Chapter 19: Lü Bu Kills Dian Wei

  "Second Highness, lead the way!" Lü Bu said.

  "Alright!" Gao Er led them towards the best ambush point.

  After about half a time, the team walked to a mountain road, which was said to be small, but not too small compared to the big road outside the mountain.

  "Is it here?" Lü Bu asked Gao Yi.

  "General Hui is right. This place is indeed where Tan Shi Huai must pass through when he goes hunting in the mountains!" Gao Er replied.

  "Good, this is heaven's will. This place is the best location for an ambush!" Lü Bu said to Gao Shun and Zhang Yang.

  Gao Shun and Zhang Yang nodded in agreement, this place only has one road, both sides are forests, cavalry ambushes on both sides are difficult to detect, the surrounding areas are also high mountains, encountering an ambush can only move forward or backward.

  Lü Bu arranged an ambush strategy, Gao Shun led 200 troops to ambush on the left wing, Zhang Yang led 200 elite troops to ambush on the right wing, and Lü Bu himself led 500 troops to ambush on the right side of the front.

  If Taishi Ci has many men, let him go first and start attacking from the middle, with the main goal of killing Taishi Ci. Don't bother with the others. After killing him, retreat. If Taishi Ci has few men, let the entire army pass through, then Gao Shun and Zhang Yang will attack from both sides, while Lü Bu attacks from the front. The three troops will attack Taishi Ci from all sides, catching him off guard.

  The three teams of soldiers are all ambushed, and there is still more than an hour before the appointed time. Now, take advantage of this moment to nourish your spirit and sharpen your will. At that time, there will be a fierce battle. In Lu Bu's mind, he thought: victory or defeat depends on this one move, heaven can witness it, let me, Lü Fēng Xiān, cut down my enemy today, from now on no matter what happens I will have no regrets! It must be said that Lü Bù's hatred for Dian Wei is really too deep.

  He was all prepared, if he couldn't kill Tan Shi Huai, then he would die in battle at Pohan Mountain. Such a rare opportunity, once missed, would truly never come again. Time was passing minute by minute, and the appointed hour was almost here.

  At the same time, in the largest tent of the Xianbei King Court on Tan Shan Mountain, Tan Shi Huai was preparing to set out for a hunting trip. Just then, someone below spoke up and said: "Your Excellency, bringing only 500 personal guards to go hunting is really too dangerous! Don't you think it would be better to bring all of the personal guards?"

  "Haha, haha! Chulinglew, how come you're getting older and more timid? You've been hunting for so many years without any issues, why would this year be a problem? My Xianbei kingdom has 150,000 elite troops, who can stop us, who dares to come over? The Huns? Possible? Or do you think it's the Han people? Haha, this is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" A burly man stood up and retorted, he looked like a military general, while the previous speaker seemed more literary.

  "Baldy, you...you..." Chulin was so angry that he couldn't get the words out and had to retreat.

  Others in the tent burst into laughter, "Alright, stop laughing! What Tuo Fa said is not bad. I, Duan Shi Yao, have been here for so many years, who am I afraid of? Even if there are five hundred people from other places, it's nothing, and I can go into the mountain alone, what problem could there be? If anyone is afraid, just follow behind!" The one speaking in the middle of the tent was none other than Duan Shi Yao, the leader of the Xianbei.

  After he finished speaking, no one dared to speak out against him again. Even Qiu Lin Gu, who had spoken earlier, became silent. He could only sigh silently in his heart that the current Tan Shi Huai was no longer the same as before. When he was young, Lord Tan could still listen to the loyal words of his subordinates, but unfortunately, after so many years, with the growth of age and power, Lord Tan could no longer listen to the unpleasant truth, and no one had any way to change this.

  These years, his body has not been well, and he gets angry easily. If this continues, it will only bring disaster to the Xianbei people. However, Jiulin Ge only dares to think about it in his heart and does not dare say a single word. He knows that if he dares to say anything more, the outcome will definitely be being dragged out of the tent and executed.

