jdhmnovel Chapter 464 Yu Jin's Death Date
Chapter 464 Yu Jin's Death Date
The one shouting from the city wall was a Wei army captain, who was ordered by Yu Jin to lie in ambush here waiting for the Han army to take the bait.
A few days ago, after Huang Yi escaped back and reported to Yu Jin that Zhu Yi had surrendered, Yu Jin sent people to move the grain and fodder away, and ordered the captain in front of him to ambush him there.
The captain thought it was a bit far-fetched to ambush the Han army in his own fortified city, but Yu Jin forced him to give the order, arguing that Guan Xing was good at infiltration and that it was better to be safe than sorry.
The captain waited there for three days, but the Han army's sneak attack never came. He was preparing to request a retreat from Yu Jin the next morning when, unexpectedly, the Han army actually arrived.
Upon seeing the Han army, the captain's doubts and resentment towards Yu Jin, stemming from the long wait, instantly transformed into admiration. He was so excited that he couldn't wait to report his achievements to Yu Jin.
He was happy, but Wang Hong was dumbfounded. He never expected that he would encounter such an outcome after infiltrating here with the intention of dying. Damn Yu Jin, you really are a cunning old fox.
But Wang Hong, having served as a prefectural magistrate and seen much of the world, decisively shouted, "Retreat! Retreat!" when he realized the situation was hopeless.
The personnel involved in this operation were all suicide soldiers who were prepared to die. Although the primary goal of these suicide soldiers was to complete the mission, after the mission was completed, they would definitely try to retreat rather than wait to die on the spot, right?
Therefore, Guan Xing prepared two retreat plans for them. The first was to rush out of the city gate and jump into the moat, and the second was to retreat along the original route and break out with all their might, and then escape through the tunnel of Zhang's tailor shop in the west of the city.
Boss Zhang was also Guan Yu's spy chief. Since he was engaged in the glorious job of being a spy, how could he not arrange a way out for himself?
Therefore, Mr. Zhang dug a tunnel that was a kilometer long in his own home.
Faced with the encirclement of the Wei army, Wang Hong's first thought was naturally the first option. However, he was surprised to find through the firelight that the city gate in front of them had been completely blocked. Even if they fought their way to the gate, they would not be able to get out. Helpless, they had no choice but to adopt the second option: return the way they came and break out with all their might.
Fortunately, they had only been inside the barbican for a short time, and the people behind them had not yet fully entered, so the city gate was still in their hands.
Wang Hong quickly retreated from the city gate and charged westward, soon engaging in battle with the Wei army that had rapidly surrounded him.
Fortunately, the northwest gates are currently in the hands of the Wei army, while the nearest east gate is in the hands of Sun Quan. Yu Jin thought that the Han army that attacked the barbican would break out towards the east gate to join Sun Quan after learning that they had been ambushed, so he deployed heavy troops on the southeast and southwest sides, making the west side, which was under the control of the Wei army, relatively weak. However, Wang Hong did not go to the east gate to join Sun Quan, but instead went to attack the west gate, which was controlled by the Wei army.
Knowing their fate of being surrounded, none of the three hundred assassins retreated. Led by Wang Hong, they fought fiercely. After nearly half an hour of intense fighting, suffering casualties of almost two-thirds, they finally reached Boss Zhang's house as dawn broke.
Boss Zhang had been waiting outside. He led Wang Hong and the others into the house and locked the gate to block Wei's army, thus buying time for Wang Hong.
Guided by Boss Zhang, Wang Hong and his men rushed into the bedroom and entered through a tunnel under the already moved bed. Before they were fully inside, Wei Jun rushed in, and the two sides engaged in a bloody battle at the tunnel entrance. After Wang Hong lost another twenty or thirty men, they finally all entered the tunnel. Boss Zhang also pressed a mechanism to block the tunnel entrance, thus completely cutting off Wei Jun's escape.
Two quarters of an hour later, Yu Jin arrived at Boss Zhang's house. Looking at the entrance of the tunnel, his face was ashen, and he said in a cold tone, "The people in the city are actually colluding with Guan Xing, they deserve to die. Randomly pick a thousand people and escort them to the South Gate, behead them in front of Guan Xing, and tell Guan Xing that this is a gift I gave him. If there is a next time, I will kill more."
Yu Jin had already participated in the massacre of a city with Cao Cao, which had somewhat eroded his humanity. He had also been a prisoner of war and sold back and forth between Guan Yu and Sun Quan, which had twisted his mind. It was no wonder that he could commit murder and robbery without any pressure.
The lieutenant said worriedly, "Won't this completely enrage Guan Xing?"
