In fact, from the morning of the twelfth, Wu troops began to come out of the mountains in groups, seeking surrender with Wei troops.
It's simply because the mountains are too cold.
If the Wu army's various units could have entered the mountains slowly according to their formations yesterday, they might have been able to preserve some supplies. Those who wanted to surrender would go to surrender, and those who did not would be able to delay their fate by relying on supplies in the mountains.
But the Wu troops retreated too quickly.
40,000 Wei cavalrymen were forming a fan-shaped formation north of the Wu army's ranks, shouting in unison the words "personal campaign," which directly caused the weary Wu soldiers who had fought for several days to lose their courage.
As Wu army commanders who had already planned to retreat were leading their elite units south, the Wu army's ranks could no longer maintain order. At that time, the Wu army that was retreating towards the hills did not actually know why they were fleeing; they were only instinctively afraid of death.
The troops in the mountains were short of clothing and food, and the cold winter was also a problem. These soldiers could no longer bear it. From the morning to noon, about 5,000 people came out of the mountains in succession. Among them, there were quite a few Wu military officers. Moreover, according to this trend, it was obvious that there would be many more people coming out to surrender in the afternoon.
These are all events that were inevitable according to the plan. At that time, forcing the Wu army into the hills was done precisely to use reasons such as blocked retreat routes, cold weather, lack of supplies, and low morale to prompt the Wu army to come out on their own, in order to minimize casualties.
However, what surprised both the Wei generals and Cao Renyi was that Lu Xun had also 'emerged' from the mountains.
At noon, in the hills south of Guache, Hu Zhi's troops responsible for blocking the enemy's advance westward encountered the part of Lu Xun's troops who came forward to establish contact.
Lu Xun was the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Wu in this battle. Hu Zhi did not dare to be negligent and hurriedly led his troops personally to escort Lu Xun and his forces back to the camp at Guache.
When the Wei generals heard that Lu Xun had emerged from the mountains voluntarily, they all showed curiosity and wanted to see this commander-in-chief of the Wu army. However, Lu Xun was directly escorted to the emperor's tent.
In the tent of the camp at Guache, under the escort of tiger guards, only Lu Xun and his lieutenant Xie Jing were allowed to enter.
When Cao Rui heard that Lu Xun was to be sent here, he had intended to have a conversation with Lu Xun. However, upon seeing Lu Xun himself, he discovered that Lu Xun was being carried on a stretcher.
Cao Rui looked at the person next to Lu Xun in military attire and asked, "Who are you? What has happened to Lu Xun?"
The military man, whose hands were tied behind his back, suddenly fell to his knees on the ground, shedding tears and speaking with a thick Yuzhou accent, "Your Majesty, please save our General in command."
General Cao Zhen, standing beside him, rose and stood in front of the military man, looking down upon him. "Answer the emperor's questions as he asks them! Respond to His Majesty's question first."
The military man cried, "I am the military supervisor, Xie Jing. The general was already in a bad condition in the battlefield yesterday, and after entering the mountains last night, he began to have a high fever that wouldn't go down and his mind became gradually unclear. We have no medicinal supplies and cannot carry him quickly... we really have no choice."
Just as Xie Jing was still crying and explaining, Cao Rui quickly said to the guards, "First, pull Lu Xun out of here and ventilate the tent. Hurry up and do it!"
The two guards pulled Lu Xun out without any hesitation. Seeing that the emperor had pulled Lu Xun out immediately after meeting him, Xie Jing, whose nerves were already taut, thought the emperor was about to kill Lu Xun. At this moment, he kneeled and moved forward as if to go up to him.
Cao Zhen stepped forward and kicked Xie Jing to the ground next to him.
Having been in the military for twenty years, Cao Zhen had seen too many people surrender. He immediately understood that Xie Jing had misunderstood. However, misunderstanding aside, it was impossible for him to approach the emperor.
Cao Zhen cursed at Xie Jing, "This is in the presence of the emperor, what sort of decorum is this? Do you think the emperor wants to kill Lu Xun?"
Xie Jing recovered and looked at the emperor, then looked up at Cao Zhen.
Cao Zhen sighed and had to continue explaining, "Lu Xun caught a cold, in order to avoid infecting others with his illness, so he was taken out."
"Now that you're in our camp, there will definitely be medical officers to take care of him. Instead, why did you come at a time when Lu Xun was delirious? Did you not look for other Wu commanders?"
Xie Jing's face showed anger as he said, "General, we did try to find them! But with the general ill in a bed, we can't move him quickly. These generals said at dusk yesterday that they would go together, but when it came to running at night, no one wanted to wait for us!"
Cao Zhen asked again: "What did you say in your ranks yesterday?"
Xie Jing explained, "I heard clearly yesterday beside the general. The various commanding officers saw that the military situation had deteriorated and were planning to slowly enter the mountains before escaping with their units separately. But as soon as you shouted, they all ran off on their own."
Cao Zhen had now fully understood what had happened.
Clearly, the commanders of the Eastern Wu had completely forgotten about each other's well-being in their desperation to escape. Lu Xun had suddenly fallen ill with a serious condition, and his forces, who were at a loss what to do, had no choice but to come out and seek aid from the Wei army. They feared that Lu Xun might die of illness in the cold mountains of winter if they did not find medical care promptly.
Cao Rui said, "Your name is Xie Jing, right? You are loyal to your master and can be considered a righteousness man. Are you willing to surrender?"
Xie Jing did not hesitate and directly said, "If Your Majesty the emperor can save the general, I am willing to surrender."
