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

A moment later, Sun Ben entered, knelt, and kowtowed: "Sun Ben, a younger cousin of Sun Ce of Jiangdong, pays respects to His Highness the Prince of Jin!"

Lu Bu raised his hand: "Stand up and speak."

Sun Ben rose and stood respectfully, secretly glancing at the legendary King of Jin. He saw that Lü Bu was over thirty years old, with a tall and upright posture, a majestic aura, and deep, bright eyes that exuded authority without anger.

Lü Bu asked, "Sun Ben, what brings you here, Sun Ce?"

Sun Ben hurriedly replied, "Reporting to Your Majesty, my lord is willing to sincerely submit to the court and obey Your Majesty's orders. He has specially dispatched me to present this letter of surrender and is willing to lead the Jiangdong army by land and sea to join Your Majesty in attacking Jiangxia, capturing and killing Liu Biao and Huang Zu to avenge his father!"

Having said that, he took out a surrender document from his bosom and presented it with both hands.

Lu Bu took the surrender document, glanced at it, and nodded slightly.

In his surrender letter, Sun Ce spoke earnestly, expressing his willingness to offer up the household registers, military records, and accounts of money and grain in Jiangdong, and volunteering to lead troops to join the King of Jin in punishing the rebellious.

Lü Bu looked at Xu Shu: "Yuanzhi, what do you think?"

Xu Shu stroked his beard and said, "My lord, Sun Ce's surrender now is perfectly timed. If he were to surrender any later, he would have lost the initiative. Now that Liu Biao has been defeated and fled, and Yuan Shu is isolated, Sun Ce is in dire straits both internally and externally. His surrender must be due to the persuasion of people like Zhou Yu and Zhang Zhao. My lord should accept him."

Lü Bu nodded and said to Sun Ben, "Since Sun Bofu has this intention, I am very pleased. Go back and tell him that I accept his allegiance. Tell him to immediately raise an army and attack Jiangxia from the east. After capturing and killing Liu Biao and Huang Zu, we will reward them one by one."

Sun Ben was overjoyed and immediately kowtowed, saying, "Thank you, Prince Jin! I will return immediately to report to my lord!"

Lü Bu then said, "Go back and tell Sun Ce that his father, Sun Jian, rendered meritorious service in the campaign against Dong Zhuo, and I have always respected him. Once the world is at peace, I will posthumously grant Sun Jian an official title to recognize his merits. If Sun Ce serves him wholeheartedly, I will certainly not treat him unfairly."

Sun Ben kowtowed repeatedly: "I will forever remember the kindness of the Prince of Jin! My lord will be deeply grateful upon learning this!"

Lu Bu waved his hand: "Go ahead, be careful on the road."

Sun Ben kowtowed again, then rose and withdrew.

……

After Sun Ben left, Zhang Fei grinned and said, "My lord, that kid Sun Ce is quite sensible! Knowing he couldn't beat us, he surrendered beforehand!"

Guan Yu stroked his beard and said, "Although Sun Ce has surrendered, the gentry of Jiangdong have different intentions, so we still need to be careful."

Lü Bu nodded: "Yun Chang is right. However, Sun Ce's surrender at this time is a great advantage for us. With him to hold us back from the east, Huang Zu will have to divide his forces to deal with him, making it much easier to take Xiling. Moreover, with Zhang Yun in the west and Sun Ce in the east, blocking the upper and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, Liu Biao will have nowhere to run if he wants to escape by boat this time."

Xu Shu said, "My lord, I believe that Sun Ce should lead his army to attack Zhu County and E County to the east of Jiangxia to contain Huang Zu's navy. Zhang Yun's navy should attack Miankou and Shiyang from the west, while we should attack Xiling by land from the north. With a three-pronged attack, Liu Biao and Huang Zu will have no chance of escape."

Lü Bu laughed and said, "That's settled then!"

……

Xiling City, Jiangxia Prefectural Governor's Office.

Liu Biao sat in the main seat, his face grim. Below him, Huang Zu, Wen Pin, Chen Sheng, Liu Qi, Liu Pan, and others sat on either side, each with a solemn expression.

A scout has just reported the military situation: Lü Bu has led 20,000 cavalrymen past Anlu and is heading towards Xiling.

