"Lord, why do you say that?"
General Xu was startled, "Did I do something wrong?"
He was a surrendered general, so he was sensitive.
Zhang Xin's words scared him quite a bit.
General Xu had been with Dong Zhuo for a long time, so he knew Dong Zhuo's personality well.
He was truly good to his own people and truly cruel to his enemies.
He had followed Zhang Xin to attack Dong Zhuo, and he had no way out. Previously, he had also killed tens of thousands of soldiers from the Guandong warlords in two battles, making many enemies.
If Zhang Xin became suspicious of him and no longer reused him, who else could he turn to?
Zhang Xin shook his head, "Did you see the common people outside the main camp?"
"I saw them when I came," General Xu nodded.
"Dong Zhuo fears me. If our army retreats normally, he wouldn't dare to pursue."
Zhang Xin said, "But now the common people are afraid that Dong Zhuo will slaughter the city for revenge and want to follow me..."
"Lord is benevolent."
General Xu quickly seized the opportunity to flatter him.
"During this expedition to aid the Emperor, the River East common people helped me a lot. I cannot abandon them."
Zhang Xin didn't know what he was thinking and continued, "The common people move slowly and are not as easy to manage as soldiers. If we take the common people with us, the army will inevitably be in chaos."
"Once Dong Zhuo learns of this, he will definitely send people to pursue."
Zhang Xin looked at General Xu and asked again.
"At this time, I need a great general to go back and guard Puban Ford to block Dong Zhuo's pursuit. General Xu, can I trust you?"
Upon hearing this, General Xu felt a touch of emotion.
Although in terms of official position, he was the highest among all the generals, even older veterans like Zuo Bao couldn't compare to him.
General of the Household was between a Colonel and a General.
The General here referred to formal generals like Front, Rear, Left, and Right Generals, not miscellaneous generals.
It wasn't yet the time for various prefectures to arbitrarily appoint General of the Households. Compared to Zuo Bao's miscellaneous general title, General Xu's General of the Household title was slightly higher in status.
In other words, General Xu's position at this time was roughly similar to that of Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun during the Yellow Turbans suppression, both qualified to be commanders of large armies.
Otherwise, Dong Zhuo wouldn't have given him over ten thousand soldiers to go around killing people.
Putting aside other factors, purely in terms of official rank, if Zhang Xin was the commander, then General Xu would have to be the deputy commander.
As for Wu Kuang, Zhang Zhang, and the like, they were merely Military Officer, not even Colonels.
But in reality, it was quite the opposite; General Xu's position under Zhang Xin was very awkward.
In terms of seniority, he couldn't compare to veterans like Zuo Bao, Dian Wei, and Zhao Yun.
In terms of trust, Wu Kuang, Zhang Zhang, and others voluntarily came to surrender, while he was forced to surrender, so he couldn't compare either.
This led to General Xu always feeling inferior when interacting with other generals on a daily basis, not daring to speak loudly.
Now Zhang Xin actually wanted to entrust such an important task of covering the retreat to him, a surrendered general?
"I, Rong, was foolish. Previously, I only cared about my own small righteousness and, because of a small kindness from Dong Zhuo, helped him commit atrocities."
General Xu left his seat and bowed, saying loudly, "In the Battle of Luoyang, thanks to Lord's benevolence, I, Rong, was able to survive. And thanks to Lord's acceptance, I, Rong, was able to serve under Lord and witness what a King's army is, what the people's will is, and what a benevolent Lord is!"
"Lord does not hold my past mistakes against me and instead entrusts me with such an important task. I, Rong, am willing to repay you with my life and will certainly not fail Lord's trust!"
After speaking, General Xu kowtowed heavily.
Wu Kuang, Zhang Zhang, and others' expressions were normal, but they felt disdain in their hearts.
"Good, then Puban Ford is entrusted to you, Qing."
Zhang Xin stepped forward and helped General Xu up, "There's no time to lose. Please lead your troops and depart immediately."
He had originally thot of sending a deputy general to keep an eye on General Xu's army.
But seeing General Xu's demeanor, he decided against it.
Historically, after Dong Zhuo's death, General Xu surrendered to the imperial court.
During the Li Jue and Guo Si Rebellion, Li Que and Guo Si raised the banner of avenging Dong Zhuo and counterattacked Chang'an.
General Xu and Hu Zhen were ordered by Wang Yun to attack, but Hu Zhen, upon reaching the location, surrendered with his troops, directly leading to General Xu's death on the battlefield.
From this point of view, he was not a die-hard loyalist of Dong Zhuo.
When Zheng County was rth to You Province, personally lead the Youzhou Soldiers south, and directly attack Nangpi! "