“Don’t worry, Attendant Minister. It’s a guaranteed win!”
Liu Yu looked toward the ongoing siege.
Though he couldn’t help furrowing his brow slightly, he still firmly believed his decision was the right one.
“Where righteousness leads, we follow through life and death!”
“Heaven is our witness—the White Horse our proof!”
Just then, the city gates suddenly swung open.
A passionate battle chant echoed across the battlefield.
The next instant, soldiers of Liu Yu’s army who failed to get out of the way were sent flying by charging warhorses.
“Hahaha! Brothers, follow me and kill the enemy!”
Gongsun Zan charged at the head of the formation.
His hearty laughter made it seem as though he didn’t regard Liu Yu’s hundred thousand troops as a threat at all.
Behind him, his men roared once more, “Where righteousness leads, we follow through life and death!”
“Heaven is our witness—the White Horse our proof!”
Hearing the familiar oath, the soldiers felt as though they had returned to the days when they had followed their general across the grasslands.
Their blood boiled with excitement as they shouted in unison.
“Kill!”
With a mighty cry, Gongsun Zan brandished his spear and spurred his horse straight into Liu Yu’s army.
The soldiers standing before him had never witnessed such terrifying martial prowess.
Fear gripped their hearts, and they instinctively scattered to avoid him.
“What incredible audacity from Gongsun Zan!”
Seeing the scene, Liu Yu realized Gongsun Zan had personally led a breakout.
He immediately ordered, “Send word to all commanders at once!
Capture Gongsun Zan alive, no matter the cost!”
“Yes, my lord!”
A young messenger officer acknowledged the order with a respectful salute.
“Such a formidable warrior… what a pity.”
Like Liu Yu, Duan Xun had not yet realized how dire the situation had become.
Instead, he felt a measure of regret for Gongsun Zan.
Stroking his beard, Liu Yu replied, “Gongsun Zan is indeed courageous. But he is far too violent, arrogant, and lawless. Otherwise, this old man would never have treated him this way.”
Liu Yu had never denied Gongsun Zan’s military achievements.
But Gongsun Zan’s conduct over the years was simply unacceptable in his eyes.
“Kill!”
As Gongsun Zan drove deeper into the enemy ranks, Liu Yu’s soldiers became more densely packed.
There was no longer room to dodge.
One after another, they fell beneath Gongsun Zan’s spear.
“Run!”
Someone in Liu Yu’s army, unable to escape, shouted those words.
The cry immediately triggered a chain reaction.
“Run! I don’t want to die!”
“I want to go back to my garrison!”
“My son is still waiting for me back at the village! I can’t die!”
“Brothers, run! Gongsun Zan fights like a complete madman!”
Liu Yu’s forces had rarely trained for war, nor had they ever experienced real battle.
They were essentially recruits wearing veterans’ uniforms.
Faced with battle-hardened soldiers who killed without hesitation, they couldn’t summon the courage to resist.
As the troops at the front turned and fled like headless flies, panic spread rapidly through the ranks.
Even soldiers who had yet to encounter the enemy began fleeing as well.
“Kill! Straight for that old fool Liu Yu!”
Seeing Liu Yu’s command banner in the distance, Gongsun Zan’s face lit up with excitement.
The enemy’s main standard still stood where the vanguard had originally been deployed.
He had no idea which military “master” Liu Yu had supposedly learned strategy from.
If two armies were facing each other in battle, deploying the commander like this was practically inviting the enemy to strike down the commander and seize the banner.
“Don’t run!”
“Hold your formation!”
Qi Zhou, Xianyu Fu, and the other officers shouted themselves hoarse in terror.
But by then, no one was listening.
Not only were Liu Yu’s veteran soldiers little more than inexperienced recruits, even his so-called veteran generals had scarcely participated in any serious campaigns.
Faced with such chaos, they had no idea how to restore order.
They could only watch helplessly as the fleeing soldiers crashed into and shattered their own formations.
The routed army soon reached the area around Liu Yu’s command banner.
“Lord Bo’an, may I ask—”
“Silence!”
Before Duan Xun could finish, Liu Yu’s face changed dramatically as he saw the routed troops rushing toward him.
“Immediately relay my orders to all commanders! Withdraw the entire army back to Ji County to regroup!”
No matter how little he understood warfare, even Liu Yu recognized the desperate situation.
