Mythical Three Kingdoms

"Humph, I knew you'd say that, waiting for you to make that allocation. Yizhou Soldiers aren't easy to deal with—if you don't get a bloody nose, how can my talents shine!" Liaoo Li's face was calm, but his heart was filled with cold laughter.

Afterwards, everything happened just as Liaoo Li had predicted. Pang Tong indeed volunteered to go to Tigu and confront the Yizhou Army.

"Shiyuan, you should not underestimate the generals of Yizhou. Given that Yizhou is isolated, we hardly have any intelligence on this deployment of Yizhou forces from Jingzhou," Gu Yong addressed Pang Tong, worrying that Pang Tong would underestimate the enemy generals, thereby placing Sunx Ce at a disadvantage, so he stepped forward and warned him.

"I'll be careful," Pang Tong nodded his head. He truly didn't underestimate his opponents, but rather, he was well aware that once he arrived on the battlefield, the enemy would likely mock him and Sunx Ce as immature youths.

"Also, be wary of Kuai Yue. He has a profound understanding of sacrificing pawns, and when necessary, he'd even sacrifice himself as a pawn," Pang Tong also warned Gu Yong, Yuy Fan, and the others, since he himself hailed from Jingzhou and had his own insights into Kuai Yue's abilities.

"Given that, I will lead Liu Xun, Chen Lan, Li Feng to head to Tigu to intercept the Yizhou generals. Jiangh Qin, I'll have you as the Vanguard, and the rest will deal with Liu Biao of Jingzhou. We will split our forces in two. If one group finishes first, remember to send troops to support the other," Sunx Ce declared, seeing that his generals had finished dividing up the military tasks through their various suggestions and discussions.

"Shiyuan, you come with me on this westward journey. I haven't treated you well before, but from now on, you'll serve as the Counselor of the Central Army," Sunx Ce turned to Pang Tong and said. Upon hearing this, everyone else congratulated Pang Tong. Although the position of Central Army Counselor wasn't high ranking, it still held significant power, particularly since Sunx Ce held him in great trust.

"Humph, I'm curious to see how long your excitement will last, Central Army Counselor!" Liaoo Li feigned praise while sneering inwardly, "The higher you stand, the harder you fall."

When Sunx Ce set out with Liu Xun and others, with Jiangh Qin as the Vanguard, Zhang Ren had already led troops out of Jiameng Pass and was heading toward Hanzhong, while on another front, Yan Yan had successfully taken Tigu and was preparing to capture Shangyong, attacking Hanzhong from two directions at once!

Pang Tong was no pushover; from the very beginning, he had no intentions of directly confronting the Yizhou Army. Instead, he was sending messages to Zhang Lu to discuss forming an alliance on the one hand, while on the other hand, he dispatched people to scout Shangyong, hoping to take the opportunity to seize it. He planned to block Yan Yan from the north, enabling Zhang Lu to free up forces to handle another Yizhou troop.

Initially, Pang Tong had plans to have the Navy sail upstream and encircle to annihilate Yan Yan's forces completely, but when Pang Tong truly reached the battlefield, he promptly dismissed this idea. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but rather that he dared not!

The army facing him, known as the Shu Army's Vice Army, possessed a Legion Talent and three Spiritual Talents. Pang Tong immediately realized that the tactics used against ordinary Sages would only lead to his own defeat against such monstrous opponents.

"Shiyuan, why have you become so gloomy after arriving at Tigu?" Sunx Ce teased as he looked at Pang Tong riding his White Horse.

"My Lord, I'm afraid what we're facing isn't the Shu Army's Vice Army, but their main force. My Spiritual Talent can sense other people's Spiritual Talents and the Legion Talent. You're aware of this, right?" Pang Tong said with a wry smile. After confirming the enemy's lineup, Pang Tong found it impossible to smile.

