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

In the latter half of the year 398 (197 AD), turmoil broke out in some border regions of the Han Empire.

The cause was the nationwide military reorganization initiated by Lü Bu at the beginning of the year.

Under the new system, local armed forces in all prefectures and counties were brought under the unified jurisdiction of the imperial court, with generals appointed by the court and soldiers paid by the court.

This policy touched upon the fundamental interests of local powerful clans and tribal leaders of ethnic minorities.

How could they be willing to accept that their family retainers and servants, which they had controlled for generations, had now been taken away by the imperial court?

The powerful clans and gentry in the Central Plains were well-informed and knew the might of Emperor Lü Bu, as well as the current state of affairs in the world. Anyone who dared to rebel would die without even knowing how.

However, the situation was different for the ethnic minorities in the border regions. On the one hand, they were not well informed. On the other hand, even though they knew that Lü Bu was powerful and had unified the country, they had never personally witnessed his divine abilities, so they harbored a侥幸心理 (a gambler's mentality) and rebelled.

He thought that even if he couldn't defeat the imperial court, he could still be a king by leading his troops into the deep mountains and forests, which was better than having all his military power taken away and becoming a general without any troops.

Therefore, the leaders of the four barbarian tribes under Yizhou—Zangke, Yuexi, Yizhou (a prefecture name), and Yongchang—gathered together to discuss and elect Meng Du (Meng Huo's father), a powerful figure in the south, as their leader to resist the Han court's new military system that confiscated local military power.

The Meng family had intermarried with various barbarian tribes for generations, and enjoyed high prestige among them.

He declared, "The imperial court wants to take away our military power. We'll be like fish on a chopping board, completely at their mercy. Rather than sit and wait to die, we'd rather fight to the death!"

When the news spread, the barbarian tribes of the four prefectures responded one after another.

Mengdu gathered more than 100,000 people, attacked and captured the mountain strongholds and county towns in the southern part of Yizhou, and besieged the county seat.

Although the garrison troops of each prefecture had been reorganized and were well-equipped, their forces were limited and they could only rely on the reinforced city walls to hold out.

Fortunately, when Gao Shun took over as commander-in-chief of the Southwest Military Region, Cao Xing, the former commander of the Yizhou Army Group, had already informed him in detail of the fact that the southern barbarians were unruly and might cause trouble. Gao Shun was prepared in advance, and the cities in each prefecture had sufficient food and fodder and strong walls, so it would not be a problem to hold out for three to five months.

However, they couldn't care less about the counties and villages below, and most of them fell into the hands of the Mengdu rebels.

In addition to the southern regions, the Qiang and Hu peoples of Liangzhou, the Xianbei peoples of Liaodong, and the Yue peoples (remnants of the Baiyue peoples) of the three prefectures of Jing, Yang and Jiao also rose up in rebellion.

The tribal leaders all gave similar reasons: the imperial court was taking away military power in order to sever our roots!

They wanted to take advantage of the fact that the imperial court had not yet completed its reorganization to bargain and even establish their own independent regime.

In September, Lü Bu received urgent reports from various places in the Taiji Hall, and his face turned ashen.

"I have unified the world, with all sides submitting, and have subdued dozens of kingdoms in the Western Regions. Now, I merely wish to reorganize the army, without requiring these tribal leaders to provide provisions or pay, yet they dare to incite their subordinates to rebel?" Lü Bu slammed the memorial onto the imperial desk. "Issue the decree..."

"Hou Cheng, Commander-in-Chief of the Northwest Military Region, is leading his troops to conquer the Qiang and Hu tribes of Liangzhou. Ma Chao, Commander of the Western Regions Military Sub-district, is temporarily returning to Liangzhou to assist Hou Cheng in suppressing the Qiang tribes, leveraging his prestige in the western region. Hou Cheng and Ma Chao are instructed to try their best to appease them. However, anyone who insists on resisting will be killed without mercy."

"Wei Xu, Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Military Region, is leading his troops to suppress the Xianbei in Liaodong. He must quell the rebellion in one fell swoop and not give the Wuhuan, the Three Hans, Goguryeo and other northeastern tribes any opportunity to take advantage of the situation."

"Hao Meng of the Central and Southern Military Region and Song Xian of the Southeast Military Region will join forces to suppress the Yue tribes. Any who resist will be exterminated along with their entire clan."

