Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

“A true man should prioritize loyalty and righteousness above all else; how could he switch his allegiance to another?”

Zhang Liao responded with a steady tone, which only made Guan Yu admire him even more.

“Loyalty and righteousness above all else?”

Guan Yu stroked his long beard and said, “It’s a pity that you and I serve different masters. Otherwise, based on these words alone, I would share a cup with you.”

After a pause, Guan Yu spurred his warhorse and attacked Zhang Liao again, saying,

“If I were to take your head today, I, Guan, would certainly offer a cup of yellow wine at your grave as a tribute.”

“Liao feels the same!”

Zhang Liao replied in a deep voice, thrusting his spear towards Guan Yu.

However, with Guan Yu's initial three powerful strikes having lost their edge, coupled with Zhang Liao's own bravery, which was among the best of their time but overshadowed by Lu Bu, resulting in his fame being less pronounced.

Therefore, when the two sides clashed, the situation became extremely tense, with neither able to gain the upper hand.

However, even with Zhang Liao sharing the burden and restraining Guan Yu, it provided almost no help to the overall situation.

At that moment, the originally dim surroundings of the camp suddenly lit up with numerous torches, clearly illuminating the movements of the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry, and arrows rained down from all directions.

Furthermore, on both the left and right flanks, the elite troops that Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Tao Qian, and other lords had pre-arranged ambushes surged out from all directions towards the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry, who had lost their speed.

Almost in the blink of an eye, the five thousand Bing Province Wolf Cavalry who had plunged into Cao Cao's camp were surrounded.

Meanwhile, the five thousand Bing Province Wolf Cavalry led by Wei Xu, who had been left outside by Lu Bu to provide support, saw the unfavorable situation and wanted to quickly go and assist Lu Bu and the others in retreating, but were blocked by Gongsun Zan leading six thousand White Horse Volunteers.

Clearly, this was a carefully laid trap.

Lu Bu, while fiercely fighting Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei, also took in the extremely dire situation.

To make matters worse, Lu Bu was already wounded when he went into battle, and as he fought desperately against Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei, the wound on his left shoulder began to burst open, significantly affecting Lu Bu's movements.

Stimulated by anger and pain, Lu Bu almost fell into a state of madness, like a trapped beast making a final stand. The combat power he unleashed not only did not decrease but increased, temporarily even faintly suppressing Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei.

However, Lu Bu knew very well that this situation could not last. After fiercely attacking Zhang Fei three times, forcing Zhang Fei to retreat repeatedly, Lu Bu yanked on the reins and rode the Red Hare to create distance between himself and Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei.

Seeing this, Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei quickly wanted to chase after him, but were desperately blocked by the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry serving as Lu Bu's personal guards.

It was only at this moment that Lu Bu had the spare energy to carefully observe the encirclement closing in from all directions, and seeing that his Bing Province Wolf Cavalry were constantly being reduced at an alarming rate, filled Lu Bu's chest with boundless grief and anger.

‘Dong Zhuo!!!’

Lu Bu clenched his teeth, roaring the name in his heart, and quickly ordered loudly.

“Retreat! My warriors, follow me and fight our way out of the encirclement!!!”

Having received Lu Bu's order, the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry, who had been thrown into chaos by the killing in the encirclement, seemed to have suddenly found their backbone, consciously beginning to gather in Lu Bu's direction.

Even in the dim environment, Lu Bu's tall and imposing figure and exaggerated, domineering armor were the easiest to recognize for countless Bing Province Wolf Cavalry.

Zhang Liao, seeing that Lu Bu had escaped from the siege of Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei, secretly breathed a sigh of relief and also found an opportunity to distance himself from Guan Yu, shouting loudly.

“Guan Yunchang, let's end it here today and fight again another day!”

Watching Zhang Liao leave, Guan Yu did not pursue but went to join Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei, and then led their respective troops to slaughter the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry who had fallen behind.

Without the restraint of Zhao Yun and others on Lu Bu, even though Lu Bu was now wounded, there was almost no one who could withstand a single blow from him. The Fang Tian Halberd in his hand was like the most efficient killing weapon in the world.

This scene was also greatly amazed by Liu Bei and Li Ji, who were watching the battle from a distant watchtower.

Perhaps Zhao Yun could also break through the enemy lines in a chaotic army as if walking on flat ground, but in terms of killing efficiency, Lu Bu was undoubtedly significantly better.

This was not because Lu Bu was significantly stronger than Zhao Yun by a level, but because the different weapons they specialized in determined this result.

The most efficient way for the Cliff Corner Spear to inflict damage was “thrusting.”

But for the Fang Tian Halberd, “chopping,” “sweeping,” “slashing,” “thrusting,” and so on could all effectively slaughter ordinary soldiers.

Therefore, if Zhao Yun's breakthrough was to directly cut a line, then Lu Bu's breakthrough was centered on himself, with no enemy soldiers able to survive within the range of the Fang Tian Halberd.

However, in addition to appreciation, Liu Bei's eyes were filled with more apprehension as he looked in Lu Bu's direction, saying.

“Zikun, is it really appropriate to let Lu Bu go again? His bravery is even greater than Yunchang and Yide. He may become a formidable enemy in the future.”

Li Ji calmly explained, “It doesn’t matter. Since we want to use a tiger to devour wolves, if we capture and kill the fierce tiger now, the wolves will be extremely difficult to deal with.”

“Zikun thinks that Lu Bu will fight with Dong Zhuo after returning to Hulao Pass, and even kill Dong Zhuo?” Liu Bei asked.

