Liu Bei POV
“Un… That’s impossible as the troops they should not be much more than 10,000. And they sent 10,000 of those troops to engage with us in Xinye. How then could they possibly take down Fan city?”
“Un… About that…”
I actually have a few ideas as to how but none of these seemed like they could plausibly work as Shen Pei was the one commanding the garrison after all. Personally speaking, I do not like her but I have to admit that as a strategist, she is better than most and would not be fooled by most tricks.
“Hai.” I involuntarily spat out a sigh as I thought so. I really did not think that I would still be fraught with nervousness and tension at this point after suffering a grave defeat but here I am.
“I hope too that I am just overthinking things.” I muttered to myself and looked at Cao Ren who was no longer smiling and seemed rather serious as she frowned.
After galloping around the mountains and running ahead for some distance, a decently sized city could be seen.
“Fan city is in front of us now.”
“Ah.” I nodded at Cao Ren.
From this distance, we could not yet make out if something had happened. Even if it means being subjected to ridicule and scolding, I still hope that it will be Shen Pei and our troops who greet us when we reach Fan city. However, even as we neared the city, there did not seem to be any reaction from it.
I looked at Cao Ren and saw that she too had a stormy expression on her as she spoke up, “I looked at the tower but all I saw were flags. There was no one there.”
“Troops in city, why aren’t you opening the gates at once!” I yelled out in panic even before we were right before the city but there was no reaction.
“…”
“…”
*Tatata*
Filled with despair in my heart, I wordlessly followed Cao Ren to the gates of the city. At this time, our troops at the back were getting a little rowdy as they were beginning to suspect that something was amiss.
*Shua* *Shua* *Shua*
As I expected, the ‘曹’, ‘审’, ‘吕’ and ‘李’ flags were now replaced with ‘关’ flags.
Ah… We really ended up losing a lot more than we expected huh? I began to feel overwhelmed with melancholy and looked at Cao Ren who let out a much heavier sigh than she had ever done before.
“Those before the city, I wonder if you recognise me~” Just then, a woman standing at the tower yelled out in a sonorous voice. Cao Ren and I knew who she was but still looked up at her. Yes, the green gown, red hair and that Green Dragon Crescent Blade were what I have been looking for.
Guan Yu! I can’t believe we fell for your despicable schemes!–
Or so I would like to yell but it would be far too demoralising for our troops to see one of the leading commanders acting out like that. If Lu Xiang was still alive, perhaps she might have done that. I turned back to look at her but she was still resting peacefully with her eyes shut.
“As expected huh?”
“No wonder we never saw you in Xinye.” Cao Ren said. Compared to me, she was more surprised as she had not thought about this before I had raised the possibility. However, saying anything at this point is a little after the fact. Yet we still cannot seem too pathetic so I will have to say something here.
“Let me guess, you and your troops must have started advancing towards Fan city the moment we left for Xinye.”
“That is correct. That was our plan from the very beginning.”
I cannot see her face but she is probably smiling right now.
“So you planned to occupy Fan city from the very beginning then?”
“Yes. Occupying Fan city has been our ultimate goal for this battle.”
Wu. I see. That means that they never doubted they would prevail in the battle at Xinye.
“That is one daring bet though,” I said as I shook my head, “If we hadn’t lost and you had taken Fan city, then it would be a matter of time before it would be ours again.”
“Not necessarily. I have been receiving an endless stream of battle updates. The last report I received was just before our troops charged into your formation. From how things look, it should mean that you lost.”
That is indeed the case. I do not know why but it feels strangely comical to hear her say that. As for why, I do not know.
“But how did you make it into the city?” Cao Ren frowned as she asked, “And where is Lord Shen Pei now… Could it be that…”
“No, we didn’t kill her nor have we captured her.” Guan Yu said as she raised her hands, “By the way, I only have 3,000 troops with me now.”
3,000. This was the number we had deduced. Yet how were they able to take the city when the garrison was almost the same size?
“What we did was simple really. We just drew out Shen Pei, that’s all.”
“Eh?”
“I mean what I said. We drew out Shen Pei to the forested area.”
Drew out to the forested area… Ah!
