Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 204 Capturing Zhuge

West City.

An uproar erupted outside the city.

The city walls were completely silent.

Shen Yi had considered that Wu Jun would be defeated, but he never imagined that the defeat would be so swift, let alone so utter.

Even Bu Zhi's tall banner had fallen.

He didn't know whether Bu Zhi was dead or had surrendered.

But he had a suspicion:
—Could it be that Wu's army on that warship captured Bu Zhi and surrendered to the Han?

Upon realizing this, his already flustered heart became even more uneasy, and he subconsciously looked around, scrutinizing his officers and soldiers.

"Uncle, what do we do now?" His son-in-law, Kuai Che, failed to notice his father-in-law's expression and stared blankly at the Wu army fleeing in chaos outside the city, somewhat at a loss.

There were about five or six thousand Wu infantrymen outside the city.

As the flames raged on the Han River, the Wu infantrymen were already in a state of chaos and disorder.

Seeing the banner disappear and the ship heading north to shore, they probably knew there was no way to turn the tide, so they began to maintain some order and flee in the southwest and southeast directions.

To the southwest is Zhuge Jin.

To the southeast lies a mountain road that might allow them to return to Jingzhou alive, should the Wu army carry enough provisions and avoid being intercepted by the Wei armies of Shangyong and Fangling counties.

If Shen Yi intended to surrender to the Han, the best course of action would be to lead his army down the city walls, intercept the Wu army, and add to the Han's already great victory.

But Shen Yi clearly hesitated.

You can't see into someone's heart; he couldn't guess what the people behind him were thinking.

If he were to open the city gates and surrender to the Han, but the generals did not want him to, what should be done?

If he does not surrender to the Han, but the generals want to surrender, what should be done?

Ever since Meng Da was betrayed by his nephew, his paranoia has only intensified.

Historically, Shen Yi also surrendered after Meng Da was beheaded.

When the governors of Jingzhou saw that Sima Yi's prestige had soared after beheading Meng Da, they all sent gifts to congratulate him. Sima Yi accepted all the gifts and then had someone subtly persuade Shen Yi to present gifts to Nanyang.

Shen Yi knew he would never return, yet he still refused to obey orders or summons. As expected, Sima Yi questioned him about his unauthorized engraving of seals and urged him to come to court for an audience. After he entered Luoyang, Cao Rui appointed him as General of the Warships and treated him with the honors due to one of the Nine Ministers.

Shen Yi is old now. He has been a local tyrant in Xicheng his whole life, and he's tired of it. Now he really wants to enjoy his retirement.

However... his elder brother Shen Dan's family was in Wei, and his son was also an official in Jingzhou.

He couldn't help but consider the future generations.

Thinking of this, the man sighed inwardly.

Ultimately, people have to pay the price for their choices. If he hadn't disregarded the Cao Wei court and privately forged official seals to grant official positions, fearing retribution from Cao Rui, he might have resigned and followed Sima Yi to Luoyang.

Who could have imagined that the Shu Kingdom would actually succeed?

At that time, when the Shu Kingdom wanted to rescue Meng Da, he even sent troops to block his way.

"General, do you think... we can still wait for Cao Xiu to come to our aid?" a captain asked. "Will Shu give us another chance to besiege the city for a hundred days and then surrender, just like Wu did?"

Everyone turned their attention to Shen Yi.

Shen Yi met the gazes of the generals, still unsure of their thoughts, and could only say:
"In my opinion, the reason why Shu went to war with Wu at this time was mostly because Sun Quan was tied up in Xiangfan by Cao Xiu, or rather, Cao Xiu was tied up in Xiangfan by Sun Quan."

"Since the Shu Kingdom has broken its alliance with the Wu Kingdom and started a war, it will not let the matter rest."

"I think the Shu army in Baidi City has probably taken advantage of the situation to advance eastward and force the Wu army to retreat."

"In this way, Zhao Yun will definitely try to seize the three eastern counties in one fell swoop before Cao Xiu, Sun Quan, Wei and Wu's army escapes from Xiangfan."

"Compared to the three eastern commanderies, Cao Xiu would definitely prefer to seize Jingzhou from Sun Quan, and then he wouldn't bother to come to its aid."

