The Three Kingdoms – Conquer the World - C352

Seeing Gongsun Zan rushing towards him like a moth to a flame, Liu Bei revealed a cold smile, but immediately after, he shook his head in regret.

To Liu Bei, the most ideal outcome would be for him to surrender, and he would be able to use the latter to gain the most benefits. It was just that Gongsun Zan’s unyielding nature was within Liu Bei’s expectations, but the difference in strength between the two sides was too great, thus he did not care much about Gongsun Zan’s Battlefield of Death Charge. And because his strength could not be compared, Liu Bei still held onto the hope of capturing Gongsun Zan alive, thus he issued an order that made him extremely regretful after the fact.

“Seize Gongsun Zan alive as much as possible. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, do not kill him!”

Gongsun Zan was the one who charged in the front frantically while the others followed closely behind, specially rushing towards the place with the largest number of people. They were only concerned with killing the enemies, and did not care about the attack from the opponent at all. After rushing forward for only fifty to sixty steps, he had lost five to six hundred people to Gongsun Zan and his men, but Gongsun Zan had also paid a huge price. Out of the thousand people that rushed back, there were only about eight hundred left, and he himself was injured in many places, his entire body completely drenched in blood.

Seeing how strong Gongsun Zan was even in such a desperate situation, Liu Bei was extremely shocked in his heart, but at the same time, he was also rejoicing. If not for the fact that both Heaven and Earth were on his side, it would be difficult for Gongsun Zan to leave behind the ferocious tiger! He waved his hand and ordered the convoy to move closer. He was prepared to completely compress the range of Gongsun Zan and his subordinates, and then rely on the huge advantage in numbers to capture Gongsun Zan alive.

Under the siege of nearly a hundred times the Xuzhou Army, Gongsun Zan and a few hundred cavalry of Youzhou s were like fallen leaves in a storm, struggling in the middle of the crowd. In the face of such a desperate situation, Gongsun Zan had long ago given up all hope. However, he did not have the slightest fear in his heart, and instead wanted to kill a few more enemies before he died. Because of Liu Bei’s previous order. Xuzhou Army did not dare to lightly attack Gongsun Zan, he had only focused on surrounding and attacking the others, and had deliberately ignored Gongsun Zan for the time being.

Gongsun Zan quickly discovered the abnormality of the Xuzhou Army, and understood his intentions after thinking about it. He ignored his own safety, and wandered around to help his subordinates who were under the attack of the enemy. The remaining cavalry of Youzhou s were extremely touched when they saw the Marquis going to help them deal with the enemy’s vicious attack even if he himself was willing to. They were clearly trapped in a hopeless situation, but the morale of the people had never been higher.

Seeing that he had not fought for a long time, Liu Bei was not happy, he shouted loudly: “Strengthen your offense, but you are not afraid of the former, Slash!”

Many soldiers of the Xuzhou Army felt that it was impossible for Gongsun Zan to escape, and they didn’t want to fight to the death when victory was around the corner. They risked their lives to fight against the cavalry of Youzhou, who was still fighting with his trapped beasts, only to have others take advantage of them and earn merits. Hearing Liu Bei’s orders, the entire Xuzhou Army felt a chill in their hearts. They did not dare to have any thoughts of protecting themselves anymore, so others could go all out.

Gongsun Zan and the rest were already in a disadvantageous position, after all the Xuzhou Army increased their offensive, they were even more powerless to resist. They could only try their best to fend off their opponents’ ferocious attacks, but at every moment, people would still fall from their horses and die. In less than half an incense worth of time, Gongsun Zan only had around four hundred people left. Moreover, they were trapped in a depression of less than three hundred meters in radius, surrounded by dense layers of enemy troops.

Seeing that the situation was under control, Liu Bei ordered the attack to stop. Under the protection of a group of guards, he walked over.

Gongsun Zan sighed, looked around and said: “After I die, all of you must surrender to Liu Bei, and try to keep your lives!” After saying that, he stabbed his spear into the ground, drew out the treasured sword from his waist, and slashed at his own neck.

“Your Lordship must not!” The surrounding guards turned pale with fright, four to five people rushed forward at the same time, forcibly seizing the treasure sword in Gongsun Zan’s hand.

Gongsun Zan’s strength was completely depleted, he was unable to fight against the four or five guards, and the sword in his hand was quickly taken away. The other people came back to their senses, and surrounded Gongsun Zan to protect him, just in case he would commit suicide again.

Gongsun Zan sighed, and said: “You have already done your best, why must you accompany this old man and lose your life?”

A Junior head guard said emotionally: “The general has given us such a deep debt of gratitude, how could we betray the general just to survive? “General, since it will be death sooner or later, why don’t we try to kill him again? We can earn one more enemy if we kill him!”

When the others heard this, they all agreed in unison. They all held their weapons tightly and were prepared to follow Gongsun Zan and die on the way.

