Zhang Chen hurriedly stopped him and advised, "My family and I are all in the city. Don't be impulsive. I have a plan to kill Gan Ning."
Zhang Quan barely suppressed his anger and asked, "What's the plan?"
Zhang Chenyan said, "I will go first to fight and entangle Gan Ning, while you will charge out from the east gate and attack Gan Ning from behind. With the attack from both sides, he will have no chance to escape."
Zhang Quan's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he nodded and smiled, "This is a great plan. Gan Ning is also a general in Jingzhou. We can use his body to exchange for my father. This will not only avenge our great hatred, but also give my father a burial place."
After the two men discussed it, Zhang Chen went out to fight first, while Zhang Quan waited at the east gate. As soon as the drum sounded, he rushed out from the east gate and surrounded the enemy from behind.
Gan Ning was shouting and cursing at the foot of the city. Seeing that Zhang Quan refused to leave the city, he was just about to think of another strategy. Suddenly, the city gate opened and a general took the initiative to send troops out. He couldn't help but feel secretly happy and stepped back slightly.
Zhang Chen rode out of the city, raised his gun and shouted, "Gan Ning, you thief, did you kill my uncle with a hidden weapon?"
When Gan Ning heard that the person coming was not Zhang Quan, he sneered and said, "Zhang Xiu is known as the spear king of the north, but it's just an empty reputation. His skills are just inferior to others!"
Zhang Chen was furious and charged out on his horse with his spear in hand. When the defenders on the city saw this, they immediately beat drums to cheer him on, and the deafening sound of the drums echoed throughout the city.
Gan Ning caught Zhang Chen and saw that his martial arts skills were ordinary. He looked up and saw that he didn't see the other general on the city wall, so he asked, "Where is Zhang Quan?"
Zhang Chen attacked vigorously, and seeing the dust rising in the east, he laughed and said, "Gan Ning, the thief, Zhang Quan is right behind us. You have fallen into my trap!"
Gan Ning originally wanted to kill Zhang Chen with one blow and lure Zhang Quan out of the city, but he didn't expect the other party to use this trick, which was exactly what he wanted.
"You despicable bastard, how dare you launch a sneak attack!" Gan Ning cursed loudly, and with a powerful blow of his sword, he pushed Zhang Chen back and rode away.
Zhang Quan was coming from the east gate and shouted, "Gan Ning, don't run away!"
Gan Ning did not dare to confront Zhang Quan and fled into the mountains with his troops. Zhang Quan led his troops in pursuit.
Zhang Chen was still a little hesitant, but seeing that Zhang Quan had already chased out, he was worried that something might happen to him. He also saw that the Jingzhou soldiers were in chaos, so he called on the Luyang defenders to go out of the city and chase after him.
Zhang Quan took advantage of the victory to chase the defeated army. He set his sights on the bright red battle robe and vowed to avenge Zhang Xiu. Following behind him were his former subordinates from Xiliang, who also rushed forward.
It was getting dark at this time. Zhang Chen saw the front army chasing into the mountains. He couldn't help getting nervous. He urged his horse forward to persuade them to return. Just as he passed the woods, he heard a drumbeat.
"Be careful of ambush!" Zhang Chen hurriedly reined in his horse and shouted, but it was too late.
He did not expect that the ambush troops were hiding at the foot of the mountain. Before he could finish his words, arrows were fired from the forest and the ambush troops rushed out from the slopes on both sides.
Cao's army was chasing forward, their two wings were shot down by arrows, and the troops in the rear were in chaos. When Zhang Chen turned around, Su Fei had already led his troops out and blocked their way.
Zhang Chen shouted anxiously: "Follow me to break through and guard the mountain pass!"
He urged his horse to attack Su Fei directly. At this time, the only chance of survival was to hold the mountain pass. However, he did not expect that the enemy was not an ordinary general, and instead killed him in a panic.
Zhang Chen was horrified, knowing that he was no match for this man. He failed to defeat him by force and was chased by the soldiers. In a panic, Su Fei chopped him off his horse with a sword.
Cao's army was so panicked that they fled into the woods, but were shot and killed by the Jingzhou army's arrows.
Zhang Quan was chasing Gan Ning in front, when he suddenly heard drums beating and shouts of killing behind him. Looking back, he saw the ambushed troops killing and dispersing the pursuers, cutting off their retreat. Realizing that he had fallen into a trap, he hurriedly reined in his horse and turned back.
