Transmigrating to the Three Kingdoms as Lu Bu: I Have a Pseudo-Apocalypse System

Zhang Liao's analysis was reasonable and well-founded, leaving Hao Meng and the others speechless for a moment, though their faces still showed unease.

Seeing everyone's reactions, Lü Bu's opinion of Zhang Liao rose even higher.

As expected of one of the Five Tiger Generals who were famous throughout history for their prowess at Xiaoyao Ford, their vision and courage were truly extraordinary.

Thinking of Zhang Liao's 800 men's surprise attack on Sun Quan's 100,000-strong army, and Li Shimin's 800 men's attack at Xuanwu Gate, how could I, with only 800 elite cavalry, not fight against thousands of pursuers?

There are eight hundred ways to play.

He slowly began to speak, "What Wenyuan (Zhang Liao's courtesy name) said is exactly what I think."

All the generals looked at Lü Bu in surprise.

In the past, Lü Bu was indeed brave, but he was often indecisive in strategic decision-making and easily swayed by slander. At this moment, however, he appeared unusually calm and resolute.

Lü Bu continued, "If we flee now, the pursuers will be like a persistent festering sore, and we will never have a peaceful day. Only by inflicting heavy losses on them and letting them know the price of pursuing our elite cavalry from Bingzhou can we gain a real chance to catch our breath."

Everyone fell silent. Although they were uneasy, they also felt that what Zhang Liao and Lü Bu said made sense.

Without consulting anyone further, Lü Bu directly ordered, "Wen Yuan, later you will lead Hao Meng, Cao Xing, and others to form a battle line south of the bridge and block the bridgehead. If the pursuing generals ask about me, tell them that I have already led my personal guards and family to escape to Lantian, and that you are the rearguard."

He paused, then lowered his voice to give instructions: "You can even feign surrender to lure their commander to come forward and speak, thus closing the distance and creating an opportunity for me."

Zhang Liao instantly understood Lü Bu's intention: "General, do you intend to kill the enemy commander with arrows?"

Lu Bu nodded, and then he began to remove his Bright Light Armor.

"General, what's wrong?" Cao Xing couldn't help but ask.

"My attire is too conspicuous," Lu Bu explained as he removed his armor. "If the enemy commander sees me, he will not dare to approach easily. I need to hide for now."

He beckoned to a personal guard of similar build and ordered, "Take off your two-piece armor and exchange it with me. Take my Red Hare horse, Bright Armor, and Halberd with you and hide them properly behind the mound, so that the enemy will not see them."

Although the guard was taken aback, he dared not disobey and quickly did as he was told.

Soon, Lü Bu changed into the ordinary cavalry's two-piece armor (mainly composed of a breastplate and a backplate, which is much simpler to protect than the bright armor and tube-sleeved armor), put on a wide-brimmed iron helmet, and blended into the cavalry guarding the bridgehead, looking just like an ordinary cavalryman.

He took the powerful bow that belonged to him and handed it to his personal guard, and tried it out.

This was the only three-stone strong bow in the army (requiring approximately 90kg of draw weight), which ordinary soldiers simply couldn't draw, and even generals like Zhang Liao found it difficult to draw. Even if they could draw it, they would exhaust their strength after firing only a few arrows.

But in Lü Bu's hands, it felt as light as a feather.

"Is this what it feels like to have 98 power?" Lu Bu was shocked, and at the same time, an indescribable excitement and sense of control surged up within him.

As a sub-healthy, overworked worker in modern society, suddenly gaining such amazing strength and archery skills is undoubtedly a great joy.

Drawing the bow and aiming are instinctive actions, as if they were innate.

The skill of shooting the halberd at the gate is now his!

……

On the north bank, the pursuers finally arrived.

Just as Lu Bu remembered from his previous life, the ones ordered to pursue were not the generals Li Jue, Guo Si, Zhang Ji, Fan Chou, and others themselves.

With Chang'an city just fallen, those powerful figures were busy looting and controlling the emperor and the court, vying for the spoils of victory, and had no time to pursue Lü Bu.

The one who arrived was a military officer under Guo Si, named Zhong Huan.

According to the military system at the end of the Han Dynasty, a military commander was only in charge of one unit, which consisted of about two hundred men.

