Chapter 233 The dragnet has been waiting for you for a long time! The slaves of the four surnames are not worthy of your loyalty! Don't surrender? I will wake you up!
In the darkness of the night, Zhang Liao rode his horse and galloped with sword in hand.

There were more and more fires behind Liu's camp, the sounds of killing became louder and louder, and the sounds of horns and drums could be heard clearly.

This means that an unprecedentedly fierce battle must be taking place.

The only explanation for such a fierce fight was that Lu Bu led the main force and launched a surprise attack on Guan Yu from behind.

Then according to common sense, Guan Yu would definitely mobilize heavy troops to reinforce the rear camp in order to stop the fierce attack of Lu Bu's army that is several times larger than his.

There was naturally a lack of troops in the direction of the main camp, which was a perfect opportunity for him to take advantage of the opportunity and break into the camp.

Zhang Liao was thinking this in his mind, and before he knew it, he was approaching Liu's camp.

Looking into the distance, he saw that there were indeed only a few soldiers of Liu's army on the main camp line, and less than a hundred soldiers on duty.

"I was right. Yunchang really transferred all his troops to the rear camp to resist Wenhou!"

"Yunchang, Yunchang, I'm sorry, you and I each serve our own masters, I can only win this battle!"

Zhang Liao's face was filled with confidence, and he pointed his long sword forward:
"All troops, listen up. The enemy camp is defenseless. Follow me and charge in!"

The three thousand soldiers of Lu's army rushed forward with drums and drums as if they were injected with chicken blood.

In a blink of an eye, they rushed to the camp gate.

Seeing this, the soldiers of Liu's army on duty were obviously caught off guard and fled in panic.

The camp gate was soon broken down.

Zhang Liao took the lead, charging into the camp on his horse with sword in hand.

Three thousand soldiers rushed into the camp and followed Zhang Liao to attack the center of the army.

The journey was extremely smooth, and there was not a single soldier blocking the way.

As Zhang Liao was charging forward, he suddenly realized that something was wrong.

Even if Guan Yu transferred all his main forces to the rear camp to stop Lu Bu, the camp would not be so empty, right?
There was not a single soldier to be seen along the way, and no resistance was encountered. It was as if the entire camp had become an empty camp!
"Could it be..."

Zhang Liao felt a chill on his spine and a sense of foreboding came over him.

Just as he was about to rein in his horse and stop, the front had already rushed to the central army.

Under the big flag with the word "Guan" on it, the door of the central army tent was wide open.

Guan Yu sat upright, stroking his beautiful beard with one hand and holding a volume of "Zuo Zhuan" in the other hand, reading by candlelight at night.

The young scholar sitting beside him was as leisurely as a cloud. He was squinting his eyes and sipping the wine with relish.

"Kuan?"

Zhang Liao let out a low cry and hurriedly reined in his horse, a look of deep surprise and doubt on his face.

The soldiers of Lu's army who were rushing behind him stopped one after another, bumped into each other and crowded together, not knowing what was going on.

Zhang Liao immediately drew his sword and looked at the scene before him, a look of deep confusion and surprise flashing across his face.

In such a huge military tent, except for Guan Yu and the young scholar, there was no soldier around?
At this time, shouldn't Guan Yu be leading the main force and resisting Lu Bu's massive attack in the rear camp?
In this critical situation, Guan Yu did not go there in person to take charge, but actually had the leisure time to read Zuo Zhuan here at night?

Thousands of questions were buzzing in Zhang Liao's mind. For a moment, he froze in place, not daring to advance or retreat, and fell into a brief state of confusion.

Within the big tent.

Guan Yu had put down "Zuo Zhuan" and looked at Xiao Fang, who was leisurely sipping fine wine, with admiration.

"I have known Wenyuan for many years, but I don't know him as well as the military advisor."

"The military advisor's ability to see into people's hearts is truly unmatched in the world."

Guan Yu sighed with admiration, and the word "surrender" was written in large letters on his red face.

This was Xiao Fang's plan to lure the snake out of its hole.

