jdhmnovel Chapter 298 Lu Xun and Ding Feng Meet
Chapter 298 Lu Xun and Ding Feng Meet
what?
Han Dang is surrounded?
Five hundred of Han family's troops were wiped out, and even Han Zong died in battle.
Lu Xun felt as if he had been struck by lightning, his mind went blank, and even his legs felt weak and he was about to fall to the ground, but he held on with his strong willpower.
He cannot fall; if he falls, the morale of the army will be completely destroyed.
Lu Xun was stunned for a long time before gradually coming back to his senses. Looking at the five Han family guards covered in mud, his eyes were full of disbelief.
The elite troops of the gentry were the most elite forces in Eastern Wu, each capable of taking on a hundred men. In the Battle of Xiaoyao Ford, Ling Tong held off Zhang Liao's pursuit with only three hundred troops, covering Sun Quan's successful retreat.
Although only one-tenth of Ling's troops survived the war, they did manage to stop Zhang Liao, and you have to remember that was Zhang Liao, Zhang Wenyuan.
The Battle of Xiaoyao Ford is enough to prove how fierce the Eastern Wu troops were, but now you're telling me that the Han family's five hundred troops were completely wiped out, and even the young master Han Zong died?
Wasn't the Han army recruited by Guan Xing after he came to Jiangdong? How come their fighting strength is so strong?
Lu Xun was confused for a long time before he finally came to his senses and asked impatiently, "What exactly happened? Where were you surrounded? Tell me clearly."
The sergeant, with snot and tears streaming down his face, said, "Back then, we followed General Han..."
After hearing this, Lu Xun quickly found a map and had the squad leader point out the location where Han Dang was surrounded. His heart sank.
Surveying terrain is an essential skill for military generals. Lu Xun, who was famous for his campaigns against the Yue tribes, was very familiar with the terrain of Huaiyu Mountain. The moment he saw the location pointed to by the squad leader, the topographical map of that place immediately came to mind.
It was a narrow valley without a name and with only two or three exits, so narrow that even birds could not cross it if it was blocked.
The squad leader just said that they were ambushed by the Han army on their way forward and forced to retreat. They were ambushed again when they entered the mountains and had no choice but to turn north, where they were blocked by Wu and Yue.
In other words, Han Dang was completely surrounded and had no chance of escape.
Normally, Han Dang's strength would have been more than enough to break through the encirclement. However, the army had barely rested since their journey from Nanchang, and after being separated from him, Han Dang had fallen into a trap for a whole day. The army was hungry, exhausted, and demoralized. More importantly, his strongest unit had been completely annihilated while covering Han Dang's retreat. Under these circumstances, trying to break through was a pipe dream, and Han Dang might already be...
"Grand Commander, don't hesitate any longer, please save my old general, or it will be too late."
The sergeant's cry for help interrupted Lu Xun's thoughts and pulled him back to reality. Lu Xun bit his tongue hard to dispel the distracting thoughts in his mind, and looked down at the muddy road that resembled a swamp, his face full of trouble.
He wanted to save Han Dang, but how could he do it?
The location where Han Dang was besieged was more than 20 li away from him. Normally, this distance would be covered in the blink of an eye, but now the ground was full of traps dug by the Han army, and it had just rained, so everything was muddy. By the time the reinforcements trudged through the mud to reach the battlefield, the Han army would probably have already finished fighting and retreated.
Han Dang is beyond saving.
Nevertheless, the necessary actions must still be taken. If we cannot save them, it is a matter of ability; but if we do not save them, it is a matter of attitude.
Lu Xun ordered his men to summon Zhou Fang, the Western Commandant, and instructed him: "Ziyu (Zhou Fang's courtesy name), you lead your troops to the battlefield at top speed and make every effort to rescue General Han."
Rescuing Han Dang was not difficult; the challenge was getting to the battlefield in time.
Han Dang, currently surrounded, is like an egg yolk encased in an eggshell. Breaking the shell from the inside is not easy, but breaking it from the outside only requires a gentle tap.
The Han army blocking Han Dang's retreat numbered only two or three thousand. If Zhou Fang could arrive in time and attack Han Dang from both inside and outside, he could easily defeat this Han army and open up a retreat route for Han Dang.
The question is whether Zhou Fang can arrive before Han Dang is annihilated.
Zhou Fang knew the seriousness of the problem and dared not delay, so he quickly set off through the traps and mud.
