Lü Bu Subjugation Battle (2)
"Thank you, Lord Cao. I will never forget this favor."
Liu Bei bowed perpendicularly to Cao Cao. It was a plain fact that they had survived thanks to her arrival, and Cao Cao smiled as she extended a hand toward him.
"When facing a rampaging mad beast, it's only natural for people to band together. What do you think, Lord Liu? The truth is, a mad dog must be beaten to death."
"...I'm not sure it's quite a mad dog, but once it's bitten, we can't just let it be."
Liu Bei lifted his head with a stern expression.
"I've heard Lü Bu is plundering the people of Xuzhou. Please, Lord Cao, save Xuzhou from that tyrant's oppression."
"...Haha, don't worry. I'll definitely drive Lü Bu out and return Xuzhou to its true master's hands."
Cao Cao flashed a broad smile and patted Liu Bei's shoulder.
"If that's what you want, the position of Inspector of Xuzhou will be yours."
"......!!"
"What do you say? Will you join me?"
"...I didn't come to Xuzhou out of greed for office."
"Then?"
"I merely took temporary charge of Xuzhou from the late Tao Qian. Due to my lack of virtue, I let Lü Bu in, and the people of Xuzhou have suffered repeatedly ever since. Please, give me a chance to wash away the shame of my failings."
Liu Bei actively sought to subjugate Lü Bu. But beneath that, their subtle verbal sparring continued invisibly.
"It's not for me to speak so boldly, but considering how we once joined forces to subjugate Yuan Shu, won't you please help me? So the people of Xuzhou suffer no more from that mad dog you mentioned."
"You truly care for the people of Xuzhou. In that case..."
After their probing exchange, it was Cao Cao who drew her sword first.
"To protect the people of Xuzhou, mere affection for the land isn't enough. Don't you think someone who can actually defend it must step forward?"
"......."
The decisive reason Liu Bei had lost Xuzhou to Lü Bu was the subjugation of Yuan Shu. Pulling a large army out of Xiapi for that campaign had been the root cause. Of course, Zhang Fei's failure to properly defend the castle had allowed an internal traitor to hand it over to Lü Bu, driving the final nail—but the order to lead the army came from the Emperor. No, from Cao Cao.
Yet if they argued the point, the root problem was Liu Bei's initial decision to accept Lü Bu into Xuzhou.
"Do you think you can defend Xuzhou with righteous spirit alone, or just a handful of brave generals?"
"......."
"Once this is over, we'll rebuild Xuzhou properly. The people of Xuzhou don't hate me. So someone unconnected to me must defend it."
"You mean..."
"What, it's pointless to spill water now. Let's take down Lü Bu first."
Cao Cao pointed from atop Xiapi Castle's walls to the battle raging below.
"If things go well, we might catch that mad dog right now."
Clang! Clang! Clang—!!
Sparks flew from the Sky Piercer. Or rather, it sounded like sparks were bursting forth. It was clearly the clash of metal on metal, yet every time the two generals' weapons met, the air around them thundered.
"Nngh...!"
Lü Bu bit his lip and swung the Sky Piercer in a wide arc. It was aimed at his opponent's head, but the general facing him simply tilted his head back to dodge. Not even a hair was touched. Not that he had any hair to begin with.
"Charging into battle without a helmet? You mad bastard!"
"I already know your habit of aiming for the helmet to crush the neck."
The general facing Lü Bu, Dian Wei, parried the Sky Piercer with his double halberds.
"You're definitely stronger than me. If we clash three hundred more times like this, I'll lose in the end. However."
Dian Wei gestured to the surroundings.
"What do you think will happen to your soldiers in the meantime?"
"Nngh, in the midst of a sacred duel...!!"
"Duel or not, it's foolish for soldiers to stand idle cheering while their generals fight."
"You bastard!"
Lü Bu's face flushed red as he swung the Sky Piercer fiercely again. The one-sided assault forced Dian Wei onto the defensive.
"One thing I do know."
But he protected himself thoroughly enough not to get hurt, and Lü Bu ended up 'tied down' by Dian Wei.
"Is that I'm confident in one-on-one fights."
"And yet you still lose to me!"
"Sure. I can afford to lose. But our army will win."
Roooar—!!
A massive cheer erupted around them. The Cao army led by Xiahou Dun was overwhelming Lü Bu's soldiers with unstoppable momentum.
"Nngh, fight! Don't retreat! You're Lü Bu's army!!"
"How can we not retreat when even that Lü Bu can't save himself right now?"
"You shit!"
Clang!
The Sky Piercer finally cleaved one of the double halberds. The blade snapped clean in half, and Dian Wei lost his balance, putting him in peril.
"Die, you!"
The blade of the swung Sky Piercer—
"Hey, you four-eyed fuck!!"
—was blocked by the spear thrust from a bandit-like general who charged in with a roar: Zhang Fei.
"Sorry 'bout this, bro! But this guy's mine!"
