Chapter 202 Trapped wolves
Translated by Gamer
“My brothers! Kill them! Kill them and earn merits! Kill them and we will be heroes of Jiangdong! We will receive endless wealth! We will be able to get more horses! Don’t tell me you do not want their horses!” Zhang Kai shouted one tempting word after another. What he said was right. By killing the Wolf Cavalry and Lu Bu, they will become trusted subordinates of Sun Ce. The minimum reward would be the title of a general. If it was Zhang Kai, he would even a famed person in Jiangdong like Sun Ce and Zhou Yu.
The horses of the Yuzhou Cavalry would not be usable after this battle. As long as they defeat the Wolf Cavalry, they would be able to capture their horses. The Yuzhou Cavalry has been jealous of the Wolf Cavalry’s horses for a long time. The Wolf Cavalry’s horses were much more superior in terms of speed and endurance compared to their 100 gold horses. Better to kill them and steal their horses.
The two division of the Yuzhou cavalry executed a pincer attack. The hoofs that strike the ground caused a lot of dust to fill the air.
“There is no choice!” Lu Bu looked at the two division of the Yuzhou Cavalry attacking from both sides. Now the Wolf Cavalry could no longer outmaneuver them. There is only one solution. That would be to engage in a direct confrontation. “If we can’t run anymore then we will stop running!” Lu Bu’s eyes looked proud. What are they! They are desert wolves. They are people that even the foreigners fear. They are the king of cavalries! They are the terror of infantries! They have their pride! Although Lu Bu uses cavalry tactics, it does not mean that they were weak!
“Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry! Begin the hunt!” Lu Bu brandished the Neptune halberd. The other Wolf Cavalry soldiers also rushed out with a howl. They are wolves, they will bite and tear apart all foes in front of them. It does not matter if the enemies were several times their number.
*Rumble* The Wolf Cavalry and the Yuzhou Cavalry collided. It was cavalry war without any skills or place to dodge. As it was a large-scale battle, if they dodge, the one that would be harmed would be their fellow officers. On the other hand, if they could defend and hold out, their fellow officers could help out and save their lives.
“Kill! Kill! Kill!” Blood, sweat, swords and flesh rained down. The Yuzhou Cavalry was already desperate. If they still could not win, their names would be removed from Sun Ce’s Army. Without any horses, they could not be called a cavalry! Their only way out is to kill the Wolf Cavalry and take their horses.
The Wolf Cavalry did not retreat as they were surrounded by the two Yuzhou Cavalry. They enemy was 3 times their size and their morale is flourishing. Despite that, they were not afraid. This is because they had the Wolf King. They had Lu Bu. As long as they have Lu Bu, they would be invincible. He was like the ancient Greece God of War Ares. Lu Bu was their Ares. He was their God of War. With the God of War at their side what is there to be afraid of?
One of the Yuzhou cavalry stabbed one of the greedy wolves of the Wolf Cavalry.
The sword has plunged deep into his body and hit his vitals. Even if it was pulled out, it would not help. He will not survive. The Wolf Cavalry soldier let out his bloodthirsty nature. He grabbed the sword with his left hand and plunged it even deeper into his body to prevent his killer from taking it out. The wolf then showed his claws. He swung down his own weapon onto the Yuzhou Cavalry soldier and beheaded him. Both warriors fell to the ground and were trampled into meat.
“Kill!” One of the swords of the Wolf Cavalry became twisted. He has slain more than 10 Yuzhou Cavalry soldiers. His sword was completely red. His eyes were red and full of war. His body were filled with countless wounds that were burning hot with blood. Two fatal wounds told him that he was dead. However, he did not care. He would continue to fight for their Wolf King. For their God of War! Lu Bu’s existence is undefeatable! (TN: 3 Kingdoms of the Dead.)
After beheading one last Yuzhou Cavalry soldier, he was stabbed with a cavalry spear and his life withered away.
The word tragic was now an understatement to describe the scenario. In a battle between infantries, if someone is lucky, they could still be identified after his death. In a battle between cavalries, the moment the soldiers fall off their horse, they will turn into meat. All of them would mix together and it would become impossible to identify the dead. This is why the cavalries do not have the tradition of picking up the dead bodies.
