The Three Kingdoms: Hindsight is 20/20, and the Three Revivals of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 218 Zhang Fei forcefully seizes Guo Yuan's military power and wins over Zhang Baiqi (4th update)
Deeply worried, Jia Kui leaned against the city wall and fell into a deep sleep.

During the days of defending the city, Jia Kui basically slept on the city wall. This served to boost morale, show that the army and the people were united, and also to respond promptly to any emergencies.

Early the next morning.

The guards shook Jia Kui awake in a panic: "County Magistrate, something terrible has happened! The enemy reinforcements have arrived!"

"Is it Huchuquan?" Jia Kui suddenly jolted awake and hurriedly got up to look out from the crenellations of the city wall. He saw dust billowing behind Guo Yuan's camp, and a troop of soldiers was entering from the east gate.

“It’s not Huchuquan, it must be the troops from Shangdang.” Jia Kui’s expression turned serious. Whether it was Huchuquan or the troops from Shangdang, they would be extremely disadvantageous to the small town of Jiangyi.

Is it really going to fall apart?
Jia Kui slammed his fist on the city wall, his face full of resentment.

And at this time.

The camp is located outside the city.

Guo Yuan glared angrily at Zhang Fei, his right hand gripping the hilt of his sword: "Jiangyi City is about to fall, and you want me to suspend the attack on Jiangyi? What kind of logic is that?"

Zhang Fei's eyes widened even more than Guo Yuan's, and he spoke in a cowardly tone: "This is General Zuo's military order. How dare I question him? If you have any questions, go and ask him yourself. I don't want to commit treason!"

Guo Yuan was so angry he felt like vomiting blood. He said bitterly, "Did General Zuo send you here to steal credit?"

Zhang Fei remained silent, but his deputy, Xin Zhe, muttered, "They couldn't even take down the small city of Jiangyi after eight days of fighting. What credit is there to claim?"

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Xin Zhe seemed to be muttering something, but the sound just happened to reach Guo Yuan's ears.

Guo Yuan's expression changed drastically, and he pointed at Xin Zhe, demanding, "Who are you? How dare you insult me?"

Faced with Guo Yuan's questioning, Xin Zhe did not retreat but advanced, raising his head and looking up: "I am Xin Zhe, a former clerk under the General. I was ordered by the General to serve as the Commandant of the Cavalry Battalion to assist the Left General. I was later promoted to the Protector of the Left General's Office for my merits. My father is Ping, a native of Yingchuan who served under the General. What do you want to tell me?"

The position of clerk in charge of the tent is reserved for close relatives and friends. Xin Zhe was sent by Yuan Shao to assist Liu Bei. In addition, Xin Zhe is the son of Xin Ping, who has now clearly expressed his support for Yuan Tan!

With these layers of information piled up, and thinking about it more deeply, Guo Yuan couldn't help but grip the hilt of his sword tighter. Guo Yuan was a supporter of Yuan Shang, and now someone else was supporting Yuan Tan. This was no longer a simple matter of stealing credit.

Seeing Guo Yuan gripping his sword hilt tightly, Zhu Ao worried that the conflict might escalate and quickly smoothed things over for Guo Yuan, saying, "It's a misunderstanding! It's all a misunderstanding! Although Jiangyi is small, the city is defended by Jia Kui from Hedong. This man is well-versed in military strategy and has a good reputation. He mobilized the people in the city to defend it together. Guo, the official, did not want the people of Jiangyi to be killed innocently, so he tried to persuade Jia Kui to surrender by talking about the advantages and disadvantages. That's why we only besieged the city and did not attack it. Otherwise, how could the small city of Jiangyi withstand Guo's five thousand troops?"

Zhang Fei glanced at Zhu Ao, whose imposing presence made Zhu Ao's palms sweat. Then Zhang Fei turned to Guo Yuan: "Since it's a misunderstanding, then withdraw all the troops outside the other three gates back to the main camp and await General Zuo's army."

Zhu Ao was startled and hurriedly advised, "General, please reconsider. If we retreat now, Jia Kui will definitely send someone out of the city to inform the Pi family and Anyi, and..."

However, before Zhu Ao could finish speaking, he was once again fixed in Zhang Fei's fierce eyes.

