Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

‘I… I was actually defeated in one exchange?’

Zhou Ang felt the strength rapidly leaving his body, his mind only able to conjure this one bizarre thought before he collapsed to the ground.

This scene caused Zhou Xin, who was behind him, to widen his eyes and let out a heart-wrenching cry of pain.

“Ang-di!!!”

Zhou Xin's sorrowful cry did not cause the slightest emotional ripple in Gan Ning; instead, it drew Gan Ning's attention, realizing that Zhou Xin must be a high-ranking member of the anti-Wu alliance.

Immediately, Gan Ning, gripping his long spear tightly once more, charged forward like a tiger entering a flock of sheep.

The hundred-strong Jinfan bandits behind him also followed closely behind Gan Ning like madmen, advancing irresistibly towards the central army.

At this moment, the only ones blocking Gan Ning's path were Zhou Xin and Zhou Ang's three hundred personal guards.

These personal guards, who had received great kindness from Zhou Xin and Zhou Ang, did not retreat, but they were all foot soldiers; how could they possibly stop Gan Ning, who was currently at his peak?

Seeing Gan Ning constantly breaking through and Zhou Ang, who had fallen from his warhorse, silent, Zhou Xin's hatred for Wu County reached a new peak.

Counting forward, it seemed that the blood feud of the Zhou family's one hundred and twenty-three lives had merely increased by one, becoming a blood feud of one hundred and twenty-four lives!

But looking backward, Zhou Ang was already Zhou Xin's only remaining blood relative.

At this moment, a fishy sweetness surged in Zhou Xin's throat, but he forcibly suppressed it, and then roared at Xu Gong, Ze Rong, and the Jiangdong aristocratic families around him.

“What are you all still hesitating about? From the day we started this rebellion, there has been no turning back! Or do you think the treacherous Liu Xuande will spare you after he returns to Wu County?”

These words undoubtedly awakened many who had witnessed the chaos and were subconsciously prioritizing their own safety, including Xu Gong, Ze Rong, and the Jiangdong aristocratic families.

The anti-Wu alliance had been formed, which already meant that most people had no way out.

If they could not break through Wu County, after Liu Bei led his army back to support Wu County, he would likely settle accounts with those who participated in the anti-Wu alliance one by one.

People like Xu Gong might still be able to abandon their official positions and flee back to Runan.

But the Jiangdong aristocratic families, unless absolutely necessary, were unwilling to abandon their hometowns, which they had managed for many years, and choose to flee Jiangdong.

Immediately, many newly awakened aristocratic families ordered their trusted guards to step forward and resist the siege of Gan Ning.

For a time, the pressure on Gan Ning increased dramatically!

Under Zhou Xin's words, the panicked atmosphere that originally surrounded the central army dissipated a lot!

Of course, more importantly, Gan Ning ultimately only led a hundred riders. If he could not break through in one fell swoop and cause chaos in the central army, now that his true strength had begun to be seen through, it would naturally no longer cause panic and fear.

Gan Ning might have felt some unwillingness and regret in his heart, but he also knew that the situation was no longer favorable. If he held onto any侥幸之心, he would only leave himself here as well.

“Withdraw!”

Immediately, Gan Ning used his spear to pick off several enemy soldiers in a row, and then directly prepared to break out from the weak flank.

As long as he retreated from the central army and returned to the eastern side of the camp, which was still in a state of “camp riot,” the chaotic soldiers would be the best shield to cover Gan Ning's retreat.

Perhaps Gan Ning's actions seemed impulsive and reckless, but in reality, Gan Ning had also retained a way out for himself.

However, just as Gan Ning turned around.

“Deng deng deng!!!”

Three ear-piercing sounds exploded in the chaotic battlefield, and three sounds of air being torn apart rapidly approached Gan Ning from a very close distance.

Crossbows!

Gan Ning was shocked. Almost instinctively, he raised his spear and twisted it towards the direction of the sound of air being torn apart to protect his vital points.

The next moment, Gan Ning felt a pain in his left shoulder!

Looking down, it was a crossbow bolt that had directly penetrated his shoulder armor and gone deep into his shoulder.

‘How could a group of Jiangdong rats have crossbows?!’

Gan Ning didn't have time to think about this question; instead, he felt a burst of luck.