Besides that, it became a bloodbath in front of Lu Bu that was at the front of the Wolf Cavalry. No one wanted to meet him. All of them were knocked down their horses. This shows that Lu Bu was skilled and knew how to minimize the use of strength to maximize the damage. His golden armor was so bright that he became the flag of the Lu Bu’s Army. The Wolf Army once again broke out with fierce determination. They continued to push down an army 3 times their size.
“Hold the line!” Zhang Kai grew pale. He did not expect the Wolf Cavalry to have such explosive power. Even though when he fought in front of Lu Su and lost twice as many soldiers, he did not feel this kind of pressure. What kind of monsters are these?
Zhang Kai could not be blamed for his misconception. During the exchange in front of Lu Su, the few hundred Wolf Cavalry soldiers that perished were young wolves. They were new recruits. Without much experience in warfare, they went and fought with the Yuzhou Cavalry causing heavy casualties. Among these heavy casualties were also a few experienced soldiers. However, this time was different. The Wolf Cavalry soldiers were all experienced soldiers that went through many battles. Each of them were like 100 soldiers. One of the old guards at Wan Cheng was also a Wolf Cavalry member. He has lost his arm but his thigh was still a wolf’s thigh.
As time pass by, it became clear that the Yuzhou Cavalry was no match for the Wolf Cavalry. It cannot go on like this! Zhang Kai shouted towards Taishi Ci. “General Taishi!” His eyes looked towards Taishi Ci and Lu Bu. Taishi Ci knows that he was asked to go and restrain Lu Bu as Lu Bu is too strong. The cavalry soldiers could not stand up against Lu Bu. If Lu Bu continued to rampage, the Yuzhou Cavalry would end up in disorder.
Taishi Ci changed his direction and headed towards Lu Bu to kill him together with Zhang Kai. At this moment, the 1,000 Yuzhou Cavalry soldiers at the rear entered the battle. This was unfavorable to the Wolf Cavalry. They were able to rip open the enemy but in war it became extremely difficult to defend the tail. The pincer attack exposed their weak points. Before the Wolf Cavalry could rush through, they would be swarmed by the Yuzhou Cavalry.
Lu Bu frowned as he tore open the throat of another soldier with his halberd. He continued to cut down more soldiers to open up a path. “Whole army! Charge out!” Even the wolves had a hard time dealing with a pincer attack. Their only option would be to rush out and regroup before they could continue hunting.
“You won’t have a chance!” A cold voice shouted as a broadsword went towards Lu Bu. The broadsword shined with the blood of the Wolf Cavalry soldiers.
“Are you courting death!” Lu Bu blocked the attack with his halberd and saw the person’s face. His assailant was the Yuzhou Cavalry’s commander Zhang Kai! Lu Bu could not find him earlier. As long as this person is beheaded, the whole cavalry will be in disorder and could easily be destroyed. Lu Bu suddenly put more force into his weapon. He wants to end the battle quickly. The longer the delays, the higher chance of one of the Wolf Cavalry soldiers meeting their end.
“What!” Zhang Kai was reminded of Lu Bu’s strength. The monstrous strength was not something Zhang Kai can endure. The only reason he is a commander is because his knowledge about cavalries is high. Just like Cao Chun who was not very proficient in martial arts. It was not comparable to Xu Sheng, Li Dian, the Xiahou brothers, Xu Zhu and Dian Wei. Despite that, Cao Chun also became commander of the Ferocious Cavalry. The reason was because Cao Chun was a relative of Cao Cao and also because Cao Chun understood how to command soldiers. With the knowledge of cavalries under the hands of the other generals, the Ferocious Cavalry could only become a powerful cavalry. Under the hands of Cao Chun, it would become a fearsome and awe inspiring cavalry because the enemies would not know when the cavalry started attacking. It became capable of surprise attacks on the enemy supplies and constantly destroyed the enemy’s stratagem.
“Stop dreaming!” Taishi Ci would not let Zhang Kai be killed. His two halberds fly towards Lu Bu’s neck. He would not be in time to save Zhang Kai but if Lu Bu insisted on killing Zhang Kai, then his neck would be pierced. At worst, it would be an exchange.
