The Three Kingdoms: The entire Cao Cao camp thought I was weak and frail.

On the distant horizon, a thin black line appeared. In everyone's sight, that line rapidly thickened and widened, stirring up clouds of dust, like a black tide sweeping towards Chang'an!

The earth began to tremble slightly.

"Thump—thump—thump—"

On the city wall, war drums were sounded, their deep, resonant sound echoing throughout the entire city of Chang'an.

The city's defenders quickly went into battle alert, archers nocked their arrows, and defensive equipment was moved to its designated positions.

The black tide drew ever closer, and the thunder of horses' hooves roared like muffled thunder, exploding in everyone's ears.

The Xiliang army has arrived!

Li Jue and Guo Si rode at the very front of the procession. They gazed at the magnificent city in the distance, their faces filled with greed and tyranny.

"Pass down the order!" Li Jue drew his sword from his waist, pointed forward, and commanded, "Charge! The first to break through the city gate will be rewarded with a thousand gold pieces and promoted three ranks!"

"oh--!"

Tens of thousands of Xiliang cavalrymen roared. They raised their weapons, spurred their horses on, and their steeds neighed and began to accelerate!

A stampede of horses!

The entire earth was shaking violently, and everyone on the city walls held their breath.

The veins on Lü Bu's hand, gripping the halberd, were bulging.

A fighting spirit surged in Sun Ce's eyes.

The sounds of fighting abruptly ceased.

Instead, there were the mournful cries of warhorses and the cracking sounds of bones breaking.

The disguised traps failed to alert the Xiliang army. The Xiliang cavalry, which they were so proud of, charged forward, only to be thrown into disarray and trampled by countless inconspicuous pits.

The leading cavalryman fell headlong and was instantly trampled by his comrades rushing in from behind.

The following warhorses, unable to avoid it, also broke their front hooves, violently throwing the riders off their backs.

Wang Yun's expression, however, was not pleasant.

He looked at the triumphant Lü Bu, and then at the Bingzhou generals behind him who were also proud of him. In this chaotic world, only those with an army could secure a place for themselves.

Just then, a low and rhythmic horn sounded from the routed Xiliang army.

The scattered soldiers, who had initially fled in disarray, gradually ceased their rout. Some officers, shouting and rallying, quickly gathered the remaining troops and retreated in an orderly fashion, maintaining a safe distance from the city wall.

One moment they were in complete defeat, the next they were regrouping and obeying orders without question.

Sun Ce's smile froze.

"What's going on? They..."

"There is a master in the Xiliang army." Zhou Yu's voice came from beside him, his gaze calmly fixed on the army that was quickly regaining order in the distance.

Guo Jia narrowed his peach blossom eyes: "To be able to command brutes like Li Jue and Guo Si, and to reorganize a defeated army in such a short time. This man is no ordinary person."

Xun Hao pondered to himself, "The fact that he could suppress the arrogant and fierce generals like Li Jue and Guo Si, and stabilize the morale of the army amidst such a rout, suggests that the 'poisonous strategist' has already gained a certain degree of influence within the Xiliang army."

Outside the city, the infantry formations of the Xiliang army, after a brief rest, began to slowly advance.

Holding their shields high, they moved with steady steps, carefully avoiding the potholes in the ground, and approached step by step.

The war reignited.

After the Xiliang army switched to infantry combat, their advance was slow, but their formation was extremely stable.

"Release the arrows!"

Lu Bu stood atop the city wall, his voice booming like a bell.

Arrows rained down like rain. Soldiers of the Xiliang army fell one after another, but those behind them immediately took their place, stepping over the corpses of their comrades to continue their advance.

When they reached the first trench, the leading general gave an order, and the auxiliary soldiers behind him immediately carried the long planks that had been prepared in advance and rushed forward to build simple wooden bridges over the trench.

A loud bang came from the west of the city, and the soldiers who had been hiding there worked hard to breach the dam of a tributary of the Wei River!

"boom--"

The turbid river water rushed towards the battlefield along the already dug irrigation canals!

The Xiliang soldiers who were crossing the bridge had no time to react before they were swept away by the swift current, along with the bridge itself.

The river quickly filled the deep trenches, and the overflowing water turned the land between the trenches into a muddy swamp.

The offensive of the Xiliang army was once again thwarted.

In the days that followed, the Xiliang army did not launch any more large-scale offensives.

They made countless simple wheelbarrows loaded with dried soil brought from the rear.

Every morning, thousands of shield bearers form a tortoise-shell formation, protecting the auxiliary soldiers pushing the carts as they slowly and steadily advance towards the city wall.

In order to avoid attacking the city on muddy and potholed roads, they had to fill them in one by one.

"Bang!"

An arrow shot down from the city wall and pierced the neck of a shield-bearer with pinpoint accuracy.

Gao Shun lowered his bow, his face expressionless. The soldiers of the Trapped Camp behind him were already poised for battle.

"Open the city gates!"

The city gate opened a crack, and eight hundred soldiers of the Vanguard Camp, like tigers unleashed, silently charged into the Xiliang army formation that was filling in the earth. There were no extra shouts, only the sound of weapons piercing flesh.

Each attack takes hundreds of lives.

But there were too many people in the Xiliang army.

Two days later, the tunnels outside the city were mostly filled in. The siege officially began.

"kill--!"

Lu Bu charged ahead into the besieging Xiliang army, his halberd sending a spray of blood through the crowd.

He moved with unimpeded ease, each charge scattering the hard-won siege formations of the Xiliang army.

Li Jue and Guo Si were so angry they jumped up and down in the back, but they didn't dare to go forward and fight Lü Bu one-on-one.

The war has reached a stalemate.

Chang'an was a well-fortified city with ample supplies, and the defending troops, led by Lü Bu, were in high spirits. It seemed that they could hold out for another year or two without any problem.

However, the cracks within the city appeared much faster than the attacks from outside.

Lü Bu's prestige reached its peak in the army. He even ignored Wang Yun's summons and held a grand banquet for his soldiers in his own tent, behaving like the master of Chang'an.

The atmosphere in Wang Yun's study was oppressive.

He paced back and forth, his face filled with barely suppressed anger and worry.

"Lü Bu! You scoundrel! You brat! How dare you do this!"

At this moment, Zhou Yu and Sun Ce jointly requested an audience.

"Lord Situ," Zhou Yu bowed slightly.

Wang Yun glanced at them and said irritably, "Why aren't you two resting at the inn? What are you doing here? Are you here to laugh at me too?"

"I wouldn't dare," Zhou Yu replied calmly. "It was a matter I discussed with Situ a few days ago. I wonder if you have considered it carefully, sir?"

This is taking advantage of someone's misfortune, but it requires someone to rival Lü Bu, and Sun Ce is undoubtedly the best candidate.

"Alright," Wang Yun uttered a single word.

With permission, Sun Ce recruited soldiers in Chang'an. With the tacit support of Wang Yun in terms of provisions and pay, he managed to raise an army of several thousand men in just a few days.