Chapter 52: Lü Bu Shows Off His Might, Guo Jia Is Deeply Worried!!!

  Chen Deng did not stay long in Cao's camp and returned to Guangling. Chen Deng was going to respond to Cao in Guangling and attack Lü Bu together. After Chen Deng left, Cao saw that the days of siege were enough, and launched the first round of attacks on Xiaopei.

  Cao Cao wore the Qilin battle armor, holding the Yitian sword, and led a large army to arrive at Xiaopei City. Lü Bu brought Tian Wei and others with him in the central army of Cao Cao. Of course, Lü Bu did not ride a horse, but sat in a carriage to ensure safety; this was a battlefield, not a hunting ground.

  Cao Jun formed his troops and Cao rode forward to challenge, Lü Bu looked out from his chariot, gazing at the two armies facing each other.

  "Please come out, Lord!" Cao Cao made a bow with his fists and signaled to Lü Bu on the city tower.

  "Lü Bu is here, can Cao Gong be better?" Lü Bu was still as usual, wearing silver armor, holding a halberd, and wearing a purple gold crown, looking at Cao with an arrogant face.

  "Wen Hou, you and I have no grudges, Wen Hou is a great meritorious minister of the Han Dynasty, with merit in killing Dong Zhuo. In Xudu, Your Majesty has praised Wen Hou excessively. Now, as the Imperial Chancellor, I am carrying out the imperial court's orders to wage war on all sides and pacify those who refuse to submit. Wen Hou is a loyal minister, why not join me in serving the imperial court?"

  When Lü Bu heard Cao's words, he was stunned for a moment. He had originally been a meritorious general of the Han Dynasty, but now? Had become a criminal of the Han Dynasty? Looking again at the vast army besieging the city under Cao's command, Lü Bu wavered.

  Lü Bu looked at Cao and said: "What the Duke says is quite right, but I still have infantrymen under my command. Can this matter be allowed to be considered by me?"

  "Alright, let's follow the words of Lord Yuan, our army will not attack the city for now and give you three days to consider!" After finishing speaking, Cao Cao pulled the reins of his horse, turned around and led his troops back to their camp.

  Lü Bu took a look, is it over like this? It doesn't seem right. First courtesy then military might, Lü Bu originally had the intention to surrender, but was persuaded by Chen Gong. There's no good show to watch today, originally thought could attack the city, Lü Bu shook his head and got into the horse carriage, lying down to rest.

  Liu Bei followed Cao Cao from behind, muttering to himself: "Lü Bu has opposed me many times, this time I will definitely let Lü Bu die in Xuzhou."

  At night, Lü Bu was in the governor's mansion, drinking wine and thinking about Cao Cao's request. Should he surrender to Cao Cao? He was still the Marquis of Wen of the Great Han, enjoying high office and great wealth, with a hundred benefits and no harm. Lü Bu also thought back to his days in Chang'an, and began to formulate a plan.

  "See the lord!" Chen Gong cupped his hands and paid respects to Lü Bu.

  "Gongtai is here? Please sit down, I happen to have some business to ask Gongtai."

  "Is Lord Cao considering surrendering to Cao?" Chen Gong directly entered the topic as soon as he sat down.

  "I indeed have this intention, I don't know how you feel about it, sir?" Lü Bu hesitated for a moment, but still expressed his own thoughts.

  Chen Gong shook his head and said: "My lord is so muddled. My lord is now the master of Xuzhou, Cao is the master of Yanzhou, the two are equal in status, if my lord submits to Cao, isn't my lord lowering himself? Can Cao Mengde dominate the world? Why can't my lord?"

  Lü Bu hesitated, who doesn't want to make a name for himself and dominate the world? Although he was already famous, dominating the world was also Lü Bu's wish, if there was an opportunity, he would definitely achieve it!

  "But Cao has grasped the great righteousness of the world, Your Majesty?" Liu Xie was the object supported by Lü Bu, and to oppose him would be inappropriate.

  "My lord worries too much. If my lord defeats Cao Cao and advances on Xuchang, the Emperor will be in your hands, and you will have the great righteousness of the world!"

  Lü Bu nodded his head, his expression changing constantly, and was moved by Chen Gong's passionate words.

  Chen Gong saw the change in Lü Bu's expression and added another dose of strong medicine. Chen Gong said: "My lord, if you have no ambition or great aspirations, then it doesn't matter. However, for the sake of your family, my lord must also engage in a life-or-death battle with Cao Mengde. Cao is good at taking women, especially those who are exceptionally beautiful. If my lord were to surrender, what would happen to the women and children in the household?"