"And Zhao Yun... will not let go of the opportunity to seize the three eastern counties in one fell swoop, and I don't think he will waste any more time with us at the foot of the western city."

"Does the general mean... if we don't surrender, the Shu Kingdom will definitely choose to launch a full-scale attack?" the captain asked nervously.

The generals looked at each other in bewilderment.

If it weren't for today's battle between Han and Wu, and if they hadn't witnessed the Han army defeat the Wu army in less than two hours, they would have been somewhat unwilling to surrender to Han.

If Cao Xiu could come to their aid in time and defeat Shu Han, they could still follow Shen Yi to dominate a region. However, if they were forced to surrender to Han, they could only live as wealthy men and would inevitably be subject to the strict laws of Shu.

"Gentlemen, how long do you think we can hold out against the Shu army's strong attack?" Shen Yi asked. "Can we hold out until Cao Xiu comes to our aid?"

Upon hearing this, the generals looked at each other in bewilderment.

The raging fire on the Han River truly made their scalps tingle. They couldn't understand what the Han army had used to make the fire burn so rapidly on the water, leaving the Wu navy completely defenseless.

Wei Xinggongcao looked at Shen Yi and said:

"My lord, the Shu army is no longer what it used to be."

"First, they killed Cao Zhen and Zhang He in succession, then defeated Sima Yi, seized the entire Guanzhong region, and even the Lianglong region was already in Shu's hands."

"Now, even the Sun Wu navy can't beat the Shu Han navy, and the Cao Wei navy is far inferior to the Sun Wu navy. How can Cao Xiu still hope to break through the Han army's defenses and rescue Xicheng?"
"In my opinion, it's better to... it's better to..."

The clerk was unaware of Shen Yi's and the generals' intentions, and dared not speak too plainly, but clearly everyone understood what he meant.

Upon hearing the Chief Clerk's words, Shen Yi calmly glanced around at the generals, observing their expressions. Seeing that not a single person objected, he finally spoke:
"Regardless of the circumstances, Wu's army has already suffered a great defeat and cannot recover. If we go out of the city to intercept and kill them now, it will be a meritorious deed for both Wei and Han."

"Perhaps... the Han army might grant us two months because of this. Who among you is willing to leave the city and attack Wu?!"

Wu's army has been besieging the city for more than forty days. In another fifty days or so, Shen Yi and the relatives of some high-ranking officials in the city will no longer be implicated.

“Uncle, your son-in-law is willing to go!” Kuai Che immediately patted his chest. His father-in-law had family and his son was a hostage in Wei, but he did not.

Moreover... his cousin Kuai Qi was also the brother-in-law of Zhuge Liang, the Prime Minister of Shu. He was just unlucky; ten years ago, when Liu Feng and Meng Da were seizing the three eastern commanderies, he was killed by that scoundrel Meng Da.

Before long, the west city gate opened wide.

More than a thousand armored soldiers, led by Kuai Che, charged towards the fleeing Wu army.

Wu Jun was already terrified and had no will to fight. When he saw that Wei Jun had also joined in, he turned pale and fled in all directions.

Since it was unknown whether General Bu Zhi was dead or had surrendered, and General Zhuge Jin was still upstream, his situation was unknown.

Without a unified command, the Wu army officers responsible for monitoring the western city could only protect their own troops, and no one could take care of anyone else.

In the Battle of Xiaoyao Ford, Ling Tong sacrificed his entire army to save Sun Quan's life, leading to the downfall of the Ling clan. With this lesson learned, no one was willing to risk the lives of their troops for Sun Quan's favor.

Seeing that the Wu army, which had previously maintained some order, was now fighting independently and not helping each other, Kuai Che immediately led a thousand armored soldiers into the chaotic Wu army, and found himself in an uninhabited place.

Wu Jun was only concerned with fleeing and did not organize any decent resistance at all.

Kuai Che's anxious heart instantly found its footing.

After killing one man, he immediately raised his sword and shouted, "Brothers, follow me!"

He immediately led his men in pursuit.

On the Han River.

Upon seeing the Wei army leaving the city to attack Wu, Fu Qian immediately changed course, abandoning the pursuit of the dwindling Wu navy and heading south. Reaching the south bank of the Han River, Fu Qian abandoned his ship and went ashore. The boatmen rowed over twenty Han warships and a dozen or so Wu warships, which hadn't yet untied their moorings, back to the north bank to fetch Gao Xiang's troops.

