Chapter Sixteen: Desire to Launch a Campaign and Decide to Use Troops

  Since the time is up, according to the rules, there is no winner, and everyone has lost. But Lü Bu didn't say that, he said that everyone was a winner, and it's not like he didn't have the intention of comforting them.

  Although Lü Bu said so, the disappointed mood of Li Hao and Wang Da did not decrease much. After all, facts are facts, no victory is no victory.

  Lü Bu, Li Hao and Wang Da, as well as the other soldiers who participated in this round of competition, all returned to the training grounds. The people at the training grounds thought that this round would surely determine the final winner, but the result of the competition was still beyond their expectations.

  Neither side expected both sides to be overtime, that is, neither side succeeded, a draw. Apparently, the soldiers on both sides are unwilling to accept this result.

  This game is a draw. Adding the results of the previous two games, both sides are still tied and neither side is satisfied with this result. Some people even suggested playing another game to determine the winner.

  Gao Shun and Zhang Yang looked at their subordinates, they both understood. The Trap Array Camp and the Elite Camp had always been at odds with each other, looking down on each other. They finally had a chance to compete in a drill, but the result was still a tie. Whether they competed or not didn't make much of a difference, neither side could gain the upper hand, so both sides were still dissatisfied with each other.

  Ma Chao could also understand these soldiers, but he didn't dare to speak out. What he was thinking about more was whether this competition could make both sides unite and cooperate against the enemy. If they continued to distrust each other, it would be difficult to deal with on the battlefield.

  "Just then, Lü Bu spoke up, 'Brothers, quiet down, quiet down!'"

  The room immediately fell silent as everyone wanted to hear what Lü Bu had to say.

  "I know everyone wants to compete and win, but have you ever thought about it? Is winning or losing really that important? We are all from the same place, we are all one family, why must we compete with each other? As I said before, this exercise is a trial, there is no loser, you are all winners!"

  Ma Chao listened to Lü Bu's words, and suddenly felt that Lü Bu's image had become incredibly tall. He thought that no matter what kind of person Lü Bu was, at least what he said now was not bad, very reasonable, and helped to improve his positive image.

  Lü Bu may not be a good person, but Chen Gong and Gao Shun, as well as his soldiers who are willing to die for him, prove that he has some redeeming qualities. Unfortunately, Lü Bu was born in a chaotic era; if he had lived in peaceful times, he might have achieved something and would not necessarily be inferior to Wei or Huo. However, since he was born in a time of war, Lü Bu may be considered a hero, but he is not suited to being a lord, so ultimately he could not avoid the fate of defeat and death.

  Ma Chao was thinking, the soldiers on the scene were also thinking, and Gao Shun and Zhang Yang were naturally thinking too. What Gao Shun thought more about was how to eliminate hidden dangers in the army, from the results of this exercise, he was very satisfied. But looking at the current situation, the hidden danger has not been eliminated, he felt that it was necessary for him to stand up and say a few words.

  Then Gao Shun shouted to everyone: "Brothers, we are a family! Our vanguard and elite camps are all one family! No matter how we usually are, in the end we will all go to the battlefield together! We are sworn brothers, are brothers!

  Today, the competition between our brothers from Jingrui Camp and our brothers from Trap Array Camp also gave us a wake-up call, making us realize our own shortcomings. We should thank them!

  "We ended up in a draw, which means that the elite camp's brothers are no worse than us. The stronger our brothers are, the stronger we are on the battlefield. What do we care about winning or losing as one family?"

  As soon as Gao Shun's voice fell, after a moment, "Right, we are one family! We are one family!" The soldiers in the besieged camp shouted in unison. It has to be said that Lü Bu and Gao Shun's words played a huge role, of course, it also shows that these two men have won the hearts of the army.

  "The brothers in the vanguard have all spoken out, what about our brothers in the elite camp!" Zhang Yang shouted loudly at this scene.

  "One family, two brothers! One family, two brothers!" Although there were few people in the elite camp, they shouted for a full minute before stopping.

  Ma Chao watched the performance of both sides and let out a sigh of relief. Lü Bu, Gao Shun, and Zhang Yang also let out a sigh of relief at the same time.

  The performances of the vanguard and elite troops marked a mutual acceptance between both sides. From now on, they can go into battle together without major hidden dangers. Of course, the happiest person right now is Ma Chao, because he paid a lot for today's outcome, which was also what he most wanted to see.

  This feeling and scene, until Ma Chao's old age, he still remembered everything he experienced in the Pingzhou army, and wrote a thick pen in his memory.

  The drill was over and everything that needed to be said had been said. Gao Shun and Zhang Yang dismissed the soldiers, who returned to their camps. The two of them also went back to the main tent with Lü Bu.