Li Ji watched Lu Bu break through the encirclement and said.

“Lu Bu can die, but he cannot die at the hands of the allied forces. Otherwise, the forty thousand Bing Province Wolf Cavalry under his command will all be used by Dong Zhuo.”

“Therefore, this time, after Lu Bu returns to Hulao Pass, regardless of whether the result is Dong Zhuo killing Lu Bu, or Lu Bu killing Dong Zhuo, it will be beneficial and harmless to the lord, to the allied forces, and to the Han Dynasty.”

Hearing this, Liu Bei suddenly felt enlightened.

As long as Lu Bu and Dong Zhuo completely turned against each other, even if Lu Bu could not successfully stab Dong Zhuo in the back, it would also cause Dong Zhuo to lose the great reliance of the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry.

Without the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry stationed at Hulao Pass, how could the elite troops of Sili and a small number of Xiliang Iron Cavalry be able to stop the allied forces from breaking through the pass?

However, unlike the complacency of Liu Bei and Li Ji, Lu Bu, who had fought his way out through a bloody battle, turned his head to look behind him and found that only two thousand of the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry had successfully broken through with him.

The loss of three thousand Bing Province Wolf Cavalry in such a short period of time filled Lu Bu's chest with endless grief and indignation.

It could even be said that this was the most serious loss since Lu Bu formed the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry.

Filled with boundless hatred, Lu Bu did not stay any longer, quickly joined the five thousand Bing Province Wolf Cavalry waiting outside, and led the defeated troops to retreat in the direction of Hulao Pass.

However, as they got closer and closer to Hulao Pass, Zhang Liao approached Lu Bu with some worry and said.

“Marquis Wen, the Guandong lords seemed to have anticipated our army's raid, there may be Guandong lords' spies in Hulao Pass, we need to be careful. For safety's sake, it's better to wait until dawn before returning to the pass.”

“No need!”

Lu Bu naturally understood what Zhang Liao was worried about, and said, suppressing his anger.

“There are still more than thirty thousand Bing Province Wolf Cavalry in the pass. I only need to raise my arm and shout, and it is not impossible to occupy the entire Hulao Pass in an instant. How dare that old thing make things difficult for me?”

As soon as these words came out, Zhang Liao was stunned for a moment before realizing who Lu Bu was referring to as the “old thing.”

“Marquis Wen, be careful what you say.”

Zhang Liao subconsciously reminded him, fearing that these words would reach Dong Zhuo's ears and make Lu Bu's situation even more precarious.

After all, the last person Lu Bu privately called an “old thing” was his former adoptive father, Ding Yuan, who had already been stabbed to death by the Fang Tian Halberd.

“Humph!”

Lu Bu snorted coldly, ignored Zhang Liao's reminder, and looked at Hulao Pass in the distance with a fierce glint in his eyes.

However, until Lu Bu led his army to the gate of Hulao Pass, the gate remained tightly closed.

“Open the gate for me!”

Lu Bu, already furious to the extreme, roared.

At this moment, Dong Zhuo's voice rang out from the city tower, saying.

“My son Fengxian, did you gain anything from this raid?”

Lu Bu's hand holding the reins clenched tightly, his knuckles even turning white, feeling that Dong Zhuo's question was like deliberately rubbing salt in his wounds.

‘Deliberately leaking the information about the raid, wanting to put me to death, and still asking if I gained anything?’

Lu Bu stared fixedly at Dong Zhuo's figure, which was vaguely visible on the city tower above, suppressed his anger, and replied. “The Guandong rats set up an ambush in advance, and there were no gains.”

Hearing this, Dong Zhuo sneered even more in his heart, and the result was the same as he had expected.

With Lu Bu and the Guandong lords preparing to cooperate from within and without, how could Lu Bu really have brought back Cao Cao's head.

In addition to a great victory being able to gain his trust, a great defeat was undoubtedly also a way to show loyalty.

As Dong Zhuo expected, Lu Bu returned in great defeat.

And Dong Zhuo roughly judged the number of returning Bing Province Wolf Cavalry from his high vantage point, and found that only seven thousand of the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry had returned.

Lu Bu had been out of the pass for less than an hour, and counting the time it took to travel back and forth.

Under the command of Lu Bu himself, three thousand of the elite Bing Province Wolf Cavalry were lost in such a short period of time?

Even three thousand pigs would not be killed so quickly.

What's more, Lu Bu had led the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry to fight against the Xiliang Iron Cavalry before, and Dong Zhuo knew very well the strength of the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry led by Lu Bu.

Therefore, having obtained the answer in advance, Dong Zhuo was almost certain that this night raid was a good show performed by Lu Bu and the Guandong lords.

“Oh?!”

Dong Zhuo's tone deliberately revealed a bit of disbelief, saying. “How did the Guandong lords ambush my son Fengxian, causing Fengxian to return in great defeat?”

Dong Zhuo's deliberate taunting was clearly intended to make Lü Bu expose his weaknesses, thereby weakening Lü Bu's influence in the army.

Such behavior only made the proud Lü Bu feel even more resentful.

However, Lü Bu knew that even if he wanted to turn against Dong Zhuo, he had to enter Hulao Pass first!

Lü Bu could not abandon the more than thirty thousand Bing Province wolf riders and leave directly; only with those more than thirty thousand Bing Province wolf riders in hand would Lü Bu be qualified to challenge Dong Zhuo. (End of chapter)