Battle for the Xu Province final part

Two weeks passed since Yun and his army left Xiaopei. They marched rapidly and almost without rest except for the last three days when they arrived at Xiapi and Yun commanded them to open camp since they wouldn't be able to take the city in two hours.

Yun was looking at the city seeing how bad the defenses the city are when Shadow lands on his shoulder before he crawls her at her favorite spot while asking, "Did he receive the message?"

Shadow nods and Yun asks her again, "Is he near?"

She nods again and Yun was happy as he says, "Good, I didn't want to travel North to kill a capable officer."

"Who is near?" asks Zhuge Liang since he needed to be informed about everything if he wanted to win this battle as fast as possible.

"A person that is normally known for his passivity. He didn't move when Lu Bu took Xu from Liu Bei. Neither when Cao Cao took Xu from Lu Bu and lastly he didn't help Cao Cao defend Xu from Liu Bei. I send him an ultimatum to help us retake Xu or I would move my army to his base and wipe them out once this was all over," says Yun giving Zhuge Liang a little riddle to solve.

"You mean that the Mountain Bandits from Mount Tai are coming to help us take Xiapi?" asks Zhuge Liang puzzling the answer together.

"Yes, Zang Ba is moving towards Xiapi. I sent Shadow before leaving Xiaopei to give him my message. He should be a day away if my calculations are correct," says Yun looking at Zhuge Liang who was surprised a bit by Yun.

"It seems that you really don't need a strategist looking at how well you are planning everything," says Zhuge Liang with respect in his tone.

"Oh, trust me I need strategists. I can't think of everything and having more than one head helps to take responsibility from my shoulders," says Yun as he looked at the orange-red sky that slowly was turning black and the stars welcomed them. Yun then returned to his tent where Mulan was waiting for him.

He gave Mulan the same speech that he gave Fang maybe a bit less serious since she was serious about the situation when he suddenly pulled a dagger out and hands it to Mulan before he says, "If they capture you and you think they want to defile you."

That was the only thing that Yone told Mulan who only nods knowing full well that it could happen since Guang Jia and Yueying told her about those risks of a woman standing on the battlefield.

She hides the dagger in her left boot strapped to her ankle and shin. She then picks her sword, a light shield, her bow, and her quiver which was full of arrows before giving them a last check to place them away and go to sleep.

Yun wasn't really able to sleep because of Mulan so he distracted himself by preparing his weapons wanting to end the battle as fast as possible so nothing happens to his princess.

The next morning Yun was sitting on Thunder with Dian Wei beside him sitting on his horse as they approach Xiapi holding a Zhao Banner showing that they came to talk and not to fight yet.

Guan Yu was standing on the wall when he shouts, "Has Cao Cao sent you to reclaim the Xu Province?"

"He did, Xiaopei is being conquered as we are talking right now if it hasn't fallen yet," shouts Yun back as he looks at Guan Yu seriously before saying, "It would be for your best to surrender to me and spare your soldiers from dying. You can't defend Xiapi with only ten thousand men and we both know it."

"I might not be able to defend it but I can make your life difficult," says Guan Yu back not budging from where he was standing.

"What about Liu Bei's wives?" asks Yun seeing that Guan Yu wrinkled his nose after hearing that.

"I would never have thought that you would ever use women against me," says Guan Yu angrily when Yun only smiled.

"I do what I can to spare my men from dying because of someone's ego being too big but if it is a battle that you want then we shall have a battle but don't expect leniency because I won't show it as I did with Lu Bu. You will all die here today without exception," says Yun as his Qi was growing bigger with every sentence to intimidate Guan Yu and his soldiers.

"I will ask you again, surrender now to me, not to Cao Cao, but to me. And I will spare you and your men from a bleak future," says Yun seriously now making Guan Yu understand that he would raze the whole town down with them inside and rebuild it with them under it.

"If you don't believe me then you should look North, my reinforcements seemed to have arrived," says Yun seeing a cloud of dust rising from the North which meant that his reinforcements had arrived.

"General the situation is out of our control," says one of Guan Yu's soldiers being afraid to die in a hopeless battle.

"Take this man away from here," says Guan Yu commanding the other soldiers to take the man away but they didn't do as commanded making Guan Yu feel only angry because of this backstab from his soldiers.