However, during their counterattack on Chang'an, Li Jue and Guo Si, under the pretext of avenging Dong Gong, gathered a large number of defeated soldiers from Liangzhou and bandits along the way, and their army rapidly expanded from several thousand to more than 100,000.

At this moment, Zhong Huan had more than two thousand infantry and cavalry under his command, which was already the size of a captain or even a general of miscellaneous rank.

Guo Si fought Lü Bu in battle during the attack on Chang'an, and was wounded by Lü Bu, nearly losing his life. He harbored resentment because of this.

However, Guo Si himself was busy entering Chang'an to compete with Li Jue for the spoils of victory and could not leave his post. So he sent his subordinate Zhong Huan to lead troops to pursue him, promising that if he could obtain Lü Bu's head, he would recommend him for promotion to General of the Household and command an army on his own.

With a generous reward in hand, Zhong Huan pursued the matter with great effort.

Unfortunately, most of his troops were infantry, with only two or three hundred cavalrymen. Facing the world-renowned Flying General Lü Bu and the most elite Bingzhou cavalry, he dared not leave the main force for fear of being bitten in return. So it was only at this moment that he caught up with them on the banks of the Ba River.

Seeing the hundreds of Bingzhou cavalrymen waiting in formation on the south bank, Zhong Huan was not alarmed but delighted: "We've caught up! Lü Bu can't run anymore!"

But when he saw the terrain of the Ba River and the garrison formation on the south bank, his heart tightened again.

The river is wide and deep; only the Ba Bridge can be crossed.

The bridge was about two zhang wide. Bingzhou cavalry blocked the south bank, forming a tight formation with bows and crossbows ready. It was truly a case of one man guarding the pass against ten thousand.

He looked around carefully but did not see the magnificent Red Hare, nor the iconic gleaming armor and the exaggerated halberd. He only saw Zhang Liao, Hao Meng, and others.

"Is Lü Bu not here?" Zhong Huan guessed. "He must have taken his family and fled first, leaving Zhang Liao and the others to hold the bridge and cover their retreat!"

Thinking of this, he became bolder.

If we can persuade Zhang Liao, this fierce general, to surrender, that would be a great achievement; if not, we can forcefully defeat this rearguard force and then pursue Lü Bu.

He spurred his horse forward slightly, and under the protection of his personal guards' shields, called out towards the south of the bridge, "Is the garrison commander of the south of the bridge Zhang Liao, Zhang Wenyuan?"

Following Lü Bu's instructions, Zhang Liao stood at the bridgehead, sword in hand, and loudly replied, "Since you know my name, why ask? You attacked the capital Chang'an and held the emperor hostage; you are traitors!"

Zhong Huan retorted, "Lü Bu murdered Dong Zhuo; we are avenging Dong Zhuo, not rebelling! Lü Bu is now a homeless dog, living in constant fear! The court (Li Jue and Guo Si) will soon issue a warrant for his arrest; though the world is vast, there will be no place for him to stand! What is there to be loyal to that traitor who has served three masters? Wen Yuan, why not abandon the darkness and join me in capturing Lü Bu? The court will surely reward you handsomely!"

Zhang Liao remained silent for a moment, offering no rebuttal, and appeared to be struggling and hesitant.

Zhong Huan saw this and was secretly delighted, feeling that there was hope.

He took another dozen steps forward and continued shouting, "General Wen Yuan, you are a hero of Bingzhou, you should know when to yield! Have you not heard that a good bird chooses a good tree to perch on? Lü Bu is fickle and treacherous, he recognized Ding Yuan and Dong Gong as his adoptive fathers one after the other, and in the end he killed them both. Who in the world does not know the name of the three-surname slave? What good end can you expect if you follow him? You might as well submit to the court (Li Guo) and join us in our great cause."

He tried his best to dismantle Zhang Liao's fighting spirit, and his attention was entirely focused on Zhang Liao.

His current position is near the north bank of the Baqiao Bridge, about 100 paces away from Zhang Liao at the south bank (in Han Dynasty, one pace was one step with each foot, about 1.4 meters).

Meanwhile, Lü Bu was disguised as an ordinary cavalryman, mingling among the Bingzhou cavalrymen that Zhang Liao had arranged behind him.