Vol 9 Chapter 58 (1/2)

VOLUME 9 CHAPTER 58: DON’T TELL ME THIS IS A BANQUET IN XINYE (10)

Liu Bei POV

She was doing so well too… Yet her ending display made her earlier performance lack credibility.

“Un… But if we start fighting, I don’t know what will happen. To be honest, I would be a lot more confident if we were defending Xiangyang or any other commandery city…” Zi Long said, seeming rather worried as she placed her hands on her knees.

“But Xinye city is far too small, be it the walls or the city itself.” Liao Hua continued in her usual mood, “This means that we cannot fight a defensive battle and must meet our enemy out in the plains.”

Looks like we are going into the specifics of what to do now. I have also noticed this since I arrived here. Xinye is indeed a little too small.

“How many troops can the city hold?”

“All of them,” Chen Gong replied as she lazily drank some liquor, “But it will be difficult for them to move quickly enough when we need to fight.

“… There are too many people for this city. The streets are narrow as well which makes it difficult to set up camp.” “This was a city that could only support 130-140,000 people after all.” “If we were to move our troops into the city, then it would look like Xu state when we accepted the refugees.”

Xiao Yong’s example was easy to understand and visualise.

“Additionally, there’s another problem.” Wen Yuan said as she raised her hand, “We do not have a reliable long term supply of provisions. Xinye alone is not enough to supply our army.”

“Eh? What about the supplies that Liu Biao gave us back when we left?” I asked to which Yun Chang replied.

“We have them, but they can only last for slightly more than a month.” Yun Chang said and clenched her teeth as she continued, “Big brother was gone for a while and since we decided to wait for you, we disbanded part of our army so that we could last a little longer.”

Eh?! I looked at Zi Long who nodded.

“Wait, you said– You disbanded part of the army?”

“Un.” Yun Chang nodded.

“We shed 3,000 men each from Lord Guan Yu’s and my battalion. Now, we have about 12,000 troops each.” Feng Xian continued delicately.

I was a little unhappy about this at first as they did not consult me before doing this and troops were a valuable resource after all. But I soon suppressed my rage when I realised I had no reason to be angry. I should be grateful that they did not get angry at me and they did it for the sake of waiting for me, what can I say?

And so, I bit my lips as I nodded, afraid that I would get emotional about what they did for me once more.

“*Pa* Umm, I hope that everyone c, can calm down.” Yuan Zhi stammered as she slammed her hand on the table, drawing everyone’s pessimistic gazes over. This action of hers gave me hope, I just knew she was a strategist!

“Yuan Zhi, what do you think?” I said as I raised my hand and gestured to Yuan Zhi for her to continue. But she was a little timid as everyone was looking at her. Amongst them, Feng Xian and Chen Dao were the most intense.

It’s okay, Yuan Zhi, just look at Guan Ping, or Zhou Cang, especially when she’s not talking.

Wu… I just realised that none of my companions had gentle gazes at all. Everyone was either serious, fierce or scary. Of course, Yuan Zhi did not get the message which I tried to send with my eyes. Instead, she lowered her head and spoke to her bowl.

“I don’t have any magic bullet, I just have something in mind.” Yuan Zhi

raised her hand, cleared her throat and shrugged before continuing to speak to the bowl, “May I ask how troop morale is like now?”

This question should be targeted at Yun Chang and Feng Xian right? When I understood this, I decided to help her out by shooting glances at these 2.

“My battalion’s troop morale is excellent. I have not told them about big brother at all. There were some mutinous elements but they have been removed during the disbandment.”

“Mine is the same as well. The only issue is that they seem a little gloomy whenever I see them. There might be something with the food.” Feng Xian said. To be honest, I think they are just afraid of you.

“My lord, I think that they are just afraid of you. They don’t seem that way when I visit them.” Wen Yuan said.