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

Zhou Qi brought twelve people with him on this trip, all of whom were his trusted followers who had followed him for many years.

When the guards awoke at daybreak, they were all stunned to find the headless corpse. After identifying the deceased by his clothing and sword, they were even more shocked.

What happened? Lieutenant Zhou is dead?

Who did it?

The guards looked around and found Zhou Shan missing. Then, recalling what happened last night when Zhou Qi splashed hot porridge on Zhou Shan, they immediately understood what had happened.

Then they were all dumbfounded, not knowing what to do.

After staring at each other for a long time, the guards finally began to discuss.

"That bastard Zhou Shan actually killed a captain! What are we going to do?"

"What do we do now that the captain is gone? Should we continue to Shanyin to find the governor of Kuaiji, or go back to report to General Zhang Cheng?"

"That's not the point. The point is that the captain is dead. As his personal guards, how can we expect to be safe going back? We might even be implicated."

Upon hearing this, everyone shuddered, and their gazes toward the corpse took on a sinister edge.

Zhou Qi held a high position in the Zhou family. His father was once Zhou Yu's personal guard and was granted the surname Zhou by Zhou Yu for his merits. Zhou Qi had been Zhou Xun's study companion since childhood and was considered the first person after Zhou Xun.

The key issue is that Zhou Qi has two younger brothers. Now that this has happened, even if Zhang Cheng doesn't deal with them, Zhou Qi's two younger brothers will, and even Zhou Xun might deal with them.

How to do?

Someone suggested, "Since things have come to this, why not go all the way and join the Han army in Da Mo? General Guan Xing is quite a good guy."

After a moment of hesitation, everyone gritted their teeth and agreed. They then dug a pit to bury Zhou Qi's body and turned to head towards Da Mo.

Their actions had a major negative consequence for Zhang Cheng: they caused him to lose all contact with Zhou Qi.

It's 240 li from Wushang to Shanyin; a fast horse can take three or four days to return.

Zhang Cheng waited in Wushang for five whole days without any news. Realizing something was wrong, he hurriedly sent people to search for him and rushed to Shanyin to verify. However, he couldn't find him on his side, and the people in Shanyin also said they hadn't seen him either. Zhou Qi had vanished into thin air.

Zhang Cheng didn't think about the possibility of Zhou Qi defecting to the enemy or being killed. After all, Zhou Qi hadn't surrendered even after being whipped and bewitched by Guan Xing. It was impossible for him to return to the Wu army and then go and surrender. That didn't make sense, right?

Unaware of the danger, Zhang Cheng continued to contact Shanyin to replenish supplies and troops, unaware that his backyard was already on fire.

The released prisoners of war endured insults and beatings from Wu's army every day. After several days, they finally couldn't take it anymore, and Qu Chang Zhu Chao prepared to take revenge.

Zhu Chao was a tenant farmer of the Zhu family. He had worked for the Zhu family for four or five generations and was deeply trusted by the Zhu family. He was promoted to steward and was recently appointed as the head of the troops, leading the Zhu family's private army to follow Zhou Xun in attacking Guan Xing.

Like Zhou Qi, he was very loyal to the Zhu family, so he was not swayed by Guan Xing and returned with Zhou Qi.

But even the highest loyalty cannot withstand unbridled squandering. After being verbally abused and beaten for several days in a row, Zhu Chao snapped. During his daytime rest, he secretly observed Li Gou Dan, who was also beaten black and blue, and went to the outhouse. He quickly followed him.

He went into the outhouse to check around and make sure no one was eavesdropping before leaning close to Li Gou Dan's ear and whispering, "Did they hit you too?"

Li Gou Dan nodded silently, and said aggrievedly, "Wu Jun already looked down on us private soldiers, and now that this has happened, it's understandable that he doesn't like us. But Brother Chao, when will this end? I really can't stand it anymore."

Zhu Chao gritted his teeth and said, "Then let's not hold back. I'll find a way to get you out of the camp later. Go find General Guan Xing and tell him that we are willing to be inside agents and burn Zhang Cheng's grain supplies at a critical moment. Please ask General Guan to find a way to provide support."

