Three Kingdoms: I, Yuan Shu, Loyal Officials of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 13 My lord, please don't explain anymore, I believe you! I truly believe you!

Yuan Jun's camp.

"This is the third time. Finally, I can have a hot meal."

Although it was already February, the weather was still cold. Sun Ce, covered in snow, took the food handed to him by Zhou Yu, looked around at the still unfinished camp, and couldn't help but frown slightly.

"Gongjin, are you still not done with your work? I don't know what Yuan Yifu means. The soldiers won't let us set up camp properly, but insist on taking them out in batches and then bringing them back."

If this continues, the main camp probably won't be built by dawn. At that point, with only 300,000 makeshift troops, do you think you can intimidate Liu Yao into surrendering?

"Of course not under normal circumstances."

Zhou Yu smiled and handed him a pot of hot wine to ward off the chill.

"That may not be the case right now. If the Jiangdong aristocratic families are loyal to Lord Yuan and unanimously claim that 300,000 troops are already at the city gates, and Liu Yao has no insightful people around him to see through this, I'm afraid that in just a few days, he will surrender the city."

"Another war without losing a single soldier? How can war be so easy?"

Seeing Sun Ce's surprise, Zhou Yu smiled and explained to him.

"The best strategy is to attack the enemy's plans; the next best is to disrupt their alliances; the next best is to attack their army; and the worst is to besiege their cities. This is the meaning of the saying that attacking cities is the worst strategy, while attacking hearts and minds is the best strategy."

However, his gaze darkened, and he chuckled, "But the man behind Yuan Shu is going to miscalculate this time. There are countless heroes in the world, how can he be underestimated? Arrogance leads to defeat!"

Others might not see through this plan, or even if they did, they might not want to enlighten Liu Yao. But in the city of Naqu'a, there was a young general in white robes, loyal and courageous. Although he was not given important positions and only held the rank of military officer, with this man by his side to advise and remind him, it would be difficult to make Liu Yao surrender through mere intimidation.

"Liu Yao actually has such a figure under his command?"

Seeing that Sun Ce was interested, Zhou Yu seized the opportunity to introduce him to Sun Ce.

"This man's surname is Taishi, his given name is Ci. He is highly skilled in martial arts, and possesses both wisdom and courage. He is a rare and excellent general!"
The kind of loyal and righteous person I mentioned earlier, who I believe should be guided by righteous principles and be regarded as a wingman, is precisely someone like him.

If he is captured after this battle at Qu'a, his elder brother can use his status as Yuan Shu's adopted son to protect him, so that he will be grateful and repay the favor in the future.

"To receive such praise from Gongjin, I must see what this young general has to offer."

"By order of our lord! Fine wine and meat are provided in abundance. After all soldiers have eaten their fill, cease all camp construction work, assemble immediately, and await further orders!"

As the two were talking, a group of cooks came over with steaming hot food and wine to distribute to the soldiers. Sun Ce, who was about to continue speaking, had a look of helplessness in his eyes.

"Here we go again. This is the fourth time. Looks like we can forget about getting into this camp."

However, he paused in his speech, only to see Zhou Yu staring blankly at the group of cooks.

"Gongjin?"

"Cooking a meal in a heated pot"

He muttered to himself, then strode up to the group of soldiers and asked, "Tell me, how many plumes of smoke rose from the cooking fires during this meal?"

Seeing that the leader of the group was hesitant to speak, Sun Ce pressed him, "I am the adopted son of Lord Yuan, how dare you hide it from me?"

"Since the eldest son has inquired, I dare not conceal anything."

Seeing that he had explained everything in detail, Sun Ce was speechless for a while. He really didn't expect that acting as Yuan Shu's adopted son for the first time would be so effective.

In contrast, Zhou Yu's face turned frighteningly grim after hearing the exact amount of smoke from the chimneys, and he muttered to himself.

"With his strategic acumen, why would he deliberately deploy a false army without counting the amount of cooking smoke?"

He wasn't asking Liu Yao to surrender; he wanted Liu Yao dead.

His words came out of nowhere, which made Sun Ce quite anxious. "Gongjin, what's going on? What have you thought of?"

"Arrogance leads to defeat! But I never imagined that it wasn't him who was arrogant, but me."

He gave a bitter smile. "Brother, don't you understand? Why was there never any intention to build this camp properly from beginning to end? Because this camp was built to be burned!"

