Battle Royale of the Sinners

December 20th.

Ji Commandery City.

Liu Yan and Zou Jing listened to their scout reports from the surviving spies in Julu. The situation in Julu was not very favorable to them.

After Jia Xu returned to the city, he began cracking down the suspicious individuals in the town, eliminating spies from various factions. All domestic management and all departments had been overhauled, and Sima Fang had been very active, arresting criminals and spies alike.

The leak of information in Julu was being patched, and the internal system had been repaired.

Their military development was also troublesome as they had been informed about the dealing between Jinyang and Julu about warhorses.

And the most worrying part was the result of the recent war in Jinyang territory. The result of the battle was in their hands.

"Is it confirm?" Liu Yan asked.

The spy shook his head, "No, my lord. None of us can confirm about the emperor's death. Everything we knew was from the gossip of their soldiers."

"The status of their army? How is their current strength after the war?"

"Rough estimation, Jinyang has 10,000 garrison soldiers, 10,000 prisoners, 50,000 cavalries under the monster Lu Bu. The total soldiers in Jinyang numbered 70,000. Julu has 60,000 combined forces of infantries and cavalries. There are more in Ye, Shangdang, and their latest occupied city Zhongshan."

Zou Jing and Liu Yan paled listening to the military status report. They only had 50,000 elites housing in their city. Going up against a powerhouse rebel was impossible for them now.

"Lord, are we still going to attack the rebels?" Zou Jing asked as he could not keep his legs still. They were shaking in nervousness.

"Any spy report from Zhongshan? How did they take the city?"

"The Zhen family surrendered to Zhang Bao, my lord."

Liu Yan smashed the wooden table in front of him, "FOOking coward! They are the servants of the Han. How the hell can they surrender!?"

"It's not that they didn't want to fight, my lord. They settled the result of the battle with a duel and gambled their fate with their representative warrior. The Zhen family sent their best mercenary into the duel, but he was killed by the rebel's representative."

"What's the name of the warrior from the rebel?"

"Bo Cai, my lord."

Zou Jing squinted his eyes and clenched his fists. His legs had stopped shaking listening to the name of this person.

After the Battle of Anping, Zou Jing had investigated and reevaluated of his performance and Tong's ability in the battle. The name "Bo Cai" appeared in the list of Tong's lieutenants, and he was in charge of the small cavalry unit that destroyed his trebuchet crews.

At first, he thought that this person was just a nobody who seized the opportunity by chance. Hearing this name again, aroused his interest.

"How was the duel? Do you have a detail?" Zou Jing asked.

"He … He killed the opponent in ten moves, sir."

Liu Yan sucked in cold breath while Zou Jing was pondering.

'If I remember correctly, he was not a good commander. He charged right into my spear wall formation in the last battle. Even if his martial art is good, he isn't my match in terms of army commanding.'

Zuo Jing smiled and spoke, "My lord, this Bo Cai is not a good general, and Zhang Bao is just a peasant who happens to be there to command troops. I believe we can exploit the rebel's weakness."

Liu Yan was delighted, "How?"

"Although the rebel army has many troops in various cities, they won't be able to reinforce each other once we begin assaulting a city. Since Zhongshan is closest to us, we can seize it from the rebel and snatch it from the Zhen family."

Liu Yan frowned, "Won't Julu send reinforcement?"

"Julu won't be able to support Zhongshan, my lord. I'm sure that the emperor's edict and the news about the emperor's death should have reached their ears already. They will likely attack Julu to claim a credit. Since Yuan Shao is known for his ambition and greed, he will want to acquire as many achievements possible in this conflict to get more promotion from the Court. Once the war with the rebel is over, they will want to expand their territory to other cities before the new emperor ascends the throne."

Liu Yan nodded, "Indeed, if Julu is attacked by Yuan Shao, he won't be able to send reinforcement. But that doesn't solve everything. Do you think we can defeat this Zhang Bao and Bo Cai?"

"My lord do not need to worry. With their commoner background, they won't have enough knowledge or skills to match us on a proper battlefield."

Liu Yan paused to think. After a while, he ordered, "Send our fast horse to Yuan Shao. Write a letter to propose a joint attack and have him attack Julu. We shall attack Zhongshan at spring!"

…

…

Nanpi City, Yuan Shao's territory.

Similar to Liu Yan, Yuan Shao intelligence agency suffered from the counter-intelligence of Jia Xu and Sima Fang. However, they also secured the vital info about Liu Ping's death and the result of the battle in Jinyang territory.

Yuan Shao had a meeting with all of his advisors and generals. Tian Feng, Feng Ji, Te Langpu, Wen Chou, Yan Liang, Gao Lan, He Jin, and other officers were there.