  Lü Bu, upon hearing this, thought of Cao's defeat at Wan City. He struck the table in front of him with his palm, splitting it in two, and loudly declared: "I, Lü Fengxian, will not coexist with Cao Mengde!"

  "My lord is wise, my lord. I have another matter to report: Cao Cao has sent Cao Ren to lead a large army to Mount Tai to confront Zhang Lu. I think we should send troops to provide reinforcements!"

  "Cao Cao has surrendered to me, yet he dares to send troops to attack Mount Tai? Is this not deceiving Lü Bu? Shameless Cao Cao, what should our army do in response?"

  "My lord, I think it would be best to send General Zhang Liao with his troops to support Zang Ba. With General Zhang's strategic mind, he will surely defeat Cao Ren!"

  "Alright, let's follow the plan. What about Cao's army outside the city?" Lü Bu stroked his beard, looking at Chen Gong with concern. Cao's army was numerous and consisted of many elite soldiers, while their own military strength was insufficient, making it difficult to gain an advantage.

  "My lord, although Cao's army is powerful, our army also has its strengths. Tomorrow, General Ming can go to Cao's camp and challenge them, while Generals Gao Shun and Cao Xing wait for an opportunity to strike and launch a surprise attack on Cao's grain supplies. If their grain supplies are insufficient, Cao's army will surely retreat!"

  "Alright, Gongtai's plan is feasible. Tomorrow I'll lead the troops to challenge Cao Cao, while Gaoshun and Xiaohu lead the troops in ambush, launch a surprise attack on Cao Cao!"

  "Yes, milord!"

  The next day, Lü Bu led his troops to Cao's camp and challenged him. Isn't it not yet the third watch? Lü Bu launched a surprise attack! Cao also led his generals in a counterattack, others would have reached their doorstep, how could they not counterattack?

  "Marquis Wen, is all well with you? Why have you, Marquis Wen, failed to keep your promise and now raise an army to attack?"

  Lü Bu drew his halberd and pointed, saying: "Cao Mengde has led his army to attack my Xuzhou, how can I not respond? Who dares to fight with me Lü Fengxian?" The Red Hare whinnied loudly, showing off its might to the people in Cao's camp!

  Lü Bu stared at Red Hare, his eyes shining brightly. Good horse, indeed a good horse!

  "Lü Bu is getting out of control, I'll take care of him!" A newly enlisted deputy general charged forward with his sword.

  As expected, there are fools every year, and today is especially numerous. Haven't you seen Lü Bu? How dare you rush up?

  "Foolish child!" Lü Bu struck with a powerful spinning thrust, sending the deputy general tumbling to the ground.

  "Lord Wen is mighty! Lord Wen is mighty!" The Lü Bu army erupted in thunderous cheers, their morale instantly boosted.

  Cao shook his head helplessly, another one who doesn't know death, now you know the severity of Lü Bu? Cao looked at Liu Bei and said: "Xuande, my army's fierce generals are guarding Xuchang, I don't know if Yunchang and Yide can go capture Lü Bu?"

  "Cao Gong is being polite, Liu Bei is willing to take down Lü Bu for Cao Gong!" Big Ears Liu? Indeed, he's a hypocritical Liu, how can he be so deceitful?!

  "Big brother, why use a cattle knife to kill a chicken? I'll go and meet Lü Bu!" Zhang Fei had been indignant about Lü Bu's sudden attack on Xuzhou, thinking that his own martial arts were not inferior to Lü Bu's, so he specially requested to fight.

  "Alright, if Yide wins, I'll personally host a banquet to celebrate your victory!" Cao looked at Zhang Fei with a hint of amusement and smiled.

  "Alright, thank you, Sir Cao!"

  "Zhang Fei Zhang Yide is here, Lü Bu you little boy should not be so arrogant!" Zhang Fei rode out on horseback, swinging his snake spear and charging towards Lü Bu.

  "Lü Bu, watch out!" Zhang Fei spun his long spear around three times at full speed and struck with great force. The spear shot towards Lü Bu like a striking python, at an extremely high velocity.

  With a loud crash, the dust flew around the two men, enveloping them. Lü Bu reined in his Red Hare horse and took a step back, staring at Zhang Fei in shock. This man's arm strength is incredible? But why does he look like a pretty boy?

  "Haha, Zhang Fei, Zhang Yide? I underestimated you, let me show you the power of Lü Bu!"

