My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 73: Meeting Guan Yu, Uncle and Nephew Reunited

"I really underestimated these monk soldiers. They are so fearless and brave."

As Chen Dao charged forward with all his might and killed dozens of monks with poor martial arts skills one after another, he finally began to feel exhausted.

The moves of those enemies could not pose any threat to him at all. However, this tidal-like impact undoubtedly consumed a lot of physical strength.

In particular, when facing his attack, many monk soldiers did not know how to dodge or parry, but just pointed their weapons at Chen Dao.

He was not used to this kind of fighting style at first, and was almost injured by the enemy several times. Even though he managed to avoid it, he was still slightly frightened and sweaty.

But now that things have come to this, he has no choice but to move forward!

The moment he decided to take a big gamble and directly cut off the enemy's escape route instead of chasing and killing them.

The remaining battles are destined to be a fight where the brave prevails, with no room for maneuver.

When he was in a trance, Chen Dao suddenly had an idea and shouted, "Kill the hair-cutting bandits first! Those who surrender will not be killed!"

The Bai Li soldiers behind him also tightly protected Chen Dao's flanks, charging left and right and shouting together.

Chen Dao has realized that even if he just shouted "Those who surrender will not be killed", most of the monk soldiers would not surrender.

In this case, it is better to persuade them to surrender while actively emphasizing our own differentiated treatment.

In the hope that those county soldiers in the enemy army who have slightly better martial arts and military discipline but weaker fighting will not come up to join in the fun for the time being and just sit back and watch the outcome.

As expected, after Chen Dao shouted the new slogan, more enemy county soldiers who were originally forced to take up arms to protect themselves began to waver.

They either move to the sides of the road or try to run away to avoid being affected.

What's more, when some county soldiers were blocked from escaping by the monks who rushed up from behind and were about to be forced to serve as human shields, they actually mustered up the courage to turn around and fight with the monks, just to cut a way out in the monks' line and keep themselves away from the hand-to-hand combat with the Han army.

After Chen Dao survived the initial difficult time, he followed the Danyang soldiers who were charging down from the western hillside and rushed to attack from the flank. Finally, he completely defeated the most stubborn reinforcement monks, and the rest was a one-sided harvest.

Chen Dao felt dizzy and waved his spear mechanically and instinctively. After killing seven or eight monks, he was finally protected by the Bai Li soldiers and retreated to the side.

Only then did he realize that he had sustained two or three flesh wounds on his body. Fortunately, they were all cuts by the knife. Although they looked bloody, the wounds were not deep.

He was protected by armor, and swords and knives could only cause some damage through the gaps between his armor or in the broken parts.

"I can't take risks like this anymore. This time it's all my fault for wanting to compete with Gan Ning."

Seeing that his men had finally crushed the monks' resistance, and that the blocked groups of county soldiers and militiamen had completely lost their will to fight and knelt down in surrender, Chen Dao finally breathed a sigh of relief and reflected on himself.

There will be no more quarrels based on personal feelings.

Fortunately, the outcome of the war was good.

The entire fight, starting with the crossbows and stones being thrown, lasted less than half an hour before it was completely over.

Chen Dao's adventure also allowed him to capture at least two thousand more prisoners - if he had not been so decisive in cutting in and completely intercepting the enemy's center and front armies, most of the defeated soldiers in the center army would have been able to escape the encirclement, and he could only rely on subsequent attacks to expand the results of the battle.

And now, the central army was almost completely wiped out. Only the rear army, which had not had time to enter the ambush circle because the long snake formation lasted too long, managed to flee back.

Chen Dao's troops spent more than half an hour cleaning up the battlefield and collecting prisoners of war.

According to rough statistics, about three thousand people surrendered or were captured.

In total, about one or two thousand people were killed, trampled, injured, or driven into the Pengli Lake and drowned.

The rest retreated, or were slightly injured, jumped into the lake and escaped, and it is difficult to count them.

After finishing all this, it was already completely dark - the Zuo family army was supposed to cross the Lushan mountain area before dark, and then walk for another hour or two to reach Chaisang City to sleep.

This delayed them for an extra hour, as they also had to control the prisoners to move in an orderly manner. The entire army did not completely leave the mountainous area until the You hour, and did not return to the city until the end of the Xu hour.

When they reached the foot of the city, the defender on the city wall was still cautious. He first ordered someone to lower a hanging basket and lift Chen Dao up to the top of the city wall alone to confirm the situation. Then he opened the city gate and let the Danyang soldiers and Bai Li soldiers in.

The captives were also disarmed, and their left arms were tied together, with five people tied in a row and escorted by the Danyang soldiers to prevent any chaos in the dark night.

……

"Is Shuzhi injured? Is it serious? Find a doctor quickly!"

Zhuge Jin was awakened from his sleep by Gan Ning and only then did he know that Chen Dao had returned victorious.

He originally wanted to wait for news, but he didn't know when the enemy would come, so he couldn't hold on and fell asleep.

But no matter what, Zhuge Jin's attitude of respecting the wise and humble was still very good. After receiving the good news and learning about the casualties, he immediately went to express his condolences in person.

