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

late at night.

The moonlight was swallowed by the clouds, and the mountains and forests were pitch black.

The scattered torches of the barbarian soldiers flickered in and out of the gaps in the forest. The vanguard sent by Shamoke consisted of about a hundred men, all hunters from the Chenxi tribe. Following the routine of the previous two nights, they were sneaking towards the rear of the Wu army under cover of darkness, preparing to fire another round of poisoned arrows before retreating.

But before they could get within range, a deafening battle cry suddenly erupted from the bushes on their flank.

Pan Zhang personally led his personal guards out of the darkness.

These personal guards were all fugitives who had followed him for many years. Each of them wore double-layered leather armor, carried steel knives, had gags in their mouths, and their horses' hooves were wrapped in cloth. They were ruthless and decisive in their attacks.

Pan Zhangchong was at the forefront, his ring-pommel sword gleaming coldly in the dim moonlight. With a single strike, he cleaved the barbarian squad leader, spear and all, to the ground.

His personal guards pounced like wolves, their blades flashing in the darkness, the stench of blood quickly filling the forest. The barbarian hunters were caught off guard; their poisoned crossbows were useless in close combat, and they could only hastily draw their short swords to fight back.

In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, more than ten barbarian soldiers fell to the ground.

Pan Zhang personally killed three barbarian soldiers—the first one had his spear-wielding wrist severed by a single slash, the second one was cleaved diagonally down from the shoulder and neck, and the third one was a teenager who was kicked to the ground and then stabbed through the chest with a backhand slash.

Pan Zhang wiped the blood from the blade onto the boy's corpse and shouted fiercely at the fleeing barbarian soldiers, "Go back and tell your damn barbarian king—if you want my head, come and get it yourself!"

Several blood-soaked barbarian hunters stumbled back to their camp. The leader, with a deep, bone-revealing stab wound in his arm, knelt on the ground, panting heavily, and gave Shamok a fragmented report on the battle.

Upon hearing this, Sha Moke sneered, "Pan Zhang, you dog, is just a cornered beast fighting for its life."

He didn't take this minor setback to heart and casually ordered another vanguard of barbarian soldiers to continue the pursuit and harassment.

After all, the tribe's hunters had been taking turns chasing the enemy for two whole nights, resting in shifts, and were in excellent condition.

No matter how fierce Pan Zhang's counterattack was, it couldn't change the fact that Wu Bing was moving slower and slower with the baggage train.

But what Pan Zhang needed was precisely this brief respite during which the barbarian soldiers regrouped and took turns attacking.

While the two hundred personal guards were locked in combat with the vanguard of the barbarian soldiers, Pan Zhang's core troops had quietly turned around in the darkness of night.

Two thousand elite soldiers escorted dozens of wagons loaded with valuables, turning north along a pre-discovered side road.

This road was discovered by Pan Zhang's scouts two days ago—a long-dried-up streambed with bushes taller than a person growing on both sides, making it impossible to tell from the outside that it was a road.

The convoy moved silently through the streambed, the wheels making a dull thud as they rolled over the pebbles, completely drowned out by the sound of the water.

Pan Zhang personally covered the rear, supervising the rearguard to carefully smooth out the wheel tracks at the fork in the road with pine branches. He also pushed several empty carts looted from the mountain stronghold to the fork in the road to block it. From a distance, it looked like a supply train was parked and lined up there, without any flaws.

At dawn, Liu Feng learned that Pan Zhang had personally led troops in a counterattack and defeated a vanguard of barbarian soldiers, and his heart stirred slightly.

Why did Pan Zhang suddenly launch an attack when he had been avoiding battle the whole time?

He immediately ordered Shamoke to continue leading the barbarian troops in pursuit to wear down the Wu soldiers, while he himself led several dozen cavalrymen to the forest clearing where the fierce battle had taken place the previous night.

As the morning light shone on the ground, more than a dozen barbarian soldiers lay dead, their blood dried and turned dark brown.