Zhang Fei's tone also became more impatient: "How far are Pishi and Anyi from Jiangyi? You've been besieging this place for eight days, do you still need to worry about Jia Kui sending someone to report? If you have any questions, go ask General Zuo!"

"What if I refuse?" Guo Yuan's attitude suddenly hardened, and he pointed behind him with his left hand: "This is my military camp, and I have five thousand soldiers!"

Zhang Fei stared coldly at Guo Yuan, a sneer playing on his lips: "You intend to disobey the Left General's orders?" Guo Yuan, not to be outdone, raised his head and said, "I am an official under Governor Gao of Bingzhou, not an official of the Left General's office. How can you say I'm disobeying him? Don't accuse me of any crime!"

“Even Governor Gao has to listen to General Zuo. How dare you, a mere official from Bingzhou, argue with me?” Zhang Fei turned his eighteen-foot spear around and said, word by word, “General Zuo has ordered that if Guo Yuan does not obey, he may be captured alive!”

Guo Yuan's pupils widened instantly.

Before he could react, the spearhead of the eighteen-foot spear slammed heavily into Guo Yuan's breastplate.

Guo Yuan groaned and fell heavily to the ground again. He heard Zhang Fei shout coldly, "Tie him up!"

The change happened so fast that Guo Yuan's guards didn't even have time to react, and Zhu Ao was so shocked that he trembled and couldn't speak.

"Zhang Fei, how dare you do this! If you have the guts, fight me one-on-one. What kind of hero ambushes me like by launching a sneak attack!" Guo Yuan, who was bound, was both angry and furious, struggling and shouting.

Zhang Fei scratched his ear: "Shut up! How do you compare to Lü Bu? You dare to boast about a one-on-one fight? Do I need to ambush you to capture you? You're just too slow! Take him away and keep a close watch on him!"

Ignoring Guo Yuan, who was still cursing, Zhang Fei turned to Zhu Ao and patted him on the shoulder: "Don't be nervous. I'm just following General Zuo's orders. You certainly won't make things difficult for me, right?"

When Zhang Fei slapped him, Zhu Ao felt as if his whole body no longer belonged to him, and he stiffly said, "This subordinate dares not."

"It's best if you don't dare!" Zhang Fei withdrew his large hand, hoisted his eighteen-foot spear onto his shoulder, and looked around casually: "From now on, this military camp is under my control, Zhang Fei! Immediately issue the order to abandon the siege of Jiangyi, and all troops must withdraw to the main camp without fail!"

Guo Yuan was captured, and Zhu Ao surrendered. All the generals in the camp were terrified, and no one dared to voice any opposition at this time.

This was also Yuan Shao's fault. Because of the loss of 70,000 to 80,000 elite troops in the Battle of Guandu, all the prefectures and counties recruited too many new soldiers.

The new recruits, unfamiliar with grand scenes and the officers who had never experienced fierce battles, dared not easily say "no" to the fierce Zhang Fei. In addition, Zhang Fei kept saying "I will carry out the orders of the Left General," so no one dared to speak up for Guo Yuan.

The troops at Sanmen quickly withdrew.

The officers who had retreated from the three gates were dumbfounded when they saw Zhang Fei sitting in the main seat in the command tent, and Zhu Ao standing trembling to Zhang Fei's right, along with several other officers.

Zhang Sheng instinctively gripped the hilt of his sword, glancing warily to his left and right.

"Stop looking around! Guo Yuan disobeyed General Zuo's orders and has been captured. He awaits General Zuo's judgment." Zhang Fei glanced at the crowd, his gaze landing on Zhang Sheng, whose armor and robes were clearly different from the others: "You are Zhang Baiqi? Do you know Zhang Yan, Lei Gong, Fu Yun, Da Mu, Bai Que, and Wu Lu?"

Zhang Sheng was startled, unsure of Zhang Fei's meaning in asking this question, and cautiously replied, "We had some interaction back in Black Mountain."

“Don’t be nervous. General Zuo said that Zhang Baiqi is a rare hero in the Black Mountain, and he told me to treat him well when I meet him; your surname is Zhang, and mine is Zhang too, so we might have been from the same clan five hundred years ago.” Zhang Fei laughed heartily, then pointed to the stool on his left: “You are different from the others, you can sit down and talk!”

　Update 4 is here!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)