jdhmnovel Chapter 270 Lu Xun was commanded by Xu Sheng?
Chapter 270 Lu Xun was commanded by Xu Sheng?
After the battle, Shen Yi did not dare to return to camp immediately. Instead, he left three thousand men to continue the ambush to guard against Xu Sheng's second attack, while the others returned to camp to rest and conserve their strength. After all, people are not made of steel and cannot keep working non-stop like this.
Xu Sheng retreated five miles away to count the number of people. After ordering the wounded soldiers to be sent back, he continued his journey with the hunters, preparing to sneak into Yushan County to cut off Shen Yi's retreat.
After daybreak, Shen Yi led his troops back to camp, where he ate and rested with the soldiers on night duty. The soldiers who had rested the night before got up and started working, digging traps as they retreated.
Everyone has worries and strives for their ideals. Wherever the sun shines, there are busy figures striving for their goals.
Lu Xun had been traveling recently and was now less than 30 li away from Yuhan County. He was about to press on and rush there when suddenly several fast horses came galloping towards him. Before they even got close, they shouted from afar, "I am a personal guard under General Xu Sheng. I have important matters to report to the Grand Commander."
Lu Xun's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this. Xu Sheng was not the type to ask for instructions early in the morning and report late at night. The fact that he had taken the initiative to send someone to report meant that something must have happened.
He dared not delay and quickly retreated to the side of the road, ordering his personal guards to guide the messengers from the side of the road so as not to delay the army's journey.
Before the messenger arrived, Han Dangxian, who had heard the commotion, ran over and asked curiously, "What happened? Did something happen to Xu Sheng?"
These veteran generals didn't respect Lu Xun much. Their disrespect manifested in their refusal to report anything unless it was a major incident, meaning that if they did report something, it meant something serious had definitely happened.
Lu Xun shook his head and said, "I don't know, we'll find out soon."
The messenger arrived quickly, saluted, and presented a letter, saying: "Grand Commander, General Xu Sheng fought a battle with the Han army with mixed results. Afterwards, instead of launching a surprise attack, he infiltrated Yushan to block the Han army's rear. Please, Grand Commander, immediately lead your troops to press forward and join forces with my general to annihilate the Han army's vanguard in the corridor."
While listening intently, Lu Xun and Han Dang unfolded the letter. After reading it, Han Dang excitedly said, "What a great idea! If Wen Xiang's move succeeds, we will definitely annihilate this Han army that dug the pit. It will give Guan Xing a good beating and greatly boost our army's morale. What do you say, Governor Lu?"
Lu Xun was not happy at all. Instead, he said with great worry, "It's not that simple. General Xu said in his letter that they met the Han army in Yiyang. Yiyang is nearly two hundred li from Yushan. Even if they met in the middle of the two counties, the Han army is still more than a hundred li away from Yushan. How many days would it take us to lay traps more than a hundred li away?"
"Moreover, the more skilled a person is at something, the more they are wary of it. Guan Xing likes to infiltrate, so how can we not be wary of enemy infiltration? Yushan may be easy to take, but what will happen after that? General Xu is short of food and clothing, how will he defend against Guan Xing's counterattack and hold out until we come to his rescue?"
His plan was to draw Guan Xing's attention to the front, creating an opportunity for Lü Dai and He Qi to attack Guan Xing from behind. Therefore, the attack should not be too fast; it would be better to advance slowly in the corridor and wear Guan Xing down.
However, Xu Sheng acted on his own initiative, which added some variables to the situation and put him in a very passive position.
Damn Xu Wenxiang, I told you to clear the traps, who told you to infiltrate? Do you even know what it means to obey military orders?
What am I supposed to do with this mess?
Han Dang disagreed, coldly snorting, "Commander Lu, you're boosting the enemy's morale while diminishing our own. Guan Xing's two captures of Zhang Cheng were both achieved through trickery; he's never fought a decent hard battle. With Wen Xiang's strength, I can't say how many times he'll be able to withstand Guan Xing's fierce attack, but he's confident he can hold out for ten days. Ten days should be enough time for us to reach Yushan, right?"
Lu Xun didn't want to argue with Han Dang, so after a moment's thought, he said helplessly, "The old general is right. Let's do as General Xu says. Go and call Ding Feng here."
