Mythical Three Kingdoms

”I think it might be difficult to gain the trust of another regiment, Jing Da, come here.” Li Yan suddenly spoke gently to several Wuhuan liaisons, and when Lai Min heard Li Yan’s voice, he immediately brought over a dozen people.

Li Yan carefully transmitted the general situation to Lai Min, and also shared his own strategy with him. After Lai Min thought it over for a while, he confirmed that Li Yan’s idea indeed had the potential to be realized, so he nodded slightly.

”Thank you, General, for your understanding.” The Wuhuan liaison officer, seeing Lai Min dressed in armor with a precious sword at his side, and hearing the chief general call him by name, knew that this was a high-ranking officer in this regiment, so he gratefully bowed to Li Yan.

”Jing Da, I’ll leave it to you.” Li Yan gave Lai Min a look that only the two of them understood.

Lai Min nodded slightly and said, ”In that case, we should hurry on our way to prevent the Northern Huns from arriving too early. Please lead me to negotiate with the other Han Army.”

The Wuhuan liaison officers hurriedly made a gesture of invitation, and Lai Min mounted his horse to follow them to the gathering place of the Wuhuan’s main forces.

After Lai Min left, Li Yan immediately hid with all his might, splitting the entire regiment into hundreds of groups hiding in dense shrubs or forests.

When Lai Min and the Wuhuan people arrived at their camp, several Wuhuan chiefs came to meet him, fearing they might neglect this key figure representing the relationship between both parties.

Lai Min did not put on airs, but casually observed the Wuhuan camp. The camp was poorly put together, but the Wuhuan soldiers looked quite formidable; at least each of them appeared towering and burly.

”Thank you all for your previous assistance. We will certainly repay you generously in the future.” Lai Min solemnly bowed to the Wuhuan chiefs, who were all pleased. Indeed, the Han Army was far better than the Hun forces.

”I see that you all seem deeply oppressed by the Huns. How many Hun troops are stationed here?” Lai Min continued his inquiries after bowing.

”Three thousand, the Northern Huns only stationed three thousand troops here.” The Wuhuan chief didn’t bother to hide it and readily gave away the information about the Huns, considering they were all enemies anyway.

”Only three thousand?” Lai Min was greatly surprised, ”I see you have no less than ten thousand troops, with several thousand cavalry. How can three thousand Northern Huns threaten the Wuhuan warriors?”

The Wuhuan chiefs were somewhat embarrassed. It’s really not their fault. They had over ten thousand men, while the Northern Huns only had three thousand, but they didn’t even dare to think of resistance. The fact is, thirty thousand Northern Huns utterly defeated the over ten thousand Wuhuan soldiers here in the past.

Even during Gongsun Bogui’s time, three thousand defeated tens of thousands many times. They only have about ten thousand Wuhuan here, so losing is normal.

However, saying such things is shameful, so the Wuhuan chief with the short spear coughed twice and said, ”The Huns have controlled our tribes from the rear, so if we make any move here, then...”

The other Wuhuan chiefs nodded with a shared sentiment. Although this wasn’t the main reason, the main reason was really that they couldn’t win.

”I see.” Lai Min showed a look of sudden realization, ”In that case, if you don’t exert effort to attack us, I’m afraid there may be turmoil at the rear.”

The Wuhuan chiefs reluctantly nodded, which is why they delivered insufficient efforts rather than outright refusing to act.

”However, even so, if you deliver insufficient efforts, when the Huns are thoroughly defeated, they will likely vent their anger on you,” Lai Min said to the Wuhuan chiefs, who looked at each other in surprise, having not considered this angle.

Seeing the Wuhuan chiefs’ expressions, Lai Min’s face turned stern, ”In that case, why not go all out once and for all, since you’ve already made a move? Kill all the Huns. If the message doesn’t get out, won’t everything be resolved?”

These words left the Wuhuan chiefs startled as they looked at Lai Min, but Lai Min remained calm. ”Don’t you think this is the quickest solution? Completely destroy these Northern Huns, and naturally, no message will get out, and then it’s just a matter of rescuing the tribes behind.”

Seeing the Wuhuan chiefs hesitating, Lai Min scolded, ”The Northern Huns are for our Han Army to deal with. A mere three thousand Northern Huns, when has the Han Army ever feared them? Our army will attack from the front and back. As long as the Wuhuan prevent any scattered Northern Huns from escaping, won’t they be completely annihilated here?”

Upon being scolded, the Wuhuan chiefs realized that this might indeed be the case. Although this group of Han Army didn’t have cavalry, they had many infantry, and with a surround and attack strategy, using multiple times the troops to encircle the Huns, destroying the opponent would be quite normal as long as the Huns couldn’t break through.

Instantly, the Wuhuan chiefs made their decision. Facing the Huns directly, they truly didn’t dare, but now that the Han Army had the Huns encircled, they only needed to ensure any fleeing Northern Hun remnants didn’t escape, allowing the Han Army to pursue and eliminate them.

This task wasn’t difficult, and it indeed guaranteed safety. The Wuhuan chiefs quickly agreed after a brief consideration.

”Heh, Northern Hun remnants to what extent do they count as remnants? It’s too much to expect to get what you want from us without bloodshed. Lai Min sneered imperceptibly. ”We’re going all out to help you wipe out the Northern Huns. Your expectations are too high.”

After persuading the Wuhuan chiefs, Lai Min proceeded under their escort to the place where Zhou Yu’s army set up camp to prepare food. Almost as soon as the Wuhuan people arrived, Zhou Yu’s side reacted. Fortunately, Lai Min carried the complete military orders.

Once Lai Min reported everything to Zhou Yu, Zhou Yu broke out in a cold sweat, completely unaware that the Northern Barbarians had such tricks up their sleeves. If the Wuhuan hadn’t already been of two minds, they would have suffered significant losses this time.

”After all, the North is different from the South. It seems I need to be more cautious in the future,” Zhou Yu thought gravely. Although they didn’t suffer losses this time, it served as a wake-up call.

”Jing Da, you and Zheng Fang mean to preserve our strength and let the Wuhuan clash directly with the Northern Huns when the time comes?” Zhou Yu asked after hearing Lai Min’s account.

”Yes, the Wuhuan have a mighty army of over ten thousand, with cavalry alone of no less than five thousand. With such strength, if not restrained by the Huns controlling their tribes, taking down the Wuhuan wouldn’t be easy for the Huns. And if we engage the Huns directly and then absorb the Wuhuan, it might end up with us being strong but having weak subordinates.” Lai Min said gravely, noting that in his view, this branch of the Wuhuan was not weak at all.

”You make a valid point, but not right now. As it stands, we don’t even know the full strength of the Northern Huns. If the Wuhuan can’t hold them off and the Northern Huns break through, it’s not just the Wuhuan who would suffer, but us as well,” Zhou Yu shook his head.

The differences between North and South were not perceived earlier, but the matter of training eagles had revealed some of it, indicating avoiding such situations where we know ourselves but not the enemy; it’s best to give it our all first before making another move.