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

Chapter 377 The Bitter Flesh Scheme Against Zhuge Jin

The people who know you best and can cause you the most harm are never your enemies, but your acquaintances or even your family, because they know all your weaknesses and know where to strike you to hurt you the most.

Among the Han army, Liu Zan was undoubtedly the most familiar with Yu Han's situation. As Zhuge Jin's deputy general, he knew the city's troop strength, grain reserves, and even their storage locations like the back of his hand. He was also very clear about the resumes, hobbies, personality weaknesses, and other private information of Zhuge Jin's officers and generals. If he were willing to provide advice, it would definitely make Guan Xing's efforts twice as effective.

Liu Zan said, "Most of Yu Khan's provisions have been transported to Grand Commander Lu's office. The city currently only has enough provisions for 50,000 troops for about 40 days."

This number made Deng Hong and Guan Xing's eyes flash with greed. Fifty thousand troops for forty days, if they were given thirty thousand Han troops, it would take them at least two months, right?

No, we must get our hands on this batch of grain; we can't let Zhuge Jin ruin it.

Liu Zan continued, "Given General Zhuge's character, he would definitely transport the grain to the Grand Commander overnight after learning that we had been captured. However, the Wu army has limited vehicles and the distance is far. It would take more than ten days for the grain transport team to make a round trip to Damo. In other words, even if General Zhuge exerts all his strength, he cannot transport so much grain before we arrive. The only way is to burn it, and it may have already been burned by now."

Guan Xing frowned and said, "That won't do. You have to leave me at least ten days' worth of rations. Give me ten days' worth of rations, plus what we have now, and I can easily fight my way to the end."

The Han army currently only has half a month's worth of provisions. Although they can barely make it to Damo, it's too tight. If Zhuge Jin can hold off the Han army in Yuhan for three to five days, Guan Xing's supply chain will be cut off.

Upon hearing this, Liu Zan smiled easily and said, "If the general only wants ten days' worth of provisions, that's easy. Just send an elite force to infiltrate behind Yu Han and enter the corridor to pursue Wu's supply convoy. Your Han army is best at infiltration, and I know all of General Zhuge's camps in the mountains outside the city. We can break through the blockade and successfully enter the corridor."

"The grain transport team is very slow. The Han army will definitely be able to catch up by slipping through. Once they catch up, they can transport the grain to Yushan and wait for you."

Guan Xing blinked and smiled, "That's a good idea, but what if I want both the grain supplies in the city and the grain transport teams?"

Liu Zan was taken aback and said, "Then it depends on whether the general trusts me or not. I still have some confidants in the city. I can return to Yuhan City in advance to contact them. At the critical moment, we can tie up Zhuge Jin and surrender the city, or cooperate with you from the inside to quickly break through Yuhan. In this way, even if we can't take back the grain stored in the city, we can reduce the time spent attacking the city. Time is food. The less time we spend on the road, the more food we have."

Guan Xing said, "I definitely trust you, but the problem is that Yu Han must have already imposed martial law. How are you going to get into the city?"

Liu Zan replied, “Go in openly and honestly. During our decisive battle, many Wu soldiers must have taken advantage of the chaos to escape. These deserters have most likely returned to Yu Han and reported the situation to Zhuge Jin. But General, don’t forget that I was the first deserter during the decisive battle. These deserters only saw me escape and did not see me being captured. In other words, Zhuge Jin is very likely still unaware that I have been captured. Therefore, I can go back openly and honestly.”

Guan Xing's eyes lit up excitedly, and he said, "That would be wonderful!"

After saying that, she realized something and asked worriedly, "But what if Zhuge Jin finds out you've been captured? Wouldn't going back be like walking into a trap?"

Liu Zan laughed frankly, "Fortune favors the bold, and one must always take some risks. Besides, even if Zhuge Jin knew that I had been captured and surrendered to the Han, he might not kill me. At most, he would detain me. Once you conquer Yu Han, I will be free again."

"Even if Zhuge Jin really killed me, so what? Even if I died, I would still be credited for the attack on Yu Han and the capture of Zhuge Jin. You would definitely give that credit to my son, right?"