  Returning to the military account, Gao Shun first dispersed the soldiers outside the account. After the three people entered the account, he said to Lü Bu and Zhang Yang: "This time it's finally solved the hidden danger, it's not easy!"

  "Not bad, you're indeed a hero! Now that the army is united and morale is high, it's time for us to put our plan into action!" Lü Bu said with sparkling eyes and clenched fists.

  "I also think what Feng Xian said is quite right!" Zhang Yang echoed.

  Gao Shun nodded in agreement when he heard this, and he also felt that the timing was now ripe.

  "We have waited too long and paid too much for revenge! Now the great opportunity is in front of us, we must seize it!"

  Lü Bu said that the great opportunity refers to Tan Shihuai's annual trip to the mountains on September 1st. He would go for two or three days, sometimes four days. According to the intelligence gathered by Xiao Yu, Tan Shihuai had not been in good health in recent years and rarely showed his face, staying mostly at the Panshan Xianbei royal court. However, every year on September 1st, he would definitely go hunting in the mountains, and this was always the case.

  So Lü Bu and the other two thought that September 1st was absolutely the best opportunity. Normally, even if you could sneak into Tan Shan, it's basically impossible to kill Tan Shi Huai in the Xianbei royal court guarded by tens of thousands of people. And when Tan Shi Huai goes hunting every year, it's a great opportunity. When he goes hunting, he can't possibly lead tens of thousands of people with him, so Lü Bu and the others' chances of success are greatly increased.

  Today is August 7th, and soon it will be September 1st. Lü Bu wants to take this opportunity to kill Tan Shuai to avenge his father's death.

  "Gentlemen, this is a great idea. We have analyzed it before and the first of September is indeed the best opportunity. Moreover, our 1,000 elite troops are now ready and their morale can be leveraged. It's time to put them into action!" Gao Shun said to them.

  "But before we act, it's necessary to bring Gao Er back first. With his understanding of Tan Huanshan, he will definitely be of great help to us!" Gao Shun continued.

  "Alright, very well! I'll leave this matter to you, Fuyi. You must bring back Gao Er as quickly as possible!" Lü Bu hadn't thought of it before, but after being reminded by Gao Shun, he had already reacted.

  As for Zhang Yang, he is basically a passerby in the army and can be ignored.

  Gao Er is actually Gao Shun's errand boy who went to Tan Huanshan. Gao Er's real name is not Gao Er, but Chen Er. Because he was the second child in his family, his father named him Er.

  He is also a native of Bianzhou, but his mother was Xianbei, and his father was Han, who also had half Xianbei blood. Chen Er's parents and older brother were all killed by the Xianbei when he was 16 years old, and only he himself escaped, drifting outside until he met Gao Shun at the age of 22, who was then 17 years old.

  At that time, Chen Er had offended a local gentry in Jiuyuan, and the other party had been looking for him. Coincidentally, when they were caught, they met Gao Shun who was traveling at that time. Gao Shun rescued Chen Er out of kindness and also helped him resolve his feud with the gentry.

  Chen Er was grateful to Gao Shun from then on, and he wandered outside for five or six years. For the first time, someone helped him like this, so he simply changed his surname to Gao, and regarded himself as a slave of the Gao family, vowing to follow Gao Shun to death. Gao Shun really had no choice but to accept him.

  He followed Gao Shun on his travels and learned some useful things from him, until he followed Gao Shun into the Pingzhou army. Later, when Gao Shun wanted to send a spy to Pohan Mountain to infiltrate the Xianbei king's court, Gao Er volunteered to go. Gao Shun saw that Gao Er was his trusted confidant and also understood his family's grudge, so he agreed to let him go. Now Gao Er has been lurking in Pohan Mountain for almost three years.

  Gao Shun also sent others to infiltrate Dahan Mountain, but they all failed. Only Gao Er was able to successfully infiltrate every time. In the past three years, Gao Er has provided several important pieces of intelligence to Gao Shun and his men. It must be said that Gao Er is indeed quite capable.

  "Alright, I'll take care of this! By the way, Feng Xian, are all the things you've prepared ready?" Gao Shun asked.

  "It's all ready, just waiting to be used!" Lü Bu laughed.

  "That's good, there are still twenty-odd days until September 1st, we still have plenty of time to prepare well!"

  "That's it, time is up!" said Zhang Yang, a passerby.

  "Everything in the barracks will be handed over to Fuyi and Shu Shu, I have something to do today, so I'll leave first. In the future, as long as I'm free, I'll definitely come over!"

  "You go ahead and take care of your business first, I and Shu Shu can handle things here, don't worry."

  "Alright, I can rest assured with you all handling things! In that case, I'll take my leave first!" Lü Bu said as he walked out of the main tent and mounted his horse to depart from the military camp.

