Traveling back in time to Liu Feng, starting with rescuing soldier Guan Yu.

Liu Feng's brows furrowed suddenly.

The Jie Fan Army was Sun Quan's elite personal guard, directly under the Sun clan. They were well-equipped, rigorously trained, and rarely deployed outside the capital. They were similar to Liu Bei's White Feather Army or Cao Cao's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry.

The significance of this army's appearance at the deep mountain pass where Yidu and Wuling meet is self-evident.

Who is the commander-in-chief?

Ma Liang lowered his voice: "The scouts spotted a banner with the character 'Sun' on it in the distance. It reads 'General Who Conquers the Barbarians,' which should be Sun Jiao."

There was a moment of silence in the tent.

Sun Jiao, a cousin of Sun Quan, was a key figure in the Sun clan. There were very few members of the imperial clan in Jiangdong who could command the Jie Fan Army, and Sun Jiao was one of them.

This man is a steady and cautious strategist who never acts rashly, making him precisely the kind of opponent he finds most difficult to deal with.

Guan Ping chimed in from the side, "Brother, Sun Jiao's Jiefan Army has blocked the pass and sent scouts to search along the mountain path. This doesn't seem like a typical encirclement and suppression operation; it's more like they know someone is about to come out of the mountains."

Liu Feng did not answer.

His finger moved slowly across the map, from Wuling to Yidu, from Yidu to Jiangling, and then stopped at Xiangyang. He quickly deduced in his mind where the news had been leaked.

There is no doubt that there are spies from Eastern Wu in Xiangyang. But the spies could only find out that Guan Yu was making a show of force in Xiangyang and that the navy was patrolling back and forth on the Han River. They could never find out the specific route of our westward advance to Shangyong and crossing the Jing Mountains.

This route was finalized after he arrived in Danshui City, and only a handful of people knew the entire plan. Could it be that Lu Xun was so intelligent as to be almost supernatural, guessing that he would next target Wuling and taking precautions in advance?

Liu Feng was secretly puzzled, but after a moment, he calmed down again. Sun Jiao was indeed troublesome at the pass, but he didn't seem to know his exact location. Otherwise, it wouldn't be the Jie Fan Army blocking the pass, but a search party covering the whole mountain.

"Regardless of how Sun Jiao knew someone was going to take the mountain path," Liu Feng said slowly, his voice low but carrying an unwavering certainty, "he hasn't discovered us yet, and that's our opportunity. Pass down the order: the entire army will rest on the spot. Tomorrow at dawn..."

Before he could finish speaking, the faint sounds of battle cries drifted from afar. The sounds were extremely distant, carried intermittently by the mountain wind, sometimes fading away and sometimes disappearing.

Guan Ping abruptly stood up, his hand on his sword hilt, listening intently. Kou Wei had already silently given a hand signal, and the soldiers in the camp quickly grabbed their weapons and entered a state of combat readiness.

Liu Feng raised his hand to stop the crowd and said in a low voice, "They're not coming for us. The sound is coming from the southeast, at least ten miles away."

He turned to Kou Wei and said, "Ziwu, you will lead the Fengzi Battalion to stay behind and protect Mr. Jichang. Tanzhi, bring the Wancheng Battalion with me."

As dawn approached, the morning mist lingered in the forest, casting everything in a hazy, gray outline.

Liu Feng led the Wancheng camp along the mountain ridge toward the source of the sound. After traveling about six or seven li, the view suddenly opened up in front of them. It was the mouth of a valley, with the mountain walls on both sides narrowing like a gate. Outside the valley mouth was a wide slope, where two armies were chasing and fighting.

Leading the way were thousands of remnants of the army.

Their clothing was a motley collection; some wore tattered cloth, some wore patched leather armor, and some were even shirtless, holding only a short spear in their hand, yet their running posture exuded a fierce, indomitable spirit.

Trailing at the rear were over a hundred warriors armed with spears, who used their spear shafts to parry the swords of their pursuers as they retreated. People fell from time to time, but the line never broke.

However, the pursuers were a well-equipped regular army of about two thousand men, dressed in black armor and bearing the banners of Sun Wu.

The ranks were impeccably orderly, and the pursuit was executed with flawless discipline. At the front of the pursuing troops, a captain clad in gleaming armor sat atop a yellow horse, wielding his sword and directing the cavalry on both flanks to encircle them. Many corpses lay scattered haphazardly at the valley entrance, their blood snaking like snakes across the mud.

Liu Feng, lying in ambush behind a rock, witnessed everything. Just then, a general in the remnant army suddenly stopped his horse and turned around.

The man was about thirty years old, his face tanned dark by the sun, his short beard covered in sweat and dust, and a stray arrow had pierced his left shoulder; the shaft was broken, but the arrowhead was still embedded in his flesh. But when he stopped his horse and turned around, his back was ramrod straight, and a short knife was held horizontally in front of his chest, its blade riddled with nicks.

"Brothers!" he roared hoarsely and stubbornly, "We can't retreat any further! Another retreat means we're on the edge of a cliff! Xi Zhen will die with you all today!"

Those thousands of remaining soldiers actually stopped in their tracks.

They turned around, gripped their makeshift short weapons, and managed to form a haphazard line behind their general. As the pursuers drew closer, their eyes held no fear, only the resentment of someone facing certain death.