“So you drew her to the other side of where you were huh?” Cao Ren spoke up just as I had figured it out. There is no longer any need for Guan Yu to explain any further.
“So you pretended like you were going to launch a raid through the back roads like you did before but in reality, you went through another route huh?”
“Yes and no. We did indeed use the back roads as if we went through the main roads, we would have been detected by you lot.”
“Then how did you make it into the city? Are you going to tell me that you descended from the heavens?”
“Of course not. We merely understood how Shen Pei thought. That’s all.” Guan Yu explained calmly, “If she were to learn that we were coming through the same route as the last time, she would definitely move out her troops to set an ambush. However, it was clear that she did not have as many troops to use as the last time.”
“You knew that we had set an ambush on all sections of the forests in the second battle?”
“Yes we did. However, there is no way you could cover all sections at once this time. No matter how Shen Pei divided her forces, she could only set an ambush on 2 sections of forest to cover 3 roads, leaving 1 section of forest unguarded. Of course, this is easier said than done as Shen Pei chose to set ambushes on the left and right sections of the forest.”
“And you chose to traverse through the central section of the forest?” Cao Ren asked, to which Guan Yu guffawed. This was the first time hearing her laugh out loud like that even in Xuchang.
“Yes, we nearly got detected by the scouts Shen Pei had deployed there too. If I hadn’t been quick enough to get rid of them, we would not have made it. I don’t think you need me to explain any further right?”
Yes, there is no need to explain any further. Since the remaining skeletal garrison in the city did not know that the defection was fake, Guan Yu would be let into the city without a second thought.
“Then where is Lord Shen Pei now?” Cao Ren asked calmly.
“After we occupied the city, they came over and after thinking for a while, she decided to turn around and leave. I don’t know what Shen Pei was thinking but she did not seem to believe that you would prevail so she didn’t look for you.”
Un… That is to be expected. I find it difficult to accept personally but Shen Pei’s judgement was right. Moreover, the troops in the garrison can live to fight another day. Of the 3,000 troops, half of them are ours after all.
It truly is pathetic for me to think of things like that.
Liu Bei POV
“Un… That’s impossible as the troops they should not be much more than 10,000. And they sent 10,000 of those troops to engage with us in Xinye. How then could they possibly take down Fan city?”
“Un… About that…”
I actually have a few ideas as to how but none of these seemed like they could plausibly work as Shen Pei was the one commanding the garrison after all. Personally speaking, I do not like her but I have to admit that as a strategist, she is better than most and would not be fooled by most tricks.
“Hai.” I involuntarily spat out a sigh as I thought so. I really did not think that I would still be fraught with nervousness and tension at this point after suffering a grave defeat but here I am.
“I hope too that I am just overthinking things.” I muttered to myself and looked at Cao Ren who was no longer smiling and seemed rather serious as she frowned.
After galloping around the mountains and running ahead for some distance, a decently sized city could be seen.
“Fan city is in front of us now.”
“Ah.” I nodded at Cao Ren.
From this distance, we could not yet make out if something had happened. Even if it means being subjected to ridicule and scolding, I still hope that it will be Shen Pei and our troops who greet us when we reach Fan city. However, even as we neared the city, there did not seem to be any reaction from it.
I looked at Cao Ren and saw that she too had a stormy expression on her as she spoke up, “I looked at the tower but all I saw were flags. There was no one there.”
“Troops in city, why aren’t you opening the gates at once!” I yelled out in panic even before we were right before the city but there was no reaction.
“…”
“…”
*Tatata*
Filled with despair in my heart, I wordlessly followed Cao Ren to the gates of the city. At this time, our troops at the back were getting a little rowdy as they were beginning to suspect that something was amiss.
*Shua* *Shua* *Shua*
As I expected, the ‘曹’, ‘审’, ‘吕’ and ‘李’ flags were now replaced with ‘关’ flags.
Ah… We really ended up losing a lot more than we expected huh? I began to feel overwhelmed with melancholy and looked at Cao Ren who let out a much heavier sigh than she had ever done before.
