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

A night raid on Wu's army?

Guan Yu's eyes lit up and he said excitedly, "This is a great idea! The Wu army has been besieging the city for over a month but has made no progress. Their morale is much lower than before."

"Now that we have received news of Zhang Cheng's defeat, the morale of the army must be even more unstable. At this time, launching a night attack can not only achieve success in one fell swoop, but may even force the Wu army to collapse completely and achieve a similar result to Zhang Liao's Xiaoyao Ford."

A great victory like the Battle of Xiaoyao Ford is rare and hard to come by, but Guan Yu now has the opportunity to achieve it.

Firstly, the composition of Wu's army is too complex. It includes elite troops brought back by Lü Meng from Nan Commandery, troops drawn from various regions, and private troops contributed by various aristocratic families. These troops are of varying quality, and mixing them together can easily lead to problems.

Secondly, there is an elite force in the Han army. Guan Yu has been busy lately, actively training his troops while defending the city. He selected 5,000 men from the 50,000 Han soldiers for intensive training.

Furthermore, through a challenge-based elimination process, 500 people were selected from 5,000 to form the Feather Battalion, aiming to create an absolutely elite force similar to the Trapped Camp, which has already yielded remarkable results.

If a night raid is launched, all I need to do is lead the Feather Battalion to break through the private soldiers' formation, forcing the aristocratic private soldiers to scatter and flee. The private soldiers will then take the initiative to break through the Wu army's formation, thus causing great chaos to the Wu army.

At that time, Wang Fu will lead his troops out of the city to launch a full-scale attack, and it is highly likely that he will capture Zhang Zhao and Lü Meng alive in one fell swoop.

Even Guan Yu, with his strong will, couldn't help but tremble at the thought of defeating tens of thousands of Wu soldiers in an instant and capturing Zhang Zhao and Lü Meng alive.

Very interesting.

Despite the great temptation of a night raid, Guan Yu was not blinded by it. Instead, he asked, "Guoshan, you are right. A night raid could very well defeat the Wu army in one fell swoop, but what happens after we defeat them?"

"after?"

Wang Fu frowned, pondered for a moment, and exclaimed in surprise: "Naturally, the Wu army suffered a crushing defeat, and the Jiangdong gentry, seeing that the situation was hopeless, turned to Cao Wei and even betrayed Zhou Tai, the governor of Ruxu, to help the Wei army march south."

"Then, with nowhere else to turn, the Wu army will collectively surrender to the Wei army. The Wei army is far stronger than the Wu army. If the two sides join forces, the number of troops besieging Jianye will be several times greater than it is now. Moreover, Cao Wei will continue to send troops from the rear. It is estimated that it will not be long before we are surrounded by troops ten times our size."

The thought of Jianye being completely surrounded sent a chill down Wang Fu's spine, but his eyes gleamed with a manic excitement as he said, "So what? Isn't that precisely why we're defending Jianye to the death?"

"If we lure the main force of the Wei army to Jianye, wouldn't Your Majesty be able to focus on your northern expedition?"

If they can attract four or five hundred thousand Wei troops, Liu Bei's side will be in a much better position.

Even if Cao Wei knew that Guanzhong was under attack, they wouldn't have time to rush back, giving Liu Bei plenty of time for his northern expedition.

Guan Yu frowned and said, "You're right, but while the Wei army is besieging Jianye, they will definitely send troops to seize Wu County and even Kuaiji. At that time, Anguo will be in danger."

While a night raid on Wu's army could quickly advance the plot, it would also put Guan Xing in an unprecedentedly dangerous situation.

That was his own son, how could Guan Yu bear to part with him?

Wang Fu frowned and said, "The Wei army is indeed more difficult to deal with than the Wu army, but Prince Anguo is no pushover either. According to him, if you can't beat them, don't you know how to run away?"

"If you are truly worried, my lord, you may write a letter to Prince Anguo, instructing him not to hesitate after the Wei army marches south, but to retreat directly to Jingnan to join Prince Tanzhi."

“Now that Prince Anguo has gained momentum, and the Wu army along the way has been emptied by Lü Meng, it shouldn’t be a problem for him to cross Yuzhang and reach Jingnan.”

