Battle Royale of the Sinners

8 PM.

The battle inside both north and south fort had ended. Both Yuan Shao armies withdrew from the fort, which they regrouped with the main camp.

Yan Liang, Wen Chou, and all generals were summoned back as well.

20,000 soldiers were sent into the north fort while the other 20,000 went to the south. However, only 10,000 came back from both fronts.

During the day, Lu Bu, Li Feihong, and Lu Zhi jointed their attack with Zhang Liao, which crippled the troops inside the fort. Because of the chaos and the dense crowd of soldiers, Tian Feng did not use his remaining bombs and took all of them back with his surviving men when they escaped.

Similar events happened in the south fort as Xu Huang led 10,000 armored cavalries, charging at Qu Yi's battalions from the northern passage of the south fortress. Zhou Cang also guided another group of 5,000 infantries and pincered Qu Yi Army from the south side beyond the moat. As a result, the southern expedition force suffered severe damages and was forced to retreat.

Counting the number of their survivors, they had already lost 40,000 soldiers from these few days of battles, which was one-fifth of their entire army. Also, they still could not pass these fortresses that stopped their advance.

Yuan Shao sat on the main seat inside the decorated main tent, looking at his officers with a black face. In his hands, battle reports of both forts were written in the scroll.

Yuan Shao uttered in a low voice, "The fortresses are Jia Xu's traps, yet we fell for it."

Tian Feng gulped. Te Langpu looked away, and all other strategists looked down.

Yuan Shao glanced around, but he did not show his anger. He walked toward the strategic map table and began arranging the tokens himself.

Instead of pointing their direction at Anping Fortresses, he placed several troops elsewhere.

As he saw the location of the new deployment, Tian Feng's eyes widened as he had an enlightenment, "We don't have fight our way through here!"

Yuan Shao snorted, "Exactly! Why are we bothering with these obstacles anyway? Why don't we just detour a bit?"

Te Langpu frowned and raised his hand, "Won't we get isolated and surrounded by all enemies? We are going deep in their territories without crippling their men. They will definitely surround us and cut our path of return."

Yuan Shao laughed, "That's what we want. If they want to surround us, we will strike down their weakest cities and counties. I will force them to fight in the open so we can use our numeral advantage! If we continue to fight on their prepared battleground, we'll continue to lose. Tian Feng, you remember this as well. Don't make another similar mistake again!"

"My Lord is wise. Indeed, it was my carelessness. I'll take responsibility for these damages when we get back."

"It's good that you realize it. Now, go and prepare! Complete what I have guided all of you!"

…

…

Jia Xu and all officers gathered in the central fort to confirm their status after their plans succeeded.

Though they managed to drive away all soldiers inside the outer layer, they lost a total of 5,000 heavy cavalries, which frustrated Lu Bu.

On the bright side, they destroyed at least 20,000 elites of Yuan Shao Army, which was a profitable exchange of casualties. Secondly, it confirmed Yuan Shao's personal assets and their capabilities as a whole.

In the gathering building, Jia Xu reorganized all tokens, which he removed all the dolls and chips from the board.

Li Feihong tilted his head, "Why are you removing all of them?"

"Be prepared guys. We'll launch a counter-attack tomorrow. We'll face them on the field."

"But, aren't we having a better ground if we defend the bases?"

Jia Xu collected the map on the table and replaced it with a new one, which he had finished drawing a few days ago. He reorganized the tokens as he answered Li Feihong's doubts.

"They won't attack us anymore, but they will detour Anping and go elsewhere before they charge at Julu for the decisive battle."

Lu Zhi, Zhang Liao, and Li Feihong widened their eyes. It did not make any sense for them to dive into their territories as they could cut off their supply routes, which could starve them to death.

But they got their answers once Jia Xu placed Yuan Shao's tokens on the board.

On the map, Yuan Shao's tokens pointed toward the direction of Zhongshan City and Ji City!

"Thankfully, Tian Feng and Yuan Shao are not stupid, so we can narrow their future decisions by a lot. Considered that they have formed a coalition with Liu Yan, a joint attack on Zhongshan is possible."

"That's … our weakest city," Muttered Lu Zhi.

"Not only the weakest, but it's also a strategic location to siege if Yuan Shao wants Julu. I'm sure Yuan Shao is using Liu Yan to cripple our army in Zhongshan while he sabotages Liu Yan Army in Ji. By now, our young master is sieging Ji City while Liu Yan's main force is attacking Zhongshan. If Yuan Shao appears to help Liu Yan at this moment, Zhongshan will fall, and our Lord will be isolated instead."

Jia Xu met his eyes with Lu Bu's as he advised, "Sir Lu Bu, you will get your chance to rampage as you wish tomorrow. Be warned that you will have to fight Yan Liang and Wen Chou again."

"That's what I want!" Smiled Lu Bu.

