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

Pan Zhang frowned slightly and gestured for the physician to leave.

"Liu Feng? Is that the guy Ding Feng defected to? The one who killed Cao Ren?"

"Exactly."

Ma Zhong stepped forward and lowered his voice, "General, I have heard a lot about this man's military style from General Lu. Taking Xiangfan, beheading Cao Ren, seizing Nanxiang, and capturing Tian Yu—every step he takes is meticulously planned. He never takes risks, yet he always strikes where you least expect it. Right now, he is likely stationed among the barbarian troops on the other side. I believe we should not be careless and should immediately send someone to request reinforcements from Lu Xun."

Pan Zhang remained silent for a few moments, then let out a sneer.

He stood up, and the newly bandaged gauze on his arm was already seeping with fresh bloodstains, but he was completely unaware of it.

"Ma Zhong, when did you become so cowardly? No matter how skilled Liu Feng is, he's just a kid in his early twenties. So what if he killed Cao Ren? It's not that Liu Feng is so great, it's that he tricked us—hiding troops in grain ships is just a dirty trick. On the main battlefield, in a decisive battle, we rely on real swords, spears, and armor. I've fought for decades, do you think I'd be afraid of Liu Feng? Even if Liu Feng himself came, so what? We'll just capture him and hand him over to our lord for punishment!"

Ma Zhong didn't try to persuade him further. He knew Pan Zhang's temperament well—the more he was advised, the more stubborn he became.

He clasped his hands in a fist salute and withdrew, leaving only one sentence: "To prepare for any eventuality, this humble general has already dispatched another team of scouts to monitor the enemy's movements."

Pan Zhang stood alone in the tent, gazing at the map hanging on the tent wall. His finger slowly moved from Lingyang to the western mountain pass, a cold smile appearing on his lips.

"Liu Feng," he murmured the name, "just a wet-behind child."

As dusk settled, the last crimson hue of the sky was swallowed by the night. A cold wind suddenly rose across the plain, swirling withered grass and gravel past the battle lines.

Liu Feng stood on a slightly raised earthen slope, watching his troops unfold in an orderly fashion in the night.

His voice wasn't loud, but the military order clearly reached every captain's ears: "Defend the left flank along a tributary of the Yuan River, and set up camp on the right flank near that plateau. Dig trenches to a depth of one person, piling the excavated soil on the inner side, and place crossbowmen's posts every thirty paces. Use two layers of pine wood for the palisades, filling the space between them with earth. Each camp should use local firewood for cooking, ensuring the men have hot meals within half an hour!"

Military orders were passed down one after another, and the entire camp began to operate swiftly and orderly, like an abacus being turned by an invisible hand.

Kou Wei personally led the Wancheng troops to occupy the right wing plateau, which was slightly higher and overlooked the entire plain in front of the camp.

The Fengzi Battalion was stationed in the central army, protecting Liu Feng's command tent at its core.

The left wing was led by Shamoke's barbarian soldiers, who set up camp at a bend in a tributary of the Yuan River, where they could both obtain water and defend against the enemy.

Although the barbarian soldiers came from the mountains, they had improved their camp-building skills considerably after following Liu Feng for these past few days—the trenches were dug to varying depths, and the palisades were tied crookedly, but they had everything they needed.

The cooks set up a large pot.

Smoke rose from the various camps, and soon the air was filled with the salty aroma of boiled dried meat and the crispy scent of baked flatbread.

After Liu Feng finished his inspection and returned to the central command tent, he saw Shamoke squatting by the camp fence, sharpening his hundred-refined steel sword with a whetstone. The blade gleamed with a cold, eerie light in the firelight, and each stroke sent up tiny sparks.

I expect Pan Zhang to come tonight.

Liu Feng stood beside Sha Moke, his voice low.

Shamoke raised his head, a hint of surprise flashing in his copper-bell-shaped eyes: "Coming to intercept the camp? He didn't gain any advantage during the day, so he dares to sneak over at night?"

"He's coming precisely because he didn't gain any advantage during the day." Liu Feng looked towards the distant Wu army camp, where lights were bright and the faint sound of bugles could be heard. "Pan Zhang is a ruthless man who can't stand setbacks. He was repeatedly tested by us during the day but couldn't leave the camp for a decisive battle, so he's burning with resentment. Now that the Eastern Wu reinforcements have arrived, tonight is his chance to seize the camp—he will come."

Shamok grinned, revealing a set of gleaming white teeth: "Come on then. I'll have the tribe's old hunters fire a few volleys of arrows at him in the dark, and see if he dares to come again."

"No need."

Liu Feng turned around, his gaze calm and composed.

