Mythical Three Kingdoms

Chen Xi felt an immense headache as Liu Ye and Fa Zheng stared at each other, clearly at a loss for a solution. At this moment, he was undoubtedly the one who had to step up.

”Ahem, listen to me—ignore whether the other side is trying to buy time or force us to attack. We’ll proceed at our current pace and respond to changes with no changes.” Chen Xi lightly coughed to draw their attention to himself. Truth be told, he didn’t have any particularly brilliant ideas, but in such situations, it didn’t matter if it was a good solution or a poor one—having an actionable plan was enough.

”That works.” Fa Zheng opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to object, but in the end switched to agreeing with Chen Xi’s proposal.

”Very well. Since that’s the case, we will carry on with the previous arrangements, advancing at a normal pace, while enhancing the scout cavalry’s surveillance range.” Liu Ye nodded as he spoke. At such a time, perhaps Chen Xi’s method would indeed work better.

And so, Chen Xi and the others who had crossed the Yellow River moved forward at a steady and unhurried pace, as if completely disregarding the fact that this was Yuan Shao’s Army’s territory, continuing toward their pre-determined objective.

Throughout the march, Liu Ye encountered frequent harassment—sometimes sudden drumming and shouts of battle in the dead of night, other times crossbow bolts fired into their camp late at night—all clearly aimed at delaying Liu Ye’s army.

”Pay it no mind. Since we’ve already decided not to make any changes, we’ll continue as per the original plan. Don’t get distracted by the other side’s moves; just focus on doing our own tasks.” Chen Xi spoke stubbornly. It wasn’t that he was concerned about appearances, but rather that these fatigue tactics were blatantly childish in nature.

With Chen Xi’s instructions, Liu Ye refrained from raising further objections, addressing challenges as they came. Although Xun Shen did indeed suppress Liu Ye’s performance to a certain degree, as Liu Ye himself had previously described, Xun Shen remained within the domain of mortals. Calculating strategies, Liu Ye would not easily fall for traps.

Thus, Liu Ye first disrupted Xun Shen’s nighttime harassment by spreading out their camps, then feigned abandonment of a camp to swallow up the Yuan Shao soldiers causing disturbances at night, and finally used a fire strategy to dispel Xun Shen’s psychological maneuvers.

However, to both Xun Shen and Liu Ye, these were merely inconsequential exchanges. At the very least, Xun Shen neither significantly delayed Liu Bei’s Army nor provoked it into full-speed pursuit of Yuan Shao’s forces stationed near Fann County.

”Liu Bei’s Army is clearly not led by Liu Ye as strategist...” Xun Shen let out a long sigh after assessing the results of his probing. Based on his earlier clashes and analysis of Liu Ye’s thought processes, in such situations, Liu Ye should have spearheaded with the Xiliang Iron Cavalry and launched an assault on Yuan Shao’s headquarters in Fann County by now.

”If it’s not Liu Ye acting as the strategist, that’s good news.” Chunyu Qiong laughed heartily. Having suffered losses at Liu Ye’s hands before, he naturally understood Liu Ye’s prowess and was more than willing to avoid further confrontations with him.

”It’s not necessarily good news.” Xun Shen furrowed his brows slightly. ”I suspect Chen Zichuan might be the commanding strategist this time. Only then would Liu Xuande place full trust in him. This man is far too reserved, revealing nothing on the surface. However, I must admit, he’s chosen a course most suited to him.”

”Issue orders to the soldiers near Fann County. Have the Centurions oversee preparations for swift mobilization in every direction.” After pondering the situation for a while, Xun Shen gave his orders slowly. Truthfully, unless absolutely necessary, he had no intention of engaging in a head-on clash with Liu Bei’s Army.

”Understood!” Guo Yuan and Chunyu Qiong voiced their agreement, saluting with cupped fists without expressing any objection to Xun Shen’s revised orders.

Soon, Liu Ye noticed something peculiar: the Yuan Shao soldiers harassing them with fatigue tactics had significantly lessened in number. This change prompted Liu Ye to grow increasingly cautious. After consulting briefly with Chen Xi, they further expanded the scout cavalry’s surveillance radius to prevent Yuan Shao’s Army from taking advantage of any openings. They then continued marching toward their target at the same steady pace.

Upon expanding the scouts’ range, the first piece of intelligence Liu Ye received was startling: large numbers of Yuan Shao soldiers were converging around Fann County. Some units numbered over a thousand while others consisted of merely two or three hundred. Regardless, they marched day and night without pause toward Fann County.

”What tricks is this guy trying to pull?” Chen Xi asked, staring at Liu Ye.

”I’m not curious about what Xun Shen is doing. What I’m curious about is why you’re so certain it’s a feint strategy,” Liu Ye replied, avoiding the question.

”I asked the scout cavalry—they observed those troops from afar but didn’t dare to get close,” Chen Xi replied casually. ”The ones who did likely didn’t make it back. Such careful movement reeks of pretense. Of course, it’s also possible they’re playing the game of appearing real by acting fake.”

Chen Xi’s words elicited a rolled eye from Fa Zheng. By this point, he too was convinced that Xun Shen was aiming to deceive, hoping to mislead their judgment.

”We march at full speed!” Fa Zheng declared. ”If reinforcements arrive to tip the balance, we’ll lose the current freedom we have to act as we please.”

”Hmm, there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask. What is their ultimate goal in doing all this? Is it to accelerate our march and force a quick engagement, or to attack our morale and delay our progress?” Chen Xi asked in turn. ”I believe that’s the most important question.”

”...” Fa Zheng was speechless, offering no reply. If they knew the answer to that, they wouldn’t be wasting time deliberating like this—they’d have already made the best possible decision.

”I think I’ve figured out what they’re aiming for,” Liu Ye suddenly said, lifting his head. ”I believe this stems from the spiritual talent Xun Shen possesses. I was previously stuck thinking from one angle, but stepping back, I now see it as if the strategy is something I designed myself.”

Fa Zheng pondered Liu Ye’s words, then asked, ”You mean their intention is merely to drag us into their rhythm? Whether it’s accelerating our march, delaying it, or forcing us to expand our scouting range, it all works to their benefit. Why do I feel this thought process resembles yours...?”

”It’s likely Xun Shen’s spiritual talent. If mine is about thinking from someone else’s perspective, Xun Shen’s is about thinking through someone else’s mindset. Only this can explain why fighting him becomes increasingly challenging.” Liu Ye furrowed his brows, speaking with seriousness.

”So he’s prepared contingency plans on both fronts. In other words, he’s ready to adapt based on the situation?” Chen Xi surmised, frowning slightly. He didn’t feel overly intimidated by Xun Shen’s talent, finding it far from insurmountable.

”The intent is likely situational. If our forces grow impatient from the harassment and press forward at full speed, the Xiliang Iron Cavalry would inevitably lead the charge as the vanguard. The enemy could then abandon Fann County altogether and commit their full forces to ambushing our rear army,” Liu Ye speculated, returning to his former state of strategic brilliance after breaking out of his earlier mental block.

”Hmm, then let’s destroy their objective while achieving our own,” Chen Xi mused, stroking his chin. He then lifted his head, evidently having devised a plan. (To be continued. If you’re enjoying this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote with your recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)