Liu Bei POV

What’s going on? How did they collapse so quickly? Could this be Cai Mao’s ploy– No, impossible. I couldn’t understand how the troops were broken up so swiftly. No matter what, these were the elite after all.

“Imperial Uncle, please look more carefully, and concentrate on Lord Liu Qi’s contingent.”

Eh?

I looked again when I heard what Chen Gong said, but I didn’t see anything of note before–

Ah! Now I see it.

Just one moment before, a wave of troops charged out from the swirling dust at Liu Qi’s troops, sweeping away yet another segment from the main body. The wave of troops that came out followed through with their charge and disappeared into the large cloud of dust soon after.

“Did my lord see that?” Chen Gong said coldly as she looked at the platoons that were engulfed to the stunned me.

At this sight before me, all I could do was nod wordlessly.

“Clearly, the other side has thoroughly practiced and prepared countermeasures against reinforcing armies. The formations of the main body of the other side are tight and strong, and their defensive lines have not broken from Liu Qi’s surprise attack. Instead, they have been able to disperse Liu Qi’s main body and rear guard thoroughly.” Chen Gong said, and s.h.i.+fted her gaze to me, “And so, if we should enter the fray, our fate would be like them. We would not be able to be an effective fighting force, nor can we join up with Huang Zu’s troops.”

Chen Gong gave a long sigh as she said so before continuing, “There will probably be a lot of roaming mobile enemy units with so much dust and sand flying about. Our troops are almost all heavy infantry so we don’t have a unit advantage at all. Our only consolation is that the enemy cavalry units will find it difficult to pierce the thick plate armour of our heavy infantry so the dispersed troops won’t be decimated immediately. That said, I doubt they can last longer than 15 minutes.”

Chen Gong said some words she probably thought were meant to be consolatory but everyone knew that neither Huang Zu nor Liu Qi were in a position to rejoin with the dispersed troops. Therefore, their fates were sealed.

“This cloud of sand is really a big quagmire.” Chen Dao said. I too felt the dame.

“Then what do we do now? We can’t attack, but we can’t just wait here and do nothing either.” Zhou Cang frowned as she waved her machete about in the air in an attempt to quell her battlel.u.s.t. This definitely isn’t the behaviour of a beautiful maiden everyone is attracted to.

Un, indeed. There’s no way for us to launch an attack.

“Chen Gong, do you have a plan?”

I didn’t have a plan to deal with this naturally, so all I could do was to seek help from someone who knew what the problem was. From my experience, I’ve found that most strategists are keen to share their ideas if you ask them nicely enough.

“No, I don’t have a plan.” But just as I was thinking about this, Chen Gong shook her head as she said no.

“Eh?”

“The numerical difference between the enemy and us are increasing. Our side doesn’t have a geographical advantage nor do we have large catapults so it will be difficult to turn the tide the way things stand. To be honest, the only thing we can do is to wait. Wait for either the enemy to drop its guard, or for the enemy’s overall commander to reveal himself and we can go for him directly.”

“No, that’s no good.” I shook my head and turned down Chen Gong’s conclusion. Whether or not this is the correct answer, I won’t be heeding it.

“I know that this might result in Imperial Uncle going against your values of honour and compa.s.sion but we must conserve our strength and our lives. This is something Imperial Uncle must do.”

“… My lord, your life is of utmost importance.” When she heard that my life would be endangered, Chen Dao came up to me and pleaded resolutely as she saluted.

“But…” I was beginning to waver. What Chen Gong said makes sense, and I do indeed feel that charging down would be suicide.

“Eh! So are we fighting or not! Can we come to a decision?” Zhou Cang’s eyebrows creased more and more tightly as our discussion went on and she sheathed her machete.

I was committing the same mistakes again. But at this moment, any move I can make is not an optimal move.

I felt despondent as I stared down at the 朱 flags which dotted the foot of the mountain. How do I save Liu Qi’s troops who were ambushed? And how do I disrupt the enemy side?

I have no idea at all…

“Don’t think about disrupting the other side, Imperial Uncle.” Chen Gong shook her head as she guessed what I was thinking about again, “I already said it. Our troops are all heavy infantry. No matter how well-trained they are, no matter how adept they are with fighting, it–”

“Wait!” When I heard Chen Gong’s last sentence, my heart trembled, and it felt like I had been neglecting something all this while so I stopped her.

“Un? What happened, my lord?!” Chen Dao thought something happened to me when she saw my expression change.

“… Did you just say heavy infantry?!” I frantically racked my brain to trace the link that surfaced for a moment before, and finally found what I was looking for.

After thinking things through for a moment, I felt like everything was clear now.

“Chen Gong, I have a plan to mess up the enemy’s formation.”

“I’m waiting with bated breath.”

I doubt it’s anything good.

