Chapter 447 – Masquerade Party
Guan Yu had already reached the 6-wing tier while Zhang Fei still had 4. As for Sun Ce, he got 3 and almost obtained the 4th wing, but Zhou Yu got stuck with 2 because he rarely cultivated.
Getting the first 2 was easy for everyone as long as their thoughts were as pure as crystalline water. However, the struggling to get the third and later wings was a challenge.
Guan Yu had gone through various tests in the other life, so he had no problem adjusting his mind to the cultivation technique. As if he was a genius cultivator, he had no bottleneck. Soon, he would obtain the 7th wing if he had more time to meditate and gather more life force.
Zhang Fei reached his bottleneck as his best traits had all been awakened. The rest of his potential virtues were something that Zhang Fei lacked, such as [Humility], [Abstinence], [Patience], and [Charity].
Sun Ce was similar to Zhang Fei as he had a lot of pride and ego as the clan head. Moreover, Tong's provocation disrupted his cultivation flow, and his anger toward the emperor was something that could never be quenched.
Cao Cao resumed talking, "As my strategist stated, we don't have a chance against Zhang Tong's generals and his current immortal power."
"Why?" Everyone was curious, but they could guess what Cao Cao was planning to say.
"First, our latest intel found that Zhang Tong is a 6-wing demon."
"…"
Everyone with the cultivation technique had a chill running down their spines. They knew that every two wings ones got, their strength multiplied, so Tong's power was beyond them many folds.
However, Guan Yu's spirit got fired up as he saw Tong as a worthy opponent. He hoped that one day, he could challenge this emperor in a duel.
Cao Cao continued, "That's not all. Our intel from Xiangyang also reported that Lu Bu is an eight-wing angel!"
"WHAT!?"
All sinners could not remain calm anymore. Even Guan Yu was shocked.
None of the angels here forgot about this taboo name of the son of 3 fathers, Lu Bu. In the other world, all of them almost died trying to kill this god of war. Now, this embodiment of men's nightmare had angel wings, and he was stronger than Tong.
One 6-wing immortal was manageable, but eight-wing one was impossible.
They understood why Cao Cao's strategists hinted that they had no chance against Tong!
However, they misunderstood something.
Zhuge Liang, the one who reported this intel to Cao Cao, hid his laughter as he bit his lower lip.
'Despair, fool!'
It was a part of his plan to make the coalition force overestimating Tong.
He had been exchanging information with his colleagues in Xiangyang via messenger pigeons, so he got the info about Lu Bu's power first.
For the sake of ruining Cao Cao, Zhuge Liang had a plan.
By intimidating the coalition forces, they would be afraid to move, and their provision would dwindle each day they delayed. Ultimately, they would not have enough supplies to fight Tong this year.
This would give Tong more time to react against these overlords, or he could do something to end this farce earlier.
'He could have ended this thing last year. What's he doing over there?'
Still, Zhuge Liang was confused about why Tong was delaying the unification conquest. Everything was ready, but Tong had not moved.
'I hope the situation in his court and his harem alright. Guo Jia's assassins should have killed the first princess by now, and Tong's subordinates should have been splitted into multiple factions. He needs to move soon. Should I send him a warning?'
While Zhuge Liang was scheming in secret, Cao Cao continued presenting of what he found.
"Secondly, his troop placement has already checkmated us. The moment we mobilize, all legions under his control will strike our heartlands and isolate our forces. We might be able to take down Ye and Julu, but we will never be able to wipe out all of Zhang Tong's legions."
This was a common knowledge that Sun Ce and Liu Bei were aware of. Lu Bu and Zhang He's legions stationed at Xiangyang to threaten every region in China as they could move to Jiangdong, the central plain, or the Liang Province at any time they wanted to. Moreover, all garrison forces in Henei, Ganling, Jibei, and Ye could advance south and sweep away Cao Cao's land and Liu Bei's territory.
Although the coalition managed to match Tong's troop number, they lacked training, and their home cities might not be able to support them for too long. In prolonged war, they would be at a disadvantage against Tong's endless provision.
"And lastly," Cao Cao glanced at Pu Jing and Sun Fang, "We lacked competent immortals."
This was a provocation to Pu Jing and Sun Fang to take action or prove themselves. At the same time, it was Cao Cao's usual political scheme to get rid of both Sun Fang and Pu Jing during this war as he did not like the presence of otherworlders who interfered with their future.
As long as Sun Fang and Pu Jing took the bait and volunteered to prove themselves, everybody here would send them to their death or use them as a part of their suicide army.
Pu Jing, as an elite politician, was not perturbed by the provocation. He shamelessly closed his eyes and ignored the challenge.
Sun Fang, however, was still rough in the edge. He mocked Cao Cao in retaliation, "What do you mean, incompetent? I fucked your 30,000-man army with only 10,000 men in Guangling. Tell me, who's the incompetent here!?"
Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan spread their wings, planning to end Sun Fang's life.
Cao Cao raised his hand to stop them, "I'm sorry that my tongue gets ahead of myself. I hope that you accept my apologies. By the way, we need someone with otherworldly skills to handle Li Feihong at Henei. Could you be taking care of this threat?"
"Ha! Who do you think I am!? I killed that goddess of death Hua Shi myself! Zhang Tong's underlings won't be my match!"
