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

The Han-Manchu allied forces rested for a night in the mountain path.

The barbarian soldiers sifted through the baggage seized from the Wu army and found a lot of dry rations and medicinal herbs. The campfire was filled with the mixed smell of roasted meat and herbs.

Shamoke personally urged all units to report their casualties and to collect the data. He also distributed the captured weapons and armor to able-bodied men who lacked equipment.

Liu Feng and Kou Wei spent half the night checking the map, going over every possible scenario they might encounter after leaving the mountains.

At dawn the next day, the army marched east out of the mountain pass.

Before the morning mist had even dissipated, a scout on horseback arrived with a report: about twenty li to the north, three large Wu army camps had been discovered, arranged in a triangular pattern. The camp gates were well-defended with barricades and deer antlers, and the watchtowers were filled with banners. Wu soldiers could be vaguely seen moving around in the camps.

Liu Feng rode his horse up a gentle slope and gazed into the distance. In the morning light, he could see the outlines of three Wu army camps, like three nails firmly planted on the plain.

The camp was arranged in a triangular formation – attacking any one of the camps would result in flanking attacks from the other two. The outer perimeter of the camp was fortified with pine trees freshly felled from the mountains, the stumps still fresh, but the arrangement was extremely orderly, with two layers of antlers interspersed, and every twenty paces there was a half-person-high earthen mound, where crossbowmen could crouch and fire.

The Wu soldiers patrolling the camp walls were clad in bright armor, their swords and spears gleaming coldly in the morning light.

"Pan Zhang is a veteran general."

Liu Feng withdrew his gaze and spoke to Kou Wei and Sha Moke beside him.

"The camp is set up in a triangular formation, with chevaux-de-frise and deer antlers, and crossbowmen are stationed inside. This camp is very well organized. We should take advantage of the Wu soldiers' unstable foothold and test them first."

Shamok had long been unable to contain himself.

He mounted his horse and drew the hundred-refined steel sword he had captured from the Jiefan Army from his waist; the blade gleamed with a deep blue light in the morning glow.

"Chenxi tribe, follow me, let's take the camp on the left."

Shamoke's voice was not loud, but it suppressed the surrounding noise. Two thousand Chenxi tribe barbarian soldiers, who were the most fully armored, quickly lined up behind him as if they were his own arms. The front row held shields, the middle row held spears, and the rear row consisted of three hundred archers selected in advance from various tribes, all equipped with strong arrows captured from the Wu army and poison arrows made by the barbarians themselves.

The wind on the plains is dry and biting, quite unlike the dampness in the mountains.

Two thousand barbarian soldiers spread out on the open field. Although their formation was not as orderly as that of the regular Han army, they had their own fierce and imposing aura.

Their faces were tanned dark by the mountain sun, and the totems on their arms shone bluish-black in the morning light. Some of them walked barefoot on the soil, seemingly unconcerned about the pebbles and stubble.

Shamoke pointed his steel sword forward, and two thousand vanguard soldiers surged toward the left flank like a tidal wave. Three hundred archers took the lead in occupying a slightly raised hill, their powerful bows and crossbows drawn in unison.

The crossbow bolts, whistling sharply, flew over the heads of the charging barbarian soldiers and rained down on the left flank of the Wu army.

The first volley of crossbow bolts struck the camp walls and barricades with a series of rapid, resounding thuds. Several Wu soldiers who were peering out were hit in the face and fell from the camp walls with screams of agony.

A rapid bugle call sounded from the left flank.

Wu soldiers poured out of their various tents, with swordsmen and shieldmen in front and archers and crossbowmen behind, quickly forming ranks against the camp walls and chevaux-de-frise. A Wu army captain shouted commands from the camp wall, and the crossbowmen set up their crossbows on the earthen ramparts and returned fire at the barbarian soldiers.

Wu Jun's crossbow bolts had a longer range and greater force than the barbarian soldiers' poison crossbows. Several barbarian shield bearers at the forefront had their leather shields pierced by the crossbow bolts and fell down with muffled groans.

Shamok was at the very front.

He deflected a stray arrow that had been shot at him with the back of his blade, and then, like a black whirlwind, rushed toward the main gate of the left camp. The chevaux-de-frise blocked his way, and with a roar, he gripped his sword with both hands and cleaved it down with all his might. The blade struck a pine tree as thick as a bowl, sending wood chips flying, and with one strike, he cleaved a gash in the chevaux-de-frise.

The barbarian soldiers following behind rushed forward, seven or eight hands grabbing the pine logs at the same time, letting out a shout, and the entire barricade was overturned to the ground.

The barbarian soldiers roared with cheers and swarmed in through the breach.

But what awaited them behind the breach was not chaos, but Wu's sword and shield formation.

Pan Zhang's personal guards had already formed a dense defensive formation behind the main gate—the front row half-crouched with shields raised, while the back row thrust their spears out from between the shields, the spear tips densely packed like the spines of a hedgehog.

Shamoke charged into the fray first, his steel blade cleaving through a shield, the edge striking the shield-bearer's neck, blood splattering onto his chest.

