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Chapter 36: Casualties of the Cao Army (1)

My Father in Law is Lu Bu

"Hungry. Starving." Outside of Kaiyang, in the current of steel, an odor reeking of blood started spreading out.

"The Bing Province Wolf Cavalry troops?!" Old Cao abruptly ran to the observation platform. His eyes were almost popped out in shock. "Where did the cavalry came from?! Where did the horses came from?!" Lu Bu didn't take a single horse with him when he fled from Xiapi. Majority of the war horses from Kaiyang was already pulled by Lu Bu to Xiapi. The remaining small amount of war horses were given away by Zang Ba. How could there possibly be all these horses now?!

An ocean of cavalries wider than the eye can see.

"Two horses per man, five thousand horses, three thousand cavalries?!" Xu Huang was certainly above all other Cao generals when it comes to cavalries. With a single view, he could already tell the situation.

"Three thousand cavalries?!" Only through great difficulty did Old Cao managed to grow a cavalry unit of five thousand. Now, more than half of these cavalries were here in Xu Province. They are precisely the three thousand Ferocious Cavalry. Cao Cao would be distressed to lose even a single one of them. That's because a single one of these Ferocious Cavalry soldier cost as much as a whole infantry unit, a unit of heavy infantries.

And now, Lu Bu who was once a cornered beast had unexpectedly brought forth three thousand cavalries out of Kaiyang, the city that was soon to fall. And they're heavy cavalries! Five thousand war horses! Cao Cao could tell that these five thousand war horses are not some inferior horses but instead genuine good horses!

Old Cao felt as if he was scammed. The opposing side was also heavy cavalries. Even if the Ferocious Cavalry are elites, there's certainly still going to be casualties from the engagement against other cavalries. Not to mention, the opposing cavalries are their old enemy, the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry.

Say, if you Lu Bu had the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry in your hand, then you should've broken out of Kaiyang earlier. Instead you had to go and play a defensive battle in Kaiyang. Now that you cannot stop the city from being captured, you decided to play a final decisive battle. While Lu Bu you had lost Xu Province, Xiapi and was willing to put all your reserve in this major battle, Old Cao cannot afford to do that. These three thousand Ferocious Cavalry was as expensive as an army of a hundred thousand. If he were to lose them in this battle, then Old Cao would certainly grieve till death.

"Bing Province Wolf Cavalry?!" Cao Chun had already led the charge with the Ferocious Cavalry. Although he was surprised, he cannot stop. What the cavalries needed was high mobility. Only through high running could they annihilate their enemies with their speed.

He who is more brave shall win when met with his rival! This was a confrontation between two cavalries.

"Follow my lead! Sweep everything before us!" shouted Cao Chun. The Ferocious Cavalry troops that were following him too began to shout vigorously. Their horses began to increase their speed and further increase their speed and even further. They wanted to pulverize the enemies in front of them.

"So what if they're the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry! Today, I, Cao Chun, shall let you know that the number one cavalry unit in the world is the Ferocious Cavalry! Lu Fengxian, prepare yourself!" said Cao Chun as he took the lead and advance toward Lu Bu.

"Prepare? Heh. It should be you Cao Chun and Cao Cao who should prepare yourselves! " Lu Bu raised his trident against the sky and shouted. "Brothers, show these women what exactly our Bing Province Wolf Cavalry is made out of! Follow after me!"

"Hungry! Starving!" A group of starving wolves charged into the likewise battle-ready Ferocious Cavalry.

"Spears!" With a shout, Zhang Liao gave off an order and the spears that was originally pointed toward the ground were simultaneously faced forward. "Charge!"

"Pulverize them!" With an ominous glint on his face, Cao Cao began to squeeze his horse tighter.

[TL: I found out squeezing horse is the way to make horses run… not kicking them… oops]

"Sha!!!!"

The two currents of steel collided into each other.

The strength of cavalries was determined by their impacting prowess. The first row of the Ferocious Cavalry had collided with the first row of Bing Province Wolf Cavalry. Like the rest of the heavy cavalries in this era, the Ferocious Cavalry soldiers were armed with blades and spears. However, upon colliding with the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry, they noticed that their spears were a whole segment shorter than their enemy's.

