Chapter 192 Warrior Resolve (1)
Translated by Gamer @ endlessfantasytranslations.com
The Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry was rushing. They rode without stopping to reach and defend Wan Cheng City. When they reached Wan Cheng, Lu Bu’s face turned pale. The large walls of Wan Cheng were deformed and scorched black. Lu Bu does not know what happened inside but he is unable to identify the people on the walls. The Lu Bu’s Army banner on the walls and also Liu Mang’s Urban Army banner could not be seen. The only thing that could be seen is the pile of corpses.
The gates of Wan Cheng was broken and was also blocked up.
“What happened to Wan Cheng! What happened to Han Yang! What about Chan, Ling and the others!” These were all important to Lu Bu. The only thing he was happy about was that Sun Ce’s banner was not on Wan Cheng. If Wan Cheng was captured, Lu Bu was not sure if he could hold back from immediately sieging the city.
“Milord, it seems that Wan Cheng has not fallen.” This made Lu Bu’s chest tighten. Although he only took about 200 cavalries to act as reinforncements, the rest of the city is like a deserter army. Wan Cheng City fought until this condition. What about the officers and soldiers? They said ‘share riches and die together’.
“Not yet fallen but about to!” Lu Bu knows that the city was almost destroyed. The should also be heavy casualties. He only left 3,000 Urban Army soldiers to Liu Mang. Adding those that surrendered would only amount to 8,000. The amount of troops attacking the city was about 100,000. Lu Bu also thought that the city would not hold.
Wasn’t Xia Pi also like this! Although Lu Bu had 70,000 soldiers, but it was destroyed by Cao Cao’s 150,000 soldiers and only leave behind 2,000 soldiers. Xia Pi fell and if it was not because of Liu Mang, right now his head would have been in Cao Cao’s hands. His Red Hare and Sky Piercer now belong to Cao Cao.
At that time, Lu Bu’s Army was bigger than Liu Mang’s Army, yet he can only escape for encirclement. Depending on how strong a person is, one person could even kill hundreds or thousands but what about the soldiers? Not every one of them are warriors.
If you are able to kill 1 person, you are an ordinary soldier. If you are able to kill 2 people, you can be counted as veterans. If you are able to kill 10 people then you are an elite. This applies to those in a military post.
“Sun Ce has withdrawn his troops!” Cheng Yu said as he saw the soldiers withdrawing. What other types of troops would be able to stop heavy cavalries? Heavy cavalries would just slaughter normal soldiers. The spears on heavy cavalries could easily pierce the armor of soldiers. On the other hand, they would not be able to slice through the heavy armors even if they managed to hit.
1,000 cavalry units would be able to fight off 10,000 infantries. One of the reasons the Central Plains are always invaded is because the invaders have cavalry.
When the soldiers meet the cavalries, the soldiers with a strong heart would resist. The soldiers with a weak heart would immediately be frightened.
The soldiers will run and disperse. The ones with good luck will be able to escape.
If their luck is bad they may panic and will assault the formation of the friendly forces. For example, when they encountered the Yuzhou Cavalry, the Lu Bu’s Army baggage carriers panicked. If Liu Mang did not behead them, the formation will be broken and the soldiers will be routed.
“Go first! Give him a gift!” Lu Bu sneered. Sun Ce fought so long and turned Wan Cheng into a mess. It is now time to settle debts.
“But Milord!” Cheng Yu protested. They have been marching non-stop for days. Now they are already at their limit. They were supposed to arrive earlier but ended up delayed for two hours. This was because some of the soldiers was unable to continue holding on to their horses. Besides that, some of the horses already started foaming at the mouth. The Wolf Cavalry is strong but one of the reasons for that is the elites. They have travelled beyond the Great Wall before. Beyond the Great Wall is mostly unhabitated and it is normal for a person to get lost for over 10 days. For them, long journeys are quite normal.
However, this Wolf Cavalry has new recruits. Cheng Yu admits that Zhang Liao is very good at leading the troops. From Kaiyang to here, he reorganized the Wolf Cavalry. The more experienced soldier teaches the less experienced ones.
Unfortunately, time is still a limiting factor. Although they can ride horses and can swing weapons their weapons at their enemies, it does not prepare them for long journeys. Marching for days and nights, even a strong person may falter under the pressure. If strong generals like Cheng Yu started to feel sick, what about the common soldiers?
“Do I need you to teach me!” Lu Bu looked into the eyes of Cheng Yu. Cheng Yu felt a chill across his body. What kind of eyes is this! Wolves! No mistake! Even if it was the eyes of a wolf king, it was the kind of eyes as if it was looking at an injured wolf cub.
