Chapter 28 - Battle of Kaiyang (1)
Original by Bro Got a Gun, Translated by James, Proofread by Cartesian
“Dong Dong Dong Dong!” Early in the morning, the war drums had already begun to sound. Lu Bu knew that the Cao army was about to attack again. There’s not a lot of soldiers left inside the city now, they might not be able to last for the whole day!
“Sha!” The white clothed Cao soldiers, with the helps of ladders, was swarming over like an army of ants. This time, the vanguards were Xu Huang’s troops.
Xu Huang was a famous Cao general in the Three Kingdoms period. He was originally a cavalry officer under Yang Feng. After Yang Feng was defeated by Cao Cao, he switched loyalties to Cao Cao. Although he hadn’t been a Cao general for a long time, Cao Cao treated him generously and gave him a whole battalion of troops to lead. Thus, Xu Huang wanted to express his worth to his lord even more and show Cao Cao that he had chosen the right person.
“Brothers! Attack! The Lu Bu army is on its last breath! The prime minister has given the order! Those who ascend the walls of Kaiyang shall be rewarded ten gold! Those who kill a single Lu Bu soldier shall be rewarded a field of land! Those who kill ten Lu Bu soldiers shall be rewarded jewels and precious stones! Those who kill a hundred Lu Bu soldiers shall be given an official position and have his military rank increased! Brothers, this is the perfect opportunity to achieve something for yourselves! Kill them all!” Xu Huang’s speech was very captivating. His soldiers’ morale had increased significantly and they started to dauntlessly advance in wave upon wave - attacking the city walls.
Xu Huang didn’t shout what he usually told his soldiers. He didn’t tell the soldiers to kill the head of the enemy. This was because he was aware of Lu Bu’s prowess. Yesterday, he climbed up to the city walls and was seen by Lu Bu. Had it not been for Lao Cao dispatching Xu Chu and his own personal guards, then Xu Huang would likely have been unable to leave the city walls!
Even with this, there were still no less than ten deaths amongst the guards. Only then did Xu Huang know of the might of the number one general under heaven.
A single tiger wasn’t scary. What’s scary was a tiger commanding a group of wolves!
Lu Bu was the tiger and the Lu Bu army was the wolves!
“We must persist! We must persist! Once the Cao army breaks through the city walls, they will kill every one of us! To surrender is to die! To resist is also to die! In that case, men, let’s risk it all!” Originally Chen Gong feared that the Chen family soldiers would revolt. However, ever since he mentioned that Cao Cao might massacre everyone after capturing the city, every one of the Chen family soldiers went insane, blocking the Cao army’s advance. The effects of his words were very good!
Although the Chen family soldiers were personal soldiers of Chen Deng’s family, they were all Xu Province folks before they enlisted. Cao Cao’s attack on Xu Province had killed a great amount of people. Many of these Xu Province soldiers’ relatives might even be amongst those killed by Cao Cao.
“Sha! Sha! Sha!” Xu Province was a place of abundance and the folks were all of gentle temperament, however even gentle folks could get angry! And Cao Cao, he had caused these folks’ bloody temperament to arise. They have fought back wave after wave of Cao troops.
“Lu Bu! Lu Bu!” Cao Cao started at the golden armored general on the wall. He had a very complicated expression as he looked at Lu Bu.
He so desired to kill that man because that man had almost killed him! Moreover, that man had immense charisma and excellent capabilities in leading troops! These Xu Province soldiers were originally weak and feeble; when they were in the hands of Tao Gongzu, Tao Qian, they had no military prowess at all. They were soldiers that could not win a single battle and would flee at the sight of the enemy! Even the elites amongst them, the Danyang soldiers, still amounted to nothing in the battle against Cao Cao’s army. However, these same Xu Province soldiers were now fighting back the offense of his elite troops as if they had gone berserk!
[TL: Gongzu = Tao Qian’s courtesy name]
Xu Huang was already on the level of a first-rate general, his soldiers no worse than those of Yu Jin and Xiahou Yuan. However, he was still unable to take over the city walls!
“If only he surrendered to me!” Cao Cao sighed. When he was outside of Xiapi, he once thought of reconciling with Lu Bu and turning him into his ally. If he were to give all his military forces to Lu Bu and have him command them while he himself took care of internal affairs, then, with such a combination, they would certainly be able to sweep the world in a short amount of time!
But all of this was ruined by Chen Gong, that arrow almost cost him his life!
[TL: Lu Bu considered Cao Cao’s offer for surrender but Chen Gong was like, fuck you bro, let me shoot teh arrow at yo head!]
After half a day of fierce fighting, blood once again stained the walls. Finally, there was a Cao troop that managed to board the wall.
“The reward! The reward is mine!” This Cao solder was very happy. He was the first to board the wall and thus the reward of ten gold for boarding the wall was his!
However, before he could even celebrate…
“Poof!” From the mouth of the Cao soldier came a spray of blood. On his chest appeared a sword. This was a masterpiece caused by a Xu Province soldier.
“Re-reward!” Even till he lost his breath and fell down the walls, the Cao soldier was still thinking of his reward.
To have one meant that there would be a second. Although the Lu Bu army fought bravely, they were way too tired. Slowly white clothed Cao soldiers began to appear on the city walls. First they occupied a small corner. Then they slowly turned the single corner into two corners, then three corners.
