Chapter Fifteen: The Contest Ends Without a Victor

  Lü Bu and his two companions had sat down, ready to watch Ma Chao's duel with Han Sui.

  As for Dou Jiang, he was the most interested in this, and this game was also his own question, so he paid the most attention to it, although he didn't think there would be any masters among the two camps.

  Ma Chao saw a man walking out of the camp, but he didn't recognize him. In the camp, apart from Gao Shun, he didn't know anyone else.

  The newcomer was about twenty years old, with a pale face and no beard, young, not fat, slightly thin. Ma Chao estimated that the opponent was also at a third-rate level, no pressure.

  Just as he was thinking about it, the other party stopped their horse and spoke first, "Upper Party Huang Bin, specially came to learn from you!" He said he wanted to learn, but looking at him like that, it seemed like he was the number one in the world.

  Ma Chao smiled slightly and said, "Ma Chao of Longxi, at your service!"

  This Huang Bin is Gao Shun's deputy general, eighteen years old this year. His martial arts level is indeed third-rate, stronger than ordinary soldiers, but it can only be considered a lower-level third-rate. For Ma Chao, that would be a piece of cake. Ma Chao is now pretending to be at the upper-third-rate level.

  Gao Shun on the stage was also very concerned about this game, after all, it was related to the honor of the whole camp. To say that Gao Shun didn't like Huang Bin very much, because he was too arrogant, eighteen years old and already like this, who knows what he would be like in the future.

  But just a deputy general, and the martial arts are also good, this game can only let him go up. However, Gao Shun still didn't have any confidence in his heart. What level was Ma Chao at? He didn't understand, but he had heard Zhang Yang say that Ma Chao's martial arts were not bad. Since Zhang Yang recognized him so much, it was impossible that he didn't have any skills at all. So, who would die in the end was really hard to say.

  Zhang Yang, who was beside him, had his own thoughts. He was very confident in Ma Chao, and he knew exactly what Huang Bin was like - a mediocre third-rate person, not even as good as Ma Chao. So he wasn't worried about this game at all. He thought it was a sure win, and Zhang Yang put on an air of confidence.

  As soon as Ma Chao finished speaking, Huang Bin on the other side had already launched an attack. His weapon was a large knife, and he danced with his knife towards Ma Chao, ready to take the initiative and catch Ma Chao off guard.

  Ma Chao had long noticed him, although he thought the other was not as good as himself, but he would not underestimate any opponent. Ma Chao would take every battle seriously and be careful, for a ship that sails safely for ten thousand years may still capsize in a ditch one day, which wouldn't be fun at all.

  The two men were not far apart, Huang Bin charged with his sword, ready to use the momentum of the war horse to cut down Ma Chao and win the victory. But his wishful thinking was ultimately going to be in vain.

  When Huang Bin's war horse arrived near Ma Chao, he was dancing with his knife and preparing to slash diagonally at Ma Chao. Just as he did, Ma Chao moved. Seeing Huang Bin's diagonal slash coming, Ma Chao held his long spear in both hands and used the shaft of the spear to deflect the opponent's blade outward. With a loud "ding", Huang Bin's big knife was knocked open.

  Ma Chao was only ten years old, but his strength was indeed not something that Huang Bin could compare to, and he hadn't even used much effort yet.

  Huang Bin obviously didn't expect this, he was still thinking about celebrating the victory with his brothers after cutting down Ma Chao. As a result, the big knife was burst open and he almost couldn't hold on to it, letting the knife fall.

  By the time he reacted and grasped the knife firmly, Ma Chao's spear had already arrived. Ma Chao was attacking, but his speed was not fast, Lü Bu was watching from above, he didn't dare to show off too much, lest he cause unnecessary trouble.

  He thrust his spear at Huang Bin's throat, not too fast. Huang Bin took a look and hurriedly followed Ma Chao's example, using his sword to block the spear. However, he forgot that his strength was no longer superior to others earlier, and his sword almost slipped out of his hand. Fortunately, Ma Chao controlled his strength to be about the same as Huang Bin's in order to hide his true power, so after their weapons clashed this round, they didn't separate by a large distance.

  Huang Bin suddenly felt that Ma Chao's strength had decreased, or was it that his own power had increased? He was puzzled when Ma Chao launched another attack. Back and forth like this, the two men fought for twenty rounds.

  Gao Shun and Zhang Yang on the stage couldn't see anything, Gao Shun thought Huang Bin played steadily, maybe grasping an opponent's weakness could win. And Zhang Yang thought, why are Meng Qi brothers not in state today? Did they forget to eat this morning? No way, he eats more than anyone else every day.

  Only Lü Bu was a great expert, he had seen it early on, "Huang Bin is about to lose."

  Gao Shun and Zhang Yang both looked at Lü Bu, meaning, you tell us how he's going to lose.

  Lü Bu indeed gave face, and all he said was: "Huang Kui's martial arts skills are only third-rate, while Ma Chao..."

  "How is Ma Chao's martial arts skills?" asked Gao Shun.

  "Lü Bu's level is higher than Huang Bin!" Lü Bu said firmly.

