Li Dian POV

Personally, I do not have anything against slightly closer-than-normal familial relations like this but such sentiments can only be detrimental pn the battlefield. Warriors often have to make decisions which are risky and their emotions can come into play here.

Of course, there’s no point mentioning this at this juncture when nothing serious has happened. We also have a lot of work to do. Because we were forced into a duel right from the get-go by our ultimate superiors, we have not been able to discuss anything with regards to our invasion.

Now that everything is clear, it’s time to get to business.

“Lord Shen Pei, Lord Lu Xiang and Lord Lu Kuang.” I called out as I tidied up the seat cus.h.i.+ons with my spear, “My lord commanded us to carry out our invasion as swiftly as we can. Time is of the essence here so shall we begin discussing our operations?”

“That’s right. We never expected this show at all.” Cao Ren smiled. Looks like she does not seem to mind what just happened very much, even though she was imperiled at one point.

“I understand.”

“Okay~ We’re getting tired of waiting here in the city anyway.”

Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang said as they sat down.

“Did you all arrive here early?” I asked Shen Pei who also sat down.

“Ah… Ah! Yes.” Shen Pei nervously raised her hands and nodded, “We’ve been here for some time now, probably about 5-6 days.”

“If I remember correctly, Lord Shen Pei should be garrisoned in the north right?”

“Yes, but our lord sent us here ahead of time.” Lu Xiang swiftly interjected.

I looked at Shen Pei and she nodded, “Un, our lord sent us here to look for Imperial Uncle Liu. We garrisoned here about 2 weeks ago before sending out search parties but to no avail. A new set of instructions came a few days ago and so we pulled back to Fan city and waited for you all.”

“I see.”

I cannot believe that Yuan Shao actually sent troops thousands of miles to search for Imperial Uncle Liu. If I had not heard it myself, I would not have believed it. Looks like Yuan Shao and Imperial Uncle Liu’s relations were a lot deeper than I thought.

“We’ve been rehearsing the act all this while, sp much so that my legs hurt from hanging in the rafters.”

“Yes, I had to practice being silent.”

Lu Xiang and Lu Kuang complained. Did they really not do anything at all apart from rehearsing for this since they came here? Doing this all day is… But the fact that they worked hard is praiseworthy so I will give them 70 points for that.

“Well then, let’s begin, shall we?” Cao Ren clapped and smiled as she looked at Yuan Shao’s generals. Lu Kuang and Shen Pei calmed down but Lu Xiang continued fidgeting about.

Ahem, Cao Ren cleared her throat as I sat down as well and dove into the main topic.

“Because it is our lord’s wish for the campaign to proceed as soon as possible, I won’t bother with formalities and dive into the main topic now that we have resolved our earlier misunderstanding.” Cao Ren took out a thick piece of silk cloth as she said so and laid it out in front of us, “This is a map of northern Jing state which was stored in the Imperial Treasury. Because of the importance of our campaign, our lord has specially made a copy you see here.”

As she said so, Cao Ren pointed towards a small city named Xinye which was not too far from Fan city, “This is Xinye. Our lord specially mentioned it in her letter. And so this is

our first point of attack.”

“Xinye should be where Imperial Uncle Liu’s remaining forces are stationed…” Shen Pei said a.s.suredly, trailing off at the end.

“Yes, I know that as well from our lord.” Cao Ren nodded and folded her hands across her chest, “How do I put this? Our lord wishes for us to persuade Liu Bei’s forces to surrender and join us as soon as possible. This will further bolster our campaign as we proceed south.”

This is something we discussed earlier on the way here. Cao Ren does not seem to know Liu Bei’s faction very well. I, on the other hand, had some interaction with them when they were in Xuchang and later on at Xu state. From what I know, their loyalty and devotion to Liu Bei will make it impossible for them to surrender and join our side.

Unless they truly believe that Liu Bei is no longer alive.

“Lord Shen Pei.” I decided to ask when I thought of this, “When you were searching before, did you find any sign of Imperial Uncle Liu at all?”

