who had just woken up, was walking from the backyard to the front hall, rubbing his forehead slightly.

Outside the county government building, bursts of noise reached Lu Zhi's ears.

While rubbing his forehead, Lu Zhi looked up towards the direction outside the county government building.

As Lu Zhi walked to the front of the main hall, he frowned and asked the guard standing to the side, "What's going on? What are the soldiers outside making a fuss about?"

The guard, unaware of the situation, shook his head.

Lu Zhi, who was about to enter the main hall, stopped and walked towards the outside of the county government building.

The further you go, the louder the noise from outside becomes.

"What's going on?" Lu Zhi asked the guard captain in front of the mansion gate.

The captain of the personal guard stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Reporting to the general, some soldiers have reported that all the wells in the city have been blocked. Only a few wells have not been blocked, and some soldiers have quarreled over how to draw water for cooking."

Is the well blocked?

Lu Zhi was slightly taken aback.

"How was it sealed off?"

Lu Zhi frowned and said, "Why not open it?"

The captain of the personal guard immediately shook his head and said, "I just went to check, and stones have been thrown into those blocked wells, so no water can be drawn from them anymore."

"To fetch water, we need to move all those stones out, which is time-consuming and laborious."

"They must have blocked the well when they retreated, probably trying to delay and waste our time."

Lu Zhi took a deep breath and nodded.

It seems that's how it should be.

Judging from the battle at Jieqiao in the early morning, these Yellow Turban rebels clearly had made some prior preparations.

"Go, order the deputy commanders of each battalion to bring him here for a political discussion. Also, send some people to maintain order, and organize some others to see if we can open the well."

"Don't let this cause soldiers to fight each other."

Lu Zhi waved his hand.

The captain of the personal guard immediately went to convey the order.

Before long, all the deputy generals and captains from various armies gathered in the main hall of the county government.

Sitting in the main hall, Lu Zhi began to arrange the pursuit mission for the next morning.

.............

Inside Guangzong City.

The struggle for water continued from the start of cooking dinner until dark.

Guangzong City originally had a population of 30,000 to 40,000.

They usually rely on wells for drinking water.

Basically, there is one well for every ten households.

Moreover, powerful families and aristocratic households often have multiple wells within their own households.

At first, the soldiers entering the city did not notice anything amiss.

It wasn't until tens of thousands of troops had entered the city, and when they started preparing to cook and fetch water at night, that the soldiers discovered it.

Most of the wells in the city have been filled with stones.

There were originally about a thousand wells in the city.

But now only a few dozen remain.

Tens of thousands of people need water and food.

This led to armed conflicts over water resources.

At this time, the 40,000 troops in the city did not come from one place. Some were recruited from Hanoi, some were from the five schools of the Northern Army in Luoyang, and some were from the county soldiers in Guanzhong.

In the struggle, neither side would give way.

This situation continued until it finally quieted down as it was getting dark.

As night fell, most of the soldiers chose to sleep fully clothed in the nearby civilian houses where they were stationed.

The people in Guangzong City had already been coerced into becoming Yellow Turbans when the Yellow Turban army entered the city.

All the houses in the city were empty and deserted.

But in the corners of the city overlooked by the Han army, figures dressed in black, hidden in various corners of the city, quietly began to move after nightfall.

After nightfall, all was quiet.

The Han soldiers guarding the city also leaned against the battlements and began to close their eyes and rest.

The city walls are not the same as the large camp outside the city.

The Yellow Turban rebels had already fled, and no one thought they would dare to return and attack Guangzong City, which had tens of thousands of Han soldiers.

Unless Zhang Jiao has gone mad, or the Yellow Turban rebels are all desperate.

Once the tension of the soldiers stationed in the outer camp surrounding Guangzong City was relieved, the fatigue of the past few days washed over them, and the soldiers stationed in the city slept even more soundly.

Suddenly, a terrified scream shattered the tranquility of the night.

On the eastern city wall, a soldier who had been resting against the battlements got up and was about to urinate down below when a pungent, burnt smell entered his nostrils.

The soldier rubbed his sleepy eyes and glanced down at the city walls.

Crimson flames danced below the city.

The soldiers initially thought someone had started a fire.

However, the flames spread at an extremely fast speed.

When the dark figure who lit the fire quickly disappeared into the alley between the houses, the soldiers on the city wall were first stunned, and then shouted in panic.

"Go away!"

"Go away!"

"Someone set fire!"

"Someone set fire!"

Panic-stricken cries instantly echoed through the night sky.

At the same time, fires broke out simultaneously in the west, south, and north of the city.

The fire spread extremely quickly, both in terms of the speed at which the flames and the intensity of the fire.

