Compared to Pang Tong, who was preparing to stew all the Yizhou scholars and warriors in one pot, Yan Yan was also relatively satisfied. Although he felt somewhat disgraced by his defeat at the hands of Sun Ce, he at least managed with his years of experience to gauge the strength of Sun Ce's army.
After Yan Yan returned to his forces, his face clouded with dismay, he suddenly realized that what Zheng Du had said made a lot of sense: the enemy reinforcements were indeed much stronger than the previous garrison soldiers, and probing their strength had indeed been necessary.
"How did it go, General Yan?" Zheng Du asked with a smile.
"Exactly as Zizhong said, Sun Ce's army is stronger overall than the previous garrison soldiers, perhaps only marginally weaker than our own forces. Moreover, Sun Ce himself isn't weaker than me," Yan Yan said with a wry smile.
