Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 40. The Story of Maicheng (Part 40)

"...Including Yide's men, the total number of troops by water is 80,000."

Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang discussed for several days and finally determined the list of generals who would leave Sichuan and march eastward.

Since Zhuge Liang and Zhao Yun insisted on opposing the Eastern Expedition, Liu Bei simply left the two of them to guard central Sichuan to prevent harassment from Cao Wei or chaos in the rear.

"Your Majesty! Wang Fu, the military commander under the command of the general, is coming from Jingzhou!"

Suddenly, the guards outside hurried into the hall to report, which surprised Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei. With Guan Yu's death, the generals under his command in Jingzhou had either surrendered to the enemy or died in battle.

According to Liao Hua's narration on that day, Military Sima Wang Fu, together with Zhou Cang, Guan Ping, Zhao Lei and others, escorted Guan Yu to Maicheng. Why did he suddenly appear today?
"Please invite Guoshan into the palace for a chat."

Liu Bei quickly stood up and prepared to greet them. Wang Fu and others were all old people from Jingzhou in the past, and they were quite familiar with Liu Bei and others.

Wang Fu entered the hall dressed in coarse cloth like ordinary people. When he saw King Hanzhong and the military advisor, he burst into tears and bowed to them.

"Where did Kuniyama come from? Why is he dressed like this?"

Liu Bei helped Wang Fu up and asked hurriedly.

"Your Majesty, I just came from Maicheng. That day..."

Wang Fu calmed down and talked about what happened that day.

After Guan Yu led the remaining troops to leave from the north gate, the Eastern Wu mobilized a large army to encircle and pursue Guan Yu. At the same time, Jiang Qin and Zhou Tai led their troops to attack Maicheng, intending to attack Guan Yu from both sides after breaking through Maicheng.

Wang Fu and Zhou Cang led their troops to hold the city to the death, relying on the fact that the city was small and difficult to attack, and the fact that the main attacking force of the Wu army was not there, they managed to hold the city.

Unexpectedly, starting from the second half of the night, the Wu army stopped attacking and instead sang and danced in celebration. This made both of them feel uneasy.

At noon on the second day, the Wu general Pan Zhang arrived at Maicheng in a triumphant manner, carrying the heads of Guan Yu and Guan Ping, father and son.

"Listen up, Shu army upstairs. Your lord Guan Yu was captured alive by our army last night and then beheaded. Here is his head! If you surrender early, you can still be reinstated. If you continue to be stubborn, you will end up like these two!"

Wang Fu and Zhou Cang saw it clearly from the city wall, and Pan Zhang also deliberately had the two heads washed clean to make it easier to recognize their faces. It was indeed Guan Yu and Guan Ping, father and son.

"Your Majesty!"

Wang Fu almost vomited blood, tears streaming down his face, and was about to jump off the city wall to commit suicide. Zhou Cang, who was standing by, was quick to grab Wang Fu and stop him from committing suicide.

"Sir Wang, this is not possible! How can we commit suicide like this? We should keep our bodies useful and avenge you!"

Although tears were glistening on Zhou Cang's dark face, his expression was extremely firm.

Wang Fu calmed down and nodded.

"Dongwu just captured and killed the prince last night, and celebrated all night. Now the defense is empty, we might as well kill the general and take the small road north of the city.

The Wu army had already set up an ambush on the small road north of the city last night, and I think they have already withdrawn. We can just go back to Xichuan from here and return to the king's tent to avenge the military marquis."

Wang Fu decided on the current strategy after thinking about it. Wang Fu pretended to talk to Pan Zhang on the city wall to discuss the conditions as a distraction, while Zhou Cang quietly gathered the remaining dozens of soldiers and made preparations for a breakout.

On the city wall, Wang Fu pretended to refuse and asked Zhou Cang to discuss the matter. While Pan Zhang was feeling complacent, he and Zhou Cang opened the north gate of Maicheng and broke out again.

The Wu soldiers never expected that someone would attack from here for the second time in one day, and were caught off guard, allowing Wang Fu and Zhou Cang to break out, run straight to the Ju River, and go west along the Ju River.

But the Wu army reacted quickly. Zhou Tai, Jiang Qin, Zhu Ran, Pan Zhang... several Wu generals with more than a thousand cavalrymen chased up from the rear.

"Sima Wang, you go first. I, Old Zhou, will buy time for you." Seeing that the other party was chasing them closely, Zhou Cang pulled the reins and prepared to cover their retreat.