  Lü Bu wielded the Guandao, using eighteen segments of Qi to attack, with four types of attacks: thrusting, slashing, chopping and sweeping. He attacked Zhang Fei, who refused to back down, using his long spear to defend against Lü Bu's attacks by spinning 360 degrees.

  The soldiers of the two armies watched the duel between the two, stunned. In the dusty and windy air, the two men came and went, neither yielding to each other. Especially Lu Bu's eighteen consecutive attacks made everyone in Cao's camp stare blankly. Gathering energy to attack a general was not uncommon, but being able to continuously gather energy without stopping was extraordinary. The key to continuous gathering energy lay in using the residual energy from the previous attack to gather energy again and launch the next attack.

  In Cao's camp, Xu Chu and Dian Wei fought to the death with six moves, but when they saw Lü Bu's bravery, many people in Cao's camp swallowed their saliva. Lü Bu rubbed his eyes, thinking it was a dream, eighteen moves? It was six times his own, too terrifying!

  "Good! Lü Bu's martial arts are indeed superb! If I hadn't fought with Lü Bu for dozens of rounds, how could Cao Xing's little brat have injured me in the eye?" Xiahou Dun was mesmerized, unable to distinguish between friend and foe, and even found an excuse for his own underestimation. Cao Cao glared at Xiahou Dun fiercely, and Xiahou Dun blinked with his one remaining eye, shrinking back without a word, wondering how he always got caught by his elder brother.

  A loud clang, a spearhead flew out of the wind and sand! Zhang Fei's weapon was broken by Lü Bu? Without the 18-foot snake spear, his weapon is unreliable. Zhang Fei stuck the wooden staff into the ground, exerted great force to push off, and borrowed this force to jump out of the battlefield!

  "Hold on, don't hurt my third brother! Guan Yu is coming to meet you, Lü Bu!" Seeing Zhang Fei in danger, Guan Yu immediately rode out.

  At this moment, everyone's attention was focused on the duel between the two. Chen Gong quietly ordered his soldiers to command Gao Shun and Cao Xing to take action.

  Zhang Fei rode his black horse and rushed towards the Cao army camp, his weapon was gone, resisting Lü Bu would be death! Lü Bu saw Zhang Fei fleeing on horseback, Guan Yu came to meet him again. Lü Bu took out the bow of Lü Bu from behind, drew an arrow and shot it, whooshing with a loud noise, chasing after Zhang Fei's back.

  Xiahou Yuan, seeing this, also drew his longbow and shot an arrow. Xiahou Yuan's arrow hit the feathers of Lü Bu's arrow, but Lü Bu's arrow still grazed Zhang Fei's right arm, causing Zhang Fei to cry out in pain and retreat back to Cao's camp.

  Lü Bu and Guan Yu clashed again! After witnessing Lü Bu's ferocity, Guan Yu did not launch an attack like Zhang Fei, but instead used his Autumn Blade technique to engage with Lü Bu.

  Does he want to exhaust my strength? Lü Bu soon saw through Guan Yu's thoughts, and pressed down on the Halberd of the Azure Dragon. Guan Yu used his Green Dragon Crescent Blade to block it, but Lü Bu seized the opportunity to draw out his long sword and slash at Guan Yu, tearing open the armor on his chest.

  Guan Yu was shocked, cold sweat bursting from his back. Almost, his belly would have been ripped open by Lü Bu! "Lü Bu, you little boy, Zhang Yide is coming again!" Zhang Fei saw Guan Yu in danger, immediately changed to a new long spear, rode his horse and charged forward again.

  Guan Yu attacked from the left, Zhang Fei attacked from the right, and they took turns attacking Lü Bu. Lü Bu's morale greatly increased, and he shouted loudly: "Good! You've come at a good time, let me show you the ferocity of Lü Fengxian!"

  Although Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were both fierce generals of their time, the two did not coordinate well. Moreover, they were on horseback, which was not as flexible as fighting on foot, and one of them had to control the horse!

  Lü Bu saw the weakness of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, and shouted: "Guan Yu and Zhang Fei? Do you dare to take my move?"

  Lü Bu's words had barely fallen when the Red Hare horse let out a long whinny and took off, its front hooves raised high, with both hands tightly grasping the Heaven Halberd.

  "How can this beast fly so high?" Zhang Fei exclaimed in surprise as he stared at Red Hare.

  Before Zhang Fei could react, he heard the horse's mournful neigh, followed by a loud rumbling sound. A cloud of yellow dust rose beside Lü Bu. Guan Yu shouted loudly and reined in his horse, staring at Lü Bu in disbelief.

