Chapter 197 Gamble (4)
Translated by Gamer@EndlessFantasyTranslations.com
Cheng Yu also ran into some enemies. He defeated 2 of Sun Ce’s lieutenants and gained quite a lot of merits. The one that did not gain a lot of merits was Lu Bu.
Lu Bu pursued the middle path but from time to time, a few hundred soldiers would appear to stop him. Lu Bu took the lead and the Wolf Cavalry scattered the enemy soldiers with ease. However, the constant emergence of enemy soldiers slowed their advance. As Lu Bu was also using the difficult road, it was impossible to move faster.
However, Lu Bu was not angry. This is because the more difficult the path is, the higher the chances of finding a big fish. Sun Ce could even be in front. This made Lu Bu’s desire to kill grow stronger.
The 3 pathways were soon cleared out by the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry. The amount of deaths caused by the Wolf Cavalry was no less than 10,000 people. Among those are the soldiers that were trampled to death, killed each other or surrendered. Sun Ce’s attack on Wan Cheng could be considered a defeat.
100,000 troops. Including 10,000 marine elites and 5,000 of Sun Ce’s privates. The soldiers were all routed or surrendered. 70,000 of the main army and 10,000 of the Danyang troops were also annihilated leaving only less than 10,000 soldiers remaining.
After so many years, Sun Ce has finally experienced a crushing defeat.
The amount of resistance increased as they progressed. At first there were only 100-200 soldiers blocking the way. Now more and more soldiers begun to appear. Now at least half a battalion would appear and they would be more organized. These soldiers are definitely elites. Did they all come out to die? In that case Sun Ce must not be far away!
“He must be ahead!” Lu Bu shouted when he saw a gathering of troops. They were all guarding a robed youth.
“Not Sun Ce?!” Lu Bu frowned. This is a scribe. He concluded that not because the young man was wearing a robe but because he did not give the feeling of a warrior. Despite that, the fact that he was being protected by so many soldiers showed that he is an important figure in the Sun Ce’s Army. In that case, they should just capture him first!
“All soldiers! Charge!” Lu Bu and the rest of the Wolf Cavalry picked up speed. They will ride over all obstacles. They are the king of cavalries! The soldiers and the horses were like one. As they continued on the rugged path, they managed to adapt to the difficult road. With their new skills, they sped up suddenly.
The path widened and allowed the cavalry to maneuver.
“N?!” Lu Bu was leading the way but he still had good eyesight. He saw the expression of the young scribe in Sun Ce’s Army.
Indifferent! He was showing an indifferent face. It was not the face of panic of someone that was about to be hunted down. It was a calm face. It made Lu Bu feel a sense of unease.
“It is time!” Lu Su said as he was standing in the middle of all the Sun Ce’s soldiers. He was their military advisor. It was obvious that they would need to protect him.
He looked indifferently at the advancing Wolf Cavalry. Although the bloodthirsty appearance of the Wolf Cavalry made Lu Su a bit terrified, he still has the feeling of control of the situation.
“What!” Lu Bu finally knows where his sense of unease came from. As the horses galloped, it suddenly staggered and tripped over a hole.
“Anti-horse pitfalls!” This was one of the ways to deal with cavalries. Compared to the barriers in front of the main camp, the pitfalls were more effective. The barriers would only stop the assault of cavalries. The pitfall only requires the cavalry to step in it and very few would come out alive. The Sun Ce’s Army was digging a big hole here earlier. They filled the hole with inverted stakes and sharpened the stakes. If a forest animal with thick skin were to fall into this hole. It would be pierced and bleed to death by the stakes. After that, they covered the hole with straw and a bit of soil. If the trap was not looked at, it would be difficult to spot.
Lu Bu who was taking the lead was the first to fall into the trap. The Wolf Cavalry behind him could not stop in time and fell in one by one, leaving screams behind.
“Is it a success?” Lu Su wished for it to be extremely successful but he knew that it would probably not be so simple.
As expected, one cavalry suddenly jumped out from the hole. On the horse was a golden figure and a halberd. This person unexpectedly jumped out from the hole.
Those who fall into the pitfall trap would have died. If their luck is good, they would still need help to escape the hole. This Lu Bu managed to jumped out of the hole together with his horse. Is he still human? (TL: Horses can fly)
Lu Su tried to calm himself down. The other Wolf Cavalry behind Lu Bu have also noticed the trap and pulled the head of the horses. This prompted the horse to jump over the pitfall and bypass the trap.
“Sigh!” Lu Su sighed in disapproval but he never really expected this trap to injure Lu Bu. “After all, it is Lu Bu, Lu Fengxian.” Lu Su brandished the war flag and the soldiers formed a shield with their spears in front.
It was a defensive formation meant to fight against cavalries. Turning themselves into a hedgehog or a tortoise. If you want to bite me then prepare to get stabbed!
