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

Although Gan Ning had always considered this battle a fight to the death, he was still somewhat unwilling to die in this ambush.

Especially after hearing Zhou Cang's words, Gan Ning even wondered for a moment why Zhou Cang and the others wanted to harm him, after they had fallen into a trap while attacking the left camp.

The Jiangdong army came fully prepared, and to avenge Ling Cao, the entire army wore white headscarves and charged angrily towards Gan Ning.

Since we're surrounded, we might as well charge into the camp. It would be worth it if we could kill a general as a shield!

With that thought in mind, Gan Ning roared, "Charge in!" and charged into the camp, braving the arrows.

After Gan Ning led his elite troops a hundred paces toward the enemy camp, Taishi Ci and Jiang Qin's left and right armies swiftly cut Gan Ning's three thousand men into several sections with spears and crossbows. Even as Gan Ning's steel sword dulled from the blows, all he could see were countless Jiangdong soldiers surging forward.

Gan Ning had already been hit by three arrows. Seeing that the attack was hopeless, he was about to draw his sword and commit suicide when suddenly there was a commotion behind Taishi Ci's left army. With a "boom!", the right camp was suddenly engulfed in flames.

Not only was the Jiangdong army in a panic, but Gan Ning was also very puzzled. Could it be that Huang Zu had discovered his conscience and sent troops to provide support? Or was it that Guan Yu's army was coming to help?

The fire quickly drew all of Jiangdong Army's attention.

Gan Ning jumped onto the pile of corpses and looked back. He saw that fire ships were still crashing into the right camp of the Jiangdong Water Fortress, taking advantage of the northwest wind.

Soon, a commotion arose behind their own team.

"Reinforcements have arrived!"

"Reinforcements have arrived!"

Gan Ning's soldiers kept shouting excitedly.

A will to survive ignited in Gan Ning's heart. "Charge back! Retreat!" Gan Ning shouted, directing his troops to retreat, while he covered the rear for his soldiers.

They stormed the camp gate and ran into Zhou Cang, who was wielding a long-handled broadsword and wreaking havoc.

"General Zhou! It really is you!" Gan Ning shouted excitedly.

After Zhou Cang swiftly dispatched a soldier in front of him, he rushed towards Gan Ning and shouted, "General Gan, quickly retreat out of the camp! The strategist is waiting outside! Leave this to us!"

"Alright! I'll go ahead first. Take care, General Zhou!" After saying that, Gan Ning decisively led his men towards the camp gate.

After Gan Ning led his remaining troops away, Zhou Cang roared, "Form ranks! Retreat!" His infantrymen gathered around, holding shields in one hand and longswords in the other, and retreated in an orderly semi-circle towards the outside of the camp.

Seeing that Gan Ning had escaped amidst the chaos of battle, Jiang Qin angrily led his elite troops straight to Zhou Cang, only to find that they had encountered a hedgehog covered in thorns, and none of the soldiers could budge the long sword formation.

Zhou Cang even directed his soldiers to shoot arrows outwards from the center of the formation, and Jiang Qin managed to stop five charges in a row without breaking through the formation.

This was actually a sudden idea of ​​Zhou Cang's a few days ago. He had wanted to form a Mo Dao Battalion in Runan, but he never had the opportunity. When he came to rescue Gan Ning this time, Zhou Cang temporarily changed the weapons of the Jingzhou soldiers he had borrowed from shields and broadswords to shields and longswords.

As instructed by Pang Tong, they established a position on the left flank in preparation for retreat. By sheer accident, this formation achieved an effect similar to Liu Yu's Crescent Moon Formation in later generations.

Both were battles fought with their backs to the river, but Liu Yu was facing the Northern Wei cavalry and needed chariots for defense, while Zhou Cang was facing the Jiangdong navy, which did not have the ramming power of cavalry. Therefore, he only needed shields and his own flesh to hold off the soldiers with spears or short swords.

Zhou Cang fought and retreated, while Guan Yu, who was in charge of the fire attack on the right camp, had already broken through the enemy forces near the camp gate and joined up with Gan Ning and Pang Tong.

Under Zhou Yu's personal command, the Jiangdong army reacted quickly, leaving only a portion of its soldiers to fight the fire, while the main force charged towards Zhou Cang.