Xiao Fang was certain that with Zhang Liao's insight and wisdom, he would be able to see that being trapped in Yangquan would be a dead end.

The only way out is to cooperate with Lu Bu's reinforcements to break Guan Yu's siege from both inside and outside.

Therefore, after Guan Yu returned triumphantly, he suggested to Guan Yu that he send more than a thousand soldiers with torches and beat drums and gongs.

It was impossible to tell the real situation at night, so Zhang Liao on the top of Yangquan City would mistakenly judge that Lu Bu's reinforcements were coming and attack Guan Yu's rear camp at night.

Given Zhang Liao's courage and decisiveness, he would not miss the opportunity and would certainly mobilize all the defenders in the city to rush out of the city to cooperate with Lu Bu in attacking from both inside and outside.

As a result, Guan Yu, his fellow northerner, was naturally lured out and fell into the trap.

"General Yunchang, I have already tricked you out of here. I will not get involved in this reminiscence."

Xiao Fang played with the wine glass in his hand and smiled faintly.

Guan Yu smiled, slowly stood up, and walked out of the tent with his hands behind his back.

Under the light, Zhang Liao's stunned and surprised face could be seen clearly.

"My dear brother Wenyuan, we finally meet again after several years of separation in Xuzhou."

Guan Yu stroked his beautiful beard gently and spoke in a clear voice.

Zhang Liao's body was startled, and he suddenly came to his senses, confirming that the man in front of him was undoubtedly Guan Yu.

The words "we parted in Xuzhou" made him feel guilty for a moment and he didn't know how to respond.

After all, Lu Bu's surprise attack on Xuzhou was an act of betrayal. As Lu Bu's subordinate, although he had to do so, he always felt guilty towards Guan Yu in his heart.

Meeting again today, I naturally don’t know how to respond to Guan Yu’s greetings.

After a while.

Zhang Liao finally put aside his guilt and bowed on his horse:

"Brother Yunchang, it's been a long time since we last met. You are still as charming as ever!"

In front of thousands of soldiers, the two men actually greeted each other.

The more than 3,000 soldiers of Lu's army were all stunned. They thought, we followed you to kill people, why are you chatting and reminiscing about the past with the enemy's commander?

What do you mean?

"Wenyuan, you are a hero of the north and a hero of the time. Lü Bu's slaves are not worthy of your loyalty." "Submit to my brother. We brothers will fight side by side to help my brother Xuande support the country and rebuild the Han Dynasty!"

Guan Yu didn't like beating around the bush, and after the greetings he didn't lay any groundwork, but went straight to the point and persuaded Zhang Liao to surrender.

Zhang Liao frowned, but bowed and said:
"I appreciate your kindness, Brother Yunchang, but I'm sorry that I can't obey you."

"Even though Wen Hou is criticized by the world, Liao has followed him for many years after all. How can Liao easily leave him and leave!"

Say it.

Zhang Liao's eyes focused, his fighting spirit surged, and he pointed his sword:
"Marquis Wen is leading his army to attack your rear camp. The outcome of today's battle will be decided."

"Although you and Brother Yunchang serve different masters, Liao will let you go because of our past friendship."

"Brother Yunchang, please leave the camp and retreat to Lu'an immediately. Don't force me to take action!"

A trace of disappointment flashed across Guan Yu's face, and he shook his head and sighed.

Zhang Liao's attitude clearly showed that he was unwilling to abandon Lu Bu and wanted to continue to be his enemy, making a desperate struggle.

Guan Yu stopped trying to persuade him and shouted:
"Where is Zhou Cang? Bring me my sword!"

Behind the tent, Zhou Cang came running up with the Green Dragon Sword in his hand and the Red Hare horse, and presented it to Guan Yu.

Guan Yu turned over and jumped onto Red Hare, holding the Green Dragon Sword horizontally, and his originally calm face suddenly became as cold as frost.

"Red Hare?"

"Marquis Wen's Red Hare? How...how could it be?"

