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

Chapter 367 Zhuge Liang and Chen Deng besieged Zang Ba, and Zhuge Liang even sent his page to persuade him to surrender (4th update)
Zang Ba was also in a dilemma at this moment.

Let's fight. We may not win. Since Zhuge Liang helped Liu Bei, he has never been defeated. This time, he has broken through Qingzhou and arrived outside Dongguan City with lightning speed. Zang Ba has no confidence in defeating Zhuge Liang.

Surrendering would be risky, as the situation is unpredictable. Cao Cao is no ordinary man, and if he were to send troops to attack, Zang Ba would be unable to withstand the attack. If he were to surrender to Cao Cao again, Cao Cao would become suspicious of him.

Unable to fight or surrender, forces like Zang Ba, who survived in the chaos of the times, could still carve out a territory when heroes vied for power, but when Cao Cao and Liu Bei fought, they could only stand firm on their positions.

You must either fight to the death for Cao Cao or for Liu Bei; trying to be a fence-sitter will only result in being attacked by both sides.

What are your thoughts?

Instead of discussing the decision, Zang Ba passed the question back to Sun Guan and Sun Kang.

The two men, who were always led by Zang Ba, were not as insightful or perceptive as him. After exchanging glances, they lowered their heads and remained silent.

Although neither of them spoke, Zang Ba understood their choice.

If they really wanted to start a war, neither of them would have remained silent, especially Sun Guan, who always liked to volunteer to be the vanguard, but today he was afraid of fighting and unwilling to do so.

"In that case, let's go back to Dazhai to discuss it first."

Zang Ba did not make a decision immediately, but directly ordered the retreat.

"Zang Ba actually retreated?" Huang Zhong was slightly surprised. If Zang Ba had insisted on fighting, Huang Zhong would have been prepared to try to capture Zang Ba alive during the battle.

Zhuge Liang's eyes were piercing, as if he had anticipated everything. He said, "Zang Ba's refusal to fight shows that he is hesitant. Since he is hesitant, I can make Zang Ba surrender on his own initiative."

If Zang Ba had insisted on starting the war, Zhuge Liang would have given up the idea of ​​recruiting him. A person with a resolute mindset is not worth recruiting, and even if he surrendered, one must be wary that it was a feigned surrender.

Now, Zang Ba chose to retreat when facing the enemy. A person with a retreating mentality becomes a potential target for surrender; all that's needed is an opportunity.

Zhuge Liang had long planned for this opportunity.

In the past few days, Zhuge Liang has not been idle; he has been waiting for Zang Ba, Sun Guan, and Sun Kang to join forces.

Speed ​​is of the essence in warfare. Zhuge Liang's swift southward march to Xuzhou was a race against time with Cao Cao, and he certainly wouldn't waste a few days.

At this moment, outside Kaiyang City, Chen Deng had already led his troops to the city walls.

After Wu Dun refused to surrender, Chen Deng surrounded Kaiyang City on three sides, leaving only one side open for Wu Dun to send someone out of the city to report the news.

Chen Deng's sudden appearance at the foot of Kaiyang City astonished Zang Ba: "How did Chen Deng arrive so quickly?"

Soon, Zang Ba realized what was happening and a sense of dread crept into his heart: "No wonder Zhuge Liang hasn't made any moves these past few days; he's waiting for Chen Deng to march north to Kaiyang!"

With Zhuge Liang besieging Dongguan City first and Chen Deng besieging Kaiyang City later, Zang Ba had several thousand troops outside the city, but it was virtually impossible for him to deal with both Zhuge Liang and Chen Deng at the same time.

Before Zang Ba could come up with a solution, another scout reported that Chen Deng was heading north along the Yi River.

It turned out that after Chen Deng saw that Wu Dun was holding the city and not coming out, and then sent an envoy out of the city, he concluded that there were not many troops in Kaiyang City. So he directly abandoned the siege of Kaiyang City and went straight for Zang Ba.

Field combat is much easier than siege warfare!

If Zhuge Liang hadn't wanted to force Zang Ba to surrender, Chen Deng wouldn't have needed to launch a large-scale northward march along the Yi River; he could have simply joined forces with Zhuge Liang for a surprise attack and routed Zang Ba's camp. With Chen Deng establishing a fortified camp behind Zang Ba's rear, Zang Ba, despite having the advantage of the mountainous terrain, was now in a hopeless situation.