In the blink of an eye, the fire engulfed all the city gates of Guangzong City.

The logs that had been placed below the city were instantly set ablaze.

Moreover, countless fires broke out within Guangzong City.

The spreading fire quickly engulfed the houses on both sides.

The roofs made of dry grass burst into flames in an instant.

...........

Inside the county government mansion.

Lu Zhi was awakened from his dream by shouts.

As soon as Lu Zhi woke up, he saw a crimson light shooting into the sky outside the window.

Before Lu Zhi could even react to what had happened...

Soldiers hurriedly broke down the door and entered the house.

"General, it's terrible! Fire! Fire!"

"A huge fire broke out in the city."

Lu Zhi, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, was startled.

Without even having time to put on clothes and shoes, he walked barefoot to the door.

Even from the county government building, Lu Zhi could see the towering flames near the city wall in the distance.

After looking around, Lu Zhi discovered that the fires were not just in one direction, but in all directions.

It's obvious that this couldn't have started spontaneously; it was clearly arson.

In an instant, two words appeared in Lu Zhi's mind.

trap!

"Quickly pass down the order to have the soldiers draw water to extinguish the fire, first put out the city gates, and then leave the city immediately!" Lu Zhi shouted.

However, the soldier replied with a distressed expression, "General, all the wells in the city are blocked. There's no water! There's no water! What should we do now, General?"

Standing in front of the door, Lu Zhi felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

The well is blocked!

No water can put out the fire!

original!

It turns out that when these Yellow Turban rebels blocked the wells during their retreat, they weren't leaving the area without water.

But...

Fear spread completely across Lu Zhi's eyes.

Even though it was only after a while, Lu Zhi realized what was happening.

trap.

This is clearly a trap.

It was a trap that had been designed in advance, just waiting for him to walk into it!

Guangzong City is a huge trap, a graveyard that was prepared for him and his 40,000-strong army long ago!

This trap was set up in advance as soon as the Yellow Turban rebels began their retreat.

"Break through, break through, get out of the city, quick, quick!"

Lu Zhi shouted loudly, "Get out of the city! Get out of the city quickly!"

............

Outside Guangzong City.

Several miles from Guangzong City, in front of the abandoned camp where Lu Zhi's army had previously been stationed.

Three people stood in the night sky.

The light of the torch he held was completely overshadowed by the burning Guangzong City in the distance.

Wearing a black robe and a tall crown, Jia Xu, with a fair complexion, had his hands tucked into his sleeves.

Beside him stood Cheng Yu, a tall man dressed in a gray robe.

Li Ru, also dressed in black robes, was playing with a jade disc in his hand.

The distant flames soaring into the sky reflected on the faces of the three people, almost illuminating the entire night sky.

Behind the three men, in the abandoned camp, were a thousand cavalrymen who were resting, dressed in yellow short tunics and disguised as Yellow Turban rebels.

The Yellow Turban rebels who escaped naturally could not return.

However, a small number of cavalrymen can still return.

This fire is enough to sentence Lu Zhi to death.

A carriage slowly came to a stop behind Jia Xu, Cheng Yu, and Li Ru.

"Gentlemen, the Lord invites you to come."

Following beside the carriage, Lu Bu, riding a jade dragon and wielding a halberd, addressed the three men.

The three people standing in a row exchanged a glance, then silently boarded the carriage.

The fire was so large that it could still be clearly seen even from the direction of Jieqiao.

Although Duan Yu was unaware of these plans from the beginning.

But someone will eventually tell Duan Yu.

.........

On the boundary bridge, Duan Yu frowned slightly as he looked at the towering flames of Guangzong City.

Liu Baitu, dressed in a black robe, knelt behind Duan Yu.

"Was this something you planned in advance?"

Duan Yu, with his back to Liu Baitu, asked.

Liu Baitu, kneeling behind Duan Yu, nodded: "Yes."

"Then why didn't you tell me beforehand?" Duan Yu frowned slightly.

Liu Baitu looked up at Duan Yu's tall and imposing back, then lowered his head and said, "Jia Xu said that Your Excellency is good in every way, but has only one weakness: your kind heart."

He said, "To achieve great things, one must be ruthless."

“If Your Majesty cannot be so ruthless and is unwilling to bear this infamy, then we, as your subjects, must help you.”

Duan Yu remained silent.

It seems that Jia Xu has deduced something.

Although he never explained to Jia Xu what he was ultimately going to do.

But given the intelligence of people like Jia Xu and Li Ru, they probably already saw through some of the signs.

Since that's the case, it's time to have a showdown.

Their current efforts are enough to prove that they will not betray us.

"Get up, go and tell the three of them to come back, and that I have something to say to them."