Mythical Three Kingdoms

Gan Ning's decisive retreat took Kasani and the others by surprise, though they weren't overly concerned and immediately commanded their forces to pursue. Given the current situation, it wasn't easy for Gan Ning to make a clean escape.

"Relay the order to Sakara, prepare to take action!" Gan Ning commanded the signalman to blow the horn as he retreated. This was a pre-arranged retreat signal; even with eighty to ninety thousand pirates, defeating the Kushan Navy at Malacca wouldn't be easy, not even for the undefeated peak-period Zhou Yu.

"Toot, toot, toot~" The urgent short blasts of the horn caused Novica, who was locked in a stalemate with the Kushan Navy, to feel a wave of dread. He immediately chose not to follow the order as issued.

Gan Ning had originally trained ten thousand elite pirates under Sakara, with five thousand following Gan Ning into the central battlefield, and the remaining five thousand stationed with these two fleets.

These five thousand men were Gan Ning's true fresh forces, and the ability to fully withdraw relied on them. Moreover, as a descendant of the Cecil Family, Sakara was quite reliable in naval command, which is why Gan Ning used them as his trump card alongside these five thousand men.

[Should we retreat directly, or follow the Pirate King's order to intercept the Kushan Navy? If we intercept, half of the ships I command might be sunk; if we retreat, we can sail away with a dozen large ships and many elite pirates, ready to roam the world as free as we please.] Sakara thought with some hesitation.

However, Sakara didn't know that this signal was understood by not just a few, but many on the ships he commanded. Thus, as the signal was issued, preparations were already in motion before his order could be given, with the ready battleships charging toward the Kushan forces.

Gan Ning led the few elite pirates he had left, fighting as they retreated. Kasani and Zhukashyapa, having previously fought Lyu Bu, were somewhat injured, and though their escorts were formidable, they couldn't fully measure up to Gan Ning leading his elite pirates.

After Sakara's first warship forced past the Kushan Navy's suppression, he realized he needed to save Gan Ning and swiftly decided to act accordingly. He triggered the reserve of Cloud Qi comparable to an entire fleet of eight sixth-generation ships as planned, while Novica also made the same choice.

"Enjoy the gift I'm giving you! Let's go!" Gan Ning laughed coldly as he jumped onto the warship he had prepared earlier, taunting Kasani and the others.

The speed generated by the full activation of Cloud Qi from sixteen sixth-generation ships, combined with their massive structure for ramming, was enough to break through the Kushan Navy's outer blockade.

The aftermath brought about by the destruction of these sixteen sixth-generation ships and combined with the all-out Legion Attack from the twenty thousand soldiers led by Novica and Sakara, surely carved a path for Gan Ning.

This was no longer about naval tactics; it was about forcefully opening a path straight through. Compared to the less practiced naval strategies, direct breakthrough had higher feasibility.

"Enjoy the gift I'm giving you!" Gan Ning sneered as he withdrew with just under two thousand elite pirates to the central warship.

As for the other pirates still fighting, Gan Ning paid them no mind. His goal this battle was to dwindle down to ten thousand pirates, but surprisingly, there were still over twenty thousand remaining.

It only proved that the Kushan Navy's combat capabilities surpassed Gan Ning's expectations, leaving him no time to whittle down his forces.

However, without making the decision to retreat now, Gan Ning would face the possibility of total annihilation, or the dire outcome of escaping alone.

Even though there were over twenty thousand pirates remaining, the situation was as it stood. Gan Ning couldn't risk further engagement solely to reduce pirate numbers.

After the massive sixteen sixth-generation ships tore apart the Kushan forces suppressing Gan Ning's flanks, they barreled forward without hesitation toward the Kushan forces, their speed continuously escalating, causing the bows to rise out of the water.

"Evade!" shouted the Kushan captains blocking the pirates, yet facing ships that had activated their Cloud Qi, they were simply too slow.

Some captains even understood how to perform this maneuver, but surrounded by Gan Ning's pirate ships and their own vessels, they couldn't budge, forced to helplessly watch as the sixteen sixth-generation ships rammed toward them!

"Crack!" The mournful cries of interconnected collisions rang out as the massive sixth-generation ships collided, taking advantage of their size. Certain Kushan ships were sent flying through sheer force, throwing their crew into the air.

The Novica and Sakara Tribe, seeing that the Kushan Fleet tying them down had been forcefully split apart, immediately led their forces to meet Gan Ning. The full-force legion attack directly slashed towards the area enveloped in dense Cloud Qi after sixteen warships exploded.

"Gan Ning, you're courting death!" Kasani roared. Until today, he had never known that someone could carelessly treat Sixth Generation Ships as consumables.