As the saying goes, the longer weapon wins the fight. The vanguards of the Ferocious Cavalry met with some rather unlucky fates.

"Die!" These Bing Province Wolf Cavalry Soldiers who have been besieged and attacked by the Cao troops all this time have kept within their stomach an immense amount of anger. Now that they have their horses, armors and spears, they were finally able to express their anger.

With great enthusiasm, they thrust their spears toward the Ferocious Cavalry.

"Pu pu pu!" One by one, sounds of armors being pierced through resounded through the battlefield. There were even some Bing Province Wolf Cavalry soldiers that were going so fast that they pierced through two or even three Ferocious Cavalry soldiers at once.

"Close engagement!" Cao Chun noticed the prowess of the spears that the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry possess and decided to tell his troops to engage in a closer range. No matter how strong the spears are, their usage is limited to long range. Once the distance between them decreased, the spears would only become obstructions. At that time, the Ferocious Cavalry would have the whole battle.

"Raise shield!" Zhang Liao shouted again. Only now did Cao Chun notice that attached behind every Bing Province Wolf Cavalry soldier was a large shield. Those shields were shining brightly under the sun. It was obvious that they were of metal construction. Such large shields, don't they know that cavalry would no longer be mobile with those?!

Cavalry. Cavalry are known as cavalry due to their high speed movements. Once the rider wears too much armor or too heavy equipment, then not only would it be hard for the person to bear the weight, it would also be hard for the horses to bear the weight. The mobility of the horses would be lost. Once lost, not only could they no longer travel long distances, they would also be unable to engage enemies.

Initially Zhang Liao had thought of the same thing as Cao Chun. When had cavalries ever possessed shields? The motto of cavalries had always been engage, engage, engage and attack, attack, attack. Never once had cavalries ever used shields. Even if they had shields, then it had always been just small armshields and never such large shields.

However, upon donning his equipment, Zhang Liao was instead very happy. These shields, although big, were very thin and tough. So tough that it shocked Zhang Liao. So tough that his blade was unable to break through those shields.

Liu Mang had originally brought those shields for the Formation Breaker. However, all the Formation Breaker troops had jumped onto a horse. Thus, everyone ended up having a shield.

"Abominable!" Cao Chun dodged an incoming spear and returned with a slash with his Horse Beheading Blade. "Die for me!" His blade accurately went through the gaps between the shield and landed on the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry soldier's body.

[TL: 斩马刀, https://www.google.com/search?q=%E6%96%A9%E9%A9%AC%E5%88%80&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAWoVChMIt-mx0PSGxwIVToCSCh1VPwSK&biw=784&bih=771]

"Die!" Cao Chun had an ruthless expression. All the general had their expression turned ruthless upon entering the battlefield. This was due to being influenced by the atmosphere of war. This had caused some to be unable to calm themselves even after the war is over.

Cao Chun had an expression of excitement. Blood was soon to be sputtering. This Bing Province scrub was going to die.

Before Cao Chun's excitement could reach its climax, he suddenly stiffened up. That was because his blade, his blade was unable to break through the armor! That white armor looked exactly the same as before. The only difference was that now there was a white blade mark.

"How could this be?!" Cao Chun's weapon wasn't just some ordinary large blade. It was a weapon bestowed upon him by Cao Cao to represent the might of the Ferocious Cavalry. It was originated from the same master blacksmith as Cao Cao's Sword of Heaven. Cutting apart metal and leather armor was like cutting tofu for it. However, it was currently unable to cut through the Lu Bu soldier's armor.

That Bing Province Cavalry soldier didn't care about Cao Chun's state of mind at all. On the battlefield, it's either you die or I die.

"Hungry! Starving!" The Bing Province Wolf Cavalry was like a pack of hungry prairie wolves. In their eyes, only through tearing apart the enemies in front of them could they obtain food to satisfy their hungry and obtain survival. Thus, these Bing Province Wolf Cavalry soldiers were fighting desperately to find a way out of the impasse.

"Abominable!" Cao Chun immediately returned a strike to block the incoming attack. Although he could block the incoming attack with his great martial skills, his subordinates were not as lucky.

