Volume 5: Overlord of the Sea Chapter 617 Guandu
Zhang Fei fought and retreated all the way, but he still relied on holding the low bridge and personally covering the rear... and shot and killed the Xiongnu Khan Huochuquan!
Although the defeat could not be stopped, after all, the real commander of the enemy army was Xiahou Dun. The death of Huochequan only caused chaos among the Huns, but did not lead to a complete collapse of the camp. However, Xiahou Dun himself was not there after all, and other Wei generals could hardly control the chaotic Huns. Zhang Fei successfully retreated all the way to Guandu, 200 miles away from Hulao Pass, and stabilized his position with the help of the Yellow River.
The central army led by Lu Xun and Zhang Xiu from Wangjing Road, as well as the main force of Wei State led by Xiahou Dun, successively merged with their respective "front armies", forming a situation of confrontation between the north and the south in the Guandu area and along the river from Mengjin to Yanjin.
It's a bit like the decisive battle between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao...
It was just because of the White Rabbit Effect that the main battlefield of Yuan Shao's defeat was Bai Ma, not Guandu.
Guandu is a place overlooking Qing, Ji and Yan states, and even Bingzhou is not far away. With the cooperation of Wei State, it is no different from being directly bordering it. It can be said to be a good place to deploy troops!
Of course, this is mainly for Wei State, or for the three states in the north. For Chu State, Guandu is a bit far from its homeland, and the surrounding areas are all under the influence of Wei State.
Especially after Lu Xun learned that Huchuquan was killed by Zhang Fei, he didn't feel relieved, but frowned...
Huchuquan died at the wrong time!
If he had died earlier, the Hetao Xiongnu would have been in a mess among themselves and would not have been willing to be instigated by Wei to stir up trouble in the Central Plains.
If Huochuquan was still alive, the Xiongnu and Wei would still be an alliance. But once Huochuquan died... with Wei's ability, wouldn't it be easy to digest these Xiongnu who came from afar to the Central Plains?
By this time, the commander-in-chief's central army had already arrived at Guandu and joined his defeated army. Zhang Fei could no longer pretend not to see it.
Honestly came to Lu Xun's tent to plead guilty...
When Lu Xun first arrived in Wancheng, he was only the chief of staff. However, when the Northern Expedition was officially decided, Lu Xun was automatically promoted to commander-in-chief - he was in charge of the "Northern Expedition campaign in Wangjing Road."
In fact, Lu Xun is not very old now.
When Bai Tu first met Lu Xun, he was only fourteen, and now... he is only about thirty years old.
It was ten years earlier than the historical event "The scholar from Sanjiangkou became a general"!
However, compared to his rapid rise to prominence amid many doubts in history, Lu Xun today, with the Lu family's support, being regarded as Lu Kang's successor , and being Lu Su's disciple, can be said to be a template of a winner in life from the very beginning.
Moreover, Lu Xun was not only a winner in life, he stayed in Yizhou for nine years, first assisting Guan Ning, and then taking charge of the Governor's Office himself, and achieved real results...
Now that he is back, he is entrusted with an important task. Although everyone is not completely without doubt, after all, the situation in Yizhou is very different from that in the Central Plains, but in essence, he is definitely the "rising star of Chu State" that everyone is paying attention to.
Zhang Fei also knew that he had caused trouble, especially at such a sensitive time.
Over the years, Lu Xun's prestige has grown day by day, and he is no longer just a clever person who "Bai Gongsheng took the King's move and escaped unscathed"...
When Zhang Fei met Lu Xun, he was surprised at his youth, but he still remained polite.
"I am the guilty general Zhang Fei, paying my respects to... Commander Lu." Zhang Fei was still a little uncomfortable with this official position.
"Zhang Fei, do you admit your guilt?" Lu Xun said with a straight face.
"I know my guilt, Fei...I have sinned against the State of Qi and my brothers in the Qi army." Zhang Fei seemed to be actively admitting his mistakes, but he obviously deliberately bypassed the State of Chu.
" Oh? General Zhang hasn't surrendered yet?" Lu Xun questioned.
"If my elder brother surrenders to Chu, I will naturally surrender to Chu as well. However... I also clearly stated in my reply to the king that this is for the sake of brotherhood. I will use the Qi army to march west to support my second brother. The king also agreed to this in his response."
Zhang Fei was not stupid either. Especially after he knew that Liu Bei was still alive, he gradually regained his senses.
Zhang Fei was still unfamiliar with Lu Xun . After all, Lu Xun had been overseas before and people outside Chu did not know him.
However, Zhang Fei did not want to be accused of "disrespecting military orders" by the Chu commander, otherwise how could he seek justice if he was really beheaded?
especially……
Zhang Fei was not completely convinced of the State of Chu!
If Liu Bei had not been "rescued" directly to the State of Chu, Zhang Fei would never have thought of surrendering to Chu.
What Zhang Fei said was not entirely unreasonable - this was the condition he had proposed to Bai Tu before . Although Lu Xun, as the commander in charge of the Northern Expedition in Wangjing Road, had previously ordered him to join the expedition in Xu County, since Zhang Fei believed that this was inconsistent with the previous conditions of the Chu State, it was indeed impossible to determine that this was a violation of military orders.
Of course, Zhang Fei didn't want to embarrass Lu Xun, so he called himself a "guilty general" at the beginning.
Lu Xun didn't bother with him...
If it was a general of Chu, he might really be punished by military law!
"Does General Zhang want to lead the Qi army and act according to the previous agreement, or join the Northern Expedition Chu Army?" Lu Xun asked solemnly.
If Zhang Fei answered the former, Lu Xun... would definitely sell him out. Rather than risking the risk of military disobedience, it would be better to sell him off and see if this could create opportunities for the Chu army.
"Since Commander Lu wants to go to war with Wei and the pseudo-Han, the surrendered general is willing to obey his orders." Zhang Fei changed his words to "surrendered general."
After all, when asked about "crimes", Zhang Fei only admitted that he committed crimes against the Qi army - failing to win the battle was naturally a crime... but he did not admit to "disrespecting military orders."
"If you join our Chu army, you must abide by the rules of the Chu army. Can General Zhang do it?" Lu Xun asked seriously.
"It should be so..." Zhang Fei also knew that he should not be too willful at this time.
He was unwilling to accept it, but if he still refused to accept it even though the other person was right in front of him, it would only embarrass Liu Bei.
Moreover, Zhang Fei also understood that it was no coincidence that Wei State was now launching a large-scale attack!
Cooperating with the Chu army here would be the greatest help to Guan Yu.
Similarly, Lu Xun did not pursue previous events regarding these newly surrendered Qi generals, nor did he rush to disband and incorporate them. He simply set "now" as the time point for the Qi army to be completely incorporated into the Chu army, which was considered as a set of rules with Zhang Fei.
When in Yizhou, Lu Xun used similar tactics too many times...
Lu Xun had no intention of keeping Zhang Fei in the central army, but instead ordered him to go to Huojia and Jixian areas in the northwest as a separate unit to guard against the enemy troops in Henei crossing the river.
Lu Xun, commanding the rear army of 10,000 and with 20,000 reinforcements about to arrive, remained stationed at Guandu, while Zhang Xiu advanced to the south of Wuchao Lake and set up camp.
The momentum of the Wei and Chu armies at Guandu was growing. Chu had already deployed more than 50,000 troops, with an additional 30,000 Qi troops. Wei had dispatched 80,000 Wei troops, including more than 10,000 cavalry, 20,000 high-ranking officials, and 60,000 Xiongnu troops...
