Chapter 81 Xiahou Dun

  Li Jue has been feeling extremely annoyed lately, not just a little annoyed.

  Previously, things had been discussed with Guo Ze and everything seemed fine, but when the time actually came, it turned out that the development of events was completely beyond one's expectations - to the point where it could be said that it exceeded the normal person's understanding.

  "Five thousand vanguard troops were defeated by Lü Bu alone, am I an idiot?"

  At that time, when Li Jue heard the news, he was furious and thought that the soldier in front of him was playing a joke on him. But one person said so, two people said so, it's just a rumor, hundreds and thousands of soldiers all said so, he couldn't help but be careful, after all, those escaped soldiers can't all be imperial soldiers disguising themselves to spread rumors, right?

  Whether it's true or not, if things continue to develop like this, this battle may not need to be fought. With just these unbelievable 'rumors', one's own army can collapse - this is also why Liu Xuan has always disliked the current semi-agricultural and semi-military system. However, before Liu Xuan, due to limitations on food production, such a military system was the most common institution.

  Li Jue was forced to dispatch another contingent of troops to attack Lü Bu while he was setting up camp, not seeking victory but hoping to dispel the malicious rumors.

  No matter what, he didn't believe that a person could be so powerful as to rush back and forth freely among thousands of soldiers without being exaggerated, and it was too ridiculous that anyone who approached Lü Bu would be killed by him.

  What a swing of the halberd, even if it didn't hit him with that long halberd, he would still be torn apart by some kind of strange force. How could such a thing happen? Lü Bu was strong, but he was just a person, not some kind of ghost or god!

  Besides, Li Jue had seen Lü Bu practicing martial arts before, and although he was powerful, he was still a human being. Could it be that in such a short period of time, he suddenly became a ghost or god?

  But after a battle, not only did he fail to dispel the rumors, but instead solidified Lü Bu's reputation for being formidable. This time, Lü Bu once again charged into the army alone on horseback and started killing wildly. His own soldiers in front of him were like rows of straw men, unable to do anything except be cut down by him.

  If it wasn't for Li Jue's quick wit and timely departure, he might have lost his own life there.

  "Lü Bu, how did you become so terrifying?"

  He couldn't figure it out, Lü Bu was indeed strong from the beginning, but not to this extent. Li Jue was also a well-known general in the Western Liang army, and even if he couldn't win against Lü Bu, he could at least hold his own for a while. But now, if he were to go one-on-one with Lü Bu, it would be like asking him to commit suicide.

  Sat in his own tent for a while with a worried look, and the whole evening passed just like that.

  He knew that sitting here was useless, after all, the imperial army had already killed their way to the front, and Lü Bu's killing god was right in front of him. He couldn't just stare at each other with wide eyes, could he? Earlier, he thought he could use his more numerous troops to maneuver against the imperial court, even if he couldn't win, he could force the imperial court to retreat. Now he realized that he had been too naive.

  "It's fortunate that Guo Aduo is still normal on his side!"

  Guo Aduo is Guo Si, and Aduo is Guo Si's nickname, which only close people know. However, Li Jue only addresses him as such in his heart, after all, it would be too impolite to call him by his nickname.

  Just two days ago, he had just received a letter from Guo Si, informing him that Ma Teng had already risen in revolt. Guo Si led his own troops to intercept them, and now both sides have clashed on the western front. Liangzhou is right next door, and Ma Teng's mobilization was quite resolute, without any delay. At present, Guo Si and Ma Teng are engaged in a fierce battle, although the specific outcome is still unknown. However, judging from the news that has come in over the past few days, Guo Si's side seems to be unscathed.

  The more it was like this, the more Li Jue felt stifled - Guo Si's side held out, but his own side couldn't hold on, wouldn't that show off his incompetence?

  Again, in terms of actual strength, Ma Teng, the governor of Liangzhou, had tens of thousands of soldiers under his command, including countless elite cavalry and Qiang cavalry. This was a very powerful force in the northwest. In contrast, the imperial court's army consisted of 10,000 Imperial Guards, 3,000 Tiger Warriors, 2,000 Feathered Forest Soldiers... adding up to only over 20,000 soldiers, including militia.

  Look at Li Jue's own hands, with a total of at least 40,000 troops from various departments, more than half of whom are the elite of Xiliang, and there are also thousands of Xiliang iron cavalry. With such strength, he now has not even a little confidence in winning, it must be said that yesterday's battle had a shocking impact on him.

  His head throbbing with pain, he only heard a commotion outside the tent. Li Jue raised his eyes and looked around, dazed for a while before regaining his senses: "What's going on outside?"

  "General!"

  A soldier rushed in and immediately made a fist, saying: "There is a general outside who is shouting and boasting that he will trample our army's camp."

  Li Jue was taken aback: "But what about Lü Bu?" He thought that since the Emperor had a freak like Lü Bu in his hands, it seemed unnecessary to bother others. Moreover, Lü Bu himself was quite bellicose and would not let others take credit for this great battle.

  "No, it's Xiahou Dun, a school lieutenant."

  Li Jue was stunned: "Xiahou Dun?"

  He thought for half a day before remembering that Xia Hou Dun was in the Feathered Forest Cavalry back in Chang'an, and now he had become a Colonel.

