I, Zhou Cang, am the number one tank in the Three Kingdoms.

After the heavy snow, Chaohu Lake resembled a mirror inlaid in white jade, the snow completely burying the bodies of soldiers who died on both battlefields.

In the middle of the lake, a giant ship with a four-story building slowly sailed. Under the mediation of Zhuge Jin and Xu Shu, after three days, the Liu and Sun families finally reached an agreement on a ceasefire and peace talks.

Jiangdong contributed a total of fifty warships of various sizes, 100,000 bushels of military provisions, 30,000 bushels of grain seeds, and relocated fifty households of artisans. Sun Quan submitted a memorial recommending Liu Bei as the governor of Yangzhou, promising not to invade Hefei for five years. Furthermore, if Cao Cao were to attack, Jiangdong would have to fight alongside Liu Bei against Cao Cao. All supplies and people were to be sent to Hefei within three months.

Out of sincerity, Liu Bei's side will also provide the troops stranded in Chaohu with the provisions needed to return to Jiangdong, which, of course, were originally seized from the Jiangdong camp...

However, Sun Quan himself was extremely concerned about his reputation and was unwilling to attend the signing ceremony of the peace treaty. Instead, Zhuge Jin and Cheng Pu were sent as his plenipotentiary representatives, carrying Sun Quan's seal of office to Liu Bei's army camp.

In response, Liu Bei's army, represented by Pang Tong and Xu Shu, chose the hillside where the treaty was signed, which was the same hillside where Liu Bei had bowed to Sun Quan a few days earlier. This hillside was half a story lower than the warship, allowing Sun Quan to overlook the signing ceremony and giving him some face. Liu Bei, on the other hand, remained under the same banner, which was half a story higher than the warship.

Compared to the previous few days, the distance between the docked warship and Liu Bei's banner was now very close, and both Liu Bei and Sun Quan could clearly see each other's figures.

After slaughtering the cattle and sheep, the four men sat silently on the simple table, signing and stamping the documents before putting them away.

"My lord has long admired Lord Liu's reputation. Although there was some misunderstanding before, from today onwards, our two families will put aside our differences and make peace. My lord would like to invite Lord Liu to a banquet on the ship. I wonder if Lord Liu would be willing to do me the honor?" Zhuge Jin smiled and looked at Xu Shu.

"Thank you for your kind offer, General Sun. However, Hefei was already in ruins, and this battle has caused it to fall even further. There are still many important matters that need to be decided by our lord. It will not be too late to invite General Sun to come and meet us again after Hefei has been rebuilt!" Xu Shu replied with a smile.

The two exchanged a smile and then went their separate ways.

The moment Zhuge Jin and Cheng Pu boarded the ship, the Jiangdong soldiers, whose limbs were already stiff from the cold lake wind, cheered with joy, finally able to go home.

Seeing the soldiers weeping with joy, Zhuge Jin knew that although his lord Sun Quan might need quite some time to recover from the shadow of defeat, his insistence on peace talks this time was the right thing to do.

As the ship departed, Liu Bei once again bowed to Sun Quan from a distance, and Sun Quan returned the bow with his hands clasped in return. Thus ended their first meeting.

At the mouth of Ruxu, Liu Bei's army was busy dismantling the blockade of the linked ships while simultaneously transporting the promised grain and fodder to the Jiangdong fleet by barge.

Outside the blockade line, Zhang Liao had already moved all the Jingzhou warships to the side, while he and Zhou Cang watched from the city of Juchao as the Jiangdong fleet sailed away from the Ruxu River, which was over sixty feet wide.

"General Zhang, do you think Sun Quan, that coward, can really keep his promise and not invade Hefei for five years?" Zhou Cang asked in a low voice.

"Don't even mention five years, I don't believe it even in three years," Zhang Liao said expressionlessly.

So much can happen in three years. Just three years ago, I was still following Lü Bu.

"Then tell me, do my lord Liu Bei and his strategists Xu Shu and Pang Tong believe it?" Zhou Cang asked again.

"I don't know. Lord Liu is a man of integrity, and he will surely believe me if he judges people by that standard." Zhang Liao paused and said, "Whether he believes me or not is not important. If Sun Quan wants to fight, I will accompany him to the end."

That evening, a grand victory celebration banquet was held in Hefei. The entire army of 20,000 people drank heartily. Among them were people from Runan, Jingzhou, Wancheng from the other side of the mountain, and local people from Huainan.

