Everything could only be left to Heaven's will.
Swordland, Central Army Camp.
"I have failed! My incompetence cost us Guang'an County. Please punish me, General!"
Inside the tent, Deng Xian dropped directly to one knee before Yan Yan, his face full of self-reproach.
Guang'an County was a crucial town ahead of Swordland. He had been ordered by Yan Yan to defend it, but Liu Bei's army had breached its defenses, and he himself had even been forced to flee from place to place. Only now had he managed to return to Swordland to report.
This left him feeling deeply ashamed and humiliated.
Looking at Deng Xian with his head bowed low before him, Yan Yan merely sighed inwardly, then said, "Rise. The loss of Guang'an County was not your fault."
"It was already quite an achievement to hold out until I finished arranging Swordland's defenses. Now that a great army holds Swordland, the enemy cannot break through."
He said this only to comfort Deng Xian. In truth, the loss of Guang'an County was a serious problem, and many of his preparations remained unfinished.
He had originally intended to cut into the rock along the thirty-li stretch of Swordland and erect an elevated Flying Beam Gallery Road, then build a stone gate against the cliffs where the sheer walls of Great Sword Mountain broke off and two cliffs faced each other. He would station a garrison there, turning Swordland into a fully fortified military stronghold.
But because Guang'an County had fallen, the enemy had arrived before even thirty percent of these preparations were complete. The defenses were still far from finished.
"General, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were simply too formidable."
Deng Xian said, filled with frustration, "Those two led their troops in ferocious assaults. I could not withstand