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

On the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, Lü Bu released a catapult from his storage space on the east bank of the Dunhong River.

One after another, more than thirty were quickly erected, their dark catapult arms pointing towards Nanhe City.

Long An stood atop the city wall, his face ashen.

"So many catapults? Did Lü Bu really have a divinely ordained granary that released them from within?"

Qu Mi suddenly said in a trembling voice, "This humble general doesn't know either. I clearly didn't see them with any supply train before. Just now, it seemed that Lu Bu only waved his hand and the catapults appeared."

Just then, a drum sounded from the Han army formation.

More than 30 catapults launched simultaneously, and dozens of stone projectiles came whistling through the air and crashed onto the walls of Nanhe City!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Several large holes were smashed into the city gate tower, a section of the parapet collapsed, and several soldiers who were unable to dodge were smashed into a bloody pulp.

Chaos reigned on the city walls.

"Fire arrows! Fire arrows back!" Long An shouted.

The defenders drew their bows and fired at the opposite bank. But the river was wide, and the arrows lost their momentum by the time they reached the water, landing limply on the ground.

Meanwhile, the Han army bombarded the enemy relentlessly with improved catapults.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Stones rained down on the city walls, the towers, and the soldiers. Each time a stone fell, screams of agony rang out.

An hour later, the eastern city wall of Nanhe City was riddled with holes, half of the city tower had collapsed, and more than two hundred soldiers had been killed or wounded.

Long An was escorted down the city wall by his personal guards, his face pale.

"This can't go on," he muttered. "If we bombard it for a few more days, the city walls will collapse."

Juchequ said urgently, "Your Majesty, we must think of a way; we can't just wait to die like this!"

Chili gritted his teeth: "How about we cross the river tonight and attack their camp?"

Che Luti shook his head: "We have fewer cavalry. If we cross the river, they will be waiting in ambush, and we can easily encircle and annihilate them."

Long An remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "Let's wait and see what their next move is."

But he knew in his heart that he had nowhere else to go.

Surrender, and you might save your life.

To resist is certain death.

However, Lu Bu's conditions—handing over the mastermind, compensating for the losses, and relinquishing military power—were all conditions that would cost him his life!

Putting everything else aside, he was the mastermind behind the Xiongnu's southward invasion and the massacre of the six kingdoms of Cheshi. Hand over the mastermind—isn't that him? If he really enters Lü Bu's camp, how could he possibly survive?

On the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, the Han army continued to bombard the city.

A section of the eastern wall of Nanhe City finally collapsed, revealing a gap three zhang wide.

The Han army did not take the opportunity to attack, but continued to throw stones, which also blasted down the parapets around the breach, making the breach bigger and bigger.

The morale of the defenders on the city wall had plummeted to an all-time low.

Some soldiers whispered among themselves:

"See that? The Prince of Jin of the Han Dynasty is a god descended to earth. He can conjure catapults out of thin air, and it is said that he can also receive grain from the Heavenly Granary every day, and he can also summon floods to flood the Liugu Valley."

"What's the point of fighting? They're gods, how can we mortals possibly stop them?"

"Why don't we just surrender? I heard that the people of Weixu City who surrendered to the Han army were not massacred, but instead received relief from the Han army."

"Shh! Keep your voice down, or you'll be beheaded!"

……

The eight days of the twelfth lunar month have passed, and the three-day deadline has arrived.

Fox Lan Di arrived at the city walls again and shouted, "King Long'an, three days have passed. Will you surrender or not?"

The city wall remained silent for a long time.

Finally, Long An's voice came from behind the city wall: "Hu Lan Di, go and tell Lü Bu: I am willing to surrender. But the conditions must be changed!"

Fox Orchid asked, "How should it be changed?"

"I am willing to return to the Han vassal state, pay tribute annually, and never betray them! However, I cannot agree to all three demands: hand over the mastermind, compensate Cheshi, and relinquish military power! I can compensate Cheshi, but the mastermind cannot be handed over, nor can military power! Otherwise, I would rather die than surrender!"

Hu Landi shook his head: "King Long'an, you have resisted until now, and the Prince of Jin's patience has run out. If you do not surrender today, when the city falls tomorrow, not a single one of you, the princes and nobles of Yanqi, will be spared!"

Long An was furious: "How dare you threaten me, Your Majesty?"

Foxlandi sneered, "This isn't a threat, it's the truth. Look at these catapults, look at your collapsed city walls, and look at the Zheliu Valley garrison swept away by the flood. Do you think you still have the right to bargain?"

Long An was so angry that he trembled all over, but he couldn't say a word.

Fox Lan Di continued, "I'll give you one last chance: surrender the city before sunset today, and the Prince of Jin will spare your lives. If you don't surrender by sunset, we'll attack the city tomorrow and exterminate your entire clan!"

Having said that, he turned his horse and rode back.

On the city wall, Long An slumped behind the city tower, his face ashen.

Juchequ, Chili, and Cheluti surrounded him, all looking terrified.

"Your Majesty, what should we do?"

"Your Majesty, surrender! Saving your life is the most important thing."

"Yes, we have the throne. After surrendering, we might even become wealthy men."

Long An raised his head, looked at his three former allies, and suddenly gave a bitter laugh.

"Rich old man? You're too naive. Lü Bu even killed all of Xubu Danghe's prisoners, do you think he'd let us go? He's only giving us this opportunity now because he doesn't want to lose his elite troops in the siege. Once we surrender, it's up to him to decide what to do with us. You should know that when we colluded with the Xiongnu to invade the south, we slaughtered dozens of Han soldiers, including Jin Mancheng and Huo Gu, who were guarding the border. This grudge can't be resolved by surrender, otherwise the Xiongnu wouldn't have killed more than two thousand prisoners."

The three looked at each other, unsure how to answer.

Long An stood up, looked towards the Han army camp on the opposite bank, and gritted his teeth, saying, "Rather than surrender, we should fight to the death! Pass down the order: at midnight tonight, open the west gate and the entire army will break out. As many as we can escape, that's what we'll do!"

Ju Chequ was shocked: "Break through? Where can we escape to?"

"Head west, to Kucha! Kucha is on good terms with us; we can temporarily avoid their advance!" A crazed glint flashed in Long An's eyes. "If Lü Bu pursues us again, will we continue our westward escape?"

Chili gritted his teeth: "Fine, let's break through! Death is better than waiting to die!"

Che Luti shook his head: "I'm old and can't run anymore. I won't stop Your Majesty from breaking out, but I will surrender."

Long An was taken aback: "You..."

Che Luti sighed, "My mountain kingdom is small and has few soldiers. Even if we break through, we have nowhere to go. It would be better to surrender; perhaps then we can save the lives of our people. Your Majesty, we have known each other for many years. Today's parting may be our last."

After saying this, he turned around and prepared to leave the city, intending to go to the east gate to surrender to Lü Bu.

Long An watched him turn away, then suddenly drew his knife and stabbed Che Luti in the back.

Che Luti screamed and turned around in astonishment, asking, "Why?"

Long An said fiercely, "You're too hasty. Even if you want to surrender to Lü Bu, you should wait until we leave! If you surrender now, you're putting us to death."

Che Lu moved his mouth as if to explain something, but he started spitting out blood and could no longer utter a word before collapsing and dying.

His personal guards were also hacked to death by Long An and his confidants.

Juchequ and Chili watched the whole thing without any surprise.