Li Dian POV

*Tatatata*

After resting by the road near a field of gra.s.s for a few hours, Cao Ren’s forces came and helped us along back to Fan city in the middle of the night.

At the head of our contingent is Cao Ren and 500 cavalry troops. The remnants of the punitive force, Lu Xiang and I followed behind. The spa.r.s.e sounds of boots behind was enough to make my heartbreak.

Our troops numbered close to 10,000 when we left but we were barely even 2,000 now. Leaving aside the 3,000-man generals, the thousand-man generals have now become officers of just several hundred men at the most. And both they and I know that we will not replenish their ranks as we do not have spare forces. They will have to recruit on their own accord or merge forces and accept a demotion.

But this is the way it is on the battlefield. Rewards such as promotions and t.i.tles for victories are accrued to the top generals but fault and blame for losses fall on the heads of these subordinate officers. Compared to us, these subordinate officers have had to work hard and acc.u.mulate merit and honour for years before reaching their positions. Even if we lose, we will not receive substantial and commensurate punishment.

Of course, while they are grieving, they will also be undoubtedly glad that they are alive. No matter how many t.i.tles you have and how high your official rank is, it’s no use when you are dead. As for me, I do not like it very much that I am still alive after suffering such a terrible defeat and incurring so many casualties. In fact, I am rather sad about this.

I know that this is a perennial issue of following the path of warriors but leaving that aside, this acute sense of having a debt that I have to my dead subordinates and comrades makes me wonder if I will get any retribution in the afterlife. Yue Jin always says that I think too much about this sort of thing but it cannot be helped.

“Lord Li Dian.”

“… Ah un?” I thought that it was Lu Xiang who called out to me when a voice came from the side but when I turned, I saw that it was Cao Ren.

“Are you alright?” Cao Ren asked very normally. But even a polite, white lie like ‘I’m fine’ was impossible for me to force out. Instead, I had to force myself to swallow a response like ‘How could I be alright’ back down my throat with great effort.

In the end, I merely sighed and shook my head wordlessly at Cao Ren before looking away. From when we met up till now, Cao Ren has not asked anything about the battle at all, nor has she admonished or berated me. All she said was a ‘It’s good that you came back’ when we first met up.

“I lost.” I said, before giving a summary of what happened and how I felt as I felt terrible about not being able to explain it to her. When she heard me speak, Cao Ren looked at me from the side and looked ahead as she smiled stiffly.

“I know. You already said this to me in the letter you sent.” Cao Ren said and then looked at me with kind eyes. But this did not decrease the guilt and regret I felt.

When she finished, she then s.h.i.+fted her gaze to Lu Xiang beside me, “Is Lu Xiang… Injured?”

“No.” I smiled when Cao Ren asked, “She’s just exhausted and fell asleep.”

Earlier in the day when she was chatting with me, she stopped talking all of a sudden. I thought that she had sustained an injury somewhere but when I heard her snoring, I found that she had just fell asleep.

“Hai… She is indeed a little too exhausted.” I nodded as I rubbed my shoulders, fully understanding why Lu Xiang is now li

ke this, “She is definitely more tired, both physically and mentally, than I am.”

“Because of… What happened to that one?” Cao Ren said vaguely though I know full well who she means.

“By the way, the body–”

“Has reached Fan city. Lord Shen Pei should be in the midst of the preparations for burial and all the a.s.sociated rites as well as other matters. When we return, we can commence the funeral first thing next morning.”

Yes, this sort of thing cannot be delayed. It is not nice to say this but under present circ.u.mstances, it’s best to hasten such matters where possible. Lu Xiang has to recover mentally as soon as possible as well. But for now, she should rest.

“But…” Cao Ren turned back and blanched when she saw the pathetic state of the punitive force and squeezed out a stiff smile, “It was a really terrible defeat huh…”

Yes, it is, is it no? A terrible defeat. I thought and the corners of my mouth turned upwards as I looked at Cao Ren but then sighed.

“Hai~ Yes. First, we lost a warrior general to a duel and then we got caught in a pincer attack. Next, I lost my spear and we lost many troops just to break through the surround.” I voiced out what I had been thinking about and felt sorrowful as ever before raising my head to do what I always did, “Ah yes, I lost my hat too.”

