Mythical Three Kingdoms

Zhou Yu’s counterattack caught Lochte’s attention directly, after all, the counterattack sunk several Kushan warships at once, followed by a boarding attack seizing three more Kushan warships. This forced Lochte to focus closely.

However, aside from the fleet currently engaged with Zhou Yu, it was clear to the rest of the Kushan Navy who were not part of this battle that Zhou Yu was leading this new navy with hidden strengths.

Having partially understood Kushan’s tactics, Zhou Yu realized he had no chance of breaking through to the Kushan Navy’s command, so after fending off the Kushan warships binding him, he decisively ordered a retreat, seeing that Gan Ning’s situation was not looking favorable.

Gan Ning, leading eighty to ninety thousand pirates, indeed launched an aggressive assault that initially suppressed the Kushan Navy, but ultimately the disparity in quality and coordination between the two sides emerged clearly.

Initially relying on their fierce courage and Gan Ning’s formidable deterrence, Gan Ning’s lines continued advancing.

But soon, under the pressure of Ma Xinde on the second line, the third line, and two flanking lines, Gan Ning’s Pirate Group quickly fell into a deadlock. Even with Gan Ning at the forefront constantly pulling the pirates forward, they gradually slowed down.

Zhou Yu’s Legion Talent helped extend the life of Gan Ning’s Pirate Group during this period. Relying on their overflowing battle spirit, the pirates launched a fierce counterattack, breaking through the Kushan Navy’s blockade, and even imposed significant pressure on them.

However, this situation did not last long. Even with the likes of Lochte erring in command due to Zhou Yu’s Spiritual Talent, their innate experience remained, coupled with the fact that the Kushan Navy’s numbers were double that of Gan Ning’s pirates.

Thus, when Gan Ning broke through the first layer of restraint, Lochte directed another two fleets to press in, forcibly pushing Gan Ning back into an encirclement.

This battle mode, lacking technical complexity and relying almost entirely on soldier’s quality, seemed the simplest but was remarkably effective against opportunists like Gan Ning.

Additionally, Novica and Sakara, leading fleets, were pinned down by the Kushan Navy, failing to accomplish the battlefield segmentation task, worsening Gan Ning’s Pirate Group’s circumstances.

Fortunately, by this time, the pirates, stirred by Zhou Yu’s battle spirit, engaged in such broad warfare that only those directly attacked could discern the current situation; elsewhere on the battlefield, the larger situation was imperceptible. So despite the dire outlook, Gan Ning’s Pirate Group did not lose its combat spirit.

Li Yan and Ling Cao found themselves in a particularly difficult position, lacking Zhou Yu’s ability to perceive the essence of naval warfare at a glance, master it with another glance, and immediately devise talents suitable for their naval battle techniques.

As a result, they were essentially exploited by the Kushan Navy, finding themselves chased and confined, since the Kushan’s capabilities in naval warfare were no idle boast. This formidable combat effectiveness left Li Yan with no opportunity to leverage his abilities fully, forcing him to scuttle away with Kushan warships in tow.

Nonetheless, the Kushan side also found no good solution against the fleet led by Li Yan and Ling Cao. If they maintained distance, the Legion Attack from the Han side could withstand them. After all, the Han navy’s warship robustness indeed outclassed the Kushans considerably.

Yet in close quarters, though the Kushan’s naval tactics were applicable, Li Yan and Ling Cao commanded ship after ship of elite archers, particularly Li Yan’s Elite of Danyang, armed with Ten-Stone Strong Bows. While the Kushans could execute one strike with naval techniques, the Han side could match them with their archers, rendering the Kushans quite frustrated.

In truth, the Kushan captains were aware of techniques within their naval strategies specifically to counter such scenarios, but as interim captains, they were not roles like Lochte or Ma Xinde, lacking comprehensive mastery of all naval warfare techniques.

Ultimately, technique is inseparable from talent—it’s not feasible for everyone to master all. If that were the case, why would navies require such rigorous selection processes?

This was also why the Kushan side merely pursued without engaging in deadly contests with Li Yan, largely because the Kushan captains already identified a weakness in this reinforcement fleet. Even being selected as interim captains, they had some expertise.

The Kushan captain blocking Han’s fleet had realized as soon as the Ten-Stone Strong Bow appeared that this Han navy’s power was entirely based on their soldiers’ formidable quality.

If a real fight ensued, while the entire Kushan fleet tasked to intercept Li Yan and Ling Cao might be eradicated, it would overwhelmingly devastate Li Yan and Ling Cao’s fleet as well. Comparing the emotional responses, Kushan might cope with mild distress, but the Han side would indeed feel heart-wrenching pain.

Yet, from the Kushan captain’s perspective, there was no need to go to such lengths. Fighting to the point of total annihilation on their part was senseless. The Kushans would win; once the main forces triumphed, sweeping in afterward could ensure total destruction, minimizing losses while gaining more merit, avoiding any unnecessary embarrassment.