  Looking at Lü Bu's departing figure, Gao Shun sighed, "In these years, Fengxian has only hatred in his heart. It seems that the things of the past had a great impact on him!"

  "Yes, it's been many years since I've seen him genuinely smile. He wasn't like this before!" Zhang Yang also let out a sigh of relief after saying that.

  Gao Shun shook his head after hearing this. In fact, he and Zhang Yang could both understand why Lü Bu had become like this now, but they were powerless to change anything. Lü Bu had no mother since childhood, no brothers or sisters, only a father and Gao Shun and Zhang Yang as friends, with no other relatives or close friends.

  After Lü Bu's father died, he had no relatives left, and at that time he was only in his teens. Therefore, the death of Lü Bu's father had a particularly significant impact on him. From then on, Lü Bu's mind was filled with thoughts of how to avenge his father's death and kill Diao Chan, and nothing else. In daily life, except for necessary conversations, he did not like to say an extra word.

  Gao Shun and Zhang Yang initially thought that Lü Bu was not suitable, so they introduced him to a potential bride. However, Lü Bu initially refused, saying he had not yet avenged his father's death and had no face to start a family. Later, under the persuasion of Gao Shun and Zhang Yang, Lü Bu finally agreed to get married.

  The woman's surname is Yan, and she is the same age as him. In the second year after their marriage, they had a daughter named Linggui by Lü Bu. Now Lü Linggui is over three years old, and the little girl is especially lovely.

  Zhang Yang patted Gao Shun's shoulder, "Fuyi, we've done all that we can do. Although it's true that Feng Xian is like this, none of us want to see this, but it's not something that we can decide."

  Gao Shun continued shaking his head, "In the past, I thought that after Feng Xian established his family, there would be some changes, but in the end it's still like this, and there is no big change at all!"

  "This can only be done by himself, alas, no more words!" Zhang Yang said and turned back.

  As soon as he returned to his own military account, Zhang Yang saw Ma Chao and said, "Brother Mengqi, I must thank you!"

  Ma Chao smiled and said, "Why be so polite? You're being too distant, Young Master!"

  "Alright, I won't be polite with you anymore, we're all family, as they say, 'one family doesn't speak two different languages'!"

  "That's right, that's it! It's just a small matter, no big deal!"

  Zhang Yang circled around Ma Chao several times, sizing him up from head to toe, making Ma Chao feel uneasy. Could it be that this Zhang Yang had some special hobby?

  Zhang Yang suddenly patted Ma Chao's shoulder, "Brother Mengqi, I must say I admire you, and my admiration is boundless!" After that, he burst out laughing.

  "Meng Qi brothers, you said your martial arts skills are not bad, and you can also train troops, know array methods. More importantly, you're so young, it really makes me jealous! When I was at your age, I didn't have such abilities. Of course, even now, I don't have as much ability as you!"

  Ma Chao could hear from Zhang Yang's tone that he admired him, but also had a hint of faint loss. After all, someone so young had surpassed him in many ways, and it was only natural to feel some sense of loss.

  "I don't dare, I don't dare. There are still many things for me to learn from my young uncle." Ma Chao could only say humbly, but in his heart he was thinking, "I'm already thirty-four or five years old, and I'm a traverser who came from over 1,800 years ago, of course I'm much stronger than you, a native twenty-two-year-old."

  Zhang Yang heard Ma Chao say this, and he felt pleased in his heart. This man just loved to hear others flatter him, regardless of whether it was sincere or not, as long as it came from someone else.

  "Haha, no need to be modest, Mengqi brother, we are learning from each other!" Zhang Yang's smugness was beyond mention.

  Ma Chao smiled when he heard this, "I wonder what Young Master Qiu did just now?"

  "This, Mengqi brothers are our own people, said it does not matter!" Can't help but say that Zhang Yang is indeed very trusting of friends, a reliable person.

  Zhang Yang walked out of the tent and dispersed the guarding soldiers. Returning to the tent, he said in a low voice to Ma Chao: "Just now, Feng Xian, Fu Yi and I three people discussed the use of troops against the Xianbei."

  As expected.

  "September 1st is a great opportunity, and we will use troops at that time."

  Ma Chao nodded after listening, and then Zhang Yang told Ma Chao all the conversations in the three people's account, word for word.

  It seems like it's now or never, fine, I can finally get out of this damned place, thought Ma Chao.

  He absolutely agreed with the use of force, and in these two months he felt like he was about to grow hair. It's no wonder that when Lü Bu and others were going to use force against the Xianbei, Ma Chao couldn't help but get excited.

  "This time we will definitely succeed!" Ma Chao said firmly to Zhang Yang.