mtl008 Chapter 407 Lü Dai Surrenders
Chapter 407 Lü Dai Surrenders
Their escape route by sea had been cut off by themselves, and their escape route by land had been cut off by the Han army. Now they were truly trapped with nowhere to go.
Lu Dai, who was unaware that the Han navy had already landed, wanted to slap himself for ordering his own navy to return the way they came.
He cut off his own escape route; wasn't that just plain stupid? If his navy were still around, he would have…
Wait, that's not right.
Lu Dai suddenly thought of something and summoned Lieutenant General Dai Liang, saying, "The main force of the Han army should be besieging Lu Xun in the corridor right now. So where did the Han army blocking our entry into Wushang come from?"
Once you raise a question, things become much easier; you can then focus your thinking on that question.
Dai Liang squinted and pondered for a long time before saying, "The tens of thousands of Han troops in Dongyang River could not have appeared out of thin air. They must have come from other places to provide support. Shanyin is currently in the rear and it is impossible for it to have so many organized troops. Jianye is even less likely. Guan Yu is tied up with Cao Ren and cannot spare so many troops. Even if he could, it would be too late to get from Jianye to Wushang, which is 800 li away. So there is only one explanation left: this Han army was transferred back from the front line of Damo."
Lu Dai pondered, "You're right. Also, the troops that attacked Hanxing County probably came from Wuyi Mountain. Other places are too far away to be able to arrive so quickly. So here's the question: what does it mean that Guan Xing was both supporting Dongyangjiang and infiltrating Hanxing City?"
After a moment's thought, Dai Liang's expression changed drastically, and he exclaimed in disbelief, "This means that Grand Commander Lu is finished. Otherwise, Guan Xing would not have dared to mobilize so many troops to deal with us."
Dai Liang was startled by his own thoughts, and to his dismay, he discovered that this was the most likely possibility among all the possibilities.
Based on the known situation, Lu Xun is probably finished. Even if he is not finished, he is probably struggling to survive and poses no threat to Guan Xing. Otherwise, Guan Xing would never dare to send tens of thousands of reinforcements to support Wushang in its infiltration of Hanxing. After all, Lu Xun is not weak, and Guan Xing must be afraid of being broken through by Lu Xun.
What does it mean that Guan Xing is no longer afraid of Lu Xun? What else can it mean?
Dai Liang said in a panic, "My lord, it seems that Grand Commander Lu is really finished. In that case, the Han army's reinforcements will not be just what we have now, but will continue to rush to our side. It will probably not be long before we are surrounded by Han troops that outnumber us several times over. What should we do?"
The thought of the Han army's main force, which had annihilated Lu Xun, pressing down on him madly sent a chill down Lü Dai's spine. He bit his tongue hard to force himself to calm down, and stroked his beard as he pondered, "Don't rush, don't rush. We must stay calm at this time. The situation is still unclear, and we can't make any rash decisions. We should wait and see. Let's retreat to Yongkang first. While we retreat, we should send out scouts to gather information about the Han army and Grand Commander Lu. We must learn as much as possible about the situation at the front lines so that we can make the right judgment. Let's go."
“Yes…” Dai Liang clasped his hands in a bow, turned and left, returning to his ranks to direct the army to continue their retreat, while quickly considering the current situation.
Lu Xun led almost all of Sun Quan's elite troops. If the entire army was wiped out, it would mean that Sun Quan was about to be finished. If they did not want to be buried with Sun Quan, they would have to find another way out.
What other way out is there? It's obvious, it's to surrender to the King of Hanzhong and return to the embrace of the Han Dynasty.
But how to persuade Lü Dai to surrender, or rather, how to make Lü Dai surrender with dignity?
Surrender was necessary, but dignity was also important, since both Lord Lü and he himself valued their reputation.
Dai Liang wanted to surrender with dignity, but he forgot that dignity and surrender are contradictory and cannot be had at the same time. What dignity is there to speak of if you surrender?
No sooner had they returned to Yongkang than Lü Dai and Dai Liang received a series of bad news. First, the Han army that had rushed to attack Hanxing City did not stay in Hanxing, but instead went north to Longquan Town and set up defenses in the Longquan Creek area, completely cutting off their retreat route to Hanxing.
The mountainous terrain is complex, and the army can only advance along the river. Now that Longquan Creek is blocked by the Han army, Lü Dai can only retreat by crossing mountains and climbing cliffs.
Secondly, scouts reported that they had discovered traces of the Han army in the Kuocang Mountains. A Han army of about 5,000 men was coming from the Kuocang Mountains, which was the route they took from Yongning to Lishui. The Han army had even blocked this route, so even if they wanted to retreat to Yongning, they couldn't just jump into the sea together.