Liu Biao sighed, "Lü Bu arrived so quickly. Zhang Hu of Anlu has surrendered. Now there are no defensible terrains north of Xiling."

Huang Zu clasped his hands and said, "My lord, rest assured, Xiling City is high and its moats are deep. With 20,000 naval troops and 10,000 infantry, I will surely ensure that Lü Bu never returns!"

Wen Ping frowned and said, "General Huang, Lü Bu has fought in the south and the north and has never been defeated. We must not underestimate him."

Huang Zu sneered, "General Wen, why do you always boost the morale of others while diminishing your own?"

Just then, another scout stumbled in, knelt down, and reported: "My lord, something terrible has happened! Zhang Yun has led over 30,000 men of the Xiangyang navy, with more than 1,000 warships, out of the Han River and into the Yangtze River, and is heading straight for the mouth of the Mian River!"

"What?"

Liu Biao suddenly stood up, his expression changing drastically. Huang Zu was also stunned, a look of fear flashing in his eyes.

Wen Ping asked urgently, "Zhang Yun? Isn't he in Xiangyang? How come he's come with Lü Bu to attack Jiangxia?"

The scout reported, "General, Lü Bu has promoted Zhang Yun to Grand Admiral of the Xiangyang Navy and has also gathered naval strongholds along the way. Now, together with Lü Bu's combined land and naval forces, more than 50,000 men are marching towards Jiangxia."

Liu Biao slumped back onto his couch, muttering, "Fifty thousand, a combined land and sea force of fifty thousand, and Lü Bu also possesses the divine ability to store grain. How can we possibly withstand this?"

Before the words were finished, another scout rushed in: "Report—urgent report from Jiangdong! Sun Ce has personally led over 30,000 Jiangdong naval troops and more than 800 warships upstream, and has already captured Zhu County and E County. The Jiangxia naval forces downstream are suffering repeated defeats!"

The people in the hall were in an uproar.

Huang Zu's face turned ashen, and he gritted his teeth, saying, "Sun Ce, you little brat! Taking advantage of someone's misfortune!"

Wen Ping sighed, "With the fall of Xiangyang, Zhang Xian retreated from Yuzhang, Yuan Shu was tied down by Huang Zhong, Song Xian, and Hou Cheng, and Sun Ce was able to make his move and launch a counterattack."

Liu Qi stood up, his face deathly pale: "Father, now Lü Bu is coming from the north by land, Zhang Yun from the west by water, and Sun Ce from the east by water. These three armies number nearly 100,000, while we only have 30,000 men. How can we possibly resist?"

Liu Pan also said, "Uncle, why don't we retreat? Retreat to Changsha, or perhaps to Jiaozhou?"

Liu Biao shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Retreat? Where to retreat to? Zhang Yun is upstream, Sun Ce is downstream, the Yangtze River is blocked. To the north by land is Lü Bu, and to the south is Changsha, but Zhang Xian of Changsha has not ordered a retreat. It's uncertain whether he'll capture us to curry favor with Lü Bu. Besides, even if Zhang Xian accepts us, how many days can we hold out against Lü Bu?"

He stood up, walked to the window, gazed at the sky outside, and sighed deeply: "Heaven is despicable for the Han! I, Liu Biao, am a member of the Han imperial family, and I only wished to preserve this land and continue the Han dynasty. But the traitor Lü Bu possesses a divinely granted granary, which is beyond human power to defeat. Now, with three armies surrounding us, how can the isolated city of Xiling possibly hold out?"

Huang Zu rose, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and said, "My lord, I swear to live and die with Xiling! My lord has treated me well, and I am willing to repay you with my life!"

Wen Ping also stood up: "My lord, this humble general is also willing to fight to the death! As long as I have a breath left, I will never let Lü Bu set foot in Xiling!"

Chen Sheng, Liu Qi, Liu Pan, and others also stood up, saying, "We are willing to live and die with our Lord!"

Liu Biao turned around, looking at his loyal generals, his eyes slightly red. He walked up to Huang Zu, grasped his hand, and said, "Prefect Huang, you've followed me for many years, utterly loyal. Today's events are fraught with peril; do you... do you have any complaints?"

Huang Zu shook his head: "My lord, what are you saying? I am but a humble soldier, and it is thanks to your promotion that I am where I am today. Without you, I would have died long ago in the chaos of battle. To die for you today is a worthy death!"