Though Chen Gong said she was listening, her expression showed how doubtful she was towards me. I do have to admit that this plan of mine isn’t something ingenious but it is something decent and doable.

As I thought so, I weighed the costs and benefits one last time, and decided to tell them what I’d thought of, “Chen Gong said it before right? That our troops are all heavy infantry. Therefore, light cavalry should find it difficult to engulf us in a short time.”

“And so?”

“So,” I paused for a moment and gathered my thoughts, “I feel that we should act as bait, and draw the bulk of the enemy’s attention which will reduce the pressure on Liu Qi’s side.”

Chen Gong waved her hands back when I finished, “We have but 2,500 troops. We will only end up being surrounded. How many can we possibly draw to us?”

“That is why we will be separating our troops into 3 contingents.” I said as I raised 3 fingers, “I’ll lead 1, and Chen Dao and Chen Gong, you both will lead 1 each. Thereafter, our job is to wreck as much havoc as possible, draw their attention and disrupt their formation.”

“Un… That is the same as saying that the enemy’s objective is to reduce our fighting strength and not take the city. If we can hold on long enough, this can work.” Chen Gong sank into deep thought and placed her hand at her chin and frowned, looking very vexed at this, “But what if we don’t disrupt their formation? It’s possible that when we charge down, we might just be decimated shortly because of each contingent’s low numbers.”

“We won’t go too deep in, and do our best to maintain a 3-p.r.o.nged front with the enemy.” I continued, “Of course, it might not work even then, in which case we have no choice but to give up and retreat.”

I don’t know how strong Sun Quan’s Jiangdong troops are, but they can’t be too weak. If their troops are vastly superior to ours then this fight will be a tough one.

No, we won’t have a chance at all.

But, if we can just stall them for a while, I hope to give Liu Qi’s side some breathing s.p.a.ce. That way, I can be a little more at ease.

As I thought so, I looked at Chen Gong.

“Un…” Chen Gong was still in deep thought and considering the costs and benefits of this plan. The other 2, however, had already chosen to follow my plan.

“Lord Chen Gong, I feel that our lord’s plan is workable. I will do my best to stir things up.” Chen Dao said.

“Why? Could it be that you don’t think that you’re capable enough?” Zhou Cang said mockingly, which happened to touch a raw nerve.

“Who is saying I’m incapable! Have you forgotten how I defeated you that time?!”

“Alright, alright, alright. You’re brave and strong.” Zhou Cang wasn’t angry at all and gave Chen Gong a thumbs up with a smile.

I know that Zhou Cang is just taunting her, and I doubt Chen Gong is unaware either. But she probably doesn’t want to back out because of this, and soon after, I heard the reply I wanted to hear the most.

“Alright, I got it.” Chen Gong nodded, as though she’d made her resolve, “My official rank isn’t too high now but if I die, I hope I can get a good posthumous promotion.”

“No way. You’re just a minor official, so you’ll just be a t.i.tle-less middle-ranking general at the most.”

“You b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”

Zhou Cang mocked her again, and Chen Gong was baited. This scene made it seem like it was like usual times. Looking at them, I felt more relaxed.

“That’s that then.” I looked at the 3 of them in turn, and seeing that they all made their resolve, I continued, “We’ll split our troops into 3. Chen Gong and Chen Dao, you both will lead a contingent of 800 troops each while I’ll lead a contingent of 900 troops. At my mark, we will charge down from the south, southwest, and southeast directions. Thereafter, I’ll leave it to you both to bait as many troops as you can to you. Chen Dao, it’s best if you can draw in some of the troops that are surrounding Liu Qi.”

“Though I really want to be by my lord’s side protecting him, I cannot turn down my lord’s order and will do my utmost best to fulfill this critical responsibility you have given me.” Chen Dao put her hands together and did a very neat bow, “Acknowledged.”

“Un, I understand.” Compared to Chen Dao, Chen Gong seemed more relaxed.

“Will you be alright?” I asked, a little worried for her.

“I’ll be fine. I’m an administrative official but I have learnt martial arts and I know how to command troops.” Chen Gong didn’t say further after this, and took the command token from my hands and brought her troops to the southeast side.

As I looked at Chen Gong’s back, I was reminded of our first meeting. I must say, her skill with the crossbow is really good.

“Alright, my lord. I’ll be getting into position as well.” Chen Dao bowed once more as she said so, “For this mission, I will willingly accept any punishments should I fail, and swear not to hold my lord back.”

“That’s a little too much…” I smiled bitterly as I patted her shoulders.

“Relax, I’m counting on you for this.”

“Ah… Un!” She acknowledged my words with tears in her eyes and mounted her horse as she led her troops off.

As I looked at Chen Dao’s troops and where Chen Gong was, I couldn’t help but feel worried for them.