Chapter 51 - Lu Bu Starts To Change (1) (MTL, not proofread or edited yet)
Translated by Bloodfalcon, Edited by Kyrato
“Is the commander below Marquis of Wen, Lu Bu, Lu Feng Xian?!” An arrogant voice yelling out from Bagongshan peak.
“Oh, Chen Lan and Lei Bo also knew Bu? I did not expect this at all!” Said Lu Bu with a disdain expression.
“Ha, how can we brothers possibly not know about Marquis of Wen, Lu Bu’s prowess” Said Chen Lan at the peak, while laughing boldly as if concealing something.
"While I was serving under Wen Hou, I was a guide that led these two bandits to top the subjugation of the Xuzhou area!" The messenger was awkwardly stating the orders Yuan Shu-man. “Marquis of Wen, when my lord withdrew from Xu Province, he also brought this two lowlifes with him, so, they also know about Marquis of Wen’s prowess!” The guide said awkwardly. How stupid was he? Instead of saying, “when Yuan Shu withdraw from Xu Province”, he should have said “When Yuan Shu assaulted Xu Province”.
“Wenyuan, go forward and call out to them!” Said Lu Bu toward Zhang Liao.
Zhang Liao nodded and went directly to the foot of the mountain. After arriving there, he exclaimed loudly “Chen Lan, Lei Bo, my lord has been entrusted by Yuan Gonglu to eliminate you both and your unit. If you know what is best for you, surrender immediately. Otherwise when we reach the foot of the mountain, you will surely perish!”
“That old fart Yuan Shu, he is the culprit behind this siege!” Lei Bo angrily punched a nearby log.
After listening to Zhang Liao’s words, not only he did not become shocked and afraid, instead he sneered and answered “When did Marquis of Wen become Yuan Shu’s lapdog? Was the title Marquis of Wen which was given by the Emperor not enough? Has the Marquis of Wen, Lu Bu, become so greedy that you threw away our Han?! Do you also do not fear the 100,000 troops of Cao's Army?!”
The words that Chen Lan spat out was very demeaning. Saying Lu Bu has become Yuan Shu’s lapdog, saying Lu Bu has become too greedy that he thought the Emperor’s reward is not enough and he threw away his loyalty for the Han Empire.
Everyone knows that Yuan Gonglu committed a mistake when he proclaimed himself as an emperor, as he is not a legitimate emperor.
But by doing that, the people of this nation, who initially respected Yuan Shu, began to distance themselves from him, for fear that Old Cao under the pretext of regent was going to attack those who are in contact with Yuan Shu, as Old Cao himself has called Yuan Shu an illegitimate usurper. And now Lu Bu who attacked Chen Lan on behalf of Yuan Shu, Chen Lan predicted what could happen.
Unfortunately, Chen Lan made an error by saying those words. Other warlords may fear Cao Mengde, but Lu Bu did not really care nor fear Cao Mengde. His confidence did not come because he knew Old Cao’s strength, but it came from being acquainted with him God knows how long.
From the time when Lu Bu attack Old Cao's Yan Province to when Old Cao attack Lu Bu’s province, both know each other well enough.
“Try to frighten me with Cao Mengde? You got the wrong person to threat!” Lu Bu coldly responded “Other warlord may fear Cao Mengde, but I, Lu Bu, did not really care at all!”
The results of the battle of Xu Province, although it resulted with Lu Bu’s loss and being expelled from Xu Province, during the breakout, Bing Province Cavalry really hurt Cao Cao’s prized Ferocious Cavalry and made a name for themselves as the strongest cavalry in this nation. So, it can be concluded that Old Cao is the one who feared Lu Bu, not vice-versa.
“Chen Lan, Lei Bo. Your previous lord, Yuan Gonglu never treated you badly and never let you starve. Even when both of you left him after he proclaimed himself as emperor, he never blamed you one bit.
But not only did both of you did not repay his kindness, both of you also attacked his supply troops. Though this transgression is not unforgivable, if you surrender now, you still can live!” Lu Bu stressed every words clearly.
It seems words cannot reach these two, as Lei Bo already began to curse “You scumbag, slave of three surnames. Please don’t be a hypocrite. Did you think you can force us to die with our previous lord?
When Yuan Shu proclaimed himself as an emperor, he was deserted by his friends and allies, leaving us stranded here in Bagongshan. Yuan Shu did not even send any supplies to us, leaving us brothers, several thousands of people, to the hand of fate. So, out of needs, we robbed his supply line for us to use. He abandoned us like that, so why can't we do the same to him?”
“Not good!” Chen Lan wanted to prevent Lei Bo from putting his foot in his his mouth, but it is too late already.
“Stupid men, insulting our lord like that, you have thrown the hope that our lord has given you to swine!” All of Lu Bu’s army personnel were thinking the same thing.
“Slave of three surnames?!” Lu Bu then remembers the worst memory he has. This god of war’s eyes then flashed with extreme killing intent. He looked at both of them who was standing at the peak “You two are really seeking for death!”
Having completely offended Lu Bu, Chen Lan's face began to pale, but he tried to not panic, for he is the commander of this mountain army and previously he is also a general in Yuan Shu’s army. He just coldly responded “In that case, us two brothers will wait for Marquis of Wen at the peak!”