Cheng Yu was under Liu Mang’s leadership which is why Lu Bu answered this way. It can already be considered an achievement for Lu Bu. If it was any other soldier, Lu Bu will definitely not ignore it.
“Let the hunting start!” Lu Bu led the wolf pack in his golden armor.
“Hungry, Hungry, Starving!” The wolves howled. They are wolves under the leadership of the wolf king. They want to rip open and swallow their enemies. Tired? Can they be tired? Even then, they will persist. They are wolves. Wolves are a type of vengeful animal. They are also vengeful beasts.
“Tear them! Tear them apart!” The wolf cavalry rode past Wan Cheng and launched an attack on the retreating Sun Ce’s Army.
“This is bad!” Sun Ce was among the retreating soldiers. They could feel the cavalry coming to attack them. The retreating soldiers would not be able to withstand the heavy cavalry. Sun Ce realized that this time he is not supposed to charge with spirit but to dodge.
“Have they started fighting?” Lu Su supported himself on a lookout tower and was followed by a military official. The 5,000 starving wolves were rushing to the food. The collapsing sheep are no match for it. The 10,000 troops are more like 10,000 sheeps in the wilderness.
“Arggh!” The Wolf Cavalry has opened a hole in the flock of sheep. The wolves put away their spears. Spears are meant for starting a fight and disrupting battle formations. The retreating soldiers are already panicking and there are no formations.
The blood stimulated the wolves and made them crazier. They slashed once with their knives and do not confirm the kill as their allies in the back will finish them off. All they need to do is charge.
Lu Su finally knows what is the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry. He finally knows why it was named Wolf Cavalry. They are truly a pack of wolves. A pack of wolves that make their enemies smell despair and death.
“Where is Milord!” Searching from the watchtower, he saw a man in the retreating army with wings on the helmet. That was their Lord Sun Ce! Behind him was his guard Taishi Ci. They started running like mad ever since they descended the walls. However, their horse have already went back so they could only run together with the soldiers. How could a person ever run faster than a horse? This was how the Wolf Cavalry catch up to them.
“Military advisor, dispatch the troops! Bring the Lord back!” Sun Ce had Taishi Ci to protect him but how could a person fight against a pack of wolves? Not to mention that the wolf king is somewhere in there. Once the wolves catch up, everything would be over.
“Dispatch the troops?” Lu Su looked at the Sun Ce’s Army being slaughtered as he thinks to himself but did not send any troops out.
“Military advisor! Quickly dispatch the troops!” The wolf cavalry has already caught up to Sun Ce. Taking the lead was a warrior in gold. His halberd striked out towards their Lord Sun Ce.
“Isn’t that Lu Bu?” Lu Su slowly told himself. His words made the other military officers that were around him tremble in fear. Sun Ce has slaughtered the nobles and their slaves. He then framed Liu Mang. However, the noble’s private army did not convert. First of all, Sun Ce does not have so many generals. Besides that, if they went out to fight they would not know who is the general. This is why the military officials are all left behind.
When they heard Lu Su say that the golden warrior is Lu Bu, they could not help but shiver. There is nobody who did not know about Lu Bu. They say ‘Slave of three-surnames’ in disdain but when they truly encountered the individual, they would immediately retreat.
They are afraid that Lu Su would make them go out and fight Lu Bu. In addition to these officials, There are two more under Sun Ce’s leadership that did not appear. One is in the scout division and the other is in the lookout division. The scout official was already dead. He was shot by an arrow while scouting for Lu Bu’s cavalry.
“Stay in the camp! No one is allowed to go out!” Lu Su gave his command. This order made the officers give a sigh of relief. Dispatch troops? That is just asking them to die! The 10,000 retreating soldiers that have their formation destroyed is pretty much a lost cause. The Wolf Cavalry may not dare to attack the main camp but once you leave the main camp you would also be a target.
“But that is the Lord. Milord!” The lookout officer stared at Lu Su in disbelief. What is Lu Su doing? What is he thinking? If he does not dispatch troops then the Lord will die! Is he trying to revolt? If Milord dies then what is the value of Sun Ce’s Army?
“Military advisor! Are you thinking of rebelling?” The lookout officer roared at Lu Su. The lookout soldiers all look at Lu Su’s eyes and noticed something not right. These soldiers are part of Sun Ce’s main army. They are not the noble’s private army and would not even care about their own lives. Even when Lu Su ordered the archers to execute the fire attack, these soldiers did not give any kind of reaction. They do not care about the deaths of the soldiers on the walls. As long as it is for the Lord’s great cause, their deaths are worth it.
Now the one stopping them is Lu Su. Sun Ce is in danger but Lu Su does not allow anyone to go out and save him. This made the soldiers unhappy.
