Mythical Three Kingdoms

Zhou Yu, in truth, is quite cautious, but you can’t expect a person who has been in the South for years and has barely come to the North to understand the Northern Barbarians’ way of scouting with eagles.

Li Yan, who was also sent to complete this task, is also quite cautious, but the problem is none of his precautions accounted for aerial reconnaissance. For someone like Li Yan or Zhou Yu, who has largely been in the South, this is something they have never encountered.

This led to the situation where, although Zhou Yu and Li Yan were very vigilant, they were actually already exposed and unaware of it.

”General, there’s a group of about thirty Miscellaneous Huns rushing towards us,” a scout hidden in the grass carefully reported to Li Yan.

”Hmm, directly towards us?” Li Yan asked after a moment of silence.

”Yes, there’s no sign of determining their position, yet they are coming straight at us,” the scout replied truthfully.

Li Yan’s heart sank. He had been extremely cautious all the way here, but he didn’t expect such an accident, ”Are there any large forces following those thirty Miscellaneous Huns?”

”No, we have confirmed it’s just these thirty. They seem to have accidentally passed through here,” the scout lowered his head and conveyed his guess to Li Yan.

”I see.” Li Yan felt somewhat relieved after hearing the scout’s words, but the thought of them heading straight here made him skeptical.

”Keep an eye on them,” Li Yan said after a moment of silence to the scout.

The Wuhuan Chief’s liaison looked at the War Eagle in the sky. The eagle was circling above them, indicating the Han Army was here, but all the Wuhuan Chief could see was a patch of weeds. Although there could be a hundred-pace difference due to the angle, failing to find the Han Army at such proximity still said a lot.

”Brave warriors of the Great Han Dynasty, we are not the Northern Huns, we are Wuhuan. If you continue to hide here, you might be discovered by the Northern Huns,” the Wuhuan liaison took a deep breath and shouted towards the front.

The Wuhuan spoke in Han, so Li Yan understood very clearly. Cold sweat almost soaked his back. Although he wasn’t sure if the other party was bluffing, the scout’s report that they were coming straight here made him instantly realize they weren’t being deceived.

Li Yan immediately leaped from the grass, appearing directly in front of the Wuhuan liaison, who was also startled.

”Who are you?” Li Yan asked, staring at all the Wuhuan people.

”We are Wuhuan. We don’t want to fight with your Han Army, but if we don’t fight, we’ll die. Yet, if we fight and you suffer heavy losses, we will still die,” the Wuhuan liaison swiftly explained. At this moment, pretending was the same as seeking death.

”How did you discover us?” Li Yan quickly understood the Wuhuan liaison’s point and immediately asked the next question.

”Eagles, so you cannot hide here,” the Wuhuan liaison pointed to the eagle in the sky, ”The Northern Huns’ eagles are stronger and fly higher!”

Li Yan looked up at the small dot in the sky, his face darkening, ”If the Northern Huns scout this way, how long before they find us?”

”Eagles fly very fast, much faster than Scout Cavalry. We can’t be sure, but the trained eagles can’t stray too far from the main army. We estimate the Northern Huns will arrive in about one hour, and with the trained eagles, slowly it’ll take three-quarters of an hour, quickly it’ll take One Quarter Hour,” the Wuhuan liaison quickly said.

”From the sky?” Li Yan took a deep breath. He now had two choices: one was to retreat to the ship and inform Zhou Yu that the plan had failed and then devise another solution; the other was to break up into smaller groups and hide in the forest and shrubs.

”All Garrison Commanders listen to orders: conceal yourselves by squads, do not let the trained eagles in the sky find you!” Li Yan immediately issued the command.

Although the forest and shrubs are dangerous, Li Yan was willing to take the risk rather than give up now. The possibility of the Huns burning the forest near the main battlefield is low.

Of course, this possibility is not negligible, at least Li Yan knows if the other side was someone like Zhou Yu, who would set fire to solve problems, they would be miserable in the forest.

Now it’s early autumn, and while the weather is dry, the broadleaf forest’s canopy effectively shields from aerial reconnaissance.

Regarding splitting into squads, when regrouping they’ll become scattered forces and combat power will drop significantly, which Li Yan’s Legion Talent can forcibly resolve.

Upon Li Yan’s command, nearly a thousand people turned up in front of the Wuhuan liaison and even further away more people emerged, swiftly executing Li Yan’s orders.

”Which Wuhuan tribe are you from?” Li Yan asked. If it hadn’t been for the Wuhuan risking themselves to provide this crucial intelligence, his Eastern Wu soldiers would likely have perished here today.

”We are not from any single tribe; we are most of the Wuhuan from Youbei, so when the fight starts, have your Han Army not target us specifically,” the Wuhuan liaison looked around and informed Li Yan of this big news.

”Most of the Wuhuan from Youbei?” Li Yan felt a bit dazed, ”So the Wuhuan on the Liaodong Peninsula don’t want to align with the Northern Huns?”

The Wuhuan liaison nodded repeatedly like a pecking chick, as did the others who accompanied him.

”Since you all don’t want to align with the Northern Huns, why don’t you fight them with us?” Li Yan couldn’t comprehend the Wuhuan people’s mindset.

”We can’t win.” ”We’re not a match.” ”Our homeland is occupied.” ”The Chanyu is under control.” The Wuhuan liaisons buzzed as they spoke, but Li Yan understood what they meant.

”Alright, as long as you don’t attack us, we can promise not to strike first, and when you are coerced by the Northern Huns to fight us, we can promise not to treat you as the primary target,” Li Yan made an empty promise and immediately gave reassurance to the Wuhuan.

”Thank you. In a while, we plan to depart before the Northern Huns arrive and do some mounted archery at that Han Army. Of course, just for show,” the leading Wuhuan liaison gave Li Yan another piece of important news, and Li Yan immediately understood the situation.

[It seems the Wuhuan doesn’t want to be cannon fodder and fear being wiped out by us; they want to establish good relations but have no way to gain trust. It seems the eagle scout incident was an accident, and now they want to completely get out of the Han and Huns war pit.]

Li Yan instantly estimated, and a plan formed in his mind, [Just this isn’t enough, Wuhuan, you must hand over a Token of Allegiance to show me what you are capable of. The weak must obey the strong; how can you sit high and remain unchallenged?]