The civil and military officers quickly found their drinking buddies. Xu Shu sought out Pang Tong, Zhang Liao went to Guan Yu, and Gan Ning, Liao Hua, and Zhou Cang, the three former bandit leaders, gathered together for a drinking contest. Chen Lan and Yang Hong, two former colleagues under Yuan Shu, poured out their hearts to each other. After drinking with each of these "small groups," Liu Bei lay alone on the table, smiling as he passed out drunk.

The following afternoon, Liu Bei summoned his civil and military officers, who had fully regained consciousness, to discuss the next steps.

"My lord, Shouchun was originally a fertile land, but unfortunately, since Yuan Shu's usurpation and rebellion, the people have been scattered and all industries are in need of revitalization. General Yang and Zhang Xun have been managing Shouchun for more than a month and have gradually shown signs of revival."

"I intend to return to Shouchun with General Yang to prepare for the establishment of military farms, so that Shouchun can become the front line against Cao Cao in the future," Pang Tong said loudly.

"Yes, Shouchun is the throat of the Central Plains, the shield of Jiangnan, and the spine of Hefei. At this time, the Jianghuai region is without a ruler. If my lord obtains Shouchun, then Runan, Shouchun, and Hefei can be connected by waterways. We can attack Cao Cao in the north and take Xuzhou in the east. In this way, we can establish a great foundation!" Xu Shu said, his eyes shining.

"What the two strategists say is exactly what I was thinking. However, if Shiyuan goes to Shouchun, what about the matter of Hefei..." Liu Bei looked at Pang Tong.

"This trip to Shouchun is solely for the purpose of pacifying the people and inspecting the fields and waterways. It will take at least half a month, or at most a month."

"I have already written down all the matters concerning Hefei to Gan Ning. If my lord is still worried, he can wait for my return in Hefei." Pang Tong had already made the arrangements in advance.

"The great battle has just ended, and now heavy snow is hindering our progress. Why don't you rest for a few days before you go, Shiyuan?" Xu Shu interjected.

"No, since General Yang came to Hefei to help me, Shouchun City has been without a ruler for many days. We should not delay, lest things change," Pang Tong insisted.

"Very well, in that case, Shi Yuan and General Yang shall lead three thousand troops to Shouchun today." Seeing that Pang Tong was so insistent, Liu Bei no longer tried to stop him.

"Yes, sir!" Pang Tong and his companion were about to leave when Liu Bei called out to them, "Wait!"

"I have long heard that bandits are rampant in Shouchun. Yuanfu, you and Shiyuan go together." Liu Bei then looked at Zhou Cang.

"Your humble servant obeys!" After receiving the order, Zhou Cang accompanied Pang Tong and Yang Hong to Shouchun.

Because the roads were muddy after the snow, the journey, which should have taken at least three days, took six days. Fortunately, they had just won a great victory, and the soldiers chatted and laughed all the way without feeling tired.

Five days later, just as dusk was falling, Pang Tong's troops, marching in a long line, finally spotted the south gate of Shouchun City in the distance.

"Strange, when I led my troops to Hefei to support the strategist, I never ordered the city to be closed and martial law to be enforced. Why is it that the city gates were closed before 7 p.m. when I returned this time?" Yang Hong muttered to himself.

"Perhaps those soldiers, seeing that their commander was not here, took it upon themselves to close the city gates so that no one could disturb their peaceful sleep," Pang Tong joked, not taking it seriously.

"General Yang, could there be any unrest in the city?" Zhou Cang asked warily.

"I don't know. There should be nothing wrong. I also have a trusted confidant in the city, but I haven't seen him come to Hefei to report the news," Yang Hong said, frowning.

"In that case, strategist and General Zhou, rest here for a while. I will first go down to the city walls to scout out the situation. If there are no unexpected developments, the main force can then enter the city later," Yang Hong said after thinking for a moment.

"Yes, General Yang's considerations are very thorough. I will trouble you to go and investigate first." Pang Tong nodded.

Yang Hong immediately spurred his horse forward. Zhou Cang, watching Yang Hong's figure, asked Pang Tong, "Shouchun and Hefei are not far apart, why is Military Advisor Pang in such a hurry?"

Pang Tong smiled and said, "Hmph, the victory at Hefei was originally my doing, but who knew that Yuanzhi would pull off such a trap and steal all the limelight."