“This will not do!” Lu Bu licked his lips. He wants to see Lu Su covered in blood. The pitfall trapped earlier claimed the lives of at least 50 Wolf Cavalry soldiers. For these wolves, revenge would be one of their greatest desire.
“Of course not, but what about this as well?” Suddenly on the hills, no less than 5,000 people appeared. These people are soldiers wearing the outfit of Sun Ce’s Army. They were ambush soldiers that were holding bows and arrows. They aimed their arrows at Lu Bu’s Army.
“Shoot!” Lu Su brought down the war flag. Countless arrows were shot from the hills and flew towards to Wolf Cavalry. The amount of arrows were numbing to look at.
“You dream too much!” Lu Bu and the Wolf Cavalry would not cower. “Raise the shields!” The Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry quickly took out their large shields. However not every one of the soldiers had shields. Only a minority actually carried shields. On top of that, the shields were meant to protect the horses.
*Swoosh* The rain of arrows continued to fall. The arrows fell on top of the giant shields and created a series of sounds. Some of the arrows managed to get pass the shields and hit the body of the Wolf Cavalry but did not manage to injure them. This is because they were heavy cavalries.
“As expected it was this!” Lu Su still did not panic. His eyes continued to observe the Wolf Cavalry. Those heavy armors. Those giant shields were the same as the one used by the Urban Army on the walls of Wan Cheng.The heavy cavalry Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry! Lu Su thought of the time the Wolf Cavalry appeared. The massacre of 10,000 soldiers. Although those were defeated soldiers, there is still a limit on the damage that can be caused. This is because some soldiers will somehow escape the slaughter. However, out of the 10,000 soldiers, less than a 100 people managed to survive.
“Hmph!” Lu Bu groaned. If the Wolf Cavalry was a sword, then he, Lu Bu would be the sharp end of the sword that stabs into the chest of their enemies. The Wolf Cavalry and Lu Su’s infantries finally collided and they started to engage in melee combat. Lu Bu became the sword that tore open a hole in his enemies. No spear or shield could even stop him.
Lu Bu wanted to once again bring victory. He wanted to tear open a hole in the enemy ranks and make it a weak point. A cavalry’s way of fighting is to rely on the horse and the momentum to swallow up the enemy with one strike. If there were too many enemies and the cavalry insists on attacking, they would choke and die.
Lu Bu will not commit such a mistake. As a result, he was surprised when the torn hole began to heal up. Rather than ‘heal’, the enemy formation seemed to change into a new formation and surrounded them like a forest.
“This person is good at commanding!” This was Lu Bu’s first impression on the young scribe. However, what is the use of being good at theory and commanding? In the wilderness, the cavalry is the king. It is the nightmare of every soldier. In the cold weapons era, the cavalries are the king. This is why the foreigners could always come and knock on their doors. Why could they cause heavy injuries to the Hans despite the fact that they were weak and could not make proper weapons? This is because they were good at horse riding. The mobility of the horses was something the soldiers could not compensate.
Not to mention that Lu Bu is now commanding the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry. If the cavalries were the king of the cold weapons era, that would make the Wolf Cavalry the king of cavalries. There were about 3,000 troops and horses on the hills but they could not harm to Wolf Cavalry. This is especially true when the Wolf Cavalry is already engaging to Sun Ce’s Army. Now the Sun Ce’s Army have around 5,000 soldiers. It was close to 10,000 soldiers but in Lu Bu’s eyes they were all just for merits.
(TL: Don’t look at me. I did not fail my math.)
With one strike, the Wolf Cavalry would be able to swallow them whole. Even if the young scribe was good at commanding, it was useless in the face of absolute power.
After the first assault, Lu Su managed to respond swiftly. Despite that, there were already about 1,000 casualties. His remaining soldiers and horses were only about 3,000.
“Still want to struggle?!” Lu Bu’s eyes sparkled as he saw that Lu Su was still struggling. Very soon, the whole army is going to be routed.
“The true battle has not yet begun!” Lu Su also looked at Lu Bu. He knew that the cavalry was powerful but he did not expect it to be this powerful. In two rounds, more than 1,000 people were beheaded. The 1,000 casualties could not even bring 100 injuries to the cavalries. It was worse than the pitfall trap earlier. All of the injuries were minor injuries and none of them were severe.
“Oh?” Lu Bu frowned. What is the meaning of this young man’s words? Does he want the few thousand soldiers on the hills to come down and fight them? Does he want to send the light infantries to their deaths?
*Rumble* The ground started to vibrate rhythmically. As the soil in Jiangnan is wet soil, the quake was not as strong. However, Lu Bu who was acquainted with horses when he was young knows the signs. The one who are familiar with cavalries started to realize as well.
