Liu Bei POV

She was doing so well too… Yet her ending display made her earlier performance lack credibility.

“Un… But if we start fighting, I don’t know what will happen. To be honest, I would be a lot more confident if we were defending Xiangyang or any other commandery city…” Zi Long said, seeming rather worried as she placed her hands on her knees.

“But Xinye city is far too small, be it the walls or the city itself.” Liao Hua continued in her usual mood, “This means that we cannot fight a defensive battle and must meet our enemy out in the plains.”

Looks like we are going into the specifics of what to do now. I have also noticed this since I arrived here. Xinye is indeed a little too small.

“How many troops can the city hold?”

“All of them,” Chen Gong replied as she lazily drank some liquor, “But it will be difficult for them to move quickly enough when we need to fight.

“… There are too many people for this city. The streets are narrow as well which makes it difficult to set up camp.” “This was a city that could only support 130-140,000 people after all.” “If we were to move our troops into the city, then it would look like Xu state when we accepted the refugees.”

Xiao Yong’s example was easy to understand and visualise.

“Additionally, there’s another problem.” Wen Yuan said as she raised her hand, “We do not have a reliable long term supply of provisions. Xinye alone is not enough to supply our army.”

“Eh? What about the supplies that Liu Biao gave us back when we left?” I asked to which Yun Chang replied.

“We have them, but they can only last for slightly more than a month.” Yun Chang said and clenched her teeth as she continued, “Big brother was gone for a while and since we decided to wait for you, we disbanded part of our army so that we could last a little longer.”

Eh?! I looked at Zi Long who nodded.

“Wait, you said– You disbanded part of the army?”

“Un.” Yun Chang nodded.

“We shed 3,000 men each from Lord Guan Yu’s and my battalion. Now, we have about 12,000 troops each.” Feng Xian continued delicately.

I was a little unhappy about this at first as they did not consult me before doing this and troops were a valuable resource after all. But I soon suppressed my rage when I realised I had no reason to be angry. I should be grateful that they did not get angry at me and they did it for the sake of waiting for me, what can I say?

And so, I bit my lips as I nodded, afraid that I would get emotional about what they did for me once more.

“*Pa* Umm, I hope that everyone c, can calm down.” Yuan Zhi stammered as she slammed her hand on the table, drawing everyone’s pessimistic gazes over. This action of hers gave me hope, I just knew she was a strategist!

“Yuan Zhi, what do you think?” I said as I raised my hand and gestured to Yuan Zhi for her to continue. But she was a little timid as everyone was looking at her. Amongst them, Feng Xian and Chen Dao were the most intense.

It’s okay, Yuan Zhi, just look at Guan Ping, or Zhou Cang, especially when she’s not talking.

Wu… I just realised that none of my companions had gentle gazes at all. Everyone was either serious, fierce or scary. Of course, Yuan Zhi did not get the message which I tried to send with my eyes. Instead, she lowered her head and spoke to her bowl.

“I don’t have any magic bullet, I just have something in mind.” Yuan Zhi

raised her hand, cleared her throat and shrugged before continuing to speak to the bowl, “May I ask how troop morale is like now?”

This question should be targeted at Yun Chang and Feng Xian right? When I understood this, I decided to help her out by shooting glances at these 2.

“My battalion’s troop morale is excellent. I have not told them about big brother at all. There were some mutinous elements but they have been removed during the disbandment.”

“Mine is the same as well. The only issue is that they seem a little gloomy whenever I see them. There might be something with the food.” Feng Xian said. To be honest, I think they are just afraid of you.

“My lord, I think that they are just afraid of you. They don’t seem that way when I visit them.” Wen Yuan said.

“… But it’s not like I’m very strict with them…”

Ah, Feng Xian truly looks pitiful.

“Un, un, that means troop morale is very good then.” Yuan Zhi said and continued, “What about their gear?”

“In good shape. Lord Chen Dao and I have been inspecting them the entire time.” Liao Hua answered to which Chen Dao nodded as well.

“Un, very good.” Yuan Zhi nodded and gave a long sigh before she continued, “Since troop morale, supplies and gear are good to go, victory in the upcoming battle should be easily attainable.”

“Victory for the upcoming battle is not a problem. No matter how large the enemy force is, based on Lord Huang Zu’s estimates, the discrepancy cannot be more than a few thousand.” Yun Chang continued, “What I am afraid of is what to do after we win the upcoming battle.”

“Yes, Cao Cao will definitely reinforce with the main body.” Wen Yuan shook her head, “And Xinye will forever be the bridgehead into Jing state. As long as Cao Cao doesn’t take it, it will be difficult to launch a full scale invasion. Which means that we will definitely be defeated at some point in the future.”

“Then why did you insist on fighting just now?” Chen Gong gave a tsukkomi.

“This and that are different things. No matter what happens in future, we must engage them in the upcoming battle.” Wen Yuan said as she smiled stiffly.

“That’s fine, everyone doesn’t need to consider things that are too far out. Just focus on winning the battle ahead of us.” Yuan Zhu said as she slowly raised her head, revealing her bright eyes that were now filled with resolve.

“*Dang* That’s easy for you to say.” Chen Gong said as she set her bowl heavily down on the table and looked at Yuan Zhi with a fiery gaze, “Those are pretty words but I wonder if you have the ability to back them up.”

Yuan Zhi did not reply and merely stared at Chen Gong in an airheaded fas.h.i.+on that seemed to infuriate her more and more. From my end, I could see Yuan Zhi fidgeting about with her sleeve, which meant that she was very nervous.

Alright, time for me to step in.

“Ah, Chen Gong, you need not worry about that. Yuan Zhi is a hermit scholar I met on the way here. I believe in her abilities.”

“Hermit scholar?” Chen Gong said incredulously, “Now that the world is in chaos, hermit scholars are dime a dozen. Who knows if this one is the real deal or not?”

“Chen Gong, shut up will you!” Before I could reply, someone else spoke up.

“Un?!” Chen Gong and I looked over and when we saw that it was Zhou Cang, Chen Gong got even more enraged, “Zhou Cang! What business do you have here?!”

“Hmph! You might talk all high and mighty now but I don’t recall hearing you offer a solution eh?” Zhou Cang said as she spread her arms wide open and then pointed at Yuan Zhi, which gave her a shock, “Look at her~ Compared to you, this new lady is so much cuter! And taller too~”

*Pa*! Chen Gong leapt to her feet, “T, taller! So what if she is taller!”

Looks like Zhou Cang hit her where it hurt. Her face was completely red and her seriousness and hostility from before had dissipated. It just so happens as well that Chen Gong was not wearing her thick sole shoes, which meant that she appeared much shorter than usual.

“Ah… Ahem.” Chen Gong realised this and immediately sat down.

But that said, this is indeed a lot more serious than I ever imagined. And I still do not know why Yuan Zhi thinks that victory is easy.

“Yuan Zhi, stop going around in circles, what do you suggest?” I ignored Zhou Cang and Chen Gong who continued to yell at each other and asked Yuan Zhi who looked at me, then at the night sky outside before slowly replying.

“What I mean is that we don’t need to defend Xinye. We should initiate an attack on them.”

“Initiate, an attack?”

I did not fully understand what she meant. As for the rest, some nodded while others just stared blankly ahead. Chen Gong seemed to still be focused on her height.

“Lord Huang Zu,” Yuan Zhi said as she looked at Huang Zu, “May I ask where the troops could have came from?”

Huang Zu, who had been silent until now looked up and thought for a moment before she answered, “Ah… They should have come from Fan city.”