Yu Jin sneered, "I want to provoke him. When he's angry, he'll lose his temper; when he loses his temper, he'll act impulsively; when he acts impulsively, he'll make mistakes; and when he makes mistakes, we'll seize the opportunity..."
"No matter how capable Guan Xing is, he's just a greenhorn, not a seasoned thief like Zhang Zhao. It's not impossible for him to do something rash in a moment of impulse. Tonight's night raid is proof that Guan Xing has acted impulsively. So my goal is to provoke Guan Xing into making a mistake through a massacre. Go now."
To be fair, Yu Jin's strategy of using the massacre to provoke Guan Xing and force him to make a mistake was not wrong, but the problem is that Guan Xing was not the only one angered by the massacre.
The private soldiers of the Jingzhou gentry who surrendered to Jiang Ji and Yu Jin did not attack the Wu army, but were instead incorporated into Yu Jin's logistics department to do odd jobs such as making weapons.
As soon as the curfew was lifted in the morning, Pan Zhu led his men and barged into Huang Zhe's tent. He grabbed a water jug and splashed it on the sleeping Huang Zhe's face. Then he listened quietly to Huang Zhe's cursing. Only after Huang Zhe had vented his morning grumpiness did Pan Zhu wipe the spittle off his face and say, "Brother Huang, I've come to ask you only one thing. What are your thoughts on banning the people from attacking the city yesterday?"
Huang Zhe's pupils contracted slightly, and he said with a serious expression, "What do you mean?"
Pan Zhu replied, "I didn't sleep a wink last night, I kept thinking about one question: what am I after by joining the Wei army? Is it because the Wei army's swords are sharp enough to ruthlessly slaughter my fellow villagers?"
"To be honest, I never thought of surrendering to the Wei army. It was my father who made me surrender. He didn't ask for my opinion, and I didn't dare to disobey his orders. That's why I surrendered to Yu Jin with you. But no one told me that the Wei army would massacre the city."
Huang Zhe smiled wryly and said, "Yu Jin's actions were indeed somewhat unexpected, but the problem is that we have already surrendered. What else can we do now?"
Pan Zhu sneered, "What do you mean by 'what can be done'? Who says that you can't rebel after surrendering? We can betray Guan Yu, so why can't we betray Yu Jin?"
"I've come here to ask you one question: I'm planning a rebellion. Are you coming with me or continuing to serve the Wei army? If you're coming with me, we'll discuss the plan. If you continue to serve the Wei army, go and inform Yu Jin right now. I'll be waiting for you."
"Uh..." Huang Zhe was stunned by Pan Zhu's directness and his lips moved for a long time before he managed to persuade him with difficulty: "Don't be impulsive."
Pan Zhu said, “I am not acting impulsively. I am from Hanshou County, Wuling Commandery. I have lived in Jiangling since I was a child. Jiangling is my home. I can tolerate Cao Wei’s rule over Jiangling, but I will never tolerate the Wei army’s rampage in Jiangling and the wanton slaughter of my relatives. I am determined to rebel against Yu Jin. I came here to inform you, not to ask for your opinion. If you don’t want to do it, I will do it myself. If you want to inform on me, then go ahead.”
After saying that, he got up and left, his steps firm and without the slightest hesitation. Huang Zhe subconsciously reached out to pull him back, but missed and only touched Pan Zhu's collar. Helpless, he said anxiously, "Don't rush, let's make a plan, okay?"
Pan Zhu twisted his heel and turned around on the spot, sitting back on the edge of the bed with unparalleled smoothness. He smiled and said, "I knew Brother Huang wasn't a coward. Tell me your thoughts."
Huang Zhe smiled wryly and said, "Brother, I believe you are not afraid of death, but we can't just throw our lives away. We need a well-thought-out plan. Besides, it's impossible for us to defeat Yu Jin with our strength. If we want to succeed, we must ask for outside help. Right now, we only have Guan Xing as our outside help. The problem is, will Guan Xing trust us?"
For Guan Xing, the gentry of Jingzhou were, after all, people who had betrayed him and his father. Traitors could not be trusted, and Guan Xing could not trust anyone but them.
Pan Zhu already had an answer to this. Upon hearing this, he said, "I have already sent people to blend in with the refugees and leave the city through the east gate to contact Guan Xing. If Guan Xing accepts, we will cooperate from the inside and outside. If he does not accept, we will start working first. As long as we make a commotion in the city, I do not believe that Guan Xing will not take action. So, shall we do it or not?"
Huang Zhe wanted to refuse, but he knew that the gentry of Jingzhou were a unified group. If Pan Zhu, that fool, raised the banner of rebellion, he would inevitably be implicated. At that time, Yu Jin, who had already lost his mind, would definitely label him a traitor and deal with him as well. So he had no choice but to reluctantly sigh and say, "Alright..."