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

The valley was empty and echoing, and the Han soldiers' wailing and howling were so off-key that they couldn't be heard at all in the rush.

But this was only temporary. The Han army quickly adjusted and clearly conveyed their greetings to the Wu army to Zhang Cheng.

"A son should be like Sun Quan, who sent 100,000 men to Hefei to behead, and when in doubt, consult Zhang Zhao, who will then surrender."

Upon hearing the shouts of the Han army, Zhang Cheng was visibly dazed for a moment. Then, his originally dejected face, like beef being steamed, slowly turned red, then purple, and finally blue.

As his expression changed, intense anger surged from all parts of his body into his chest, much like a cultivator circulating their internal energy. His chest heaved with rage, and his heart pounded so hard it felt like it was about to explode.

"A son should be like Sun Quan, who sent 100,000 men to Hefei to behead, and when in doubt, consult Zhang Zhao, who will then surrender."

Another roar reached his ears, and Zhang Cheng could no longer restrain himself. He drew his sword and charged forward, shouting furiously, "Guan Anguo, you've gone too far! I'll kill you..."

Zhang Cheng, a traditional scholar, cared most about the cultural beliefs and ethical principles built upon the foundations of Heaven, Earth, Ruler, Parents, and Teacher.

He was even willing to give up his own life to uphold this faith, but now...

Guan Xing's two short sentences insulted both his monarch and his father; who could tolerate that?

Zhang Cheng couldn't take it anymore and was ready to risk everything to fight Guan Xing to the death.

Zhuge Ke was equally furious, but he didn't lose his temper. Seeing Zhang Cheng starting to go crazy, he quickly hugged him from behind and advised, "General, calm down. Guan Xing is deliberately provoking you. Don't fall for it."

Zhang Cheng struggled violently and said, "I can't calm down. Today it's either him or me. I will never let Guan Xing, that scoundrel, get away with this."

He wasn't a short-tempered person; he might have tolerated Guan Xing's insults, but this jingle Guan Xing made up was so disgusting that he really couldn't help but feel annoyed.

If this gets out, where will Sun Quan put his face? Where will the Zhang family put their face?

That damned Guan Anguo! The Battle of Red Cliffs happened so many years ago, is it really necessary to keep bringing up old grievances?

Zhuge Ke earnestly advised, "Brother-in-law, you are now the commander-in-chief of the three armies, not a vanguard. You can't fall for Guan Xing's tricks."

His older sister married Zhang Cheng, making him Zhang Cheng's brother-in-law.

Zhang Cheng knew that Zhuge Ke was right. He bit his tongue hard to force himself to calm down and said in a cold tone, "Let go. I know what to do. I won't let that scoundrel Guan Xing get his way."

Zhuge Ke observed him carefully for a long time before letting go, making sure he wouldn't act impulsively.

Zhang Cheng looked up at the winding, narrow path and gritted his teeth, saying, "Our supplies are limited, we can't afford to waste time with Guan Xing. We have to launch a strong attack and try to finish this quickly."

Zhuge Ke frowned and said, "But the road is too narrow. Only four or five people can be deployed at a time. The others have no room to maneuver and can only stand on the sidelines and watch."

“Then build another road.” Zhang Cheng raised his hand and pointed to several huge rocks directly below the cave, saying, “Push those rocks down the mountain, build a platform there, and then pile up pine and cypress branches and other non-flammable branches to suffocate that son of a bitch Guan Xing.”

The mountain road is steep; if people can't get up there, surely smoke can.

Damn Guan Xing, since you won't let me have an easy time, then you won't have an easy time either. Come on, let's hurt each other, who's afraid of who?

Zhuge Ke gave a thumbs up and said, "Good idea. I'll go prepare right away. I'll have people set up several platforms in a ladder shape to suffocate that guy surnamed Guan."

Just as he was about to leave, Zhang Cheng suddenly pulled him back, thinking, "It would be best to find some coal; that stuff is poisonous, and the smoke will be even more effective."

Coal is what we call stone coal. In the Classic of Mountains and Seas, it is called stone ash, but the common people of the Han Dynasty called it graphite or coal. As early as the Western Han Dynasty, people in the Central Plains used this stuff to smelt iron, so Zhang Cheng was no stranger to coal.

