Choose Liu Bei at the start, I am the only one who knows the plot of the Three Kingdoms.

Chapter 401: Guan Yu breaks the formation, Gan Ning and Huang Zu's past

Xiahou Yuan naturally thought of this, but he was much calmer. Seeing Xu Chu's look, he knew that Xu Chu must have thought too much. However, Xu Chu might not listen to his explanation now, so he could only follow Xu Chu and launch an attack.

When Xu Chu faced Guan Yu, there was no doubt that he could only choose Zhang Fei. Zhang Fei smiled brightly. In this battle, Xu Chu and Xiahou Yuan joined forces to deal him a lot of trouble. This time, Zhang Fei finally got the chance. He clamped the Wuyun Stepping Snow under his crotch, raised the spear horizontally, and swung it at Xiahou Yuan.

Xu Chu had just been promoted to a famous general. Although his strength had improved greatly, how could he be a match for Guan Yu, who was already a legendary general? After three slashes, Xu Chu had a wound on his left arm and blood was gushing out. However, Xu Chu didn't care about these. He still thought that Cao Cao had been captured and killed by Guan Yu, so he was furious and didn't care about anything else.

Guan Yu snorted coldly and slashed with his sword again. He did not use the Spring and Autumn Sword Technique just now, otherwise, after three slashes, how could there be only a small wound? Not to mention being seriously injured and dying like Dian Wei, he would have been chopped to the point of not knowing which way was which.

Guan Yu's Spring and Autumn Swordsmanship has now been upgraded to level five. The effect of the first sword has reached an abnormal level of +1000% attack power. The second sword also has a full 1300% attack power, and the third sword adds 1500% attack power. Moreover, the armor-piercing effect that originally only the third sword had now has a 100% armor-piercing effect on each sword. As long as Guan Yu uses the Spring and Autumn Swordsmanship, there will be no defense in front of Guan Yu.

Guan Yu used the Spring and Autumn sword technique for this strike. Xu Chu also felt the difference of this strike. He tightly grasped the Pifeng Sword with both hands and resisted with all his strength. After the strike, Xu Chu knelt on one knee and supported himself with the sword with one hand, so that he did not fall to the ground. There was anger in his eyes, but also a hint of clarity. Who in the world could stop such a Guan Yu?

"My lord, I am useless and cannot avenge you."

As Xu Chu spoke, he spat out a mouthful of blood. Xiahou Yuan, who was standing next to him, was hit on the back by Zhang Fei's spear and spat out a mouthful of blood. Only then did he get rid of Zhang Fei and dragged Xu Chu onto the horse.

"Zhongkang, it's not what you think. My lord, you are a lucky person. Everything will be fine!"

Xiahou Yuan had no intention of continuing to fight, so he rode his horse at full speed and retreated towards Yuzhou.

Zhang Fei was about to chase after him but was stopped by Guan Yu. Zhang Fei looked at Guan Yu in confusion.

"Second brother, that guy is already seriously injured, why don't you chase him?"

"Killing them both won't have much impact on the battle situation. Have you forgotten what I said? The key to this battle lies in you and me."

Guan Yu did not continue to pursue, but rushed towards the enemy soldiers. How could those soldiers stop Guan Yu? With one strike of his sword, there was a pool of blood. The weapons made of fine iron used by those monks were like paper in front of Guan Yu, and there was no difference. It was all decided by just one strike of the sword.

The enemy was fighting and retreating, while Guan Yu and his men were fighting with all their might, killing as many as they could, all the way until they reached the border of Yuzhou and could see the Yuzhou military town. Only then did Guan Yu and his men stop pursuing them. If they had continued chasing, they would have entered the territory of Yuzhou, and if the enemy had any ambush, it would have been difficult for them to escape.

So stopping the pursuit now is the best option. Zhang Fei stopped beside Guan Yu and watched Xu Chu and others going away quietly.

"Hahaha, it feels so good. It feels so good. I have fought back all the anger I have suffered these days. Second brother, where should we attack next? Should we take down Yuzhou directly?"

Zhang Fei was extremely excited at this moment and eager to try, but Guan Yu held down Zhang Fei who was about to make a move.

"Remember what I said? We are the only variable in this war now."

"why?"

"The most important thing now is not the Jingzhou-Yangzhou front, but the completely chaotic Jingzhou. As long as none of them take Jingzhou, we still have a chance to survive in this chaos."

Guan Yu patiently explained to Zhang Fei. Zhang Fei just scratched his head, and after Guan Yu finished speaking, he chuckled.

"Brother, I will follow you. Wherever you go, I will go. If you point east, I will never go west!"