With Zhuge Liang in the north and Chen Deng in the south, they directly controlled the water source of the Yi River. Within three days, Zang Ba's army would be thrown into chaos due to water shortage.

At that time, even if Zang Ba was unwilling to surrender, his soldiers would have to flee down the mountain and surrender.

The disadvantage of setting up a fortified camp on a steep mountainside is that once the mountain is surrounded from both sides, the water source is lost. A person can survive for seven days without food, but will die after three days without water.

"Minister Zang, a young man from the foot of the mountain is requesting an audience. He claims to be Wang Ji, Zhuge Liang's pageboy."

The scout's report only fueled Zang Ba's impatience. Without even guessing, Zang Ba understood Zhuge Liang's intentions.

"Sun Guan, Sun Kang, arrange for axemen to scare Zhuge Liang's page away!" Zang Ba's face was extremely ugly, showing both anxiety from being surrounded and anger from being looked down upon.

Even if they wanted to send an envoy to persuade them to surrender, they should at least send an adult. What was the purpose of sending an underage page to the mountain?

Do you also regard me, Zang Ba, as a child?
Sun Guan and Sun Kang exchanged a glance. They wanted to persuade him, but dared not speak because of Zang Ba's expression. So they went to arrange for axemen along the way, hoping to scare away Zhuge Liang's page in this way.

However, Wang Ji was able to serve as Zhuge Liang's page, so how could he be a coward?
Not only were they not intimidated by the ferocity of the axemen, but they also took a closer look at the weapons of several of them, and even commented, "Even their weapons are so bad, I should have known better than to come and try to persuade them to surrender."

Hearing this, Sun Kang, who was accompanying him, almost tripped and fell.

What does it mean to have inferior weapons?

Are your weapons really that sophisticated?
Sun Guan's eyes showed worry. How could a mere youth be so unafraid of swords and axes?
Seeing Wang Ji arrive calmly, Zang Ba in the tent was secretly amazed. However, Zang Ba was unwilling to show weakness in front of a mere youth, so he shouted, "How dare this Zhuge villager underestimate me! When two armies are facing each other, you actually send a mere child? Drag him away and cut off his ears and nose to show my determination to fight to the death!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Ji not only showed no fear, but also sneered: "I never expected that the renowned Chancellor of Langya, Zang Ba, would be afraid of a mere child like me. It's laughable that Military Advisor Zhuge even wants to recruit such a coward!"

Zang Ba stopped the axemen who were advancing and shouted, "I knew you would be dissatisfied, so I'll give you a chance to see what reason you can give!"

Wang Ji, however, put his hands behind his back, raised his head and snorted: "You just humiliated strategist Zhuge Liang, I disdain to say another word to you. You don't need to cut off my ears and nose, just kill me quickly. With my life, I can exchange you for my death. How fortunate I am!"

Zang Ba was taken aback. Was this guy seeking death?

"You're so young, are you really not afraid of death?" Zang Ba's face was gloomy. This feeling of being led by the nose made Zang Ba extremely uncomfortable.

Wang Ji glanced sideways, his arrogance undiminished, and said, "The Book of Han records that when the Nanyue killed the Han envoy, they were slaughtered and their nine commanderies were destroyed; when the King of Wan killed the Han envoy, his head was hung at the northern gate; when the Joseon killed the Han envoy, they were immediately executed. Although I may die, I can help the Left General obtain the lands of Qing and Xu. I will die a worthy death, so what is there to fear?"

Zang Ba instinctively gripped the hilt of his knife, veins bulging on his arm.

Is this Zhuge Liang's page? Has he gone mad from reading too much, actually trying to emulate the Han Dynasty envoys?

Despite his anger, Zang Ba also admired Wang Ji's courage.

After weighing the pros and cons, Zang Ba stood up and apologized to Zhuge Liang for referring to him as a country bumpkin.

Seeing Zang Ba soften and apologize, Wang Ji lowered his head, bowed to Zang Ba, and said, "Zang Ba is worried that Cao Cao will be angry with you after General Zuo retreats. At that time, General Zuo will be far away in Hebei and unable to come to your aid. You will be unable to resist Cao Cao alone and will surely suffer the disaster of extermination of your family. Therefore, you are hesitant to make a decision."

(End of this chapter)