It was precisely because of this factor that Li Yan and the Kushan Captain kept probing back and forth, yet neither had the intention of exerting their full power. Although Li Yan’s naval battle skills were not good, he could still see if Gan Ning was going to lose, so he prepared to retreat early.

Just as Zhou Yu was contemplating whether to lead his troops over to assist Gan Ning, nine radiant lights swept across the sky and landed at the command center of the Kushan ships. Zhou Yu’s face sank immediately, decisively activating his own spiritual talent to bestow it upon the nine newly arriving Inner Qi Manifestation.

"Prepare to retreat!" Zhou Yu ordered solemnly.

The return of the nine Inner Qi Manifestation made Zhou Yu realize the gravity of the situation. No matter the battlefield, Inner Qi Manifestation generals are enough to bolster their side’s morale. Currently, with the other side already holding an advantage, adding nine Inner Qi Manifestation to the battle made Zhou Yu aware that the situation was beyond recovery.

"What is going on?" Qiu Lique and others came flying back in a disheveled state, ready to deploy the army to annihilate Lyu Bu, but hadn’t even returned when they saw the dire situation at Malacca. Although their Kushan side held a significant advantage, just observing the opponent’s scale was enough to know their losses wouldn’t be small.

Lochte promptly recounted the earlier events to Qiu Lique in detail, and Qiu Lique’s expression grew increasingly grave as he listened.

"Return to your respective fleets and activate the legion talent, faith will, for a decisive battle. Ignore what they are, treat them all as pirates and kill them all. Later, lead troops to besiege the Mahesvara Demon. Lochte, send someone to bring out the War Eagle; we must prepare to engage in war with the Han Empire." After listening, Qiu Lique quickly issued orders to everyone, then spoke coldly.

Kasani and Zhukashyapa’s expressions sank as well, instantly understanding Qiu Lique’s speculation—this was definitely not good news.

"General, do you mean these pirates and the later reinforcements are Han Army disguised?" Lochte gasped.

Lochte’s heart froze; if that’s the case, he might end up on the gallows. Provoking war between the Han Dynasty and Kushan, who acted first doesn’t matter anymore, what matters is who has the bigger fists. Comparatively speaking, Lochte doesn’t think Kushan’s fists are bigger than those of the Han Dynasty.

"There is no mistake, although we anticipated this situation, no need to worry!" Qiu Lique’s eyes shimmered with a certain cold light.

Zhukashyapa and Kasani hadn’t forgotten to inform Qiu Lique when they did what they did previously, although he covered it up, others weren’t aware they had clashed with the Han Dynasty before. But Qiu Lique knew very well that the Han Dynasty’s retaliation would arrive sooner or later.

Therefore, after informing Vasu Deva, Qiu Lique prepared for a major conflict with the Han Dynasty. However, since the Han Dynasty didn’t use their official name but instead appeared as pirates, Qiu Lique felt somewhat relieved. Although psychological preparation was made, engaging with the Han Empire was indeed intimidating for Kushan’s nobles.

Kasani, Zhukashyapa, and others quickly returned to their respective fleets, no longer considering the previous Mahesvara Demon matters, fully committing to responding to the current war. As for Mahesvara, now that the Kushan generals had joined the fleet, there was no longer anything to fear.

With a host of Inner Qi Manifestation entering the battlefield, Kushan’s warships quickly revealed their respective faith will and legion talent.

With the emergence of faith will, the previously reserved cloud qi on Kushan warships that couldn’t fully manifest due to lack of conviction was instantly rendered almost identical to standard cloud qi after penetrating the faith will.

Already retreating, Zhou Yu’s face darkened. Indeed, the empire’s own things are surely tailor-made; even outsiders who learn these things likely won’t be able to fully unleash all their power. Truly, to become strong, one must forge one’s own path.

With the infusion of faith will, the Kushan reserved cloud qi was completely activated. Previously, regular naval battle techniques exploded far beyond previous power with this manifestation of will, even forcibly locked warships were unlocked with new techniques.

With reserved cloud qi activated, Zhou Yu directly ordered a retreat; this battle cannot be won. Since those cloud qi have been fully activated now, the usual ways to use cloud qi can also be freely employed. Even with Zhou Yu’s current level, relying on these cloud qi, he could play out military formations.

From Zhou Yu’s current perspective, if Gan Ning cannot perform the same actions, then if he doesn’t retreat now, there will be no way to retreat later.

Just as Zhou Yu estimated, Gan Ning didn’t have countermeasures. He wasn’t privy to Kushan’s visualization cultivation method and lacked faith will enhancement effects, making it impossible to accomplish faith penetrating cloud qi or forcibly activating cloud qi.