How could Lu Bu exchange lives with Zhang Kai? He made a feint and slipped past Zhang Kai. He then used the Neptune halberd to forcefully parried Taishi Ci’s attack. However, Lu Bu frowned and became gloomy. He found himself dealing with both Taishi Ci and Zhang Kai. Although both of them were still no match for Lu Bu, the time wasted has caused more deaths in the Wolf Cavalry. The Wolf Cavalry was starting to experience heavy casualties. The deaths were not caused by those attacking from the front but those attacking from the rear.
A cavalry’s weak spot would forever be it’s back. This applies even if Lu Bu was a Wolf King. This is why Zhang Kai was excitedly chasing Lu Bu.
“Get lost!” Lu Bu got angry. The wolves here were mostly old soldiers. Although some of them were recruited from Changan, Luoyang. They have been together for so long that if he would be lying if he said that he did not have some kind of emotional bonds with them. As a Wolf King, he was responsible for the wolf cub and should not be busy dealing with this.
“Impossible!” Taishi Ci felt the pressure. He can feel the difference compared to the time he was fighting Huang Zhong. At that time, he was fighting together with Jiang Qin and Sun Ce. Although Jiang Qin has lost his arm, he was still some who has refined his body. On the other hand, Zhang Kai was just a second class general. This is why Taishi Ci had to defend himself and Zhang Kai.
The two men surrounded Lu Bu. If it was during normal circumstances, Lu Bu would need 50 bouts to cut them both down. However, 50 bouts would be too long. With every breath, another Wolf Cavalry soldier would be cut down.
“Kill your way out!” The Wolf Cavalry heard the angry howl of the Wolf King. They also fought desperately to get out. They started to become crazy and did not fear death. They ignored the enemies behind them and rushed to the front. If they were to die, they would become an escape path for their fellow officers.
“Lu Bu Lu Fengxian! You lose!” Although he was having difficulty defending Lu Bu’s attacks, Zhang Kai still managed to taunt Lu Bu for the purpose of provoking him. The Yuzhou Cavalry and the Wolf Cavalry were now strangling each other at the same spot. The horses had no more velocity. It became difficult to differentiate the soldiers in the cavalry. Although the Wolf Cavalry were not afraid of death, their numbers were still not enough. Each time they cut down a Yuzhou Cavalry soldier, they could not react in time and was then cut down by another soldier. If the situation continues, the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry would not last long.
The Yuzhou Cavalry also experienced heavy casualties and it broke Zhang Kai’s heart. These were all his generation of cavalry. Each horses and cavalry were also very valuable. It does not matter whose army it was. Every time they conscript soldiers, the cavalry were the ones entitled to the first pick of soldiers. The other divisions are only able to select their soldiers after the selection for the cavalries were over. Even some of the soldiers in other divisions were transferred into the cavalry. Each soldier in the cavalry had to go through a long period of training. They also received the best provisions compared to the rest of the army. When he thought about how he was about to destroy the Wolf Cavalry, his mood changed for the better. A big enemy is defeated! After fighting the Wolf Cavalry for so many years, this was probably their first victory! When the Wolf Cavalry is wiped from the face of the earth, they would be the new king of cavalry! He would be God of War Zhang Kai!
Taishi Ci did not dream so much and wholeheartedly fought Lu Bu. This is because he knew that Zhang Kai’s words would never provoke Lu Bu. He saw Sun Ce’s silhouette behind Lu Bu. No. It should be he could see Lu Bu’s silhouette on Sun Ce’s body. After many years, Sun Ce would become Lu Bu. Sun Ce was strong. He can lead the troops from the front and was willing to be at the rear during retreats. Sun Ce was proud and had few friends. One of them was Zhou Yu, the other was Taishi Ci.
Was Lu Bu not a proud and arrogant person? He was! Lu Bu was even more arrogant than Sun Ce. He had a large temper. He and his horse were always together. He lived in Yuan Shao’s domain but dared to offend the Yuan family. Is Lu Bu not overbearing and arrogant! Lu Bu was also strong. There is no one that can fight with him on equal grounds except Huang Zhong! Although there are other people that have pushed him back before, Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei had to fight him together to do it. When Xu Huang, Li Dian and Xu Zhu fought him, he managed to severely injure two and even managed to kill Li Dian.
Sun Ce is the young Lu Bu and Lu Bu is the old Sun Ce. For most of Lu Bu’s life, he drifted from place to place. Although Lu Bu did not speak much, he knew in his heart that he is no longer the self-willed Lu Bu. He also would no longer send his daughter out for his own benefit.
