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

At the time of the fall of Wulei City, dozens of miles west of Wulei, a large army of Kucha was slowly marching eastward along the north bank of the Dongchuan River.

This army was the reinforcements sent by the royal court of Kucha, led by General Huyan Gu, and ordered to reinforce Wulei.

Huyan Gu was about forty years old, with a broad back and thick waist, and a full beard. He was a famous general of Kucha. At this moment, he was riding a yellow horse, gazing eastward, his brows slightly furrowed, but a sense of unease was creeping into his heart.

In recent days, merchants and herdsmen fleeing from the direction of Wulei have been bringing news: the Han army possesses supernatural abilities, capable of conjuring objects out of thin air and building stone platforms to bombard the city from above. Bo Mi's night raid failed, resulting in heavy losses...

Huyan Gu was skeptical of these reports. To conjure something out of thin air? Was that even human?

But if you don't believe it, why do those merchants and herdsmen all say the same thing?

Just then, a cloud of dust suddenly rose ahead, and a group of routed soldiers came rushing towards them in panic.

Huyan Gu's heart sank, and he raised his hand to stop the army.

The fleeing horde drew closer, numbering over a thousand, their armor tattered and weapons incomplete. A centurion, leading the group, stumbled and fell to his knees before Huyan Guma, bursting into tears:

"General, something terrible has happened! Wulei City has fallen, and General Bo Mi has been killed in battle!"

Huyan Gu's expression changed drastically: "What? Say it again!"

The centurion cried out, "Wulei City has fallen! The Han army attacked today and breached Wulei City in less than half a day! General Bo Mi led his troops in street fighting but was personally killed by Lü Bu! More than 20,000 defenders are either dead or surrendered—they're all wiped out!"

Hu Yangu's mind went blank.

Less than a day? Wulei City had high walls, ample food supplies, and 20,000 defenders, yet it fell in less than a day?

"You, you're talking nonsense!" Huyan Gu grabbed the centurion by the collar. "Wulei City is incredibly fortified, how could it have fallen in just one day?!"

The centurion trembled and said, "General, I dare not speak nonsense! That Lü Bu has a divine granary bestowed by heaven, which allows him to take things out of thin air! He built a stone platform thirty or forty feet high on the side of the moat, set up catapults and giant crossbows on it, and bombarded the city wall from above! Our arrows could not reach the platform, so we could only take hits! In less than an hour, the city wall was riddled with holes! Then, Lü Bu was able to take stone blocks and planks from the divine granary to build a wooden bridge across the moat, and he also dug a large hole in the city wall, through which the Han army rushed into the city."

Huyan loosened his grip and staggered back a step.

They conjured objects out of thin air, piled stones to form platforms, carved holes in walls, and set up catapults on platforms tens of meters high to bombard the city...

Is this... is this still a war?

"General!" a centurion cried out urgently, "What do we do? Should we still go to Wulei?"

Huyan Gu took a deep breath, suppressing his fear, and was about to speak when several more riders came galloping from the east.

This time, Long An, Chi Li, and several hundred remnants of the army came.

Long An, his face covered in dust and his robes tattered, dismounted upon seeing Huyan Gu, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "General Huyan!"

Huyan Gu recognized Long An, and seeing his disheveled appearance, his heart sank even further: "King Long An, Wulei City..."

Long An said sadly, "Wu Lei City has fallen, General Bo Mi was killed in battle, and more than 20,000 defenders were wiped out. I and King Chi Li ran fast and luckily escaped with our lives."

Huyan Gu looked at Chili and saw that half of his face was wrapped in cloth, with blood seeping out, and his left eye was closed. He was obviously badly injured.

"That Lü Bu," Huyan Gu's voice trembled, "does he truly possess extraordinary abilities?"

Long An smiled bitterly: "I said it long ago, but no one believed me. Now that General Bo Mi is dead and Wu Lei City has fallen, surely they'll believe me?"

He paused, then said, "General Huyan, I advise you: do not send any more troops forward. That Lü Bu not only knows how to build stone platforms, but he also receives provisions and supplies from the Divine Granary every day, which is said to be enough to feed millions of people. He can fight for as long as he wants, and we cannot afford to waste time."

Huyan Gu's face was ashen. After a long silence, he finally gritted his teeth and said, "Send the order: the entire army turns back and retreats to Yancheng!"

The centurion was taken aback: "General, are we not going to rescue Wulei?"

Huyan Gu roared, "Wu Lei has fallen! What's the point of saving them? Go back to defend Yan City and protect the King!"

Tens of thousands of troops came in a mighty procession, only to retreat in panic.

Along the way, fleeing soldiers constantly caught up with the group from the direction of Wulei, bringing more details: how Lü Bu built the platform, how he bombarded the city, how he crossed the river, how he created a large hole in the city wall out of thin air, and how he killed Bo Mi in battle...

Each time he heard it, Huyan Gu felt a chill run down his spine.

When he returned to Yancheng, he would tell the king all these things in detail—this Lü Bu was not a man, but a god!

……

On the 21st day of the twelfth month of the sixth year of the Chuping era (195 AD), at dawn, five thousand elite Han cavalrymen lined up in formation, ready to set off.

Of the 2,000 Han soldiers, 3,000 Yanqi soldiers, and nearly 1,000 remaining were left to guard Wulei City under Guan Yu's command, awaiting the Western Regions Governor's Office's takeover. In the past few days, these Yanqi soldiers had followed the Han army and witnessed firsthand Lü Bu's divinely bestowed ability to store grain, and were already completely convinced of his worth.

"Yun Chang," Lü Bu said, looking at Guan Yu, "I'm leaving Wulei City to you."

Guan Yu clasped his hands in a fist salute: "My lord, rest assured, this humble general will defend this city and await Ma Chao's arrival to take it over."

Lü Bu nodded: "We must not be careless with the more than 20,000 surrendered soldiers. Those able-bodied men who wish to join the army can be temporarily organized into reserve battalions, and will be trained uniformly after Ma Chao arrives. Those who are old and weak and wish to return to farming should be given travel expenses and sent back. The money and grain in the city's treasury should be registered and recorded, and no one may take them for themselves."

"This subordinate understands."

Lü Bu surveyed his generals: "Let's depart for Yancheng, the capital of Kucha!"

"promise!"

Lü Bu led the way, followed closely by Zhang Fei, Dian Wei, Xu Chu, and Qiequ Mitu.

Five thousand elite cavalrymen filed out from the west gate of Wulei and rolled along the north bank of the Dongchuan River (Tarim River) toward Yancheng.

Qu Mi suddenly rode up to Lü Bu's side and pointed ahead, saying, "My lord, if you go west from here, passing through Wulei Prefecture, Luntai, and Quli, it will be about three hundred li to Yancheng, the capital of the Kingdom of Kucha. There are several cities and passes along the way, but the garrison is not large, and most of them are soldiers recruited by local tribal leaders."

Lü Bu asked, "Will these cities put up a resistance?"

Qu Mi suddenly thought for a moment and said, "Under normal circumstances, they would definitely obey the king's orders and defend the city. But once the news of the fall of Wulei City and the death of Bo Mi spreads, I think there will be few who dare to resist."

Zhang Fei grinned and said, "That's great! We can take cities along the way, saving us the trouble of fighting them one by one."

Lü Bu shook his head: "We must not be careless. Send down the order: the vanguard scouts should be sent out thirty li ahead to observe the situation when they encounter a city. If they open the gates and surrender, we will not harm them in the slightest; if they close the gates and resist, then we will attack the city."

"promise!"