Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 290: Giving in to the Talented
After Lü Bu shot Zhao Chong, he was about to step forward and take his head when he suddenly felt a fierce wind coming from behind.

Turning around, he saw Dian Wei carrying a thick flagpole, striding wildly towards him like a mad tiger.

The flagpole was heavy, but this behemoth ran incredibly fast despite the weight.

Lu Bu picked up his halberd and turned to strike, but before his horse could fully gallop, Dian Wei used the flagpole as a staff and delivered a fierce sweep.

The howling wind drowned out the noise of the battlefield.

The flagpole was too long and covered a large area, so Lü Bu, on horseback, had no way to avoid it and had to use the handle of his halberd to block it.

The sound was deafening, and the immense force caused Lü Bu to fly off his horse.

Weiz's head, which was stuck in the small branch of the cross-shaped halberd, was thrown forward dozens of steps and landed right at Zhang Liao's feet.

Lu Bu was quite agile; upon landing, he rolled on the spot to dissipate the remaining momentum and escaped injury.

"Roar!"

The warhorse continued to gallop towards Dian Wei, but Dian Wei let out a roar that sounded like a tiger's howl.

The warhorse neighed in terror as if it had seen its natural enemy, then turned and ran away.

The other horses nearby were also startled; most of the ownerless warhorses ran away, and those ridden by soldiers were difficult to control.

Lu Bu got up, rubbed his shoulder, and saw that the handle of his halberd was cracked. Hearing Dian Wei's roar, Lu Bu's eyes showed surprise: "Surround him!"

But now it's impossible to surround them. The cavalry are busy controlling their panicked horses, and the infantry can't keep up with Dian Wei's reactions at all.

Dian Wei continued his attack on Lü Bu, leaping up and delivering a powerful downward strike with his staff.

This time, Lu Bu dared not take the hit head-on. He quickly rolled away to avoid it, and his helmet slipped off and fell to the ground as he rolled.

With a loud "bang," Dian Wei's flagpole struck the ground, sending dust flying and pebbles flying, as if an earthquake had occurred.

The pebbles that were kicked up clattered against Lü Bu's armor.

When Dian Wei got up again, the flagpole in his hand was shattered, and the helmet that had fallen to the ground was smashed into a disc.

Taking advantage of Dian Wei being unarmed, Lü Bu quickly closed in and slashed with his halberd.

The surrounding soldiers also rushed forward.

Dian Wei threw the broken flagpole handle at Lü Bu, who swatted it away with his halberd, thus hindering his movement.

Then Dian Wei grabbed the fastest charging soldier and used his leg as a weapon...

The soldier was Lü Bu's personal guard; he was still alive, but was being swung around and screaming in pain.

Such power was truly terrifying, and for a time no one dared to approach.

After swinging the soldier around a few times, Dian Wei threw him out again, knocking down several others. Then he leaped out and headed straight for the spot where Zhao Chong had been shot and fallen from his horse.

It's unclear whether Zhao Chong is dead or not, but he was shot in the back and fell to the ground motionless.

The scattered soldiers couldn't stop him in time. Dian Wei bent down, grabbed Zhao Chong, hoisted him onto his shoulder, and ran wildly northward.

Even carrying one person, the speed is still ridiculously fast.

Lu Bu looked around, but there wasn't a single horse left beside him. Dian Wei was running too fast, and the soldiers were too afraid to catch up.

"Forget it... let's clear the battlefield first and force the enemy to surrender!"

Lu Bu decided to grab the benefits first.

There were still many remnants of the army on the battlefield. Lü Bu ordered his soldiers to disperse and recruit them, intending to recruit the remnants of Wei Zi and Zhao Chong's forces into his own ranks.

But soon, the sound of galloping hooves and shouts of battle arose from the north. "Report! Cao Cao's army is coming from the north!"

A soldier rushed over to report.

"They've come at this time... Send orders to all armies: retreat immediately!"

Lu Bu frowned and ordered, "Wen Yuan, your troops will cover Cao Cao's rear!"

