Chapter 28: Charging into Battle Alone on Horseback

  Guan Yu, also known as Guan Yunchang, has a face like a ripe lychee, with a sleeping silkworm eyebrow and single phoenix eye - these are all folk legends and family sayings. In historical records, there is only one sentence describing Guan Yu's appearance: "beautiful whiskers", which means that the beard on his chin and by his ears grew well. At first glance, Isamu didn't pay much attention to his beard, but now he took a closer look and indeed it was quite well-grown, although not as exaggerated as in the novel where his beard reached down to his belly.

  Guan Yu's stature was quite high, similar to that of Taishi Ci, but his appearance was unremarkable. If he shaved off the majestic-looking beard, he would look like an ordinary fruit vendor pushing a cart in the suburbs - no wonder folk tales and operas often depict him selling dates. Moreover, his beard was not the usual five-chapter-long-flowing-beard seen in sculptures, but rather a one-foot-long sideburns, similar to that of General Li Jing from the animated film "Nezha".

  At this time, Guan Yu accepted the order and took over the military token sent by Liu Bei. He led Taishi Ci, Shi En and others to the drill ground to inspect the troops. Shi En casually asked around and heard that under Liu's command, there were two senior generals, one named Guan Yun-chang and the other Zhang Yi-de. He didn't know where Zhang Yi-de was at present. Guan Yu did not turn his head back and replied coldly: "He has been ordered to garrison another county." Shi En felt a bit regretful and asked again about a young general under Gongsun Zan, surnamed Zhao, named Yun, with the style name Zi-long, who was said to be on good terms with Liu. Guan Yu continued to keep his face cold, only uttering two words "I don't know" from between his teeth.

  He quickly mobilized 3,000 soldiers and led them to march day and night, rushing to the military, five days later they entered the border of Douchang, thirty miles away from the city, and set up a camp. Guan Yu thought that the soldiers were tired and it was not suitable to advance for the time being, so he only brought Taishi Ci and seven or eight personal guards to sneak into the enemy's camp to explore the situation. Zishan didn't plan to leave Taishi Ci at all, so he followed on horseback.

  A group of people, under the guidance of Taishi Ci, climbed up a high mound, which was the place where he had observed the enemy's situation before suddenly entering Douchang City. From afar, the city walls of Douchang still seemed intact, with a few red flags sparsely erected on top, indicating that it had not yet fallen. At this time, just after noon, it seemed that the Yellow Turbans had not launched any attack, and were still surrounding the city in a disorganized manner, layer upon layer, in a state of exhaustion.

  Taishi Ci pointed out the enemy situation in all directions to Guan Yu and said, "To rescue Douchang, I have two plans. I don't know if General Guan is willing to listen?" At that time, Guan Yu's official position was Deputy Captain under Pingyuan State Governor.

  Guan Yu did not respond, but merely tilted his head slightly to the side, as if listening intently. Taishi Ci said: "There are two options: first, wait for the troops to rest overnight and then launch a surprise attack from the weak point in the north of the city at dawn tomorrow; after entering the city, exit through the west gate and head straight for Guan Hai's main camp - as long as we defeat Guan Hai, even if the enemy has hundreds of thousands of soldiers, they will collapse in one battle. Second, I will sneak back into the city tonight and have Kong Rong open the gates to launch a surprise attack at dawn tomorrow; with internal and external attacks, victory is guaranteed."

  After presenting his plan, he turned around to look at Guan Yu, waiting for him to make a decision. However, Guan Yu did not say whether to adopt which strategy or not to use any of them, but just stood there with his neck stretched out and gazing into the distance. Taishi Ci urged him twice, before Guan Yu suddenly raised the spear in his hand and pointed far away: "Let's take a look."

  Tai Shi Zi and Xun Dou looked in the direction he was pointing, and saw that it was a campsite. Outside the camp, a large pot was set up, steaming hot, but they didn't know what was being cooked. Under the protection of heavily armed soldiers, a long line of people were queuing up to receive food. Among the people in the queue, most were old men, women and children, all dressed in tattered clothes, with pale faces and thin skin. Some women even held babies in their arms... What thieves? These are obviously refugees!

