The Three Kingdoms: I asked you to save Guan Yu, not to destroy Sun Quan.

Chapter 337 The Test for Ning Huan

The ultimate goal of peasant uprisings is to dethrone the emperor and sit on the throne themselves. However, the result is that the uprisings are initially very powerful, but then they fade into obscurity, with almost no successful cases. Why?

The textbook's answer is that the peasant class's thinking is very limited, which is correct but too general and not easy to understand.

To put it simply, peasant uprising armies, while clear about their political goals, lacked the means to achieve them. Their minds were a mess, which manifested in their actions as hesitation and indecisiveness. They could neither formulate action plans nor political programs, nor devise strategies and tactics. They could only wander around aimlessly like headless flies, and were then systematically suppressed by the recovered imperial court and feudal lords.

Peng Qi is like this now, only thinking about taking advantage of the chaos of the war between Wei, Han and Wu to start a war, first destroy Pan Zhang, then seize Nanchang, then enter Jiangling, destroy Sun Quan and become the new ruler of Jingzhou. But how to fight Pan Zhang, how to seize Nanchang, how to deal with the sudden crisis of the joint siege by Wei, Han and Wu, he is completely clueless and was stumped by Ning Huan's few words.

Fortunately, he wasn't stupid. Seeing Ning Huan's talent, he immediately felt a sense of appreciation and prepared to appoint Ning Huan as his military advisor without even conducting a background check.

Ning Huan was overjoyed, but pretended to be reserved and rubbed his hands together, saying, "This is not appropriate, I just arrived."

Although he was verbally refusing, he was inwardly screaming, "Chief Peng Qi, you must see through my bravado, break through my defenses, and forcefully pin the title of general's advisor on me."

The strategist is the second-in-command in the organization. Zhuge Liang rose to power by being a strategist. If he really became the strategist, he could easily bring Peng Qi's tens of thousands of bandits under Guan Xing's command. At that time, he would be able to defeat not only Pan Zhang, but also Yu Fan in Nanchang.

If this is accomplished, I might not be as good as Xie Chong, but I'll at least be no worse than Meng Jun.

He, Xie Chong, and Meng Jun were all cellmates in Jianye Prison. Now Xie Chong has become the governor of Kuaiji, and Meng Jun has been transferred to Guan Yu's command for his meritorious service in defending Shan County and capturing Zhang Cheng twice. Even the most unknown Shen Yi became famous after besieging and annihilating Han Dang. Only he is still running around the mountains with his scout battalion. If he doesn't produce some decent achievements, how can he face General Guan and the King of Hanzhong?

Therefore, Peng Qi was determined to take these tens of thousands of bandits. He had to reorganize the bandits in Poyang Lake into the Han army and then personally hand them over to General Guan Xing.

Peng Qi had no idea what Ning Huan was thinking and assumed he was really declining, so she hurriedly said, "There's nothing wrong with it. Brother Ning is obviously literate, much better than us roughnecks who only know how to fight. Besides, we don't need you to do anything. You just need to give us some advice at crucial moments. It's just a matter of talking."

Ning Huan was overjoyed upon hearing this, but he suppressed his excitement and pretended to be calm, saying, "Since the leader thinks so highly of me, then I will accept the honor without hesitation."

"Commander Zong thinks highly of me and has appointed me as his strategist, so I should also do my part for our army. First and foremost, we must ensure the safety of our army."

Peng Qi asked in surprise, "What do you mean? Are you saying we're in danger?"

Ning Huan pointed to the goods that had just been seized and said, "Pan Zhang is not the type to stand idly by. He will definitely retaliate if you take his goods. He might already be on his way."

"So our top priority right now is to defeat Pan Zhang. At the very least, we have to hurt him badly so that he won't dare to attack again. Only in this way can we gain some breathing room and room to maneuver."

"While attacking Pan Zhang, send people to monitor Zhou Tai of Chaisang and Zhuge Jin of Yu Han to prevent them from suddenly attacking. Then send envoys to see Cao Ren, asking him to surrender and asking for money and grain. Whether we can get them or not is not important. What is important is to get Cao Ren to accept our surrender and give up attacking us. In this way, we will only have to face the Wu army and not have to worry about the Wei army."

