Mythical Three Kingdoms-Chapter 609 - 576
Lyu Bu and Zhang Liao personally covered the rear, leading the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry to retreat slowly. After the forces on both sides had merged, Liu Bei realized that it was pointless to continue the fight under such circumstances.
"Lyu Bu is quite unhurried," Guo Jia sighed as he looked in the direction of Lyu Bu’s retreat, clearly intending to overwhelm Lyu Bu with sheer numbers given his extremely thick Cloud Qi.
"All troops, regroup and retreat." Liu Bei’s army also began to fall back to the sound of the bronze gong, with Liu Bei himself leading the Central Army to cover their withdrawal.
Back at camp, after tallying the casualties, Liu Bei was in great pain. Not to mention Zhang Fei’s serious injury, the losses among the ordinary soldiers, the School Sabre Bearers, and the Tiger Guard caused Liu Bei immense heartache.
"Double the full compensation, I’ll pay for the other half myself due to my misjudgment," Liu Bei said as he looked at the significant casualty rate. Although Lyu Bu had shown mercy towards them, he had none for the soldiers: both the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry and the following infantry had inflicted considerable casualties on Liu Bei’s forces.
"I also made mistakes this time," said Guo Jia calmly. He was still immersed in shock that under a three-against-one scenario, Lyu Bu managed to suppress Guan, Zhang, and Xu comprehensively. Was this man even human?
"Let’s stabilize our encampment first. We completely underestimated Lyu Fengxian’s strength. He is probably no less formidable than King Xiang now. As long as he wishes to fight, his nearly ten thousand Wolf Cavalry can unleash the combat power of a hundred thousand elite soldiers," Guan Yu sighed, realizing the level Lyu Bu had reached. His ability to boost morale was monstrous; that’s what made the Brave Faction so daunting!
"Stabilizing the camp isn’t that difficult," Guo Jia sighed. He too understood the difficulties in dealing with Lyu Bu. In essence, the Brave Faction was all about raising morale, charging bravely ahead, breaking enemy formations, invincibility of generals, and fearless soldiers who crush their enemies head-on.
Generally, the Brave Faction was considered a relic of history after the Spring and Autumn Period, the era of War Strategists. But then Xiang Yu appeared, devastating the War Strategists. All the careful preparations, troop encirclements, flanking maneuvers, ingenious plans crumbled when facing Xiang Yu directly—teaching a harsh lesson in combat...
Be it cutting off supplies, flanking and surrounding or a combined attack of the feudal lords by land and water, Xiang Yu had one tactic: cut off my supplies, and I’ll overthrow you to take yours; flank me, and I’ll face you head-on; approach by water, and I’ll kill your land forces then turn to encircle your navy, cutting them down as well.
The invincibly perverted force of twenty-eight cavalry generals ambushing from all sides—if not for his own pride leading to his downfall, whether War Strategist Hann Xin could teach Brave Faction’s peak Xiang Yu a lesson, or vice versa, was truly debatable.
Later, the Brave Faction was picked out of the dustbin of history once again. Xiang Yu’s strength made it clear that the Brave Faction was not entirely without merit, especially when the leader was fierce enough; they could be much more effective than the War Strategist.
Given the current situation, Lyu Bu had Chen Gong to direct and avoid tactics that the Brave Faction couldn’t adapt to, allowing Lyu Bu to exploit his valor fully. This is why Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, and Liu Bei were humiliated by Lyu Bu one after another.
It can be said that when the Brave Faction faces the War Strategist head-on, naturally, the War Strategist gets decimated. However, if there is a slow, calculated approach, the Brave Faction can’t withstand the schemes of a top Strategist. But now, Chen Gong has unraveled all schemes, and you’re being forcefully dragged into clashing directly with Lyu Bu. How can one even describe this situation? It’s a headache for anyone involved.
"I will write the battle report. Let’s present the situation here to our Lord without personal emotions and let them judge for themselves." Guo Jia sighed, realizing that in dealing with Lyu Bu, one must either cause Chen Gong to defect or find a way to block Lyu Bu. Otherwise, the only option is to fill the gap with lives.