If they were ordinary archers pulling bows, their arm strength would be limited.

Not to mention whether the arrows they shot would be reacted to by a fierce general like Gan Ning, some might not even be able to penetrate Gan Ning's armor and cause injury.

However, crossbows were different!

Even the most ordinary crossbow could give ordinary soldiers more lethality than a strong bow in the hands of a skilled archer.

Moreover, because there was no need to draw the bow, this made the crossbow's sneak attack more concealed!

However, the shortcomings of crossbows were also obvious. If a shot missed, the time required to reload was too long, and there was basically no chance to fire a second time.

Immediately, Gan Ning threw the spear in his hand forward, directly piercing through the two foot soldiers in front of him.

Then, Gan Ning pulled out the sword at his waist, endured the pain, and snapped off the exposed end of the arrow to prevent the crossbow bolt from being impacted by external forces, causing secondary tearing injuries and forming fatal bleeding.

The Jinfan bandits following behind Gan Ning also noticed that Gan Ning had been hit by an arrow. Almost without waiting for Gan Ning to speak, one by one, they took the initiative to cross Gan Ning and charge forward, clearing the way for Gan Ning.

“Damn it, do I need you to clear the way?”

Gan Ning cursed angrily, directly snatched a weapon from a Jinfan bandit beside him, and then once again spurred his horse to accelerate, taking the lead in charging forward.

And although Gan Ning was injured and his left arm was almost unable to move, no difficult enemy general appeared in the anti-Wu alliance.

This allowed Gan Ning to rush out of the central army in an instant, and after returning to the eastern side of the camp, he quickly disappeared from the eyes of the anti-Wu alliance like a dragon returning to the sea.

Only before leaving, Gan Ning, still in pain from his left shoulder, did not forget to leave a harsh word, shouting loudly.

“The one who shot the arrow in secret, wait for me…”

This behavior of taking an inch and wanting a mile undoubtedly made the faces of a group of aristocratic families in the anti-Wu alliance quite ugly.

Their own camp had been destroyed to what extent, and the casualties were heavy. As a result, you, little brat, suffered an arrow and seemed to be full of resentment and dissatisfaction.

Could it be that you really thought that the camp of our anti-Wu alliance was a prostitute's bed, where you could come and go as you pleased?

At this moment, Zhou Xin hurriedly rushed to Zhou Ang's body. Zhou Ang had been repeatedly trampled by the Jinfan bandits' warhorses, and his face was already unrecognizable, almost reduced to minced meat.

If Zhou Xin was not quite familiar with the armor on Zhou Ang's body, he would not even dare to recognize that this was his own younger brother.

At this moment, Zhou Xin, trembling all over, only felt a dizziness in his mind, and almost fainted directly from anger.

Xu Gong, who followed over and took a look, also secretly sucked in a breath of cold air, and then opened his mouth to comfort him.

“Lord Zhou, please restrain your grief and accept the changes!”

Restrain grief and accept the changes?!

What Zhou Xin hated the most was hearing this phrase. A burst of evil fire rose subconsciously in his heart, wanting to slaughter Xu Gong's entire clan, to see if Xu Gong could restrain his grief and accept the changes.

If Xu Gong was not incompetent, constantly hesitating, and did not send his personal guards to resist Gan Ning in the first place, and even hid the crossbows but was slow to use them, how could my brother have died?!

At this moment, Zhou Xin's hatred for Xu Gong was not inferior to that of Li Ji, second only to Liu Bei.

However, Zhou Xin, considering the overall situation, knew that once he broke with Xu Gong at this moment, it would mean that the anti-Wu alliance had directly come to an end, and he had to endure it, opening his mouth with a tense face.

“Thank you, Alliance Leader, for your kindness, but the top priority is to quickly mobilize soldiers to quell the ‘camp riot’ to avoid further unnecessary losses.”

Xu Gong heard this and belatedly reacted. Only then did he, in his capacity as Alliance Leader, mobilize the soldiers on the western side of the camp to suppress the “camp riot.”

Only Ze Rong, wearing a monk's robe, walked over with a Buddha-like face, chanting a Buddhist prayer, saying.