  Tan Shi Huai stood up, "The time has come, let's set off!"

  Everyone below responded in unison, except for Qiu Lin Gu who kept shaking his head.

  Tan Shi Huai sat on his horse, drew out his battle knife and pointed it towards the mountain. "My Xianbei brave warriors, whoever hunts down the most prey today will be heavily rewarded by me! Let's set off!"

  As soon as Tan Shi Huai gave the order, his 500 personal guards followed him into the mountain, with his generals and their respective personal guards following behind. In fact, they also wanted to follow closely behind Tan Shi Huai. However, over the years, Tan Shi Huai had developed many bad habits, one of which was that he did not like too many people around him except for his own personal guards.

  Tan Shi Hu didn't care about others, he himself took the lead and entered the mountain, his personal guards followed closely behind. The soldiers at the back had no choice but to follow as well, they couldn't even hunt, the safety of their lord was more important than any prey.

  After entering the mountain, Tan Shiguan only shot and killed two wild rabbits. He was not satisfied, but the guards beside him did not miss this opportunity to flatter him, shouting in unison: "Great Lord, you are mighty! Great Lord, you are mighty!" Tan Shiguan heard this and felt secretly pleased. Even he couldn't avoid being pleased by such flattery.

  There aren't many large prey in this area, if you want to hunt bigger ones, you can only keep going deeper into the mountains.

  Tan Shi Huai had to hurry his horse and proceed deeper into the mountains, when he was called out to by someone. The one who called him was the captain of his personal guard, "Sir, let's wait for the other generals and go together."

  The good intentions of the Imperial Guard Captain, however, enraged Tan Shi Huai. He drew his battle knife and glared at him, "How dare you interfere with me?" Before the Imperial Guard Captain could explain anything, he was cut down from his horse by a single slash of the knife. As he fell, Tan Shi Huai added, "Anyone who dares to speak again will suffer the same fate!"

  He finished speaking and left, while his 500 guards didn't dare to speak up, but they all had a feeling of despair in their hearts. They dealt with the captain's body and continued to follow Tan Shi Huai deep into the mountains.

  As expected, the deeper they went, the bigger the prey. Before long, Tan Shihua shot and killed a sika deer. He was in high spirits and good mood, and had already forgotten about someone advising him and annoying him earlier.

  "Su Litu, Su Litu!" Tan Shihuai was shouting the name of the already deceased Imperial Guard Captain.

  One of the guards beside him said: "Suletu has offended Your Excellency and has been beheaded!"

  "Go back and comfort Su Litu's family well, give them twenty cows, sheep and horses each!"

  "Alas!" Tan Shiguai also had some regrets at this time, and shouldn't have killed the loyal guard captain who followed him for so many years. But now it's too late to say anything.

  Now they have been walking on the mountain road for more than half a time, and now they are walking on a small mountain path, with forests on both sides. For some reason, Tan Shihua had a feeling of being stared at by someone, he had been in the arena for decades, this feeling was like being ambushed, thinking about it, not good.

  "Retreat the whole army..." He hadn't even finished saying the word "retreat" when Lü Bu and his men had already killed their way out.

  Gao Shun and Zhang Yang also broke out from the two wings, with a total of 400 men, attacking the enemy from behind. Lü Bu then broke out from the right front, charging straight towards Tan Shi Huai. Tan Shi Huai's years of experience told him that there were at least 400 to 500 people in front of him, and he basically couldn't break through. It seemed like there were also 400 to 500 people behind him, but his personal guards were currently fighting the ambush troops elsewhere.

  Now hurry up and run into the forest, Tan Shi Huai urged his horse to run towards the forest, while running and shouting: "The whole army breaks through! The whole army breaks through! General Tu Fa is just behind not far away!" Tan Shi Huai thought it was good, but could Lü Bu let him run like this? Lü Bu led 500 soldiers to charge over.

  Tan Shi Huai galloped away recklessly, his horse not being a famous treasure horse, but its speed was absolutely top-notch. Just as he was about to run into the forest, a figure appeared in front of him.