Liu Feng dismounted and squatted down in front of a corpse to examine it for a moment—the blade was clean and sharp, each strike hitting a vital point, something no ordinary soldier could do.

Liu Feng stood up and scanned the surrounding ground, quickly noticing something amiss. Although the Wu soldiers' retreating footsteps were still chaotic, the deep cart tracks that were clearly visible from the previous two days were gone.

"Pan Zhang personally led his troops in a counterattack last night, not to break through the encirclement," Liu Feng said, mounting his horse. His voice deepened. "He was racing against time, trying to find a way to turn around. These empty wagons are blocking the road to make people think his convoy is still here."

Based on Ma Jichang's previous analysis of Pan Zhang's character, this man was extremely greedy and would never abandon the dozens of cartloads of looted goods to escape lightly.

The disappearance of the cart tracks can only mean one thing—Pan Zhang has led his core troops and wealth along another route, either south or north.

Kou Wei quickly arrived as ordered.

He squatted down in front of the swept-up cart tracks for a moment, then decisively analyzed, "The road south out of the mountains leads to Yuanling, which has already fallen into our hands; to the north is Lingyang County, located on a plain, far from the core area of ​​the Wuxi Barbarians, and with Linyuan City as a backup. Pan Zhang values ​​wealth so much, he would never risk going south. Brother, this fellow has definitely defected to the north."

Liu Feng nodded and immediately decided to divide his forces.

He ordered Shamoke to continue leading the main force of the barbarian troops to pursue the Wu army that was being used as bait in the east, while he and Kou Wei personally led the elite Han army to search northward.

The Jade Lion Horse, gleaming in the night, moved swiftly through the forest, followed closely by over three thousand Han soldiers, who were both wary of ambushes and carefully searching for any trace of Pan Zhang's troops.

After searching for nearly twenty miles to the north, at the edge of a pine forest just before the mountain pass, Liu Feng finally rediscovered the wheel tracks—dozens of deep wheel tracks rolled across the muddy ground, extending northwards, pointing directly to Lingyang.

Pan Zhang no longer bothered to conceal his presence here, as the convoy had already begun to speed away.

"Pan Zhang is quite ruthless."

Liu Feng stood on his horse beside the ruts, gazing at the tracks that stretched northward, his tone tinged with coldness.

"He made a bold move, using three thousand soldiers to distract the barbarian troops and carefully concealing the chariot tracks. Then he led his army on a frantic northward march. He was racing against time—to meet up with the reinforcements from Lingyang and Linyuan after leaving the mountains."

"Brother, should we continue the pursuit?" Kou Wei asked, standing on his horse beside Liu Feng.

"No need! Once we leave the Wuling Mountains, the land to the north is all plains. If our army is delayed for half the night, and we have to be wary of Pan Zhang's ambush while searching, we won't be able to catch up."

Liu Feng's gaze was calm as he relayed the order.

"Set up camp here and wait for Shamoke to lead his troops to join us! Then we'll make further plans!"

As night fell, Shamoke's messenger arrived swiftly from the rear.

The messenger dismounted, his face covered in dust but unable to hide his excitement, and reported loudly: "General! The barbarian king has led his troops to defeat those three thousand Wu soldiers! Those three thousand men had no will to fight, their morale was low, and they almost scattered when our army charged. In this battle, we beheaded over a thousand, and all the women, children, and the elderly who were captured from the barbarian tribe have been recovered! The barbarian king also captured a lot of Wu soldiers' armor and weapons, and they are currently gathering in the mountain path."

He paused, then added.

"But none of the mountain goods, silver ornaments, and bronzeware that were lost in the villages have been found."

Liu Feng and Kou Wei exchanged a glance, and their suspicions were finally confirmed—all the valuables were still in Pan Zhang's hands, and the three thousand former subordinates of Jiang Qin were just expendable pawns thrown out to buy time from the beginning.

