The True Clash of Strength
The true test of strength had begun. Cao Cao’s army of forty thousand had gathered and was now bearing down on Xiaoguan. Even though Lu Bu had Zhang Liao and Gao Shun under his command, their total forces numbered only around six or seven thousand. The difference in manpower was more than fivefold. If they could seize Xiaoguan, the only remaining targets would be Xuzhou City and Xiapi.
“Since we’ve come all this way, it would be perfect if we could capture Lu Bu right here,” Cao Cao said.
“My lord, I will personally bring you that bastard’s head!” Dian Wei declared, his eyes blazing with renewed fervor at Cao Cao’s words.
From our position, it was clear that Lu Bu’s army had visibly shrunk. Their formation looked thin and fragile.
“There’s no need to waste time hurling insults at the enemy before battle. Here, we simply crush them with raw power.”
Cao Cao personally took up the war drum mallets and began striking the drum himself, signaling the entire army.
Dum dum dum— Dum dum dum— Dum dum dum—
At the thunderous sound of the drums, the central army under Dian Wei charged straight toward Lu Bu. At the same time, Xu Huang from the left wing aimed for Zhang Liao, while I led the right wing directly at Gao Shun.
Gao Shun was an outstanding warrior, but I knew the stubborn tenacity of his Camp Crushing Unit all too well. I intended to turn this into a brutal, muddy brawl. When Dian Wei, Xu Huang, and I simultaneously rushed in from three directions, Lu Bu’s forces visibly wavered before hurriedly preparing their defense. With enemies pouring in from every side, there was no time to choose targets. They simply had to face all three assaults at once.
From the enemy lines, a massive volley of arrows suddenly flew toward us.
“Raise your shields high! The enemy is firing arrows!” I shouted from the vanguard, lifting my shield to cover my head and torso. A storm of arrows rained down immediately after.
The iron shield vibrated so violently against my forearm that it felt like it might go numb. I had survived countless battles, but nothing was more terrifying than arrows. No matter how well you blocked them, soldiers around you would fall one by one. Even I could be struck and killed or gravely wounded by a stray arrow from nowhere.
Right now, the only option was to trust our horses and charge straight in. When we reached the enemy’s shield wall, we would leap over it and tear through their ranks. A barrage of this intensity meant that behind the defensive line, there had to be a dense formation of archers and crossbowmen.
I immediately charged forward, hurling my shield—now bristling with embedded arrows—into the enemy formation, then leaped down after it. I trampled over the fallen soldiers while swinging my spear in wide arcs. My horse rampaged wildly even in the narrow gaps between men. The archers scrambled desperately to get out of the way, but by then, Yue Jin and a flood of our troops had already poured in behind me.
“Do not let them trip you up! These are the elite of the elite!” I roared.
The moment a horse’s hooves touched the ground, the enemy would swarm in and try to drag the rider down. Having faced the Camp Crushing Unit once before, I knew their patterns well. I continued hammering away at their defensive lines. It would have been ideal to break straight through and capture Gao Shun, but this army would not fall for such simple tricks.
“Military Colonel! Their resistance is fierce. We should consolidate our forces and push them with pure strength!” Yue Jin called out.
“Do so!” I replied.
Although our cavalry had broken the shield wall, the infantry was struggling to press the advantage and push deeper into the formation.
“These men are the cream of the crop! Advance steadily and grind them down until we reach their main lines!”
“Understood, Colonel!”
At that moment, a chill ran down my spine. I instinctively ducked my head.
Shweeeeeeee—
An arrow screamed past, grazing my back. If I had been even a fraction slower, it would have struck me while I was directing the troops. It seemed Gao Shun’s main camp had snipers specifically targeting me as I tried to breach their lines. I would have to fight while constantly watching for that threat.
“Everyone be careful! The enemy commander is ordering snipers to target our officers! You won’t see where the arrows are coming from! Keep your helmets pulled low and cut down any archers the moment you spot them!”
This was clearly their final, desperate struggle. They weren’t going down easily.
“Military Colonel, I will carve a path!” Yue Jin shouted.
In this chaotic situation, Yue Jin threw himself forward with reckless abandon, pushing the enemy back with sheer force. Ever since the conquest of Huiyin, Yue Jin had fought with even greater desperation, as if he had thrown his life away. He charged straight into the strongest part of the enemy formation, risking everything to shatter it.