“Hai… Looks like we’ll have to reorganise our forces and rethink our strategies from here on out.” Cao Ren said as her smile faded away and was replaced by a serious expression, “This campaign did not get off to a good start at all and now our initially 30,000 strong force has now been reduced to slightly more than 20,000.”

I spied at Cao Ren as she said so and saw that though her expression did not change much, she was far easier to read as I could see her hand gripping her thigh tightly.

It was clear that this loss was no small blow to Cao Ren. As the commanding officer of the vanguard of the southern campaign, Cao Ren is ultimately responsible for this mistake. And as the vanguard of the vanguard, I should be even more responsible for this loss and our casualties.

And so, I decided to salute her now, “Lord Cao Ren, this battle was my–”

“No, there’s no need to say such things. You win some, you lose some. In battles and in life.” Cao Ren interrupted me just as I was about to claim responsibility for the battle and she then flashed me her signature smile, “If all you’re concerned with is what happened in the past, you will be unable to advance.”

“… Yes.” I nodded and withdrew my hands. As I looked at Cao Ren, I could not help but to see the figure of my lord. Compared to my lord however, Cao Ren is a lot kinder and personable. Though she is unsuited to being a ruler, she can be a good general.

“Alright, let’s discuss what will happen from now on for a bit.” Cao Ren said as she moved her horse closer to mine, “Though this battle was a loss, it would be a little too much if we were to say that we did not gain any information at all.”

Is she going to kick off a.n.a.lysis of information gleaned from the battle before we have even reached Fan city?

“Is it fine to talk now? Or is it–” I said as I looked at Lu Xiang. Could it be that Cao Ren has things to say only to me and is intentionally leaving out Shen Pei and Lu Xiang?

“No no no, I am not thinking of such things.” Cao Ren shook her head and smiled stiffly, “I just don’t want to wake her up, that’s all.”

Wu… So it was me who was being too dark huh… Even though I am a warrior, I am being despicable inside. Hai… I still have a long way to go as a warrior huh?

“Alright,” I said as I engraved this lesson in my heart and decided to tell her what I observed, “We have indeed gained a substantial amount of information in this battle.”

“Un.” Cao Ren nodded.

“Firstly, with regards to their total troop strength.” I extended a finger as I said so, “I initially thought that they did not have that many troops as I did not see many camps outside the city. In reality, their total force, inclusive of their ambush, was in excess of 10,000 troops.”

“More than 10,000, that means we have twice their forces. Ah… No, that’s not right.” Cao Ren shook her head as she said so, “If they were able to deploy that many to defend the city, then that implies they have more inside.”

I nodded, “If my guess is correct, they should have at least close to 20,000 troops or perhaps even more.”

“If that’s the case…” Cao Ren looked very serious as she twirled a single lock of hair, “Then our strength is insufficient.”

Yes, because of the lopsided losses in this battle, our troop strength is virtually equal. If this were Jiangxia city or Xiangyang city, then we would definitely have no chance. The other side would just need to lock up the city and they would be safe and sound, barring miracles.

But, this is Xinye.

“But Lord Cao Ren need not worry. They will not remain garrisoned in the city.” I said as I came to the conclusion, “I’ve seen Xinye city and the walls are about slightly more than half as tall as Fan city.”

“They’re that short? But that sounds about right. Our initial reports indicated that Xinye seems to be just a slightly larger county city., Cao Ren thought about it for a moment ss she blinked, “I understand what you mean. In that case, the enemy will definitely be forced to meet us in battle outside the city. They will be unable to house their entire force inside the city and the city’s defenses are far too weak.”

Yes, that is indeed the case. So though our forces are equal in strength, we are not at an absolute disadvantage as there is no defender’s advantage.

“There are another 2 points to add.” I pointed at Lu Xiang as I said so, “Lord Cao Ren, can you believe that Lu Xiang was able to force that Zhang Fei into a corner?”

“Eh?!” Cao Ren exclaimed in surprise and disbelief, “That Zhang Fei?”