"I personally led the elite Imperial Guards south to Yizhou to pacify the southern regions."

Grand Secretary Jia Xu stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the terrain in the south is treacherous, and the barbarians are familiar with the mountain roads. I believe that we should focus on pacification and appeasement, with conquest as a secondary measure. If we can divide and weaken them, subduing them without a fight, that would be the best strategy."

Lü Bu waved his hand dismissively: "Wenhe, you are mistaken. The reason why the southern barbarians have repeatedly surrendered and rebelled is that local powerful families have secretly supported them and the chieftains have held official positions for generations. Those tribal leaders have troops, power, and financial autonomy, which is why they dare to challenge the imperial court. This time, I am not only going there to quell the rebellion, but also to abolish the chieftain system and bring the southern region under the direct control of the imperial court. As for pacification, we can talk about that after I have subdued them."

In early October, Lü Bu led 5,000 elite Imperial Guards from Luoyang.

The army first returned to Chang'an, then entered Shu via Hanzhong. With Lü Bu's divine granary carrying provisions and supplies, the army's marching speed was extremely fast.

On October 21st, the army passed through Jianmen Pass and entered the Sichuan Plain. Lü Bu did not stay in Chengdu, but headed directly south to join the main force of the Southwest Military Region led by Gao Shun.

In early November, Lü Bu's army entered Nanzhong.

The barbarian army was said to number 100,000, but in reality, only 30,000 to 40,000 were capable of fighting.

Although these people were brave and fierce, they were poorly equipped, mostly with bamboo bows and wooden spears, and did not even have a decent suit of armor.

Faced with Lü Bu's catapults and the steel swords and iron armor of the Imperial Guards, they were utterly helpless. Even the small number of elephant cavalry could not withstand Lü Bu's catapults and giant crossbows.

Lü Bu used catapults to clear paths, breaking through passes and capturing fortified villages. When rivers blocked his way, he took out large boats from his storage space to build bridges; when mountain paths were rugged, he took out pre-prepared stones to pave plank roads. Where there was truly no path, he simply used his storage space to collect earth and stones to create a road.

Shimen Pass, built against the mountain, is known as a place where one man can hold off ten thousand.

Mengdu stationed 5,000 troops at the pass, thinking he was safe and sound.

Lü Bu, however, only needed half a day to use catapults to breach the fortified walls. Zhang Ren led his troops in a charge, charging ahead and killing the defending general with his spear. The barbarian soldiers scattered, suffering more than half their casualties.

Mengdu built three fortified camps on Dianchi Lake, intending to defend the area by relying on the lake.

Lü Bu first built a stone platform, which he then used to bombard Meng Du's camp from a high vantage point. He then built a bridge across the lake and personally led his personal guard to storm the camp gate.

Lu Bu had already increased his inhuman strength to 190. He smashed his halberd against the gate of the stronghold, and the wooden fence shattered. The Imperial Guards swarmed in.

All three camps were breached within a single day, and Meng Du fled in panic into the Ailao Mountains with only a few thousand remaining soldiers.

In late November, Lü Bu divided his troops into three routes and besieged Ailao Mountain.

Meng Du thought the deep mountains and dense forests could serve as a barrier, but little did he know that Lü Bu possessed extraordinary perception, able to see all the traps and ambushes hidden in the mountains. Yan Yan led his troops to circle around to the rear of the camp via a small path from the north, Zhang Ren launched a feigned attack from the front, and Lü Bu personally led his elite troops to cut off the retreat route from the south.

Attacked from three directions simultaneously, throwing the barbarian troops into chaos. Meng Du attempted to break out, but was knocked off his horse by Zhang Ren's spear and captured alive.

In early December, Lü Bu summoned the leaders of various tribes in Nanzhong to Buwei County, the capital of Yongchang Commandery. In front of everyone, Meng Du was beheaded and his entire clan was exterminated.

Standing on the high platform, Lü Bu surveyed the surroundings and declared loudly, "I will make this clear today: the court's reorganization of the army is not to cut off your livelihoods, but to ensure lasting peace in the south. From this day forward, officials will be stationed in the four commanderies of the south. The original territories of each tribe will be uniformly measured by the government and distributed according to population. All those who abide by the law and pay taxes on time, regardless of whether they are Han or barbarian, will be treated equally. Those who commit crimes, gather followers to rebel, will suffer the same fate as the Mengdu family!"