"You need not leave the camp tonight. Order all camps to lock their gates after dark, maintain the usual sentry duty, and double the number of sentries. All archers should lie down fully clothed, with their weapons at hand. Leave half of the hearth fires burning, and add three tripwires to the inside of each camp gate. All the tripwire pits in the open area in front of the camp were dug during the day; have your men cover them with straw mats and sprinkle them with topsoil. Pan Zhang will launch a night attack with cavalry; charging in the dark, the tripwire pits and tripwires will be the first obstacle. Let them crash in—it's not too late to fire arrows when they reach the camp fence."

Shamoke was taken aback for a moment, then his smile deepened: "My lord, are you trying to trap the Wu soldiers like wild boars?"

"Whether it's a wild boar or a tiger, it's all the same once you've run into a trap," Liu Feng said.

Meanwhile, inside the central command tent of Wu's army camp, the lights illuminated the map hanging on the wall.

Pan Zhang, his upper body half-baked, had the physician apply freshly ground herbs to the arrow wound on his arm. The wound, from which the poisoned flesh had been removed, was still bleeding, but he didn't even flinch when the herbs were applied; he simply picked up the wine bowl on the table and took a large gulp.

Ma Zhong stood before the desk, his face grave: "General, the last batch of scouts who returned to camp just now reported that the enemy has already set up camp twenty li away. They have trenches, palisades, and watchtowers—everything they need. The camp was set up extremely quickly, in less than an hour. The left flank is near the water, the right flank is on high ground, the central army is well-hidden, and there are numerous hidden sentries. This method of setting up camp is extremely sophisticated; it's not something an ordinary person would do."

"What do you want to say?" Pan Zhang put down his wine bowl.

"I would like to reiterate that although Liu Feng is young, he is extremely experienced in warfare and proceeds cautiously step by step. Since he dared to set up camp twenty miles away from us, he must have already calculated all of our army's movements. If you intend to intercept our camp at night, you must be wary of an ambush set up in his camp."

Pan Zhang sneered and slammed his wine bowl down on the table: "That's precisely why I'm going to strike before he's fully set up camp. Ma Zhong, think about it. Liu Feng's men have been traveling all day and are exhausted. The camp has just been set up, the soil in the trenches is still soft, and the palisades haven't been properly compacted. If we don't attack now, are we going to wait until he's rested and fully recovered before we attack?"

He paused slightly, then got up to stretch his limbs.

"No matter how quickly Liu Feng sets up camp, he still needs to sleep. Tonight, I will personally lead the entire force of over seven hundred elite cavalry, all with their hooves wrapped in cloth, to circle around from the north and attack his left flank. Those barbarians can run and jump in the mountains, but in a night battle on flat ground, they are no match for our cavalry."

Ma Zhong remained silent; the Eastern Wu navy was invincible. However, in land battles, Eastern Wu lacked horses. It was truly difficult to muster even a thousand or so cavalrymen from an army of ten thousand!

If we just gather them together and take them to intercept the enemy camp, what if the enemy has laid an ambush? Wouldn't we be throwing away all the cavalry we've painstakingly built up?

However, Pan Zhang had always been strict in disciplining his troops, and Ma Zhong knew that his earnest persuasion would be useless, so he clasped his hands and said, "In that case, this humble general is willing to lead his troops to follow closely behind and provide support for the general."

"No need."

Pan Zhang stood up, picked up the ring-pommel sword from beside the table, its blade gleaming coldly in the lamplight.

"You stay and guard the main camp. If I haven't returned by midnight, then bring the troops back. Tonight I want to see for myself whether Liu Feng is really as amazing as you say."

Late at night, around midnight.

The clouds obscured the stars and moon, and the plain was shrouded in darkness.

The north side gate of Wu Jun's camp opened silently, and about seven hundred elite cavalrymen filed out.

The horses' hooves were completely wrapped in thick linen, and when they stepped on the rammed earth, they only made a dull rustling sound.

Each rider had a gag in their mouth, with a piece of wood held horizontally in their jaws. Black cloth was wrapped around the hilt of their swords to prevent glare, and the brass rings on their warhorses were also tightly wrapped in linen.

Pan Zhang led the charge, his beast-faced helmet covering his face armor, leaving only his eyes gleaming in the darkness. His seven or eight hundred cavalrymen circled northward along a dry ditch they had discovered during the day, avoiding the scouting lines deployed in front of the Han-barbarian allied forces, and approached the left flank of the allied forces from the flank and rear.

The left flank of the allied forces was the camp of the Shamok barbarians. Most of the fires in the camp had gone out, with only a few embers flickering in the night wind.

From afar, the camp was completely silent, with only a few sentries strolling lazily along the walls. Pan Zhang crouched down less than two miles from the allied forces' left flank camp and observed carefully for a moment.

"Completely unprepared."

Pan Zhang snorted coldly and turned around to give a hand gesture to the personal guard captain behind him.

"Pass down the order: no fires, no noise. Break in from the left flank, first disrupt these barbarians' formation. Then, take advantage of the chaos to attack the center. Capture the leader, find Liu Feng's command tent, and drag him out, dead or alive!"