When Zhuge Jin arrived, the doctor had already cleaned the wound thoroughly with boiled and cooled herbal water, applied medicine and bandaged it, and it was no longer serious.

Zhuge Jin hurriedly inquired about the injury, but Chen Dao just said that he was fine and waited eagerly for Zhuge Jin to ask him about the results of the battle.

But how could Zhuge Jin understand Chen Dao’s concerns?
Instead, he felt that the other party was injured. If he asked about the results of the battle first, wouldn't he appear to be a sweatshop capitalist?

When an employee suffers a work-related injury, how can you ask him how he has completed his KPI?

The two of them exchanged pleasantries in this way for a long time without getting to the point, and finally there was a noise at the door again.

It turned out that Zhuge Liang was also woken up by the notification, and hurriedly put on his clothes and came to express his condolences, only to see his elder brother and Chen Dao having an awkward conversation.

Zhuge Liang was still a bystander, and asked quickly: "A brave general like Shuzhi was still wounded in blood. The enemy must be very large. The results of this battle must be great. I wonder how many spoils and prisoners were captured?"

Zhuge Jin's face changed: "Aliang! Let Shuzhi recover first. Why ask about these trivial matters now!"

Unexpectedly, the depressed look on Chen Dao's face suddenly disappeared a little after Zhuge Liang asked this question.

Even ignoring the cut on his left arm, he still bowed vigorously and answered energetically: "Our army shot and killed the enemy's main general, and it seems that he is another brother of Zuo Rong! The capture..."

Then he added a bunch of numbers.

Zhuge Jin looked at Chen Dao in surprise and doubt, and it took him a long time to realize that the humanistic care he had developed in the 21st century was simply not applicable in this era.

He doesn't care if you exploit him, he cares if you reward and punish him clearly. Zhuge Jin couldn't help but stroke his forehead, realizing that his thinking was somewhat different from that of the times: "Aliang is still clear-headed. Shuzhi, I don't know the priorities. I will write a letter tomorrow to suggest that the General of the Southern Expedition promote you to the rank of captain. You can rest assured and rest, and the rest of the rewards will be discussed tomorrow."

Zhuge Jin had previously given Gan Ning an official title by making a direct verbal promise, and the procedure was much simpler than Chen Dao's.

Because Gan Ning came to help as a friend for the sake of Zhuge Liang's face, and at that time he only expressed his intention to help the Zhuge family first and gain merit and promotion, but he did not say that he would surrender to Liu Bei.

Chen Dao's situation was completely different. Zhuge Jin borrowed troops from Liu Bei to rescue his uncle. After rescuing his uncle, he had to return the troops. So Zhuge Jin could only tell Liu Bei about Chen Dao's merits and suggest that Liu Bei adopt his advice.

After hearing Zhuge Jin's approval, Chen Dao felt refreshed and went back to rest.

Zhuge Jin couldn't help but sigh in his heart, and Zhuge Liang waited for everyone to leave before gently suggesting:
"Brother, you have been humble and self-disciplined since childhood, and have no desires or requests. I haven't seen you for two or three years, and you have become more compassionate and kind.

But when managing the army and employing people, you cannot judge others by your own standards. What you don’t care about may not be what others don’t care about. What you care about may not be what others care about.

These days, Shu Zhi has been holding his breath because of Xingba's repeated achievements. Can't you see that? Even I can see it.

Most brave generals have a desire to win. This is not necessarily because they are greedy for fame, wealth, or rewards, but they just want to prove themselves. "

Zhuge Jin was alert, nodded sincerely and sighed:

"Indeed, I still don't understand the desires of a general, and I have never put myself in his shoes.

Ah Liang, I am not as good as you in this aspect. Congratulations, you have surpassed me in one aspect after only ten days of leading the troops. "

……

Because Chen Dao suffered a minor injury, Zhuge Jin was too embarrassed to ask for his transfer to Yongxiu County to replace Guan Yu the next day.

In the end, it was Zhuge Liang who saw the situation clearly. He noticed that Chen Dao's injuries were actually quite minor. He was mainly suffering from blood loss and physical exhaustion.

As for the two wounds, they are very shallow and will probably heal in a few days.

So Zhuge Liang took the initiative to find Chen Dao and told him that "He is injured now. If he stays in Chaisang, he will not be transferred to perform combat missions by his elder brother for a long time, and he will not have the opportunity to make merit.

If we can go to Yongxiu County to replace the guard lieutenant and take on the important task, then as long as we can defend the city of Yongxiu, it will be a great achievement. In the future, if our army can find an opportunity to completely defeat Zuo Rong in a field battle, the credit for blocking Zuo Rong's flank can account for at least 20% to 30%. "

After hearing this, Chen Dao took the initiative to ask Zhuge Jin for permission, saying that he did not want to participate in field battles while he was recuperating. He was just sitting there anyway and could recuperate while defending the city, so he requested Zhuge Jin to send him to Yongxiu.