If Sun Ce is dead, they would no longer have value! For them, Sun Ce is the sky!
When the soldiers around him looked at Lu Su’s eyes and noticed something wrong, some of them even drew their weapons. These soldiers were all elite. If they turned this into a battlefield, scribes like Lu Su would definitely be dead.
“What are you doing!” The soldiers protecting Lu Su also drew their weapons. They looked at their fellow officers. Although they also did not agree with Lu Su’s command, Sun Ce ordered them to completely obey Lu Su and to protect him.
“Requesting military advisor to dispatch the troops!” The soldiers half knelt and looked at Lu Su’s eyes. His hand was already touching his knife. If Lu Su continued to refuse to dispatch the troops, he would lash out and immediately behead Lu Su.
“Please dispatch the troops!” The surrounding people knelt down resolutely.
Lu Su also looked at the lookout officer unwaveringly. Both the lookout and the scouts are both under Sun Ce. Both of them were personally promoted by Sun Ce. To become a lookout or a scout would require good eyesight and also good skills in martial arts. This is especially true for those in the scout division. The scouts would be about a hundred man strong compared to those in the other division.
Lu Su was not afraid of the lookout officers and finally shook his head. These soldiers have really high morale! If he does not dispatch soldiers, the soldiers would probably try to kill him!
Even then, Lu Su was steadfast in his commands “All soldiers on standby! Without my permission no one is allowed to leave the main camp!”
“In that case, do not blame me military advisor!” The soldiers in the lookout division have resolute eyes with the intention to cut down Lu Su.
“What are you guys doing? Drop your weapons! Do you know what you are doing!” Lu Su’s guards shouted.
“The military advisor revolted!” the soldiers pulled out their weapons and rushed towards Lu Su.
“How dare you!” Lu Su’s guards also pull out their swords to fight attack. The other lookout soldiers and Sun Ce’s relatives also took out their swords and mostly hope to avoid a fight.
“Sun Ze what are you doing! Quickly put down your sword!” One of the previous noble’s deputy general shouted. It was the Wu family’s deputy general. He has seen the situation from the watchtower. “The military advisor must have his reasons. What do you plan on doing!” He was really afraid this Sun Ze would rush out and meet the Wolf Cavalry. The Wolf Cavalry destroying the Sun Ce’s Army have already struck terror into him.
“Reason? I, Sun Ze, may not have studied a lot but don’t try and lie to me! You want to stay here and watch the Lord die? Coward!” Sun Ze did not show him any respect. The Wu family have always been considerate to their Lord but unexpectedly, none of them were willing to help during crucial moments.
Sun Ze’s life belongs to Sun Ce. Sun Ce gave him food to eat when he was starving so that he can survive. This is why he follows Sun Ce. He was also given the name Sun! Now is the time to repay Sun Ce!
“You!” The Wu family’s deputy got angry. Coward? He calls it adapting to the situation. Going out right now is to court death!
“Stop!” Lu Su waved his hand to stop the fight. He looked at the lookout division with a complicated expression. There is respect and admiration. However, it was guilt that made him helpless. “If you want to go, I will not stop you. I will even give you a battalion of troops and horses.”
The battalion of soldiers refers to the lookout division. Their vision and martial arts are good. Otherwise, they could not become the eyes of the army.
“Only a battalion?” The officer wanted the whole army to go out and save their Lord. Not one battalion!
“Do not bargain with me!” Lu Su said indifferently. “One battalion is already the most I can give you. If you are still unwilling, then go ahead and fight! I have the Lord’s orders. This whole army is under my control. Do you think you have a stratagem!”
“Military advisor!” The officer stared into Lu Su’s eyes to see what he meant but he was disappointed. Lu Su’s eyes were indifferent. The officer clenched his fist. He knows what Lu Su said is correct. Sun Ce did give Lu Su the authority to control the army. The whole army had to listen to Lu Su. If they were to try and continue fighting, then the whole division might die. Besides that, they cannot really kill Lu Su. Even if they did, they would not gain any military authority.
Now Lu Su allowing them to take out 1 division is already being magnanimous. Continuing to pester Lu Su would not get him any more soldiers. Time is also running short, the Wolf Cavalry have almost caught up.
“We will go!” Some of the lookout division soldiers were still unwilling, but this was the only way. “We will save our Lord! Since they will not go, we will go!” The lookout officer shouted. He used the word ‘they’ but he was only referring to Lu Su.
“Let’s go and save the Lord!” The soldiers roared and the gate to the main camp was opened. When the gate was open, the elites rushed out. They rushed to save Sun Ce under the leadership of Sun Ze.
Looking at the soldiers who rushed out, Lu Su said to himself. “I never said not to save him but he is not Milord. Sorry.”