Bagongshan. Once again we look at the topography of this area. This area only has one road, and if one guards the pass, then none shall pass that road. A real strategic location, difficult to attack, easy to defend.
If Chen Lan and Lei Bo’s hideout was in the flat land, even if they have 100,000 troops, Lu Bu could order an all-out attack. Why? Because he is Lu Bu and Bing Province Cavalry fear nothing.
However, due to difficult terrain, which is the mountains, cavalry are of no help here. Not having cavalry soldiers to attack, also adds to the value of Chen Lan and Lei Bo's natural defenses.
“Milord, are you thinking of a direct mountain attack?!” Zhang Liao asked with hesitation. In the past, usually Lu Bu just told his troops to attack directly, because his basic principle is just to attack straight for the enemy, which he considered is the best course of action, no matter how many casualties fell.
But now Lu Bu actually s thinking of tactics to attack from every possible angle.
“Lu Feng Xian, come and go up here! We brothers are waiting impatiently for your arrival!” Lei Bo has already offend Lu Bu severely, so why not add fuel to the fire.
Lu Bu who had finished observing the mountain, did not say a word, but said “Gao Shun, use your Formation Breaker, feint attack!”
“Yes, sir!” Gao Shun looking at Lu Bu with a strange expression. “Just feigning attack?” While Gao Shun had received a strange order from Lu Bu, he was also surprised by Lu Bu next words.
“Gao Shun, be careful, exercise extreme caution!”
When did Boss Lu start to care about his people? The faces of all the soldiers who were present started to change color.
Only Chen Gong smiled and nodded at that change.
“SHAAAAAA!”
As always, the Formation Breaker is the Formation Breaker. They are an elite unit who have faced hundreds of battles, all equipped with a great shield and heavy armor. The road in mountain is not stable, but this is not a problem for Formation Breaker division, because they are an infantry division. They can move with the same speed as if it was flat land, not before long, they already arrived at the foot of the mountain. One can see panic expression on Chen Lan and Lei Bo’s faces.
“Shoot, shoot, stop their movement right now!” While Chen Lan is calm, Lei Bo is very different, all of his insults were actually just to cover his fear.
But that desperate move, also stopped the Formation Breaker’s movement. Arrows raining and stones rolling everywhere made it hard for the Formation Breaker to march forward.
“Abominable!” Gao Shun roared loudly, he wanted to storm the mountain, but he heard Lu Bu’s shout from below the mountain “Gao Shun, retreat!”
Gao Shun looks at that peak road. Everywhere is arrows rained, stones rolling. He sighed fiercely, because he was unwilling to retreat, but he also knows, if he forced a storm, the Formation Breaker would receive tremendous damage.
Does Lu Bu want to sacrifice the Formation Breakers just to overcome Chen Lan and Lei Bo? No, he could not have that kind of loss.
Seeing the Formation Breaker retreat, made Chen Lan and Lei Bo beaming with pride.
Lei Bo smiled with disdain expression at Lu Bu army at mountain feet “Lu Bu, Marquis of Wen has only mediocre ability!”
“Idiot traitor, this is just a grace period, when my great army breaks through your precious mountain, there will be nothing left of you!” Another astonishing scene, Gao Shun who is a man of very few words actually an insult of such eloquence?
“Hah, Lu Bu's Army is nothing after all! Only having a proud motor mouth. Dost thou and your idiot general think you have the ability to attack my mountain? All of you are a joke!
Lu Feng Xian, you are just a stray dog who has been driven away from Xu Province by Cao Cao. Now you have lost a place and is barely maintaining your feeble existence, right? You come to my Bagongshan and act unruly, where the hell do you think this is, huh? You are in our domain and you are facing us, kings of this mountain.
“Beng!” Lu Bu hit a giant rock with his Poseidon halberd. That rock was blown to bits. Now, in Lu Bu’s heart, his anger wanted to burn the mountain to ashes. The only one who can make Lu Bu this mad besides Zhang Fei who is Liu Bei’s subordinate, is this Lei Bo.
“Milord, let me continue storming with my soldiers. We will take those two son-of-a-bitchs heads and come back down!” Said Gao Shun as he knelt seeking for Lu Bu's command.
“Gao Shun, I know you do not lack the ability to storm the mountain!” Said Lu Bu coldly.
In Gao Shun’s heart, he only wanted to attack and redeem his lords face, but he listened to what Lu Bu said next “If you attack Bagongshan and took those lowlifes heads, how many casualties will your Formation Breaker suffer?!”
“Eh?!” Responded Gao Shun who was a little unsure “Several hundred!” Gao Shun just blurted out his opinion. It is true in Gao Shun’s division there are several hundreds of veteran soldiers of Formation Breaker.
“Several hundred!” Lu Bu sneered. “Is it worth to exchange several hundreds of elite’s lives with those two lowlifes?!” Said Lu Bu while hitting the horse to retreat. “Withdraw the troops and return to main camp. Tomorrow we fight again!”
”Milord?!” Said Gao Shun, a little dissatisfied.
“Gao Shun, using those several hundred just to breach enemy line and take those two lowlifes head, that is something I cannot afford to exchange. Those troops, are dear to me!” After saying those lines, this general, known as god-of-war, started to change bit by bit.