Chapter 756: Zhuge Liang Has Arrived

"Everyone, take charge of your own forces and prepare to annihilate the Yizhou army. Although they’ve been victorious during this pursuit, they’ve now grown bloated by constantly receiving new soldiers and have no time to reorganize. They’ve reached their limit, and a single blow will lead to their collapse!" Pang Tong said calmly.

Initially, Pang Tong hadn’t anticipated that Yan Yan would take in all the defeated soldiers he had abandoned. However, the reality turned out to be even more extreme than he expected. After five consecutive victories, Yan Yan had started accepting Pang Tong’s routed soldiers, and the further they went, the more outrageous it became—Yan Yan even began taking in city garrisons.

Of course, as long as they continued the chase and maintained momentum, there wouldn’t be any issues with an oversized force. Victory can solve all problems. But under Pang Tong's careful calculations, a single decisive blow would crush Yan Yan, and the Yizhou army would be left in utter ruin.

The swelling ranks, unclear command, and disorganized structure were all fatal weaknesses. However, these issues were concealed by Yan Yan’s series of victories. While Zheng Du and Yan Yan were aware of the problems, they chose to ignore them, trusting that continuous success would carry them through.

Sun Ce appeared to be on his last legs. The belief was that once they defeated him and took control of half of Jingzhou, they could reorganize after crossing Yiling. To focus on these organizational issues now would allow Sun Ce to escape, so the order was: chase, chase, chase!

With this mentality, neither Yan Yan nor Zheng Du gave the existing issues any attention. Confident that Sun Ce had no strength left to resist and that reinforcements couldn’t arrive in time, they pressed forward.

Victory can sometimes blind even the wisest. Though Liu Ba sensed something was wrong, the consecutive victories drowned out his concerns, leaving his voice barely audible within the army.

Whether the generals still following Sun Ce believed in Pang Tong or not, the moment they received the elite troops assigned to them, all doubts vanished. These were indeed Yuan Shu’s seasoned veterans. With these soldiers under their command, they finally had a clear goal in mind: victory, which everyone longed for.

"Everyone, you already know the enemy generals after all these engagements. The ones you hate the most—deal with them yourselves and vent your rage!" Pang Tong stirred up the generals’ anger.

"I will kill Lei Bo!" Zhang Xun’s eyes flared with fury as he growled.

"Chen Jian, that traitor—I will personally deal with him!" Li Feng said angrily.

"Li Yi is ours!" Yang Xun and Li Xin exchanged glances and agreed on their target.

Soon, Sun Ce’s generals had each chosen their opponents. After so much running and retreating, every one of them was filled with anger. They had all faced these enemy generals before and knew exactly who their targets would be.

"Don’t any of you dare die!" Pang Tong cast a glance at the group. "I’m waiting to throw you all a victory feast in Jiangzhou!"

The group was momentarily stunned but then burst into laughter. Zhang Xun stepped forward and cupped his fist. "Strategist, I will definitely make it to that victory feast in Jiangzhou!"

"Go and prepare. They will be here within the hour!" Pang Tong waved his hand, signaling them to get ready.

On the other side, Liu Bei’s army, led by Taishi Ci with Chen Dao as his deputy, had successfully crossed Nanyang and reached Nan Commandery.

Though Nanyang was technically under Cao Cao’s control, his influence south of Wan City was nearly nonexistent. Likewise, Yuan Shu hadn’t ventured south of Wan City, instead holding New Ye as the boundary.

Because of this loose control, Zhuge Liang easily passed through and reached the edge of Nan Commandery. There, he encountered Zhang Song, who was preparing to seize the opportunity to meet with the most powerful member of the imperial Liu clan after what he believed would be a decisive victory.

"Are you saying that Sun Ce has suffered defeat after defeat, losing more than ten consecutive battles from Badong all the way to Yiling?" Zhuge Liang asked incredulously.

"Zhuge Zhizhong, you’re still so young. When I was your age, I was merely a county magistrate in Langzhong," Zhang Song said with a sigh, though his words carried a tinge of jealousy.

"Lord Liu Bei has entrusted me with the position of Administrative Assistant, but I still lack experience and often make mistakes in governance. How could I compare with your esteemed position, Zhang Biejia?" Zhuge Liang quickly caught the jealousy in Zhang Song's tone and shifted the conversation away from military matters, speaking instead in a self-deprecating manner to soothe Zhang Song’s ego.

In the late Han Dynasty, under the regional governors and inspectors, the next highest rank was the Administrative Assistant. Zhang Song, being over thirty, held the same rank as Zhuge Liang, who was not even half his age. Naturally, this would stir feelings of envy in Zhang Song.

"Lord Liu Bei, having risen to power from the small region of Mount Tai, clearly knows how to recognize talent. Don’t belittle yourself, Kongming," Zhang Song’s ugly face softened into a smile as he praised Zhuge Liang, though his jealousy lingered.

Zhuge Liang’s youthful and handsome appearance continued to be a sore spot for Zhang Song, who couldn’t maintain his smile for long before his jealousy resurfaced.

"Zhang Biejia, could you recount the details of the recent battles? It would put our minds at ease. When Lord Liu Bei heard that Governor Liu of Yizhou was launching a campaign against Yuan Shu, he recalled the former Yizhou governor’s kindness and sent me to assist. Unfortunately, I haven’t been much help, but it only shows how valiant the soldiers of Yizhou are," Zhuge Liang spoke with a mix of flattery and fabrication.

There’s a saying: "Your rival knows you best." Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong had been lifelong rivals, and that’s why, when Zhuge Liang heard that Pang Tong, as the strategist, had led Sun Ce’s army into disaster, his first instinct was that the Yizhou forces had likely fallen into a trap. Pang Tong wasn’t someone who could be easily outwitted.

However, Zhuge Liang kept these thoughts to himself. Saying such things aloud would insult all of Yizhou, and Zhang Song might storm off in anger. After all, who would believe that three highly capable strategists could be bested by a sixteen-year-old youth? Zhuge Liang could tell from Zhang Song’s tone that these men held themselves in high regard.

"Hmm..." After listening to Zhang Song’s explanation, Zhuge Liang had only one thought: the strategist behind this plan must be insane. To employ such a dangerous strategy was unthinkable.

The Battle of Badong was so precarious that even the slightest miscalculation could have led to a devastating loss. But with great risk came great reward—Yizhou had attacked on multiple fronts, and their final strike in the center had likely shattered Sun Ce’s forces into fragments, assuming Zhang Song hadn’t exaggerated.

A chill ran through Zhuge Liang. He understood that Zhang Song, along with his fellow commanders, all possessed spiritual talents. But even so, the reckless danger of this plan was difficult to stomach.

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