Ji Han Liu Zhang

Shu Army’s Southern Camp.

Liu Zhang listened to the shouting and killing sounds coming from afar. The powerful shouting and killing sounds penetrated the tent and went straight into his ears, making him lose all sleepiness. So he simply got up, put on a single piece of clothing, walked out of the tent, and went to the high platform in the camp.

Night battles, that is, fighting at night, torches are indispensable, especially tonight when the moon is dim and the surroundings are dark. Without the illumination of torches, the soldiers below would be in the dark, unable to see the enemy or their comrades.

Thus, on the battlefield in front of the Shu army's southern camp, torches were raised. As the number of torches increased, they looked like stars in the night sky. This reminded Liu Zhang, who was scouting the battle situation, of an idiom - raising fire like stars.

With the help of the light brought by the torches, Liu Zhang climbed up the high platform in the camp and took in the general situation of the battle. The flag raised by the first attacking enemy had a bright word "Guo" on it. Without thinking too much, it must be Guo Si, one of the two heroes of Liangzhou.

Guo Si was outstanding in bravery among the generals in Liang Province. Although he fell into an ambush, he had the momentum to break out of the formation after charging left and right. And because the situation of the night battle was unclear, Guo Si took advantage of the opportunity and escaped from the encirclement of the Shu army.

The cavalrymen following Guo Si were able to escape the Shu army's encirclement by relying on the horses' power, but the infantrymen following Guo Si were still trapped in the Shu army's encirclement. When these Liangzhou infantrymen saw Guo Si breaking out of the formation, they all shouted, "General, abandon us!"

"The General has abandoned me!"

The voices of the Liangzhou infantrymen were both mournful and intended to provoke Guo Si. After all, if Guo Si had a little conscience and pride, he would not abandon the infantrymen and lead the light cavalry to escape back to Huangbai City after hearing such words from the Liangzhou infantrymen.

However, what the Liangzhou infantrymen did not expect was that Guo Si had no will to fight at all. He just focused on steering his horse and fled, ignoring the infantrymen who were still trapped in the encirclement of the Shu army. He did not care about the comradeship between him and the soldiers at all, but only cared about his own life.

The successive defeats, the successive defeats, and the repeated guessing of his intentions by the Shu army made Guo Si, the hero of Liang Province, lose the will to fight against the Shu army. Therefore, even though Guo Si's ears were filled with the cries of his soldiers, he turned a deaf ear to them and only thought about breaking out first to save his own life.

"It is easy to get an army, but it is hard to get a general." Guo Si was not a heartless man after all. When he heard the cries of his soldiers, he felt a little unwilling to flee, but he did not want to stay. Therefore, he hypnotized himself with the proverb "It is easy to get an army, but it is hard to get a general" to make himself feel more comfortable.

As Guo Si led the light cavalry to escape, the Liangzhou infantry who were left behind lost their commander. Like Guo Si, they had no will to fight. They dropped their swords, spears, and knelt on the ground, begging the Shu army to be magnanimous and spare their lives.

Gan Ning has been rampant in Ba County since he was a teenager, doing things without restraint. Therefore, as a killing god, he has always had a strong murderous intention. If it were in the past, even if the group of Liangzhou infantrymen in front of him knelt down and begged for mercy, he would kill them one by one without showing any mercy.

Instead of forgiving these Liangzhou infantrymen, why not build a Jingguan to show off their outstanding military achievements? This was Gan Ning's real thought.

But the situation is different now. With Liu Zhang's restraint, although Gan Ning had a strong desire to kill, he suppressed it very well. He did not order the soldiers on his left and right to step forward and kill all the Liangzhou infantry in front of him. Instead, he accepted the surrender of this group of Liangzhou infantry who were abandoned by Guo Si.

After leaving Lou Fa to detain and control the group of Liangzhou infantrymen who were kneeling on the ground to surrender, Gan Ning waved his hand and hurriedly led his elite soldiers to chase in the direction of Guo Si's escape.

Regardless of the darkness of the night and regardless of whether Guo Si had a backup plan, Gan Ning just chased after him.

This was because Guo Si's head was a tempting trophy, which had great appeal to the generals under Liu Zhang. After all, Liu Zhang had a preface saying: "Anyone who can kill Li Jue and Guo Si will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins and be made a marquis."

Gan Ning was not really interested in money, but being granted a title of nobility undoubtedly touched Gan Ning's heart. Or, it can be said that most men in the world could not resist the temptation of being granted a title of nobility.

"I want to be a prince." Gan Ning's steps were as fast as flying. His greed was so strong that he never stopped chasing Guo Si.

