[Wen Mang – Voiceover]
[If we're talking about Lord Guan's fortress city, then there's one Sun-Wu general whose name simply cannot be dodged.
A man whose reputation once made Cao-Wei flinch.
Zhu Ran.]
Zhang Fei was starting to feel that his second brother had become… difficult to understand.
Back then, hadn't they sworn brotherhood with the same idea in mind?
Charge first. Kill hard. Be remembered as battlefield maniacs together.
So how did Guan Yu's future résumé turn into "naval warfare enthusiast" and "urban planning prodigy"?
Zhang Fei glanced down at himself.
Was he the only one who'd stayed in the "swing spear, break skulls" skill tree?
Didn't this make him look like a one-build character who forgot to unlock late-game content?
Huang Zhong and Zhao Yun weren't thinking that far ahead. They were stuck on one phrase.
"A name that shook Cao-Wei?"
"Zhu Ran?"
Kong Ming thought for a moment, then nodded slowly.
"Zhu Zhi had no sons. He adopted his sister's son. That child was Zhu Ran."
Everyone nodded.
Oh. Adopted son.
As for Zhu Zhi himself… they'd heard the name before, sure. But Zhang Fei searched his memory hard and still couldn't picture the man's face.
Which was already kind of ominous.
[Wen Mang – Voiceover]
[In a certain sense, Zhu Ran's achievements were built entirely on Shu-Han's infrastructure.
In 223 AD, Cao-Wei attacked Jiangling. Zhu Ran defended the city for six months. Cao-Wei eventually withdrew. His name shook Cao-Wei, and he was enfeoffed as Marquis of Dangyang.
A dazzling record.
One man holding out against three famous Cao-Wei commanders—Cao Zhen, Xiahou Shang, and Zhang He.
On paper, absolutely legendary.]
The group exchanged looks.
He did repel Cao-Wei…
So why did the commentary say his achievements were "thanks to Shu-Han"?
Zhang Fei's brain clicked faster than usual. He snorted, then laughed outright.
"Don't tell me this 'name that shook Cao-Wei' was leaning on my second brother's city?"
They had just finished talking about Guan Yu's fortress—how it was designed to block Sun-Wu in the first place. And everyone already knew what happened later.
Lü Meng would take Jingzhou by surprise.
Meaning—
Sun-Wu got the city.
Which immediately led to a second question:
How exactly did this Sun-Wu manage that?
[Wen Mang – Voiceover]
[So let's look at Zhu Ran's record elsewhere.
The wins that earned him merit:
219 AD—alongside Lü Meng, he killed Guan Yu.
222 AD—alongside Lu Xun, he defeated Liu Bei.
228 AD—alongside Lu Xun again, he defeated Cao Xiu.]
Silence.
A thick, awkward silence settled over the side hall in Gong'an.
A late-April breeze slipped in through the door, spun around once, and somehow managed to feel chilly.
Zhang Fei shattered it.
"So he's a professional at joining winning teams?"
He cracked his knuckles.
"If we ever meet him again, Old Zhang will personally cut him down."
The chill evaporated instantly.
[Wen Mang – Voiceover]
[And the rest?
217 AD—appointed Lieutenant General, stationed at Ruxukou. Defeated by Cao Cao. Sun Quan presented a letter of surrender.
227 AD—led twenty thousand troops to attack Jiangxia. Repelled.
234 AD—Sun Quan attacked Hefei. Zhu Ran served as Left Chief Commander. Withdrew without fighting.
241 AD—led fifty thousand troops to attack Fancheng. Defeated. Retreated.
Put it all together, and the picture becomes painfully clear.
A Three Kingdoms specialist in playing support.
A man who invested every skill point into grabbing the right coattails.]
"This… counts as a famous general?"
Huang Zhong felt a headache blooming.
Back in his youth, he'd followed Governor Liu of Jingzhou with unwavering loyalty—and spent years buried in obscurity.
Looking at this record now, he felt a stab of regret.
Maybe he should've studied opportunism instead. Learned how to ride waves instead of charging head-on.
A career made up of borrowed glory and orderly retreats…
And history applauded.
"Hahahaha!" Zhang Fei laughed until his shoulders shook.
