I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 385 Encounter (4.6k)

"According to the information I have gathered, Guan Yu was a favorite of the Han emperor, who was specially sent to Youzhou to supervise the war. He did not have any achievements worthy of praise."

"Guan Yu was arrogant and proud, and he had a conflict with Lu Bu as soon as he arrived in Youzhou."

"All the warriors I brought with me this time are from my tribe. I picked one hundred of them from a hundred miles away, equipped with the best weapons and riding the best horses. They will never be at a disadvantage in a battle with the Han people!"

Kobe can speak with great confidence.

Liu Yu certainly restricted the flow of ironware outside the Great Wall, but as long as you have money, what can't you buy? There are all kinds of people among the Han people.

The hundred cavalrymen he carefully trained were all wearing precious iron armor... Although most of these armors were made by the blacksmiths he captured using iron tools such as farm tools, and the effect might not be as good as the Han people's armor, but Kobe was confident that he would not lose by much.

Suli and Mika were also infected by Kobinen's emotions.

Suli apologized, "When I heard that you were trading with the Han people, I thought you had forgotten your Xianbei roots and complained a lot! Now it seems that I was really wrong! It's my fault!"

Micah also followed Suli's words and sincerely admitted his mistake.

Kobe can proudly say: "According to the Han people, this is called sleeping on firewood and tasting gall! I am the Gou Jian of the Xianbei people!"

Although Suli and Mika didn't understand what Kobe was saying, they thought he was a very good speaker and praised him at the same time.

If just a few nice words could get Kobe to send his elite troops to the front to fight against the Han army, that would be great!

"When the time comes, we will go out to fight together, and my elite cavalry of a hundred men will serve as the vanguard. It will be great to defeat them in one battle!" Kobe said as he fantasized, "Now the Han people may still think that I will not help either side when the Han army goes out of the border, or even side with the Han people... In this battle, it is best not to let a single Han person go! In this way, if the Han people dare to go out of the border again next year, I may be able to strike back!"

Suli and Mika looked at each other and said in admiration, "Master Kobinen will be the leader in this battle!"

Afterwards, they summoned warriors, swore an oath of blood, offered sacrifices to heaven and earth, and made a covenant to jointly fight against the Han people.

Before the coming of winter, the three major Xianbei tribes had already united and prepared to form an encirclement.

Guan Yu, who was the target, had already sensed something was wrong.

Looking at another fresh trace left by the Xianbei people, Xian Yuyin, who was beside Guan Yu, concluded: "They left only a few days ago."

Xianyu Yin was originally from Yuyang County and had a good understanding of the areas beyond the Great Wall.

Guan Yu said: "It has been like this for several days now. I am afraid that our whereabouts have been exposed."

He looked at Xian Yuyin and said, "Xian Yu Sima, as the saying goes, "the victory is achieved by the unexpected and the victory is achieved by the normal". Now our army has penetrated deep into the border. Although we have made some gains, we have lost the initiative. The weather and terrain are not favorable to us. I intend to withdraw my troops. What do you think, Sima?"

Xian Yuyin felt relieved when he heard this.

The first meeting in front of Liu Yu's house and the subsequent interactions made Xian Yuyin feel that Guan Yu was not a man who was easy to talk to. In the past two days, he was thinking about how to persuade Guan Yu to give up the idea of ​​making merit and withdraw his troops, but he never thought that Guan Yu would speak first.

He immediately replied: "Master Guan is right, I think so too."

Guan Yu was proud, but this did not affect his decision as a commander.

In the past, he followed Huangfu Song into Liangzhou to fight, and was taught by Huangfu Song by words and deeds, connecting his previous military experience with commanding operations. Although he has only stayed in the palace in recent years, he has read a lot of various military books.

Seeing Xian Yuyin agreed with his point of view, Guan Yu said: "Since we are going to retreat, there is no need to waste time. One more day outside the Great Wall means one more day of risk. We should change direction now."

Xian Yuyin admired Guan Yu's decisiveness, but said worriedly: "It's fine for you to withdraw your troops, but from what I know about Lu Fengxian, I'm afraid he won't want to withdraw his troops after seeing such a great victory. We need to find a way to notify him."

