The Three Kingdoms: I asked you to save Guan Yu, not to destroy Sun Quan.

Chapter 349 Pan Zhang's Confusion

Guan Xing frowned, caught in a mental struggle.

It must be said that Deng Hong's analysis was very tempting. Since they knew that Pan Zhang's reinforcements numbered only 500 and were 30 miles away, they could easily bypass the Wu army camp and intercept them halfway.

If they were truly blocked, the Wu army that was intercepted would definitely request reinforcements from the Wu army inside the camp, thus drawing the Wu army inside the camp out of the main camp.

Dealing with the Wu army outside the main camp is much easier than fighting them head-on. If successful, at least half of the three thousand Wu soldiers inside the camp and the five hundred Wu soldiers on the road can be wiped out, severely crippling Pan Zhang.

The temptation to annihilate nearly half of Pan Zhang's forces was too great, so great that Guan Xing had to exhaust all his strength to resist and shook his head in refusal, saying, "No, we can't go. If we do that, Pan Zhang will definitely retreat to Yu Han and join Zhuge Jin without stopping."

"Back in Wushang, I told you that in war, it's always about the many who have the advantage. Even if our total strength is at a disadvantage, we must use guerrilla tactics and flanking maneuvers to disperse and cut off the enemy's forces, creating a numerical advantage on local battlefields, and then gradually annihilating them."

"Moreover, our ultimate target right now is not Pan Zhang, but Lu Xun. Any battle plan must revolve around Lu Xun as the ultimate target. Currently, Pan Zhang is at Riyue Lake, and Zhuge Jin is in Yuhan. This is the perfect opportunity to separate them and then annihilate them. We absolutely cannot drive Pan Zhang to Yuhan and let him reunite with Zhuge Jin, because that would strengthen Zhuge Jin's power, making it infinitely more difficult for us to deal with Zhuge Jin, seize Yuhan, and cut off Lu Xun's retreat. Do you understand?"

"Moreover, Wu's army is not weak. If we intercept and besiege them halfway and attack their reinforcements, even if we successfully defeat Wu's army, we will suffer heavy casualties, which will be detrimental to the subsequent battles."

"I've told everyone before that we have too few troops and too little resources. We should try to avoid fighting wars of attrition that are not worth the losses or where the gains and losses are roughly equal. Instead, we should fight annihilation wars that allow us to assemble three or even five times the number of troops. We should surround the enemy, strive to annihilate them completely, and then leave without lingering. Then we should repeat the same tactics..."

"In this way, although we are still at a disadvantage overall, we have an absolute advantage in local battlefields and in each specific battle, thus ensuring victory in the battle. As time goes by, we will be able to transform this advantage from local to overall and achieve the goal of final victory."

"So as long as we can annihilate Lu Xun, I might even let Pan Zhang go, but the condition is that Pan Zhang can go anywhere, but he absolutely cannot go to Yu Han to cause trouble for me, understand?"

Deng Hong said with a bitter face, "I understand the logic, but it's really painful to see such a big piece of fat meat dangling in front of me and not be able to eat it."

Guan Xing patted his shoulder and laughed, "The discomfort is temporary. When you catch Lu Xun, you'll know how wise your choice was today."

"Order the scouts to continue investigating Pan Zhang's movements. The vanguard has returned, and Pan Zhang's main force should be back by now. Also, send someone to contact Ning Huan. I need to know the situation on his side. Since Pan Zhang chose to ambush Peng Qi, there has to be a result, whether he wins or loses. Then you continue to guard the main camp, and I will lead the army to put on a show in front of the Wu army camp."

Guan Xing lingered in front of the camp for another day. The next day at noon, a scout reported that Pan Zhang had led the main force back and was less than forty li away from the Wu army camp. They would be back at the Wu army camp by nightfall at the latest. Moreover, the Wu army looked dejected and did not appear to have won a battle.

After listening, Guan Xing fell into deep thought again. People are always elated when they gain an advantage, but they only become dejected and curse when they suffer a loss. In other words, San Zhang suffered a setback at Peng Qi's hands, or at least did not gain any advantage.

So the question is, how will Pan Zhang react after returning to camp?

Given Pan Zhang's intelligence, he must have already realized that the Han army had joined forces with Peng Qi, thus recognizing the danger he was in. Then he should have made a decision: to attack, defend, or retreat.

Regardless, I have to give Pan Zhang some incentive so as not to scare him away.