"General Zhou, no! If we stay behind now, there's no chance of survival! Why don't we go our separate ways? There's still a glimmer of hope!"

Wang Fu was shocked. Zhou Cang's move was tantamount to suicide, and Wang Fu would definitely not agree to it.

"Haha, I, Old Zhou, have followed you for more than 20 years. I hold your sword in my life and I will serve you even in death. Sima Wang, I, Old Zhou, should have gone with you last night. Now I just lived one more day.

You should return to Sichuan as soon as possible and assist the king wholeheartedly. When the king goes east to kill all the Wu dogs, don't forget to burn a stick of incense in front of your and my graves to tell us that the king has avenged us!"

Wang Fu burst into tears when he heard this, so he had to leave Zhou Cang and more than ten soldiers who were willing to die with Zhou Cang to stand in the middle of the road to stop the pursuers, and he led dozens of remaining soldiers to continue westward.

Wang Fu moved forward over a small hill and turned around, but he could no longer see Zhou Cang and his men. He only heard later that Zhou Cang was killed by Jiang Qin and Zhou Tai, and the rest of the soldiers fought to the death and refused to surrender.

The pursuers were very fast and soon swarmed in. Wang Fu fought and fled, and when there were only a few soldiers left, he was surrounded and could not escape.

Wang Fu was unwilling to surrender to the Eastern Wu, so he dismounted from his horse with the remaining men and jumped into the Ju River behind him. The others were not sure whether they were alive or dead, but Wang Fu was lucky enough to survive, drifting down the river in a coma.

The people of Jingzhou, who were deeply impressed by Guan Yu's virtue of governance, saw Wang Fu drifting in the water wearing Jingzhou military uniform, and immediately rowed their boats to rescue Wang Fu.

After feeling that Wang Fu's pulse was still there, he took Wang Fu home, hid it from the Wu army's search, and took good care of him. Wang Fu recuperated in a commoner's home for more than a month before he finally recovered.

Wang Fu heard that Fan Zhou, a Wuling official, was dissatisfied with Sun Quan's rule and wanted to contact the Wuling barbarians to start an uprising together and return to the rule of the King of Hanzhong.

Wang Fu wanted to go to help, but unexpectedly, halfway through his journey, he heard that his former colleague, the former Jingzhou Governor and current General of the Auxiliary Army of Eastern Wu, Pan Jun, had led 5,000 people to quell Fan Zhou's rebellion.

When Wang Fu heard that Pan Jun had been ordered by the Eastern Wu to start regulating Jingzhou, he was worried that he would be recognized by Pan Jun, so he hid his identity for a while. He only dared to return to Chengdu after the situation in Jingzhou stabilized.

"Guoshan has suffered a lot. Just rest and recuperate for a while. I have already started to reorganize the troops and collect food and fodder. In a few months, I will personally lead the three armies to attack Jiangdong in the east!"

Liu Bei also comforted Wang Fu and let him go to recuperate first. He also strengthened his determination to attack Dongwu and then return to Jingzhou.

Although Zhuge Liang did not agree, since Liu Bei had already made the decision, as the person in charge of logistics he had to give his full support and prepare food and fodder for Liu Bei.

Wang Fu didn't know that after he escaped from Maicheng, the Wu army simply dug a pit for the bodies of the Jingzhou soldiers and didn't even bother to bury them. The bodies of hundreds of soldiers who followed Guan Yu were all gathered in a pit in the northwest of Maicheng, and no one cared about them.

"Father, why are we here to bury these people?"

A young boy in ordinary clothes asked his equally plain-looking father.

"Dog, Lord Guan and his Jingzhou army are on our side. We can't let them die without a burial place after fighting with Wu Gou."

The middle-aged man was carrying a shovel and the young man was carrying a hoe.

The two men dug pits and built graves for the Jingzhou soldiers who died in the battle, and also expressed their condolences.

"Cough cough cough..."

When the two men were carrying the body of a Jingzhou general who looked like an officer, they bumped a little. The general with a huge wound on his chest actually coughed twice.

"Ah... Dad! He's resurrected!"

The boy screamed in fear. The middle-aged man knew that this was not a fake corpse. He looked around and made sure that there was no one else. He immediately changed the clothes of the still unconscious officer and hurriedly left with him and the boy on his back.

(End of this chapter)