"Let's go to Lord Yuan's main tent. Now that we've finished cooking and preparing the meal, and ordered the soldiers to assemble, it's time to give the order to the generals."

Sure enough, not long after, the generals were ordered to hold a meeting in the main tent. Sun Ce and Zhou Yu lifted the curtain and entered. Inside the tent, they saw a bronze incense burner emitting wisps of smoke. Yuan Shu stood at the head of the tent with his hand on his sword, and the generals stood to the left and right.

Sun Ce, his shoulders draped in fine snow, his robes fluttering, bowed deeply. "Greetings, Godfather."

"Ce'er is here?"

Yuan Shu's solemn expression melted away like spring snow, but his overly friendly gaze made Sun Ce feel uneasy.

Come closer and sit down.

"only!"

"Yu has met Lord Yuan."

Yuan Shu nodded arrogantly, knowing that Zhou Yu and Sun Ce were of one mind, so he no longer bothered to treat them with courtesy.

Instead, he deliberately displayed his usual arrogant demeanor in front of Zhou Yu. Intelligent people tend to overthink things, which might lead Zhou Yu to misunderstand.

"Now that everyone is here, obey my orders!"
Gentlemen, receive the order!

As he spoke, he drew his command token and tossed it to one person for each instruction he gave.

"Huang Gai and Zhou Yu, you two will lead two thousand soldiers to lie in ambush outside the camp. Once the enemy enters the camp, fire rockets at them to ignite the flammable materials inside the tents. The enemy will surely be thrown into chaos!"

"promise!"

"Zhang Xun, you lead 20,000 ambush troops. When you see the fire in the camp, take advantage of the situation and attack. Then the enemy can be defeated."

"Understood!"

"Cheng Pu and Han Dang, each of you will lead two thousand troops. When the enemy flees, attack from both flanks. The enemy will surely be defeated."

"The general will obey the order!"

"Ce'er, you will temporarily lead three thousand soldiers to lie in ambush along the enemy's route. When they flee, suddenly attack and ensure they have no chance of survival!"

"I am willing to die for my adoptive father!"

"The rest of the generals followed me and Xu Chu to lead the remaining troops to besiege Qu'a, shouting that all of Qu'a's elite troops had been ambushed and wiped out, forcing Liu Yao to surrender."

"He has no elite troops, no great generals, and no popular support. How can that rabble possibly stop me? If he does not surrender, then you gentlemen, follow me tonight to breach the city and capture and kill Liu Yao."

"We will obey your orders and are willing to go through fire and water for our lord, even unto death!"

Seeing the generals depart to receive their orders, only the strategist Yang Hong gazed at Yuan Shu, who sat at the head of the table, as if he could see the figure lurking in the shadows behind him.

He stood with his hands behind his back, gazing south.

"What is false can be made real, and what is real can be made false. The interplay of falsehood and reality is unpredictable, and I am ashamed to admit that I am not as good as him."

Seeing crows fly past the gate outside the tent, Yuan Shu tapped the table lightly with his knuckles and said with a smile:
"Between reality and illusion, what changes is not the army, but the hearts of the people."

On that day, I was in Qiao County. Xiahou Dun was a cautious man, and for him, preserving the foundation of Qiao County was more important than seeking victory. The Cao family and the Xiahou family, young and old, could not afford to lose anything.

Even if the night raid succeeds, it doesn't necessarily mean he can repel me. If he fails, he can't afford the consequences. Therefore, he doesn't seek merit but only to avoid mistakes, which is why he will never send troops.

Things are different now. People in Qu'a are in a state of panic, and powerful families are changing their ways. Liu Yao urgently needs a victory to stabilize the people's hearts and prove that he has the strength to contend with me.

Taishi Ci needed a victory to prove himself and change his unappreciated situation. When Liu Yao was isolated and almost desperate, it was his only chance as a lowly military commander.

Two people so eager to win, if I reveal even the slightest weakness, they will pounce on me like hawks or hyenas hunting rabbits.

Ultimately, whether the troops are real or feinted is not important; people tend to believe only what they want to believe.

However, Yuan Shu's patient explanation only earned him a knowing smile from Yang Hong. "My lord, there's no need to say more. I believe you. I truly believe that this plan was your idea."

In his heart, he thought to himself: [My lord, don't memorize it next time. It's too much trouble for you.]

Yuan Shu glared at him irritably and cursed:
"the same as you!"

(End of this chapter)