This guy is not Ma Chao

  When the morning sunlight once again shone on the long spear in my hand, I had already finished a time of morning practice.

  In ancient times, there was nothing good about it, just that it cultivated the good habit of going to bed early and getting up early. Although I love to sleep, I can sleep for almost 5 hours every day, which is absolutely unimaginable in my previous life.

  The sun rises slowly from the east, and I watch as Old Man walks towards me from outside the training grounds.

  I couldn't help but sigh in amazement.

  "The child on the riverbank said: 'The past is like this, it does not stay day or night.'"

  Four years passed quickly.

  The old man was indeed striving for self-improvement, on the one hand, he still called Han Su brother and younger brother, often responding to his attacks on some small cities and towns of Xiqiang, even raising troops to raid in Sanfu, on the other hand, within the sphere of influence centered on Wuwei, secretly preparing for war, widely recruiting elite soldiers, and also tolerating some extreme behaviors of Han Su's subordinates. I know he was very restrained and painful - his enemy was right next to him, and he still had to put on a strong smile, what kind of taste was that?!

  I'm no better than my sisters and brothers, facing the murderer of our mother, we still have to address him as "Shi Shu" in a flattering tone. My elder sister is even more so, many times she has almost stabbed him to death at home when he was drinking with Father, but was pulled back by me and Pang De.

  Because we must endure and wait for the opportunity, we will defeat all eight major departments under Han Zhuo's command! One battle will make him never turn over again!

  Since the death of Pang Yi, Pang De has become even more silent, only practicing his spear and disciplining his troops every day. Although Pang Tong is a scholar, he also works hard to read military books and strategies, reciting them in front of maps all day long. Although these two brothers are still far away from me, seeing their efforts makes me extremely happy: the greater their progress, the stronger my future combat power will naturally be.

  And I, never had a lazy day, every day except for rest, only practiced guns, practiced guns, practiced guns! Finally at the age of 13, my marksmanship was already 80% as good as Old Man's, what I lacked was only strength and experience. Eldest sister Ma Wen could hardly knock down the long gun in my hand, and as for Ma Dai, I could easily defeat him within 20-30 moves.

  I sometimes wonder, isn't Ma Chao really a genius in martial arts? Even if it's someone from modern times who doesn't understand ancient martial arts at all, using Ma Chao's body, they can still achieve such results, let alone the real person? Is it really just his bad luck? Ha! How could I believe this?!

  I am 14 years old.

  It's already 189 years now.

  Dong Zhuo has made his move already.

  Yuan Shao and Cao Cao have also prepared to unite the vassals and gather together.

  Will there be a re-enactment of Guan Yu killing Hua Xiong at Baima Town, or the three heroes fighting Lü Bu at Tiger Trap Pass?

  These, to the 14-year-old me, were still a distant world, and even for Old Man Ma Teng, they were an unattainable center of political power struggles, which had nothing to do with us. Our only enemy was Han Zhuo!

  Han Sui alone!

  The old man has already stepped across the threshold.

  "Our troops are ready, aren't they?" I looked at my third brother Ma Tie, who had just turned eight years old and was holding a long spear, and asked Ma Teng softly.

  “……” My father looked at me with a hint of surprise, his eyes filled with both doubt and a tinge of sadness. He fell silent for a moment, then let out a low sigh and said, “In the past few years, although I have been actively recruiting soldiers, the population of Wuwei and its surrounding counties has always been small. Even if I recruited some from the Qiang people, we only have about 20,000 people now, and about 13,000 horses; but that scoundrel Han Sui has been entrenched in Jincheng for a long time, with eight departments of troops, each with four or five thousand men and horses. Adding his own department of eight thousand, they total around 40,000 to 50,000 people. How can we compare to that?!” My father's spirits were clearly dampened when he spoke of the stark contrast in military strength.

  Yes, how can humans compare with horses in terms of physical strength?

  But what about real strength?

  "Really?" I asked softly.

  Looking at the center of the martial arts arena, Big Sister and Ma Dai were patiently teaching Ma Tie the first move of gun technique: Horizontal Gun Standing Horse. As a starting move and a finishing move, this move was quite simple, it could even be considered an opening move.

  The old man was taken aback, thought for a moment and didn't say anything. He followed my gaze to the center, where Ma Tie's clumsy gun pose made him smile slightly: "Isn't it?" he muttered.