What could he do? That damned Xu Sheng was here to inform him, not to ask for his permission. He probably already led his troops out when he delivered the message. What could he do but cooperate? Could he just stand by and watch Xu Sheng die?
Ding Feng arrived quickly, clasped his hands in greeting, and asked, "What are your orders, Grand Commander?"
Lu Xun handed over the letter and explained briefly: "Lead three thousand elite troops and take plenty of provisions to Yiyang as quickly as possible. After arriving in Yiyang, take the provisions and sneak towards Yushan. Once there, hand the provisions over to Xu Sheng, then leave the county and hide in the mountains to support Xu Sheng in defending the city until we arrive. If you cannot hold it, cover Xu Sheng's retreat. I only ask that you two return safely. Do you understand?"
“Yes…” Ding Feng clasped his hands in a bow and turned to leave.
Lu Xun turned to Han Dang and said, "Give everything that affects our speed to Zhuge Jin. Let's get to Yushan as fast as we can and join forces with Xu Sheng to wipe out the Wu army in Yiyang."
Since things have come to this point, we can only fight according to Xu Sheng's plan. As for how to deal with Xu Sheng's disobedience, we'll deal with that after the battle is over.
Upon hearing this, Han Dang felt a rare surge of goodwill towards Lu Xun. It seemed that this Grand Commander Lu was not as bad as he had imagined. At least he knew how to care about his colleagues and prioritize the overall situation.
Han Dang clasped his hands and said, "Rest assured, Grand Commander, I will personally command the army and will arrive at Yiyang as quickly as possible."
Under Han Dang's command, Wu Jun left a detachment to guard the supplies until Zhuge Jin from the rear came to take them over. The rest of the troops followed Lu Xun and Han Dang to Yu Han as quickly as possible. Upon arriving in Yu Han, they did not even enter the city. They simply ordered the magistrate of Yu Han to send a batch of grain to the army for emergency use before continuing their journey.
Lu Xun did not rest at all and finally arrived at Yiyang County on the evening of the second day, where he encountered the hundreds of wounded soldiers left behind by Xu Sheng.
The guard of the wounded soldiers was a sergeant. After bringing Lu Xun and Han Dang into the city and explaining the situation, he bowed and said, "Grand Commander, General Xu left two things before he left, instructing me to personally deliver them to you. Please come with me, Grand Commander."
Lu Xun and Han Dang followed Qu Chang to a room. Upon entering, they found a suit of heavy armor in the center of the room, and next to it was a strange sword with a slightly curved tip, its shape quite different from the standard Han sword. These were the heavy armor and sword that Xu Sheng had captured from the Han army.
After learning the origin of the swords and armor from Qu Chang, Lu Xun picked up the sword, which looked exactly like the Embroidered Spring Blade of the Ming Dynasty, examined it carefully, and turned around to say, "Old General, would you like to test the sharpness of the Han army's swords?"
Han Dang drew his sword, took a half step back, assumed a fighting stance, and said, "Come."
Neither of them were cowards, so they swung their weapons and slashed at each other. Then they quickly separated and checked each other's weapons. To their surprise, Lu Xun's knife was completely intact, while Han Dang's treasured sword, which he had followed for many years, had a chip the size of a broad bean.
Han Dang said with a mixture of heartache and shock, "How is this possible? This is the sword I seized from Luoyang when I accompanied Lord Wentai (Sun Jian) to fight Dong Zhuo. It was crafted by a master craftsman and has been with me for many years. How could it be chipped in a single blow?"
Lu Xun said with concern, "That's the problem. Your sword was crafted by a master craftsman and is rare in the Han Dynasty. This knife, however, is a weapon issued to every soldier in the Han army. In other words, our carefully crafted weapon is not as good as the mass-produced weapons from Guan Xing's workshop. General, you should know what this means, right?"
Han Dang said with a gloomy face, "This means that Guan Xing has mastered forging technology that is stronger than ours and even stronger than Cao Wei's, widening the gap between us in weapon making. If we cannot catch up with this gap, we will definitely suffer a great loss in the future."
"This kind of sword must have been forged by that damn Wushang Steel Mill. If we could get our hands on that steel mill..."
When the steel plant was mentioned, Han Dang’s eyes revealed an unprecedented greed. Who wouldn’t want such a technologically advanced and efficient steel plant?
Lu Xun was also envious. He pointed at the armor and said to Qu Chang, "Put on the armor and let me test its sturdiness."