Zhang Xiu smashed a table inside his camp at Shouchun.
“Defeated!” Zhang Xiu repeated as he looked at the person kneeling in front of him. His Xiliang Cavalry elites, his heavy cavalry of eight thousand, had been thoroughly defeated. Only about a thousand returned from battle, with a lot of them injured. This meant that Zhang Xiu had lost over six thousand troops. On top of that, according to the man kneeling before him, they only managed to kill about a thousand of the enemy troops. Hu Che Er did not dare to lie because he knew that Zhang Xiu trusted him. He knew that if he were to be caught lying, his value in the army would decrease.
“How hateful!” Zhang Xiu was extremely angry not only because he lost six thousand troops but most importantly, they were defeated. Liu Mang’s challenge letter had clearly shown disdain for the Xiliang Cavalry. In anger, Zhang Xiu wanted Liu Mang’s head but the Xiliang Cavalry was defeated. This defeat lowered the reputation of his Xiliang Cavalry and also his own.
There were only two thousand and five hundred enemies. Although they had the ballista, others would not care about whether the ballista was hidden and only cared about the results.1 They only saw that eight thousand heavy cavalry fought against two thousand five hundred heavy infantries and lost.
“Why didn’t you just go and die? Why did you come back?” Zhang Xiu’s anger surged and kicked Hu Che Er. Hu Che Er was unable to dodge because he had lost an arm and his body was weak. Even if he could, he would not dare to. On the other hand, Zhang Xiu was also at a refinement stage. The strength of his kick during his anger could easily be imagined.
Hu Che Er was sent flying by Zhang Xiu’s kick. He started coughing out blood the moment he landed on the ground. His face was also pale. The wound on his arm reopened and blood flowed out.
Although Hu Che Er’s face had turned pale, he did not say anything.
“General Yang Wu!” Just as Zhang Xiu was about to start attacking again, he heard Liu Bei’s voice from outside his camp. Zhang Xiu tacitly accepted, allowing Liu Bei and Pang Tong into the camp. Liu Bei tried to help Hu Che Er up the moment he saw Hu Che Er kneeling on the ground but Hu Che Er declined Liu Bei’s help as he did not dare to move without Zhang Xiu’s order. Liu Bei then thought that this was Zhang Xiu’s matter and it would not be appropriate for him to continue offering Hu Che Er help.
“Did Lord Xuande come here to laugh?” Zhang Xiu’s spoke with a unhappy tone as he still needed to vent. Nobody would be happy for throwing away thousands of troops. Zhang Xiu was unable to think of another reason Liu Bei would pay him a visit.
Liu Bei shook his head and sighed. “General Yang Wu. You misunderstood me! How could I come here to laugh at you? Both of us are allies. Why would I come here and laugh at you. I, Liu Bei, would also not feel happy about your losses. With the supply route blocked, my soldiers cannot obtain provisions. If we cannot capture Shouchun, we could only retreat!” Liu Bei also felt bitter. Initially, he truly wanted to see Zhang Xiu’s Army make a fool of themselves. He would have benefited if Zhang Xiu dispatched his troops to fight against Liu Mang as Zhang Xiu would have been weaken and Liu Mang would have been restricted. Both sides would suffer while the supply routes would be secured. His own rear would also be safe. But now, Hu Che Er had been defeated and retreated.
Eight thousand men were dispatched. Only about one thousand returned. This was something Liu Bei found out from one of the Xiliang Cavalry soldiers. After losing so much, they only managed to harm about a thousand of the enemy.
Liu Mang had the Urban Army and the Black Flag Army. The total number of soldiers he had were about ten thousand. Losing one tenth of his forces would not reduce his strength by much. As a result, the army threatening Liu Bei was still around and there were still no provisions. Liu Bei who also felt bitter from the results decided to meet with Zhang Xiu for a discussion the moment Hu Che Er returned to camp.
“All of this is because of this barbarian! Useless trash!” Zhang Xiu’s anger had decreased when Liu Bei had mediated their relationship but then it increased again when he saw Hu Che Er. Hu Che Er had caused him to lose his cavalry. The first time, he lost two thousand Xiliang Cavalry in an ambush by Liao Hua. That issue was not raised. However, Hu Che Er was completely crushed in a battle against a few thousand heavy infantries on the plains. Naturally, Zhang Xiu’s anger soared and he even wanted teach Hu Che Er a lesson.
“General Yang Wu, calm down!” Liu Bei quickly stepped forward and stopped Zhang Xiu. Liu Bei also wanted Zhang Xiu to kill off Hu Che Er for causing his plans to fall apart but at that moment, he had no choice but to stop Zhang Xiu. After all, Liu Bei wanted to obtain Zhang Xiu’s army. Besides that, Liu Bei had the reputation of a benevolent man to uphold. All he needed to do was to prevent Zhang Xiu from killing Hu Che Er. Any other kind of sufferings experienced by Hu Che Er was none of his business.
“General. This Hu Che Er may be a barbarian but he is loyal to you. If you kill him, you will disillusion the other soldiers.” Liu Bei’s play with words was quite good. He stopped Zhang Xiu from continuing to beat up Hu Che Er and also showed his tears towards Hu Che Er. Originally, Zhang Xiu never planned on killing Hu Che Er. He only wanted to kick the man. However, Liu Bei’s words made Hu Che Er terrified of Zhang XIu.
“He…!” Although Zhang Xiu was strong, so was Liu Bei. Zhang Xiu was also not able to directly push Liu Bei away and so, he was eventually pulled away by Liu Bei. This gave Zhang Xiu the chance to calm down and thought things over. Hu Che Er may have caused him to lose his troops and lose face, he knew of Hu Che Er’s loyalty. Otherwise, he would not make Hu Che Er his trusted subordinate. It would be a lie if Zhang Xiu claims to never had any sort of feelings for Hu Che Er. Besides that, Hu Che Er have lost an arm and was in a pitiful state. After thinking for a while, Zhang Xiu waved his hand, “Get up.”
“Yes!” Hu Che Er tried to get up but he only had one arm. Liu Bei gave Pang Tong a meaningful look, who then helped Hu Che Er up. Hu Che Er silently gave Liu Bei a thankful gaze. He was touched because Liu Bei pleaded for him in front of his Lord that wanted him dead.
“I want to take my troops and go to Guangzhou to settle the score with Liu Mang!” Zhang Xiu now hated Liu Mang a lot. He wanted to take all of his Xiliang Cavalry to go after Liu Mang so that he could keep face.
Liu Bei and Pang Tong turned pale with fright the moment they heard Zhang Xiu say that. If Zhang Xiu left, what would they do? Zhang Xiu’s troops were all cavalry and had mobility. However, Liu Bei only had infantries with him. They were already running out of provisions. If they were left behind here, there would be nowhere to run.
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Basically, they would just think the Xiliang Cavalry was dumb enough to ignore/ fight against the ballista without countermeasures as opposed to never noticing the ballista until it was too late.