On the fifth day of the twelfth month of the twelfth month of the twenty-fourth year of Han Jian'an (219 AD), the east was unclear and gloomy.

West Gate of Wheat City.

Guan Yu's face was as pale as water, and he sat on a red rabbit horse as red as coals and tall and long. At his side was the tower-like Han Zhou Cang, carrying the Qinglong Yanyue Knife, the weapon he relied on to become famous. Guan Ping, Guan Xing, and Zhao Lei were fully armed and followed left and right.

Guan Yu pinched the arrow wound on his right arm, and it was no longer painful. Ten days ago, thanks to Guan Xing and fifty Yu Linlang entering the city overnight, bringing urgently needed medicinal materials and military materials, the morale of the remnants of the army was maintained and not immediately dispersed.

He looked back at the more than 1,000 remnants of the army behind him, all of them with resolute expressions, ready to die generously.

In the past few days, no soldiers have escaped, just because the remaining more than 1,000 people are the school knife battalion trained by him, and the soldiers and generals are all good men with high martial arts and life and death.

"The hour is almost up, break through!" Guan Yu waved his hand.

As soon as his words fell, Guan Xingzong stepped forward, with a look of anxiety on his face, and hesitated: "Father, there is no signal outside the city yet. Do you want to wait a little longer? ”

Today is the expiration of the ten-day period he agreed with Jiang Wei. At that time, when the two broke up, they agreed that ten days later, no matter whether Jiang Wei could move the Yong reinforcements or not, they would rush to help as soon as possible, and use Ming Di as the name outside the city.

It was also this agreement that boosted morale, allowing the remnants of the army to hold on to Maicheng for ten days and never break through easily.

Yesterday, under Guan Yu's order, the army had taken out all the remaining grain and grass for all the soldiers to eat.

At the end of the day, more than 1,000 horse-infantry officers and soldiers had already completed their equipment and were waiting for the signal outside the city. But the people had been waiting for a long time, and there was no movement outside the city.

Guan Ping opened his mouth and said: "The grain and grass in the city have been exhausted, and there is no need to hold on. Now that the sun is about to break through the clouds, if you don't set off, when Wu Jun is prepared, I am afraid that I will miss the opportunity, so I ask my father to make a decision as soon as possible. ”

Guan Yu stroked his long beard, turned to Guan Xing and said, "Your brother is right. In the past few days, Wu thieves have gathered more and more, no matter whether the little friend you said comes or not, my father is determined to break through today. ”

Hearing his father say this, Guan Xingqing knew that the situation was in crisis, and it was inevitable to break through. At that moment, he no longer advised, and rode his horse back into the formation.

At this time, Wang Fu of Jingzhou led more than 100 soldiers to come quickly to reply to his order: "On the order of the prince and the marquis, a certain dummy has been arranged in various conspicuous places in the city, and the vision is not clear in the early morning, so that the enemy can hide from the horse." ”

Guan Yu bowed his head and said, "Very good." Guoshan, you enter the battle, and I will wait for a breakthrough. ”

Wang Fu suddenly bowed to the ground and cried: "The prince is on the road, take care of yourself!" A certain and more than 100 people died in this city; Although the city is broken, the body will not fall! I hope that the prince will come to the rescue soon! ”

Guan Yu couldn't bear to look at each other, closed his eyes sideways and said: "Today, I know the high righteousness of Guoshan, but I only hate to look away that day, and I don't accept Ji Chang and Guoshan's advice." ”

Wang Fu said in a loud voice: "The hour is not early, please set off quickly, rush into Xichuan, and then reorganize your troops to recover!" ”

Guan Yu cried goodbye to him at the moment, led a group of generals, and more than 1,000 horse infantry soldiers, and hurriedly marched in the direction of Xilinfu.

******

There is a small tun in the northwest of Maicheng, called Linfu, close to Fushui, it is the only way for Maicheng to lead to Yidu and Yiling. Right now, it is where the military camp of Pan Zhang's department is located.

Pan Zhang's character is Wenqi, a native of Dongjun, with short cheeks and beards, and a rough appearance. When he was young, his family was poor, and after following Sun Quan, he was appreciated by him, coupled with his courage in battle, he was constantly promoted, and was appointed as a partial general.