Liu Feng unfolded the map again, moving his finger northward from their current location until it stopped at Lingyang County. The Lingyang area was far from the core region of the Wuxi Barbarians, with flat and open terrain. To the east lay the Dongting Lake Plain, a vast expanse of flat land, which was extremely unfavorable for the Wuxi Barbarians' mountain warfare tactics.

If Pan Zhang were to seize Lingyang City first and hold it firmly, and then summon reinforcements from Linyuan to come to his aid, he could wait in comfort on this plain and, in turn, block the allied forces at the mountain pass.

"That scoundrel Pan Zhang wants to fight us in the Lingyang Plain area!" Liu Feng's voice was calm yet cold.

That night, the allied forces set up camp on the spot.

Liu Feng ordered a messenger to rush to Yuanling and instructed Guan Ping to lead 1,000 soldiers from Wancheng and 1,000 barbarian soldiers northward along the Yuan River to cut off Pan Zhang's retreat to Linyuan. At the same time, he ordered his troops to temporarily garrison and wait for the main force of Shamoke's barbarian army to arrive and join him.

When Shamoke arrived with over 7,000 barbarian soldiers, it was already late at night. The women, children, and the elderly who had been captured had already been escorted to Yuanling by more than 1,000 barbarian soldiers. The returning barbarian soldiers sat by the campfire, sharpening the captured swords and spears with whetstones. Some of them tried on the black armor of the Wu army and were full of morale.

Sha Moke strode into the central command tent, clasped his hands above his head, and in a booming voice, reported the day's battle results to Liu Feng in detail.

Liu Feng's expression remained somber after hearing this.

He pushed the map in front of Shamoke and explained his speculation about Pan Zhang's intentions.

Upon hearing this, Shamoke's eyes flashed with a fire, and he slammed his fist on the table, making the oil lamp flame flicker wildly: "A decisive battle it is! The Five Streams Barbarians are not afraid of Wu dogs! Let him come!"

Kou Wei, standing to the side, frowned slightly.

He didn't speak immediately, but waited for Sha Moke's boastful words to settle before calmly and clearly saying, "Commander, everyone knows that the Wuxi barbarian soldiers are incomparably brave in the mountains. But in a direct confrontation on flat ground, it's not about who is braver, but about whose armor is thicker, whose spear is longer, and whose formation is denser. Pan Zhang's veteran soldiers are well-equipped, and if they join forces with the Lin Yuan reinforcements, they will have nearly ten thousand armored soldiers. Although the barbarian soldiers are brave, most of them wear only the leather armor captured from the Wu army in the last two days. In a direct confrontation, I'm afraid they are no match for Eastern Wu."

Shamoke frowned, about to retort, but Liu Feng raised his hand to stop him.

"Ziwu is right."

Liu Feng's voice was calm and resolute. "It is true that the barbarian soldiers are short of armor. But it is better for Pan Zhang to fight a decisive battle in the Lingyang area than for him to retreat to Linyuan and defend the fortified city. Linyuan is the capital of Wuling County, with high walls and deep moats. If we let him retreat, the price we will pay will not be a decisive battle, but a protracted siege. Rather than letting him defend the great city of Linyuan, it is better to defeat him in a battle on the plains while he is still in Lingyang."

He surveyed the people in the tent, finally fixing his gaze on Shamoke: "This battle must be fought head-on. Though the barbarian soldiers are brave, they must still follow orders! Find an opportunity to annihilate Pan Zhang's main force, and Wuling will be within our grasp!"

The next morning, the Han-Manchu allied forces slowly broke camp.

Kou Wei led the elite Han army to clear the way, the Fengzi Battalion guarded the central army, and Shamoke's seven thousand barbarian soldiers followed closely behind.

The team slowly advanced northward along the wheel tracks left by Pan Zhang, unhurried and deliberate, like a clenched fist gathering strength at the last moment.

Liu Feng sat astride the Jade Lion Horse, gazing at the gradually widening horizon ahead.

There, Pan Zhang's ambition and nearly ten thousand troops awaited him. What Liu Feng needed to do was to achieve his goal in one battle and shatter all of Eastern Wu's main forces in Wuling County.