"If the old general isn't convinced, next time Zilong charges out, remember to sit in his lap!"
Everyone froze.
Then memory kicked in.
Changban Slope. Zhao Yun. Seven in, seven out.
The hall exploded with laughter.
Ma Liang, Jiang Wan, and Mi Fang took a moment longer—but once they got it, they smiled too.
These future evaluations really had no sense of shame.
[Wen Mang – Voiceover]
[As for Guan Yu's Jiangling city, the Tang Dynasty's Yuanhe Junxian Zhi records:
"The city of Jiangling Prefecture: the original city had a dividing wall. The northern part was the old city; the southern part was built by Guan Yu."
Compiled after the An Lushan Rebellion, this record leaves no room for debate.
Guan Yu built a new city south of Jiangling.
Old Jiangling was already easy to defend, hard to attack, and protected by water on two sides. Adding a second city created a mutually reinforcing defense.
Normal generals reinforced walls.
Lord Guan said:
"Why not just build another city?"
Utterly deranged.]
It was almost guaranteed that Zhang He, Cao Zhen, and Xiahou Shang smashed headfirst into this madness—thus earning Zhu Ran his reputation.
Everyone shook their heads, then turned to Guan Yu with fresh respect.
So this was what a fierce general looked like?
Half a lifetime of land battles—then suddenly, a navy.
Decades of campaigning—then suddenly, civil engineering.
Others patched walls.
Guan Yu built expansions.
Was this the mindset of greatness?
Duly noted.
"Consider defeat before considering victory!" Ma Liang praised fervently.
"General Guan truly understands strategy!"
Guan Yu smiled faintly, saying nothing.
Internally, he was satisfied.
Ever since learning he'd garrison Jiangling, he'd thought long and hard. His conclusion had been simple:
You may not control the war—but you can always control how hard you are to kill.
His only complaint?
"Utterly deranged" was rude. Couldn't the narrator be a little more poetic?
[Wen Mang – Voiceover]
[And Jiangling mattered—a lot.
It was the key link between Jing and Yi, the springboard for the northern advance. Secure Xiangyang and Fancheng, and the Longzhong Plan could finally breathe.
From there, marching toward Xuchang and Luoyang meant open plains and real momentum.]
The Longzhong Plan.
Everyone grew quiet.
That vision hadn't just moved Liu Bei—it had moved them all. And seeing the future unfold step by step only proved one thing.
"Kong Ming is a talent to govern the age—a modern Jiang Ziya!"
"To meet Kong Ming is the fortune of the Han!"
Liu Bei sighed deeply. Those years of flight and defeat felt distant now.
Kong Ming stepped forward and bowed solemnly.
"My only wish is to restore this great enterprise and reverse the decline of the Han!"
[Wen Mang – Voiceover]
[As for Sun Quan?
Defending against him was a bonus.
City assaults tested troop quality—and eastern Wu struggled even with old Jiangling, let alone Jiangling City PROMAX Super-Sized Edition.
History agrees.
From 208 to 234 AD, Sun Quan attacked Hefei five times.
Two disasters.
Three withdrawals.
The hardest-working XP feeder of the era.
He lost to Jiang Ji, Zhang Xi, Zhang Liao, Li Dian, Yue Jin, Xue Ti, Man Chong, Zhang Ying, Cao Rui, Tian Yu, Liu Shao, Wei Zhen…
Zhang Liao could've written:
"Speedrunning Sun Quan at Hefei—cleared with 800 men."
Anyway.
From Guan Yu's 217 AD perspective, Jiangling was airtight.]
Zhuge Liang frowned.
"What does 'PROMAX Super-Sized' mean?"
"'Super' and 'Sized' are praise," Ma Liang reasoned.
"'Pro' likely implies perfection. The foreign symbols are unclear."
"Write it down," Liu Bei said cheerfully.
"Thirteen defeats! Brother-in-law Sun is truly persistent!"
Amused—then alarmed.
Wait.
After that surrender letter… did Sun Quan secretly submit?
"That Green-Eyed Brother-in-law is useless!" Zhang Fei declared.
"Unlike our Big Brother—when he lost, it was only to Lü Bu, Yuan Shu, or Cao the traitor!"
He grinned.
"Don't worry, Big Brother. Yiling is ours."