Guan Yu asked puzzledly: "I heard that Lü Fengxian was good at fighting. He was appointed Shanggu Commander because of his military achievements. It has nothing to do with him being the adopted son of the governor of Youbeiping..."

"What the Lord said is true."

"But since he is a man who knows military affairs, doesn't he know how to take the enemy situation into consideration when fighting? He should be so confused as to not know when to advance or retreat!" Guan Yu was a little confused. In his opinion, the two Han armies that had now gone out of the border had lost the secrecy they had originally planned, and retreating should be a tacit agreement among everyone, and it would only be a day or two late at most.

Xian Yuyin nodded, then shook his head.

In his opinion, although Guan Yu understood military affairs, he did not understand Lu Bu.

Xian Yuyin explained: "Lü Fengxian was indeed very brave in battle, and now the Xianbei outside the Great Wall turn pale when they hear his name."

"However, no one is perfect. Lu Fengxian is too brave, so he often wants to solve problems with force. Previously, he confronted the Lord of the Mansion in front of the General's Mansion. I'm afraid he even wanted to compete with the Lord of the Mansion in bravery."

"I'm not afraid of him." Guan Yu reminded.

Xian Yuyin agreed with this point. In the first few battles outside the border, the bravery of Guan Fujun who led the troops by example was no less than that of Lu Bu.

"So even if he knew the Xianbei's intentions, he would probably want to fight them first."

Guan Yu was stunned. Although he was extremely brave, he was deeply influenced by Huangfu Song and did not approve of such reckless behavior.

He couldn't help but ask, "Has he always been so brave?"

"There haven't been any accidents in recent years?"

Xian Yuyin shook his head and said, "Lü Fengxian has won many battles, and he has often defeated the enemy with a smaller force. The soldiers under his command are all happy to hear about the battle."

"To be fair, Lu Fengxian has such courage and strength. If he can change his temperament, his future will be limitless!"

After thinking about it carefully, Guan Yu finally understood the key - because he had been winning all the time.

Not only did Lu Bu and his men feel that they were invincible, but the Xianbei people were also terrified by their attacks. These two factors, coupled with the actual equipment gap between the two sides, led to Lu Bu's many achievements in leading his troops to defeat the larger force with a smaller one.

But this time is different from the past. In the past, even if we went out of the border, we would not go too far. But now, if we waste time, we will most likely fall into the encirclement of the Xianbei.

Finally, Guan Yu and Xian Yuyin decided to move closer to Lu Bu's position and scout everywhere. If they encountered Xianbei spies, they would kill them if they could, but if they couldn't, they would pretend to go south and return to the frontier to deceive the Xianbei.

Guan Yu made up his mind that if there was no result after two days of searching, he would withdraw his troops regardless of whether Lu Bu continued to advance or had already withdrawn.

On the other side, Lu Bu was also on his way eastward towards Guan Yu.

As he was riding on his horse, he suddenly remembered something and asked Gao Shun, "It seems that we didn't encounter the Kobinen tribe on the way out of the border?"

Although he trusted his wife's brother Wei Xu very much, Lu Bu was still clear about who he should discuss important matters with.

While Gao Shun was thinking, Wei Xu said, "With the prestige of the commander, I'm afraid those people in Kobineng's army would have been frightened and fled far away, right?"

Lu Bu laughed out loud, he felt that Wei Xu's words made sense.

At this time, Gao Shun suddenly said: "Does the captain suspect that Kobe can unite with Suli?"

"If that's the case, then everything that happened after our army crossed the border can be explained... The Kobinen tribe is different from the Suli tribe. Because of trade, they have no shortage of spies."

Lu Bu felt that Gao Shun's words made more sense. Thinking that he was the first to bring up the topic, he immediately responded, "Yes, that's what I suspect!"

He cursed: "The Xianbei people are cunning, treacherous, and unreliable. They cannot be trusted!"

Gao Shun suggested: "If this is the case, I'm afraid the Xianbei people are already prepared. Captain, why don't we withdraw our troops immediately?"