  This man was none other than Ma Chao. Ma Chao had discovered that Tan Shi Hua was going to run, so he waited for him at the nearest distance. As a result, Tan Shi Hua ran right into his gun muzzle.

  However, Tan Shih-huai didn't care about anything else and loudly shouted: "Whoever blocks me will die!" As he said that, he swung his battle knife at Ma Chao. Ma Chao slightly smiled - he wouldn't kill Tan Shih-huai; that was Lü Bu's job. His goal was to block him for a moment, or else let Tan Shih-huai escape, and this trip would be in vain.

  Ma Chao merely used his spear to lightly push outward, and Tan Shi Huai's sword flew out. At this moment, Lü Bu rushed to Tan Shi Huai's back, stabbing at him with a halberd. Tan Shi Huai was indeed a seasoned veteran of many battles; although he didn't see the situation behind him, he knew someone was launching a sneak attack on him and hastily dodged to the left. Lü Bu's halberd just barely grazed Tan Shi Huai's side before stabbing into empty air.

  Dian Wei turned his head and said to Lü Bu: "Who are you? Why are you ambushing me here?"

  "Lü Bu replied: 'Lü Bu of Wuyuan, Lü Fengxian!'"

  "Are you Lü Bu?" Apparently, Tan Shi Huai had also heard of Lü Bu's great name.

  "Tan Shi Huai, didn't expect this, did you? Today I will personally kill you, the murderer of my father!" With that, another spear thrust came. Tan Shi Huai was not as strong as Lü Bu, but he could exchange a few blows. However, today being a hunting trip, he hadn't brought his long-range weapons, and his war knife had flown off earlier. In his panic, he used his bow to block Lü Bu's spear thrust, but it was impossible to withstand Lü Bu's attack.

  Although his men were already close to killing him and could see the figure, Tan Shi Huai shouted loudly: "Quick, I'm in..." Before he finished speaking, Fang Tian's spearhead had already pierced through his chest. He turned his head towards Lü Bu, who flipped his spear over, and Tan Shi Huai's blood flowed out of his mouth.

  At this time, Tan Shi's eyes were filled with resentment. This resentment was multifaceted: he resented dying like this, at the hands of a young man in his twenties; he resented having fought all his life only to die in a Han army ambush; and he resented that his own refusal to listen to others and his arrogant complacency had led to his downfall. But it was too late for regret now - he was already dead.

  In fact, there was another look in his eyes. He had killed countless people all his life, but he didn't even know who Lü Bu's father was. Even at the moment of his death, he still didn't know. Unfortunately, he would never know now.

  Lü Bu swiftly beheaded Tan Gong with his fastest speed, and shouted to the army still in fierce battle: "The whole army retreats!" After that, he nodded at Ma Chao across from him as a gesture of gratitude.

  Gao Shun and Zhang Yang, upon hearing Lü Bu's order, knew that Lü Bu had already succeeded. They hastily directed their soldiers to retreat into the small valley, with Lü Bu at the front, followed by Gao Gan and Ma Chao, then the soldiers, and finally Gao Shun and Zhang Yang each leading the remaining soldiers in a retreat towards the small valley.

  At this time, the Xianbei army just found out that Tan Shi Huai was dead, and only his body remained. The Xianbei army shouted loudly: "The general has been killed by the enemy! The general has been killed by the enemy! Chase and kill the enemy, avenge the general!"

  Especially Dan Shuai's personal guards, they chased after Lü Bu and his men with their lives on the line. Many of the soldiers who fell behind were caught up to and killed by them.

  Tan Shi Huai's personal guards had followed him for many years, not that they hadn't been defeated before, but this time was the most miserable defeat in their lives. Their master was ambushed and killed at his own doorstep, and they were too ashamed to return to the Xianbei royal court, having already steeled themselves for death in battle.

  Lü Bu saw the situation and shouted loudly towards the back: "It's impossible to win the battle, hurry up and retreat!"