“If Benefactor Zhou doesn't mind, this poor monk might as well chant scriptures for the deceased to help them transcend, perhaps reducing their pain and allowing them to ascend to the Pure Land sooner.”

Zhou Xin might not believe in the so-called Buddhist doctrines, but at this moment, his mind was in a mess, and he was filled with grief and indignation. However, he nodded and agreed, hoping that this could bring some benefit to his own younger brother.

Ze Rong saw this, and a smile couldn't help but appear on his face.

For Ze Rong, if he could convert Zhou Xin into a believer, even if this crusade against Wu County failed, it would completely open the channel for spreading Buddhism in Danyang County and Jiujiang County.

What unchanging aristocratic families for thousands of years?

What heroes with great ambitions?

What hegemons vying for the world?

In Ze Rong's view, these were all虚的!

Even if Wu County now seemed to no longer rely on aristocratic families to control its territory, as long as the millions of people in the three counties wholeheartedly believed in Buddhism, as long as Liu Bei did not want those people to riot, he would inevitably not dare to move Ze Rong one bit.

In fact, Ze Rong's purpose in participating in the anti-Wu alliance was to take the opportunity to open up channels for spreading Buddhism in the other three counties while looting in Wu County.

Zhou Ang's death was a good thing…

With Zhou Ang dying like this, even if he could not make Zhou Xin completely believe in Buddhism at this moment.

In the future, Ze Rong would have plenty of means to use the pretext of transcending Zhou Ang to start building Buddhist temples and holding Buddhist ceremonies in Jiujiang County and Danyang County, rapidly expanding his influence.

Zhou Ang was Zhou Xin's only remaining blood relative. Upholding the common person's consistent idea of “better to believe it than not,” Ze Rong was not at all afraid that Zhou Xin would refuse.

Immediately, in front of Zhou Xin, Ze Rong still looked like a virtuous monk, leading the several monks beside him, and holding a grand transcendence ceremony for Zhou Ang that night.

After the specific casualty figures were tallied in the morning, Xu Gong, Zhou Xin, Ze Rong, and others were all shocked.

The only ones who raided the camp were the hundred men led by Gan Ning, but under the outbreak of the “camp riot,” there were not a few soldiers who killed each other, so that the dead and wounded soldiers amounted to more than six thousand.

Before even truly arriving at Yangxian in Wu County, more than six thousand people had already been lost. This undoubtedly dealt a major blow to the morale of the anti-Wu alliance.

More importantly, after Gan Ning's raid on the camp, facing the continuous harassment from the Yue tribes, the Anti-Wu Alliance was constantly on edge, fearing that Gan Ning would repeat his success amidst the insignificant disturbances.

"'The Corsair Gan Xingba!'"

This name had almost become the nightmare of all the soldiers in the Anti-Wu Alliance. Many soldiers would wake up in fear because of this name after falling asleep.

The sound of horses' hooves and bells seemed to ring in the ears of every soldier at any time.

It was under such a tense atmosphere that the marching speed of the Anti-Wu Alliance further decreased. Although it was only a few dozen miles, it took them two more days to reach Yangxian City, exhausted.

At this moment, the Anti-Wu Alliance, with more than 130,000 troops, looked at Yangxian City standing beside the Lishui River, and for a moment, they had a feeling of relief and excitement.

Almost after entering the territory of Wu Commandery, under the harassment of the Yue tribes and the threat of Gan Ning, the entire Anti-Wu Alliance had hardly had a good night's sleep.

At present, the Anti-Wu Alliance can be described as being in a state of exhaustion.

Compared with the Anti-Wu Alliance's feeling of relief, Jia Xu was also standing on the city wall of Yangxian City at this moment, looking at the Anti-Wu Alliance slowly appearing from the mountain paths in the distance.

"They've finally arrived. I've been waiting for quite a while."

Jia Xu, with a kind and harmless look, gently stroked his long beard, with a compassionate smile on his face.

Gan Ning's raid with a hundred riders was completely unexpected by Jia Xu.

Previously, Jia Xu never thought that Gan Ning would have such courage and bravery, so that the effect of the plan to exhaust the enemy was far better than expected.

"Don't worry, everyone will be relieved soon…"

Jia Xu said in a compassionate and sympathetic voice. (End of this chapter)