"You are still a little naive to use tricks on me!"
Gan Ning laughed loudly and turned around to chase Cao's army. Although these cavalrymen were strong, most of them were old. They were no match for the strong and robust Jinfan Army. In a blink of an eye, they were killed and only a few were left.
Zhang Quan, escorted by his personal guards, fled back from the chaos. Seeing Zhang Chen killed and his retreat cut off, he was filled with rage. He reined in his horse and turned back, shouting, "Gan Ning, I'll fight you to the death!"
"I've seen many useless guys like you!" Gan Ning laughed and picked up his sword to fight Zhang Quan.
Zhang Quan was determined to fight to the death. He was filled with anger and looked very aggressive, but he was no match for Gan Ning. He stabbed more than ten times but was unable to do anything to the opponent and became extremely angry.
"If you don't have the strength, don't talk big from now on!" Gan Ning suddenly shouted, and chopped with his sword, and the gun in Zhang Quan's hand flew out.
While he was in a daze, Gan Ning rode up to him, grabbed his robe belt, lifted him off the horse, and threw him to the ground: "Tie him up!"
The surrounding soldiers rushed forward and tied up Zhang Quan. He could do nothing except scream and struggle.
Gan Ning ordered Su Fei to withdraw his troops, glanced at the panicked Cao army, and shouted, "I'll give you one more chance, return to the city immediately - if I catch up with you, you will all die!"
Cao's army was in an uproar. The brave ones ran away, and then everyone ran down the mountain like a swarm of bees and fled to Luyang in a panic.
Gan Ning led his troops to chase after Cao's army and headed straight for Luyang. The defenders on the city wall had no one to command them and were hesitating whether to close the city gates, when the soldiers from Jingzhou had already rushed into the city.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Cao's army threw away their weapons and armor and fled through the remaining gates. By nightfall, Gan Ning had led his troops to occupy Luyang.
Zhang Quan was taken to the government office, where he cursed Gan Ning incessantly with a ferocious face and begged for death.
Gan Ning sneered, "A useless fellow like you can only be incompetent and furious! Zhang Xiu was humiliated by Cao Cao and was bewitched by the old villain Jia Xu. He was willing to be a lackey and was laughed at by the world. How dare you call yourself a hero in front of me?"
"You..." Zhang Quan's expression darkened and his teeth began to grind.
Zhang Xiu's surrender to Cao Cao was indeed a great humiliation for the Zhang family, but because of their marriage to the Cao family, no one dared to mention it. When Gan Ning ruthlessly exposed the incident, they wished they could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
Gan Ning sighed, "Fortunately, my lord Liu Qi is kind and merciful, and does not want to cause more killings. General Guan also remembers our old friendship in Xuchang, so he allowed me to spare your life and leave an heir for the Zhang family. Otherwise, how could I allow you to shout here?"
Zhang Quan looked grim, but he still said stubbornly: "Kill me if you want. I have a grudge against you for killing my father, so there is no need to be hypocritical."
Gan Ning sneered, "When two armies clash, each serves its own master. If you are a soldier, you must be prepared to die on the battlefield at any time. The Xiliang army slaughtered the people in the Central Plains back then. How much blood was stained on the hands of Zhang Ji and Zhang Xiu? Who are they going to seek revenge on?"
Zhang Quan was stunned. Gan Ning sighed, "How can the grudges in Jianghu be ranked with the affairs of the country? You are the same as Ling Cao from Jiangdong. You don't know the difference between the important and the unimportant. It's a pity that your ability is far inferior to his."
Zhang Quan angrily asked, "What on earth do you have to say?"
Gan Ning smiled and said, "It's not that I have something to say, but the military advisor has something to tell you. As long as you do this, your family will be safe."
Zhang Quan snorted coldly: "If you want me to betray the enemy and surrender, it is absolutely impossible."
"Tsk tsk—" Gan Ning smacked his lips, shook his head and sighed, "You keep saying you want revenge, but isn't your biggest enemy Cao Cao? Now you acknowledge the enemy as your father, and you are still so righteous, it's really stupid. But you think too highly of yourself. I have so many talented people in Jingzhou, what use is there for an incompetent like you?"
Zhang Quan looked unhappy, feeling so ashamed of being ridiculed by Gan Ning that he simply gritted his teeth and stopped talking.
Gan Ning waved his hand and ordered his men to escort Zhang Quan to Kunyang overnight and hand him over to Zhuge Liang for punishment.