Zhuge Ke nodded and said, "I'll go prepare right away."

While his brother-in-law went to work, Zhang Cheng didn't rest either. Instead, he continued to look around and find several locations that were advantageous for long-range attacks. He called over his subordinates and ordered, "There, there, and there. Set up ballistae in those places and fire them hard at the cave. Also, set up a few catapults and see if we can drive the bundles of grass in."

The cave where Guan Xing was located was at most 200 meters above the ground, and only 400 to 500 meters away from Zhang Cheng's position. Although arrows couldn't reach it, ballistae could definitely shoot it in.

If the catapult could also carry bundles of straw, it would be perfect. Then the catapult would launch straw fuel and the ballista would launch rockets. Let's see what Guan Xing can do then.

"Yes..." The subordinate clasped his hands and left.

Zhang Cheng then summoned a captain and instructed him, "Take some men and thoroughly explore this mountain to see if there's a way to climb to the top and then descend the rope into the cave where Guan Xing is."

He was a famous general of Eastern Wu, after all; he couldn't possibly be helpless when faced with a little difficulty.

Under Zhang Cheng's command, more than a dozen ballistae were pushed to their designated positions and set up, and began firing into the cave.

Under the cover of ballistae, nearly a hundred Wu soldiers carried ropes and bamboo poles up the mountain, climbed to the obstructing boulders, worked together to push the boulders down the mountain, and then cleared a platform to prepare for setting them on fire.

Another detachment of Wu soldiers began cutting down trees to build catapults.

Looking at the busy Wu Jun, Zhang Cheng gritted his teeth and said fiercely, "Damn Guan Anguo, you better pray you don't fall into my hands, or I will definitely tear your mouth apart."

A karst cave on the mountainside.

Guan Xing couldn't help but laugh out loud at the shouts of Meng Jun and the others, while craning his neck to look around, trying to see Zhang Cheng's expression.

He couldn't see clearly from that distance, but he guessed that Zhang Cheng's expression must be quite interesting, and he wondered what he would do next.

Will they let Wu Jun hurl insults at them and keep exposing Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei's secrets, or will they order Wu Jun to launch a fierce attack?

There has to be some kind of reaction, right?

Before he could think it through, his expression suddenly changed drastically. He kicked Meng Jun to the ground and shouted, "Everyone, lie down!"

The soldiers, who had been shouting and were in high spirits, were startled by what they heard and instinctively crouched down and lay down.

Although they didn't know what was wrong with Guan Xing, they still tacitly chose to obey.

Soldiers are duty-bound to obey orders.

No sooner had they crouched down than a dozen arrows, each as thick as a child's arm, flew past their heads and pierced straight into the ceiling of the cave.

Meng Jun turned his head blankly, and seeing the arrow still trembling at the fletching, he broke out in a cold sweat. He cursed in fear, "Damn Wu soldiers, they actually used ballistae! Captain, you saved my life again, how can I ever repay you?"

Guan Xing snapped irritably, "Stop spouting this nonsense. Tell the brothers to go back to the cave and stay there. Don't come out without my orders."

The environment has a two-way impact on warfare. If the roads are too narrow, the Wu army cannot maneuver effectively, and the Han army cannot maneuver effectively either, and can only add fuel to the fire little by little.

In this way, the others wouldn't need to be sitting ducks in the outer hall; it would be safer to go into the cave.

After Guan Xing finished speaking, he climbed to the edge of the cliff on all fours and stuck his head out to look down.

Meng Jun also climbed over, observing as he said, "Captain, the ballista is too dangerous. Why don't you go into the cave? I can handle things here."

Guan Xing shook his head and said, "Don't worry, they can only shoot upwards from down the mountain. They can't shoot us from this angle. Wait, what are those Wu soldiers doing? Why are they pushing stones?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the stone was pushed down the mountain. Wu Jun then brought over some lush green branches and started a fire. The branches were damp and did not burn easily, so only smoke appeared without any flames.

Upon seeing this, Guan Xing instantly understood Wu Jun's purpose and cursed, "Damn Zhang Cheng, is he trying to suffocate me? Make the brothers crawl forward and shoot those arsonists to death with arrows, or throw logs and rocks at them if you want."