Zhou Cang's "Small Crescent Moon Formation" also began to falter amidst the successive charges of the Jiangdong soldiers.

As the formation was compressed closer and closer to the retreating ships, Zhou Cang began to push forward himself, allowing the soldiers to slowly board the ships.

While Guan Yu's soldiers were retreating, the Jiangdong army, taking advantage of their superior numbers, surrounded them. Half of the soldiers retreated back to their ships, while the other half were shot into the water by a hail of arrows.

Zhou Cang grabbed a shield left behind by a soldier, charged to the front, and signaled the others to hurry up.

Just as the Jiangdong army was about to surround them, Zhou Cang swung his longsword and cut down two of them, causing the ten men at the front to panic.

Jiang Qin shouted from behind, "Those who retreat will die!" urging the soldiers to move forward.

Ten soldiers shouted "Kill!" to bolster their morale, raising their spears and charging towards Zhou Cang. Zhou Cang feigned turning to run away, and just as the soldiers mustered their courage to advance, Zhou Cang suddenly spun around, swinging his longsword, which was dragging on the ground, upwards—

"Clang!" The force of the blade sent three or four spears flying and cut two more in half. The remaining soldiers were also jolted by Zhou Cang's fierce blow, their hands split open in pain, and they involuntarily stopped in their tracks.

Seeing that all his soldiers had left by boat, Zhou Cang finally turned around, leaped into the water.

Jiang Qin hurriedly ordered his soldiers to shoot arrows into the water, but the thick fog on the river made it impossible to see anything.

When Zhou Yu angrily rode his horse all the way to the camp gate, he found that the camp had already been blocked by fire ships and he could not pursue them. Helpless, he ordered the battlefield to be cleared.

On a small boat on the river, Gan Ning, his three arrow wounds and four or five knife wounds bandaged, his eyes moist, kowtowed to Guan Yu and Pang Tong on the deck, saying, "Thank you, Generals, for saving my life!"

Guan Yu said, "General Gan, there's no need for such formalities. Zhou Cang was attacked the other day, and it was your help that led to his current predicament. Since we are allies, how can we stand by and watch him die?"

Upon hearing this, Gan Ning kowtowed again.

Guan Yu then said, "This battle is all thanks to the strategist. If you want to thank someone, thank the strategist." After saying this, Guan Yu himself bowed to Pang Tong.

After two battles, Guan Yu had completely believed in Pang Tong's abilities. Although Zhou Cang was attacked last time, if Pang Tong hadn't had the foresight to have Zhou Cang hide his troops and cargo ships with half of his soldiers and half of his provisions, the Jiangdong army would probably have succeeded long ago.

This time, the rescue of Gan Ning was also thanks to Pang Tong's ingenious rescue route, which involved using the northwest wind and fire attack on the right camp, allowing Gan Ning to escape smoothly from the left camp.

Gan Ning hurriedly kowtowed to Pang Tong, saying, "Thank you, sir, for saving my life!"

Pang Tong laughed and said, "General Gan is a loyal and righteous man, but unfortunately General Guan and General Zhou both favor loyal and righteous people. That's why I devised this plan to save you. It's a small matter. General Gan, please rise!"

After standing up, Gan Ning asked, "Sir, judging from the ship's course, it is not returning to Xiakou... What is the meaning of this, sir?"

Pang Tong countered, "If General Gan were to return to Xiakou, would Huang Zu tolerate it?"

Gan Ning remained silent upon hearing this.

Pang Tong smiled and said, "General Gan, things have come to this point, I have a word of advice for you."

Gan Ning sighed, as if he knew what Pang Tong wanted to say, and immediately said, "I have no way to repay the life-saving grace of the two generals. I am willing to serve them like a dog or a horse. However... if Huang Zu finds out that I have submitted to General Guan, he will definitely not let this go so easily..."

Pang Tong laughed heartily and said, "How could I not know that Huang Zu is intolerant of others? General, don't you want to know where we intend to go?"

Gan Ning asked doubtfully, "Could it be... heading towards Wancheng?"

Pang Tong laughed and said, "Exactly, exactly!"

Gan Ning nodded slowly and said, "Thank you for your concern, strategist. However, we have been traveling for quite some time now. I wonder how General Zhou is doing...?"

After Gan Ning finished speaking, the three of them looked together at the dark river surface shrouded in thick fog behind them...