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

The ten-man "gate-opening" team, including the supervisor, had already sneaked to the dock closest to the camp gate before Zhou Cang cut down the guards on the second-floor arrow platform.

As soon as the sparse patrolling soldiers left the dock, the group peeked out and suddenly heard a commotion from the direction of the watchtower, followed by the sound of drums.

The group had no choice but to dive back to the surface, clinging tightly to the shore, intending to look for another opportunity.

Gradually, the inspector sensed something was wrong. He could only see the firelight in the camp getting brighter and brighter from the water, so he slowly poked his head out.

The drumming stopped, but the area below the watchtower was already crowded with soldiers, all gathering at the top of the stairs to charge upwards.

Not only that, but Cao soldiers were also shooting upwards with bows and crossbows all around. After all, Cao soldiers were numerous and powerful, and their comrades on the upper floor were constantly being shot.

When he saw Cao soldiers directing the movement of dry straw and firewood, he knew he had to act, or his comrades would be burned to death!

The inspector pulled hard on the people next to him in the water, and together they climbed out of the water and onto the dock.

"There are people in the water!" Immediately, sharp-eyed Cao soldiers spotted the supervisor and his men and shouted loudly.

The slowest one had barely climbed out of the water when he was stabbed to death in the water by a nearby Cao soldier with a spear.

"Kill!" the supervisor shouted, and those closest to Cao Cao's army raised their short swords without hesitation and fought to the death against the Cao soldiers around them.

The supervising officer and the rest of his men rushed directly towards the camp gate.

The Cao soldiers who were originally gathered below the watchtower were immediately drawn to the attention of the supervisor and others, and thirty or forty men rushed over.

The short blades were no match for the long spears. In just a few breaths, the three or four companions who were fighting Cao's soldiers for their lives were outnumbered and stabbed to death.

The supervising officer didn't even turn around, and rushed straight towards the camp gate.

General Liao Hua, you must be there in time!

The supervising officer had no doubt that he could open the camp gate; his only concern was whether Liao Hua's troops had arrived in time and were waiting at the camp gate.

"Hold the camp gate!" A Cao camp officer, realizing the intentions of the supervisor and others, shouted from the watchtower to the soldiers near the dock.

As the inspector heard the shout, "Whoosh—thump!" one of his companions was struck by an arrow and fell behind him.

With the drawbridge winch almost within reach, the supervisor had no time to consider his own safety behind him.

The shouts of Cao Cao's soldiers behind him grew closer and closer, and he knew that his comrades would surely help him complete his mission.

Comrades! Comrades!

Ever since he was reprimanded by Zhou Cang for whipping the laborers, he had been thinking about the word "companion" the whole way.

Not only him, but all the soldiers and laborers who witnessed Zhou Cang's actions that day, as well as other supervisors like him, were thinking about this word.

This word shook up everything he had experienced over the past two decades.

When his father was conscripted for labor and died of a cold, he and his mother depended on each other for survival.

He spent all his family fortune to buy a minor official position, but the following year, due to a famine, he was unable to pay his taxes, and his son starved to death.

Why have I never heard the word "companion" before?

After unfamiliar names like Zhang Fei and Liu Bei took over Runan, I didn't believe they would be any different from the high-ranking officials and nobles before.

Even after witnessing firsthand the battle to defend Runan City, and seeing the entire city exempted from poll tax and land rent reductions, he did not believe that such acts of benevolence towards the people could last long.

It wasn't until he had simply taken it upon himself to whip a civilian who was deliberately slacking off on the march that Zhou Cang accused him of harming his comrade.

He then truly realized that Liu Bei and his subordinates seemed to be different from others.

How are those laborers any different from myself in the past? For a meager income and to help their families live better, they volunteered to come all the way to Nanyang, risking their lives.

Therefore, people like Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, and Zhou Cang...

Do they truly consider themselves comrades with their soldiers, laborers, and common people?

Is this an illusion or hope?

Even now, he still hasn't figured out this problem.

When he reached the winch, only one companion remained behind him. The companion grabbed Cao's spear and swung it wildly, trying to shield him with his body and buy him time to cut the rope.

One cut! Two cuts! Three cuts!

The thick rope was woven so tightly that it took three cuts to break it in half.

Finally, the last companion also died behind the inspector.

As he delivered the fourth blow, the cold spear was already embedded in his back.

He clung tightly to the winch with his entire body, completely ignoring the knives and spears coming at him from behind.

"Thud! Thud!—Whoosh!" The rope was finally cut!

The inspector's back had been pierced. He released his grip and collapsed to the ground, his body enveloped in blood.

Amidst the frantic creaking of the winch, he seemed to see again the scene of Zhou Cang resolutely diving into the Yu River after finishing his instructions to him that night, and so he followed suit and stepped into that dark water.

"Kill them!" Liao Hua, who had been waiting outside the camp for a long time, roared and rushed out from the earthen slope the moment the suspension bridge was lowered.

This was his first battle under his lord's command, but this charge was not only for killing the enemy and making meritorious contributions, but also for Zhou Cang and others who were already fighting desperately in the enemy camp.

The Cao soldiers, who had been out of battle for a long time, were caught off guard by the sudden attack of the enemy. The two-hundred-man force rushed into the camp like a whirlwind, cutting down anyone they encountered. In an instant, the blood of the Cao soldiers quickly gathered together and flowed into the Yu River.

Zhou Cang, standing in the watchtower, was now covered in more than ten wounds. His stamina had soared to over four hundred, and he couldn't even free his hands to pull out the four or five arrows stuck in his legs.

He gritted his teeth, making a muffled sound in his throat, his eyes bloodshot, blood flowing from the corner of his mouth, his thick arms each holding two or three spears, managing to push back the Cao soldiers who had already rushed halfway up the stairs.

His men behind him had already run out of arrows; two were shot dead, and three were wounded and sitting on the ground, panting heavily. The fate of the people upstairs was unknown. Zhou Cang had no way out at all.

Looking at the seemingly unkillable iron tower on the stairs, Cao Cao's soldiers downstairs all remembered Dian Wei, the monster who single-handedly blocked thousands of troops in Wancheng more than two years ago, almost exactly the same.

Suddenly, a deafening battle cry erupted outside the building. The Cao soldiers surrounding the watchtower barely had time to react before Liao Hua's troops peeled them apart layer by layer, like an onion.

Zhou Cang let out a long sigh of relief, loosened his arms, and let Cao's soldiers scatter and flee. He then sat heavily on the steps, feeling a great weight lifted from his shoulders.

The entire camp of Cao's soldiers was slaughtered, leaving only a few dozen men who, in a panic, jumped into the Yu River.

When Liao Hua broke through the encirclement and saw the piles of Cao soldiers' corpses on both sides of the watchtower entrance, his heart pounded, and a strange panic suddenly took over his mind.

"Brother!" When he saw Zhou Cang sitting motionless on the blood-stained steps, riddled with arrows, he couldn't help but shout and rush up the stairs.

As a result, he slipped on the blood and fell face-first onto the steps, almost hitting his front teeth.

Why is Yuanjian so alarmed?

Liao Huayi looked up and saw Zhou Cang's dark, rough face grinning foolishly at him.