Zhang Liao instantly recognized Lu Bu's mount, and let out a cry of surprise, his face changing drastically with horror.

Guan Yu did not answer, but raised his Qinglong Sword slightly.

On the watchtower behind him, the command flag was immediately waving.

Soon, the deafening shouts and beats of drums outside the camp died down, and the tiny sparks of fire also went out.

Peace returned to the camp inside and outside.

This sudden change made Zhang Liao dumbfounded. The ominous premonition became stronger and cold sweat broke out on his back.

"Wenyuan, the scholar behind me is none other than my military advisor Xiao Jinglue."

"He had long anticipated that Lu Bu would lead his army away from Chengde and attack Yangquan, and he would join forces with you to attack our camp from both inside and outside."

"Military Advisor Xiao arrived first and planned for me to burn Lü Bu on the south bank of the Huai River, severely damaging his army."

"Lü Bu was defeated by me and has abandoned his Red Hare and fled."

"Everything you saw on the top of Yangquan City was just a trick by Military Advisor Xiao to lure you out of Yangquan City!"

Guan Yu revealed the truth and pointed his Qinglong sword:
"Lü Bu is defeated, Wenyuan, no one will come to save you!"

"Your every move is under the control of Military Advisor Xiao. Today you have fallen into my trap and there is no way to retreat."

"Since you refuse to listen to my advice, I will have no choice but to capture you and slowly persuade you to surrender to me!"

Zhang Liao's face turned pale as paper in an instant, and he looked with horror at the young scholar who was drinking wine in the tent.

"Xiao Jinglue, the military advisor under Liu Bei who was always so well-prepared?"

"He actually came to Yangquan?"

"Marquis Wen was defeated by his strategy, and even his Red Hare was taken away by Guan Yu?"

"I actually fell into his trap and was lured out by him?"

Zhang Liao's heart was filled with shock, his hands holding the knife were shaking slightly, and his eyes were filled with fear as he looked at Xiao Fang.

"Retreat, the entire army retreats quickly——"

Zhang Liao didn't dare to argue with Guan Yu anymore, nor did he dare to lead his troops to attack again. Without thinking, he shouted and turned around.

Three thousand soldiers of Lu's army turned around in a hurry and pushed and shoved each other to flee out of the camp.

"Wenyuan, you won't turn back until you hit the wall..."

Guan Yu frowned deeply and slashed down fiercely with the Qinglong sword in his hand.

The horn sounded again and the command flag on the watchtower waved again.

Suddenly, countless soldiers emerged from the camp, which was originally empty, like divine troops descending from the sky, and surrounded it from all directions.

The ambush is launched!

Zhang Liao gritted his teeth secretly and thought that his premonition was right. There were indeed ambushes hidden in the seemingly empty camp.

It's too late to regret now.

Zhang Liao had no choice but to try his best to lead his 3,000 panicked soldiers to flee towards Yangquan City.

Ambushers came from all sides and the killing began.

Three thousand soldiers were killed in a blink of an eye, with countless casualties.

Under such an ambush, it would be impossible for Zhang Liao to break out of the encirclement. Even if he was not captured alive, he would die in the chaos.

However, Guan Yu wanted to capture Zhang Liao alive, so he specifically ordered that no arrows should be shot or Zhang Liao should be killed, which made the soldiers hold back when they besieged him.

After paying a heavy price, Zhang Liao, with less than 300 personal guards, broke through a bloody path and headed straight for Yangquan City.

The east was getting light and the sky was getting twilight.

Zhang Liao dragged his exhausted body and finally rushed to the east gate of Yangquan, shouting urgently:

"Where is Brother Lei? I've been ambushed by Guan Yu. Quickly open the city gate and let me in!"

The city gates were not opened and the drawbridge was not lowered.

Lei Bo stuck his head out and said loudly:
"Zhang Wenyuan, my brothers and I who stayed behind have decided to surrender the city to General Zuo. I'm sorry I can't open the gate and let you leave the city!"

Zhang Liao, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, was suddenly shocked.

(End of this chapter)