  Lü Bu originally thought that Ma Chao gave him a rather strange feeling, could it be that he was... no way, Lü Bu thought to himself that his idea was ridiculous, at such a young age, it's not possible. So he knew that Ma Chao's level was higher than Huang Bin's, but didn't know Ma Chao's true level. Under Ma Chao's deliberate concealment, even someone as skilled as Lü Bu found it very difficult to see his true level.

  "We won't need more than three battles, and Huang Bin will surely be defeated!" Lü Bu added.

  Gao Shun and Zhang Yang listened to Lü Bu's words and didn't ask anything, but continued to focus on the competition between the two people below.

  It was as if to prove Lü Bu's words that within three rounds, Huang Bin was struck down from his horse by Ma Chao and defeated.

  Only the soldiers of the elite camp shouted: "Hurray! Hurray! Hurray!"

  Lü Bu stood up and loudly announced to the whole scene: "The first game of Dou Jiang, Jing Wei Camp wins!"

  The entire elite camp cheered loudly in celebration of their victory.

  Ma Chao watched as his own soldiers cheered, and he himself felt a surge of excitement. It was indeed not easy to win the first round against the elite camp. On the other hand, the elite camp's side, although not everyone was hanging their heads in despair, was indeed affected by the loss, with many soldiers looking like defeated roosters. The elite camp, which most people thought would be settled in two rounds, had surprisingly lost the first round to Ma Chao's camp.

  At this time, Gao Shun stood up and shouted to the troops: "How can you not be able to withstand such a small blow? Victory and defeat are common in war, defeat is nothing to fear, nor is it shameful! What's frightening is that you've been hit by this little thing, and your morale has fallen, hanging your head in despair! Anyone who does this again will get out of the camp, our camp doesn't have cowards who can't face failure!"

  Gao Shun's words indeed had an effect, the morale of the troops who were previously depressed and disheartened was boosted after hearing his words, some soldiers no longer hung their heads in despair as before, it can be seen that Gao Shun is indeed a skilled military commander.

  "Alright, military camp exercise competition, second round, duel array, start!" Lü Bu loudly announced to the entire field.

  At this time, Gao Shun and Zhang Yang also went down to return to their respective teams. Gao Shun led a hundred soldiers from the Trap Array Camp out of the array, while Zhang Yang also brought a hundred elite soldiers from the Elite Array Camp out of the array. The second round of the duel between the two sides was about to begin.

  Both sides are eager to win, wanting to defeat their opponents. The Trap Array Camp wants to make up for their previous losses and cannot afford to lose again. As for the Elite Camp, if they win this round, they will be victorious.

  However, Gao Shun and Zhang Yang had their own ideas. Gao Shun was particularly confident in his own ambush camp, and he had studied the formation method thoroughly, so he practiced it every day and was confident of turning the tide.

  Zhang Yang didn't have much confidence, he knew that Ma Chao had also trained in formation tactics, but there was no way to compare with others. This thought of his was actually correct, Ma Chao had learned formation tactics from his teacher Yan Zhong, but although he had learned, he wasn't as proficient as Gao Shun. Moreover, Gao Shun had been training in the array camp for over two years, while this elite camp had only trained for a month, and there was simply no way to compare.

  "Form up!" With Gao Shun's single command, the hundred men of the vanguard began to form their array.

  Ma Chao took a look and found that it was the crescent moon formation. The crescent moon formation is considered to be a relatively balanced offensive and defensive formation, but it also focuses more on attack, which is indeed a good formation.

  On the other side, Zhang Yang saw that everyone had already set up their formation, and his side couldn't just stand still. He also followed Gao Shun's lead and shouted, "Set up the formation!" The elite troops then sprang into action, setting up a square formation, apparently preparing to defend themselves.

  Ma Chao watched as the two armies shook their heads, this game was lost! It can only be decided in the last round, fortunately, there are only twenty pawns in the last round, and Ma Chao didn't let them play in this round. If you don't look at the formation of the trapped camp, although the guns are all wrapped in cloth, it's still used as white ash, but when encountering a team like the trapped camp, it's absolutely seeking abuse compared to the formation method.

  "Attack the entire army!" With Gao Shun's order, a crescent-shaped formation composed of 100 soldiers launched an attack on the square and round formations formed by the elite camp.

  The Ambush Camp was indeed ferocious, and it was the elite camp that formed a square array, and the shooting method had also been improved for some time with Ma Chao's study, which is why they didn't get defeated by the Ambush Camp, but defending was really strenuous.

  The two armies clashed in a melee, although they knew they would lose in the end, Ma Chao was still very pleased. After all, this was the result of his training for a month. Of course, this achievement was not just his own. The elite camp itself had a good foundation, and every soldier worked hard, which was also one of the reasons.

  Ma Chao believed that even if they met on the battlefield, the elite troops and the vanguard would win, but it wouldn't be a great victory. As the saying goes, killing 1,000 enemies would come at the cost of losing 800 of their own, making the victory a hollow one.

  While Ma Chao was thinking about it, the outcome of the battle had already been decided.