Zhang Fei didn't listen to what Guan Yu said at all. Now Zhang Fei just wanted to fight a few more battles and kill Cao Cao so badly that he would feel comfortable. Guan Yu nodded and looked at the soldiers behind him. Although they were full of energy, they still needed some rest after so many days of fighting. Otherwise, they would not be able to hold on physically but mentally.

They found an open space, ate some dry food, and then fell asleep one after another, leaving only a few soldiers on night watch.

Nothing happened during the night. The next morning, the soldiers who had rested all night were full of energy and recovered to their best condition. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, with a total of less than 20,000 cavalry, started towards Jiangxia County. Compared with Nanjun, which was a bit farther away, and Yizhou, which had abundant military forces, Zhang Fei's first choice was definitely Jiangxia County.

Not to mention anything else, after all, Jiangxia County has higher combat power, and Sun Jian is attacking several counties at the same time, including Yuzhang County where Gu Rubing is. Guan Yu has absolute confidence and unconditional trust in Gu Rubing. Sun Jian will definitely not be able to capture Yuzhang County. Not only will he not be able to capture it, but the troops sent to attack will also suffer heavy losses.

That's why Guan Yu chose to support Jiangxia County. According to the existing intelligence, Zhou Yu had already joined forces with Gan Ning and started the siege of Jiangxia. Xiakou, the city of Jiangxia County, had been besieged by heavy troops for seven days. They would launch harassment from time to time and had launched a total of five large-scale attacks.

However, Xiakou City had strong defenses, many defenders in the city, and sufficient reserves. In addition, Sun Jian gave all the catapults to Lu Meng and his men, asking them to take them to attack Yuzhang, and wait until Yuzhang was captured before transporting them to Jiangxia for use. However, Sun Jian did not expect that not only did they fail to capture Yuzhang, the catapults were also gone, and even Lu Meng was killed by Zhao Yun's gun.

Sun Jian had suffered heavy losses before the battle even started. It took them only a day and a half to cross the entire Nanyang County from the border of Yuzhou and Jingzhou and arrive in Jiangxia County. They could already see the smoke of Xiakou City from afar, and Sun's army was attacking all four sides of the city walls.

Huang Zu was fighting hard at this moment. Several sieges at all costs had caused heavy losses to the Jiangxia defenders. Even Huang Zu was forced to go out of the city to meet the enemy in person. Huang Zu and Jiangdong had been fighting for many years and knew each other very well. Huang Zu was also familiar with some of the generals under Sun Jian. For example, Gan Ning, who was fighting against him now, was a fierce general under Sun Jian. He had outstanding leadership and combat capabilities.

Gan Ning's ancient ingot knife made a clanging sound as he swung it, chopping at Huang Zu continuously. Huang Zu was old after all, and while he might have been able to stand when he was young, he could only be beaten back again and again.

Gan Ning, who had gained the upper hand, became more and more aggressive and attacked at a faster pace, vowing to kill Huang Zu on his horse. The last time, Gan Ning failed to have a good fight with Huang Zu in Yuzhang County, but now he finally had the chance, and Gan Ning would not let it go. Under Gan Ning's continuous attacks, Huang Zu gradually became defeated.

"Old man! You are old! You are too old to even hold a knife!"

Gan Ning laughed loudly, and the Gu Dian knife in his hand did not stop attacking at all. He chopped down again, cracking Huang Zu's knuckles and causing bleeding. Blood dripped down the handle of the knife to the ground. Huang Zu was gasping for breath. He was really too tired. After fighting for a long time, facing Gan Ning, he really felt overwhelmed.

"Xingba, after all these years, you are still like this. It was because of your appearance that I didn't use you at that time."

Huang Zu coughed up a mouthful of black blood. It was a chronic illness he suffered from many years of fighting. It was also because of this chronic illness that his martial arts strength declined seriously. Now he didn't even have the strength to fight Gan Ning.

After hearing Huang Zu's explanation, Gan Ning's attacks became more and more explosive. "Shut up, old man! Shut up!"

Gan Ning roared and swung the ancient ingot knife, attacking Huang Zu continuously. Huang Zu could only try his best to block him, but he was still unable to do so.

"Old man, you are just afraid that I will learn all your skills and your position as governor will be in jeopardy. Don't think I don't know that you just want to leave the position of governor to those brats. Now I don't care about you anymore!"

Huang Zu gathered his strength and swung out a spear, trying to force back Gan Ning's aggressive attack, but Gan Ning pushed the spear away casually, and the ferocious smile on Gan Ning's face became even more intense.

"Hahaha, you are so old now. Where are those guys you thought highly of back then? You still use them. Which one of them can compare to me?"