Seeing their deputy commander charge ahead, the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry prepared to follow him in a straight line rather than allow themselves to be surrounded and slaughtered by the Camp Crushing Unit. I saw the path he was creating and immediately gave the order.
“Support Deputy Commander Yue! We break through there!”
In the midst of it all, more enemies rushed at me, but I swept them aside with wide swings of my spear. This was a true contest of strength—once one side gave even an inch, the entire line could collapse. Both armies were truly fighting with everything they had.
When I glanced at the other battlefields, I saw that in the center, Lu Bu had personally charged out and was being met by Dian Wei. However, unlike last time, Lu Bu would fight for a while, then suddenly break away to slaughter any visible Cao Cao cavalry before returning to duel Dian Wei again. He repeated this pattern over and over.
“That bastard really is a monster…” I muttered.
He would disengage from a one-on-one duel, massacre our troops, then jump back into the duel with Dian Wei. No matter how great Lu Bu’s martial prowess was, I was stunned that he could pull off such hit-and-run tactics while facing someone like Dian Wei.
Farther away on the left wing, Zhang Liao’s banner and Xu Huang’s banner were locked together in a furious clash, kicking up clouds of dust. It looked like the two were having a proper contest of strength in a head-on confrontation. Seeing each of them fighting in their own style, I felt a surge of energy and redoubled my efforts to cut down the enemies before me.
Then it happened.
“Colonel! Colonel!!!”
Yue Jin, who had been fighting fiercely at the front, suddenly came running toward me, his armor drenched in blood.
“Deputy Commander Yue, what is it?”
“Look over there… Look!”
“!?”
Where Yue Jin pointed, another cavalry force was rapidly approaching our position. From their direction, it was clearly not reinforcements for Lu Bu. Even from a distance, I could see the distinctive turquoise headscarves and the gleaming Green Dragon Crescent Blade. At the head of the force rode a massive, bearded warrior easily twice the size of the men around him.
“Uncle Yunchang?”
I had heard that Liu, Guan, and Zhang’s trio had retaken Xiaopei. It seemed Guan Yu had now come to Xiaoguan. And the direction he was charging was exactly where I was fighting Gao Shun.
The enemy soldiers also spotted the incoming reinforcements and hurriedly fell back to form a new defensive line. But Guan Yu, who had closed the distance in a flash, gave me a single glance before immediately bringing his Green Dragon Crescent Blade down on the enemy shield wall.
The massive blade crashed down with terrifying force, shattering the defensive line that I had already half-broken.
KWAAAAAAAANG!!!
Even though I had already weakened their formation, the sheer power of that single strike completely demolished the enemy’s shield wall. With bloodshot eyes and a face flushed crimson with rage, Guan Yu charged straight into Gao Shun’s troops, cutting them down in fury.
I had no idea what was going on, but this was clearly an opportunity.
“Deputy Commander Yue, now! Launch a full assault and push Gao Shun’s army back!”
“Yes, Military Colonel!”
Together with Yue Jin, I charged forward, smashing through the remaining enemies and trampling the remnants of the Camp Crushing Unit. Seeing their commander in danger of losing his head, the guards of the Camp Crushing Unit formed a desperate wall to block us. Gao Shun took only a small detachment of troops and fled toward Lu Bu’s main camp. The right wing was collapsing.
At the same time, Lu Bu himself came galloping toward us.
“Huh?!”
Instead of continuing his fight with Dian Wei, Lu Bu had turned around and was leading his cavalry to rescue Gao Shun. His forces were already heavily outnumbered and he had fewer generals, yet he was rushing to save just one man.
And the ones chasing Gao Shun were me and Guan Yu. With only a few hundred riders, this was the moment we could finally end Lu Bu.
“Gao Shun, you bastard! Halt right there!”
“Uncle Yunchang, I will handle Lu Bu!” I shouted.
Guan Yu gave a single nod and continued pursuing Gao Shun. Lu Bu had come to save him, and I would stand in his way.
But at that moment, dozens of riders burst out from Lu Bu’s camp. At their head was a woman wielding a sword.
“Lu Ming?”