Behind him, barbarian soldiers followed one after another, engaging in a bloody battle with Wu's swordsmen and shieldmen in the narrow gap.

The ear-piercing sound of blades clashing, the muffled thud of shields hitting each other, the screams of the wounded and the cries of the dying mingled together, the mud was trampled up, and blood seeped into the soil, staining this inch of land a deep brown.

Just as the fierce battle raged in the left flank, the gates of Pan Zhang's central army camp suddenly burst open.

Three hundred armored guards emerged from the ranks, without raising flags or beating war drums, like a silent arrow piercing the flank of the barbarian army.

Pan Zhang himself rode in the center, wearing bright armor, a beast-face helmet, and carrying a large ring-pommel sword with a broad blade.

He crouched low, his horse moving at breakneck speed, and when he was less than a hundred paces from the barbarian flank, he slammed down his helmet and visor, roaring, "Kill!"

The three hundred guards shouted in unison, like a thunderclap from a clear sky.

They charged into the barbarian ranks from the flank, swords flashing and blood splattering. The barbarian soldiers were charging towards the gate with all their might when their flank was suddenly attacked, and their formation immediately crumbled.

Just as a barbarian garrison commander turned around and raised his short spear, Pan Zhang sliced ​​off the spear shaft with a single stroke. Before the blow was finished, the blade pierced into his shoulder blade, almost severing his entire arm.

Pan Zhang drew his sword, and blood splattered on half of his face. He didn't even wipe it away, and then slashed down another barbarian soldier, each blow fatal.

His personal guards followed like wolves and tigers, tearing a bloody gash in the flank of the barbarian soldiers.

Kou Wei, who had a clear view from a high hill in the distance, shouted sternly, "My lord, Pan Zhang has personally led the troops out of the camp!"

Liu Feng had already seen it.

He nodded, a chilling smile playing on his lips: "The left stronghold is guarded by Pan Zhang's personal troops; it won't be easy to break through. Tell Sha Moke not to linger in battle, but to retreat and plan again later."

Kou Wei immediately ordered the gong to be sounded.

The clear sound of a gong rang out across the plain.

Shamoke, caught up in the heat of battle, heard the retreat signal, spat out a mouthful of blood, and brandished his steel blade: "Go! Follow orders!"

The barbarian soldiers of Chenxi tribe quickly retreated from the breach. Pan Zhang chased them for a while before reining in his horse and turning back. He dared not let his personal guards stray too far from the camp—the barbarian soldiers were more mobile in open areas, and once lured out of the camp's depths, they could easily be divided and annihilated.

The two armies disengaged near the center line of the battlefield, leaving behind only corpses and blood.

From early morning to afternoon, these probing exchanges took place several more times.

Shamok would always launch surprise attacks from a different direction—left camp, right camp, central camp, and even twice he would circle around to the rear of the camp to feign an attack on the supply lines.

The barbarian soldiers' poison arrows were rotated several times, but they maintained a high frequency of long-range suppression.

Pan Zhang remained firmly in the central command, personally leading his troops to reinforce whichever side was in dire need.

This fierce general of Eastern Wu displayed his bravery in one counterattack after another—when three barbarian garrison commanders joined forces to attack him, he flipped off his horse, rolled on the ground to avoid two short spears, and with a single stroke of his ring-pommel sword, he slashed diagonally upwards, cutting open the garrison commander's abdomen.

The other two were either dead or startled and retreated. Pan Zhang had already rolled back onto his horse without even taking a long breath.

As dusk fell, a large cloud of dust suddenly rose on the southern horizon. Flags were faintly visible within the dust, and a dark mass of infantry surged forward like a torrent.

First to arrive was a banner with the character "马" (horse) on it – Ma Zhong led 7,000 reinforcements!

The reinforcements marched swiftly from Linyuan, their armor covered in dust but still neat and orderly, clearly indicating their high level of training. They entered the central camp from the south, their ranks impeccable, their swords and spears forming a forest, adding another layer of armor to Pan Zhang's already fortified camp.

Liu Feng, observing this scene from the high slope, ordered the retreat. The barbarian soldiers withdrew from the battlefield in an orderly fashion, carrying the wounded onto stretchers, the blood on their swords and spears still wet.

Inside the central army camp, Ma Zhong dismounted and strode into Pan Zhang's command tent. Pan Zhang was having a physician bandage an arrow wound on his arm—the barbarian soldiers' poisoned arrows were coated with the sap of the arrow-poison tree. The physician used a small knife to remove the blackened flesh around the wound, and Pan Zhang remained expressionless, simply watching coldly.

"General," Ma Zhong clasped his hands in a solemn gesture, "when I arrived from Linyuan, I encountered spies who had fled back from Yuanling. The banners flying atop Yuanling are not the five-colored flags of the barbarian soldiers, but the banner bearing the character 'Liu', the Rear General of Shu Han. According to the military report General Lu obtained, Liu Feng has been appointed Rear General by Liu Bei. Liu Feng himself is very likely already in Wuling."