"How about it? Do we have a deal or not? You have five more breaths before I turn around and march my army at the city," says Yun seriously as he begins to count his breaths.

The time was up and Yun was about to turn around and leave with Dian Wei when a weapon fell from the wall.

"We surrender don't attack the city," says Guan Yu sad that he lost the city his brother entrusted him to protect as it was his weapon that was dropped from the wall.

"At least you have a good head on your shoulders," says Yun complimenting Guan Yu before returning to his camp to tell them the good news while writing a letter to Zang Ba.

"Did it work?" asks Hua who returned to camp with his cavalry unit.

"Like a charm," says Yun smiling at Hua since their plan worked perfectly.

The night before in Yun's tent, Zhuge Liang was telling them about their battle plan when Guo Jia says, "We could win this battle without losing any men if we get Guan Yu to surrender to us. He is a powerful General but even he should be able to recognize that he will not only lose but die if we go to battle."

"What do you suggest?" asks Yun as everyone was curious when Guo Jia looks at the map and pointed at a small clearing that wasn't steep enough making it possible for horses to walk on it unseen in the night.

"We could use our cavalry to instigate that Zang Ba has arrived as reinforcements which would surrender Guan Yu leaving him and his soldiers no way out of Xiapi except as ashes that are taken by the wind," says Guo Jia as he wanted to intimidate Guan Yu to surrender.

"That won't work, Guan Yu is too loyal to Liu Bei. He would let his life end before surrendering to us," says Gan Ning making many agree with him.

"It isn't Guan Yu that we must intimidate but his soldiers, once they have lost their will to fight Guan Yu will have no choice but to surrender since his soldiers will refuse to follow his orders to stay alive," says Guo Jia making Zhuge Liang smile.

"It could work and if it doesn't we can use Hua's cavalry to cut off Guan Yu's retreat way until Zang Ba arrives," says Zhuge Liang finding no fault in Guo Jia's logic.

"Hua, you heard them prepare your men and ride out immediately. Leave your tents here or they will be suspicious of it," says Yun giving his younger brother orders.

"I will be on my way," says Hua leaving the tent immediately knowing that every second counted to succeed with this plan.

"If it doesn't work we will conquer the city the old-fashioned way," says Yun at Hua's back so he knew what to do if Guan Yu doesn't surrender.

Back in the present, Mulan was disappointed that she didn't get to fight but she could see many relieved expressions on the faces of her comrades.

She was right now seeing the other side of the coin that she would never hear of from her uncles as the people in the city seemed relieved as well that it didn't come to war.

Yun cuffed Guan Yu and had him thrown into prison for now while his soldiers were allowed to stay in the barracks of the city.

Yun gave a small speech before temporarily using Lu Bu's former manor as his own when Pang Tong says, "We have news from Xiaopei."

"What happened?" asks Yun curious to find out.

"Your son Fang was lightly injured after a long day of battle but he is on his way with Lu Bu's army. Lu Bu secured the wives of Liu Bei and they are being brought here," says Pang Tong worried about Fang since he is the Heir of Yun.

Mulan was worried as well while Yun wasn't since the report said that Fang suffered light injuries when he asks, "What about Liu Bei?"

"He escaped North as you predicted he would," says Pang Tong as Yun was thinking about what to do.

"Bring Guan Yu before me and leave the report here. I want him to see what kind of a man his brother really is," says Yun seriously seeing another opportunity to entwine Guan Yu from Liu Bei or at least to increase the rift between the two which he began to open some time ago.

"I will inform Dian Wei to bring him here," says Pang Tong leaving the room as he and the other strategist were writing letters to send them to the other cities, towns, and villages in the Xu Province to show their loyalty to Yun or to feel his wrath when he came for them next.

Yun turned to his daughter and asks, "This war didn't go as you expected it would go, am I right?"

"It didn't, I thought we would go and fight in Xiapi but a conversation and some witty planning solved led to them surrendering," says Mulan a bit disappointed but also impressed.

"There are many ways of winning over an enemy. You should learn that fighting doesn't always lead to the best conclusion while talking can. We have lost no man and we still won," says Yun taking this as a parade example for Mulan to learn who only nods before leaving her father's side for tonight.