  The elite troops were indeed defeated, with the entire army annihilated and the commander captured. On the other hand, the vanguard's commander was unscathed, and more than 30 soldiers remained, although they were all basically injured.

  At this time, Lü Bu stood up again and loudly declared: "The second round, the fighting array, whoever breaks through the camp wins!"

  One side of the camp cheered in triumph, "Ambush! Ambush!"

  On the other hand, the morale of the elite camp was low, just like the state of the trapped camp in the previous game. This is the ten-year river east and ten-year river west.

  Zhang Yang led the soldiers back to their unit, looking at everyone's appearance, he said loudly: "This round is our defeat, but it's normal. But I'm more glad that this isn't on the battlefield, and all brothers are still here!"

  He paused for a moment and continued: "Our people can fail, that's nothing. But our hearts must never be defeated! You tell me, what are you going to do!"

  "Brothers unite, elite troops are invincible! Brothers unite, elite troops are invincible!" The soldiers of the Elite Corps shouted in unison.

  "Great, and there's still one last game left, we still have a chance, victory will ultimately be ours!"

  "Victory is ours!" The soldiers shouted again.

  At the same time, in the camp of the besieged, Gao Shun was also saying: "Brothers, there is one last game left. Tell me your thoughts with your voices!"

  "Charge forward, fearless and unstoppable! Charge forward, fearless and unstoppable!" The soldiers of the Trap Array Camp shouted in unison.

  Seeing his opponent's state, Zhang Yang smiled slightly and said to Ma Chao: "Brother Mengqi, let you arrange the last game!"

  "Here!" Ma Chao responded with a loud "Here!", he had been ready for a long time. "Hao Yang, Zhu Tao, Zhou Yuan... step forward!"

  Ma Chao pointed to twenty ordinary soldiers in one breath, "Wang Da, step out!" Finally, Ma Chao also pointed to Wang Da, "Yes!" Wang Da stood up, but he was particularly surprised by this. He thought Ma Chao would point to Sun Yi, but looking at Sun Yi's expression, he seemed to have known all along.

  "This final crucial game is up to you now! Winning or losing isn't that important anymore, as long as we can bring out the spirit of our elite troops, that's all that matters! Did you hear me?"

  "Understood!" Twenty-one people replied in unison.

  "Alright, you may go." Just then Lü Bu announced the final sentence of the duel, and after finishing he rode his horse with the military flag and left first.

  The two armies gathered and marched out of the campus in opposite directions. As for how they would meet and fight, no one knew except themselves, nor could anyone see it, only Lü Bu guarding the military flag waiting for the final winner.

  The elite squad led by Wang Da marched into the depths of the valley with twenty people, walking for about a quarter of an hour. Wang Da said to the twenty people: "I have an idea, we twenty people will be divided into three small teams. The first team is led by Hao Yang, you lead six fast and slender brothers to go first, your task is to keep running towards the depths of the valley, looking for the military flag, even if you encounter the enemy, you will continue to run."

  "The second team will be led by Zhu Tao, with six brothers who excel in martial arts. Of course, you must also find the military flag as soon as possible. However, if you encounter enemies, you must weaken their strength, no matter what method is used, whether it's delaying or killing them, as long as they don't find the military flag, your mission will be accomplished. The other six people will follow me, let's go into action!"

  Actually, Little Huaoyang had already taken the lead and run ahead of everyone else. This kid is really fast. It has to be said that Ma Chao's decision to let Wang Da participate in the final round was correct. In terms of martial arts skills, Wang Da is slightly stronger than Sun Yi. But more importantly, Wang Da is a thoughtful person who knows how to think and use his brain, whereas Sun Yi never really uses his brain.

  Wang Da and his seven men encountered an enemy troop of ten on the way, as a result of which six of them were killed in action except for Wang himself who was wounded and escaped.

  Of course, the other side also paid the price of five deaths. As a result, the remaining five people on the other side were ambushed by Wang Da while chasing him and were annihilated by Zhu Tao's seven-man squad at the cost of two deaths.

  Xiao Haozi Haoyang was unlucky and was surrounded by Li Hao's eleven men in the middle of the journey. Seven people were killed, while the opponent only lost three men.

  Li Hao and his eight men, as well as Wang Da and his six elite troops, were all rushing towards the depths of the valley with all their might. They had been walking for more than half a watch when they finally encountered each other, just as the military flag appeared within Wang Da's line of sight.

  Li Hao and Wang Da rushed towards the military flag without hesitation, while the remaining twelve people fought each other to the death, with both sides suffering heavy casualties.

  Li Hao and Wang Da rushed towards the military flag while shooting arrows and throwing spears at each other. However, the arrows missed their mark and the spears did not hit either of them. Just as it seemed that both were about to reach the military flag, Lü Bu suddenly said from beside the flag, "Sorry, unfortunately, the time is up!" Upon hearing this, the two men looked at each other, their eyes filled with disappointment.

  As expected, they saw that the incense stick inserted into the ground had already burned out.

  Lü Bu sighed and said: "Although the time has come, but this exercise comparison did not have a loser! You all won, you are all good!"