Liu Bei POV

When they got closer, I was able to get a good glimpse of the leading general.

She wore a cloth hat and her fringe covered 1 eye. She wore shoulder plate armour and a plate skirt on top of her uniform, with some words written on her plate skirt. Though she sat on a horse, she held a long spear that was rested on her shoulders with both hands tightly, like a thug.

Of course, she would be a female thug.

“Xu!” When they neared us, she yelled out the command to stop and in an instant, all horses came to a stop.

“Umm…” I spoke up to her but she extended a hand and gestured for me to stop just when I opened my mouth.

“Wait for a moment.” She softly said. Then, she took a gourd hanging at her waist and began drinking heartily from it in big gulps, spilling wine all over. At this time, she was close enough for me to make out that the words on her plate skirt were ‘死守’.

(TL: 死守, HYPY: Si Shou, can be understood as ‘defend to the death’ or something like that.)

“Ha! Awesome!” After drinking about half the gourd’s contents in 1 go, she closed her eyes and made a refres.h.i.+ng gasp.

I looked at her again closely and saw that she didn’t open her eyes very much and I don’t know if she was born with it, but her pupils were really small. She cracked her neck as she kept her gourd; overall, if it weren’t for the armour she was wearing and the fact that she was leading a group of troops behind her, I would have thought that she was some street gangster.

And just then, she suddenly looked over at me, giving me a shock as I thought my thoughts were seen through once more.

“… You’re Liu Bei?” She said after staring at me for a moment.

“Ah, I am.” I was able to calmly answer her when I realised that she hadn’t seen through my thoughts about her.

I looked to the side and saw Gan Ning with a troubled look, and wondered what she was thinking.

“Understood,” She said as she dismounted, and the rest followed suit as well.

I could tell that when she dismounted, she sized me up and was able to inspect me from head to toe in just that few moments. After she dismounted, she threw her long spear to a general nearby and dusted her plate skirt before walking over to me.

“Ah, un.” I hurriedly bowed and saluted when I saw walking over but because I was supporting Zhou Cang, I couldn’t do it properly and could only lower my head as her shadow slowly approached me.

Very soon, her shadow approached my toes. From the corner of my eye, I could see her plate skirt, and as usual the 死守 characters stood out and caught my eye.

“Let me.” After these sudden words, the burden on my shoulder was lifted. I looked up and saw that she had grabbed Zhou Cang and was carrying her on her back.

“It’s been hard on Imperial Uncle. Please follow me to the city where we can discuss things further.” She said, exhaling as she did so, and the puff of air she breathed out blew her fringe up, giving me a good view of her eyes. Her pupils were indeed small, and seemed like those of an eagle.

“Well then, you are?” I could guess who she was from her words and the air about her but I still asked to make it a little more formal.

“Ah, I forgot to introduce myself.” She said as she turned back and blew out again, blowing her fringe up, “I’m Huang Zu and I’m the Administrator of this place.”

Zhou Yu POV

Haa~

A wave of sleepiness a.s.saulted me as I looked out at the calm waves while sitting in the s.h.i.+p. I placed my feather fan on the table and stretched my back.

Ah, I just woke up not too long ago too. Was I too exhausted from the journey? Or am I just too bored from sitting and waiting here?

Never mind, the current mission isn’t too risky. As long as we fight solidly, taking Jiangxia city is only a matter of time.

But my lord Sun Quan really is impatient. She just took over fully from Bo Fu and immediately she’s seeking vengeance for uncle Sun Jian, and has deployed troops to Jiangxia to hunt down Huang Zu. With this, we will earn the enmity of Liu Biao. When Cao Cao eventually moves south, I wonder what things will be like. But if we can seize the opportunity and take Jing state now that Jiangdong is stabilised, we will be in a prime position.

Hai… But Liu Xuan De is now at Jing state. I don’t know what things are like but he should be treated as an important guest. Despite her desire for vengeance, my lord Sun Quan very much wishes that we do not hurt him at all.

That’s a little too naive. There is no room for such sentiments in these troubled times. If we don’t act first, what will we do if Liu Bei takes Jing state before us?

That Liu Bei might seem really unreliable and useless but he’s actually a very scary opponent. We should have been more forceful back then and co-opted him into staying at Jiangdong.

As for Liu Biao, he’s all talk. He’s neither a.s.sertive nor does he have talent. All he’s doing is riding on the coattails of his status as royalty and high n.o.bility and preserving the status quo.

And so, this upcoming battle at Jiangxia won’t be difficult.

Haa~ I yawned again while I was thinking. I really am yawning a lot today.

Perhaps Jiangxia is ours already.

“Gong Jin, Gong Jin.” Just then, a slightly drawling voice came from behind me.

“One Gong Jin is enough.” I could guess who it was so I replied without turning around and even lay back into my seat, “What is it? Lu Zi Jing?”

“A report just came in from a courier. Zhu Ran and Zhu Zhi’s a.s.sault wasn’t effective and they have retreated 20km away from the city where they await to join up with us.”

… Scratch out what I just said.

So they were defeated huh…

“How were they defeated?”