Lu Bu laughed and said, "I think Guan Yu is a proud man. I don't think he will withdraw his troops rashly... Let's go to them. If they fall into the Xianbei people's trap, humph!"

Most of Gao Shun's understanding of Guan Yu came from Lu Bu, who naturally did not use any good words to describe Guan Yu. Even if Gao Shun wanted to persuade him, he could not find a reason.

All he could do was persuade him: "Captain, if the search to the east is fruitless, we must withdraw our troops as soon as possible."

And so they went on for another day.

Lu Bu watched from afar as the scout he had sent out returned on horseback alone. He had a premonition and immediately sent someone to greet him. But before he could pick up the person, he saw that his scout's horse had stumbled. Lu Bu noticed that both the horse and the scout had been hit by arrows from behind.

"Prepare for battle!" Lu Bu ordered loudly.

Unless there is a clear combat mission, cavalrymen usually do not wear armor while marching. During the march, the Han army led by Lu Bu only kept the outer knights in armor, with one man and two horses, so that both the man and the horse could take turns to rest.

And as soon as Lu Bu gave the order, the experience of his subordinates who had gone through hundreds of battles was reflected.

In the marching array, there was no other voice except the military commander passing on Lu Bu's orders. Accompanied by the sound of armor clashing and horses neighing, Lu Bu's men had already completed their preparations for battle.

By this time, Lu Bu had already learned of the death of his scout.

The scouts who had not returned from this direction were probably in danger, because Lu Bu had already seen traces of the Xianbei people.

At this time, the scouts in the rear had sent news that there was also a large Xianbei army in the rear.

They are surrounded!

In the south, things developed somewhat beyond Kobe's expectations.

He came here for Guan Yu, why did he meet Lu Bu?

But the arrow was on the string and had to be fired.

For now, we can only make the best of it!
As a result of this coincidence, a battle that neither side had expected began.

In order to prepare for the winter, the three Xianbei tribes did not actually summon all their combat troops, but even so, when the three tribes combined, their cavalry strength reached nearly 20,000.

This operation would not only consume their winter reserves, but also reduce their reserve manpower. This increase and decrease made them feel very painful.

Therefore, Kobe is determined to win together with Suli and Micah!
They had a good idea. They had 20,000 warriors, all of whom were elite. Even if the two Han armies met, they would not lose no matter how hard they thought.

There were over ten thousand men and horses, covering the whole mountain and plain.

This is the situation Lu Bu is facing now.

But Lu Bu was not afraid at all.

The county soldiers who followed him out of the border were all veterans he had carefully selected. They had followed Lu Bu in battle in recent years and had won battle after battle. Although they were outnumbered, as long as Lu Bu's flag was still there, they would not retreat!
Except for the double-sided stirrups, the Xianbei people's equipment was the same as the Han people, but the rest was far ahead of the Han army.

And to be honest, the double stirrups actually help to narrow the gap in riding skills between the two sides.

Although Lu Bu was fearless, he was not a fool after all. He would not think of defeating the enemy when he knew that the enemy's numbers were too large to be defeated.

He immediately turned his army south before the Xianbei troops surrounded him.

Wei Xu was a little panicked. Although he had fought many battles with Lü Bu in the past where the outnumbered defeated the larger force, this was the first time he had such a large difference in numbers. The other directions were fine, but the south... looked like an elite force at first glance.

Especially those in the front row, they are the rare Xianbei cavalry wearing iron armor.

Wei Xu began to think about quitting.

He quickly suggested to Lu Bu: "Captain, the enemy is here with ill intentions. Why don't we avoid the enemy for now and break out from somewhere else?"

He complained again: "Looking at their route, they were supposed to be looking for Guan Yu, but in the end we got punished for Guan Yu!"

Lü Bu squinted at Wei Xu and cursed, "If I hadn't considered that we are related, I would have killed you just based on what you said!"

"You'll be charging with me beside me later!"

Wei Xu retreated timidly.

Lu Bu looked at the people around him again. During the war, he had amazing intuition. He said to them, "The Xianbei are coming for Guan Yu, which means Guan Yu is in the south, which is also the closest direction for us to return to the frontier."