However, Gan Ning's luck was not very good. Although he never stopped or relaxed for a moment, Guo Si still slipped away from him, and the honor of being granted a title of nobility also slipped away from him.

Here, when Gan Ning was chasing Guo Si to the vicinity of Huangbai City, Guo Si was one step ahead and rushed into the city. At the same time, before all his cavalrymen had entered the city, Guo Si ordered his men to close the city gates. At this moment, Guo Si was only thinking about protecting himself and had no sympathy for his soldiers at all.

No matter whether it is the swift knights or the elite infantrymen, none of them is as important as the life of the commander-in-chief. This was Guo Si's first thought after closing the city gate.

When the city gate was completely closed, Guo Si behind the city gate breathed a sigh of relief. The situation tonight was really dangerous. If he had not decisively abandoned the infantry first and then resolutely gave up the cavalry, Huangbai City would not have been saved, and his life would not have been saved.

But when Guo Si was still feeling fortunate, or a little complacent, he did not notice that the soldiers surrounding him cast their eyes at him with a somewhat subtle look. The Liangzhou soldiers exchanged glances, and each of them understood the meaning behind their glances.

"Oh no, my brother?" Li Huan, who was placed by Li Jue to fight under Guo Si, followed Guo Si and escaped safely back to Huangbai City. He was first grateful for being alive tonight, but immediately became worried about his brother Li Jue.

Even if he and Guo Si were ambushed, Li Jue, who attacked the northern camp of the Shu army that night, must have been in a bad situation.

Not long after, Guo Si and Li Huan climbed up the gate tower in the north of Huangbai City and looked into the distance. They saw fires burning like stars at the gate of the Shu army's camp under the starry night, and it was clear that a great battle was going on.

"General Guo, please lend a helping hand and rescue my brother!" Li Huan asked Guo Si. As he listened to the sound of golden drums in the distance, he couldn't stop worrying.

Although Li Huan and Li Jue were cousins, they had worked together for many years and their relationship was as close as that of real brothers. This was why Li Jue placed Li Huan under the command of Guo Si, which allowed Guo Si to give up his suspicion of Li Jue and no longer suspect that Li Jue was planning to escape.

Hearing this, Guo Si only laughed awkwardly: "General Li is blessed with a long life and excellent martial arts. How could he be trapped by the Shu army? You and I just need to wait for good news. There is no need to rush. If the army marches out rashly, it may fall into the Shu army's trap again."

From his words, Guo Si seemed unwilling to lead his troops out of the city to rescue Li Jue who was trapped by the Shu army. After being ambushed, he fled back to the city and was not willing to leave the city again to fight the Shu army.

Therefore, although Li Jue seemed to be in danger outside the city, Guo Si just stood still, as steady as a mountain. When Li Huan heard this, he was leaning over to ask Guo Si for help, but a fierce light flashed in his eyes. He knew that Guo Si in front of him had lost his courage and didn't even have the courage to face the Shu army. He was determined not to send troops to rescue his brother Li Jue.

However, Li Huan straightened up and raised his head, the fierce light in his eyes dissipated, only a pleading look remained. The situation was stronger than the person, and he was surrounded by Guo Si's personal guards, and Guo Si's bravery was one of the best in Liangzhou. Even if he had a rebellious heart, he dared not reveal it.

Therefore, Li Huan just pleaded earnestly with a little sobbing: "General Guo, I am willing to lead hundreds of soldiers under my command to rescue my brother. I hope the general will grant my approval."

"You are sending yourself to death, it has nothing to do with me." After thinking that it was none of my business, Guo Si nodded and agreed to Li Huan's request.

Seeing Guo Si nod in agreement, Li Huan threw away his armor, hurried down the city wall, called hundreds of soldiers under his tent, ordered them to open the city gate, and headed towards the northern camp of the Shu army.

However, there was no sign of Li Jue in the northern camp of the Shu army. There was only Xia Yu, who looked resentful. Xia Yu's eyes were bloodshot at this moment. His hatred for Li Jue who abandoned him reached its peak. At the same time, he responded with a sharp blade to the Shu army that was rushing towards him.

"Li Jue, Li Jue, I will never let you go in this life, even if I become a ghost."

While constantly cursing Li Jue in his heart, Xia Yu, the brave general of Liang Province, continued to attack forward surrounded by his personal guards.

As a native of Guanzhong, Xia Yu had some faith and loyalty in his heart, so even though he was surrounded by Shu army, he was unwilling to surrender to them because of his close friend Gao Shuo who died at the hands of Shu army. Therefore, he just kept attacking, hoping to fight his way out.