Seeing that he was indeed fine, Zhuge Jin assigned more than a thousand men from Chen Heng's army to him and asked him to take them to Yongxiu to replace Guan Yu. Guan Yu would then return with his two thousand Danyang soldiers and join the main force at Chaisang.

As for Zhuge Xuan's original thousand-plus militiamen, they were left in Yongxiu County, Xi'an County and other places and handed over to Chen Dao for command. It was also convenient to use those local soldiers to restrain Chen Heng's newly surrendered army to avoid chaos.

Anyway, you don’t need elite soldiers to defend a city, you do need them for field battles.

After receiving the order, Chen Dao took his troops on a boat to Yongxiu that day. Unlike the Zuo family army, which was forced to give up the right to control the Pengli Lake and had to travel by land to dispatch troops,
Because of Gan Ning's presence, the Han army could march through Pengli Lake and then along Xiushui River with ease.

Even though the mouth of the Xiushui River where it flows into the Pengli Lake is just a mile or two outside of Haihun County, Gan Ning, the "captain of the troop transport fleet," was not afraid.

The water route was much more convenient than the land route. There was no need to cross Mount Lushan, and the soldiers could sleep while sailing at night. So after just one and a half days, they arrived at Yongxiu County.

Chen Dao had a brief exchange of views with Guan Yu and Zhuge Xuan, and then Guan Yu took two thousand Danyang soldiers and returned to Chaisang by boat to join the main force for training and future decisive battles.

……

Guan Yu, Zhuge Xuan and his party finally arrived in Chaisang on the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, which was the day before New Year's Eve.

Zhuge Jin and all his brothers and sisters would of course come to the dock outside the Chaisang East Water Gate in advance to greet them.

After all, his uncle had supported his family financially for six or seven years, and had directly raised his brothers other than Zhuge Jin for two years.

The Zhuge family was extremely respectful. They stood on the pier with their hands clasped in front of their heads before the boat even stopped.

Finally, as the gangplank was set up, Gan Ning was the first to get off the leading ship. Then he personally led a tall, thin, bearded middle-aged man about thirty-five or thirty-six years old to disembark, who was none other than Zhuge Xuan.

Zhuge Liang and the others naturally recognized him at a glance, while Zhuge Jin hesitated for a moment to adjust himself, searched his memory, and only after seeing A Liang approached did he dare to confirm:
"My nephew greets my uncle."

Zhuge Xuan's eyes seemed a little dazed. He glanced at Zhuge Jin, then at Zhuge Liang, and paused quietly for a few seconds.

He stretched out his somewhat skinny arms, and tightly grasped Brother Zhuge's shoulders with his left and right hands:

"Jin'er, Liang'er, you've both made great progress. I never expected that. One of you hasn't seen me for three years, and the other one for a year, yet you've made such great progress...

In the end, I actually had to rely on you to bring in reinforcements, otherwise I would have probably died at the hands of the thief Zuo Rong... It's really sad that fate is so unpredictable."

After everyone exchanged greetings, Zhuge Liang continued to greet his uncle.

Zhuge Jin hurried over to greet Guan Yu who got off the boat behind him:
"Yunchang! I have no way to repay you for protecting my uncle. Please come into the city and rest! Our army has captured many prisoners recently. We will need your help in training and reorganizing the troops in preparation for the decisive battle."

When Guan Yu saw the Zhuge family, he was both excited and curious.

He couldn't help but glance at Zhuge Liang, who was "ten times more powerful than Jin" and whom his elder brother had thought of countless times, to see what kind of person he was. At the same time, he repeatedly declined Zhuge Jin's flattery:

"Why? I came half a month earlier than you, but I didn't achieve much. I just recaptured two poor and remote counties. Compared with your achievement in taking Chaisang, it's nothing."

Zhuge Jin said sincerely: "It was thanks to Yunchang's reputation that he attracted the enemy's attention and forced Zuo Rong to station heavy troops in Haihun County, which left Chaisang empty and allowed me to capture it. Yunchang was bearing the pressure of the enemy's main force, just like..."

Zhuge Jin originally subconsciously wanted to say, "Just like the military achievement of destroying the Qin army, Xiang Yu's destruction of the main force of the Qin army in Julu was the most difficult and extraordinary achievement. As for Emperor Gao's theft of Wuguan and Xianyang..."

But then he thought that this example did not seem politically correct in the Han Dynasty, so he could only stop talking and give up giving the example.

Fortunately, Guan Yu did not take it seriously. He was already very satisfied with Zhuge Jin's previous statement and regained his complacent look.

Guan Yu couldn't help thinking: "It turns out that I attracted the main force of the enemy, so Ziyu was able to achieve more merits... I heard that Gan Ning is also very brave, but he is definitely not as good as me."

While everyone was chatting and reminiscing about the past, they were led into the city and rode their horses to the government office.

Zhuge Jin had already prepared a banquet to welcome his uncle and Guan Yu.

　Another chapter of 4,000 words.

　　Zhuge Xuan did not leave a name in the history books. Can anyone who is professional in analyzing the relationship between names and characters guess a name for Zhuge Xuan?

　　
　
(End of this chapter)