He was the terror of the world. Cao Cao fought against him, Yuan Shao expelled him and Jiangdong slandered his name. This must be because they were all afraid of him.
Cao Cao was afraid of Lu Bu so he first negotiated with Lu Bu and hoped that Lu Bu would form an alliance with him. Cao Cao was afraid Lu Bu would be used by other people. Yuan Shao was afraid of him. He also saw the end of Dong Zhuo and Ding Yuan. He was afraid that the moment he let his guard down, Lu Bu would get rid of him. Sun Ce and the rest of Jiangdong was also afraid of Lu Bu. They know that Lu Bu was not a domestic cat but a fierce tiger. They were afraid they became his food.
Now, Lu Bu was less bold and more calm. This made Taishi Ci fear that Lu Bu was like a tiger pretending to sleep and getting ready to pounce on its victims.
Kill the tiger! Cut off its head. For the sake of Lord Sun Ce! Why did Sun Ce choose to attack Lu Bu? Other than to avenge Da Qiao, it was because Lujiang is the springboard for Jiangdong to launch attacks. Lujiang has Bagongshan that can be used as a strategic point. It was also a strategic point to defend against enemy attacks. Together with the Jiangdong Army, he wanted to capture the Yanzhou and conquer the land. Cao Cao has controlled the Central Plains and half the land. His next target would also be Lujiang because of it is a strategic location. Luckily, Cao Cao needs to expand his army 2-10 times larger before he would assault Lujiang. Lujiang also provides the natural resources for iron. As long as there is a good blacksmith, it would be possible to have an endless supply of weapons available to outfit the soldiers with. Lujiang was also a grain producing location. With just Wan Cheng, Lu Kang managed to supply all the citizens in Yangzhou with food. Especially during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the amount of people who migrated in was over 100,000 people.
Now, Lu Bu is the one who controls Lujiang and blocked Sun Ce’s advance to the Central Plains. Besides that, Lu Bu does not have a navy right now. (Sun Ce thought so.) When they do have a navy and pass through Yangtze River, the Jiangdong Army will face a calamity. The river was so long that the Jiangdong Army was unable to guard the entire river day and night. Once the Lu Bu’s Army cross over, it would become a huge joke. The Jiangdong Army would not be able to defend anything. Also right now, the main force of the Jiangdong Army is at Jiangxia and Jingzhou. There are no one available to guard the river.
This is why even though it was not advisable to fight two wars, Zhou Yu agreed to let Sun Ce return to Lujiang. They planned to attack Lu Bu by surprise. Together with the cooperation of the nobles, Lu Bu would experience problems and eventually escape like in Yanzhou. In Yanzhou, there was Zhang Miao and the other noble families that he did not accept Lu Bu. The other reason was because the nobles secretly told Cao Cao how much provisions Lu Bu had, where the guards are stationed, when the shift changes and other information. When Cao Cao attacked, there were even nobles who opened the city gates. The result was Lu Bu’s defeat and he had to retreat from Yanzhou. If it was not because the big eared Liu had the wildest dreams of making Lu Bu his guard dog and stopped Cao Cao, Lu Bu would have been killed.
Who would have thought that the other nobles in Wan Cheng was sold out by the Liu family. Lu Bu and Liu Mang also engaged in the slaughter of the nobles while ignoring the bad reputation. As a result, Sun Ce’s attack on Wan Cheng also failed on the verge of success.
After killing Lu Bu, the dangerous obstacle for Jiangdong would disappear. Together with half of the Jiangdong Army, Sun Ce would have been one of the major forces together with Cao Cao and Yuan Shao. Liu Zhang was not lord material. Whoever wins the fight at Central Plains, Sun Ce will appear with his army.
His imagination stopped and he was determined to kill Lu Bu. This would be easy on the Sun family’s lands. Taishi Ci stiked out powerfully. Lu Bu frowned. He did not understand why the twin halberd warrior suddenly became more difficult to handle. Taishi Ci now only considers Lu Bu an obstacle. All he needs to do is stall Lu Bu. At that time, the Yuzhou Cavalry will finish off the Bingzhou Cavalry and rally. At that time, even the God of War would have to fall.