High Martial Arts Three Kingdoms: The Incompetent Strategist

"Zilian, is there anything unusual about the new Chinese customer?"

"Brother, don't worry, there's nothing special about him. He just practices his marksmanship every day. I think he's probably at the fifth rank. If he makes any moves, we can easily take him down."

"We must not be careless. I always feel that he is a bit strange, and he may be hiding his strength."

Cao Cao stood on the hillside, gazing into the distance at the Tang guest who was vigorously wielding his long spear, which, under the sunlight, resembled a soaring golden dragon.

"I'll give him a try." Cao Hong dragged his broadsword and rushed towards Tang Ke, shouting, "Brother Tang, it's no fun practicing alone. How about we spar?"

"I couldn't ask for more. You can just call me Ziyou."

Ziyou was Tang Ke's courtesy name. He had already noticed that Tang Ke and Cao Cao were talking in hushed tones and knew that Tang Ke wanted to test his strength. Since he also needed to practice with someone to improve his combat experience, he drew his spear without hesitation and went to meet him.

"Bang!"

Cao Hong leaped and slashed, his broadsword striking Tang Ke's spear shaft with tremendous force.

Tang Ke's hands went numb from the shock, and he staggered back several steps, almost dropping his spear.

"Brother, your strength is not enough!" Cao Hong pressed his advantage and delivered another slash.

It seems this guy is at least a sixth-rank, so I can't go head-to-head with him. Tang Ke had a thought, so he adopted a defensive stance, created some distance, and ran away.

"Hey, we're sparring! Don't run away!"

Before Cao Hong could decide whether to give chase, Tang Ke suddenly thrust his spear forward, aiming straight for Cao Hong's groin.

Cao Hong was clearly unprepared. In his panic, he hastily drew his knife to parry, and a chill ran through his crotch.

"You..."

Before he could finish speaking, another spear thrust at the groin came flying at him. Cao Hong just ducked to protect himself, but his buttocks were kicked hard again.

This completely enraged Cao Hong; he was utterly lacking in martial ethics!

"I'll chop you to death, you scoundrel!" Cao Hong completely forgot that he was only there to test Tang Ke's strength, and started hacking and slashing wildly with his sword.

Tang Ke turned and ran. With the area open, Cao Hong was unable to do anything about him for the time being, and had to be on guard against his lewd moves at all times.

Despite being stronger than his opponent, Cao Hong felt powerless and decided to start running tomorrow.

"Stop right there! Don't try to run away!"

"If you have the guts, don't chase me!"

Cao Cao watched the two men chase each other across the mountains and plains for half an hour, and he couldn't bear it any longer. He shouted, "Stop fighting, you two! Come and have a chat!"

Tang Ke felt he was about to collapse from running any longer. Having achieved his test objective, he quickly ran to Cao Cao, pulled out his spear, planted it in the ground, and panted heavily.

It seems that duels in this era were indeed quite fair and square, and the difference between the sixth and fifth ranks was not that great.

If you use "Double Dragons Soaring to the Moon" unexpectedly, you might be able to try to kill a general of a higher rank than yourself.

Tang Ke suddenly remembered a TV series he watched when he was a child. The protagonist in the series also had a similar special move, which was all about winning by surprise. His master never used it, even until his death.

As a result, when the skill was passed down to him, he used it on everyone he met, turning what was supposed to be a signature move into a basic attack.

"You, you stop right there! Bah! Don't think I won't beat you up just because my brother's here!"

Cao Hong caught up with Tang Ke, brandished his broadsword, and when he saw Cao Cao glaring at him, he finally reluctantly put the sword away.

"When it comes to sparring, just stop when you've made your point. Don't make a fuss."

After reprimanding Cao Hong, Cao Cao couldn't help but complain about Tang Ke: "Ziyou, we are here to spar, not to race. What kind of nonsense is it for you to keep running like that? Besides, your moves are simply unbearable to watch."

Tang Ke showed no embarrassment: "As everyone knows, it is perfectly reasonable for me, as a strategist, to engage in a one-on-one duel with a powerful general like General Cao and to adopt some necessary battle strategies."

"You? A strategist?"

Cao Cao and Cao Hong exchanged a glance, almost unable to resist the urge to each go up and slap him across the face.

How could anyone give such an outrageous excuse for their despicable and vile behavior!

“Yes, strategist,” Tang Ke replied very seriously. “So you can understand me now, right? A scholar and a warrior fighting one-on-one, no matter what method is used, can be forgiven.”

Cao Cao rubbed his forehead and laughed: "Ziyou, are you sure you're not joking? You're so young and you already have the strength of a fifth-rank official. If you were born in a chaotic era, a marquis with ten thousand households wouldn't even be worth mentioning. Why bother competing with strategists for food?"

"There's no way around it, I was born to do this." Tang Ke blinked earnestly, "Does Lord Mengde have any idea of ​​recruiting me as his strategist?"

Cao Cao did not answer directly, but instead asked, "Has Ziyou studied military strategy?"

Tang Ke scratched his head. Back in his school days, the focus was always on mastering math, physics, chemistry, and English; there was no time for this stuff. He recalled that his Chinese textbook seemed to contain a few stories from Sun Tzu's Art of War, and asked tentatively, "Does reading a little bit of Sun Tzu's Art of War count?"

"Of course it counts. Shall we play a game of war game?" Cao Cao became interested when he heard that he had studied Sun Tzu's Art of War.

Tang Ke felt completely bewildered and quickly shook his head: "I'm okay at Chinese chess and chess, but I don't know how to play wargames or anything like that."

The glimmer of light that had just ignited in Cao Cao's eyes instantly dimmed: "You've learned the art of alliances and counter-alliances, haven't you?"

"No."

Have you explored Confucianism, Buddhism, or Taoism?

"No."

"You must have learned some of the Four Books and Five Classics, right?"

"No."

"Ziyou, forgive my bluntness, but you are somewhat ignorant and incompetent."

"Lord Cao, if we can't be the strategist, we can be the chief strategist or something." Seeing the growing disappointment in Cao Cao's eyes, Tang Ke quickly lowered his expectations.

"Where in our great Han Dynasty is there such a position as Military Advisor and Chief Military Officer?" Cao Cao was taken aback for a moment, then laughed and said, "I myself only hope to become a General Who Conquers the West someday, how dare I presume to recruit a military advisor? I can only appreciate Ziyou's kind intentions."

Forget it, if you don't want me, I don't want you either!

Tang Ke thought to himself that Cao Cao was a good lord, but he was too capable. There was nothing he couldn't do, from poetry and songs to military campaigns. In the future, he would have a bunch of strategists under his command, such as Xun Yu, Jia Xu, and Guo Jia, and he might not even have a chance to use his talents.

The system's innate talent, "Dog-Headed Strategist," is based on the rating of the strategies offered, which will improve martial arts strength. It might not be suitable if the lord is too strong.

"Ziyou, Ziyou." Cao Hong nudged him with his elbow when he saw him in a daze and whispered, "Mengde is gone. Don't be sad. It's okay if you can't be the strategist. You can train in my army for two years and then take over my position."

Tang Ke glanced at Cao Hong in surprise. This bearded man, who had just been seething with hatred for him, seemed like a completely different person now, and had actually started to comfort people.

"What, why are you looking at me like that? Let's make this clear first, you're not allowed to use those lewd tricks anymore!"

"It's nothing. I just suddenly thought of a few people who would be perfect to be my lord."

"Who? Who could be more suitable than Mengde, who is so eager to find talented people?"