It must be known that this Kushan Navy stationed in Malacca, due to the urgency of the situation back then, was equipped primarily with Fifth-Generation Warships, with even some still using Fourth Generation Ships. And just now, sixteen Sixth Generation Ships had been expended right before their eyes.

"Heh heh!" Gan Ning sneered as he sailed away. The outward passage had already been opened up by the charging Sixth Generation Ships and the second wave of strong legion attacks. Even though the Kushan had already activated the Cloud Qi, facing such Sixth Generation Ships, they hardly had any countermeasures. Now that Gan Ning intended to leave, there was no obstruction ahead.

As for the Sixth Generation Ships, they were obtained without effort, so why feel distressed over them? The fact that the tactic proved effective and revealed the Kushan's trump card had already fulfilled Gan Ning's plan. As for minor imperfections, they were not worth fretting about.

At the moment Gan Ning withdrew by ship from the Kushan Army, he suddenly felt an immense terror. He swiftly flipped onto the Jingfan Horse, which then instantaneously teleported nearly a hundred meters, appearing on the sea. As Gan Ning looked back, he saw his flagship deeply enveloped by a cloud of Qi, then breaking in half and slowly sinking, leaving him stunned.

"How was it?" Zhukashyapa asked Kasani.

"I don't know." Kasani shook his head, "The ship is definitely sunk, and the people on it likely can't escape. The opposing side's unactivated Reserved Cloud Qi was activated by our belief and will. The one-time unleashing of Cloud Qi suppressed their morale. Although the full potential wasn't released, they should be dead if they were hit."

"Let's leave it at that. Let others go and break the pirates encircling them, and we'll go support the north coast camp. The Han Army's Land Forces are indeed formidable," Zhukashyapa nodded before departing by ship. In fact, he had already seen Gan Ning running on horseback across the sea, but at this point, with the dragon returning to the sea and the tiger roaring in the forest, there was nothing he could do.

"Gan Xingba's backup plan, huh!" Zhou Yu looked at the information brought by the lookout stationed at the seaside to observe the battle. Seeing the camp almost about to be captured, he decisively chose to retreat. Continuing to fight had no further meaning since the goal was merely to lend a hand. It wasn't worth getting entangled.

"This tactic is good, but if it's like this, the ships actually..." Zhou Yu's eyes flashed with insight, "Hmm, the usage of these ships should undergo some adjustments. Perhaps categorizing them might do. But such matters can be addressed later, retreat!"

Zhou Yu immediately ordered the retreat. At this point, Jiangh Qin and Li Yan had already penetrated the opponents' camp. In a little while, regardless of burning or sabotage, it would be devastating for the Kushan. However, Zhou Yu unhesitatingly chose to retreat.

Jiangh Qin and Li Yan were slightly unwilling, but Zhou Yu's judgment in military strategy was seldom wrong. Thus, though they felt discontented, they quickly gathered the army, fighting and retreating at the same time.

As for Bahrain and Duruka, they wished to restrain the Han Army, but the disparity was indeed substantial. The two could do little aside from constantly adjusting their defenses to avoid Zhou Yu executing a backward thrust. As for everything else, they were powerless.

When Zhou Yu set out initially, he had considered how to withdraw. Hence, with Zhou Yu's command, the Eastern Wu Soldiers swiftly began retreating. Before the Kushan Navy landed and enclosed Zhou Yu, he had already successfully withdrawn to the shore and then systematically embarked the ships.

By the time the Kushan Army surged forward aiming to eliminate Zhou Yu, he had already embarked northward by ship. Furthermore, he altered the celestial phenomenon so that winds blew in two directions, allowing him to move faster than the Kushan Navy.

Although the Kushan had special acceleration techniques, enabling them to stay on Zhou Yu's tail continuously, after pursuing for two hours, they eventually, perhaps pressured by some external factors, reluctantly abandoned the chase on Zhou Yu.

"That was close, really close. This southern expedition has been quite eye-opening; such a formidable navy—I wonder which country it belongs to." Zhou Yu lay on the ship's stern, watching the retreat of the Kushan Navy while taking a deep breath. The opponent had almost no chance to continue the pursuit. Yet, out of caution, Zhou Yu commanded the lookout to continue monitoring.

"A large group of pirate ships is approaching from the east." Shortly after, the lookout notified Zhou Yu of pirates heading towards them.

"Alright, stop the ship and remain on guard. We also need a good conversation. I'm quite curious what Gan Xingba has stirred up this time. I can't quite believe a regular nation would have such a navy."

"Duke Zhou," at this moment, Gan Ning was also somewhat hesitant—whether to be candid with Zhou Yu or fool him. However, considering Zhou Yu's situation, it seemed that someone of his intelligence wasn't capable of being underestimated. Hence, Gan Ning decided it was better to be upfront.

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