Mythical Three Kingdoms

Sun Ce might not have reached his prime yet, but he was still a favored child of heaven, and although Yan Yan was experienced, he wasn’t like Huang Zhong, who became fiercer with age—a super valiant general. Even though he might overpower Sun Ce in martial force, it wasn’t a certainty that he could win by merely saying so.

In the beginning, Sun Ce had a hard time gaining the upper hand against Yan Yan’s forceful and powerful great spear, but as the battle dragged on, he seemed to grow stronger and gradually turned the situation around.

The two had a fierce fight, changed horses midway, and met in battle again. Yan Yan, after all, couldn’t match the youthful vitality of a monster like Sun Ce. When the tide began to turn in Sun Ce’s favor, Yan Yan decisively pressed forward with his main force. The two sides engaged in a chaotic battle that left more than a hundred corpses before the armies disengaged.

”Slap!” Sun Ce slammed his helmet onto the table and then lifted his wine bowl to gulp down the drink.

”This old general really is something!” Sun Ce, after putting down the wine bowl, remarked with a sigh, ”In the midst of battle, he was even stronger than me initially, but, unfortunately, he’s just a bit too old; his recovery speed isn’t up to par.”

”You are focusing on the wrong thing,” Pang Tong said with a frown. ”Showing off momentary bravery is not a good habit. Didn’t you notice that he had just activated his Legion Talent?”

”What’s so great about that? Even after activating his Legion Talent, it barely stabilized his faltering momentum—heavily disadvantaged by his subpar soldiers!” Sun Ce laughed heartily as he smacked the desk, ”However, his martial force is indeed very formidable.”

”Indeed, the soldiers he lead were not his trusted aides, and one could see slight differences. The general only led infantry from the front camp, and from this perspective, they are just regular infantry,” Pang Tong stated, still frowning.

”Eh, how do you know the soldiers he led were not his trusted aides? I saw that their armor and weapons were uniform, and they were led by a brave general; how could they not be his trusted aides?” Sun Ce asked, puzzled.

Pang Tong rolled his eyes at Sun Ce, not bothering to explain. If the challengers this time were Yan Yan’s trusted aides, before Yan Yan’s retreat, there shouldn’t have been any soldiers who feared advancing, let alone a decline in combat power while fighting against Sun Ce’s soldiers—leading to an unsanctioned withdrawal.

Sun Ce also saw Pang Tong’s eye roll, but a good trait of his was that he trusted Zhou Yu, and since Pang Tong had been recommended by Zhou Yu, naturally, he trusted him as well. Since Pang Tong didn’t want to speak, Sun Ce didn’t press the matter.

”Hmm, I think I have a good idea.” Pang Tong thought of a great idea as he considered the relatively low combat power of Yan Yan’s soldiers compared to those of the Central Plains Feudal Lords.

”Bofu, do you feel that there was much change in the soldiers’ combat effectiveness after the enemy activated his Legion Talent?” Although Pang Tong had witnessed it himself, he still wanted to confirm with Sun Ce.

”It seems like they became more tenacious, harder to defeat,” Sun Ce, stroking his chin, replied, ”Yes, that’s the feeling. After activating his Legion Talent, even the enemy himself seemed to become tougher, giving off an air of growing stronger with age, harder to overcome.”

”It seems my feeling was correct,” Pang Tong nodded and said.

”I was close to taking him down, but after he activated his Legion Talent, it appeared his own strength didn’t increase much, but his endurance greatly improved, making him very difficult to defeat,” Sun Ce also recalled the change that occurred after Yan Yan activated his Legion Talent.

”Indeed, it’s as I suspected.” A hint of a smile appeared on Pang Tong’s face. ”The enemy really came to test our combat power.”

”Test our army?” Sun Ce’s expression darkened. ”Doesn’t that mean my earlier leading of the vanguard to charge out has exposed us? My command tent is in the central army, and my trusted aides can’t make it out!”

”On the contrary, General, what you did was excellent,” Pang Tong said, wagging a finger. ”Haven’t you noticed that the infantry and cavalry you brought from Shouchun are much more elite and brave than the ones here, and their equipment is also far superior?”

”Now that you mention it, that’s true,” Sun Ce finally didn’t understand what Pang Tong was saying and inserted a finger into his ear as he spoke. ”By the way, Shiyuan, just call me Bofu. I’m really not used to all this formality.”

”…” Pang Tong fell silent for a moment, finally somewhat understanding why Zhou Yu liked to put on the Spiritual Talent when talking with Sun Ce—Sun Ce simply couldn’t understand what he was saying. ”Alright...”

”By the way, what did you mean by all that?” Sun Ce finally caught on and asked.

”What I mean is, I know how to defeat the enemy now,” Pang Tong said with a pinch to his brow, a look of resignation on his face. ”What you did before was great. Leave the rest to me. Even if we can’t defeat the Yizhou Army in one fell swoop, we can certainly give them a fright!”

”Ha, I knew you could do it!” Sun Ce said, slapping Pang Tong on the shoulder with pride, then as if remembering something, ”But didn’t you say that the enemy has three individuals with Spiritual Talent? Are you sure you can handle them?”

”Not a big problem,” Pang Tong nodded, ”Sometimes it’s precisely because of their great wisdom that they’re confident in their own judgments, and that’s the limitation of all Sages’ perspectives. That is the key to defeating them.”

”Hahaha, I’ll leave it to you then. Make sure to give me the chance to have another go at that old fellow; I’m convinced that next time I can definitely beat him!” Sun Ce cheerfully enjoined, patting Pang Tong’s shoulder.

”Don’t worry, I’ll pick a good moment for you to have your fight with him,” Pang Tong said with a light laugh. If he wasn’t mistaken, the enemy definitely mistook Sun Ce’s previously fought soldiers as his trusted aides.

[This is good, what remains now is a strategy of arrogance. No, such behavior might be too transparent. Rather than feigning, it’s better to do it for real, using the original Jingzhou garrison soldiers as bait. In this way, even a true defeat would not be seen through.] Pang Tong quietly plotted. He was very wary of the three individuals with Spiritual Talent on the other side, but he was even more keen to take them all down in one go.

[But allowing the Yizhou Army to build up momentum could make them difficult to deal with. No, we need the Yizhou Army to build up momentum—it’s only this way that even if they have doubts later, they won’t back down, leaving a permanent shadow in their minds.] Pang Tong suddenly made up his mind. The region of Yizhou itself was part of his and Zhou Yu’s strategic plans, and now it was crucial to leave a shadow there.

Once Pang Tong confirmed that the enemy indeed came to probe, he immediately conceived a plan, ready to give the enemy a harsh lesson.

As for the dangers inherent in his plan, Pang Tong was ready to gamble. If successful, they could eliminate the three Sages in one fell swoop, and Yizhou would be in reach; if they failed and couldn’t suppress the momentum of the Yizhou Army, then he wouldn’t come out on top either! (To be continued. If you like this work, please support it by voting at Qidian ) for recommended tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)