That wild daughter of Lu Bu who couldn’t tell heaven from earth had finally come to the battlefield, clearly intending to ruin everything. Lu Bu spotted her as well and immediately changed direction, rushing toward her cavalry with visible panic.
“Ming’er, why have you come to the battlefield…!”
“Father, a rebellion has broken out in Xuzhou City!”
“What? What did you say?”
“Chen Gui and Chen Deng, those old bastards, have started a revolt!”
“The family… what about the family!?”
“They were targeting Mother and Stepmother, so I helped them escape. I also gathered Uncle Zhang’s and Uncle Gao’s families and sent them to Xiapi!”
What? Xuzhou City had fallen? Chen Gui and Chen Deng had rebelled?
For a moment, Lu Bu’s eyes bulged with shock. When I charged in and swung my spear, he casually deflected it with one hand.
Claaaaang—
“Damn it… Damn it all!!!”
The moment he heard his daughter’s words, Lu Bu immediately took her and the dozens of riders and fled the battlefield. The supreme commander was abandoning the fight entirely upon hearing his daughter’s report, without a single thought for the troops he was leaving behind.
“The enemy commander is fleeing! Lu Bu is retreating!” I bellowed at the top of my lungs and gave chase.
The fierce battle that had engulfed the Xiaoguan region quickly ended once Lu Bu disappeared. His confused soldiers were cut down one after another.
“Lu Bu, Zhang Liao, and Gao Shun have all fled. They have only a few hundred riders remaining,” the scout reported.
“Hahahahaha! So we have finally reached the end of that Lu Bu bastard?” Cao Cao laughed as he looked over the countless corpses littering Xiaoguan. It was clear he felt the end was truly near.
“My lord, your humble servant witnessed something truly unbelievable,” Dian Wei said.
“What is it, Dian Wei?”
“Before Lu Bu fled, a woman carrying a sword appeared on the battlefield and left with him.”
“A female general wielding a sword on the battlefield? What are you saying?” Xu Huang asked, looking utterly confused.
Dian Wei pointed at his own eyes. “I saw it clearly with these two eyes! It was the first time in my life I’ve seen such a thing. A woman charging onto the battlefield with a sword! Does she have a death wish?”
“Hmmm, I think I might have an idea what that was,” Cao Cao said with a chuckle.
I answered for him. “It was Lu Bu’s daughter, Lu Ming. It was her words that made Lu Bu retreat.”
“Oh? What exactly did she say? Zayul, tell me what you heard.”
“A rebellion led by Chen Gui and his son Chen Deng broke out in Xuzhou City. They attempted to take Lu Bu’s family hostage. His daughter Lu Ming took up a sword, personally fought the rebels, rescued the families, and came here to inform her father.”
At that moment, Cao Cao slapped his knee and broke into a wide, victorious smile.
“Excellent! So the Chen Gui and Chen Deng father and son have finally made their move.”
It seemed Cao Cao had already known a rebellion would occur from within.
“It’s a shame we couldn’t take Lu Bu’s family hostage, but this is good enough. Xuzhou City is now ours as well.”
Just as he said. Lu Bu’s stronghold and the heart of Xuzhou—Xuzhou City—had been seized by Chen Gui and Chen Deng while Lu Bu was absent. Lu Bu’s wife Lady Yan, his concubine Diaochan, and the families of Zhang Liao, Gao Shun, Hou Cheng, Wei Xu, Song Xian, and dozens of others had all been rescued by Lu Bu’s daughter. She had personally taken up a sword, fought through the rebels, and escorted them to safety.
“We took Xuzhou City without lifting a finger,” Cao Cao remarked.
“But Lu Bu’s daughter was unexpected,” I said.
“Hehe, Zayul. You know that girl quite well, don’t you?”
“Honestly… from her behavior alone, I thought she was just like her father—arrogant, reckless, and immature. But she took up a sword herself, rescued the families of all the Xuzhou generals, and fled with them. I never expected that.”
“The nickname ‘Female Tiger Cub’ wasn’t given for nothing,” Cao Cao said, nodding as he patted my shoulder. “I will capture Lu Bu myself. You go and capture his daughter.”
“?”
“Ah, and while you’re at it, secure the families of all the other Xuzhou generals as well.”
Cao Cao nodded firmly, entrusting the task to me.