Lü Bu Subjugation Battle (1)
The battle raged fiercely near Xiaopei Castle. Lü Bu's forces had finally launched their assault on Liu Bei's army, besieging the castle. None other than Lü Bu himself was pounding on the gates, calling out for Liu Bei, while Liu Bei and the people of Xiaopei clung desperately to the flimsy gates that wouldn't hold up even against a cavalry charge with spears.
"Whoa, whoa."
In the midst of this chaos, Cao Cao arrived near Xiaopei with a massive army. Though she'd rushed from Heodo, the sheer size of her forces went far beyond mere reinforcements—anyone could see they had ulterior motives.
"My lord, the road splits in two. What are your orders?"
"Shall we first rescue Xiaopei, or break through another fortress and strike Lü Bu directly?"
Cao Cao had options. If the road hadn't split exactly in two, she might have picked one without hesitation.
"Strategically, we're committed to aiding Liu Bei, but getting killed by a stray arrow in the fray is all too common."
"We'll make the effort to save him, but if he's already dead, there's nothing we can do."
"We didn't expect Lü Bu to move this fast, but crumbling before reinforcements arrive is its own problem."
"Enough."
Cao Cao nodded with a smile.
"Truth be told, I'd love to let Lü Bu finish off Liu Bei before sending in the troops. But when we later hammer all of Xuzhou—especially Xiabi—we can't be the only ones swinging the hammer, right? Liu Bei has to do it himself for it to mean anything."
—Liberate Xuzhou from Lü Bu. Liu Bei was at the heart of Cao Cao's strategy.
"Send word to Xiahou Dun. Rescuing Liu Bei is the top priority."
Cao Cao's army decided to save Liu Bei. They could have inflicted heavy damage on Lü Bu's forces via the other path, but instead, they marched straight toward Xiaopei.
Waaaaah—!! The soldiers advanced with roars, swift cavalry racing ahead to relay the news to the vanguard that had set out first.
"They're already fighting!"
Xiahou Dun snarled, swinging his massive halberd. "That bastard Lü Bu must've known we'd come to the rescue—he sent reinforcements!"
"Then...!"
"Like it or not, we're stuck playing the foolhardy rescuers now!"
Clang! Clang! Spears clashed, each side thirsting for the other's blood. Cao Cao's elite cavalry dueled Lü Bu's crack riders, thrusting spears in fierce combat, while Xiahou Dun hacked laboriously at enemy necks with his halberd.
Waaaaah—!! Xiahou Dun whipped his head toward the cheers. The roars from inside Xiaopei sounded like the clamor of desperate beasts. Grinding his teeth, he pushed his troops forward.
"Break through! The lord commanded us to capture Liu Bei alive—no, to save him!"
Liu Bei had to survive. If they assaulted Xiabi without him, Cao Cao's army would face not Lü Bu, but the 'people of Xuzhou' with high probability. To them, Cao Cao's forces were still the brutal killers who'd massacred and occupied Xuzhou. The one to strip away that demonic image was none other than Liu Bei.
Xiahou Dun had been picked as the vanguard for this mission of protecting that very Liu Bei.
Xiahou Yuan handled overwhelming with numbers, and Zhang Liao led the cavalry as the finest horseman—but both were already infamous among Xuzhou's people.
—Having a general who massacred Xuzhou step up to rescue Liu Bei would look all wrong.
—Only a general who never attacked Xuzhou's people can make them think, 'This time it's different!'
Some scholar had said it: If generals who claimed to liberate Xuzhou while slaughtering its people led the army, the masses would live in terror. This campaign was solely to subjugate Lü Bu, the unlawful usurper of Xuzhou—the people were to be freed from him.
Thus, Xiahou Dun—the one general who hadn't joined the Xuzhou campaign—was chosen.
"Get out of the way! Out—!!"
Xiahou Dun cleaved a path with wild halberd swings. He successfully punched through Lü Bu's troops camped in the woods en route to Xiaopei, nearly annihilating the ambushers lurking there.
"You bastard! Who do you think you are?!"
A man who looked like a Lü Bu general charged with spear raised, thrusting at Xiahou Dun.
Clang—!
"I'll take you on myself, Zhang Liao!"
"Who?! Never heard of you! You think you can beat this Xiahou Yuan?!"
"Hah, so you're the infamous Xiahou Yuan!"
"What?!"
Xiahou Yuan was Xiahou Dun's cousin. Both from the Xiahou clan, calling out "General Xiahou" often sowed confusion as to which one. Thus, Xiahou Yuan typically shone on the front lines, while Xiahou Dun handled rear-guard defense and logistics.
When Lü Bu had attacked Puyang, they'd lost the city miserably, but hadn't lost all of Yanzhou thanks to Xiahou Dun's swift troop movements.
Yet...
"You mistook me for Mimai?!"