"As long as we defeat the powerful Xianbei enemies in the south, the rest of the Xianbei cavalry won't be a problem!"

He said this not only to eliminate the influence of Wei Xu's remarks that might shake the army's morale, but also to strengthen his own confidence.

Otherwise, if he broke out from other directions and was seized by this armored cavalry and charged in the middle, it would be very dangerous.

"Go tell the soldiers that this battle is a matter of advancement and there is no retreat. There is no need to cut off heads to be rewarded. We will reward them based on their merits after the battle!"

Now when Lu Bu leads his troops into battle, he no longer needs to make additional speeches to boost morale. He is the courage of his soldiers.

He raised the halberd in his hand and waved the general's flag behind him, which drew cheers from the knights.

Then Lu Bu rode his horse, and the guards holding the general's flag followed closely behind him.

Soon, the entire cavalry followed the movement of the general's flag.

They first strolled on the grass, then slowly accelerated, and finally, when they were one hundred and fifty steps away from the Xianbei people, their speed had reached its peak.

On the opposite side, the Xianbei people were also charging.

There is no tactics, only a contest of flesh, blood, swords and guns.

"Zhang Gong!"

When they were a hundred steps away, another military order was issued, and the squad leaders and sergeants shouted in unison to drown out the sound of horse hooves.

The knights obeyed the order skillfully.

Soon, the distance between the two sides reached fifty steps.

"Fire arrows!"

After the military order was given, the knights in the front row fired a rain of arrows, and the knights behind continued to follow.

A shower of arrows flew into the Xianbei cavalry formation.

Under the rain of arrows, many Xianbei cavalry fell off their horses and were trampled into meat paste by the following war horses.

Before that, the Xianbei people had already fired a rain of arrows before the hand-to-hand combat, which was more numerous and denser than that of the Han army.

The knights lowered their heads to protect their faces, put away their bows and gripped their spears tightly.

Although the Han army had armor to protect them and their horses were equipped with leather armor, some of them were injured and fell off their horses. Once they fell, they could never get up again.

Lu Bu, surrounded by his personal guards, rushed into the enemy camp. The more than one hundred armored cavalrymen that Kobe had high hopes for were like paper in front of Lu Bu and a gap was easily torn through them.

Kobe was able to hide outside the battlefield and watch this scene, feeling heartbroken.

If he could look down from the sky, he would find that the fiery red color broke through the gray defense line like a drill, and then the gap could never be closed again.

Lu Bu waved the halberd in his hand, and he seemed to have endless strength.

Finally, his vision cleared and Lu Bu realized that he had escaped from the encirclement.

At this time, he finally had time to look back, and saw that the gap he had chiseled was showing signs of closing again due to the numerical advantage of the Xianbei people.

He immediately shouted: "Gao Shun, you lead your men to retreat first and go south to find Guan Yu!"

After saying this, without waiting for Gao Shun's consent, he turned back with his guards.

The soldiers who had not yet broken out of the encirclement were excited when they saw the general's flag return. Without waiting for Lu Bu to charge into the enemy camp, they broke out on their own.

Then Lü Bu led his men southward, while the Xianbei were like vultures eating carrion. They did not dare to fight Lü Bu head-on, but followed him and harassed him from time to time, consuming the energy and arrows of the Han army, waiting for the Han army to abandon those who could not hold on.

After all, the wounded cannot withstand long-distance travel on horseback.

The chase lasted until dark.

Lu Bu had never fought such a frustrating battle, but the numerical disadvantage was too great. That night, they still did not dare to stop.

The starry night sky did not bring much light, and everything was blurry a dozen steps away.

Although this hindered their journey, it also gave them a chance to temporarily escape the Xianbei people's sight.

They dismounted and walked.

The wounded soldiers who have managed to survive until now are helped by their colleagues to walk. The original two-horse configuration was mostly separated after World War I, as they needed to accumulate horsepower.

Throughout the night, they encountered the Xianbei people who were sent to find them many times and were exhausted.

When it was dawn, a scout who was exploring the way ahead suddenly reported that he had found traces of the Yuyang County soldiers!

(End of this chapter)