Not long after they had digested this news, the scouts returned to report that the Han army that had previously blocked them from entering Wushang at Dongyang River had crossed the river and was approaching Yongkang at an extremely fast speed.
The three Han armies arrived one after another and completely surrounded them in Yongkang Town.
Three pieces of bad news came one after another, like a combo attack, hitting Lü Dai three times in a row, leaving him completely stunned.
Lu Dai was stunned for a long time before he came to his senses. He closed his eyes and sighed helplessly, "I never thought that Guan Xing would be so shrewd in using troops at such a young age. He left us no way out. This boy's talent is no less than his father's. I estimate that he will become the next Wei Qing before long."
He didn't dare use Han Xin as a comparison, because Han Xin was a celestial being, an existence that mortals could not even hope to reach. Comparing someone to Han Xin would be seen by everyone as deliberate flattery.
In contrast, Wei Qing was much more down-to-earth. Although he was equally brilliant in military strategy, ordinary people could still catch up with him, unlike Han Xin, who, even if you rode Red Hare, could never catch up to him.
Therefore, Lü Dai's analogy of Wei Qing to Guan Xing was absolutely a heartfelt truth.
Lü Dai sighed, “There’s no way to fight anymore. Let’s surrender. I’ll trouble General Dai to make a trip to the Han army’s commander-in-chief to express our willingness to surrender and tell the Han army that I can surrender, but Guan Xing must personally accept the surrender.”
Lu Xun's main force of 50,000 men was wiped out, and Sun Quan was out of troops and about to be finished. Under these circumstances, the most dignified thing for Lü Dai was to retreat to Jiaozhou and wait for the King of Hanzhong or the King of Wei to deal with Sun Quan before taking the initiative to submit a letter of surrender. In this way, he would not only avoid being infamous, but would also gain a good reputation for stopping the war for the sake of the people.
After all, regardless of who wins between Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan, Lü Dai will never become emperor. Submitting to the central court is inevitable, and no one will say anything if he submits a letter of surrender.
Therefore, he dreamed of retreating to Jiaozhou to sit back and watch the three families fight it out, waiting for the winner to emerge victorious, and then following whoever won.
But that damned Guan Xing wouldn't give him the chance to sit back and watch the tigers fight. He's now besieged in Yongkang and has no choice but to surrender if he doesn't want to starve.
He was willing to surrender, but he only recognized Guan Xing. He didn't recognize the likes of Cheng Li and Xiao Gui. He, Lord Lü, was a man of status, and he couldn't just let any Tom, Dick, or Harry bow down to him.
Actually, he didn't think much of Guan Xing and really wanted Guan Yu to come and invite him personally, but he knew that Guan Yu was far away and couldn't come. So he could only let Guan Xing, this junior, have the honor, believing that Guan Xing would give him, the governor of Jiaozhou, face.
“Yes…” Dai Liang accepted the order and left, taking more than ten personal guards to Dongyang River to meet Cheng Li and express Lü Dai’s thoughts to Cheng Li.
Cheng Li had heard of Lü Dai's great reputation and respected his character. He readily agreed to Lü Dai's request and quickly sent someone to inform Guan Xing. He then ordered the army to stop at the camp where they had previously blocked Lü Dai and wait. He also sent letters to Wang Tao and Ji Jie, telling them to wait and not to attack.
Lü Dai is already surrounded and there's no way he can cause any trouble. So what's wrong with showing some respect for the old man?
Wang Tao had no intention of launching an offensive. After receiving the letter, he stayed in Longquan Town with peace of mind. Ji Jie, who had already left Kuocang Mountain and received the letter, also had no objections. He led his troops to garrison in Lishui to block Lü Dai's escape route to the south and east, and then patiently waited for Guan Xing to arrive.
Five days passed before Guan Xing finally arrived in Yongkang on the morning of the sixth day to meet Lü Dai. Lü Dai walked out of the camp alone, came to Guan Xing, and bowed, saying, "Heroes have always emerged from among the young. I am willing to admit defeat and surrender to the general. Please accept me."
After saying this, he clasped his hands and bowed deeply in worship. Guan Xing put his hands behind his back and accepted the bow with peace of mind. He was now the victor and deserved to receive this worship.
After receiving Lü Dai's homage, he reached out to help him up, took a half step back, bowed in return, and said, "Junior Guan Anguo greets Prefect Lü. Junior welcomes Prefect Lü on behalf of the King of Hanzhong."
The rest was easy. Lü Dai ordered his troops to lay down their weapons, line up, and surrender to the Han army.
Thus, the Battle of Kuaiji came to a successful end with Guan Xing's great victory.
Having lost everything, Eastern Wu was no longer able to launch a second attack, indicating that Kuaiji Commandery would finally enjoy long-term peace and stability, and would completely become the rear base of the Han army.