“Those before the city, I wonder if you recognise me~” Just then, a woman standing at the tower yelled out in a sonorous voice. Cao Ren and I knew who she was but still looked up at her. Yes, the green gown, red hair and that Green Dragon Crescent Blade were what I have been looking for.
Guan Yu! I can’t believe we fell for your despicable schemes!–
Or so I would like to yell but it would be far too demoralising for our troops to see one of the leading commanders acting out like that. If Lu Xiang was still alive, perhaps she might have done that. I turned back to look at her but she was still resting peacefully with her eyes shut.
“As expected huh?”
“No wonder we never saw you in Xinye.” Cao Ren said. Compared to me, she was more surprised as she had not thought about this before I had raised the possibility. However, saying anything at this point is a little after the fact. Yet we still cannot seem too pathetic so I will have to say something here.
“Let me guess, you and your troops must have started advancing towards Fan city the moment we left for Xinye.”
“That is correct. That was our plan from the very beginning.”
I cannot see her face but she is probably smiling right now.
“So you planned to occupy Fan city from the very beginning then?”
“Yes. Occupying Fan city has been our ultimate goal for this battle.”
Wu. I see. That means that they never doubted they would prevail in the battle at Xinye.
“That is one daring bet though,” I said as I shook my head, “If we hadn’t lost and you had taken Fan city, then it would be a matter of time before it would be ours again.”
“Not necessarily. I have been receiving an endless stream of battle updates. The last report I received was just before our troops charged into your formation. From how things look, it should mean that you lost.”
That is indeed the case. I do not know why but it feels strangely comical to hear her say that. As for why, I do not know.
“But how did you make it into the city?” Cao Ren frowned as she asked, “And where is Lord Shen Pei now… Could it be that…”
“No, we didn’t kill her nor have we captured her.” Guan Yu said as she raised her hands, “By the way, I only have 3,000 troops with me now.”
3,000. This was the number we had deduced. Yet how were they able to take the city when the garrison was almost the same size?
“What we did was simple really. We just drew out Shen Pei, that’s all.”
“Eh?”
“I mean what I said. We drew out Shen Pei to the forested area.”
Drew out to the forested area… Ah!
“So you drew her to the other side of where you were huh?” Cao Ren spoke up just as I had figured it out. There is no longer any need for Guan Yu to explain any further.
“So you pretended like you were going to launch a raid through the back roads like you did before but in reality, you went through another route huh?”
“Yes and no. We did indeed use the back roads as if we went through the main roads, we would have been detected by you lot.”
“Then how did you make it into the city? Are you going to tell me that you descended from the heavens?”
“Of course not. We merely understood how Shen Pei thought. That’s all.” Guan Yu explained calmly, “If she were to learn that we were coming through the same route as the last time, she would definitely move out her troops to set an ambush. However, it was clear that she did not have as many troops to use as the last time.”
“You knew that we had set an ambush on all sections of the forests in the second battle?”
“Yes we did. However, there is no way you could cover all sections at once this time. No matter how Shen Pei divided her forces, she could only set an ambush on 2 sections of forest to cover 3 roads, leaving 1 section of forest unguarded. Of course, this is easier said than done as Shen Pei chose to set ambushes on the left and right sections of the forest.”
“And you chose to traverse through the central section of the forest?” Cao Ren asked, to which Guan Yu guffawed. This was the first time hearing her laugh out loud like that even in Xuchang.
“Yes, we nearly got detected by the scouts Shen Pei had deployed there too. If I hadn’t been quick enough to get rid of them, we would not have made it. I don’t think you need me to explain any further right?”
Yes, there is no need to explain any further. Since the remaining skeletal garrison in the city did not know that the defection was fake, Guan Yu would be let into the city without a second thought.
“Then where is Lord Shen Pei now?” Cao Ren asked calmly.
“After we occupied the city, they came over and after thinking for a while, she decided to turn around and leave. I don’t know what Shen Pei was thinking but she did not seem to believe that you would prevail so she didn’t look for you.”
Un… That is to be expected. I find it difficult to accept personally but Shen Pei’s judgement was right. Moreover, the troops in the garrison can live to fight another day. Of the 3,000 troops, half of them are ours after all.
It truly is pathetic for me to think of things like that.