Huang Zu, who was forced back by the attack, couldn't even sit still at this moment, and his whole body was shaking on the horse. As he was already old, how could he compare with a strong young man like Gan Ning? He was thrown off his horse by Gan Ning without paying attention. After Huang Zu's old bones fell to the ground, he felt as if his whole body was broken. He struggled to get up but couldn't.

"Old man, you know, I've always dreamed of defeating you, but I never thought this day would come so soon. I was caught off guard."

Just as Gan Ning was humiliating Huang Zu, a few riders arrived from afar.

"Gan Ning, you can't be so presumptuous here!"

The leading rider drew his bow and shot an arrow. The riders behind him also rushed forward and surrounded Gan Ning.

"Who was it I thought? It turns out to be you, a useless kid. You have a good father, but you don't live up to your expectations."

Gan Ning carried the ancient ingot knife on his shoulder. Facing the encirclement of several people, there was no fear on his face, only fearlessness.

"Gan Ning, this is not the place for you to act recklessly. How dare you attack the governor? You will die!"

A general holding a spear shouted loudly, and at the same time waved the spear and charged towards Gan Ning. Gan Ning's originally grinning and ferocious face suddenly became expressionless, as if he was a person without any emotion, staring at the general who had just spoken.

"Chen Jiu, you were the one I hated the most back then. You were obviously not good at anything, but this old man liked you and valued you, making you his commander-in-chief while I could only be a small lieutenant. What else can you do except for having a pretty face that people like? I am obviously the most capable one, so why can't I be valued?!"

When Gan Ning said this, he didn't sound bitter or vengeful, as if he was just talking about something that had nothing to do with him. As soon as he finished speaking, Chen rushed towards Gan Ning with a spear. When his spear was about to sweep across Gan Ning's neck, Gan Ning took action and knocked Chen off his horse with just one strike.

Chen stared in horror at Gan Ning who was riding a horse and approaching him step by step. He never expected that Gan Ning, who was almost as strong as himself a few years ago, would become so powerful that he couldn't even fight back.

"Don't be presumptuous!"

Several other people also rushed towards Gan Ning, trying to stop him from moving forward, but how could they be Gan Ning's opponents? They were easily knocked down by Gan Ning, and even if they joined forces, they were no match for Gan Ning.

Gan Ning didn't have a chance to look at the other people lying on the ground. He turned around and walked towards Chen Ju, who had been knocked off his horse by his sword and was unable to stand up now, and put the ancient ingot sword on Chen Ju's neck.

"Many times I couldn't figure out what the old lady saw in you. No matter what you did, she thought you were right and good. No matter what I did, I couldn't catch her eye. Later I realized that she just didn't like you. There was no other reason."

After saying this, Gan Ning raised his sword and sent Gan Ning to see the King of Hell, then turned and walked to Huang Zu's side.

"Old man, look at your eyes and see if you are blind. They are no match for me, but you never even look at me straight in the eye."

"So what if their martial arts skills are not as good as yours? But their character is much better than yours!"

Huang Zu said this through gritted teeth, his eyes fixed on the head in Gan Ning's hand that was still dripping with blood.

"Even if Chen Jue is not as good as you in everything, he has not done anything to betray his teacher and ancestors."

"Oh, old man, I told you that you were blind, but you still didn't believe me. When did I ever betray my teacher and ancestors? I just killed someone I hated when I was young."

As Gan Ning spoke, he loosened his clenched hands, threw Chen Ju's head high into the air, and then chopped it in half with a knife. There was a playful smile on the corner of his mouth, as if he was saying to Huang Zu, what can you do to me?
Huang Zu supported himself on the ground with his hands and slowly stood up. The old general looked straight at Gan Ning without any fear in his eyes.

"Kill me if you dare!"

"Okay."

Gan Ning smiled brightly and raised his hand to wipe Huang Zu's neck. At the critical moment, Guang shot an arrow and hit Gan Ning's sword, which slightly blocked Gan Ning and saved Huang Zu from danger. Huang Zu seized the opportunity, jumped on his horse, turned around and threw the spear hanging on his waist.

"Come on!"

Amid Huang Zu's shouts, the generals who were knocked to the ground by Gan Ning struggled to get up, mounted their horses and prepared to flee. Gan Ning just looked at everything with a mocking face and had no intention of stopping them. He was obviously very happy having just killed Chen Ju, which was also the reason why he let these people go.

"General, you're not going to chase me?"

One of Gan Ning's deputy generals asked. He followed Gan Ning from Jiangxia to Jiangdong and was very familiar with the grievances and hatreds between Gan Ning and the people of Jiangxia. That was why he had this question. Gan Ning shook his head indifferently.

"Let him be. There will be plenty of opportunities for revenge in the future. Wouldn't it be more interesting to wait until the day the city is captured?"

(End of this chapter)