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

Jianye.

The siege was in full swing. Under the cover of ballistae and catapults, the Wu army carried ladders and charged desperately, but they were driven back by the Han army before they could even touch the city wall.

Seeing Wu Jun suffer another defeat, Lü Meng's already gloomy face darkened even more, and he cursed through gritted teeth, "Damn Guan Yu, why is he so difficult to deal with?"

The siege has lasted for more than a month, and the number of Wu troops besieging the city has increased from the initial 30,000 to 130,000. Most of them are private soldiers of local gentry, and a small number are county soldiers drawn by Lü Meng from various counties.

Lu Meng's move almost drained all the able-bodied men from the six counties of Jiangdong. He originally intended to concentrate his forces for a full-scale attack and take back Jianye as quickly as possible to stabilize the precarious situation in Jiangdong. However, Guan Yu was so resilient that he defended Jianye like an impregnable fortress, giving him no chance to take advantage.

After failing to capture the city for so long, Lü Meng's mentality was starting to crumble.

Zhang Zhao comforted him, saying, "Grand Commander, please calm down. Jianye is a formidable city, one of the best in the world, and it is defended by Guan Yu, the greatest general of our time. It is normal that we cannot take it in the short term. Do not lose your composure because of a temporary setback."

Military strategy states that if the enemy's forces outnumber the defenders by ten to one, then surround them; if they outnumber the defenders by five, then attack them; if they outnumber the defenders by two, then divide them. In other words, the attacking force must be at least five times larger than the defending enemy force.

Although Wu Jun had over 100,000 troops, Guan Yu also had a considerable force, with those brought from Dabie Mountain and those recruited in Jianye numbering close to 50,000.

With 50,000 troops, there is more than enough to defend the city, and they can even take turns resting.

Faced with a heavily fortified city like Jianye, a direct assault was virtually impossible. The only way to take it quickly was to instigate a rebellion within the city and then coordinate with the rebels from within.

A strong fortress is often breached from within.

In other words, a strong fortress can only be breached from the inside; it cannot be breached from the outside.

But that damned Guan Yu didn't give them a chance. He drove all the officials with a salary of 300 shi or above, as well as the sons of noble families engaged in other industries, out of the city. This completely cut off the targets that the Wu army could win over. Without anyone to win them over, how could you incite a rebellion in the city?

As for the spies who infiltrated the Han army during Guan Yu's recruitment period, most of them had been won over by Guan Yu's charisma and turned into true Han soldiers. The few loyal spies were too insignificant to be of any use.

Guan Yu has now eliminated all of Lü Meng's chances of using tricks, forcing the Wu army to launch a frontal assault.

Lu Meng's cleverness in attacking Jiangling has now been completely returned to him.

Lu Meng smiled wryly and said, "I understand what the strategist is saying, but we can't afford to be slow. You've seen the recent battle reports. Zhang Liao has returned to Hefei and is gathering troops to prepare for the southern expedition at any time."

“The situation in Jingzhou is even worse. Not only are Wei troops heavily concentrated in Xiangyang, but even Meng Da of Fangling has surrendered to Wei. And there’s that big-eared scoundrel Liu Bei, who is stationed in Yiling with his army, ready to launch an eastern expedition at any time. The situation in Jiangdong is more than ten times more dangerous than at the Battle of Red Cliffs. How can I not be anxious?”

Not only those mentioned by Lü Meng, but also Guan Xing of Wushang, Guan Ping of Jingnan, and Liu Feng, who, with the support of Wei Yan, defeated Meng Da and the Shen brothers, successfully secured Xicheng, and confronted Meng Da across Shangyong.

There was also Zhuge Liang, who secretly transported grain and troops to Hanzhong, ready to launch a northern expedition at any time.

With Guan Yu in Jianye also involved, the situation became so complex that, as later generations would say, the entire Jiangnan region was in complete chaos.

What worried Zhang Zhao even more than these unknown situations was the internal situation of Eastern Wu.

With Jianye remaining unconquered after a prolonged siege, morale in Jiangdong was low, and many gentry members were considering surrendering to Wei or Han to seek a new life. Zhang Zhao could suppress these variables for the time being, but he could not guarantee what would happen in the long run.

After all, the current state of Eastern Wu offers absolutely no hope.

