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"General Guan, please don't worry, everything is under control."

Zhuge Liang's voice came through; he was calm and composed, showing no sign of panic.

"The situation is extremely urgent! How can Kongming remain so calm?"

Wen Ping greeted Zhuge Liang.

"Kongming, look at this! This is the man you vouched for, the one who is truly capable!" Guan Yu wished he could tear Lu Congtian to pieces.

His words carried a distinctly accusatory tone.

However, since things have come to this point, further hatred and anger are useless.

"I think this guy is a spy from Jiangdong!"

Zhuge Liang strongly agreed with Guan Yu's guess, "That's right, Tian became a spy in Jiangdong after the Battle of Red Cliffs."

"You knew all along?"

Zhuge Liang nodded.

"Then why didn't you say so? And you let him rise through the ranks in our army?"

Guan Yu couldn't help but question him.

Zhuge Liang lightly waved his feather fan. "If I had told you, would we have had the chance to turn the tide and win today?"

"Turning defeat into victory?" Guan Yu and Wen Ping looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Kongming means..."

"That's right, Cong Tian has always been one of our people. Everything you've seen is Cong Tian in disguise. We've been playing along with his schemes for the past ten years."

Guan Yu exclaimed in disbelief, "He's been pretending for ten years? Impossible! I saw with my own eyes how he treated his wife and children! That demeanor couldn't possibly be an act!"

Just then, flames rose from the Han River.

"That is..."

Zhuge Liang, though composed, showed a hint of worry. "There's no time to explain now. Cong Tian has already feigned surrender and launched a fire attack on the Jiangdong warships. Zhongye, order the entire Xiangyang navy to come out and slaughter Lu Xun, leaving not a single one alive!"

Wen Ping knew that this was not the time to pry, as the opportunity was fleeting. After receiving Guan Yu's orders, he immediately went to the shipyard and issued the battle orders.

The Jingzhou soldiers and navy are the strongest, everyone is skilled in water, and they are victorious in naval battles.

The warships in the dock set sail and rushed to the front lines of the battle.

"Can Lu Congtian really be trusted?" Guan Yu still had some doubts.

If Lu Congtian was truly cooperating with Zhuge Liang, constantly playing along and feigning emotions, then Lu Congtian's decade-long routine of feigning emotions was simply too terrifying.

The expanding flames on the Han River were proof of everything.

Thus, Lu Congtian's sacrifices for his side are truly awe-inspiring.

Ten years, a full ten years. It's unimaginable how Lu Congtian suppressed his longing for his wife and children for more than three thousand days and nights over those ten years.

Guan Yu knew he couldn't do it.

That's why he didn't believe that Lu Congtian was faking it.

Furthermore, with Lu Congtian destroying the south gate and leaving, Guan Yu was even less inclined to believe that Lu Congtian was one of his own.

Isn't this putting Xiangyang in a hopeless situation? Even if we manage to stop Lu Xun, don't forget that Cao Ren and Yu Jin are still behind us!

If they attack the city, the city gates will be undefended, and the only outcome will be the fall of the city and the death of its inhabitants!

Zhuge Liang seemed to know what Guan Yu was thinking. He pointed his feather fan towards the south gate and said, "Destroying the south gate is my idea. This will allow us to quickly evacuate the soldiers' families from the city and prevent the general from deciding to defend it to the death."

"They're abandoning Xiangyang? Surely Kongming didn't include me in his scheme?"

"General Guan, we are surrounded by fierce tigers in front and hungry wolves behind. How can we possibly take Xiangyang?"

Guan Yu was taken aback.

Indeed, he valued Xiangfan too much and never considered abandoning the city, wanting to live and die with it.

But now that the city gates are gone, their own soldiers will certainly not be determined to defend them to the death.

Guan Yu understood. Zhuge Liang deliberately destroyed the city gates to discourage Guan Yu from holding out, fearing that Guan Yu would stubbornly refuse to leave.

Now, Xiangyang is something we have to abandon, whether we like it or not.

Guan Yu was extremely unwilling, thinking, "Are we just going to hand over Jingzhou to them like this?"

Losing Xiangfan is tantamount to losing Jingzhou.

