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

Along the way, a rider came from behind; it was a messenger.

"Reporting to the General! A messenger has arrived from Wangyi, the General of Hedong Commandery!"

Lü Bu took the letter, unfolded it, and read it.

The letter stated that the crisis in Yong'an County had been resolved, and Wang Yi had, in accordance with Lü Bu's previous orders, mobilized troops, ordering Commandant Du Ji to lead 2,000 soldiers north to support Yufuluo, and they were expected to arrive in Xihe County within three days.

Meanwhile, news came from Yufuluo that he had fought the Qubei rebels twice, with some victories and defeats, but the Qubei were holding Lishi City and it was difficult to take it for the time being.

After reading the letter, Lü Bu immediately wrote two orders to Du Ji and Yufuluo, instructing them to proceed cautiously and not fall into the trap set by the Qubei rebels. Their goal was simply to halt the Southern Xiongnu's southward advance.

After finishing the letter, he looked north with a sharp gaze.

"Order the entire army to speed up. I want to recover the entire northern border of Bingzhou within the first month!"

In the following days, Lü Bu's army advanced with unstoppable momentum.

On the sixteenth day of the first month, Meng County was recaptured.

On the seventeenth day of the first month, Yangqu County was captured.

On the morning of the 18th day of the first lunar month, Yuanping County was recaptured.

Wherever they went, almost every city with Xianbei soldiers stationed there surrendered without a fight.

The reason is simple: Kebineng's head was placed in a wooden box and carried with the army. Whenever they arrived at a city, Lü Bu would have the wooden box delivered to the city walls for the defenders to see.

"Kebineng is dead! Those who surrender will be spared, those who resist will be executed along with their entire clan!"

After these words were spoken, few Xianbei soldiers dared to resist.

They were just second- or third-rate troops under Kebineng, staying behind to loaf around, and had no will to fight to the death.

So they opened the city gates, surrendered their weapons, and knelt down to surrender.

Lü Bu did not kill indiscriminately. He gathered the prisoners together and kept them under guard, to be sent to do hard labor after the war. After all, Lü Bu planned to develop the coal mines in Bingzhou, and people would need to go down into the mines to mine coal.

Only a few cities were defended by Kebineng, a loyal general who still wanted to put up a stubborn resistance.

For example, Lüqi County.

The defending commander, a centurion, upon seeing Kebineng's head, not only refused to surrender but also shouted curses from the city wall: "Han dogs! You killed my king! This is an irreconcilable hatred! We swear to die rather than surrender!"

Without further ado, Lü Bu ordered Gao Shun's elite troops to attack the city.

Half an hour later, the city fell.

The centurion was hacked to death, most of the remaining defenders were killed, and a small number surrendered.

After this battle, the cities behind dared not resist even more.

On the afternoon of the 18th day of the first lunar month, the army arrived in Guangwu County.

Gouzhu Mountain, about 20 miles northwest of the county seat, is where Yanmen Pass is located.

Yanmen Pass, a formidable pass under heaven.

The mountains on both sides are steep and the pass guards the vital passage, making it an impregnable fortress.

When Kebineng marched south, he left a thousand soldiers here to guard the area, under the command of the centurion Heruolü.

Heruolu was a confidant of Kebineng, and was brave and skilled in battle.

When he received the news of Kebineng's defeat and death, he initially refused to believe it. However, upon seeing the large banner with the character "吕" (Lü) in front of the Han army's formation below the pass and the human head in the wooden box, he had no choice but to believe it.

But he has no intention of surrendering.

"The King has treated me with the greatest kindness, how could I surrender to the Han?" Heruolu said to his subordinates. "Besides, the pass is treacherous, and no matter how many Han troops there are, they will have a hard time breaking through it. Let's hold out for ten days or half a month, and wait for the northern tribes to transport the looted treasures back to the grasslands before we retreat."

He had a beautiful plan: Yanmen Pass was easy to defend but difficult to attack, the mountain roads were difficult to travel, and the Han army lacked siege equipment, so it would not be able to take it down in a short time.

Once he has stalled for enough time, he will lead his army back to the grasslands via the small path behind the pass, and perhaps he can use this achievement to compete for the title of King of Xianbei.