Gongsun Zan laughed proudly at the sky a few times and praised repeatedly: “Good! Great! As expected of my Youzhou’s iron man! Since everyone is willing to die in battle, how can this general go against your wishes? This general will now give the final command! ”

Everyone cupped their fists and said, “General, please give the order! We will not refuse it even if we die! ”

Gongsun Zan shouted sternly: “Dismount! Until we die in battle! ”

The four hundred men complied in unison, jumping off their warhorses in preparation for a battle to the death.

Liu Bei had already walked several dozen steps away, and when he saw this scene, he hurriedly shouted. “Bo Guixiong, think twice before you go anywhere! His wife, his subjects and Rui Er were all looking forward to see their brother’s smooth return. How could their brother let them down? I swear to the heavens, I definitely did not intend to harm Bo Guixiong’s life! As long as brother puts down your weapon, I will personally escort brother back to Youzhou! ”

“Haha” Gongsun Zan laughed out loud, and then shouted loudly: “Liu Bei, you despicable villain, do you really think I am a three year old child? If I really surrender, I will be used by you to threaten my people and my brothers. At that time, not only will I die, but I will also lose my good reputation. How can I do such a stupid thing? We would rather die than surrender! My sons, follow me and kill my enemies! ” As soon as he finished speaking, he grabbed the pike that was stabbed into the ground, assassinating the few nearest Xuzhou Army soldiers on the ground.

As Liu Bei did not give the order to attack again, the soldiers of the Xuzhou Army did not dare to retaliate, and could only try their best to block the enemy’s attack.

Seeing that, Liu Bei was furious, and shouted: “Gongsun Zan, since you insist on not eating, then don’t blame me for not caring about our previous friendship! Destroy the enemy, and capture Gongsun Zan alive! ”

When the warriors of the Xuzhou Army received the order, they immediately launched their powerful counterattacks. In the blink of an eye, Gongsun Zan and the rest were once again pressed back into the depression in the ground. There were only two hundred or so people left by Gongsun Zan’s side and almost all of them were heavily injured.

Gongsun Zan wanted to unleash a deadly attack, but he felt pain all over his body, and his hands became weak and powerless, to the point that he couldn’t even hold his spear. He sighed helplessly and said to the people around him with a smile, “We are at the end of the line. In order not to fall into the hands of the enemy and be humiliated, you all cannot stop me from killing myself!”

The two hundred odd people started to wail and cry, throwing away their weapons, they knelt down to bid farewell to Gongsun Zan. They all knew that Gongsun Zan was proud and arrogant, and would definitely not tolerate being captured alive. Hence, they did not stop Gongsun Zan from committing suicide, but they all decided in their hearts that they would follow the general to the underworld later on!

Gongsun Zan brazenly laughed a few times, then loudly shouted towards Liu Bei: “Liu Bei, you want to capture me alive, that’s simply wishful thinking!” Saying up to here, he picked up a broken blade from the ground and moved his hand towards his own neck.

Liu Bei shouted anxiously: “Release the arrows! Stop him from committing suicide! ”

The two bodyguards with profound archery skills heard the sound and moved, they quickly pulled their bows and shot towards the broken blade in Gongsun Zan’s hand.

Clank, clank, clank! After two consecutive crisp sounds, the broken blade in Gongsun Zan’s hand was sent flying a few meters away, and with a swoosh, it embedded itself into the ground. Normally, let alone two arrows, even if the two pikes were to hit the weapon in his hands, Gongsun Zan would definitely ensure that it would not slip away from his grasp. However, he was already at the end of his rope and could only watch as the broken blade flew away.

Seeing that Gongsun Zan had cut himself off, Liu Bei heaved a sigh of relief. He shouted to the guards beside him: “What are you waiting for? Hurry and capture Gongsun Zan alive! ”

The two hundred over guards cupped their fists in agreement, and quickly rushed towards Gongsun Zan and the others.

Gongsun Zan sighed, then ordered his subordinates: “Kill me!”

The other subordinates were shocked and shook their heads in refusal.

Gongsun Zan shouted in anger: “Could it be that you want this general to be humiliated by the enemy? This general orders you to kill this general immediately! ”

The surrounding people looked at each other. Although they knew that Gongsun Zan killing himself was the best choice, no one dared to do it.

Gongsun Zan was furious, he looked around, only to see a spear sticking out of the ground a few steps away, he then hobbled over to the spear, ready to use the spear to commit suicide. The surrounding men were crying, but no one stepped forward to stop them.

“Kill!” At this moment, a burst of battle cries could be heard in front of them, followed by the sound of galloping horses.

Everyone was shocked as they looked towards the source of the sound.

Gongsun Zan also stopped in his tracks and looked towards the direction of where the sound of horses galloping came from. A sense of hope suddenly welled up in his heart, could it be that his people’s reinforcements had arrived?

“Master Hou, don’t panic. This is in the future!” At this moment, a loud shout came from a few hundred steps in front of them.

Hearing this shout, Gongsun Zan did not feel the slightest bit of joy. Instead, he closed his eyes in despair — — The people who were rushing over were not Gongsun Xu’s reinforcements, but the group of people he sent to kill Xuzhou Army Chu! It was just a few hundred people, what was the point in coming?