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"Just write it down, no need to cover for me, just tell the truth. There isn’t much of an issue with you here, it’s purely that I underestimated Lyu Fengxian," Guan Yu sighed deeply, "Yide!"
"Big brother," Zhang Fei sighed, "I understand, but I still can’t stand him!"
"Show some mercy, everyone has their difficulties," Xu Chu said with a grin. From now on, whoever says they want to duel Lyu Bu, he would argue with them; the man is simply a monster.
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei both nodded in agreement. Regardless of other aspects, when an opponent becomes so formidable, one must acknowledge their strength, even as an enemy. No matter how detestable Lyu Bu’s character may be, his jaw-dropping Martial Arts that the three of them experienced firsthand left them no choice but to admit it.
"I suggest calling for Zhao Yun from Xuzhou, along with Shuzhi," Guan Yu turned to Guo Jia and said. Guan Yu couldn’t bear a defeat like this battle suggested; ever since the campaign began, they had achieved nothing. How could he retreat in such disarray? Guan Yu was not like the Civil Officials Tian Feng and Xun Shen. Besides, Mount Tai’s provisions were holding strong!
"That’s a good idea," Guo Jia nodded, turning his glance to Zhang Fei. He agreed with Guan Yu’s proposal in his heart. Zhang Fei indeed still needed more refinement, not in terms of Martial Force, but mentally.
[I recommend appointing Chen Yuanlong as Xiapi Prefect; let Zhang Fei be stationed in Xiapi.] Guo Jia thought about it and decided to combine the transfer of Zhao Yun and Chen Dao with the vulnerability of Xuzhou, the fact that they have Yuzhou at their back, and the need for the heavily injured Zhang Fei to recuperate.
After Liu Bei read this letter, he handed it directly to Chen Xi. After skimming through it, Chen Xi didn’t know what expression to wear. Zhang Fei went to duel Lyu Bu—although he knew early on that he wouldn’t win, but the gap is too wide, isn’t it? Three against one, and still they got swept by Lyu Bu alone; did Lyu Bu swallow a Divine Stone?
[Trap Formation seems unreasonably strong, doesn’t it? First, he plowed through the Vanguard Death Squad, then he cut down the Tiger Guard Army and Guan Yu’s Personal Guard Saber Holder head-on. It’s hard to say if Chen Dao’s White Spear Soldiers were even effective!] Chen Xi thought helplessly. He knew Lyu Bu was difficult to deal with, but he hadn’t expected him to be this troublesome.
[Short-term Ingenious Strategies don’t work on Chen Gong, and while causing discord could be effective against Lyu Bu, if Chen Gong isn’t disappointed in Lyu Bu, it would be effortless for someone of his intelligence to justify and argue his case.] Chen Xi felt a headache coming on. He finally understood why, despite having both Civil Officials and Generals at his disposal, Cao Cao was ultimately cornered by Lyu Bu into a defensive stance—in terms of numbers, Cao Cao didn’t have many soldiers, but Lyu Bu only had slightly more than ten thousand!
"What do you think, Zichuan?" Liu Bei immediately asked for Chen Xi’s opinion.
"Let’s discuss it in the long term," said Chen Xi with a wry smile.
If they called for Zhao Yun and Chen Dao to go to Yanzhou, then the Commander-in-chief would need to be replaced. It wouldn’t be Liu Bei in person; it would be Chen Xi himself. Not to mention anyone else, Zhao Yun himself stands at the topmost command in the Xuzhou defense region, already on par with Guan Yu. Even if Zhao Yun doesn’t mind being commanded by Guan Yu, for the sake of others, they would need a higher-level Commander-in-chief.
Among those on par with Guan Yu in both Mount Tai and Xuzhou were only Zhao Yun and Gan Ning. Among the Civil Officials, only Lub Su equalled Guan Yu, while Chen Xi ranked slightly higher. The rest held lower positions than Guan Yu. If indeed they decided to pull commanders from both the southern and northern defense areas to deal with Lyu Bu, there’s a ninety percent chance that Chen Xi, the mascot, would have to serve as Commander-in-chief. (To be continued. If you like this book, you are welcome to vote for it at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)