Nevertheless, Zhang Zhao still had to try his best to reassure them, saying, "Isn't there good news? General Bu Zhi has successfully arrived in Jingnan and joined forces with Pan Zhang, successfully forcing Guan Ping and Xi Zhen's rebel army into the Wuling Mountains."

"My son Zhang Cheng has also successfully recaptured Wushang. I believe it won't be long before he can bring Guan Xing to the gates of Jianye. With Guan Xing in our hands, let's see if Guan Yu still dares to be so arrogant."

Although Lü Meng knew that these words were mostly meant to comfort him, he was still invigorated and said with great enthusiasm, "The strategist is right. I hope General Zhang Cheng can bring back good news as soon as possible."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a messenger ran up and shouted, "Grand Commander, Military Advisor, Zhang Ming, a colonel under General Zhang Cheng, requests an audience. He says he has important military intelligence to report to you."

Lu Meng's eyes gleamed with unprecedented brilliance, and he excitedly stammered, "Zhang Cheng captured Guan Xing so quickly? This is just what I wanted! Please come in."

Although Zhang Zhao didn't say much, the way he stroked his beard and his excited eyes revealed his excitement. His son had made him proud.

More importantly, with Guan Xing as leverage, many things will be much easier. Jiangdong desperately needs a victory right now.

Under the excited gazes of the two men, Zhang Ming was brought before them.

Zhang Ming didn't notice the expressions on their faces. He saw them kneel down with a thud, crying and wailing, "Grand Commander, Military Advisor, something terrible has happened! The Southern Expeditionary Army has been completely wiped out in Zhuji. General Zhang Cheng and the two young masters, Zhou Xun and Zhuge Ke, have both been captured."

"What, say that again?"

Lu Meng's smile froze on his face instantly. He felt as if he had been struck by lightning, and his body trembled so much that he could not even stand up straight.

Zhang Zhao's hand, which was stroking his beard, trembled violently, and he didn't even feel the pain when several hairs of his beard were pulled out.

This news was so shocking that it stunned both Lu Meng, the top military leader in Jiangdong, and Zhang Zhao, the top civil official, who remained speechless for a long time.

Finally, Zhang Zhao was the first to react, grabbing Zhang Ming's shoulder and asking, "Complete annihilation? Are you kidding me? You had a full ten thousand men, and Guan Xing only had a few?"

Awakened by the shouts, Lü Meng didn't ask any questions, but stared intently at Zhang Ming, waiting for him to give him an explanation.

As the Grand Commander of Eastern Wu, Lü Meng was able to grasp basic intelligence. Intelligence showed that Guan Xing only had two or three thousand hastily assembled rabble. How could he have annihilated Zhang Cheng, who had more than ten thousand soldiers, and even captured Zhang Cheng himself?

It should be noted that Zhang Chengjun had 5,000 elite troops that he had personally transferred, true elites who had fought against both the Wei and Han armies.

Such an elite force was completely annihilated by a rabble with less than half its strength?

Are you kidding me?

Zhang Ming said with a mournful face, "That Guan Xing is a complete scoundrel. He'll stop at nothing to stop us from doing this... that day..."

After recounting the defeat with tears in his eyes, Zhang Ming took out a letter and presented it with both hands.

Zhang Zhao eagerly snatched the letter to read it and found that the letters from Zhang Cheng and the other two were mainly about apologizing. While explaining the reasons for the defeat, they also subtly indicated that they had fallen into Guan Xing's trap and that if they launched another attack, they would definitely be able to capture Guan Xing in one fell swoop.

Guan Xing's letter, however, had a completely different tone. He first severely condemned the shameless act of crossing the river in white, then gave Lü Meng a thorough dressing-down, and finally openly stated that if they wanted to redeem the three fools, they could do so for 200,000 shi of grain per person, not a single grain less.

Moreover, the transaction period is limited to two months. If the supplies do not arrive within two months, I will drag Zhang Chengzhou out for a public trial.

Don't think I, Guan, am exaggerating. I've already killed Gu Mu, so why would I care about killing two more?

Of course, if they also have uncles serving under my king, then disregard what I said.

Zhang Zhao was furious, his face turning green as he held Guan Xing's letter. Although he was angry, he dared not ignore Guan Xing's words, because this kid was really capable of killing.

Hearing that Gu Yong vomited three liters of blood on the spot upon learning of Gu Mu's death and was still ill, he didn't want to go through the same thing. After thinking for a moment, he smiled bitterly and said, "Grand Commander, let's sound the retreat and rest for today."