But he didn't expect that Lü Bu had a system.

Below the pass, Lü Bu observed the terrain of the pass.

The fortress was built between two mountains, with walls four zhang high, constructed of bluestone, making it exceptionally sturdy. The passage in front of the fortress was narrow, preventing large armies from spreading out.

It's definitely a tough nut to crack.

"General, a direct assault would result in heavy casualties," Zhang Liao said. "It would be better to divide our forces and take a detour, attacking from the flank..."

"No need," Lü Bu waved his hand. "I have a way."

He rode his horse to a point two hundred paces in front of the pass—out of the range of the defenders' arrows.

Seeing this from the city wall, Heruolü assumed Lü Bu was coming to persuade him to surrender and sneered, "Trying to persuade me to surrender? Dream on!"

But Lu Bu didn't say anything; he just raised his hand and waved it.

The next moment, Heruo Lu and all the guards were dumbfounded.

On the open ground in front of the pass, ten catapults, five ballistae, and piles of stone projectiles and crossbow bolts appeared out of thin air.

"This...this is..." Xi Ruolü's eyes widened. "Sorcery?"

Below the city, Lü Bu calmly ordered, "Load, fire."

"promise!"

The catapults and ballistae were operated by skilled soldiers selected by Lü Bu from the army, who had already undergone training.

The boulder was loaded, and the crossbow bolt was cocked.

"put!"

"Buzz------"

"Bang!"

The boulder flew with a whooshing sound towards the fortress.

The first shot missed, landing in front of the city wall and kicking up a cloud of dust.

But the second, third and subsequent shots hit their targets one after another.

"boom!"

A huge rock crashed into a corner of the city wall, sending wood and stone flying everywhere. Two Xianbei soldiers were smashed into a bloody pulp.

"ah------!"

A scream erupted.

The ballistae were also fired; the thick bolts pierced the air and embedded themselves in the city wall, penetrating more than a foot deep.

"Hide! Hide!" Heruo shouted.

The defenders hurriedly hid behind the city wall, not daring to show their faces.

But the boulders kept flying in; some hit the city walls, causing the bricks to crack; others flew over the walls and crashed into houses inside the pass, causing them to collapse instantly.

Although not many people were directly killed, the deterrent power of such a giant rock falling from the sky was terrifying.

Half an hour later, the city gate was in complete disarray.

Half of the gate tower above the city gate collapsed, many parts of the city wall were damaged, and more than a dozen houses inside the pass collapsed.

The morale of the defending troops plummeted.

"Chief...we...we can't hold out..." one of his men said in a trembling voice.

Heruo Lu's face was ashen, but he gritted his teeth and said, "Defend! The Han army doesn't have siege ladders, they can't get up! As long as we hold the city walls, they can't get in!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a heavily armored infantry unit began to advance from the Han army formation below the pass.

It was Gao Shun's elite Trapped Camp.

They carried the siege ladders that Lu Bu had also taken from his storage space, and held up large shields, steadily approaching the fortified wall.

"Fire arrows! Roll logs and rocks!" Heruolu roared.

The defenders, gritting their teeth, ventured out and fired arrows down at the rocks.

But the Trapped Camp's defenses are too comprehensive.

Large shields blocked the arrows, and iron helmets and armor protected against falling stones. Squadrons were placed on the city wall, and soldiers began to climb.

"Stop them! Stop them!" He Ruolü personally supervised the battle, pouring a pot of hot oil down the drain.

Several soldiers from the enemy's elite unit were burned and fell off the ladder.

But more people climbed up, and when Heruolu saw that things were not going well, he kept mobilizing other garrison troops on the city wall to come and support them.

Just as Heruolu was focusing all his attention on the main city gate, Lü Bu made his move.

He had already removed his bright armor and put on the leather armor of an ordinary soldier. He then led fifty personal guards dressed in the same attire and quietly circled around to the east side of the city gate.

The terrain here is steep, and the garrison was already small. They were just transferred to provide frontal support, leaving only one sentry.

Lu Bu took out three cloud ladders from his storage space and silently erected them on the city wall.