Li Dian POV

“Report!”

Just then, a loud yell came from the side and when Cao Ren and I turned over to see that it was a military courier who was riding over. When I looked at his uniform, I saw that he was part of the strike force that was sent to a.s.sault their rearguard. At this time, he should be deep behind enemy lines, why is he here now?

“My lords! Ah…”

“Go ahead.” Cao Ren said as she nodded when the courier hesitated to speak when he saw Zhang Liao.

“Our strike force is being decimated!”

“Eh?!”

“What!”

“Hahahahaha~

Cao Ren and I were speechless and all we could utter were surprised cries while Zhang Liao laughed gleefully as she casually killed several of our troops around her. But at this time, we did not have the leisure to worry about the losses of a few troops here and there.

This is impossible. Our 10,000 strong army consists of 4,000 cavalry and 6,000 heavy infantry. The strike force sent to form the surround from behind involved close to 3,000 troops in total. How could it have collapsed so quickly?

Even if they were to engage with the enemy head-on, our cavalry and heavy infantry unit types are a counter to the enemy’s light infantry. In just 20 bouts, they actually–

“Tell them to retreat! Immediately!”

“Yes!” The courier did not dare to rest and immediately galloped away after acknowledging the order.

“Should we charge in with the rest of our troops and retreat together?” I asked to which Cao Ren frowned.

“I doubt we will be able to make it.” Cao Ren thought for a moment before shaking her head and continuing with a reluctant expression, “This should be the handiwork of Lu Bu.”

“Hmph, though my lord doesn’t use her brain when she does things and is only gifted with her prodigious martial prowess,” She said as she swung her Green Dragon Blade and tossed it up into the sky before catching it, “Her martial prowess is at a level where she alone can counter any strategy used against her!”

When she finished, she charged at us.

*Dang* *Dang*!

After performing a feint, she swept us aside and continued to attack.

“Everyone! We have dealt with our problems at the back! Now charge with me!”

“Ohhhhhhh!” The enemy troops answered her call to arms with great gusto.

“This is…”

“Lord Cao Ren!”

“I got it!” Cao Ren nodded and gestured to a nearby thousand-man general, “Tell the rearguard to turn back! Retreat! Retreat!”

There was no choice. If we continued like this, our initial advantage would eventually be eroded and even overturned by that scary individual, I thought as I turned around and killed the surrounding enemies before swinging my reins and retreating.

A small victory here is enough. Just having a small advantage from this is enough for me, especially when we had to take it from Lu Bu. I looked to the side and saw that Zhang Liao was leading a group of troops as she swung her Green Dragon Blade this way and that with a confident and pleased expression. She probably does not know that their strategy has failed.

“Lord Zhang Liao!” Cao Ren yelled out when she too saw Zhang Liao but she neither looked over nor replied. This did not bother Cao Ren, who continued to yell with a peaceful smile on her face, “When you feel that your choice is a mistake, you can come and join us! Anytime, anywhere! Jia!”

When she finished, she did not bother to wait and galloped off. When I

looked at Zhang Liao, it seemed like she had not listened at all and was engrossed in killing our troops who at this point did not have much of a desire to battle.

I do not know if she actually heard what Cao Ren said but now that their lord is dead, their ultimate fate is that of separation. If Zhang Liao really understands that it is just a matter of time, she will definitely join us.

As I thought so, I turned and looked up at the city tower. I thought that the strategist who came up with all this would still be standing there and looking down on the battle but he was not there anymore.

I will have to find out where he hails from when I get the chance. If we have to, we should also try and recruit him as well. Losing Gua Jia was costly to us. And there is always a shortage of good strategists.

“Jia!” I yelled out as I swung the reins and led the troops to retreat. Cao Ren, who had rode on ahead, was now in the main body and helping to clean up enemy troops that had charged too far in.