"Go to the southeast!" Although the western city had not yet fallen, Fu Qian's goal was clear.

The Wu infantry at the foot of Xicheng, plus the naval infantry under Zhuge Jin's command on the upper reaches of the Han River, totaled about 14,000 to 15,000 men.

The most urgent task is to eliminate as much of Wu's manpower as possible.

The mountain road southeast of Xicheng leads directly to Jingzhou, but the mountain road is difficult to travel and is five or six hundred miles long. Without food and supplies, the Wu army may not be able to escape safely through the mountain road. But what if they do?
At that point, chasing them won't work, and not chasing them won't work either.

They were afraid of being intercepted and killed by the Wei army in Shangyong and Fangling if they pursued them.

If we don't pursue them, the Wu army will escape. Who knows, the Wu army in Wuxian and Zigui might already be on Sun Quan's orders, clearing mountains and opening roads to meet them.

The best solution would be to directly block the southeast mountain pass, forcing Wu's army to flee elsewhere.

The "elsewhere" naturally refers to the upper reaches of the Han River where Zhuge Jin was located.

Hundreds of Han soldiers, led by Fu Qian, marched aggressively southeastward.

At the foot of the western city, in the Wu army camp, a young Wu general who still maintained his rationality did not flee with his troops when the Wei army left the city. Instead, he organized his troops to retrieve grain from the granary.

Without food, even if one manages to escape via the southeastern mountain path, they will eventually starve to death on the way, unless they resort to cannibalism.

When he finally received news from his scouts that the Han army had landed, Yan Wang finally stopped lingering and led his troops to flee southeast.

Southeast direction.

Shen Yi's son-in-law was so engrossed in chasing and killing the Wu army that he suddenly realized that the Wu army was nothing special, no wonder the Shu army was able to defeat the Wu army in such a short time.

"If we had known that Wu was so easily defeated, why would we have bothered to feign compliance with him?!"

He led his men on a wild run, fighting their way to the southeastern mountain pass and beheading over a hundred men.

Seeing that the defeated enemy had all fled into the vast mountain path, fearing an ambush ahead, they finally led their men to stop and prepare to turn back.

However, as soon as he turned around, he saw a small group of Wu soldiers fleeing from the road he had come from, rushing towards him in a panic.

But the man was not alarmed; instead, he was delighted and roared, "Wu dog, die!"

He immediately took the lead, drew his sword, and charged towards the small group of routed soldiers.

The Wei soldiers, who had just slaughtered the Wu soldiers as easily as killing chickens, were now inspired by this fierce general and all raised their swords and roared as they followed closely behind.

Fu Qian was still more than two miles away from the fleeing thousand-plus Wu soldiers when he saw from afar that the Wei army that had arrived at the mountain pass first was already fighting with the Wu army. He was also taken aback.

The saying goes, "A wise man submits to circumstances." Is Shen Yi deciding to surrender the entire city to the Han?

Yeah.

The Han dynasty had no time to play any games with Shen Yi, such as a hundred-day siege.

"Go!" Fu Qian snorted, and without much hesitation, led his men to launch a pincer attack.

However, before he could reach the mountain pass and join forces with the Wei army to defeat Wu, he saw that the Wei army, which had only been fighting the Wu army for a short while, suddenly scattered and fled inexplicably, blocking his way.

"What happened?" he demanded angrily, grabbing the collar of a fleeing Wei soldier.

The routed Wei soldier was so terrified by the tall, bloodied figure before him that he nearly lost control of his bladder, stammering, "General Kuai... General Kuai has been killed by the Wu army!"

Fu Qian was taken aback upon hearing this. After a moment's hesitation, he led his men to the mountain pass.

Stopping to look, they saw the Wu army on the mountain path beating drums in a disciplined manner.

Seeing this, Fu Qian frowned slightly.

To remain calm under such circumstances, to prevent his troops from collapsing and his morale from crumbling, and to even kill a Wei general in the process, he had to admit he was quite capable. He thought of Wang Ping, who had scared Zhang He away at Jieting.