“Cavalries! There is a large force of cavalries!” The rest of the Wolf Cavalry also responded. This is especially true for the old members that went on expeditions with Lu Bu. One of the rivals for the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry were the foreigners who also used cavalries. Cavalry warfare is extremely common outside the Great Wall. Now at Jiangnan, there is a similar situation.
This sense of vibration. There is absolutely no less than 5,000 cavalry. How could this be! Lujiang is now the battlefield of the Lu Bu’s Army and the Sun Ce’s Army. Lu Bu’s Army had 5,000 cavalry which were right here. Which means that the cavalry rushing here could only be part of Sun Ce’s Army.
“Seriously?” Lu Bu frowned. This was the water village of Jiangnan. It was a place that gives priority to water warfare. The horses were mostly produced in the northern provinces such as Hebei, Bingzhou and Youzhou. A cavalry being produced here is like a terrible joke. Buying horses from Youzhou or Bingzhou would cost at least 10 gold. Buying horses at Jiangnan would cost about 100 gold. Even then, they still might not be able to buy the horse.
Besides that, Hebei was now occupied by Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao has always wanted to become Supreme Emperor. How could he let natural resources like horses be sold off? This is why there is already a ban on the transaction of horses in Youzhou and Bingzhou.
In the east, Gongsun Du allowed the transaction of horses. However, even if you bought the horses you cannot leave because Yuan Shao is blocking the way. It is also possible to purchase horses in Liangzhou but it would not be able to reach Jiangnan. There is only two roads that can be used to send horses to Jiangnan. The first would be to go through Hanzhou in the Jiayuguan prefecture. This road will take them to Liu Biao’s territory in Jingzhou. (AN: Zhang Xiu of Wan Cheng has conceded to Liu Biao on the surface) Liu Biao and Sun Ce were mortal enemies who have been fighting each other for a long time. Horses that pass through Liu Biao’s territory will vanish. The second route would take the horses to Changan, Luoyang. However, the territory was controlled by Cao Cao. Did you think Cao Cao who treated Sun Ce like an archenemy would allow the horses to reach Sun Ce?
The final option would be to take the sea route from Gongsun Du’s territory. The sea! There is a possibility for there to be a giant sea creature which would make a giant warship into a small boat. There could also be a large strom that will capsize the whole boat. (TN: 巨无霸 could mean ‘giant’. In this case giant sea creature. It could also mean Big Mac.)
To set sail to Liaodong from Jiangdong to buy horses would be extremely perilous. There is a chance for the whole army to be destroyed. Each horse was also worth 100 gold!
Two flags were raised in the wilderness. The words written on the two flags were Tai and Shi.
“Heavy cavalries!” Lu Bu has finally saw Sun Ce’s secret heavy cavalries. A worthy horse that can carry over a hundred pounds are the only horses that can be used for heavy cavalries. These 5,000 cavalry soldiers should be the limit for Jiangdong.
Correct, these 5,000 cavalry soldiers was the secret forces Sun Ce brought together with his main force of 30,000. Their purpose was to deal with the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry. As the Wolf Cavalry were heavy cavalries that can slaughter soldiers easily, their heavy cavalry would allow Sun Ce to buy time to escape. Originally, Sun Ce’s plan was to use their cavalry along with the assistance of the other forces to fight suppress the Wolf Cavalry after capturing Wan Cheng.
As long as the Wolf Cavalry is destroyed, Lu Bu would not be a problem. The reason Lu Bu gave everyone a headache is because he is skilled at leading the cavalry. He relies on the high mobility and uses guerilla warfare. There is no one that can withstand it. 5,000 Wolf Cavalry will travel during the day and strike your home at night. When you think of chasing them, you could not catch them or defeat them. The only thing you can do is to destroy your tooth and swallow it!
Lu Bu used this tactic and almost conquered half of Yanzhou and broke Old Cao’s communication lines. This is why the Wolf Cavalry is Sun Ce’s scruple.
Unfortunately, Sun Ce was unable to surround the Wolf Cavalry because he did not manage to capture Wan Cheng. His failure to capture Wan Cheng disrupted all of his plans. Old Cao’s Ferocious Cavalry fought against the Wolf Cavalry before. The end result was the loss of half of the Ferocious Cavalry and Cao Chun’s death. This was another reason why Sun Ce refuse to take out the cavalry unless there was an absolute certainty. This is why the cavalry was left together with the main camp of the marines.
Now that Lu Bu is moving according to Lu Su’s stratagem, Sun Ce also gambled everything. He sent Taishi Ci to the marine camp to take out the heavy cavalry.
“Now it truly begins!” Lu Su looked straight at Lu Bu. Cavalries can only be defeated by cavalries. All of Lu Su’s earlier movements were just to stall Lu Bu. Now his work is completed. Behold the 5,000 heavy cavalries of the Sun Ce’s Army! In the end, whether the greedy wolves would satisfy their hunger or become the meal would depend on this one battle!