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

Linju.

Lu Meng had already received news that Guan Yu had withdrawn from Maicheng and retreated to Linju, and had laid a trap in Linju, waiting for Guan Yu to take the bait.

He was very confident in his plan, certain that once Guan Yu entered the ambush, he would never be able to escape.

The thought of capturing Guan Yu alive filled Lü Meng with excitement, but as he waited and waited without seeing Guan Yu, he began to panic.

The other generals were also anxious. Pan Zhang frowned and asked, "Grand Commander, the distance from Maicheng to Linju is only a short distance, yet Guan Yu has not arrived yet. Could something have gone wrong?"

Lu Meng shook his head and said, "It shouldn't be. Guan Yu is already in dire straits. Where else can he go if he doesn't return to Bashu? If he wants to return to Bashu, Linju is the only way. I don't believe he won't come."

"In that case, send scouts to investigate Guan Yu's whereabouts again, but be careful not to let Guan Yu discover them. If he knows there is an ambush at Linju, he may not come."

“Yes…” Pan Zhang clasped his hands in a bow and was about to leave when his subordinate Ma Zhong rushed over and said, “General, something bad has happened. I just received news that Guan Yu has headed towards Xiangyang.”

Pan Zhang's expression changed slightly, and he quickly asked, "Is the news true?"

Seeing Ma Zhong nod, Pan Zhang said anxiously, "Xiangyang has already been recaptured by Cao Ren. What is Guan Yu trying to do by retreating to Xiangyang at this time? Is he courting death?"

Lu Meng sneered, "That red-faced thief isn't one to court death. What else could he be doing retreating to Xiangyang? He probably wants to feign an attack on the Wei army, using the opportunity to provoke a war between us and the Wei army, so he can reap the benefits and fish in troubled waters."

Pan Zhang frowned and said, "The Grand Commander is right. So what do we do now?"

Lu Meng was torn; he wanted to capture Guan Yu, but he didn't want to clash with the Wei army.

Wu Jun had just captured Jingzhou and had not yet gained a foothold. He hadn't even wiped out the Han army yet, so it was really not a good time to provoke Wei Jun.

After pondering for a long time, Lü Meng said, "You lead the troops to pursue them. Remember to keep your distance from Guan Yu. Stop when you reach Xiangyang and don't do anything that would mislead the Wei army."

"I'm going to the Nanzhang River to prevent Guan Yu from retreating into Fangling along the Nanzhang River. That damned red-faced bandit, without soldiers or supplies, let's see how long you can hold out."

“Well…” Pan Zhang turned to leave, but halfway there he suddenly remembered something and turned back to ask, “But Grand Commander, what if Guan Yu grits his teeth and surrenders to Cao Wei? Cao Cao values ​​him very much.”

“Uh…” Lu Meng was stunned, squinting as he fell into deep thought.

Given that there was no way to return to Shu, was it possible for Guan Yu to surrender to Cao Wei?

It's not impossible, after all, Guan Yu surrendered to Cao Cao and then let Cao Cao go at Huarong Pass, so the two had a very deep friendship.

More importantly, from Guan Yu's perspective, surrendering to Cao Wei was better than surrendering to these Jiangdong rats, wasn't it?

But the problem is, what if Guan Yu really surrendered to Cao Cao and then turned around and led the Wei army to attack Nan Commandery?

With Cao Wei's military strength combined with Guan Yu's prestige in Jingzhou, defeating Wu's army would be as easy as cutting melons and vegetables.

If he did that, wouldn't he be giving away his reputation by crossing the river in disguise, only to benefit Cao Cao?

Thinking of the terrible consequences of Guan Yu commanding the Wei army, Lü Meng panicked and paced anxiously on the ground, saying, "No, we can't let Guan Yu go to Xiangyang City, absolutely not."

Although it was unlikely that Guan Yu would defect to Cao Cao, he dared not gamble, what if he did?

Lu Meng gritted his teeth and said, "Stop ambushing at Linju. Everyone, follow me and chase after him. We must not let Guan Yu enter Xiangyang City."

He didn't want to clash with the Wei army, and he didn't want Guan Yu to defect to the Wei army. After weighing the two options, he felt that Guan Yu's defection to Wei posed a greater threat.

To prevent Guan Yu from surrendering to Wei, they had no choice but to fight the Wei army.

With this in mind, Lü Meng mustered all the ambushing troops and rushed to Xiangyang.