Zhuge Liang smiled with regret, "How can we just hand it over? Why can't we refuse to give it to anyone?"

Guan Yu's eyes flickered. "Kongming means... destroy the city?"

"That's right. We can relocate the civilians and soldiers' families to Jiangling, and then burn Xiangfan down. Even if Cao Cao or Sun Quan acquire the city, it will only be a ruined city."

Guan Yu made a quick decision, "Alright! We'll do as Kongming says! Kongming, begin relocating the people out of the city, and I'll go to guard Fancheng to prevent Cao Ren from knowing about the trouble in Xiangyang and sending troops! We'll meet at Jiangling tomorrow!"

"good!"

"From the fields..."

"The brothers from Tian and Shan are both loyal and righteous. What if..." Zhuge Liang was equally worried. "I believe that our lord will not mistreat their families."

"That's all we can do."

Guan Yu knew that Lu Congtian had a slim chance of survival in this battle. If it was truly confirmed that Lu Congtian was retaliating against Jiangdong, Guan Yu would certainly give him a proper burial and treat his family well.

"If that's really the case, why didn't you tell me sooner? That way I would have been prepared and wouldn't have been so harsh on Congtian."

Zhuge Liang looked into the distance and said, "If we can't even deceive our own people, how can we deceive the generals of Jiangdong? The matter was accomplished in secrecy. Jiangdong has planted many spies on our side. Only in this way can we achieve the effect of surprise today. It is not too late for the general to know the truth now."

All of this seemed to happen suddenly.

In fact, it had been planned for a long time.

From the moment Lu Congtian contacted Lu Su, Lü Meng, and Lu Xun, Zhuge Liang used Lu Congtian to subtly guide and begin planning today's feigned surrender.

Upon receiving news of Cao Cao's withdrawal from Hanzhong, Lu Xun could no longer contain himself, and Zhuge Liang, knowing the time was ripe, took action.

Lu Xun was wise and knew that if Cao Cao withdrew his troops from Hanzhong, Commander Lü Meng would be attacked by Liu Bei.

Moreover, once Cao Cao's Hanzhong army arrives to reinforce Nanyang, Xiangfan will no longer have the strength or excuse to contest it.

After all, on the surface, Jiangdong had already surrendered to Cao Cao and was now his subject and subordinate.

Only by first capturing Xiangfan could we have the confidence to break with Cao Cao.

Lu Xun now faces two choices.

First, withdraw troops to support Lü Meng and safeguard Jiangdong's gains in Yizhou.

However, if such a choice is made, Guan Yu will inevitably be spared.

Furthermore, Guan Yu will most likely cut off his retreat and launch a pincer attack with Liu Bei.

The geographical disadvantage of Jing and Yi in transportation became apparent. Although they could enter Yizhou from the Yangtze River, the occupation of Jiangling and Yiling would be like trapping a dog in a cage.

Therefore, Lu Xun only had the second option left: to attack Xiangyang.

Furthermore, it is imperative to capture Xiangyang quickly before Cao Cao's main army arrives to reinforce Nanyang, and before Cao Ren and Yu Jin are unaware of the situation.

As long as Xiangyang is captured, Lu Xun will be able to control the Han River and guard the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

This laid the foundation for Cao Cao's division of Jiangdong.

Because all Lü Meng needed was for Lu Xun to hold Guan Yu back and not come out.

Therefore, Lü Meng did not leave Lu Xun with many troops.

The battle situation was unpredictable, and Lu Xun was unable to get instructions in time, so he had no choice but to take a risky step and join forces with Lu Congtian, an inside man, to take the second route.

Given that Lu Congtian was certain that he was a loyal inside man, Lu Xun was absolutely certain of this.

After all, the city was on fire and in turmoil, and the city gates were damaged. They then brought men, horses, and wealth to surrender, and attacked Xiangyang together. Everything was in line with the plan.

They have a sure thing.

This led to Lu Congtian learning from Huang Gai in the Battle of Red Cliffs.

Using fire as a signal, they feigned surrender and launched a fire attack.

Lu Xun was almost completely unaware of this.

Even Guan Yu didn't believe Lu Congtian was an imposter, let alone Lu Xun, who was from the Lu family.

Who would believe that someone would pretend for ten years just to set off this fire today?