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

Seeing Xie Chong's determined gaze, Guan Xing smiled with satisfaction. This was the like-minded person he had been looking for.

Great undertakings are never accomplished alone; no matter how capable you are, it's all for naught without someone to assist you.

That's why he came to the prison to find teammates and create a team; now it seems he made the right choice.

Seeing that Xie Chong had beaten them to it, the prisoners, without even being stunned, bowed and said, "We are also willing to follow the young general. Please take us in."

Yan Shi patted his chest and assured him, "Young General, I was indeed a scoundrel before, but I have reformed. Please trust me this once."

Opportunities to change one's destiny are rare, and no one wants to miss out on one when it finally comes along.

Guan Xing stared at them and said firmly and unequivocally, "I will forgive your past crimes, but if you dare to commit them again, I will personally carry out the execution, understand?"

The prisoners shouted in unison, "Understood!"

Guan Xing stood up, opened the cell door, and said, "Let's go."

As they walked out of the cell with Guan Xing, feeling the long-lost warmth of the sunshine, the prisoners became so excited that they were incoherent, kneeling on the ground, wailing, shouting, and venting their frustrations, causing a chaotic scene.

Guan Xing understood that they needed to release their pent-up emotions after suppressing them for so long, so he did not rush them and waited until they had finished venting before heading to their temporary camp.

Then he ordered people to boil water for them to bathe, trim their hair and beards, and properly remove the bad luck.

Although we should not easily damage our bodies and hair, we should still trim them when necessary. Otherwise, after decades, our hair and nails will be longer than our belts. Is that acceptable?

Half an hour later, Xie Chong, having finished washing up and changed into new clothes, reappeared in front of Guan Xing. Guan Xing's eyes lit up; this old guy was quite handsome.

While tidying his new clothes, Xie Chong asked, "Young General, what do I need to do?"

Guan Xing laughed and said, "Start as a recorder. Register all the basic information, crimes and personality traits of your fellow inmates. Then arrange rooms for them to rest and assemble tomorrow morning. By the way, how many prisoners are there in total?"

Without a second thought, Xie Chong blurted out, "A total of 432 people. I will register them right away."

After seeing Xie Chong off, Guan Xing went to report to Guan Yu and also inquire about the recruitment situation.

The recruitment effort went well, with 20,000 recruits in just half a day, but that was the limit.

Jianye has a permanent population of only 300,000 to 400,000, so recruiting 20,000 would be quite good.

Wang Fu was not satisfied. While recruiting soldiers in the city, he also set up multiple recruitment points in villages outside the city, planning to recruit another 10,000 soldiers, for a total of 30,000.

With the addition of the 6,000 troops Guan Yu brought from the Dabie Mountains and the bandits Xin Fei was about to bring, the total strength was close to 50,000, which was enough to defend the city.

As for what to do if Wu's spies or Cao Wei's military envoys infiltrate, Guan Xing was not worried at all.

If a dignified Lord Guan can't even handle such a small matter, he might as well quit his job and go home to hold his grandson.

Guan Xing did not interfere with the conscription work. He took more than a thousand newly recruited soldiers and, together with prisoners, made up two thousand soldiers. Then he took them to the treasury to move equipment.

Silent all night.

At daybreak, two thousand fully armed new recruits were gathered in the courtyard.

Guan Xing, wearing bright armor, stood at the front of the group and said with a serious face: "I am Guan Xing, Guan Anguo. My mission is to go out of the city to carry out guerrilla warfare and harass the rear of the Wu army, so as to relieve the pressure on General Guan to defend the city. This mission is not only difficult but also dangerous. Anyone who is unwilling to go can step forward now, and I will not make things difficult for them."

The crowd looked at each other in silence. After a moment, someone's footsteps faltered, and they began to consider leaving.

Seeing this, Xie Chong felt obligated to help, and waved his hand, shouting, "So what if we suffer? It's not like we haven't suffered before. Let's fight Wu's army!"

Meng Jun echoed, "That's right, a man dies with his penis facing the sky, or lives forever. I'm going all out."

Upon seeing this, the prisoners shouted in unison, "We swear to follow the young general to the death! We swear to follow him to the death!"

Most of them had been unjustly imprisoned in Eastern Wu and harbored great resentment towards the Eastern Wu officialdom, which made them particularly resolute.

Few new recruits responded to the call, and few echoed the sentiment.

Guan Xing didn't reprimand them. He raised his hand to stop the prisoners from shouting and continued, "Don't rush to express your opinion. I will conduct two days of training, and we will make a decision after the training is over."

"As I said before, those who want to leave will not be forced to do anything; those who stay will be selected as captains, platoon leaders, and other junior officers based on their training performance. Now I order..."

Two days is hardly enough time to train anyone properly; at best, it's just a matter of getting everyone familiar with each other and doing a simple adjustment period.

But there's no other way; what they lack most right now is time, and they have to race against the clock.

Guan Xing led everyone in training formations, taking a two-quarter-hour break every half hour to allow them to interact and get to know each other.

He himself was also busy, actively moving through the crowd and randomly picking soldiers for one-on-one chats.

"What's your name? How many people are in your family?"

"What are your special skills and dreams? If the war is over and you have money again, what would you most like to do?"

"Tell me what's wrong with you, maybe I can give you some advice."

The vast majority of people here join the army because they are poor. They don't have big dreams; they just want to have a full meal.

Poor losers have never been treated kindly by society, and over the years they have accumulated too much bitterness and grievances.

These men could usually hold back their grievances, but when Guan Xing comforted them gently in the tone of an older brother and said things like "it's not your fault," these tough guys could no longer hold back and burst into tears.

The other soldiers who were not spoken to also had tears in their eyes, and their gazes toward Guan Xing no longer held the previous resistance and wariness.

They desperately need to be cared for and understood.

The training continued after the conversation ended, and they immediately stopped eating when it was time to eat, without wasting a moment.

Today's meal was exceptionally plentiful. Not only was there plenty of steaming white rice, but we also got to try pickled fish, something we'd never had before.

The Han Dynasty's diet was too monotonous; in winter, all they could eat was pickled vegetables. Since there was no shortage of fish in Jiangdong, Guan Xing simply combined the two and created a simple meal.

Although there was only one dish, the soldiers devoured it with tears in their eyes.

Most of the people present hadn't eaten a single white rice meal in six months, let alone pickled fish. This was comparable to a state banquet for them.

Rock cried as he ate, "It's so delicious! I've never eaten such delicious rice before. I'd even eat this as my last meal, boohoo..."

Guan Xing felt a lump in his throat upon hearing this. Although it wasn't his last meal before his death, he wouldn't be able to eat it for more than a few days. Once he left the city, he would probably have to go hungry one day and eat a full one the next.

Training continued after the meal, and the two days passed quickly amidst training discussions and enjoying delicious food.

On the morning of the third day, the team regrouped.

Guan Xing solemnly addressed the team, "Training is over. It's time to make a decision. Those who don't want to risk leaving the city with me, step forward."