Lu Xun watched his retreating figure, lost in thought. He didn't think Zhou Fang could arrive at the battlefield in time, so he had to prepare for the worst.
The worst-case scenario is that Han Dang is completely annihilated.
and then?
Without Han Dang's aid, the Han army will be able to focus all its efforts on dealing with Xu Sheng at Yushan. Moreover, with Wu scouts reporting the news, Han scouts are certainly also on the move. Perhaps Guan Xing, who is far away in Damo, has already received the news and is leading his troops to Yushan.
Xu Sheng is finished too.
Damn Xu Wenxiang, you've really ruined my life! How am I supposed to handle the battles to come now that you've lost?
He didn't care if Xu Sheng died, but the problem was that Xu Sheng had more than 3,000 troops with him, plus Ding Feng's 3,000 men, and Han Dang's 10,000 men, a total of 16,000 were gone.
How many troops did he have in total? He lost a third of them before even seeing Guan Xing.
More importantly, once the news gets back, Wu Jun's already low morale will definitely suffer another fatal blow, and the battle will be lost.
Damn Han army, instead of counterattacking Yushan when Xu Sheng suddenly broke through, they blocked the reinforcements. They're really playing games.
Only then did Lu Xun tragically realize that he had underestimated his enemy. Guan Xing was far more difficult to deal with than he had imagined, and now, with such a great victory that had greatly boosted morale, the battles to come would only be more difficult. He might even be killed before he even crossed the corridor...
If even he lacked confidence, one can imagine how others felt.
Given the current situation, Lu Xun believed the best course of action was to retreat to Yuhan to defend, fearing that Yuzhang would be lost before Kuaiji could be captured.
Conversely, if Sun Quan could hold Yuzhang and preserve his remaining forces, he would still have a chance to survive between Cao Cao and Liu Bei. But if he lost even this small asset, he would truly become a lamb to the slaughter.
Lu Xun had second thoughts, but he tragically discovered that he couldn't back down. Not only could he not back down, he had to keep going because he couldn't contact Lü Dai, the governor of Jiaozhou.
He had already asked Lü Dai to attack Guan Xing from behind. Lü Dai might already be adrift at sea. There were also He Qi and Luo Tong, who were on a secret mission. If they withdrew now, they would be doomed.
Therefore, we cannot retreat; even if we know there is a pit ahead, we must jump in.
Thinking of this, Lu Xun felt a deep bitterness in his heart. He returned to his command tent, picked up his pen, and wrote a letter to Sun Quan to report the situation, pushing all the responsibility onto Xu Sheng. After finishing the letter and sending it out, he lay down on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
We cannot afford to be reckless anymore. We must proceed cautiously and steadily, wearing down Guan Xing while waiting for new variables, such as Cao Ren defeating Guan Yu or Liu Bei's Northern Expedition failing.
After a day of rest, Zhou Fang returned and came to Lu Xun with a wry smile, saying, "Grand Commander, I'm late. The battle is over. I learned from the captured Han scouts that General Han committed suicide on the battlefield, and the rest of his men surrendered to the Han army."
Although Lu Xun was mentally prepared, he still felt a pang of heartache and sighed helplessly, "I know, you must be tired too, go back and rest, we'll talk again when the road dries."
After another day of rest, the road surface dried out due to the scorching sun. Lu Xun led his army to continue advancing. Two days later, they finally passed through the trap zone and entered the twenty-mile safe zone set up by the Han army. After walking less than ten miles along the safe zone, they were horrified to find thick smoke billowing ahead.
Zhou Fang frowned and said, "Such thick smoke is definitely not ordinary beacon fire. Judging from the direction, it's coming from the middle of the main road. What's going on? We didn't see the Han army setting any fires."
Lu Xun frowned and said, "Take some men and go take a look."
"Look..." Zhou Fang led his troops away, and returned half a day later with a young man whose clothes were disheveled and whose face was covered in soot. Lu Xun stared at the young man for a long time before recognizing him as Ding Feng. He was astonished and asked, "Cheng Yuan, what are you doing here? And what happened to you?"
Ding Feng said with a sob in his voice, "Grand Commander, I'm so glad to see you again. I thought that last time we parted was goodbye forever."
Thinking of the hardships and misery he had endured along the way, Ding Feng felt like crying but had no tears left to shed.
Lu Xun, however, had no time to listen to his grievances and said impatiently, "Let's get down to business first. What's going on with the fire ahead?"
Ding Feng wiped the soot off his face and said, "I put it there. Here's what happened..."