The 36th Stratagem: If all else fails, become sworn enemies

  Zhang Kuang suddenly stood up and loudly gave orders:

  "Draw swords! Prepare for battle! Form ranks!"

  A large crowd suddenly stood up with a "hula" sound, making the entire hall chaotic. The yellow millet rice was scattered all over the floor, and the greasy big chunks of meat were trampled underfoot, but no one paid attention.

  Dian Wei rode his horse forward, charging to the front, and saw a blaze of fire on the southern city gate, with people seemingly fighting on top, shouting loudly:

  "Armored Cavalry", follow him!

  "Halt!"

  Zhang Kuang saw Dian Wei's brain heat up and was about to charge forward alone, but he hastily shouted loudly and stopped his reckless action.

  Everyone was eating and drinking just now, without armor, so going into battle like this is quite dangerous. Moreover, judging from the situation at the south gate, the enemy has already gained the upper hand. Rather than rushing forward in a disorderly manner with incomplete armor, it would be better to regroup and then advance in a powerful formation.

  Zhang Kuang couldn't believe that a large enemy force could evade his scouts and sneak up to the city. If the enemy had such capabilities, Zhang Kuang would have been thoroughly defeated.

  Besides, the enemy wouldn't have expected that today, in order to entertain the guests, all the generals didn't rest. By the time our side is ready for battle, the enemy will be caught off guard.

  The enemy is clearly in high spirits. Zhang Kuang had just organized more than 100 people from the "Bodyguard" and "Heavy Armor" teams, when the vanguard of the enemy army arrived. The one who charged to the front was a burly man with a thick beard, Zhang Kuang did not recognize him, but Shen Fu did.

  "It's Hou Cheng! It's Bao Xin's man!"

  Bao Xin?

  Zhang Kuang was slightly surprised. The Tianping Army and Bao Xin's new army had clashed a few days ago. According to the feedback after the battle, Bao Xin's new army was not very strong in combat. With the city as his base, Zhang Kuang was not too worried about this force.

  It was just a few days ago that Sun Jian besieged the city, and Zhang Kuang was very worried that Bao Xin would join forces with Sun Jian to attack Suanfu City together. Unexpectedly, now that Sun Jian has retreated, this weak force of Bao Xin's troops actually sneaked into the city again.

  Seeing the neat enemy formation in front of him, Hou Cheng was visibly startled. He had not fully recovered from his injury since the last time he was wounded. Killing one person in the battle ahead had already made the wound on his waist ache slightly. Now, facing the enemy's strict array, Hou Cheng instantly lost the will to continue advancing.

  However, Hou Cheng's halt did not stop the entire Han army. A group of elite soldiers pushed Hou Cheng's troops to both sides of the street and surrounded a high-ranking general who appeared in front of the Tianping Army formation.

  It's strange that, including Hou Cheng, these "trap array soldiers" carefully selected by Bao Xin, faced with the rude pushing and shoving of these fierce soldiers, actually dared to be angry but not dare to speak.

  There are few people who can make these traditionally arrogant "trapped soldiers", even the fierce general Hou Cheng, dare not speak. In the entire Bao Xin army, only Bao Xin himself has this prestige.

  However, the newly emerged general was not Bao Xin himself, nor was he even a member of Bao Xin's army.

  However, Hou Cheng not only showed himself to be extremely submissive in front of the general, but also the soldiers of the Heavenly Balance Army opposite him were suddenly thrown into an uproar at the sight of this general's appearance.

  How could it be this person?

  What can make this person?

  How did this person come here?

  He's here, trouble is coming...

  The torches jumped brightly and dimly, reflecting the "red scarf" on his head flashing, as if it were the eyes of the king of hell slightly opened. He took big strides forward, approaching the formation of the Heavenly Balance Army, with an aura that seemed to devour mountains and rivers, which actually pressed the first row of soldiers of the Heavenly Balance Army, who involuntarily retreated backwards!

  "Jiangdong's Fierce Tiger" —— Sun Jian, Sun Wentai!

  Not only did the Heavenly Army change color, but even the remnants of the "Bo Cai" army that had just escaped were struck by lightning one after another. These Yellow Turban warriors had not fought less battles with Sun Jian on the battlefield of Yingchuan.

  As the number one brave general under Zhu Jun, the commander of the Han army, every time the Yellow Turbans of Yingchuan fought against Zhu Jun's forces, they had to exhaust Sun Jian's strength with countless lives before they could win. Although Zhu Jun's forces were defeated by the superior Yellow Turban forces, they did not collapse, and this was also due in part to Sun Jian's efforts after the battle.

  He Yi and He Man, upon seeing Sun Jian's arrival, immediately said to the "Golden Lion King" beside them:

  "Master, wait a moment and fight back. My brother and I will risk our lives to hold off this old Sun. You take advantage of this opportunity to escape from the north gate as quickly as possible, the farther the better!"

  "The Golden Lion King" was about to respond when he keenly discovered that the Tianping army soldiers beside him were looking at them with a strange gaze. A quick-witted Tianping soldier whispered:

  "Even if someone with the surname Sun is very capable, they still can't beat our team's Tian Bai Chang..."