“It’s time!” Cao Cao looked at the increasing number of white dressed soldiers and waved his hand. “Xu Huang, Li Dian, join the fray!” Although none of the generals could match Lu Bu alone, they could fight him together! Even if Lu Bu was the God of War, he was still human! Humans will always grow tired!
“Yes, Prime Minister!” Li Dian and Xu Huang glanced at each other. Both of their eyes were blazing with desire. They knew of Lu Bu’s prowess. The more they knew of Lu Bu’s prowess the stronger their desire was to kill him and obtain the merit for killing him. Killing Lu Bu was the same as telling the world they were stronger than the strongest!
The two held their hands toward Cao Cao and immediately proceeded to leave with their troops, advancing toward the city walls.
As opposed to the two’s blazing desire, Cao Cao was instead a bit desolate. In today’s battle, Lu Bu will be defeated at his hands; his soul was about to go toward the Yellow Springs! In this world, how many heroes are left that are worthy for Cao Cao to struggle against?!
[TL: Yellow Springs = hell in chinese mythology]
“Zhongkang! Take my guards and follow after them. Prepare for and await my orders at all times!” He was afraid that Li Dian and Xu Huang weren’t going to be able to kill Lu Bu; so he decided to have Xu Chu as backup for killing Lu Bu.
[TL: Zhongkang = Xu Chu’s courtesy name.]
Actually, Cao Cao had people who were able to fight against Lu Bu. They were the two younger brothers of a certain imperial uncle. They are currently sitting under the tent drinking quietly. In the Battle of Hulao Pass, had big eared Liu not obstructed them then perhaps Zhang Fei and Guan Yu would’ve really been able to keep Lu Bu from escaping. And now, Lu Bu was both weak and weary, if the two brothers were sent to battle him, they’re certainly going to fare well.
However, Cao Cao didn’t send them. He wanted big eared Liu to sit and watch. He wanted to show big eared Liu that he too had a cloudful of valiant generals under him.
Li Dian and Xu Huang led their troops and arrived underneath the city walls. The sky was raining men constantly. There were both Cao soldiers and Lu Bu soldiers amongst those falling down the walls. There were also times when the whole siege ladder was pushed down, raining countless men at once.
“Mancheng, I shall take the left while you take the right. We shall attack both sides!” proposed Xu Huang.
[TL: Mancheng = Li Dian’s courtesy name.]
“Everything shall be decided by Gongming!” Li Dian was a person who never once bothered to argue for meritorious service with others. As long as you use him, he’d absolutely not disappoint you.
[TL: Gongming = Xu Huang’s courtesy name.]
Xu Huang nodded. The two then brought their guards and started climbing two siege ladders.
“Sha!” With a large roar, Xu Huang, with a large shield in hand, started climbing the ladder. Rocks, stones, stakes, hot oil and corpses, like rain, were falling onto the heads of those climbing toward the wall. With a large shield over him and his blade in his mouth, step by step Xu Huang climbed.
“Die!” On Li Dian’s side, there was a bit less people. Thus Li Dian was the first to ascend the wall. Right as Li Dian ascended the wall, a Lu Bu soldier was already slashing his knife while also trying to kick the whole siege ladder away from the wall.
Seeing this, Li Dian immediately threw away his large shield, picked up the blade in his mouth and thrust the blade at the coming foe as if it was a sword.
Li Dian’s speed was mighty fast. He’s a first-rate general; his martial abilities were not weak at all. Thus, against a common soldier, it was so easy that it was almost like stretching out his hand.
Blood splashed all over Li Dian and contrary to expectations, the blood evoked Li Dian’s fierce nature. With a huge step, Li Dian began to brandish his blade upon his foes. Xu Huang, on the other hand, was unlucky. He had set his siege ladder at a place filled with numerous Lu Bu soldiers. Soon, the siege ladder was going to be pushed away from the city walls. If that happened, then Xu Huang would be saying bye bye to the world! To fall from the city wall, you’d be dead even if you were an immortal!
Li Dian was like a god of death. The area within two meters of him was suddenly emptied. He directly charged toward the direction of Xu Huang and saved Xu Huang’s life.
“Many thanks Mancheng!” Xu Huang also ascended the wall. His guards that followed had also brought his giant axe up the wall.
Li Dian didn’t have the time to return the courtesy, he only responded with an ‘en’ sound. That was because Li Dian was already sweating profusely. He knew that he had been targeted by a ferocious beast.
[TL: en = yeah. It’s a grunt that chinese people use all the time to reply. kinda like mmhmm]
This kind of feeling! It’s Lu Bu!! Li Dian considered himself not to be worse than other generals. Even if it was Xu Chu, he hadn’t experienced this kind of feeling. There’s only one person he had felt this from - Dian Wei! Only from Dian Wei had he experienced this kind of cold killing intent without any hint of human emotions!
Who would’ve thought that Lu Bu also had this kind of killing intent. And it’s even more horrible than Dian Wei’s!
“Lu Bu!” Xu Huang also felt it. However, he fared better off than Li Dian as he had experienced the prowess of Lu Bu first hand. Xu Huang couldn’t help but tightly grasp his axe.
“Yesterday, I was unable to keep you here! Today, let this city wall be your grave!” Sure enough, Boss Lu’s voice resounded from the rear.