“No, not at all.” Shen Pei said with a forlorn expression, “We searched mid- and downstream sections of the Tan stream and even in the valley but there was no sign at all. Before we came, Liu Biao’s men also searched the areas that we did but nothing at all.”

“So that means that…” I said to which Shen Pei nodded.

“Right now, it doesn’t seem very optimistic at all.” Shen Pei lowered her head, “I wonder how our lord feels right now.”

Compared to Liu Bei’s death, she’s more concerned about her lord huh? She deserves a good grade for her devotion. But now is not the time for this…

“When the time comes, all we have to do is form up and announce to the, that Liu Bei is already dead.” I looked at Cao Ren as I said so and seeing that she nodded, I continued, “If we do that, some might willingly leave and join us.”

“Alright, then let’s start spreading news to Xinye of Liu Bei’s death and our upcoming invasion as well then. This will induce them to desire revenge.” Cao Ren agreed with what I said and added on while twirling her hair just like my lord, “Though I feel sorry for them, for the sake of the big picture, elder sister needs more talent to support the Great Han, even if they don’t agree with her.”

“Umm…” Just then, Shen Pei raised her hand.

“Please go ahead, Lord Shen Pei.” Cao Ren said.

“Ah, I feel that we shouldn’t go to Xinye.”

“Eh?” I was surprised as this did not seem like a very smart suggestion, “Why?”

Shen Pei lowered her head and gathered her thoughts for a moment before continuing shakily, “I don’t know if everyone knows Imperial Uncle Liu and his faction well enough but I have doubts that our tactics will work in pulling them over to our side after just half a month. Does everyone know how large the garrison is at Xinye?”

“Our scouts have told us that they number about 30,000 strong.” Cao Ren replied.

They only numbered 1,800 back when they were at Xu state city. After wandering about for so long, they actually managed to gather so many to their side. This is truly unbelievable to me.

At the same time, I felt that I should have expected that Liu Bei could have reached that level. I just never thought that he would meet with such a tragic end so soon.

“Yes, 30,000. And our combined forces number 30,000 as well.” Shen Pei shook her head, “If our tactics fail and we end up fighting head on, we’ll be the ones at a disadvantage as they have the defender’s advantage.”

“Un… But our lord specifically mentioned that we should attack Xinye.” Cao Ren shook her head and thought for a moment, “Well then, does Lord Shen Pei have any suggestions in mind?”

Shen Pei looked about and nodded, “I feel that we should go around Xinye and go straight for Xiangyang or Jiangling.” She pointed at the map as she said so, “Liu Biao’s situation at Xiangyang is not entirely stable and the Administrator at Jiangling is currently being relieved. We can seize the opportunity to take Jiangling and sever Jiangxia’s access to Xiangyang. After that, we can attack Xiangyang from 2 directions. By then, the only place that can reinforce Xiangyang is Xinye. Given the enmity between both sides, they will most certainly not aid Xiangyang.”

“Un…” Cao Ren sank into silence. Personally, I think that what Shen Pei said makes sense but for Cao Ren, it seems like listening to our lord’s orders is more important.

But compared to Jing state as a whole, Xinye is more dangerous.

“Lord Shen Pei, what you said makes sense but there are some flaws with your plan.” I said, “Jing state is very large and once we attack one location, troops from every commandery and city will mobilise and reinforce where ever is attacked. If the main body of our combined force is not fast enough, we may be forced to defend the city for an extended period of time.”

“That is…” Seeing that Shen Pei was a little taken aback, I continued.

“As for Lord Shen Pei’s point on the defender’s advantage, I personally think that there is none. Xinye is not stable or developed enough to support a 30,000 garrison so they are likely camped outside. There may also be insufficient resources which means that they will be forced to disband some battalions.” As I said so, I looked around and saw that everyone was listening closely and I continued, “Given this, it will likely be a field battle which means that there is no defender’s advantage.”

“Un, un.” Cao Ren mumbled her agreement as she nodded with a dazed look and then looked at Shen Pei, “What do you think, Lord Shen Pei?”