“Huang Zu left the city to meet our side, which had a numerical advantage, in battle. Later, a reinforcing army charged in only to be surrounded by our side. After that, yet another reinforcing army charged in and drew away our troops, allowing Huang Zu’s troops to join up with the first reinforcing army. This allowed them to split our forces and deliver decisive strikes. They also inflicted injuries upon General Zhu Ran. General Zhu Zhi feared that they would be decimated and decided to retreat.”

So that’s why. The first reinforcing army was used to penetrate our side while the second reinforcing army waited and acted according to the situation. Both moves were unantic.i.p.ated and were good moves.

“What are the casualties like?”

“Our side’s vanguard numbered 5,500 strong. After this battle, the casualties are around 1,500 or so. Zhu Zhi’s manner of speech and tone is usually weird but she’s never been careless when reporting her numbers.”

“And are the 2 generals doing fine?”

“Zhu Ran seems to have been injured but it doesn’t seem to pose a major problem and she will probably recover fully within a few days.”

“I see. That’s good then.”

“Wu… When did I become your Registrar?” Zi Jing walked over to my side from behind me as he said so.

“Don’t overestimate yourself. If you want to be my Registrar, you’ll have to fix your clothing first.”

He was still wearing his coa.r.s.e and plain clothing with a messy stubble on and his hair was hastily tied together. If you didn’t know who he was, you might even think that he’s a beggar. But he didn’t seem to notice my disdainful gaze and was staring fixedly at the piece of silk as he rubbed the stubble on his chin.

“Un? Is there anything else?”

“Now that the reinforcements from Xiangyang have joined up with the garrison at Jiangxia, our casualties will likely be higher from the battles to come.”

Hmhm, more casualties huh. Looks like he is of the same opinion as me, and doesn’t think that we will lose this battle.

“How many losses can there possibly be? The vanguard still has about 4,000 or so, and our main body has over 20,000 troops. Our supplies are more than sufficient, and our siege weaponry are prepared and ready to roll out. Moreover, Lu Meng’s naval fleet had dozens of battles.h.i.+ps big and small manned by thousands of sailors. Even with the reinforcements, what can Jiangxia do?”

Even though the reinforcements were able to spring 2 surprises on us, they did not achieve a decisive victory. This is probably because they weren’t able to and were pinned down by Zhu Zhi’s troops. That must mean that the reinforcements cannot be more than a few thousand. After that battle, they will be even fewer in number.

What we don’t know is how large the garrison at Jiangxia city is. Jiangxia city is heavily guarded and our scouts are unable to penetrate its defences so we know neither the size of the garrison nor the political climate on the ground. If this goes on, we will have to launch a siege blind.

“Zi Jing, apart from the mother and daughter pair of Zhu Ran and Zhi Zhi, have the other generals we requested for deployment reached yet?”

“Un… Let me see…” He took out a stack of bamboo pieces and silk papers as he said so from within his clothing. Looks like those are the correspondences from these past few days.

“Won’t you tidy things up a little? You’re always so messy and unkempt.”

“I’m used to it already.” Zi Jing actually had the cheek to laugh as he said so even though I’m not even praising him.

Ever since he joined with my recommendation after the battle with Yuan Shu, Zi Jing has shown his capabilities over and over. I didn’t misjudge him at all. But if he would only be a little cleaner, that would be even better.

“Un, most of them haven’t reached yet. The ones that can be deployed immediately are only Ling Cao and Ling Tong.”

“Another mother and daughter pair? And they are even blood related this time.” I picked up the feather fan on the table and got up, “Tell them to get ready immediately and bring half of our troops here to reinforce the vanguard. Then, tell the vanguard to get their orders from Lu Meng.”

“Lu Meng huh?”

“Un, let her take command this time. A report just came in Shouchun saying that Cao Cao’s troops have been gathering at Xu state. We’ll stay at this port and be ready to bolster the defences if need be.” I took out a piece of silk from my sleeve as I said so and pa.s.sed it to Zi Jing. On it was Zhang Zhao’s handwritten notice.

“Un… But won’t it be a little taxing to fight on 2 fronts?”

“I don’t think there will be a problem. Cao Cao’s new troops were deployed to the north of Xu state and Yang state. If they wish to launch a southern expedition from there with just the numbers they have, it will be difficult if not impossible. So all we need to do is just have enough troops here to deter them from advancing.”

“Then Gong Jin thinks that Lu Meng can achieve victory?”

“Probably. She might be a bit reckless but she’s capable overall.”

“Houhou,” Just then, Zi Jing gave a sly laugh, “Gong Jin is so strict with her usually but you trust her quiet a bit during crucial moments huh.”

“Wh-wh-wh-what! I just feel that this sort of minor mission is beyond relaxing so even that naive Lu Meng can accomplish it.” I hurriedly explained, but Zi Jing’s smile didn’t diminish at all.

“It’s not like I think that Lu Meng is mature enough and she deserves a chance to prove herself. B-b-b-besides, Pan Zhang, Ma Zhong and Dong Xi are all with her so wouldn’t she be in a better position than us to delegate responsibilities?”

“Un un, I never knew Gong Jin was so gentle and kind.”

“Wh– What are you talking about!”

For some reason, my face began to heat up when I heard Zi Jing’s praises. I hurriedly fixed my face into a frown and fanned myself.

“No, nothing.” He shook his head as he fingered his stubble with a face that looked like he was enjoying this.

… I really hate this Zi Jing.