  Lü Bu and his men ran for their lives, with the enemy hot on their heels. The pursuers were not just Tan Shi Huai's personal guards, but also included more and more of Tan Shi Huai's generals and their guards who kept joining in. After half a time unit, Lü Bu and his men finally escaped to a small valley, where their troop was reduced to less than 400 people, showing how fiercely the enemy had pursued them and how intense the battle had been.

  No one wants to fight the Xianbei army again, what kind of place is this, Pohan Mountain Xianbei royal court, with 1.5 million elite troops stationed here, let alone 1.5 million, now even if just 15,000 Xianbei soldiers come, they would be more than enough.

  Lü Bu led less than four hundred men to retreat on the nameless small road, Gao Shun only let Zhao Guang cover the rear, but Zhao Guang shook his head, "General, you go first, we'll block the enemy for a while!"

  The Ambush Camp has seven hundred people, now less than half of them have returned. Zhao Guang and his one hundred men are only guarding the small valley, they haven't done anything. Gao Shun knows that even if he orders Zhao Guang to retreat now, he won't listen. In the Ambush Camp, there are only brave warriors who died in battle, but no cowards.

  Gao Shun shook his head helplessly, "Zhao Guang, take care! You will always be my good brothers!" After finishing speaking, he turned around and walked away without looking back onto the nameless small road.

  Ma Chao also saw this scene, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration. The hundred men who had been trapped in the camp were indeed formidable. Although they had lost their lives, their spirit was worthy of respect. Gao Shun may not have said much, but Ma Chao understood that his heart was more painful than anyone else's, and it was bleeding.

  A large group of people entered the unnamed small road, and only Zhao Guang's hundred men were left in the valley. "Brothers, we have been training for a thousand days, and now is the time to use our skills. Our enemies are right behind us, chasing us relentlessly, and many of our brothers have already died in battle. Now we have this chance to avenge them, what do you think we should do?"

  "Revenge! Revenge!" Just then, the enemy's pursuing troops arrived. "Form ranks, meet the enemy!" As he spoke, Zhao Guang led his horse to charge at the enemy first, and the other soldiers followed him to rush towards the enemy.

  Although the enemy was getting more and more, Zhao Guang and his men were not afraid of death, fighting bravely one by one, indeed holding back the pursuing troops, winning precious time for Lü Bu's group. Don't underestimate this little time, it was this little time that allowed Lü Bu's group to escape without being caught up by the enemy, and finally escaped through a small path. It can be said that Zhao Guang and his hundred men exchanged their lives with blood for the lives of more than three hundred people in Lü Bu's group.

  When Lü Bu and his men escaped from the unnamed small road, a big stone in their hearts finally fell to the ground. The Xianbei army was no longer chasing them, probably because they couldn't catch up with them again, because they were not familiar with the unnamed small road, while Lü Bu and his men had already walked through it once, and there was also a guide named Gao Er leading the way, so to speak, they were familiar with the road. Lü Bu was in high spirits, for he had avenged his father's death, killed his enemy with his own hands, and could take his enemy's head to sacrifice to his father.

  But Gao Shun, Zhang Yang and Ma Chao's mood was particularly poor. Tan Shi Huai was dead, but the soldiers under their command were left with only over 300 people. The Trapping Array Camp returned with 292 people, while the Elite Camp returned with 54 people. Most of the soldiers still had injuries on their bodies. Gao Shun and the others couldn't be happy at all, especially when they thought of Zhao Guang and the others who stayed behind to block the enemy in Xiaogu. Gao Shun was worse than dead.

  "Everyone continues to move forward, this is still the Xianbei army's sphere of influence. We will retreat to a safe place before resting." Although they were exhausted, for their lives, everyone continued to march with gritted teeth, and finally arrived at the Pingzhou army's sphere of influence. Lü Bu let everyone stop to rest, the soldiers were so tired that they couldn't get up after falling down, even Ma Chao, who thought he was made of steel, couldn't hold on anymore.

  Ma Chao dared say that this was the most exhausting time he had experienced in his two lifetimes, his bones were all loose and he didn't have any strength left.