The night was dim, with no stars or moon. Although there were torches for lighting, the Shu army soldiers were more or less affected by the darkness, and there were gaps in the encirclement. It was this moment of opportunity that Xia Yu, with the desperate help of his personal guards, miraculously escaped from the Shu army's encirclement.

Once he escaped, Xia Yu didn't care about the soldiers behind him who were still surrounded by the Shu army, and headed towards Huangbai City. He knew that if he rushed back to rescue the trapped soldiers, there would be only one result, and that was to die together with the trapped soldiers.

With the intention of killing Li Jue and hatred towards the Shu general who shot Gao Shuo, Xia Yu went to Huangbai City without looking back. He had some grudges in his heart that had not yet been resolved, and he could not die here.

Xia Yu, who was heading towards Huangbai City, bumped into Li Huan who was coming out of the city to meet him. When Li Huan saw Xia Yu, he immediately asked, "Captain Xia, where is my brother?"

After Xia Yu recognized that the person in front of him was Li Huan and heard Li Huan's question, a fierce light flashed in his eyes, and then a faint smile appeared on his face: "Captain Li, your brother is fine. He told me to split the troops into two groups to disrupt the pursuit of the Shu army, but he took a detour to the west of the city to enter."

Li Huan's face suddenly showed joy when he heard that, and he couldn't help but say, "That's great, that's great." However, Li Huan, who was pretending to be happy, did not notice the strange smile on Xia Yu's mouth.

After saying this, Li Huan and Xia Yu turned back to Huangbai City.

As soon as they entered Huangbai City, Xia Yu came to Guo Si first and whispered a few words to him. Guo Si's face suddenly changed when he heard it. He raised his eyebrows slightly, and a fierce light ignited in his eyes. He looked straight at Li Huan.

Li Huan naturally felt the murderous intent, but he did not understand its meaning.

Just when Li Huan was confused, he saw four of Guo Si's personal guards coming forward behind him, each doing their job. One guard hugged him, two guards tied his arms, and then the last guard removed his weapon.

"General Guo, why is this happening?" Li Huan, completely confused by the actions of Guo Si's personal guards, asked in bewilderment.

Before Guo Si could speak, Xia Yu, who was standing beside him, snorted coldly, then spoke word by word with malice, "Why? You should ask your good brother Li Jue."

"My brother?" Li Huan still didn't understand, so he asked back, "Captain Xia, didn't you say that my brother and you split up and returned to the city from the west? If you have any misunderstandings with my brother, wait until my brother returns to the city and have a good talk to clear up the misunderstandings. Now that our two families are facing a powerful enemy, this is not the time to fight among ourselves."

"Pah." Xia Yu stepped forward and spitted at Li Huan's face, then said viciously: "That was a lie from Lord Nai, otherwise why would you come back to the city with me... Let me tell you, when your good brother Li Jue planned the night attack, he wanted to abandon my General Guo and flee far away. Now he has already fled far away and headed north."

"Impossible, impossible." Li Huan shook his head frantically. He was unwilling to believe what Xia Yu said.

If what Xia Yu said is true, his brother Li Jue treated him as a pawn, a pawn to gain the trust of Guo Si, and used his life to exchange for his own escape. Is this still his closest brother Li Jue?

"Captain Xia, you must have seen it wrong. My brother will not flee far away. He must have encountered some difficulties and cannot return to the city for a while..." Li Huan murmured, and he kept saying, "It must be so, it must be like this. My brother will return to the city sooner or later."

Listening to Li Huan's mumbling, Xia Yu showed a pitiful face. He sneered and said, "How could there be such a foolish brother like you in the world? You don't even understand your own elder brother. It's not too much to end your life in the hands of Li Jue."

Guo Si stepped forward and waved his hand as if to shoo away a fly, signaling his guards to tie up Li Huan and imprison him.

As for why Li Huan was not executed on the spot, it was because although he recognized Xia Yu's loyalty, he still had some doubts about whether Li Jue had really left. After all, the war situation was chaotic, and Xia Yu might have misjudged the situation.

So Guo Si planned to wait until dawn. If Li Jue had not returned after dawn, he would cut off Li Huan's flesh and blood piece by piece to repay Li Jue for abandoning him and disregarding his loyalty.

Li Huan, who was abducted and taken away by Guo Si's personal guards, did not struggle. His eyes were dull and his body was limp, like a dead dog. Having been betrayed by Li Jue, he was so traumatized that he was distracted and his mind was empty.

What brothers, what friendship, it's all bullshit! Li Huan, who was dragged away, cursed in his heart, but he didn't curse Li Jue, but cursed himself, scolding his naivety, scolding his simplicity, actually believing in brotherhood, and falling into the current situation. (End of this chapter)