"General, shall we pursue?"

"That's enough." Fu Qian shook his head, then let the thousand or so Wu soldiers leave, and led several hundred Han soldiers to guard the mountain pass.

Before long, Gao Xiang also arrived with more than a thousand men.

After Yan Zhi led over a thousand Han soldiers to the pass and firmly blocked it, Gao Xiang and Fu Qian led their troops to the upper reaches of the Han River to encircle the area.

Upper reaches of the Han River.

Zhuge Jin, Xiahou Cheng, Teng Yin, and other generals were already in a state of panic and confusion when they learned of the fire downstream. Now, they finally learned from the defeated soldiers that General Bu Zhi had fallen, and they were all terrified and at a loss.

"How could this be? How could General Zuo do this? What should we do?!" Lieutenant Xiahou Cheng paced back and forth on the deck, rubbing his hands together, like an ant on a hot pan.

Zhuge Jin was also anxious and his mouth was dry: "Let's get ashore and take the mountain path!"

Upstream, Liao Hua and Chen Hu's boats were advancing.

Downstream, the naval forces of Zhao Yun and Fu Qian blocked the way.

Zhuge Jin's navy was not elite, and they were overwhelmed when dealing with the two thousand Baidi navy soldiers brought by Chen Hu, the captain of the warships.

Now, his dozens of boats are sandwiched between the Han army from the north and the south, with no way to escape. Going ashore gives him a better chance of survival.

Xiahou Cheng, Teng Yin, and other generals all agreed, so they set all the Wu army's warships on fire, and then followed Zhuge Jin to abandon ship and go ashore.

Because there were not many places to land, and they were occupied by Wu's fire ships.

Liao Hua and Chen Hu were unable to catch up, and Wu Jun finally bought some time to escape.

However, before Zhuge Jin could lead his troops to the southeast mountain pass, they saw Han soldiers charging towards them.

The banners bearing the character "Gao" and the flags bearing the character "Fu" were everywhere, and the red flags of the Han army fluttered in the wind.

The drums and gongs sounded in unison, as if a tsunami had struck and mountains had collapsed.

Upon seeing this, Wu Jun at the front line attempted to retreat again.

However, Liao Hua and Chen Hu led their troops to pursue them from behind.

Wu Jun was huddled together, with no order whatsoever.

"Those who lay down their armor and weapons will not be killed!" Fu Qian shouted.

"Those who surrender their armor and weapons will not be killed!" the Han soldiers shouted.

Before long, the excited shouts of commanding Wu's troops to surrender echoed throughout the heavens and the earth.

Seeing the ferocious enemy approaching from the front and the raging pursuers behind, and hearing this earth-shattering sound, Wu Jun dared not abandon his armor and weapons, nor did he dare to flee. In the end, he began to crouch down and lie prone.

Seeing that Wu's army had given up resistance, Gao Xiang, Fu Qian, Liao Hua, Chen Hu and other generals also stopped their advance. After organizing their troops and arranging them in battle formation, they once again gave the order: those who lay down their armor and weapons would be spared, and those who did not lay down their weapons and weapons within a quarter of an hour would be executed without exception.

In their panic, some Wu soldiers finally abandoned their armor and marched into the Han army's ranks, and the Han army indeed did not engage in further fighting.

As more and more soldiers abandoned their weapons and armor, crouching and lying down, Zhuge Jin, Xiahou Cheng, and other generals, still conspicuously clad in their armor under the banners of the Wu army, finally lost heart and gave up, ceasing their struggle.

A short while later, Zhuge Jin was brought before Liao Huashen.

Zhuge Jin tidied his disheveled hair, his voice deep and clear:
“Yuanjian, it has been seven years since we parted. Back then, on the banks of the Han River, I was the butcher and you were the fish.”

"Today, I am also on the banks of the Han River, yet I have become your prisoner. You wield the axe, and I am the fish on the chopping block. The world has turned upside down, and things have come to this."

When Liao Hua was captured by the Wu army, he received a lot of care from Zhuge Jin. Looking at Zhuge Jin now, he sighed slightly.
"Ziyu is the Prime Minister's brother, and he treated me quite well back then. However, we each served our own masters, and I have offended him in many ways."

(End of this chapter)