Now under the command of the new metropolitan governor Lu Xun, the troops are stationed here to cut off Guan Yu's return to the west.

At that time, it was not yet dawn, and Pan Zhang was still lying in the camp tent and sleeping. With a rush of footsteps, the military Sima Ma Zhong crouched outside the tent door and shouted urgently:

"General, general, Guan Yu's army has moved, I'm afraid it's going to break through!"

Pan Zhang was half-asleep and half-awake, when he heard the word "Guan Yu" at first glance, a spirit flashed in his mind, and he woke up immediately. He didn't care about putting on his robe, and while going to put on his shoes, he asked, "Really?" In what direction? Oops, don't come in and talk yet! ”

Ma Zhong bowed down and entered the tent, didn't care about saluting, and said anxiously: "Yes... It's coming in the direction of our army. ”

Pan Zhang's eyes showed a stunning light, rubbed his hands again and again, and said excitedly: "Okay! All right! The lord has laid a net around Maicheng, but I am afraid that in the end, the credit for capturing Guan Yu will fall on my Pan Zhang's head! ”

Guan Yu became famous very early, he was famous in the world, he guarded Jingzhou for many years, and with his own strength, he steadily suppressed the two governors of Lu Su and Lu Meng, and he didn't look down on Wu Hou Sun Quan, and he was an unattainable rock in the hearts of all Eastern Wu generals.

Speaking of which, Guan Yu's name mainly comes from his brilliant achievements in Hebei and the Central Plains in the early years, but because of the long interval, the generals of Eastern Wu did not care.

Their true understanding of Guan Yu's ability began after the Battle of Chibi and when Zhou Yu led his troops to capture Jiangling, Liu Bei, who was an ally at the time, sent Guan Yu to kill Cao Wei Beidao.

At that time, Liu Bei was busy collecting the four counties of Jingnan, and Guan Yu only single-handedly defeated Cao Wei to send reinforcements from all walks of life in Jiangling City.

Within a year, he fought against various famous generals sent by Cao Wei one after another, including Lejin in Xiangyang, Xu Huang in Fancheng, Manzhong in Dangyang, Li Tong in Runan, and Lejin in Jiangxia. Cao Wei's reinforcements were dragged by him for a year, and they couldn't successfully rescue Cao Ren in Jiangling.

Cao Wei Tiebi Cao Ren held on to Jiangling City for a year, until the daylily was also cold, and he didn't see half of the reinforcements. Under the internal and external difficulties, he had to break through and return to the north. Jiangling City then fell into the hands of Zhou Yu, who had been attacking for more than a year.

In this battle, the generals of Eastern Wu knew that there were no vain soldiers under the fame, that is, even the late Metropolitan Governor Zhou Yu had to praise: "Guan Zhang, the general of the tiger and bear!" ”

Pan Zhang thought that Guan Yu didn't have many people left around him at this time, and he lacked food and clothing for many days, how could there be a reason not to be captured in this battle?

"I don't know what kind of reward Wu Hou will give after capturing and killing Guan Yu?" He was greedy for money, and when he thought of this, a raging fire seemed to be burning in his heart, and he was so excited that he could not even wear clothes.

Finally dressed neatly, and just as he was ordering the military horses, he suddenly stopped and asked, "Does General Zhu Ran know about this?" ”

Zhu Ran is a native of Danyang, the nephew and adopted son of Zhu Zhi, a veteran of Eastern Wu, and a leader among the young generation of military generals. Lu Xun was worried that Guan Yu would be brave and invincible, so he sent Zhu Ran to lead the army and horses of his headquarters to join forces with Pan Zhang to jointly monitor Guan Yu's movements.

Ma Zhong replied: "General Zhu was on patrol last night, and he is still asleep now. But do you want to wake up at the end? ”

Pan Zhang grabbed Ma Zhong and said angrily: "General Zhu patrols hard at night, how can I not be considerate as a colleague?" Don't call, you go and order the horses of the headquarters! ”

Ma Zhong took the order and left.

Looking at Ma Zhong's distant back, the corners of Pan Zhang's mouth could not be suppressed, and he was secretly happy in his heart: "In this way, I Pan Zhang will have to take the credit for capturing Guan Yu alone!" ”