  Everyone behind was stunned by this scene, the air seemed to freeze for ten seconds. When they came back to their senses, Cao ordered: Quickly rescue the two generals!

  Lü Bu's eyes widened in surprise, and Red Hare was actually a weapon? It turned out that earlier, Red Hare had suddenly leapt into the air, flying high, and then kicked out with its front hooves, striking the head of Zhang Fei's horse. Zhang Fei hadn't expected this move at all, and he fell off his horse in surprise.

  Guan Yu was stunned for a moment, and Lü Bu took the opportunity to strike Guan Yu fiercely. Guan Yu used his Green Dragon Crescent Blade to block the attack, but he still spat out a mouthful of blood on horseback! This is the Red Hare effect! The Red Hare actually has this kind of ability, well, it should be exclusive to Pig Foot, can't let Second Brother get it! The Red Hare's amazing performance made Lü Bu even more determined to capture it.

  Cao Jun quickly rescued Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, Lu Bu seemed to have no intention of making things difficult for them, or he deliberately let the two return to show off to Cao Jun.

  "General, you are mighty! General, you are mighty!" Lü Bu's army was suddenly filled with morale, and the cheers spread throughout the entire battlefield.

  At this time, Guo Jia suddenly thought of something and said: "My lord? This seems to be Chen Gong's plan?"

  "What? What does 'filial piety' mean?"

  "My lord, has Lü Bu's army decreased significantly?"

  After Guo Jia's reminder, everyone suddenly realized that about half of Lü Bu's army had disappeared in front of the formation? The rear army's square formation? There was no one there?

  "Bad! The enemy is going to raid our military camp!" Xun Yu suddenly shouted out loud.

  Before everyone could react, flames rose from behind the military camp. "My lord, our military camp has been raided!"

  "My lord, the opportunity has arrived!" Seeing the firelight of Cao's military camp, Chen Gong smiled and reminded Lü Bu that he could launch an attack.

  "Kill! Men of Pingzhou, follow me! Let them witness the power of Pingzhou's wolf cavalry!" Lü Bu heard Chen Gong's suggestion and led the Pingzhou wolf cavalry to charge over.

  "Filial piety, Rui son, lead the army back to reinforce the camp, and the rest of you come with me to fight against Lü Bu!" Cao also made a decisive judgment and divided his troops to deal with Lü Bu.

  "Hurry, evil is coming, return to the camp!" Lü Bu heard Cao's order and immediately got into his horse carriage, withdrawing back to the military camp. Luckily, Lü Bu was so brave, if he had stayed here, he might have lost his life by accident. It's better to return to the camp, although they were ambushed, with Xu Huang and Man Chong there, at least it's safer than here.

  "Invincible in battle formation, attacking without fail, winning every fight!" Lü Bu and Guo Jia had just returned to the military camp when they heard this voice.

  Gao Shun's Trap Array Camp? Lü Rui finally saw Gao Shun's Trap Array Camp. It turned out that each soldier in the camp was wearing armor, holding a long spear in his right hand and a large shield in his left hand, equipped with a short sword and a crossbow, fighting extremely bravely. Several Cao army generals were unable to suppress even one of the soldiers from the Trap Array Camp!

  "Evil has come, quickly go and assist Manzhongjun!" Seeing Cao's army being suppressed by the trapped camp, Lü Rui immediately issued an order. Because the equipment of the trapped camp was too good, only Lü Rui's army from Fan County, which was built with huge funds, could match the trapped camp in terms of equipment!

  Under Dian Wei's leadership, Lü Bu's personal troops killed their way forward and clashed with Gao Shun's vanguard. Dian Wei wielded a pair of halberds, cutting down enemies left and right, relying on his extraordinary strength to continuously slay the soldiers of the vanguard. When Gao Shun saw Dian Wei join the fray, he furrowed his brow, not engaging in a fight to the death but instead retreated.

  After half an hour of fierce fighting, Cao finally withstood Lü Bu's attack and both sides retreated. Cao returned to the military camp and began to arrange for the wounded to be treated.

  "Master? Chen Gongtai is indeed not simple, he actually knows how to use Lü Bu's bravery to attract us, and then sends someone to launch a surprise attack on our military camp."

  "Rui Er, this is a clever trick of diversion, although it's simple, we all fell for it, how ridiculous!"

  At night, Guo Jia and Lü Bu were strolling in the military camp, lamenting Chen Gong's plan.

  "Good advisor!"

