Li Dian POV

To be honest, this sort of ending is not bad too. And we ought to be thankful to the heavens and our ancestors that we did not lose. Our result as it stands is only worth a pa.s.s. Cao Ren’s and my personal results are a failure however.

“… Lord Li Dian.”

“Un?” Cao Ren called out to me again just as I was feeling ashamed. I looked over and saw that she too was looking at Xinye city with a sad and dreary smile.

“Actually, I was just thinking about what you were talking about.”

Eh? I thought that Cao Ren was going to wax lyrical about the weather and the scenery or perhaps lament about what had happened before but she brought up what we just discussed.

“You mean… The thing about bringing out all of our forces from Fan city?”

“Un.” Cao Ren nodded, “If we do that, we have 17,000 troops at our disposal.”

Yes, apart from the bare minimum to defend the city, that’s how many troops we can move. As for the enemy, let’s see…

“There is no doubt about the enemy’s numbers at this point. After the 2 battles, they have perhaps 11-12,000 troops remaining.” I said as I extended my fingers and used them to gauge the height of Xinye’s city walls, “Xinye’s city walls are very short and are just barely over half of Fan city’s. A siege will not be too difficult. If we can ensure that we lose no more than 5-6,000 troops before we break the city defences, the city is ours.”

Of course, this does not account for the enemy generals. If I account for their prodigious individual abilities and their ability to boost the morale of the enemy troops, then we might have to add 1-2,000 troops to the enemy’s effective strength.

“But the losses will probably great right?” Cao Ren said as her smile diminished.

“Indeed. Which is why we have to make a decision as soon as possible if we want to launch a siege.” I nodded, “It seems like the enemy has intentions of fortifying the walls and if we wait for a few days more, we won’t be able to take the city.”

…

“Hu~” Cao Ren sighed and threw back the problem to me, “What do you think?”

“As a warrior, I believe we should do it.” I said and stopped to think for a moment before continuing, “We can’t stop now after fighting this far. We just need to prepare as much as we can before we proceed.”

“I see…” Cao Ren nodded, “I too would like to fight.”

Unlike me, who based my choice on my path as a warrior, Cao Ren arrived at the same conclusion through her own pride as my lord’s cousin.

“Un…” I grunted and exhaled through my nose, warming it up, “But this is all just empty talk?. Shen Pei will definitely not agree.”

Practically of all Fan city’s troops are under her control now after all. Of the 17,000 strong combined force, 11,000 belong to Yuan Shao and 6,000 to us. The ratio has basically remained almost the same as when we first started.

Ever since the second battle, Shen Pei has gained the upper hand when it comes to having a say in how the battle should go relative to us. She also has relatively high standing amongst Yuan Shao’s troops. If Shen Pei does not approve of our plans, we cannot act unilaterally since more than half of the troops here do not belong to us.

Apart from Fan city, her troops are also stationed in a few other small encampments in between the encampment here and Fan city. I turned back and looked at the troops who wore different uniforms than

our troops. It was not just the uniforms that were different – They do not even eat with our troops.

“We need to have a good, long talk with Shen Pei about this later.” I said and Cao Ren nodded.

“Yes, it just so happens that Shen Pei herself will be coming here to discuss details regarding how Fan city’s role will be in our supply lines and… Our plans for a siege.”

Un, I do not think it is likely at all that Shen Pei will take our view. Administrative officials and warrior generals tend to have widely differing opinions on such things. Especially when we both belong to different factions.

“It would be for the best if we can get her approval.” I said, “If we do, not only can we take the city, we can also further deplete Yuan Shao’s troops.”

“Softer, will you? We have some of them in our midst.” Cao Ren said as she waved her hands frantically with a stiff smile, “I don’t think we need to think too much about that.”

… Hmph, I suppose. It was just a random thought that came to mind anyway.

With no topics left to continue the conversation with, I looked down and saw that Cao Ren was rubbing her hands. Looks like she’s only just a little weird but she is still human and will eventually feel cold.

“Let’s go back inside.” I said as I fixed my hat.

“Un, alright.” Cao Ren replied and caught up immediately before das.h.i.+ng into her tent as though she had been waiting for me to say this.

As I walked back, I looked at the troops transferring the grain and supplies to our cache. Because they were ours, I was not too worried about it.

“But really, it would be a great boon if the enemy were to attack now.” Cao Ren said. Looks like she’s imagining things again.

“Impossible.” I shook my head and raised my hand, “Their troops are too few for them to gather together a large and effective enough strike force without pulling out troops that are needed to man the city defences.”

“So does that mean that all they can do is sit and wait for their eventual demise?” Cao Ren asked as she turned and looked back at the city.

Reality is cruel but thinking from the perspective of one of those at Xinye, I am sorry to say that there is nothing we can do. We not have troops stationed just outside of and around both Xinye city and Fan city so they cannot break out defences even if they mobilise all their forces.

Soon, we returned to our tents. I looked around and saw a fair number of yellowed leaves lying around the too of our tent even though we were situated on barren land which meant that these leaves must have fallen down from the mountains.

I looked up into the mountains and saw that they were rather barren now which meant that autumn was about to end. Next up is winter’s first snow.

Wu… I just hope this year’s winter is easier, I thought as I parted the curtains. As I went in, a comfortable heat wave washed over me and I felt alive again.

I placed my fur coat on the table at the side before sitting before the table at the center where Cao Ren was as well. Unlike me, Cao Ren had completely lay down and had even taken the next 2 cus.h.i.+ons to form a pillow for herself.

“Lord Cao Ren…”

“It’s fine, it’s fine~” Cao Ren said as she wiggled her legs about and relaxed, “There’s nothing going on now anyway…”

“Be that as it may…” I did not want to admit it but she is right. We discussed a lot just now but we still need to wait for Shen Pei to come here before we can come to a decision. In any case, the battle has more or less come to a close.

…

Just once then.

Hai… I convinced myself in my heart as I fell to temptation and lay down after taking off my hat.

Ah… This warmth is really inviting…

…

“Commanding officer Cao Ren! Lord Li Dian!”

Wu! Just as I was about to descend into a deep sleep, a voice from behind jolted me awake. I instantly realised that I could not continue lying down and hurriedly got up as I put on my hat, “Lord Cao Ren, there’s…”

“Commanding officer Cao Ren! Lord Li Dian!”

“Ahem.”

I was going to tell Cao Ren that someone was coming in but saw that her eyes were still shut which meant that she was not going to wake up that easily. The person outside seemed to be urgent so all I did was clear my throat and pretend nothing happened.

When the soldier came in as he heaved, he looked at me and nodded. He looked at Cao Ren who was now lying spread-eagled on the floor and did not know what to do.

“What is it~” I said loudly in response. Even so, Cao Ren did not see, to rouse and merely closed her legs as she turned over.

Hai… It’s true that it’s been hard on Cao Ren these few days…

Never mind.

“Lord Cao Ren is…” The soldier asked softly as she came in, unsure if he should deliver the message.

“It’s fine, go ahead.” I said as I raised my hand.

The soldier thought for a moment before he nodded and reached down to his waist, “An old man brought a letter just now to the camp. It’s supposedly from Guan Yu.”