Thinking this, Guan Xing summoned his generals and instructed them: "You Chong, pack your things and come with me to ambush Pan Zhang. Just like before, we can only fail, not succeed. We need to make Pan Zhang think that we have no fighting power and will collapse at the first touch, so as to dispel Pan Zhang's idea of ​​retreating and running away."

"Deng Hong, you stay at the main camp and contact Yu Yang. Tell him that Pan Zhang is very likely to resort to desperate measures and seize the military market to run away. So you must inform the merchants in the military market to prepare for evacuation. If things go wrong, run away as fast as you can. Don't let Pan Zhang catch you. The merchants in the military market are our eyes and ears now. We can't let Pan Zhang ruin them."

"Yes..." Deng Hong nodded and left.

Guan Xing led his troops out and, without the Wu army coming out of the camp, successfully circled around to the rear of the camp and blocked Pan Zhang's only way back to camp.

Around 5 PM, Pan Zhang appeared. Guan Xing led his troops out under You Chong's banner, but was chased and brutally beaten by the furious Pan Zhang, who left dozens of corpses behind and retreated in panic.

Upon returning to the main camp, he immediately ordered the army to flee. Just as they finished packing, a scout led Ning Huan's messenger into the camp. After bowing and inquiring, the scout handed over a letter, saying, "General, this is a letter from Battalion Commander Ning Huan to you."

Guan Xing unfolded the document and immediately burst into laughter, exclaiming in surprise, "Pan Zhang actually bribed Xiao Dan, Peng Qi's second-in-command, to turn against him on the spot and almost kill Peng Qi?"

"This is truly an unexpected delight. Pan Zhang, you've done me a great favor. Let's continue the retreat. Once we've reached a safe location, we can discuss how to incorporate Peng Qi's army and use Peng Qi to deliver a fatal blow to Pan Zhang."

After saying this, he led his troops to retreat, but this time he did not retreat back to Linru. Instead, he retreated eastward towards Yuhan. There were two reasons for this. First, he blocked the road from Riyue Lake to Yuhan, preventing Pan Zhang from retreating to Yuhan.

Secondly, the eastward direction is closer to Peng Qi's army, which is beneficial for his subsequent incorporation efforts.

Guan Xing withdrew with firm steps and without the slightest hesitation, which plunged Pan Zhang, who had successfully returned to the camp, into self-doubt.

Upon returning to his camp, Pan Zhang immediately summoned the garrison commander to inquire about the battle situation. He learned that the enemy had not been able to breach the camp for so long, and recalling the scene of defeating You Chong earlier, he was somewhat unsure of the enemy's identity.

Although he was certain that the Han army had infiltrated his vicinity, there was no evidence so far that the Han army had entered the Poyang Lake Plain. No, there was. Ma Zhong's capture must have been done by the Han army. You Chong didn't have that kind of power.

But the Han army was able to easily capture Ma Zhong, yet they couldn't break into the Riyue Lake camp, which had only 3,000 troops and was poorly defended, even after three or four days. Is this normal?

Given the Han army's fighting strength and Guan Xing's cunning, it shouldn't have been difficult for them to wipe out the 3,000 troops they left behind and the 500 soldiers who came back to reinforce them, so why didn't they?

Pan Zhang didn't believe Guan Xing could resist the temptation of annihilating nearly half of his troops, so he was unsure whether the forces attacking the camp these past few days were Guan Xing or Han soldiers.

After sitting at his desk in deep thought for a long time, Pan Zhang suddenly remembered something, turned his head and asked, "Did you capture any prisoners just now? If so, interrogate them immediately and find out the identity of this army."

The captain standing beside him said with a wry smile, "There were no prisoners, only corpses. Although the bandits who attacked us just now collapsed at the first touch, they were well-organized in their advance and retreat. After their teammates fell, they immediately turned around to rescue them. Only after confirming that the enemy was dead would they abandon the rescue and turn to run away. As a result, they took away a lot of wounded soldiers and corpses."

Pan Zhang keenly grasped the key point and muttered to himself, "With such a clear plan for advance and retreat, and even having the strength to rescue the wounded during the retreat after defeat, is this something the Shanyue people could do?"

"It seems that the attackers are not the Yue people but the Han army, and it is very likely that it is Guan Xing himself. But Guan Xing clearly had a chance to win, so why did he choose to retreat? Is he seriously ill?"