  "Father," I raised the long spear in my hand and swung it in a flourish, "when are we preparing to send out troops? Tomorrow? Or the day after?"

  "Who, who told you?!" Old Dad obviously wouldn't lie, his tongue was all knotted up.

  "I'm not a kid anymore, Dad." I smiled lightly and drew on the ground with the tip of my gun, making soft crunching sounds in the sandy soil.

  "Fighting is different from practicing shooting with you," Father muttered, clearly still lacking confidence in both me and himself.

  "We don't necessarily have to fight them to the death." I lowered my gun and left four big words on the sandy ground.

  "Divide and Conquer."

  The old man stared blankly at the ground, looked up at me and said in a low voice: "Chao'er, you mean to say..."

  I drew two arrowheads on the sandy ground with my spearhead and said, "Father, you can lead 5,000 elite cavalry to surround and annihilate one of the enemy's units. I can also lead 5,000 cavalrymen with Xiaodai to surround and annihilate another unit. When Han Sui, that dog thief, becomes aware of this, he will definitely withdraw troops. We will then ambush and kill them halfway, these soldiers are usually scattered and only know how to fight chaotically under the old thief's command. If we suddenly charge at them, their morale will surely plummet, and annihilating them should not result in significant losses. Then let Dege and Big Sister lead the remaining troops to coordinate with Father and me, two units, to launch a joint attack on Han Sui, no need to worry that the old thief won't be captured!" As I spoke, I randomly drew on the ground, and by the time I finished speaking, the sandy ground under my feet was covered in spear marks.

  The old man stared at this simple trick and didn't say a word.

  "Two young masters Pang have arrived." Zhao Cheng rushed in to report and then rushed out.

  Pang Tong and Pang De walked in shoulder to shoulder. As soon as Pang Tong saw the chaotic gun marks on the ground, as well as the four blurry words beside them, his eyes lit up instantly, and he asked tremulously: "General... are we going to prepare for an attack on Han Sui?"

  The old man had no intention of hiding it anymore, and said in a low voice: "That's right, but we only have 25,000 men and horses, and the enemy has an army of 50,000. What chance do we have of winning?"

  "Chang Gongzi has already said it, divide and conquer." Pang Rou looked down at the ground again, and when he raised his head to look at me, there was a peculiar color in his eyes. "Our army is united from top to bottom, far surpassing the eight battalions of Han Zhuo's troops. However, since...since my father passed away, only General has been encouraging and maintaining it, but lacking a commander." Pang Rou's voice unconsciously dropped, then returned to normal.

  His eyes behind Pang De also dimmed, and then suddenly lit up again. He clenched his fists, knelt down on one knee and said loudly: "If General Xun trusts me, Pang De is willing to be the vanguard and execute Han Sui."

  "Quickly get up, young master," Old Father hastily helped Pang De up.

  Pang De stood up straight, at seventeen he was already tall and strong, almost as tall as his eight-foot-tall father, and between his eyebrows could be felt the aura of a fierce general from the northwest - although he remained silent.

  "I'm afraid it can't be as you wish, Second Brother Pang." I said, standing aside.

  Pang De's eyes gleamed like lightning as he stared straight at me: "Young master, why..."

  I smiled at him and beckoned my elder sister Ma Wen and younger brother Ma Dai to come over, and the few of us gathered together. Only then did I recount my simple battle plan once more, and when I finished, I said: "This time in battle, let's have Father, me, and Little Dai take the vanguard, while the central army is led by Second Brother Ling and Elder Sister."

  Pang De looked at the elder sister and insisted: "Chang Gongzi, Dai Gongzi, you two are still young, the vanguard should be let by De..." His fists were clenched even tighter.

  "I think Mother would have liked to see me charge into battle first." I turned to Father and said softly, "I hope you will fulfill my wish, Father."

  The old man's eyes seemed to have become moist, he stretched out his rough big hand and patted me forcefully, saying loudly: "Good, good! You and I, father and son, let's see who can charge into the enemy camp first!"

  Pang De looked at the two of us, father and son, and thought back to that scene four years ago. His eyes seemed to soften a bit, and his tightly clenched fists also loosened slightly. Just as he was about to say something, a sudden voice came from outside the martial arts arena: "General, Tian Shui Ma Wang requests an audience."