"I'm aware of that. Gongjin told me before that all area-of-effect Spiritual Talents have the ability to detect other people's Spiritual Talents, though they can't sense them if the opponent fully conceals their power," Sunx Ce nodded and then licked his lips, "Are you saying that the enemy has an expert of Inner Qi Separation?"

"No..." Pang Tong shook his head and said.

"If it's not Inner Qi Manifestation, then it must be Spiritual Talent. Shiyuan, you should be as confident as Gongjin. What is there to fear from a mere Spiritual Talent? You have me!" Sun Ce laughed wildly in an attempt to instill confidence in Pang Tong.

Pang Tong covered his forehead, truly at a loss for words. Seeing Sun Ce's boisterous laughter without a response from himself, Sun Ce also felt his laughter was meaningless after a couple of chuckles. So, he spoke up, "Speak up, tell me. How can I know otherwise? If you keep this up, I wouldn't even know where to start to help you."

"The enemy has a Legion Talent and three Spiritual Talents. I've already leveled up my points," Pang Tong said with a forced smile, "I refuse to believe that a mere Vice Army would have so many tough characters."

Sun Ce's eyebrows also began to twitch. It hadn't been long since he achieved Inner Qi Manifestation, and he had dissipated his Inner Qi once in the process. Now, he had truly reached the stage of Inner Qi Manifestation, but his Legion Talent had not yet been initiated. And now, the enemy had three Spiritual Talents and a Legion Talent. This was a Vice Army?

"What should we do?" Sun Ce wasn't a fool. Though he enjoyed decimating his enemies, in this situation, he had to be careful not to be the one getting decimated.

"What else can we do? I'll go first and see what kind of Spiritual Talent the enemy has, just take some first steps to probe," said Pang Tong with annoyance. He hadn't expected that his first time acting as the main strategist for an army would turn out like this, but this situation seemed to have sparked Pang Tong's fighting spirit.

"Then be careful. You strategists get scared fighting more than we do. A single miscalculation could cost the entire army, so be careful, Shiyuan," said Sun Ce, glancing at Pang Tong.

"Alright, I'll be careful," Pang Tong nodded and replied.

Meanwhile, Yan Yan and others had already received intel on Sun Ce's arrival. However, the current situation was that Yan Yan had three military counselors with him: Yizhou Assistant Officer Zhang Song, Yizhou Assistant Official Zheng Du, and Liu Ba, who had fled to Yizhou because of disturbance among the troops.

Among these three men, only Yan Yan's official position ranked higher than Liu Ba's; the other two held significant positions but, unfortunately, as Yan Yan was the commander-in-chief of this military expedition, Zhang Song and Zheng Du only had advisory roles.

"Sun Ce's Army has just arrived, and the Jingzhou soldiers, upon hearing that reinforcements have come, will surely fight to the death. It would be better to wait a few days, test their capabilities, and then make plans," Liu Ba suggested first after Yan Yan beat the drum to raise the tent. This was a cautious measure since they had no prior engagements with Sun Ce's Army.

"This suggestion does not seem appropriate. Our army has been victorious in every battle thus far, with morale running high. Hearing of their arrival and then retreating would show our apprehension. We should strike when the enemy is still unsteady, seizing the opportunity to defeat them in one fell swoop," Zheng Du suggested with an air of assertiveness.

"I think our current objective has become problematic. Our army's goal is to attack Hanzhong, not to fight Sun Ce," Zhang Song also seemed to disagree with Zheng Du's proposal. "Of course, if we want to fight Sun Ce, I don't think we should be taking the lead. Our army should align with the Mount Tai Army. Only by putting Sun Ce in a difficult position can we serve our best interests."

"Our military strength is formidable, and we have no ties or close relations with the Mount Tai Army. Furthermore, due to the distance, even if we intended to form an alliance, it would take considerable time to do so. Besides, with the ongoing battle in the north, Liu Xuande is almost at his limit," Liu Ba almost sneered at Zhang Song's suggestion. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, we welcome you to vote for it on Qidian ). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)