"Therefore, you cannot lead a battalion tomorrow, but you can move freely on the battlefield."

"Fine with me."

Jia Xu rearranged ally tokens and began briefing about tomorrow plans. As Jia Xu's mouth continued to explain the logic behind the movements, he thought to himself.

'Tong brat, your Heavenly mission ruins too much of our plans, and I don't think I can wipe your ass forever. You'd better finish your battle soon.'

…

…

March 6th.

A scout of Yuan Shao Army who had been sent to monitor the battles at Ji returned with a relayed message. Zou Jing was defeated and holed inside the city while Tong bombarded him with fire barrels.

Tian Feng smiled, "My Lord, it is as you have predicted. Zhang Tong Army got stuck at Ji while Liu Yan was busy attacking Zhongshan. Once we reinforce Liu Yan, we can snatch Zhongshan from the Liu Clan and use it as a chokepoint to attack Julu."

Yuan Shao laughed, "Of course! I've studied a lot in the Capital. While we are at it, we will take Ji City from Liu Yan as well. They should be crippled after facing that monster Zhang Tong."

Although the struggle at Anping was not part of Yuan Shao's plan, he had manipulated Sun Jian and Liu Yan into fighting with the Yellow Turban, so they could kill each other and weaken their armies.

At first, Yuan Shao wanted to grab Julu, then he could backstab Liu Yan and take the Ji City of the Liu Clan. However, the fortresses gave his army a lot of troubles. They had to avoid it and hasten their initial plans.

The mobilizing order had been declared, which all soldiers were busying disassembled their tents and camps for the entire morning.

Another scout rushed in with a paled face. He stumbled and knelt on the ground, bowing his head to Yuan Shao and his officers.

"Report! The Yellow Turban has deployed their forces! They have come out of the fortresses!"

Yuan Shao and Tian Feng raised their eyebrows. They did not bother speaking but rushing toward the watchtower.

As they got up on top of a watchtower, they could see the dust of a massive army.

Tian Feng voiced his estimation, "That's not dust from an army of 10,000 men. I think they deployed all of their troops."

"Ah, you go and get our men ready. Since they want to contest us in an open field, we will satisfy them! HAHAHA!"

…

100,000 Combined force of Julu and Jinyang soldiers gathered in front of their fortresses, forming lines and arrays. Each side of the formations, 20,000 heavy cavalries covered their flanks.

Lu Bu marched along with the men as he rode at the center in front of all formations.

Xu Huang led the right flank 20,000 cavalries, while Gao Shun led the left heavy cavalries.

Lu Zhi and Zhou Cang guided the 50,000 infantries, which carried repeating crossbows, shields, and spears. All of the footmen could perform any role they were given.

500 Trebuchets and ballistae were being pushed forward by 5,000 crew members to support the front troopers as well.

Jia Xu, who was the grand commander and the leading strategist of this battle, stood on top of the watchtower to monitor the changes.

However, two officers and 13,000 soldiers did not present on this battlefield. Li Feihong and Zhang Liao were not here. Yet, Jia Xu told the soldiers of the center formation to carry [Li] and [Zhang] flags with them.

With a serious face, Jia Xu watched Yuan Shao Army which was marching toward them on the horizon.

'Li Feihong, you'd better complete your task, or we're doomed!'

Noon.

Yuan Shao's 160,000 soldiers stood in rectangular formations. Each consisted of 1,000 men, lining in rows and columns.

The crowd of soldiers covered the entire field, which could intimidate all defenders and warlords of any city.

Like Jia Xu had prepared, they also brought their archer towers and trebuchets, trying to compete in their weaponry with Jia Xu Army.

Yan Liang and Wen Chou rode in front of their center formations, glaring at Lu Bu. They were assigned by Tian Feng to keep Lu Bu in check.

Gao Lan led their right-wing cavalries while Qu Yi led the left troops. Meanwhile, Te Langpu, He Jin, and other strategists got stuck with the main force as they were non-combatants.

Yuan Shao and Tian Feng stood together on their watchtower as they would lead their main force together.

Seeing the weapons and the number of their opposite force, Yuan Shao grinned.

"This Jia Xu is a moron. Instead of hiding in those forts, he chose to come out," Mocked Yuan Shao.

On the other hand, Tian Feng darted his eyes around to check the Yellow Turban Army's placement. Counting and accounting all the flags, Tian Feng sighed.

'It must have been my imagination. For a second there, I thought some of Jia Xu soldiers are missing. Well, since all of their officers are here, they shouldn't be any detached force around our back.'

Tian Feng turned to his aide and gave out his order.

"Have the wings probe their strengths. Cavalries, move out!"

Jia Xu on the other side noticed the movements on the wings, he also sent his order.

"Intercept them with our horse units! Move our infantries to both sides to cover the flanks! Lu Bu, go and provoke the enemies!"