Arriving at Xiaopei

Yun and his army were outside Qiao waiting for the order to deploy to Xiapi. It has been a month since they left Puyang and Yun was jumping from campfire to campfire to deepen his bond with his soldiers.

He soon reached the campfire before his tent when he sits down between Dian Wei and Hua when he says, "It seems the morale is high at the moment."

"It seems the firework we worked so hard for was a big success then," says Hua as he looks at the night sky seeing the stars shine brighter than usual this night.

"You talked with Cao Cao today right?" asks Pang Tong who was feeling stiff because they are sleeping on the ground for a week now.

"We are moving out tomorrow. Our new destination is Xiaopei," says Yun not putting any importance on their next destination.

"Wait we are going to meet Liu Bei and his brothers again," says Hua a bit surprised that Yun would agree easily to it since he couldn't be near Liu Bei or Zhang Fei without having the urge to kill them.

The strategists were confused about what Hua said since Liu Bei and his youngest brother are normally never mentioned before Yun except it involves Guan Yu in some way.

"Our Lord was accommodating Liu Bei and his brothers in Zhending under Imperial Law until Liu Bei's Ancestors could be traced back to the Imperial Family. If Liu Bei were of Royal Blood he would be freed of his charges, but if the opposite were to happen," says Taishi Ci coldly at the end as he placed his thumb on his throat before moving it from one end to the other making it clear for everyone.

"So he is of Royal Blood since he is alive," says Xu Shu making the Generals laugh out loud.

"Not really," says Hua wiping a tear from his left eye.

"It was never confirmed because of the Eunuch's Uprising. That stopped the investigation and Dong Zhuo wasn't interested in continuing it afterward. So I took matters into my own hands and sent them away from Zhending before I went to join the Coalition against Dong Zhuo," says Yun as he looked at the fire.

"Now everyone calls him Imperial Uncle without even without knowing if he really is of Royal Blood," says Yun with a smirk on his face.

"Why didn't he attack Zhending if while you were away?" asks Xu Shu curious about it when Yun began to laugh from hearing that question.

"Because he fears me," says Yun not joking about it.

"He fears you?" asks Zhuge Liang confused as Yun just nods.

"Every time we have met in the past I have stomped him and his brothers into the ground. Let us just say that it left an impression of me in his subconscious," says Yun simplifying it for the strategists.

"And he won't hold a grudge against you?" asks Guang Jia a bit worried that their allies could have bad intentions.

"Trust me, he has. But he will contain himself until Lu Bu is done with. Until then we have nothing to worry about from him," says Yun as he wasn't worried about Liu Bei's action toward him but about his wife that was carrying his child at the moment.

"Let's just hope that this war ends as fast as possible so we can return home again," says Yun as many agreed with him.

"This might be my last war," says Huang Zhong worried since he wasn't the youngest any longer.

"Old Man, there are still many battles before you kick the bucket," says Yun joking about Huang Zhong's concerns about him dying in this war against Lu Bu.

They continued talking until they went to sleep. The next day Cao Cao's army that assembled in Qiao moved out towards Xiaopei to regroup with Liu Bei before marching towards Xiapi.

It took the army a month to reach Xiaopei where Liu Bei awaited them with open arms thinking that Cao Cao would free him of Lu Bu returning Xu to his control not knowing that Cao Cao had his plans for the Xu Province.

They shook hands with each other treating each other like brothers while scheming behind each other's backs. Yun didn't care about it as he was outside the city with all the others except for Xu Chu and his men.

Yun and his trusted men were sitting around one campfire as always when Yun asks, "Which tactic should we use if we are sent as Vanguard?"

"We should try to siege Xiapi even if we have lost a golden opportunity by waiting until winter passed," says Guo Jia who was against them waiting until winter passed to start the war.

"He is right if Cao Cao had listened to you from the beginning we would have taken the city already by using Guo Jia's tactic of using the river against Lu Bu," says Sima Yi as he like the plan Guo Jia prepared before.