  Guan Yu suddenly said in a low voice, "Among the 100,000 Yellow Turbans, many are women and children who have been coerced into joining. How can they be considered rebels? If we kill them all this time, without distinguishing between the innocent and the guilty, won't that be lamentable? In my opinion, I will single-handedly ride into the camp, take off Zhang Jiao's head, naturally lift the siege, and also minimize casualties, isn't that a win-win situation?"

  Tai Shi Zi shook his head slightly: "Although many are old and weak, there are still tens of thousands who can fight. Even if Guan Yu is brave, how can he single-handedly kill Gao Ding? If something goes wrong, not only will Du Chang be unable to lift the siege, but I fear that these three thousand Pingyuan troops will also be annihilated. Please think thrice."

  "Have no worries," Guan Yu said proudly, "just watch as I take the head of the enemy general from among the ten thousand troops!" With that, he grasped his horse's reins and was about to charge forward.

  "General Guan, wait!"

  Guan Yu gave him a strange glance: "I am neither a second nor a general."

  "Oh, this... Guan Zongma, wait a moment, listen to what I have to say..."

  Ximen's first impression of Guan Yu was not very good. In his previous life, among the famous generals of the late Han and Three Kingdoms periods, he didn't particularly like Guan Yu. At that time, online debates were frequent, with fans of Guan Yu and detractors constantly at odds, but Ximen's views differed from theirs. Those people mainly evaluated Guan Yu based on his military strength, and while no one could deny his martial prowess, was Guan Yu truly a great general? Was the defeat of the seven armies a result of him coincidentally exploiting a natural disaster or a premeditated plan? Was being defeated by Xu Huang a momentary mistake or poor deployment? In the end, was his defeat and death due to Lü Meng's cunning or Guan Yu's own incompetence?

  Xun scorned this, as the historical records were brief and many battles could not be recreated in detail. Whether they won or lost, it was all a matter of circumstance, or poor command. Everyone had their own opinion, but without more detailed historical materials to analyze, or new archaeological discoveries to prove it, such debates were meaningless. However, he did dislike Guan Yu's arrogant personality in his later years, believing that Guan Yu's eventual defeat and death were largely due to his refusal to form a united front, which provoked the Wu kingdom.

  If we say that Guan Yu was still able to use the excuse of "defending his territory" and "following orders" before he went to the gathering, but when it came to the point where the Seven Armies were flooded, even with Cao Cao's instigation, there was no need for Sun and Liu to immediately turn against each other. What did Guan Yu do in this situation? Your daughter is yours, if you don't plan to marry her off, that's fine, but why did you have to scold Sun Quan's son as a "dog son"? Sun Quan is still your boss's uncle, if your boss's uncle is a dog, what good thing can he be?

  Moreover, Guan Yu also seized the grain and fodder of his ally, and even boasted that once Fan Castle fell, he would take action against Sun Quan. Do you think Sun Quan wouldn't consider taking care of him first?

  It can be said that when the seven armies were flooded, it was a major turning point for Liu Bei's group to struggle for decades and finally reach its peak. However, such a good situation was ruined by Guan Yu, this arrogant guy.

  When he arrived in this world and met Guan Yu, Xun knew that the second master's arrogant temperament was not something that developed after becoming an official, but rather it had been deeply ingrained since childhood. Along the way, he hadn't spoken more than a few words to Taishi Ci and Xun, his face always raised, his mouth always pursed, as if the two in front of him were not gentlemen, but just ordinary soldiers delivering messages. No wonder the history books say that he "treated his troops well but was arrogant towards officials".