Wu Bing, the military officer, spurred his horse forward, reined in his yellow steed, and surveyed the remnant army's formation from his vantage point. A contemptuous smile appeared on his lips: "Xi Zhen, you mere few thousand barbarian soldiers, barely equipped with any armor, dare to resist the royal army? Sun Zhenglu, considering you a man of courage, specially ordered me to persuade you to surrender. Lay down your weapons, and I will spare your life."

Xi Zhen pointed the dagger forward, its tip gleaming coldly in the morning light: "I, Xi Zhen, was born a subject of the Liu family, and I will die a ghost of the Liu family. Lu Xun seized my Yidu and killed my comrades; this hatred is irreconcilable. You want me to surrender? Dream on!"

Before he finished speaking, the thousands of ragged barbarian soldiers behind him shouted in unison, startling the mountain birds in the valley into flight.

Captain Wu's face darkened, and he raised his sword, about to order a charge. Suddenly, a short and sharp horn blasted from the forests on both sides of the valley.

The bugle call was not a signal from Wu Jun.

Liu Feng rode out from behind the cliff. "Tanzhi, lead the Wancheng troops to block the valley entrance, cut off the Wu army's retreat, and ensure not a single Wu soldier escapes!"

The Jade Lion Horse leaped from the bushes, landing steadily on the gravel slope at the edge of the valley. Guan Ping led the Wancheng camp out from the forests on both sides, with crossbowmen occupying the high ground, bowstrings taut, and swordsmen and shieldmen blocking the exits at both ends of the valley.

"Chengyuan! Lead your troops and charge into the enemy lines with me!"

Ding Feng rode behind Liu Feng, his ring-pommel sword already drawn, his eyes burning with fierce fighting spirit. He was originally a traitor to Eastern Wu, so he had no psychological burden when fighting against Eastern Wu soldiers.

Wu Bing, the captain, suddenly changed his expression.

He wasn't unfamiliar with ambushes, but he never expected to encounter one in this desolate wilderness. Moreover, this troop was remarkably well-equipped and disciplined, their armor, weapons, flags, and bows far superior to the remnants of Xi Zhen's barbarian army!

This is a regular army! The regular army under Liu Bei's command!

The Wu soldier was terrified, and his troops were even more panicked. Just moments ago they were the hunters, but now they had become the prey, and their formation immediately crumbled.

Liu Feng gave him no time to breathe, his spear drawing a short arc in the air as he launched an attack from both flanks simultaneously.

The veteran soldiers of Wancheng Camp charged down the mountain like tigers. Ding Feng led dozens of cavalrymen to charge into the enemy formation. His ring-pommel sword was so powerful that water could not penetrate it. He and his horse charged into the depths of the enemy formation, charging left and right, and were unstoppable.

Wu Bing was already feeling guilty and timid, thinking he had been ambushed. Ding Feng's reckless charge disrupted his formation, causing it to completely collapse.

The Wu soldier captain wanted to organize his personal guards to launch a counterattack, but Liu Feng knocked off his helmet with a spear, scaring him out of his wits. He turned his horse around and tried to escape.

Xi Zhen blocked their path from the flank. Caught in a pincer attack, the Wu soldiers suffered heavy casualties, yet they fought to the death. In less than the time it takes for two incense sticks to burn, the entire elite Wu army of over two thousand, the Jie Fan Army, was wiped out.

Liu Feng sheathed his spear and spurred his horse to the center of the valley. Xi Zhen had already dismounted, her left shoulder still bleeding from an arrow wound, but she ignored it, straightened her blood-stained armor, knelt on one knee before Liu Feng, and clasped her hands above her head.

"This humble general, Xi Zhen, kowtows to express his deepest gratitude to the general for saving his life. May I ask the general's honorable name?"

"This is Liu Feng." Liu Feng dismounted and helped Xi Zhen up with both hands. "He is the eldest son of the King of Hanzhong and the Deputy General."

Xi Zhen trembled violently, abruptly looking up at Liu Feng's face. His hands were shaking, his lips were trembling, his eyes suddenly reddened, and he knelt down again, his forehead slamming heavily against the gravel, crying out, "This humble general... this humble general did not know that it was the young general who had come here! When I heard in Yidu that Lord Guan had been defeated and Jiangling had fallen, I thought that the situation in Jingzhou was hopeless... I never expected that the young general would be able to recover Xiangfan and even personally lead troops to rescue us..."

As he spoke, his voice choked with emotion, and his Adam's apple bobbed violently. The thousands of barbarian soldiers behind him looked at each other, and although they didn't understand much of the Chinese, seeing their commander kneeling and weeping, they also knelt down in unison.

"General Xi."

Liu Feng's voice was steady and solemn. He bent down to help Xi Zhen up again and squeezed his arm tightly.

"I heard your words clearly on the mountain: 'Born a subject of the Liu family, I will die a ghost of the Liu family.' This loyalty and righteousness must be honored! When I return to Chengdu, I will surely report to the King of Hanzhong and reward you for your loyalty and righteousness!"

Xi Zhen wiped his face with his sleeve and clasped his hands in a fist without hesitation: "This humble general's life was saved by the young general. From now on, I will be at the command of the King of Hanzhong and the young general, no matter what dangers I face!"

The thousands of barbarian soldiers behind him shouted in unison. Although their Chinese was broken, their fighting spirit was more direct than any grand words.

Liu Feng patted Xi Zhen's uninjured right shoulder, then turned and nodded to Guan Ping. Guan Ping sheathed his sword and then joined Ding Feng in disrupting the battle.