The Three Kingdoms: Rise to Power Starting with Intercepting Liu Bei

The latest work by author I Love Niuwogu, "The Three Kingdoms: Rise from Intercepting Liu Bei," is exclusively published on Cola Novels!

The Xianbei soldiers who organized the counterattack lost dozens of men in the first round. The overwhelming rain of arrows left them with no way to avoid it, and they could only grit their teeth and continue to ride forward and fight back, brandishing their scimitars.

"Warriors soaring over the grasslands, vanquish them and seize your spoils!"

The tribal chief, cheering, charged to the front. Seeing that many of his warriors had been shot down, he quickly rallied his troops.

"I--!"

However, his words were cut short as a stray arrow struck him squarely in the chest. His pupils widened, his face filled with disbelief, and he fell headlong into the ground, filled with resentment.

The two armies clashed and engaged in a brutal battle.

Yue Fei wielded his spear with unparalleled skill, thrusting and stabbing back and forth in the enemy ranks, each sweep and thrust taking a life.

The three thousand Beiwei soldiers fought in a three-man formation, cooperating well and defending effectively, achieving almost zero casualties.

The sounds of battle, which resounded through the sky, traveled far and wide, alarming Kebineng, who was more than ten miles away.

Hearing the faint sounds of fighting coming from afar, Kebineng knew something was wrong and quickly put on his armor and organized reinforcements.

But Zhuge Liang rushed out to stop him just as he was about to mount his horse and charge:

"My lord, hold on! Sending reinforcements without first ascertaining the enemy's situation is a cardinal sin in military strategy!"

"Mr. Kongming, didn't you hear the sounds of battle coming from afar? The Tiele tribe is under attack, and I must organize reinforcements. Those are my most trusted subordinates; get out of the way!"

Kebineng, mounted on horseback, stared anxiously at Zhuge Liang, his voice surprisingly loud.

"My lord, I cannot send you to your death in vain. We cannot launch an attack without ascertaining the enemy's situation!"

Zhuge Liang did not back down and stood directly in front of Kebineng.

Guan Yu stood aside, unable to dissuade him no matter what he did, and even made a gesture of drawing his sword. Once Ke Bineng's anger level was full, he could react quickly to any dangerous actions he might take against Zhuge Liang.

He didn't get involved in the affairs of nomadic tribes; his only responsibility was to protect Zhuge Liang's personal safety.

Zhuge Liang held off Kebineng's forces alone, resulting in a stalemate. As the sounds of battle in the distance grew increasingly intense, Kebineng became extremely anxious. However, he still retained a sliver of rationality and dared not do anything to Zhuge Liang, after all, there was a killing god watching him from the side.

"Mr. Kongming, what do you suggest we do?"

Kebineng gave in, speaking helplessly like a deflated balloon.

"The enemy situation is currently unclear. Lord Xi must not launch an attack rashly. I urge you to quickly send out scouts to investigate the situation within a range of more than ten miles around the royal court. I am worried that this is a feint by the enemy."

Without hesitation, Zhuge Liang shared his thoughts.

These nomadic tribes had no idea about military tactics; they only knew how to charge headlong into battle like brutes wielding scimitars, without even understanding the most basic feints or diversions.

If these barbarians weren't of any use, Zhuge Liang wouldn't have bothered with them.

Kebineng immediately did as instructed, dispatching a large number of scouts to investigate the situation around the royal court. After all, their area was almost an endless grassland with no mountains or ravines to block the way, making it an ideal combat zone for cavalry.

After about the time it takes to drink two cups of tea, the scouts responsible for reconnaissance reported one after another that nothing unusual had happened. Only then was Zhuge Liang relieved and immediately ordered Guan Yu and Kebineng to go and meet the enemy.

Guan Yu immediately accepted the order, asked Kebineng for a fairly sharp spear, and rode off to follow. His signature Green Dragon Crescent Blade was still in Shanyang, and he did not bring it with him on this mission. He only had a longsword on him, which was really unsuitable for cavalry combat.