Lu Bu was clearly very unhappy. He had just won a battle and hadn't even had time to clean up the battlefield and collect the spoils of war...

But now the battlefield is in chaos, and our own army is scattered in various places clearing out the remnants, and there is no time to gather them together, while Cao Cao's troops are in well-organized formations.

Of course, they had to quickly split up and regroup, otherwise they would be defeated one by one.

This time, Cao Cao wasn't just lucky to run into a dead rat.

Knowing that Liu Bei did not pursue, Cao Cao originally planned to notify Wei Zi to withdraw from the ambush and attack Hulao Pass together.

Dian Wei carried Zhao Chong and fled north, where he encountered Xiahou Dun, who was leading cavalry to find Wei Zi.

Xiahou Dun did not recognize Dian Wei, but he did recognize Zhao Chong.

However, Zhao Chong had already passed away by then.

Although Dian Wei desperately rescued him, Zhao Chong was shot in the middle of his spine, which was beyond saving.

Regardless, Xiahou Dun admired Dian Wei's loyalty and heroism in rescuing his lord alone, so he quickly informed Cao Cao and ordered Dian Wei to lead the way to counterattack Lü Bu.

However, Cao Cao did not rush to Wei Zi's aid immediately. Instead, he let his soldiers rest and eat some dry rations first—he had just retreated thirty miles, and his soldiers were exhausted.

Moreover... after learning from Dian Wei that Wei Zi and Zhao Chong had both died in battle, Cao Cao sighed for his friend's death and then rationally began to calculate the time.

Wei Zi and Zhao Chong had a force of over six thousand men. Although they were quickly defeated by Lü Bu in the initial encounter, it would take Lü Bu a long time to mop up their remaining troops and clean up the battlefield.

Therefore, Cao Cao planned to wait for Lü Bu to disperse his troops, while he rested and reorganized his army, and then launch a decisive attack on the battlefield to defeat Lü Bu at the most opportune moment.

By timing it perfectly, Cao Cao led his army in two columns to arrive just as Wei Zi's remaining troops were completely routed and fleeing, thus creating the situation where the oriole was unaware of the mantis behind.

Lü Bu defeated Wei Zi with 3,000 men against 6,000, but he gained nothing and didn't even have time to collect the spoils of war. He could only retreat south in anger.

Zhang Liao was left behind by Lü Bu to cover their retreat, and he felt quite resentful, but he didn't know what to do.

If we don't stop, where should we go?

After hesitating for a moment, Zhang Liao led his troops to kill Cao Cao's vanguard scouts, and then headed towards Chenliu.

This also served as a rearguard action, because Cao Cao's vanguard was led eastward by Zhang Liao for a while, and only retreated southward after Dian Wei pointed out the direction. This gave most of Lü Bu's troops time to withdraw.

……

After Lü Bu withdrew his troops, some of Wei Zi and Zhao Chong's remaining forces scattered and fled, while others gathered to await reinforcements.

Since Wei Zi and Zhao Chong were both dead, the remaining troops who had not escaped joined Cao Cao's army.

Cao Cao had failed to lure Liu Bei before, but this time he seized the opportunity to attack Lü Bu at the most opportune moment and was quite successful. Although he did not manage to defeat Lü Bu as he wished and the two armies did not fight much, Cao Cao obtained almost all the spoils of war.

Dian Wei joined Xiahou Dun's army and became a personal guard soldier.

Cao Cao incorporated nearly two thousand remnants of his troops, bringing his army to five thousand.

At this moment, Cao Cao felt that Lü Bu's ability to defeat Wei Zi and Zhao Chong's 6,000 troops with only 3,000 men in such a short time was quite terrifying. He thought it best not to go and fight at Hulao Pass himself, otherwise his 5,000 men might end up like Wei Zi.

Cao Cao then returned his army to Xingyang, intending to give the opportunity to distinguish himself by conquering Hulao Pass to other talented individuals from Guandong.

(End of this chapter)