Cao Rui laughed and said, "Lu Xun may be leading an army against me, but it is still within my power to spare his life."
Xie Jing wept even harder, "I am grateful to Your Majesty for His kindness."
Crying like a woman is not becoming of a man. Cao Rui waved to the guards, and they promptly pulled up Xie Jing from the ground and dragged him away.
Cao Zhen looked at the emperor and said, "Lu Xun clearly caught a cold and vomited blood last night. Whether he can survive or not is still unknown. If he survives by luck, should Your Majesty persuade him to surrender?"
At this moment, there were only Cao Rui and Cao Zhen in the tent.
Just then, Cao Rui said that Xie Jing was loyal to his master. However, what he didn't say was that Xie Jing's "loyalty" was not to the Wu King Sun Quan, but to their general Lu Xun.
Over the course of two hundred years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a latent system known as "Duoyuan Junzhuguan" that pervaded society.
In simple terms, during the Han Dynasty, the country was divided into commanderies, which were on the same level. The commandery governors were like the rulers of a state. Loyalty and devotion to the commandery governor was considered loyalty, as was loyalty and devotion to the emperor.
This was also the reason why many loyal and patriotic gentlemen were willing to sacrifice their lives for their "master," warlords during the end of the Han Dynasty. This behavior was socially praised!
But if you were to say something about loyalty to the Han dynasty, or about good ministers choosing the right master to serve, people would understand.
Lu Xun's official rank in the Eastern Wu had already reached the stage of establishing a private office. To be precise, Xie Jing was Lu Xun's personal officer. Bringing Lu Xun to the Wei camp for his life and death does indeed seem like a reasonable action.
However, at this time, a high fever is not easy to treat. After Cao Rui learned that Lu Xun had a high fever, he quickly had him taken outside to avoid the risk of possible infection.
Cao Zhen's question about whether he should persuade Lu Xun to surrender left Cao Rui unsure of how to respond.
After a moment of silence, Cao Rui turned to look at Cao Zhen's face and gently said, "If I say that I do not want to persuade Lu Xun to surrender, will you believe me, General?"
Cao Zhen's face showed a moment of surprise.
When it comes to Lu Xun, the first thing that a general like Cao Zhen would think about is Lu Xun's reputation as a master strategist, despite his defeat in this battle. No one would call a general who just lost a battle an idiot, especially if Lu Xun is known for his skill in using military tactics. If Lu Xun is indeed good at using military strategies, then Wei's side should be even more formidable.
But upon seeing Lu Xun, Cao Rui's first thought was that Lu Xun was a representative of the Lu family, a prestigious lineage in the Eastern Wu.
As for Cao Rui, he is well aware of this! In the original history, there were four prominent families in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, namely the Gu family, the Lu family, the Zhao family, and the Zhang family. For hundreds of years, these four families had been almost intertwined. After the Southern Dynasty's move to the South, the Lu family had become exceedingly powerful in the Eastern Jin court.
Currently, the internal situation of the Wei dynasty is already a stage where the imperial court and the aristocratic scholar families are vying for power. Cao Rui would never willingly nurture a group of such Jiangdong aristocratic families to arise.
In the Eastern Wu, Lu Xun had already reached the rank of a governor. If one were to persuade Lu Xun to surrender, what kind of conditions should be offered? Should one order Sima Yi to step down and let Lu Xun become the Minister of Works? Or perhaps choose a province from Jì, Qīng, Yōu, and Bìng and let Lu Xun become the governor there?
However, Cao Rui does not want to explain so much to Cao Zhen.
Cao Rui said, "Since Sun Quan changed his year and rebelled, although the court often said that the Eastern Wu was a rebellious people, in reality Wei and Wu had become enemies."
"The general of an enemy state, who has himself been defeated and fallen to this state, if Lu Xun were to surrender of his own volition, I would not hesitate to give him an honorary position. But for me to persuade him to surrender, I am unwilling to do so. Does that mean without Lu Xun, there are no famous generals in the Great Wei?"
Cao Zhen was at a loss for words. He had thought that the emperor would be willing to spare talent and persuade Lu Xun to surrender, but he had not expected the emperor to have such intentions.
Cao Zhen could only bow and say, "Your Majesty has the wisdom, let the medical officers go to treat him, and let it be up to him what happens next."
Cao Rui nodded slightly.
...
It was already night, and Zhuge Jun was sitting uneasily in the Wu army's An2 city camp.
Zhuge Jun had been receiving scout reports from the night before, and he sent people to investigate to the east repeatedly. And the messages that came back, all showed that Wei troops were advancing westward today. The scouts Zhuge Jun had sent out had also been killed by Wei troops' scouts.
Although Zhuge Jun did not want to contemplate the worst possible outcome, evidence upon evidence pointed to the option that Lu Xun's entire army had been wiped out.
Whether to retreat or remain, whether to continue the siege of An2 city?
Zhuge Jun's personality is often described as being full of wisdom but poor at making decisions. Making such an important decision today was left to him, and Zhuge Jun naturally felt uneasy.
Suddenly, a voice was heard outside the tent, and a guard hurried in to report that General He Qi had arrived with his troops.
Zhuge Jun quickly got up and walked outside. Zhuge Jun did indeed see He Qi, but in front of He Qi stood none other than King Sun Quan himself.
Zhuge Jun sighed deeply, not having a chance to greet him, when Sun Quan's right hand grabbed his arm tightly and said, "Zhuge Jun, come into the tent to speak!"
Zhuge Jun nodded heavily.
(Chapter Complete)