Sun Fang did not say that he almost died that day as well. It took him years to recover from the soul injuries. However, he learned many things from that fight.
Using souls to attack other immortals was the stupidest thing to do as the detached souls were weaker than an immortal who used their souls to reinforce their main body. As such, it was ideal for gathering every soul's power into oneself and fighting with their own flesh and blood.
Secondly, system skills were something that Heaven gave them to protect themselves against the local population in this world, but they were useless against other immortals with many wings. Yet, some of them could be used as an auxiliary skill to supplement their power, such as Sun Fang's [Cultivator] with many subskills or Tong's [Time Stop], which could freeze immortals with the same power or weaker.
With that mindset, Sun Fang got more confident in combat.
Seeing that Sun Fang got overconfident, Cao Cao, Cheng Yu, and Guo Jia grinned.
'Fool. Now, let's see if you and Li Feihong can kill each other, or you can just get yourself killed.'
Cao Cao bowed at Sun Fang, "Then, can your force station at Luoyang and mark Zhang Tong Army in Henei? The Monster Legion's commander is Zhang Liao, so we should not let our guard down."
Everyone remembered what kind of general Zhang Liao was. With only 800 men, he could even repel Sun Quan's 100,000 soldiers in the Battle of Hefei. Now, with all the upgrades, Zhang Liao and Li Feihong's tag-team was a threat to Luoyang.
Using the excuse, Cao Cao planned to make Sun Fang, Sun Ce, and Zhou Yu protecting the region and the Yellow River, so the two powerhouses could weaken each other.
Sun Fang agreed to this deployment agreement, but Zhou Yu raised his hand.
"We will match Zhang Liao and Li Feihong's troops. Lord Sun Fang, we will only allocate 50,000 soldiers to your battalions."
"Huh? You're not coming with me?" Sun Fang turned to Zhou Yu in shock.
Liu Bei and Cao Cao were interested in the development.
'I see. They also want Sun Fang dead.'
'Interesting. We have the same idea, after all.'
Zhou Yu shook his head, "No. Actually, we would like to propose a strategy."
"What strategy?"
"You see, among Zhang Tong's border cities, Beihei of Kong Rong has the weakest defense. We would like to ask if Sun Ce and I can lead our remaining 50,000 men to attack this region and secure the eastern coast. Then, our logistic sea route can be secured, and we can improvise better as we move in toward the northern region."
Zhou Yu baited that they were willing to sacrifice Sun Fang for participating in a war against the weakest enemy.
Cao Cao and all strategists believed it was fair, and it went along with their second goal. Therefore, they agreed.
"We'll do that. Thank you for your contribution in advance."
"No problem. We've come here with our sincere attitude, after all. However, lord Marquis, lord Liu Bei, what will you do in this coalition?"
Zhou Yu might have sacrificed a chess piece to weaken Tong, but he would not allow Liu Bei and Cao Cao to sit back and watch their doom.
They had to pay something for the coalition as well!
The entire alliance was nothing but a farce. Everyone wanted to take a chance and weaken their future rival forces.
Cao Cao and Liu Bei did not utter a word. They glanced at their strategists.
If possible, they did not want to contribute anything, but since Zhou Yu forced their hands in this negotiation, they had to come up with something as an excuse so that they could stay behind.
Cheng Yu stepped forward, "Our borders connect with Zhang Tong's cities, so our forces will concentrate on protecting the Yellow River and all ports. Since our 100,000 soldiers are being the meat shields against Zhang Tong's half a million soldiers, we cannot change our deployment."
It was another way to say, [We've already contributed a lot, but all of you did nothing]. Cheng Yu gestured that Cao Cao Army would not move in this coalition, and they would only support Liu Bei and Sun Ce with their supplies.
However, Pang Tong, Xu Shu, and Zhou Yu heard otherwise. To them, it sounded like, [We're going to sit back and protect our cities while we're watching you fight to the death].
Yet, they could not retort either as he was the only one who had fought Tong in secret for years.
Xu Shu walked out and suggested, "Our forces have the most soldiers, so we shall split ourselves into 2 armies. The first one will station in Hongnong and support lord Sun Fang in his fight against Henei's Monster Legion. As for the other one, it will be our elite cavalry unit, but they can only fight in open-plain battles. If you wish to cross the river, please secure a foothold for our horsemen first. After all, we all know that horsemen are not best used in siege battles and naval battles."
Xu Shu placed the main army of Liu Bei on Hongnong as insurance. Since their territory now located in Liang Province and the northwest, Hongnong and Chang'An were perfect locations to be their back-up retreat route had something gone wrong in this coalition.
As for the cavalry unit, it would be led by Ma Chao. The strategist limited their roles, so they would not fight in unfavorable battlegrounds. Then, their casualty will be minimized.
It was another hidden message to Cao Cao forces, retaliating against their nasty deployment scheme.
[We're not fighting on naval battles. If you want us to fight, cross the Yellow River with your armies first, then we will move.]
Pang Tong nodded and added, "Also, currently, our forces have a poor harvest this year. I hope that lord Marquis could provide them with food, equipment, and new weaponry. I also heard the weapon called CANNONS, so I hope that you could share some of them and manufacturing methods with us. In the future, we will be able to contribute more."