"Taking Shouchun was something Yang Hong and I had agreed on long ago. It would be a piece of cake. If I don't hurry, he might steal the credit, and then it will be too late to regret it."

Zhou Cang was stunned after hearing this. He suddenly remembered that in the original book, Pang Tong was eager to make a name for himself and refused to listen to the Prime Minister's advice to Liu Bei. He insisted on his own opinion and was eventually killed by Zhang Ren's ambush with a hail of arrows at Luofeng Slope.

Pang Tong's words just now truly reflect his character.

At this time, outside Hefei, Xu Shu and Liu Bei had finished inspecting the new city that Pang Tong had half-finished, and then they climbed up Jiming Mountain along the mountain path to enjoy the scenery.

Xu Shu looked up at the sky and suddenly began pacing anxiously.

"What is Shiyuan worried about?" Liu Bei asked curiously.

"My lord! I have some knowledge of astronomical phenomena. Tonight, the star of the Prime Minister in the Taiwei Enclosure is shimmering and about to fall, and its celestial division corresponds to Huainan," Xu Shu said excitedly.

"The planet Venus enters the constellations of Dou and Niu, its crimson light like blood pointing directly at Shouchun, indicating that a great general will suffer an ambush."

"Furthermore, the presence of a dangerous and dimly lit star, along with the intrusion of a guest star, is an ominous sign of death in war or conflict."

"Shi Yuan is heading north on light cavalry. The celestial signs are so ominous, and Mr. Shui Jing also said that Shi Yuan is out of favor with the times..."

"I thought it was just the Hefei incident, but I never imagined it was this... I'm afraid Shiyuan has been ambushed and his life is in imminent danger!" Xu Shu said, and then he began to sob.

Liu Bei was shocked on the spot and immediately sent people to Shouchun to investigate.

Beneath the walls of Shouchun, Yang Hong shouted, "I am Yang Hong! Why are the city gates tightly shut?"

A moment later, a soldier poked his head out and said, "So it's General Yang who's back. We saw that he hadn't returned yet, so we took it upon ourselves to close the city gates to prevent any trouble."

Yang Hong recognized the voice as belonging to the same gatekeeper and shouted, "I have returned with my army! Open the gate immediately!"

"Yes, sir!" shouted the soldier on the city wall, then pulled his head back in. The drawbridge creaked and groaned as it was lowered.

Yang Hong quickly ran back to Pang Tong's side and said, "Military Advisor Pang, there is nothing wrong in the city. It was indeed the garrison soldiers who acted on their own initiative. The city gates are open. Please enter the city, Military Advisor!"

"Good! All troops, listen to my command and follow me into the city!" Pang Tong shouted with high spirits.

Yang Hongxing was at the forefront, followed by Pang Tong and Zhou Cang, with the cavalry behind them. In no time, more than a hundred people crossed the drawbridge and entered the barbican.

Suddenly, with a loud "BOOM!", the heavy gate inside the city gate descended without warning, blocking all the following troops from entering. At the same time, the inner city gate closed rapidly!

Torches were lit on the city tower, and rows of soldiers aimed their bows and arrows at the troops that had entered the barbican below.

A figure flashed out from the city wall; it was Liu Ye, who had disappeared in the chaos of the army outside Hefei!

It turned out that Liu Ye saw the Jiangdong army defeated and knew that there was no way to turn the tide, so he fled back to Shouchun overnight. Taking advantage of the city's weak defenses, he gathered five hundred bandits and coerced Yang Hong's former troops to seize the city of Shouchun.

"Yang Hong, you betrayed the court and aided the wicked, causing my efforts to be in vain! Today, death is your only fate!" Liu Ye finished cursing and shouted, "Fire the arrows!"

Realizing they had been ambushed, everyone turned their horses toward the city gate to hide. Before Yang Hong could turn around, he and his horse were riddled with arrows.

Seeing that Yang Hong was dead and that the city gate was far away, Zhou Cang desperately jumped off his horse and rushed to Pang Tong beside him. The two fell off their horses, and Zhou Cang pulled Pang Tong along the base of the city wall towards the city gate.

After three or four volleys of arrows, most of the cavalry in the barbican had been killed or wounded. The ground was littered with the corpses of warhorses that had been shot and killed while running around in panic. The remaining men either hid inside the city gate or, like Zhou Cang, were still fleeing for their lives along the city wall.