"Nngh...!"
"A duel, huh."
Clang!
"Big brother said this is about subjugating a mad dog."
"Mad... dog...? You big-eared bastard, what nonsense are you spouting?!"
"Calling my big brother big-ears? Unforgivable."
Zhang Fei and Guan Yu joined forces, surrounding Lü Bu from three sides. Both armies had already witnessed their prowess firsthand, and as Lü Bu fell into a disadvantage, Lü Bu's soldiers began losing morale one by one.
The strongest general in the Central Plains, Lü Bu, was being pushed back? So he couldn't protect them from the enemy?
"Ugh, ahh...!"
Lü Bu's soldiers started to waver greatly. No matter how much Lü Bu insisted on a one-on-one duel, they showed no sign of honoring it.
In other words, Lü Bu could no longer intervene in the battle...!
"Aaaargh!!"
The soldiers around Lü Bu came under concentrated attack. Two or three Cao soldiers swarmed each one, stabbing with spears; when five Lü Bu soldiers rushed to defend, ten Cao soldiers followed, maintaining numerical superiority.
"War isn't a one-man show."
Toward the spot where the four generals clashed, Xiahou Dun rubbed the eye that had nearly been targeted and sneered at Lü Bu.
"We already proved at Puyang that tying you down turns your army into idiots?"
"Nngh...!"
In the past, to retake Puyang, Cao Cao had boldly sent all six of her generals against Lü Bu—a strategy that utterly ignored their pride and self-esteem, but it succeeded. Lü Bu had fled.
"You're nothing on this battlefield now. Haha."
"Hey! Xiahou Dun! You—you were the weakest of those six who ganged up on me that day!"
"Oh yeah?"
Xiahou Dun shrugged and cleaved three Lü Bu soldiers at once.
"Whatcha gonna do about it? To your soldiers, I'm the Lü Bu here. Hahaha!"
"You bastard! Nngh?!"
"Where you goin', you five-eyed prick!"
Zhang Fei blocked Lü Bu's path and thrust his spear; Lü Bu couldn't escape the simultaneous attacks from him and the two behind.
"Ngh...! Empty space...!"
"That day at Hulao Pass, you shoved past big brother to escape."
"Today ain't that day! Hey, baldy! You're keepin' up with us, so don't let him through?!"
"Of course."
Guan Yu. Zhang Fei. Dian Wei. Three generals' encirclement. The Lü Bu soldiers nearby were picked off one by one by the Cao army.
Now, Lü Bu had nowhere left to run.
"We'll catch him faster than expected."
Cao Cao stroked her chin and gathered the advisors around her.
"What about Lord Liu?"
"He said he'd join the fight personally."
"Huh. Hope he doesn't become a liability like at Hulao Pass."
"Don't worry about that. He's bound to have learned something seeing General Dian Wei step up in his place."
As Xun Yu said, Liu Bei led his own soldiers into the fray against Lü Bu's army. Wielding twin swords himself, he neutralized Lü Bu's soldiers and suppressed their forces. His valor was comparable to Cao Cao's when she personally took the field.
"He's trying not to kill even when he could. Though he does kill some..."
"He sees them as citizens before enemies. But he doesn't hesitate with bandits, does he? Heh."
Cao Cao shrugged and looked up at the sky.
"It's starting to get chilly. Perfect timing. Catch Lü Bu now, and we can winter in Xu Capital."
It was autumn. Harvests had just ended, and preparations for winter were underway when Lü Bu suddenly attacked Liu Bei. The trigger—forty horses—was absurdly ridiculous, but war had begun regardless.
And now, victory was imminent for the Cao army.
But then.
Roooaaar—!!
Lü Bu's army moved suspiciously.
"Messenger! Lü Bu's reinforcements!"
"Not an ambush, but where'd they come from?"
"...Soldiers from the fortress we bypassed. They must've realized we went around and come here."
"Hah, they should've circled to our rear to attack."
While the Cao army deliberately detoured around the mountains to descend on Xiapi, the garrison at the fortress had come down to Xiapi.
"Tell our forces to handle them."
"Yes, si—"
Twang!
An arrow whistled past Cao Cao's face. At its incredible speed, the soldiers beside her hurriedly raised shields and clustered around; Cao Cao glared in the direction it came from.
"...Still as insolent as ever."
In the direction she stared rode a sharp-featured woman on horseback.
"Chen Gong."
Once Cao Cao's closest advisor, the woman had sided with Lü Bu and now loosed arrows at her former lord.
"Foolish woman. You think one strategist can reverse this battle? Pity."
The moment Cao Cao mocked Chen Gong.
"...What the hell is that?"
A white horse charged toward Lü Bu faster than the others.
"Liang, come down. It's dangerous."
"You're wearing your helmet properly."
"Sigh..."
Me. Geum Taeyang had come to the battlefield from Xiapi Castle's walls alongside the white-haired child.