Three Kingdoms: Fusion of Entries, Change of Destiny

Chapter 187: No... they surrendered before even fighting?

Cao Cao personally led an army of 50,000 to conquer Wancheng and capture Zhang Xiu in one fell swoop.

As Guo Jia said: "How can one allow others to snore beside one's bed?"

If this thorn next to Xuchang isn't removed, Xuchang will never have a peaceful day.

Moreover, Nanyang has Wuguan Pass, which leads to Guanzhong. If the Xiliang army continues to enter Jingzhou from Wuguan Pass, Xuchang will be in danger.

Cao Chun and Cao Xiu were appointed as vanguards, and the two were full of energy and high morale.

Along the way, Cao Cao's vanguard advanced with unstoppable momentum, encountering almost no significant resistance and advancing very rapidly.

In less than two days, the vanguard army led by Cao Chun, Cao Xiu, and Li Dian arrived near the Yu River in Wancheng.

They set up camp and waited for the main force of the army to arrive.

Before the camp was fully set up, a messenger rushed into the central command tent and loudly reported, "Report! General, an envoy from Wancheng requests an audience!"

Cao Chun and Cao Xiu exchanged a glance, and then both looked at Li Dian.

Before the army set off, Cao Cao specifically instructed them to "consult Li Dian if in doubt."

Now is the time for Li Dian to shine.

Li Dian pondered for a moment before speaking, "Let's meet Zhang Xiu's envoy first and find out his purpose."

"Alright!" Cao Chun nodded in agreement and ordered the messenger, "Bring the messenger in!"

"Yes, sir!" The messenger acknowledged the order and quickly withdrew.

Cao Xiu couldn't help but ask Cao Chun, "Uncle, what is Zhang Xiu's intention in suddenly sending an envoy? Could it be that he has come to issue a challenge?"

“I don’t know,” Cao Chun shook his head and said, “Let’s see how he explains it.”

Before long, the messenger led Zhang Xiu's envoy to the main tent.

The visitor was a scholar in his thirties, with refined manners and a scholarly air.

After the envoy entered the main tent, he respectfully bowed to Cao Chun, Cao Xiu, and Li Dian, and said, "Greetings, Generals. I have come here on the orders of my lord to surrender."

"Huh?!" Cao Chun and Cao Xiu were stunned when they heard this.

Li Dian was initially quite surprised, but as a seasoned veteran with extensive experience, he quickly calmed down and shouted sternly, "Men, drag him away and execute him!"

"Ah! Why is this?" The scholar was shocked and hurriedly explained, "General, I really came to surrender, it can't be that bad!!"

Li Dian sneered and said, "If you dare to feign surrender, who else should I kill but you!"

"A feigned surrender?" Cao Chun suddenly realized.

"You scoundrel, how dare you!" Cao Xiu cursed, pointing at the messenger's nose.

After regaining his senses, Cao Chun immediately drew his sword, pretending to cut off the scholar's dog's head.

The scholar was so frightened that he knelt down with a thud, crying and pleading, "General, spare my life! My lord knows he cannot withstand the army of Minister Situ, and he sincerely surrenders to Minister Situ!"

Just as Cao Chun's longsword was about to strike the scholar's neck, Li Dian shouted, "Stop!"

At Li Dian's command, Cao Chun's sword stopped just half an inch from the envoy's neck. The chilling killing intent made the envoy involuntarily break out in goosebumps all over his body.

Li Dian continued, "If your lord truly wishes to surrender, then let him bind his own hands and personally go to the army of Minister Situ to apologize!"

Li Dian's plan was quite ruthless and carried a humiliating intent.

As long as Zhang Xiu still harbors any thoughts of resistance, he will certainly not agree to this after hearing it.

"Yes, yes... I will go back and report to my lord immediately... Thank you for sparing my life, General!" The messenger kowtowed repeatedly in gratitude.

"Get out of here now!" Cao Chun shouted, his sword flashing. The envoy was so frightened that he scrambled out of the tent.

After a while, Cao Chun asked, "General Mancheng, tell me, is Zhang Xiu really going to surrender?"

Li Dian pondered for a moment, then replied with a wry smile, "In my opinion, he most likely genuinely wants to surrender."

Upon hearing this, Cao Xiu's expression immediately turned disappointed, his voice tinged with frustration: "But... we haven't even had a proper battle yet, and he just surrendered like that..."

Cao Chun couldn't help but sigh to the heavens: "We've worked so hard for months, and all we're doing is making a trip to Wancheng?!"