At this moment, the arrows fired from the city wall stopped, and the gates of the two hidden troop caves suddenly opened. Two hundred soldiers filed out of the caves, attempting to finish off the last thirty-odd men.

The light cavalry trapped outside the city were met with a barrage of rolling logs, stones, and arrows from the soldiers on the city walls, and could only retreat far away and watch helplessly as the city was attacked.

Zhou Cang shoved Pang Tong, who had already been hit by two arrows in the leg, into the city gate and pointed at him, saying, "You all protect the strategist!" After saying that, he stood horizontally with his long sword to block the entrance of the city gate, ready to fight.

At Zhou Cang's shout, the panicked soldiers inside the city gate calmed down a bit, picked up their weapons, and surrounded Zhou Cang, while Pang Tong was protected at the innermost part.

"Kill!" Shouchun soldiers shouted, brandishing their spears, and charged toward the city gate.

"Crack!" Zhou Cang swung his longsword, sweeping it horizontally and instantly severing the spears of the three foremost soldiers. The three soldiers were stunned for a moment, but then the soldiers behind them immediately followed up with thrusts—

A spear on the left grazed Zhou Cang's ribs, while a spear on the right pierced straight into Zhou Cang's thigh!

[Damage taken, Stamina -2, Attributes increased]

[Damage taken, Stamina -19, Attributes increased]

Zhou Cang's blood surged, and with a roar, he grabbed the spear on his leg, pushed it forward and pulled it out. Then, with a sudden burst of strength, he snatched it from the soldier's hand and swung it wildly left and right, slapping five or six soldiers on the head. Several of them fell to the ground and couldn't get up!

The Shouchun soldiers following behind hesitated at the sight, but under Liu Ye's constant urging from the city wall, they gritted their teeth and rushed up.

Zhou Cang, holding a long sword in one hand and a spear in the other, spread his arms wide and shouted, "Come and fight me to the death!" His roar was as loud as thunder, even startling the cavalry outside the city.

The Shouchun soldiers, relying on their superior numbers, continued to press forward, only to be met with a fierce mow from Zhou Cang, who killed seven or eight of them before they dared not advance any further.

Liu Ye, enraged, grabbed a large bow and drew it taut with all his might—

"Whoosh!" An arrow struck Zhou Cang squarely in the calf!

The intense pain caused Zhou Cang to immediately kneel down on one knee, and the soldiers swarmed around him upon seeing this—

"Whoosh!" Wounded by the arrow, Zhou Cang felt a surge of hot blood rush to his head. He simply threw away his spear and used his longsword to sweep the soldiers' lower path!

This time, along with the spears, the lower legs of two or three soldiers were also severed!

Screams echoed throughout the barbican!

The soldiers inside the city gate were in high spirits. A dozen of them rushed out shouting and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Shouchun soldiers who were trying to surround Zhou Cang!

Overwhelmed by the momentum of the counterattack, the soldiers of Shouchun gradually fell into a disadvantageous position, with the soldiers behind them continuously shooting arrows at Zhou Cang.

But Zhou Cang fought with increasing ferocity, showing no fear despite being hit by five arrows. He was covered in blood and managed to push the Shouchun soldiers back several feet.

More and more soldiers emerged from the city gate to fight for their lives. In the end, only five men remained in the gate to protect Pang Tong, while the rest joined Zhou Cang, completely turning the tide of the battle!

Some of the soldiers from Shouchun had already knelt down to surrender, while others were running wildly towards the hidden troop cave to escape for their lives.

"Climb the city ramp!" Pang Tong suddenly shouted from inside the cave.

Zhou Cang understood and stopped chasing the Shouchun soldiers in front of him. Instead, he charged wildly toward the wooden gate of the ramp leading to the city!

"Boom!" The wooden door was smashed open and shattered on the ground!

"Follow me and charge up the city wall!" Zhou Cang roared as he got up from the ground. Five or six soldiers followed Zhou Cang and rushed up the ramp. Some of Yang Hong's former subordinates who were unwilling to obey Liu Ye on the city wall instantly defected!

Liu Ye was caught off guard and turned to run, but was swept down by two of Yang Hong's former subordinates who were not far away, and then tied up.

"Open the city gates immediately! Those who surrender will not be killed!" Zhou Cang, with five arrows stuck in his body, shouted down from the city wall.

(End of Volume 1)