Xiahou Dun fumed, slashing furiously with his halberd. "Fine! I'll show you what Cao Cao's army's veteran general, Xiahou Dun, is made of!"
"Guh, you...!"
Was he mad at not being recognized? Zhang Liao began yielding to Xiahou Dun's brutal onslaught.
"No matter how unassuming I might seem in our army, I could take ten of you without breaking a sweat!!"
"Gaaah!!"
Zhang Liao bellowed, ducking low. His helmet's top was sheared clean off by the halberd. He yanked it off and fled into the woods.
"You scum!"
Xiahou Dun gave chase. Stabbing the fleeing enemy's back, skewering his head on the halberd, and galloping to Xiaopei would surely scatter the besieging Lü Bu troops in panic.
But...
"Haha, got you!"
Zhang Liao spun and hurled something. The short, razor-sharp javelin flew from his hand straight at Xiahou Dun's face.
"Guh...?!"
No dodging it. At this rate—
Thwuck! The javelin halted midair. Xiahou Dun yanked his horse to a stop. Zhang Liao stared in disbelief at Xiahou Dun—and the hulking figure beside him.
"Wh-when...?"
"It's only natural for a subordinate to follow his general."
"Y-you, the vanguard...? When?"
"I've been with you from the start."
Zhang Liao, Xiahou Dun's attached subordinate, calmly reversed the javelin he'd caught barehanded.
Shiiiing—!!
"Aaaagh!!"
Zhang Liao hurled the short spear back at its owner, just as he'd thrown it. It pierced his thigh dead-on, and he toppled with a scream.
"Nearly hit your eye there. Be careful, sir."
"Y-yeah. Thanks. As expected of you, Zhang Liao."
"No problem."
Xiahou Dun shuddered with a vague chill. He hadn't noticed him at all—felt like a ghost had been tailing him. One thing was certain: that ghost was his subordinate who'd just saved his life.
"No wonder Mengde holds you in high regard. Heh, you gonna end up guarding his adopted son too?"
"Anyone but Cao Ang, young master. Serving him might actually get me killed for real."
Zhang Liao drew the double iron halberds from his back, gripping one in each hand.
"I'll clean this one up. You head to Xiaopei and rescue Liu Bei, General."
"...No, come with me. With his head!"
Slash. Zhang Liao's head flew in an instant. Xiahou Dun grabbed it and spurred his horse toward Xiaopei.
"Lü Bu's dogs—behold—!!"
Like parading an execution, Xiahou Dun hoisted the severed head high.
"Cao Cao's general Zhang Liao has beheaded your commander! You're next!!"
"All troops, follow General Xiahou Dun! Leave none alive!!"
Waaaaah—!! Cao Cao's army roared, striking the rear of the besieging Lü Bu forces. The two warriors at the fore, swinging halberd and iron halberds to carve through the enemy, were truly like demons.
* * *
"Cao Cao's army had generals like that? Never heard of him."
"Name's Zhang Liao. The guard Cao Cao always keeps at her back. He looks strong—wanted to test him myself. Guess he is."
"Zhang Liao? Hah, unknown name to me."
Atop Xiaopei Castle. Liu Bei sighed from the walls, watching Cao Cao's overwhelming might.
"Just how much more power is Cao Cao hiding? This Zhang Liao's one thing, but Xiahou Dun's even worse."
"Thought he was weak.... Tsk, still got some chops. Ngh."
"His valor's impressive. If an arrow hit his eye, he'd probably chew it up."
"That extreme?"
Liu Bei shook his head.
"Lucky they're coming to help, not kill us."
Fortune smiled: Cao Cao had dispatched troops to aid Liu Bei's army.
"They had a golden chance to ignore us and hit Lü Bu direct. Coming to our rescue instead. Unbelievable."
Liu Bei clicked his tongue bitterly.
"We planned assuming we'd be abandoned, and it's ruined from the start."
"...At least shows some basic humanity, right? Maybe that letter Lü Bu mentioned really came from Cao Cao."
"Yeah. If it's alliance overtures and they're helping us out of a pinch, that'd be ideal."
Liu Bei couldn't relax his expression.
"Yunchang. What if they ask us to join attacking Xiabi together?"
"...The people might understand, but Xuzhou's gentry could lump us with Cao Cao's lot and stir bad opinion."
"Hmph! Leave those bastards to me. I'll make 'em cough up their guts."
"Hey now. Wasn't that your drunken screw-up?"
At Liu Bei's words, Zhang Fei clamped his mouth shut.
"Sigh... In the end, we can't save Xuzhou's people with our strength alone?"
"Brother..."
"Enough. We'll see later if Cao Cao just executes Governor Tao and stops, or slaughters the rest. For now..."
Liu Bei gripped his twin swords.
"Let's save the Xuzhou folk first from Lü Bu's plundering. Onward, Yunchang! Yide!"
The alliance was forged. Lü Bu attacked Liu Bei. Cao Cao sent reinforcements to Liu Bei.