Since he surrendered to the Han army, he must have wanted to make a name for himself. Moreover, he was deceived by the high-ranking officials of Eastern Wu and suffered the pain of his clan's extermination for several months, so he must have wanted revenge. With these two reasons as motivation, Liu Zan really didn't care much about his worthless life. Don't forget that Liu Zan was the kind of person who dared to cut his own Achilles tendon.

Guan Xing laughed and said, "No problem. In that case, I will trouble Lieutenant Liu. Regardless of whether this battle is successful or not, I will transfer your son Liu Lue out of the mine to be a county magistrate. It would be a waste of his talent to be a mine manager."

Liu Zan said, "Thank you, General. I'll be setting off now."

Guan Xing quickly said, "Wait a moment, first mark the locations of the fortified villages and troop deployments in the mountains outside Yuhan City. I might need them later."

Yuhan is a corridor entrance sandwiched between two mountains. Outside the city are Shengjing Mountain, Wugong Mountain, and the famous Longhu Mountain. All of these mountains have outposts and garrisons of Wu army. If the Han army wants to outflank Yuhan, it must eliminate these Wu army strongholds.

Liu Zan said, "Wang Shuliu and Sheng all know, you can just ask them."

After saying that, he took out an arrow and stabbed it hard into his shoulder blade. Then he used a dagger to make several cuts on his body, creating several wounds. He then said, "Have that army doctor named Zhang Nan help me make the wounds look old, so that the act is more convincing."

Guan Xing was startled by his decisive actions. While calling out to Zhang Nan, he thought to himself, "These Wu generals are really ruthless to themselves. They don't hold back at all when it comes to playing the self-inflicted injury trick."

Liu Zan had Zhang Nan treat his wounds to look old, then jumped into the nearby paddy field and rolled around a few times, soiling his already cleaned armor again. He even dug out the old shoes he had worn when challenging Guan Xing and put them back on before stumbling away from the army and running towards Yu Han.

Deng Hong waited until he left before whispering, "Can this person be trusted?"

Guan Xing replied, "I trust him completely. Besides, I don't plan to launch a surprise attack on Yuhan City this time. Once we reach the city, we will launch a fierce attack. So even if he is lying to me, he won't pose a great threat to us."

Yu Han's garrison was down to only four thousand men. The Han army was five or six times stronger than Zhuge Jin's, so there was no need for any more schemes or tricks. They could simply push through Yu Han's forces.

Besides, the conspiracies were all carried out before the battle. When it really came down to bloodshed, the conspiracies and tricks wouldn't be very effective. As long as Guan Xing didn't try to take shortcuts, Liu Zan wouldn't be able to fool him.

Upon hearing this, Deng Hong stopped arguing and returned to his unit to direct the army's advance.

Meanwhile, Liu Zan, after leaving, clutched his wound and ran wildly. To create the illusion of weakness while fleeing for his life, he neither drank water nor ate. After running wildly for a day and a night, he finally arrived at the foot of Yuhan City at noon the next day. He found the city gates tightly closed and the city under martial law. He stared at the city gates for a moment and then strode over with heavy legs.

As soon as they entered the range of the arrows, they heard the guards on the city wall shouting, "Who goes there? Stop right there and don't go any further!"

While shouting at him, the guards all drew their bows and aimed at Liu Zan, but Liu Zan ignored them and continued to advance. After taking four or five difficult steps, he could no longer hold on and fell straight down, landing face first.

The soldiers guarding the city wall exchanged a glance and then jumped down to watch. Yes, they did jump down. The Yuhan city wall was less than three meters high, so jumping down was not difficult at all.

Several Wu soldiers ran up to Liu Zan and turned him over to check. Upon seeing Liu Zan's face, they exclaimed in surprise, "It's Captain Liu! Quickly find the army doctor and inform General Zhuge!"

Zhuge Jin was inspecting the city's defenses nearby when he received news of Liu Zan's return and rushed over immediately. Seeing Liu Zan's haggard face, he quickly said, "Zhengming, Zhengming, wake up."

Liu Zan's eyelids twitched, and he weakly said, "Shui Shui..." as if trying to open his eyes but unable to.

The water pouch was quickly brought to his lips. After drinking, Liu Zan finally opened his eyes, stared blankly at Zhuge Jin for a moment, then suddenly reached out and grabbed his collar, wailing in anguish, "General, I'm so sorry! Four thousand brothers have all been captured by that damned Guan Xing! I'm guilty..."