The plan was to take control of the rivers Yi and Si to flood Xiapi to leave Lu Bu no other opportunity but to surrender without having to fight him. Yun was the person taking the plan before Cao Cao but he rejected it because Lu Bu doesn't have a great number of soldiers behind him compared to himself.

Yun only shook his head back then because they were letting Lu Bu grow stronger and the information from more than four months ago isn't accurate any longer compared with what they will be facing now.

"I don't think that we will be fighting Lu Bu soon," says Taishi Ci as everyone looked at him confused waiting for an explanation.

"We are in the middle of spring right now. We will most likely wait for summer before we move toward Xiapi so we won't lose our footing while marching since the surrounding is quite tricky around Xiapi," says Taishi Ci since he was from the Qing Province which bordered the Xu Province. He had to travel a lot between both Provinces while working for the Donglai Commandery.

"Lu Bu will be quite strong since he won't be sitting around waiting for us to attack him first," says Yun with an exciting smile on his face knowing Lu Bu wouldn't stand still just for them.

"He might conscript more people into his army and after what happened with Liu Bei they might follow him since they know what Lu Bu wants from them," says Pang Tong seriously as Yun looked around when he sees Xiahou Dun moving his troops.

"It seems one of the General got orders from Cao Cao," says Gan Ning suspicious as they see Xiahou Dun move his men away from Xiaopei.

"Cao Cao must want to skirmish with the enemy trying to tip his toes into the water to find out if it is warm or cold," says Yun looking at Xiahou Dun leaving the camp when Shadow landed on Yun's shoulder.

"Did you see some enemies, girl?" asks Yun out of the black eagle nods before gliding to the ground.

She uses her talons to carve out a number which made Yun smile before he puts his hand over it and wishes it away so nobody else could see it before he says, "Xiahou Dun will have a hard time in this skirmish."

"How many troops has the enemy?" asks Zhuge Liang not getting fooled by his Lord or his eagle.

"Around fifty thousand men. Lu Bu isn't with them which concludes that it is only a small part of his actual force," says Yun surprising the group since Yun himself has around fifty thousand men under his command.

He would have more if he conscripted people instead of waiting for them to join him on their own. If Yun had conscripted as all the others did he would have at least had a bit under a hundred thousand men under his command.

But Yun is someone that doesn't accept everyone in his ranks. They need to pass a simple test before they are allowed to stay which most pass but those that don't just choose another Lord to serve.

Those that pass are the people Yun would gladly give his life to since they have earned his trust by showing their will to not give up just because the test is too hard or unfair.

All of his soldiers as well as he himself went through this test of willpower and succeed it. He looked at his Generals and Strategists seriously as they could feel the stare.

"If Cao Cao goes for a siege we will leave the main group to take control of the two rivers. We won't be able to do much damage since it is summer but the siege will most likely extend until next winter," says Yun seriously as they listened to him.

"Guo Jia's plan is the only way we will get Lu Bu to surrender peacefully and we won't be moving from here until the beginning of summer going by Taishi Ci's assumption. That means that the war against Lu Bu won't begin officially until the middle of summer," says Yun calculating everything that could happen, going by his guts.

"You think that Cao Cao won't be able to win against Lu Bu easily," says Sima Yi going by all information Yun has given them.

"We might be fighting him for the next two years depending on Yuan Shu's cooperation with Lu Bu," says Yun seriously as Yuan Shu was the key to winning or losing the war in Yun's eyes.

"Yuan Shu has his own worries at the moment with everyone betraying him since he declared himself Emperor of the Zhong Dynasty," says Pang Tong knowing that only trouble followed Yuan Shu at the moment.

"So we have to wait until summer begins before we march again. What will we do until then?" asks Hua joking about their current situation.

"We are going to have to train the new faces for what is going to happen in the summer. I don't want to lose too many men in this war. But in the meantime," says Yun as he stands up and walks toward his tent with Shadow before he says, "We should sleep the next few days will be quite adventures."