"As for us, let us die. Losing Jingzhou is a capital offense, but holding off the Wei army here is a way to atone for our crimes."

Upon hearing this, Guan Yu's worries vanished, and he excitedly said, "You're right. Let's leave the city at dawn tonight and try to defeat the Wu army as soon as possible to lure out the Wei army."

After saying that, he turned and walked down the city wall to prepare for action. Halfway down, he suddenly realized something, turned back and stared at Wang Fu, and asked, "Wait a minute, if that's really the case, isn't everything going a little too smoothly?"

"Guoshan, where did you hear about Zhang Cheng's capture?"

Wang Fu said in surprise, "It was obtained from Wu Jun's spies. Passing on the message must have been incredibly difficult."

Many things are two-way, like secret agents.

Wu Jun could plant spies in the Han army, and the Han army could naturally plant spies in the Wu army as well. Moreover, Wang Fu was always in charge of intelligence for the Han army, so how could he not plant spies in the enemy camp?

Guan Yu quickly ran up the city wall, returned to his original position, looked at the Wu army camp, and observed for a long time before saying, "Guoshan, look, the Wu army camp seems very peaceful."

"Unlike us, Wu Jun is now facing a crisis. When people encounter a crisis that they cannot resolve quickly, or even do not know how to resolve, they feel anxious and impatient."

"Even the wisest men who remain calm in the face of a collapsing mountain will become anxious, but they hide it very well, making it impossible for others to see through their hearts."

"Wu Jun was already anxious because of the loss of Jianye. The prolonged siege would only make him more frustrated. When he was hit by the news of Zhang Cheng's complete annihilation, those with weak minds might have collapsed on the spot. But look, Wu Jun is calm and doesn't seem like he has suffered a fatal blow."

Wang Fu frowned, realizing something, and said, "Your Excellency is right. There is only one possibility: the news of Zhang Cheng's capture has been suppressed by Lü Meng, and the Wu army is unaware of it for the time being."

Guan Yu countered, "Then the question arises: how did your spies know this information that even the Wu army didn't know? Have your spies within the Wu army reached a level high enough to know such top-secret information?"

Wang Fu's face flushed slightly, and he gritted his teeth as he said, "This subordinate understands. This information was deliberately leaked to us by Lü Meng and Zhang Zhao, who wanted to lure us into attacking the camp, and then..."

He dared not think any further, cursing inwardly, "Damn Lü Ziming, even at a time like this he still wants to ambush us, does he really think Jianye is Linju?"

Guan Yu couldn't help but laugh and said, "Guoshan, do you still remember the strategy we initially agreed on for defending the city?"

Wang Fu nodded and said, "I remember, don't be greedy for credit or act rashly. Don't seek merit but only avoid mistakes. As long as we can drag it out long enough, we will win. If we can drag it out until the city's food supplies are exhausted, we will have won a great victory."

Guan Yu slapped the wall and snorted coldly, "Then let's continue to defend to the death. I won't fall for Lü Meng's tricks."

People learn from their mistakes. Guan Yu's greatest secret to rising from humble beginnings to become the greatest general of his time was his ability to learn and reflect.

So recently he has been reflecting on the reasons for the defeat in Xiangfan, and finally concluded that he was too reckless at the time.

On that day, he had successfully captured Xiangyang by flooding the seven armies and forced Cao Ren to retreat to Fancheng on the north bank of the Han River. If he had stopped while he was ahead and withdrawn his troops in time, he could have not only saved Jiangling but also defended Xiangyang.

With Xiangyang in hand, we can launch a northern expedition at any time, or retreat to hold off the Wei army and protect the entire Jingzhou. In addition, it connects the three eastern commanderies of Hanzhong. What a favorable situation!

Unfortunately, he was too greedy at the time. His eagerness for merit led him to recklessly advance, resulting in the loss of Xiangyang and Jiangling, and he almost lost his life.

He admitted defeat last time, but he wouldn't make the same mistake twice. This time, he wouldn't be reckless and would just stay put at Jianye.

Thinking of the consequences of a night raid, Guan Yu said with a mixture of fear and relief, "Even if we don't launch a night raid, we can't let Lü Meng get away with it. Send someone to spread the news of Zhang Cheng's capture. I want to see how the Jiangdong gentry will react when they receive the news."