  This Xiaowei, sounds like it's not a big official, but in fact before the general number was widespread, the Xiaowei were the actual powers in the army, they were the ones who directly commanded various troops and horses.

  The Zhong Lang Jiang was the person in charge of these Xiaowei - in fact, they were not subordinate to each other at all, but the Han Dynasty used people like this, and no one had a way to deal with it. Liu Xuan was worried about this situation, so he wanted to reform.

  So, in terms of official position and status, Li Jue was above Xiahou Dun. Moreover, after Xiahou Dun entered the capital, he had been stationed with the Imperial Guard Cavalry, and even on ordinary days, he was rarely seen. Li Jue was not familiar with this man at all, just treating him as a minor officer without a name, because of his kinship with Cao Cao, he could become that commander.

  "You nameless rodents, how dare you be so arrogant?"

  Li Jue was also a famous and well-known figure in the world, Lü Bu couldn't afford to provoke him. Even a minor character like Xiahou Dun dared to come before him and talk nonsense, did he think Li Jue was a good-natured person?

  "Prepare your troops and horses, follow me into battle against the enemy!"

  He didn't even take off his armor, and now he stood up, picked up his weapon and was about to walk out. However, this time he got up too quickly, and felt a blackness in front of his eyes, almost falling over. Fortunately, the nearby guard reacted quickly and held him up, preventing him from making a fool of himself.

  "Didn't sleep all night, feeling somewhat tired."

  It's not time to go back and rest yet, so Li Jue could only take some cool water to wipe his face, then pick up his knife and get on his horse, leading the soldiers out of the camp to form a battle array, facing off against Xiahou Dun from afar.

  "You little scamp, how dare you be so arrogant! Come and announce your name first!"

  Xiahou Dun had been shouting and cursing since early morning, but after more than half a day, his throat was almost hoarse, yet no one came out. He thought Li Jue didn't dare to fight him today, so he was thinking of leading the horse back to the camp and then asking Your Majesty for instructions on how to lead the army to attack the fort. Unexpectedly, at this critical moment, a team of people appeared in front of him, and the general who came first was not Li Jue, but who?

  At first in Chang'an, he had met Li Jue, but at that time his identity and status were not particularly high, so Li Jue did not notice him and did not recognize him, while he recognized the other side.

  "His surname is Xiahou, his name is Dun, and his style name is Yuanrang. He is the Left Military Advisor of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry!"

  The Hu Biao Riding was divided into the Hu Riding and the Biao Riding, corresponding to the Left Army and the Right Army. Each had a Colonel leading them, with a status similar to that of the You Lin Zuo You Jian. However, the title directly took the name of the Colonel. Xiahou Dun was the Colonel of the Left Army, formally known as the Hu Riding Colonel.

  "What's this about tigers and leopards riding? I've never heard of it!"

  Li Jue, of course, did not know what the Hu Bao Riders were. They were an elite cavalry corps that Cao Cao had been eager to establish, and they were still being reorganized and trained in the north. They had never appeared before the public, so if Li Jue knew about them, it would be strange indeed.

  However, Xiahou Dun didn't take it to heart and simply instructed a nearby officer: "Go behead this arrogant little brat."

  After a moment of consideration, he had already planned in his heart that today's battle would certainly not go well. Lü Bu's ferocity was the most damaging to morale, and as soon as his soldiers were killed to a certain extent, they would no longer dare to fight against him, so this battle could not be fought at all.

  Even if Li Jue wanted to use his soldiers to surround Lü Bu continuously and exhaust him to death, he would need enough dead soldiers to do so - he had many troops, but not many dead soldiers.

  So the outcome of this battle has already been decided, but Li Jue still wants to fight. This is not for anything else, but for his own life - he has already thought that as long as he fights to a certain extent and shows off his strength, he can surrender, and even if he doesn't have as much power as he does now, he can still live a rich and noble life.

  After all, the imperial court has too few soldiers and horses. If a real fight breaks out, even if you are brave, it is impossible to hold up this large army of tens of thousands alone. The imperial court's hard-earned troops will not be willing to throw them all away in the northwest. As long as the emperor has some concerns, he will agree to surrender.

  Therefore, for now, we need to show the imperial court some strength and let them understand that they are not completely powerless either. This way, there will be room for negotiation. Thinking this way, Li Jue's mood improved a lot, and his expression when looking at the opposing army was no longer filled with despair like it was at night, but instead he felt like he saw a glimmer of hope again.

  Just as he was feeling better, a miserable cry suddenly rang out from the front. He hastily raised his head to look and saw that Xiahou Dun, the school lieutenant, had pulled out his long spear from the heart of the school lieutenant he had sent out, and with this action, the school lieutenant fell off his horse with a thud, splashing up some dust before disappearing without a trace.

  "What?"

  The campus guard he sent out was no ordinary soldier, and in his army, he also had a reputation for being brave and fierce. How could he be killed with just one shot as soon as they met?

  It's not just him who is surprised, there are also people on the other side who feel surprised. Liu Bei looked at Xiahou Dun, who was sitting on his horse with a long spear, and said to his two brothers: "There are indeed many talented people in the world, and I don't know how many extraordinary talents there are in the imperial court alone. It seems that it's not easy for us brothers to achieve great things."

  Repaying debt update...... Still owe everyone four chapters......