When Kebineng and Guan Yu arrived at the Tiele tribe with the royal court's elite troops, what they saw before them made them exclaim that it was impossible.

The vast grassland was littered with corpses trampled by iron hooves, most of them soldiers of the Tiele tribe. The air was filled with the smell of meat and blood. As it was getting late, they did not take in the whole scene, but only glanced at the edge of the battlefield.

"This...this..."

Kebineng seemed frightened, his speech was somewhat incoherent, but a trace of fear could still be detected in his trembling voice.

The Tiele tribe was his most relied-upon military force, numbering in the tens of thousands, and equipped with the finest weapons. It was one of his sharpest blades as he traversed the grasslands.

But now, facing the Qin army's iron cavalry, they were so easily defeated, and the battlefield was littered with corpses.

"Lord Kebineng, don't just stand there! Hurry up and chase them, or they'll escape!"

Guan Yu's reminder snapped Kebineng out of his brief fear. His dazed gaze followed the direction Guan Yu was pointing, where the remaining soldiers of the Tiele tribe were chasing the enemy with torches a few miles away.

"Warriors, give chase!" Kebineng pointed his scimitar forward, roared, and spurred his warhorse to gallop away, with the Xianbei soldiers roaring and following closely behind.

Guan Yu shook his head and sighed. Barbarians are still barbarians after all. They will never become civilized. How can they compete with the Qin army with such low quality? They are only relying on their strong warhorses.

At this moment, he began to waver in his belief that Zhuge Liang should unite nomadic tribes to fight against the Qin army.

···········

While Yue Fei led his men on horseback to evade the pursuers behind them, he pondered whether Ke Bineng had fallen into a trap. In his battle plan, if Ke Bineng did not take the bait, then his plan would be largely useless. How could he know Ke Bineng's true strength in that case?

"General, General, it looks like Kebineng's reinforcements are arriving in the distance!"

Just as Yue Fei was pondering, a soldier's reminder made him turn around. He saw a dense array of torches appearing in the distance from the Xianbei pursuers. There were many of them, and they were moving extremely fast, like a fireball drifting by, which made people's scalps tingle!

"Ignore them. Our goal is to lure them away as far as possible, creating an opportunity for the other two groups!"

Yue Fei was secretly delighted. Kebineng had indeed fallen for the trap. He just didn't know how many troops were still in the royal court.

As time passed, chaos erupted on the grasslands surrounding the Gaoliu royal court. A massive pursuit was underway, with Yue Fei leading over 5,000 troops, including a support army, to wreak havoc on the Kebineng tribe.

Like flying a kite, he kept his distance from the other, neither too close nor too far, making Kebineng like a fanatical gambler who couldn't bear to give up.

············

As darkness fell, the sky was filled with stars. The area around the royal court of Gaoliu was eerily quiet, devoid of the previous nighttime revelry of singing and dancing. Instead, a tense and solemn silence prevailed.

Zhuge Liang paced back and forth in his tent, his eyelids twitching. He felt uneasy, as if he had overlooked something, but then he remembered that there were still several thousand Xianbei cavalry and five hundred axemen in the royal court, and his anxious heart calmed down a little.

"Tap tap tap~~~~"

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps approached. Just as Zhuge Liang was about to go out and investigate, a guard rushed in, lifting the curtain in a hurry.

The guard was covered in soot and smelled strongly of smoke. Before Zhuge Liang could ask anything, the guard grabbed him and pulled him outside.

"Sir, we must leave immediately! There's a fire here, everything's burning, it'll be too late if we don't leave now!"

Zhuge Liang was dragged outside the tent, where he saw the entire royal court ablaze, and the Xianbei soldiers left behind were frantically trying to fetch water to put out the fire.

However, the entire royal court was made up of tents made of felt, and once the fire started, it was impossible to extinguish.

The remaining axemen could only pull Zhuge Liang away as quickly as possible.

"Damn it, let's get out of here!"

Zhuge Liang seemed to have thought of something, and after cursing angrily, he hurriedly retreated under the guidance of his guards!