  "Hello, Lord Hou!" A group of soldiers who were transporting grain and fodder, along with Lü Rui, greeted him. Although the military rations had not been burned, some had still been lost, and the soldiers were tidying up the battlefield.

  "Are you clearing out military rations?"

  "Yes, Military Advisor, this is all within Lü Bu's army's range of entry. Not a few grain sacks have been torn and need to be reorganized."

  "Oh, okay, you guys carry on then!"

  "Wait!" Guo Jia walked straight to a bag of military rations, Lü Rui was stunned for a moment, what's going on, and followed Guo Jia to the military rations.

  Guo Jia stroked his chin, gazing at the military rations in front of him, deep in thought.

  "Master? What's wrong?"

  "Rui'er, take a look at what's different about this military rations?"

  Lv Rui looked at the military rations, scratched his head and said: "Master, there's nothing different, isn't it just that Lü Bu's army broke the bags of military rations?"

  "Rui'er, take a closer look at the shape of these grains of rice!"

  Lü Rui took a look at the rice and indeed found it strange. Some of the grains were piled higher than others, but next to them were marks that looked like they had been scooped out with a shovel. What was this?

  "Master, what is the shape of this rice?"

  "Rui'er, go get a bamboo tube from the Firehead Army!"

  "Yes, Master!" Soon, Lü Rui brought over a large bamboo tube used by the army.

  Guo Jia opened the lid above and then scooped some rice out, saying: "Rui'er, doesn't it look like these shapes?"

  Lü Bu looked at the shape of Guo Jia's rice and then looked at other rice, it seemed that they were all caused by this military bamboo tube. Lü Bu was stunned for a moment, then asked: "Master's meaning is? Is Lü Bu's army lacking in food?"

  "Well, no wonder. When Lü Bu was attacking Yuan Shu, he only operated in the Huai Bei area. At that time, I suspected that his army's grain supply was insufficient. Now our army's grain and fodder are like this? I can be sure that Lü Bu's army is short of food!"

  Lv Rui nodded, the two big families in Xuzhou, the Lü and Chen families, were not inclined towards Lv Bu. Moreover, Lv Bu should not have any stored grain, without a base, how could he provide military rations? Thinking of this, Lv Rui said: "Master? Let's tell Zhongfu!"

  "Alright, Rui'er, let's go!" Guo Jia threw away the large bamboo tube in his hand and followed Lv Rui to Cao Cao's main tent.

  "Medic, medic, be gentle, be gentle!" Before they even approached the main tent, Lü Bu and Guo Jia heard Zhang Fei's wailing cries. This time, although Cao's army had not suffered heavy casualties, many of its generals were lightly injured and were being treated.

  "See the lord!" Lü Rui and the other two entered the main account, saw a dense crowd of people, and raised their voices!

  Cao was taken aback for a moment, looked at the two of them and said: "Fengxiao, Rui'er? Is there something?"

  "My lord, I have discovered a weakness in Lü Bu's army. I request to report it to you!" Guo Jia said with a bow.

  "Since that's the case? Follow me to my command tent, it's too noisy here!" The three of them then arrived at Cao Cao's command tent.

  "Is Rui'er okay?"

  "Thank you, Uncle! Nothing's wrong with Rui'er!"

  "Alright, alright, just be more careful yourself."

  "Filial piety? What have you discovered?"

  Guo Jia then shared his discovery with Cao, who listened and rolled his eyes, saying: "Is Fengxiao implying that Lü Bu's army is running low on food? Can we take advantage of this?"

  "Long live our wise and brilliant lord!"

  "Is the meaning of 'Filial Piety' to besiege Lü Bu's army at Xiaopei and exhaust their food supplies, causing them to retreat without a fight?"

  "My lord, this plan is good, but it cannot solve the problem. Even if Lü Bu withdraws his troops, his main force will still be preserved, and there will not be much benefit for our army!"

  "Is there a better plan for filial piety?"

  "My lord, we can besiege the city for two months and wait until Lü Bu's army runs out of food. Then, using our own food as bait, we can lure Lü Bu's army to come out and attack us in the open fields, where we can strike at them and annihilate their soldiers. This is the best strategy!"

  Eliminating the enemy's vitality is the king's way, just like playing a game! Lv Rui echoed: "Right, Master, eliminate his troops, no more soldiers, what can he do?"

  Cao nodded and said: "Good, let's follow the plan of Filial Piety!"

  "My lord, if we use the plan of feigning surrender, we must start making arrangements from now on!" Cao and Guo Jia began to plot against Lü Bu and Chen Gong once again.