Peng Qi nodded emphatically and said, "The strategist is indeed well-educated, and his words hit the nail on the head. So tell me how we can defeat Pan Zhang. That bastard has robbed me several times. I dream of killing him with my own hands."

Ning Huan said, "Although Pan Zhang is morally corrupt and of extremely poor character, he is still very capable of leading troops. He leads well-trained and experienced officers and soldiers, while we are a free and undisciplined bandit army. We cannot be Pan Zhang's match in a direct confrontation. We can only avoid his sharp edge for the time being."

"In addition, Brother You Chong has gathered five or six thousand people in Bloodwood Ridge, which is also a very considerable fighting force. We can cooperate with him in the battle."

Upon hearing this, You Chong was stunned. Where would I get five thousand men? If I really had that many men, why would I be Peng Qi's underling? Wouldn't it be better to work on my own?

Just as he was wondering, he suddenly caught a glimpse of Ning Huan winking at him. The moment he saw Ning Huan's eyes, he understood what was going on. This kid had counted the four or five thousand Xuanjia soldiers under Guan Xing's command as his own.

Including Guan Xing and Deng Hong, he actually had six or seven thousand men.

Thinking of this, You Chong instinctively straightened his back and said calmly, "Just tell me how you want to cooperate. I dare not say anything else, but I can certainly withstand a few moves from Pan Zhang."

Ning Huan said, "It's very simple. When Pan Zhang attacks Peng Zongshuai, Zongshuai should not fight head-on. Instead, pull Pan Zhang's army back continuously. Brother You should take advantage of Pan Zhang's pursuit of Peng Zongshuai to rush down the mountain and attack Pan Zhang's camp at Riyue Lake. After receiving news of the camp's emergency, Pan Zhang will definitely return to reinforce. Brother You, after encountering Pan Zhang's reinforcements, you should still not fight head-on and retreat decisively. Peng Zongshuai should then turn around and pursue, forcing Pan Zhang to turn back and attack us. Then we can retreat."

"In short, we'll launch a pincer attack on Pan Zhang from both the north and south. Whoever Pan Zhang attacks will run away. We'll wear him down by pulling him along like a tug-of-war. Although the Wu army is an elite force, they are still human. Humans get hungry and tired. Once we've worn Pan Zhang down, we'll join forces from both sides and completely annihilate him in Poyang Lake. What do you think?"

Peng Qi clapped her hands and said, "That's a great idea! Avoiding a direct confrontation with Pan Zhang will reduce our losses considerably."

You Chong echoed, "I agree. In that case, I'll go back to the mountain to gather troops and prepare to attack Pan Zhang."

Peng Qi said in surprise, "You're leaving already? You could at least stay for a meal."

You Chong shook his head and said, "The military situation is urgent and there's no time to waste. We can eat after we annihilate Pan Zhang. Brother Ning, you should stay and serve Brother Peng for now. I'm going back."

Upon hearing this, Peng Qi stopped insisting and said with a warm smile, "I'll take you."

Just as he was about to turn away after seeing You Chong off on the boat with Ning Huan, You Chong suddenly seemed to remember something and hurriedly reminded him, "Brother Peng, Ning Huan is my man. He's only temporarily lent to you. You can't make a move on him. You have to return him to me when you're done."

Peng Qi's smile froze slightly, and she said with a forced smile, "Definitely, definitely."

He says he definitely will, but in his heart he's thinking, "What the hell? Once something's in my pocket, there's no reason to take it back."

Ning Huan was speechless as he watched the two perform. These two hadn't even worked together yet and they were already playing mind games?

What's that saying again? My brothers and I are of one heart, but my brothers are always trying to outsmart me.

Peng Qi put her arm around his neck and laughed, "Come on, let's go meet the other brothers and let them get to know you, our strategist. Then we brothers can eat meat and drink wine together, and divide the gold and silver by weight."

They're already thinking about enjoying the spoils of victory before the fight has even started?

The peasant class's thinking is indeed very limited, most obviously manifested in their short-sightedness, thinking only about today and never considering tomorrow.

Ning Huan had no time to complain or offer advice. Instead, he frowned and pondered how to quickly gain the approval of Peng Qi's subordinate leaders, thereby integrating into their ranks and successfully seizing military power.

This is a test for him. Whether he can turn the tide and stand tall in front of his fellow inmates Xie Chong and Meng Jun depends on this.