Chapter 59

Chapter 693: Lü Bu, His Merit Stolen!

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Lü Bu felt as if the arrows embedded in various parts of his body were now causing him immense pain.

‘I volunteered to be the bait to claim the enemy commander’s head with my own hands… Guo Fengxiao, you finally made your move. Damn it! I’m so frustrated!’

Lü Bu’s heart burned with anger.

However, the soldiers and officers of the Tangyaji and Xiahoubing cheered for Guo Jia, who had taken the enemy commander’s head.

A battle of ten thousand against seven thousand.

By numbers and by troop type, the ten thousand Red Eyed Army had the advantage. However, following Guo Jia’s strategy, Lü Bu’s forces lured the enemies into a gorge and annihilated them.

If they had fought on the plains… perhaps Lü Bu’s forces would have lost.

The officers and soldiers knew this well. If they had engaged in a battle on the plains with a numerically superior enemy archery unit, they might have been riddled with arrows before they could even close the distance.

Even if Tang Yaji’s breakthrough had an incredible destructive power, it would be useless if they couldn’t get close.

Perhaps that’s why the joy of victory was even greater.

Lü Bu harbored resentment towards Guo Jia, who had taken his merit. However, he soon shook off his anger at the cheers of the soldiers.

Lü Bu knew that it was foolish to envy a subordinate for claiming merit due to a lack of wisdom. Recalling Gao Shun, he congratulated Guo Jia on his achievement.

“The one who made the greatest contribution in this battle is Guo Jia Fengxiao, who devised the plan to annihilate the ten thousand archers and beheaded the enemy commander!”

“Ooh!”

“Ooh!”

As Lü Bu shouted, the soldiers and officers raised their bloodstained weapons high into the sky, loudly calling out Guo Jia’s name and cheering.

Once the cheers died down, Lü Bu informed the officers of the next task.

“Shang Kai, gather the bodies of our brothers! Those who can ride, mount up! We’re heading to Hongmen!”

Since the situation at Hongmen was still unknown, he decided to postpone celebrating their victory for a while.

Lü Bu, freed from the iron net by his soldiers, mounted his Red Hare and instructed Shang Kai.

“Shang Kai, the supply carts must be somewhere around here. Please recover them.”

After saying this, Lü Bu raised his halberd high.

“Let’s go!”

* * *

Lü Bu led his troops and hurried towards Hongmen.

Treating his wounds was urgent, but confirming the outcome of the battle at Hongmen was even more important.

Clippety-clop!

The sound of hooves striking the ground echoed as Lü Bu’s forces entered the territory of Hongmen.

However, the surroundings were eerily quiet.

“Has the battle not started yet? Or has it already ended?”

Lü Bu asked Guo Jia, though he didn’t really need an answer.

“Most likely the latter. When we pushed the supply unit into Hongmen with General Shang Kai, we had a skirmish.”

“The supply unit is just a bunch of old soldiers and laborers, right? Even if their numbers are large, their individual combat strength wouldn’t be high.”

“You’re right. However, one thing that worries me is that the supply unit’s commander seemed to know military tactics. He knew how to set up formations using carts, so we can’t be too confident.”

“Still, with the skills of the Gaozhu soldiers, they should have subdued them without much loss.”

The martial arts of the Gaozhu warriors had already been proven. Moreover, their opponents were just a ragtag supply unit, so the Gaozhu soldiers were expected to have suffered minimal losses.

However, the Gaozhu soldiers’ achievement far exceeded their expectations.

Thinking they had escaped the gore of the gorge, they soon encountered another pungent smell of blood. As they got closer to Hongmen, the smell of blood grew even stronger.

They soon discovered a place where many carts had gathered.

When Lü Bu rode Red Hare closer, he was astonished.

The Gaozhu soldiers were all hugging the military rations, enjoying their time.

Some were already snoring loudly, surrounded by the bodies of enemy soldiers.

When he realized Lü Bu had approached, Mò Taigou put down the cart of rations he was holding, wiped his mouth regretfully, and stood up.

“General Lü, welcome.”

Mò Taigou took off his mask, revealing his face, and greeted Lü Bu. Though not in a master-servant relationship, Mò Taigou and the Gaozhu King respected Lü Bu as a guest.

“Is the battle already over?”

“The battle ended long ago. We couldn’t waste time fighting a ragtag group, could we?”

“I heard the supply unit’s commander knew some military tactics…”

Mò Taigou then showed a severed head he had placed on a cart.

“The head of the enemy commander. He tried to block us by scattering carts around.”

“So, what was your loss?”

“What loss? A few were injured, but it’s nothing to worry about. Instead, we captured those who surrendered, so it would be good if you could decide how to deal with them.”

“Excellent! We’ll set up a camp at the entrance of Hongmen. Come and participate in the merit distribution after sunset.”

Mò Taigou’s mouth stretched from ear to ear.

What the Gaozhu soldiers wanted was, of course, the military rations. They didn’t intend to take all of it.

If they were allowed to manage the rations, everything would be fine. Even if they weren’t skilled in accounting, no one was better at guarding the rations than the Gaozhu soldiers.

* * *

“Be more gentle!”

Contrary to Lü Bu’s wishes, Wei Yue roughly pulled out the arrowheads embedded in Lü Bu’s body.

“Stop whining! You’ve faced this many times.”

“Are these arrows shot by a ragtag band of thieves? They were shot by the Red Eyed Army’s commanders.”

“What, are you going to die from a few arrowheads?”

“Ouch! Be more gentle!”

As Wei Yue pulled out another arrowhead with tweezers, Lü Bu’s whining continued.

Thwack!

Wei Yue left a handprint on Lü Bu’s back.