It was not too difficult to retreat and we did not run into many hindrances along the way. Of course, this is thanks to Lu Bu being busy at her rearguard cleaning up our cavalry charge. Apart from that uncertain factor of Lu Bu, the combination of cavalry and heavy infantry unit types is actually very difficult to counter. This, is why they are called the elite after all.

When I looked at Xinye city, I saw that though their troops were not few, most were light infantry. Some did not even have armour and there did not seem to be enough horses. There were no archers amongst Lu Bu’s troops either, probably because there were only enough for city defences.

How could they possibly hope to prevail against our troops? Now that I think about it, what Shen Pei should be right. When we left the city, they would definitely raid it.

“Lord Li Dian.” Cao Ren called out to me as she rode over to where I was.

“Un? Lord Cao Ren? Why have you come here? Is our main body alright?”

“Ah, I’ve already dealt with the issues there.” Cao Ren said as she raised her arm and flung something over to me, “Take a look!”

I caught it and saw that it was a letter.

“This is…” I felt puzzled and looked at Cao Ren, who had a bright smile on that extended to her eyes. This is probably the most dazzling smile of hers that I have ever seen.

“That’s news from Shen Pei and Lu Xiang.” Cao Ren explained, “The forest ambush was a great success. Guan Yu’s troops suffered grave losses and have begun to retreat.”

“Oh~ I see~” I exclaimed as my eyes widened and I smiled. It felt like we had won the war. Of course, I am not the sort who smiles widely and merely gave a slight smile.

Alright, I can probably give a score for this battle now. In the frontal battle, we achieved a small victory while we achieved a great victory in the ambush. A score of 85 sounds about right.

Now, their only way to win has been sealed. I wonder what they will try next.

“Lord Cao Ren, it’s time.”

“Yes, of course.” Cao Ren smiled when she heard what I said, “I know what you want to say.” Cao Ren then waved to several thousand-man generals nearby, “Relay the order, we are to set up camp about 4km in front of the mountains. Also relay a message to Shen Pei, tell her to begin the preparations for long term logistics operations.”

Yes, we are not going anywhere. We will be camping not too far from the city.

“This should give them some pressure.” I nodded and added, “Let’s do some shouting every now and then to provide some motivation for them to surrender and join us.”

“Yes, now that everything has gone so smoothly, I must make sure to report this. Shen Pei deserves merit for this strategy.”

Yes. I do not want to admit it but if we did not have Yuan Shao’s strategist, we would have handed over Fan city to the enemy.

“Ah~ I’m so tired.” Cao Ren seemed relaxed as she said so and stretched her back but then trembled halfway and grimaced, “Wah… It hurts.”

Yes, compared to thinking about things that are still yet to come, our priority will be to heal our wounds. Because of Lu Bu, we are both covered in wounds. It’s fortunate however that we still have all our limbs intact.

But now that we have come this far, sieging Xinye city is just a matter of time, I thought, feeling that I had made some progress to being a warrior.

Liu Bei POV

When we heard the message from Chen Gong to return back to the mansion as soon as possible, we were still spectating the battle. When I saw the rearguard get surrounded, I was very worried. But not long after that, Feng Xian rode alone into the rearguard and singlehandedly destroyed the formation of cavalry that had charged in, forcing them to retreat. Only when I saw this could I heave a sigh of relief.

Yuan Zhi had not given specific instructions or tactics to Feng Xian and Wen Yuan after all so this result is already good enough. Our ordinary troops are still inferior to their elites after all.

That said, the only one who was really watching the battle was me. Liao Hua was busy overseeing the construction works. Though there was a lot of dust kicked up from the battle, this did not affect her work much.

What interested me more was Yuan Zhi. Even when Feng Xian and Wen Yuan began fighting, Yuan Zhi was still staring at the mountain in the distance. Thereafter, she never looked down at the battle. Even when her bandana loosened up, she would not do anything and continue to stare at the mountain wordlessly and motionlessly. Only when it was about to cover her eyes fully did she adjust it.

And this went on for the entire time, until Chen Gong sent a courier.

“Report! Lord Guan Yu has sent a courier back!”