The thought of ordering his own troops to fire arrows into the fleeing soldiers never even crossed his mind.
All he wanted was to retreat, reorganize, and fight another day.
“That old fool Liu Yu is running!”
Seeing Liu Yu’s command banner moving away, Gongsun Zan was elated.
His contempt for Liu Yu reached new heights.
The scene before him reminded him of the time he had crushed three hundred thousand Yellow Turban rebels.
“Kill! Liu Yu is fleeing!”
“Where righteousness leads, we follow through life and death! Heaven is our witness—the White Horse our proof!”
As the elite White Horse Volunteers knew exactly what it meant when the enemy’s main banner retreated, they immediately raised a thunderous battle cry.
The already-panicked soldiers of Liu Yu’s army completely lost the courage to fight.
“Run!”
“Even the lord is running!”
“My lord, wait for us!”
Hearing the White Horse Volunteers shouting their battle cry, Liu Yu’s soldiers looked up and saw their command banner rapidly disappearing into the distance.
The lingering anxiety in their hearts instantly vanished.
They threw away their helmets and armor, caring only about running faster.
Gongsun Zan’s eyes were fixed on only one target— Liu Yu.
He paid no attention whatsoever to the rest of the fleeing army.
Even after Liu Yu fled all the way back toward Ji County, Gongsun Zan pursued him relentlessly, giving him no opportunity to enter the city.
By midnight, Liu Yu had fled as far as Dujun City.
Only a little over a hundred soldiers remained at his side.
“Don’t let Liu Yu escape!”
Seeing that Liu Yu was about to enter another city, Gongsun Zan shouted in a hoarse voice, “You can’t escape!”
Neigh!
Thud!
The warhorse beneath Liu Yu could endure no longer.
After letting out a pitiful neigh, it collapsed to the ground, foam spilling from its mouth.
“My lord!”
Liu Yu’s personal guards’ faces changed drastically.
They hastily reined in their horses, jumped down, and rushed to help Liu Yu to his feet.
That brief delay was all Gongsun Zan needed.
He caught up to Liu Yu and his entourage.
“General Gongsun!”
Duan Xun’s eyes were filled with a desperate will to survive.
Seeing Gongsun Zan approach, he hurriedly called out, “Don’t kill me! I’m the imperial envoy!”
“So you’re the imperial envoy from the court.”
Realizing the man was probably telling the truth, Gongsun Zan respectfully cupped his hands.
“My apologies for the discourtesy. Since you’re His Majesty’s envoy, how can you remain in the company of traitors? Come over here at once. I shall personally guarantee Your Excellency’s safety.”
“Th-this…”
“If you don’t come over, then I can’t guarantee I won’t be discourteous.”
Seeing Duan Xun still hesitating, a cold glint flashed through Gongsun Zan’s eyes.
At this point, he had completely broken with Liu Yu.
He had even become deeply wary of the imperial court itself.
After all, the man he was now opposing was the Minister of the Imperial Clan and a member of the imperial Liu family.
“All right! All right!”
Duan Xun shuddered involuntarily.
He immediately scrambled away from Liu Yu and the others, crawling and stumbling toward Gongsun Zan.
“Bind Liu Yu!”
Gongsun Zan looked at Liu Yu and his remaining followers.
His voice turned cold.
“Anyone who continues to resist— kill them.”
“Yes, General!”
His officers answered in unison.
Looking utterly exhausted, his clothes disheveled, his face pale and weak, Liu Yu spoke in a hoarse whisper to his personal guards.
“Su… surrender.”
“My lord, you mustn’t surrender!”
“Please don’t surrender!”
**“We’ll fight a path through for you! You absolutely must not surrender…!”**
The guards desperately tried to persuade him.
Even they knew that if Liu Yu surrendered, his fate would almost certainly be grim.
Summoning the last of his strength, Liu Yu raised his head.
“Listen to my command. Lay down your weapons. Surrender to Gongsun Zan. There must be no more needless deaths.”
“My lord…”
The guards were overcome with grief.
But none of them dared disobey Liu Yu’s order.
One after another, they laid down their weapons and surrendered.
Among the White Horse Volunteers stood a young officer with handsome features and a silver spear in hand.
Watching everything unfold, a trace of confusion appeared in his eyes.
His opinion of Governor Liu of You Province had quietly begun to change.
— The end of the Chapter–
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