“Enough, don’t make a fuss. Your subordinates can hear you. As a commander, you need to maintain your dignity. If they find out you’re whining, what will they think?”

“That’s none of your concern. Ouch, it hurts!”

The Red Eyed Army didn’t coat their arrowheads with deadly poisons like Jue Ming Shan. However, the arrowheads were designed to cause significant damage.

The arrowheads embedded in Lü Bu’s body came in various shapes.

Some were leaf-shaped to pierce through armor, while others had hook-like barbs to prevent easy removal.

Thus, it was common for flesh to be torn as they were pulled out.

“You’ve been hit quite a lot. You’re practically a pincushion.”

While Wei Yue sprinkled Jin Chuang San (a medicinal powder) on the arrow wounds on Lü Bu’s shoulder, Guo Jia entered the tent.

“General, when will the calm—”

Guo Jia was speechless upon seeing Lü Bu, who was almost in tatters.

Indeed, there was nothing to say. No army in the world would use their commander as bait except Lü Bu’s.

Lü Bu glared at Guo Jia and muttered.

“Haha! I raised a tiger, a tiger…!”

Guo Jia immediately understood what Lü Bu was talking about and joked.

“General, rest assured. He won’t bite his master.”

“I endured being riddled with arrows to take the enemy commander’s head… yet…”

“General, your halberd will be embedded in the enemy commander’s chest later. I didn’t steal your merit knowingly, so don’t take it to heart.”

Wei Yue, not understanding the mood, taunted.

“One died from a strike, one was beheaded by Da Shui, and one lost his arm and was killed by Shang Kai. Haha! General, you didn’t get the head of any of the enemy commanders. Ah! I’ve never faced such an enemy before…”

“Shut up, you! Just sprinkle the medicine… Ouch! Be more gentle, I said!”

“Here, let me see your hand. With a hole in your palm, you won’t be able to hold your halberd for a while. From now on, stay in the rear. I, Wei Yue, will take the lead. Just watch and don’t worry.”

Lü Bu clenched his uninjured hand into a fist.

“I am Lü Bu, Lü Fengxian! I won’t tolerate being treated like an old man in the rear just because of a minor injury.”

Wei Yue didn’t back down.

“General, at any other time, I might be intimidated, but not now. Do you think I can be intimidated by this body?”

“Even if ten of you attack me…”

Lü Bu couldn’t finish his sentence. Wei Yue had poured Jin Chuang San into the hole in his hand, causing a burning pain.

Lü Bu gritted his teeth in pain.

While Lü Bu was silent, Wei Yue continued his rant.

“The Red Eyed Army was indeed formidable. If you hadn’t lured them, we might have suffered a defeat.”

Guo Jia also agreed with Wei Yue.

“General, we shouldn’t engage the Red Eyed Army again. We’ve never faced such an enemy before. Not only were they individually skilled, but they maintained their formation even in the chaos.”

“They held out for a full hour even after a pile of rocks cut off the middle of their formation. They were formidable. General, according to Cao Qinglong, there are as many of them as we’ve killed.”

Only then did Lü Bu, having pushed aside the pain, speak.

“So, are you afraid?”

“No, not exactly… But, to be honest, I am. We lost hundreds of Tang Yaji in today’s battle. The number of dead Qubing is also significant. If this battle was any indication…”

The Tang Yaji were the most elite military unit in Lü Bu’s army.

Not just anyone could join the Tang Yaji. Only the most selected soldiers from the trained ranks of the Bingzhou army could bear the name Tang Yaji.

Moreover, the Tang Yaji commanders were Lü Bu’s Qubing. While soldiers could be replenished, Lü Bu’s Qubing could not be easily replaced.

Of the Qubing, who once numbered over a hundred, only a few dozen remained.

“Huang Baocong aims to conquer the world. We have only two paths. Either fight against Huang Baocong or bow to him and fight for him.”

“Either way, we’ll end up dying on the battlefield. If so, it’s better to fight under your command.”

At this moment, Guo Jia interjected in their conversation.

“With all due respect, we won’t have to fight the Red Eyed Army again.”

Lü Bu tilted his head.

“No, how can that be? Wasn’t the plan to lure the Red Eyed Army into the gorge and annihilate them, which aligns with Mr. Jia’s strategy to destroy the Guanxi Army between Dongguan and Hanguan?”

The strategy to lure the Red Eyed Army into the gorge and attack them from all sides was not entirely Guo Jia’s. Guo Jia had adapted Jia Hou’s strategy to fit the terrain.

However, Guo Jia shook his head.

“Mr. Jia only instructed us to lure the Guanxi Army into that area, not to attack them.”

“Then, are you planning to starve them out?”

“Yes. The premature engagement with the Red Eyed Army was also for this purpose. We need to confirm the amount of rations, but it will be difficult for Chang’an to send this much again.”

“With ten thousand guards, we can guess the scale of their supply. Even if more come, they won’t exceed a few thousand carts.”

The reason Huang Baocong was trying so hard to defend Guanxi was obvious. He had already extracted as much as he could.

If the Central Plains suffered from locusts, Guanzhong suffered from locusts as well. For years, the land had been struggling with famine and drought. Now, there was nothing left to extract.

“A few thousand carts of rations are like peeing on a burning foot to feed an army of hundreds of thousands. That’s why this supply was crucial for both us and the Guanxi Army.”

“Regardless, we won. Now, their supply situation will worsen day by day.”

“So, we’ll use this to starve them out. Once you recapture Dongguan, they’ll be like rats in a trap. You can do as you please with them.”

“Do as I please… But we should also consider the possibility of Hanguan being breached, shouldn’t we?”