Chapter 843: Preparing to Divide the Forces

"Phwuh!" Zhang Fei spat out his water as he took a look around, noticing that the soldiers led by Gan Lan had become completely disorganized after just a brief pursuit.

"Stop! Tell me, how many troops do we actually have?" Chen Deng asked, his face darkening. He suddenly realized that he might have been tricked by Fazheng.

"Thirty thousand!" Gan Lan responded firmly, instantly boosting Zhang Fei’s confidence.

"How many of those are auxiliary troops?" Chen Deng asked, still frowning.

"Uh… well, you have as many auxiliary troops as we do. General Gan and Military Advisor Fazheng only brought three thousand soldiers," Gan Lan said with an awkward laugh. The two thousand soldiers he commanded were even borrowed from Zhang Fei.

"As expected of a genius!" Chen Deng sighed deeply, any dissatisfaction he had toward Fazheng completely dissipated.

In Xiapi, Xu Province, Zhang Fei’s main force only consisted of six thousand regular soldiers, while the rest had always been auxiliary forces. Of course, Chen Deng also had some troops, but even when combined with the others, they barely amounted to nine or ten thousand regular soldiers. In other words, Fazheng had managed to trick Chen Deng into using less than ten thousand regular troops to defeat an army of one hundred thousand from Yu Province.

"Heh," Gan Lan chuckled awkwardly. Only a madman like Gan Ning would dare lead auxiliary troops into battle. Of course, Fazheng’s impeccable timing was undeniable. After the great collapse, even auxiliary troops could capture prisoners and pursue the fleeing enemy just as effectively as regular troops.

"Do you still want to continue the chase?" Gan Lan cautiously asked.

"Let’s head back and capture the prisoners. We need to eliminate any potential threats!" Zhang Fei grunted.

As a seasoned battlefield commander, Zhang Fei knew what needed to be done. As Gan Lan mentioned, with a shortage of regular troops, if the enemy managed to regroup, the situation could turn around quickly. It was better to first secure the portion of the enemy they had captured and eliminate any lingering threats.

After reuniting the forces, they quickly rounded up the fleeing Yu Province soldiers, who had been thrown into chaos by Gan Ning and Fazheng’s surprise attack. The operation took the entire night, and by dawn, the task was finally complete. By this time, the other four ambush forces Gan Ning had positioned had also returned with their successes.

At that point, the Yu Province soldiers had been like startled birds, not paying much attention to their surroundings. Otherwise, with Li Yan’s abilities, he could have easily distinguished between regular soldiers and auxiliary troops. However, by the time the final two ambushes were launched, even a general from ancient times could not have turned the tide of battle.

"Phew, at least nothing unexpected happened," Fazheng laughed heartily, despite the arrow still lodged in his shoulder.

"Xiaozhi, are you sure you’re okay?" Zhang Fei asked, concerned as he noticed Fazheng’s flushed face in the early morning light. While it was hard to believe Fazheng had been so reckless, now that they had secured a major victory, there wasn’t much more to say. After all, Fazheng had proven himself on the battlefield.

"Of course, I’m fine..." Fazheng replied with a smile, then glanced back at the city walls of Xiapi before suddenly collapsing from his horse.

It turned out that being shot with an arrow wasn’t nothing after all. Previously, due to the tense situation, Fazheng had been highly focused and didn’t feel the effects. But now, with Zhang Fei and Gan Ning having fully secured all the prisoners, Fazheng relaxed, and the blood loss and fever finally caused him to lose consciousness.

"Damn it..." Gan Ning quickly caught Fazheng as he fell and, upon checking his condition, was immediately alarmed. "Summon the medics! Quickly, summon the medics!"

When news of the victory in the south reached Yanzhou, Chen Xi and the others were overjoyed. As for the news that Fazheng had been shot by an arrow, everyone laughed at first, assuming it was another one of his tricks. However, when they confirmed the news, they were all stunned—turns out, it was real.

"Battlefields are always full of surprises," Chen Xi sighed after learning of the situation. "Xiaozhi’s condition isn’t too serious, is it?"

"General Gan personally escorted him back to Mount Tai. After Hua Tuo treated him, I heard he had already regained consciousness by the time I left. He’ll likely head to Yanzhou soon," Li You’s steward bowed and reported.

"That’s good to hear. But has he already resolved the issues in Yu Province this quickly?" Jia Xu, rarely showing a smile, asked.

Li Fan briefly explained Fazheng’s operations in Yu Province over the past month, without adding any personal emotions to the report. As expected of Li You’s steward, he didn’t show the slightest expression.

"Impressive indeed. The plan was risky, but the timing was executed perfectly. A moment too early, and the enemy would’ve blocked them. A moment too late, and the city walls would have fallen, giving the enemy a morale boost," Guo Jia nodded, then sneezed. Ever since falling into the Yellow River, he had been suffering from a lingering cold.

"He’s no weaker than you," Lu Su chuckled. He had always thought highly of Fazheng. Although Fazheng could be carefree and seemed unreliable at times, his capabilities were undeniable.

"Once he arrives, we’ll divide the forces. I’ll head to Jiyin, and we’ll launch a two-pronged attack on Yuan Shao," Chen Xi said, looking at the group.

"Indeed," Jia Xu agreed, glancing at Li Fan. In truth, the moment he saw Li You’s old steward, he knew the time had come. Li You must have already received intelligence from the information network in Guanzhong.

"We’ve finally gathered all our strength for this moment. When I said we’d leave Yuan Shao with only one hand, I wasn’t joking," Liu Bei smiled. "Zichuan, I’ll leave the placement of Kongming and the others to you."

"Wen Ze will return, and I plan to send him to Xu Province. Kongming will be transferred to Huaibei, and Ziyi will join him there. As for Xiu Ruo, he’ll stay in Yu Province," Chen Xi repeated the plan he had already discussed with Liu Bei.

"Yide, Zijian, Xiaozhi, and Ziyang will go to your side. Xingba will follow me as we cross the Yellow River," Liu Bei nodded.

"No problem. I’ll feint an attack on Ye City, then strike directly at Yuan Shao’s main forces. Zijian and Qu Yi are destined for a final showdown. It’ll give Zijian the closure he’s been waiting for. From what I understand of him, he’s been waiting for this for a long time," Chen Xi sighed.

Hua Xiong cared most about his Xiliang cavalry. Many of those soldiers had followed him for years, and losing a large portion of them had created a deep grudge between him and Qu Yi.

"Keep an eye on him. His First Ascending Dead Soldiers are probably the fiercest troops in the world," Liu Bei said with a nod. "I won’t draw any troops from here. Since we’ve pushed the front line to the Huai River, the internal troops can be freed up. I’ll hand over all thirty thousand soldiers to you."

"Understood," Chen Xi agreed, calculating the original deployment of troops in Yanzhou and Xu Province. He knew that thirty thousand was about the maximum they could spare.

"I’ll also transfer Chen Shuzhi to your side. Take care of yourself, and don’t be reckless like Xiaozhi," Liu Bei said sternly. "Zhongkang will protect me here. You, however, need to be cautious."

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