Within Yuan Shao's ranks, all officers were talented geniuses of various fields. All of them lined up in rows separately. The generals were on the left side of the hall while the civil officers and advisers were on the right.

"Lu Bu eh? Is it possible to recruit this general? Why is this fierce general serving Zhang Jiao?"

Yuan Shao had a hobby. He enjoyed collecting talented officers!

Every time he heard about a young genius or a fierce warrior on a battlefield, he would not hesitate to spend a large amount of gold to take him under his wings.

Te Langpu was part of Yuan Shao's collection as he was brought by Tian Feng.

Hearing about Lu Bu, Te Langpu immediately stepped forward.

"My lord, Lu Bu is not a good servant you should recruit into the army."

Yuan Shao and all officers stared at this newcomer.

"Why?"

"Lu Bu, Fengxian, this man is a veteran general of Jinyang. However, he is known to be temperament and won't hesitate to solve everything with brute force. I'm afraid that if he were to become a part of our army, our military order might decline."

Listening to Te Langpu, several officers glanced at Yan Liang and held their laugh.

Among the generals of Yuan Shao, Yan Liang also had a similar trait as Lu Bu, and it was well-known in the army. Fortunately, he was a close friend with Wen Chou, who put a rein on Yan Liang every time he caused troubles in the military.

"What are you looking at!?" Roared Yan Liang as he did not understand the hint.

Tian Feng also glanced at Yan Liang and Te Langpu. Pondering for a while, he also stepped forward.

"I also agree with Sir Te Langpu. Taming a wild horse is like playing with a double edge sword. It can be a good weapon that can kill enemies, but it can also hurt the wielder. Right now, the Han Court has lost two emperors in a short time, so the land is in anarchy at the moment. We should not recruit an unknown outsider until the situation has calmed."

Every civil officer nodded in approval.

"Shame. Then, what should we do in this situation? Does attacking Julu still have merit?"

Te Langpu had already stepped back as he did not want to get involved in this power struggle. On the other hand, Tian Feng stayed at the center of the hall.

"We will attack Julu City as planned." Tian Feng suggested.

"What about Ye City? It's a bigger imperial city."

"Claiming it will be easy, but Sun Jian has been eyeing that city after the edict of the deceased emperor. Since Ye City is unstable and requires a lot of investment and time to appease the citizens, we should leave the troublesome job to the Sun Family and focus on our speed of expansion. Julu is richer in resources, so it is more profitable in the long run to secure it before we expand to the north."

Yuan Shao nodded, "Policy-wise, it's understandable. Possibility wise, can we take the city?"

"From our recent reports, Julu Army consists mainly on infantries and small units of light cavalries. The total number is roughly over 70,000 elites. If they are serious, the number should increase to 100,000 by forcefully conscripting the militias."

All advisors and Yuan Shao's face turned solemn. Attacking this city for resources will be difficult.

Tian Feng had not finished yet, "Their military strategies center around their repeating crossbows, ambushes, siege weaponry, and assassination. All major battles relied heavily on Zhang Tong as he has no talented officer or a well-known strategist. From Zhang Tong's records since the Battle of Anping, Battle of Liyang, and the Ye City take-over, that youngster never participates in a direct confrontation. Every time he has no other card to play, he will employ the defensive siege tactic for the decisive battles."

"In another word, he is weak in the direct fight?"

"It is likely, but I can't guarantee it."

"Hmm?"

"In both battles he participated, we have the reports about him using supernatural skills, such as undying body, and conjuring items from nothingness. He also used a sorcery weapon that can spit fire and kill soldiers at a distance away. His swordsmanship should have been on Sir Wen Chou or Sir Yan Liang right now if we use the info about his improvement from last year."

Wen Chou inserted, "In other words, he is not weak in a direct confrontation at all!"

Tian Feng nodded, "In theory, Zhang Tong's best talent is the direct confrontation!"

Everyone in the hall paused to think along with Tian Feng's logic. For someone who excelled in direct combat to use ambushes and long-range weapons instead of relying on his skills, it was indeed illogical.

"So, he is a cunning fox."

"Using tactics to hide his true weapon? Indeed, he's a dangerous guy."

"Employing the weakest strength to fool the stronger foes. A good tactic indeed."

All advisors thought further ahead and believed that Tong intentionally held back his true skills to fool other forces. Then, he would use his real strength on a battle where the opponent let their guard down.

Wen Chou also frowned after listening to Tian Feng and the other officers' analytic of Tong. As a person who was acquainted with Tong, he also knew that Tong was not a weakling when it came to a direct fight.

'I should have kidnapped him and forced him to work for us last year.' Wen Chou regretted.