Zhu Chao had been raised in a wealthy family, and his intelligence and experience far surpassed those of ordinary soldiers. He knew that he had wasted the best opportunity to join Guan Xing. If he went back to join Guan Xing now, Guan Xing might not accept him, and even if he did, he would not be given important responsibilities.

The only way to successfully join Guan Xing's side and gain his favor is to pledge allegiance.

So, General Zhang Cheng, I'm sorry.

But you can't blame me, it was your people who bullied me first.

Li Gou Dan, equally unable to bear it any longer, nodded emphatically upon hearing this and said, "I'll listen to you."

After leaving the outhouse, Zhu Chao provoked Wu Jun, who had bullied him, attracting a crowd of Wu Jun nearby. This allowed Li Gou Dan to sneak away during the chaos and escape over the wall from the county government office.

As a consequence, Zhu Chao was beaten to the point of near death and placed in solitary confinement.

……

Go back a few days.

Guan Xing led his troops to Damo smoothly. Xie Chong received the news and went out of the city to greet him. After paying his respects, he asked in surprise, "Captain, why have you come? I was planning to retreat to Wushang in a few days to join you."

Guan Xing said, "The situation has changed. Zhang Cheng has taken a detour back to Wushang, so our battle plan also needs to be changed. How is things on your end? Is the rehabilitation of the surrendered soldiers going smoothly?"

Xie Chong had two thousand surrendered soldiers under Zhuge Ke's command. Guan Xing, in order to attack Zhou Xun, only left him two or three hundred men. It was easy for problems to arise if one person was guarding ten prisoners.

Xie Chong laughed and said, "Don't worry, Captain. I've learned a thing or two from following you for so long. I'll have no problem calming down the surrendered soldiers."

"It's just a captain. Zhang Cheng has been outmaneuvered by us for over a thousand miles and has suffered such a great loss. He must have already learned his lesson and won't be led by the nose by us anymore."

“If he doesn’t come to Damo and instead stays in Wushang and tries to wear us down, our meager supplies won’t last long.”

The Han army seized grain supplies from the gentry of Wushang and Damu counties. Although it seemed like a lot, they were in a state of running out of resources and could not compare with Zhang Cheng, who had a stable rear.

Moreover, with the addition of 5,000 surrendered soldiers, their food supplies are being depleted even faster. If Zhang Cheng is truly determined to outlast them, they will not be able to win.

Guan Xing pondered, "This is indeed a problem, but it doesn't matter. It's better if Zhang Cheng doesn't come. We can take this time to reorganize the army."

With more troops, the organizational structure should change, and he, as a captain, should be promoted.

Guan Xing had no time to rest and threw himself back into his work. He went to the military camp and talked to each of Zhuge Ke's surrendered soldiers. He spent two days figuring out their psychological state and picked out all the stubborn ones who were unwilling to surrender.

Then they took out the roster to count the number of people. They were shocked when they counted the number.

When he left Jianye, he brought two thousand men with him. He also recruited four thousand four hundred men from Yan Zhen's bandits and gathered more than four thousand seven hundred men from Zhou Xun and Zhuge Ke. His total strength now exceeds eight thousand men.

Guan Xing divided the 8,000 men into four units, and the four battalion commanders, Meng Jun, Gan Xun, Shen Yi, and Ji Jie, were all transformed into captains.

After the reorganization was completed, Guan Xing personally took charge of the training, enabling the various units to quickly become familiar with each other and rapidly transform the troops into combat power.

That noon, while Guan Xing was busy with training, Xie Chong rushed over carrying a blood-stained bundle and said, "General, a man named Zhou Shan outside the city is requesting an audience, saying this is a gift for you."

"Who is Zhou Shan? That name sounds familiar."

Guan Xing took the bundle and opened it himself. He was stunned when he saw what was inside. Inside the bundle was Zhou Qi's head.

Guan Xing recognized Zhou Qi and knew he was Zhou Xun's top general, so he said in surprise, "Bring Zhou Shan in."