  But at this time, Yisheng saw another side of Guan Yu, a compassionate and empathetic side. It is estimated that Guan Yu's background was not very high, and as a young man who had killed someone and wandered outside, he seemed like a wandering knight, having seen the suffering of many ordinary people, which is why he "looked down on scholars". When facing the Yellow Turban bandits, he noticed the large number of old and weak among them, felt sorry for them, and did not want to rush into battle, leading to indiscriminate killing. He would rather take a risk himself to take the life of Zhang Jiao. If it were an ordinary scholar of this era, they would not think Guan Yu's behavior was admirable, and might even think that this big Han man looked so majestic but had a weak and timid heart. However, Yisheng's soul came from two thousand years later, when most ordinary people already had a strong sense of benevolence rooted in their minds since childhood, and suddenly felt that this rough-bearded Han man was more lovable than most scholars of this era.

  So Xun opened his mouth to stop him, not wanting Guan Yu to take this risk. Jokingly, "Taking the head of a general from an army of one million is like taking something out of a bag." It's just an exaggeration, if you could really charge into the enemy formation and easily take down the head of Gan Ning, I estimate that Taishi Ci would have done it long ago, why wait for you to come over from Pingyuan? Even if you're proud, it's not this kind of pride, your two martial arts values are only a few points apart.

  Besides, Huan didn't want Guan Yu to end up like in the novel - "Within dozens of moves, the Green Dragon Crescent Blade rose, and sliced Gan Ning under his horse..."

  Xu Shu advised Guan Yu, saying: "Simazi is brave and can kill Guan Hai, but I'm afraid that once Guan Hai dies, the bandits will collapse, and in the process, women and children will be trampled to death. How many of them can survive? Their families are all among the Yellow Turbans, and from now on, they will either die or disperse. Even if they are lucky enough to survive, without clothes or food, how many days can they hold on? Isn't it that we originally wanted to save them, but instead harmed them?"

  Guan Yu listened to his words and couldn't help but pause for a moment, looking at him sideways with a glance, asking: "Could it be that you have another clever plan?"

  "Wait till tomorrow morning, General Sima will lead the army to pressurize the enemy, I'll enter their camp as an envoy and persuade Guan Yu to lift the siege with my three-inch tongue. This is the only way to achieve a win-win situation."

  Guan Yu's face was full of disbelief: "What ability do you have that can persuade Guan Hai to retreat?"

  Tai Shi Zi also hastily dissuaded: "Hong Fu Xi, don't be reckless! Guan Hai didn't kill you last time, but that doesn't mean he won't poison your hand this time!"

  Xun coldly smiled and said: "A great man relieves the people's difficulties, even if he dies, what is there to fear? If I were to say that I am not afraid of Guan Yu, and even if I were killed by him, then wouldn't it be easy for General Guan to ride alone into the enemy lines again? Is it that at this moment, taking advantage of his mealtime to launch a sneak attack would guarantee victory, but tomorrow when the two armies face each other, he would not dare?"

  Guan Yu flew into a rage: "What am I afraid of?! Alright, let's have a showdown tomorrow and see what eloquence you possess!"

  The next morning, the 3,000 Pingyuan soldiers arrived at the enemy's front under Guan Yu's command. The Yellow Turbans had not sent out many scouts to investigate the surrounding situation, and suddenly seeing that there were government troops coming to rescue the city, they became chaotic for a while, and it was only with great difficulty that several thousand soldiers were deployed to form an array against them. Xun was about to lead his horse out of the formation when he was held back by Taishi Ci, who grasped the reins: "Let me go with Huangfu?"

  He forced himself to calm down, smiled slightly: "Don't worry, Ziyue, I think that Guan Yu will still not kill me." He gently pushed away Taishi Ci's hand, urging his horse to rush towards the enemy array, and from a distance, he began shouting: "Two countries are at odds, don't kill the messenger!"

  As he approached, several Yellow Turbans had already raised their long spears and were aiming at his chest. Shi Xiong held up both hands: "I'm unarmed, I just came to request an audience with your General." A dark-faced Yellow Turban sneered: "What are you? Does our general grant audiences to anyone who wants one?" The spear in his hand quivered, and he thrust it straight at Shi Xiong's face...