Li Dian also sighed, "I'm afraid these Xiliang soldiers have been terrified by our lord and the General of the Rear..."

"What a pity, I couldn't participate in the great battle outside Anyi City..."

"Go wash up and go to bed..."

After Cao Cao's vanguard arrived at the Yu River, they began to build a camp.

Based on the estimated itinerary, by the time Cao Cao led his army to the Yu River, the main camp would be almost completely completed.

Although Cao Cao had strategists Xi Zhicai and Guo Jia to advise him along the way, he was still somewhat uneasy.

Wancheng is too close to Xuchang, and there is also the Wuguan Pass, a vital passage to Guanzhong, behind it. The Xiliang army can go south through Wuguan Pass at any time to reinforce Wancheng.

Cao Cao's 50,000 troops seem like a lot, but Zhang Xiu also had more than 20,000, making it nearly 30,000 troops.

With the high walls and deep moats of Wancheng serving as a defensive stronghold, it was not an easy task for Cao Cao's army to quickly capture Wancheng.

However, when Cao Cao personally led his army to the Yushui camp, the scene before him and his generals and soldiers was quite surprising.

At the entrance of the camp stood a young man with his upper body bare and his hands tied behind his back.

Beside him stood a middle-aged scholar, his hands also bound behind his back, his eyes half-closed, looking as if he were dozing off.

Cao Cao raised his hand to shield his eyes from the sunlight, looked around carefully, and asked, "Isn't that Zihe's camp? What's going on at the gate?"

Before anyone could answer, Cheng Yu suddenly pointed ahead and shouted, "Minister Situ, General Cao Chun is here!"

Cao Chun, Li Dian, and Cao Xiu rode up into Cao Cao's army formation. Upon seeing Cao Cao, they dismounted and clasped their hands in greeting.

"Reporting to the Minister of Works, Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu have surrendered, bound themselves!"

"???"

"."

"0.0!"

As soon as Cao Chun said this,
Cao Cao's generals, such as Zhang Liao and Xu Huang, were initially shocked, then felt a bitter taste in their mouths, and finally fell silent.

"Damn it, they surrendered before they even touched a hair?"

"How could Zhang Xiu just surrender like that? She should have put up some resistance!"

"Zhang Ji was a powerful figure in his own right, so why was his nephew Zhang Xiu so incompetent?"

"My sword is going to be sheathed before it even draws blood..."

"Ugh……"

Cao Cao was somewhat taken aback when he heard that Zhang Xiu had surrendered.

But having weathered many storms, he had long since developed a composure that remained unchanged even if Mount Tai collapsed before him, and he quickly regained his composure.

"Zhang Xiu has surrendered! This is a great joy!" Cao Cao exclaimed first.

Having said that, he dismounted his warhorse and trotted towards Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu.

Zhang Ji and Jia Xu had both served under Dong Zhuo alongside Cao Cao, and thus had some interaction with each other.

Although Zhang Xiu had little interaction with Cao Cao, he was the nephew of an "old friend," so they were able to become acquainted relatively quickly.

At this moment, Zhang Xiu saw Cao Cao disregarding his own safety and running towards them alone. He couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion, thinking that Cao Cao was remembering their old friendship and was quite righteous.

"The guilty general Zhang Xiu (the guilty Jia Xu) has come to surrender to the royal army!" Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu knelt on one knee before Cao Cao and performed a grand salute.

Cao Cao quickly sped up his short legs, came to the two men, and bowed to help them up.

After observing Jia Xu and Zhang Xiu for a while, Cao Cao smiled and said to Zhang Xiu, "General, you are a man of great righteousness, saving the people of Wancheng from the suffering of war. I, Cao Cao, will certainly petition the Emperor for your merit!"

This was an extremely clever remark, turning a plea for forgiveness into a request for merit, fully demonstrating Cao Cao's skill in winning people's hearts.

Zhang Xiu was deeply moved. With Cao Cao's help, he stood up, bowed, and said, "Thank you, Minister!"

Cao Cao smiled and looked at Jia Xu, saying, "Wenhe, you have made quite a name for yourself over the years. Even the children in Guandong know the saying, 'A single word can bring chaos to the country, Jia Wenhe!'"

Upon hearing this, Jia Xu and Zhang Xiu immediately thought to themselves, "This is bad!"

But Cao changed the subject and said, "However, I must also thank you for your plan, otherwise the emperor would not have been able to escape Chang'an, nor would he have come to my Xuchang city."

"Phew~~" Jia Xu and Zhang Xiu breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to themselves, "Couldn't you just say everything at once?"

(End of this chapter)