  As soon as the words fell, a giant with a stature like a mountain stepped out of the formation and roared at Sun Jian:

  "Sun Jian, you old thief, have you come to meet your death again?"

  As soon as this remark came out, the remnants of the Yellow Turban Army and Hou Cheng's Han army burst into a loud clamor. However, when they found that the Tianping Army and "Meng Hu Yi Cong" were actually silent, they also fell silent.

  "Are you killing with your mouth?"

  Sun Jian replied calmly, but his heart began to worry.

  Damn it, how could he have reacted so quickly?

  Even if it's the elite Northern Army, being suddenly ambushed and having their city stolen would require at least a moment or more to simply organize themselves...

  This time's successful surprise attack was arranged by Captain Bao Xin alone.

  As a famous Yanzhou hero in this region, Bao Xin had close ties with the local wealthy and powerful families.

  After being seen through by the Tianping Army in his first attempt to use a powerful design, Bao Xin did not give up. Hearing that Sun Jian's pursuit of the "Bo Cai" Yellow Turban army had arrived at the foot of Shanfu City, Bao Xin sent an envoy to contact Sun Jian, planning to borrow the strength of Sun Jian's forces to annihilate this small but powerful Yellow Turban army.

  However, Sun Jian was confident in his military strength and ignored Bao Xin's advice, instead launching a solo attack. As a result, after the attack failed, Sun Jian reconsidered Bao Xin's suggestion.

  Bao Xin has an inside line in Danfu City.

  Although Zhang Kuang had relocated more than half of the wealthy and powerful households in the city before Sun Jian's attack, there were still a few households that slipped through the net.

  There was a wealthy and powerful family, in terms of actual strength, they could only rank outside the top ten in Shanfu, and had never attracted attention. However, this wealthy and powerful family had a son who was a "Taixue student" in Luoyang.

  At the time of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Emperor Han issued an edict encouraging sons of good families to join the army. This "Taixue student" saw that it was difficult for him to make a name for himself in officialdom and resolutely joined the army, becoming one of the company commanders under General Bao Xin.

  Later, Bao Xin was sent to Yanzhou by "General-in-Chief" He Jin to recruit soldiers and quell the Yellow Turbans in that area. The Taishi Ci longed to make a name for himself, so after occupying the city of Danfu County with the Tianping Army, he presented a plan to his superior Bao Xin, offering to let his own family collaborate with the main army from inside and outside, attacking the South City Gate.

  After communicating with Sun Jian, Bao Xin sent his subordinate Shi Chang to infiltrate the city of Shangshui with a large cart transporting grain and vegetables. At midnight, both sides responded and took down the South Gate smoothly.

  As for Sun Jian, because he was unwilling to be defeated under the city of Shouchun, he let General-in-Chief Cheng Pu temporarily lead the troops and move westward to confuse the Heavenly Army. Sun Jian himself, however, brought with him the "Fierce Tiger Volunteers" and quietly entered a local strongman's fortress ten miles away from Shouchun City, where he joined forces with 300 elite soldiers selected by Bao Xin.

  So, Sun Jian currently has only 300 elite soldiers from the prefectures and counties, and 37 "Mighty Tiger Volunteers". If the enemy's main force is organized, even if Sun Jian is brave, it will be difficult for him to fight against a thousand.

  After all, the so-called "Ten-Man Killer", "Hundred-Man Slayer", "Thousand-Man Destroyer", and "Myriad-Man Enemy" titles are just exaggerated descriptions. Even if you're a "Myriad-Man Enemy", even if your enemies don't move at all and let you slaughter them, it would still be enough to exhaust you with just a few hundred people.

  To keep a low profile, Bao Xin's army was still forty miles away. Even if they rushed with all their might, it would take one night to arrive.

  Therefore, if the Han army wants to win, there is only one way - let the Tianping Army become chaotic by itself!

  If the Heavenly Army does not fall into chaos, the Han army will be defeated!

  However, when Sun Jian faced the immovable Tianwei, he felt a sense of helplessness.

  This guy is the strongest opponent that Sun Jian has encountered after many years of battles. His strength is even slightly above Sun Jian's. To the point where last time they fought, Sun Jian's wood attribute "War Qi" could actually restrain his earth attribute, yet still only managed to fight him to a draw.

  So this time, Sun Jian did not prepare for a solo challenge.

  "Righteousness follows the brave!"

  "World Hero!"

  Sun Jian let out a loud roar, triggering a thunderous response, and the soldiers on the scene were all startled. Those tall and short "Mighty Tiger Volunteers" fell silent one by one after responding to their leader's call, forming a square formation. With Sun Jian at the forefront and Zu Mao by his side, they lined up densely along the wide road of over 20 feet.

  In the previous battle, the coordination between "Mighty Tigers" was limited by the width of the city wall and could not be fully demonstrated. Now, Sun Jian is about to use his own small-scale phalanx formation, which he takes pride in, to tear apart the enemy's defense line!