My father-in-law Guan Yu, I persuaded Liu Bei to launch a surprise attack on Xiangyang at the beginn

Lu Kai sternly rebuked the exhausted soldiers and ordered them to remove the armor blocking the road.

At this moment, the faint sounds of battle approached from afar, quickly turning into deafening shouts, accompanied by the sound of horses' hooves.

As the pieces of armor blocking his path were gradually removed, revealing the way ahead, Lü Kai's tense nerves finally relaxed a little.

He raised his hand and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

It seems he has managed to escape with his life.

But before he could catch his breath, a new anxiety welled up inside him:
After escaping, how should they face this mess?

Liu Xun's troops had already suffered heavy losses in this battle, and even if they managed to break through, it would be extremely fortunate if they could survive with three thousand remaining soldiers.

Do they think they can turn the tide with these three thousand exhausted soldiers?
dream.

Lu Kai knew in his heart that the only chance was through Meng Quan of Nanzhong.

But now the rattan armor army has been completely wiped out, and Meng Quan himself has also suffered heavy losses. It is already a miracle that he can hold Nanli City. How can he have any strength left to help them restore their country?

"What should I do?"

He muttered to himself, racking his brains, but still couldn't come up with a good solution.

"We'll just have to take it one step at a time."

After a long pause, Lü Kai gritted his teeth and muttered to himself:

"Wei Yan is ruthless, and Xiao He is determined to kill me. Even if I surrender, I will only face certain death. I, Lü Kai, will fight them to the death..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lü Kai clenched his fists, resolving to die.

Just then, the sounds of killing from behind suddenly became shrill.

Immediately afterwards, the desperate cries and screams of the Shu soldiers surged forth like a tidal wave.

Lu Kai's heart sank. He turned around sharply and saw his own routed soldiers fleeing in panic, like stray dogs, abandoning their armor and weapons.

Behind them, the banners of the Han army were sweeping in.

Of the nearly nine thousand men, only this many remain?
The whole army was wiped out!
An ominous premonition welled up in Lü Kai's heart.

After a while.

A general, covered in blood, rushed over, shouting:

"Lord Lü, quickly open a breach! The Han army is catching up!"

Upon closer inspection, Lü Kai realized that the person who had shouted was Li Yi.

"Li Yi, where is His Highness the Crown Prince?"

Lu Kai grabbed his horse's reins and asked anxiously.

Li Yi tumbled off his horse, fell to his knees with a thud, and said with a mournful face:

"Lord Lü, Ma Dai's martial arts are too strong. Yang Feng and the other seven generals all fell to him!"

"Your Highness...Your Highness has also been severely injured by Ma Dai and has been captured alive!"

Li Yi tearfully recounted this devastating news.

Lu Kai swayed and almost fell to the ground, only managing to stand up with the help of his personal guards.

He was stunned, muttering to himself:
"Liu Xun, captured alive?"

"Our crown prince, our last hope, has been captured alive?"

At this moment, he stood frozen in place, utterly dejected, his eyes vacant as he stared ahead, completely unprepared for this outcome.

As the heir apparent of the Shu Kingdom, Liu Xun was certain to die after being captured.

This means that Liu Zhang's bloodline has been severed.

With no hope of restoration remaining, the Shu Kingdom was utterly destroyed.

Thinking of this, Lü Kai suddenly raised his head and let out a furious curse at the sky:

"Heaven has no eyes!"

The Shu soldiers beside him could no longer hold back their tears and wept uncontrollably.

They still follow Liu Xun wholeheartedly to this day because they have an irreconcilable hatred for the Han army.

It was this hatred that sustained them through countless hardships and dangers, and they vowed to follow the Crown Prince to the death, hoping to one day restore their kingdom and avenge their grievances.

But now, Liu Xun, the last descendant of Liu Zhang, is actually dead?
They instantly lost their leader and fell into a desperate situation of being leaderless.

Soon, some people knelt down, pounding their fists on the ground, weeping bitterly.
"Your Highness, Your Highness! You've been captured! What are we going to do?!" Cries and screams rose and fell.
At this time.

Dust and mist swept in from afar, accompanied by the thunder of horses' hooves, pressing down from the sky.

The Han army banners were the first to appear in the dust and fog.

"The Han army! The Han army has arrived!"

One soldier cried out in alarm.

The Shu soldiers on both sides glared angrily, gripped their weapons tightly, and bulged veins on their foreheads.

Soon, someone shouted:
"Let's fight to the death! Rather than be captured and humiliated, we'd rather fight the Han army to the bitter end!"

The sounds of fighting to the death rose and fell.

"Lord Lü, what should we do?"

Li Yi's face turned pale, and he looked anxiously at Lü Kai.

Clearly, while others were willing to fight to the death, he wanted to live.

But now that Liu Xun is dead, he has no ideas of his own and can only place all his hopes on Lü Kai.

Lu Kaiqiang took a few breaths to suppress the panic in his heart and calm himself down.

His gaze swept over the restless soldiers, then turned to the approaching banners of the Han army in the distance. After a long silence, he said in a deep voice:

"Quickly, clear the gap! As long as we can open up the passage, we still have hope!"

He was planning to escape.

But the soldiers just looked at each other and no one moved.

To be honest, the gap has already been partially cleared. With a little more effort, it will definitely be completely opened up.

But the problem is that the crown prince Liu Xun has already been captured, and the destruction of Shu is a foregone conclusion. What use would it be to open a breach?

With this bunch of remnants, it's questionable whether they can even survive tonight. Do you really think they can avenge Liu Zhang and his son with just this few men?
Since we're in a hopeless situation either way, why bother trying to escape?

It would be better to fight the Han army decisively and to the bitter end, so as not to fail the kindness of Liu Zhang and his son.

Seeing this, Lü Kai hurriedly said:

"Gentlemen, I know you are all men of steel, unwilling to live a life of dishonor, but if we die now, who will avenge the late king and his son?"

"Only by living can there be hope for revenge!"

These words are clearly just empty promises.

"I can't avenge myself even if I live!"

A soldier stepped forward, pointed at Lü Kai, and questioned him sternly:

"The crown prince has been captured, the Shu Kingdom is dead, we are nothing but a pack of dogs of a fallen nation, how can we take revenge?"

Lu Kai was prepared and immediately pointed south:
"The Great Shu has fallen, but Meng Quan and the various tribes of the Southern Barbarians still exist. We can go and seek refuge with the Southern Barbarians. In this way, we can use the Southern Barbarians to avenge our grievances!"

These words enraged all the generals.

After all, Meng Quan had just betrayed them.

If Meng Quan hadn't ordered the roads to be sealed off, they wouldn't have been in such a desperate situation.

Liu Xun will never be captured!

Meng Quan drove them to the brink of despair, yet Lü Kai still urged them to seek refuge with Meng Quan.

ill!

"Brothers, calm down!"

Seeing this, Li Yi quickly stood up and echoed Lü Kai:

"Although Meng Quan has made mistakes, right now, only he and the various southern barbarian tribes can truly contend with the Han army!"

"We must prioritize the overall situation and survive first before anything else is possible!"

Upon hearing this, the Shu soldiers gradually quieted down.

Their earlier cry to be buried with Liu and his son was merely a desperate act born out of their belief that they were doomed.

Now, Lü Kai and Li Yi have pointed out a path of hope for them to "live".

Once people see a possibility of survival, how could they willingly face death so easily? (End of Chapter)