"Ahhhh ahhh ahh!" One by one, the Ferocious Cavalry soldiers fell. Other than the few first row Bing Province Wolf Cavalry soldiers who were dismounted during the initial impact of the horses, they were practically unharmed.

Although the Ferocious Cavalry were wearing heavy armor, their armor was still full of gaps everywhere. Some of their heavy armor was even unable to defend against the attacks from the spears. That was because although their armor was classified as heavy armor, they were not fully composed of metal like those of infantries but instead a combination of metal and cloth.

Their Horse Beheading Blade was originally a nightmare for other cavalries. However, against the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry, their blades was unable to even break through their defences. If they can't break through their defenses, they can't possibly win.

"Break through!" Cao Chun knew that this time the Ferocious Cavalry will suffer great defeat. However, as the commanding officer, he knew that he cannot retreat and could only break through the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry without any regards to the amount of casualties. Only through that might the Ferocious Cavalry be able to regroup themselves. That was because once a cavalry unit stops, then it will soon suffer complete annihilation.

"Break through! Break through!" The Ferocious Cavalry was indeed worthy of being the elite amongst elites within the Cao army. In an instant they immediately understood the thought of their general - when meeting enemies face to face, he who is more brave shall obtain victory. On the battlefield, there is no begging for forgiveness; there is only life and death.

"Sha!" Lu Bu's eyes flashed. Although Zhang Liao is the commander of the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry, he was the commander before Zhang Liao. He admired Cao Chun's action of breaking through and not to panic. He knew that Cao Chun was a good general who is very familiar with cavalries.

"You think you can leave whenever you please?!" Lu Bu perked his horse, his sword like eye fixed onto Cao Chun.

"This sensation!" Cao Chun was leading the Ferocious Cavalry in their breakthrough when he suddenly sense a tightness on his chest. He was trembling as if some ferocious beast had fixed its attention on him.

"Not good!" Cao Chun suddenly lowered his head. His whole body was like a turtle hiding within its shell. At this moment, Cao Chun could care less about his image. He wanted to survive and sure enough, his experience of over hundreds of battles saved his life. Atop his head, a golden colored trident flew by like a flash.

"Poof! Poof!" Instantly two heads flew to the sky. Two Ferocious Cavalry soldiers that had been following Cao Chun close-by suddenly became two fountains of blood and lifelessly fell down their war horses.

"Lu Bu!" Only now did Cao Chun manage to have a view of the incoming person. Donning in a golden armor, holding a trident and with murderous aura all over; wasn't this the Lu Bu that he said he will kill earlier?!

Chapter 37: Casualties of the Cao Army (2)

My Father in Law is Lu Bu

This chapter is brought to you by Steven W. of Malaysia, Andres C. of Spain, and Suood K. of UAE. Thank you sponsors!

"Cao Chun! Humph!" Lu Bu suddenly started charging toward Cao Chun. On the White Gate Tower, he failed to kill both Cao Cao and Xiahou Yuan and had since been in a very bad mood. "Cao Mende took my Xu Province and uprooted my foundation! Today, I shall have you taste the pain of losing your loved general!"

Lu Bu didn't know who Cao Chun was. However, he knew that the Ferocious Cavalry was Old Cao's precious treasure - only these few thousands of them in the whole Yan Province. For this Cao Chun to be the commander of the Ferocious Cavalry, he is most definitely one of Cao Cao's great general!

What Lu Bu wanted was to slay this Cao Chun to give Cao Cao heartaches.

"Die for me!" Lu Bu's entire murderous aura was fixed onto Cao Chun. On the battlefield, anyone that Lu Bu wants to kill will certainly die. No one could stop him, not even gods!

"This cannot be! How can I die?! I cannot die!" Cao Chun did not knew of the prowess that Lu Bu possess before, he even dared to belittle him earlier. He had viewed Lu Bu to be just a brute, the slave of three surnames, a traitor who put petty personal love affairs over everything else, a person who cannot possibly accomplish much. Cao Chun had always viewed of slaying Lu Bu as a stepping stone in his meritorious contributions.

When his Ferocious Cavalry was called to the front of the battlefield, Cao Chun was immensely happy. He had viewed Lu Bu as a fish on the chopping block. He wanted to kill Lu Bu and prove to the world that he, Cao Chun, was the greatest general; that he, Cao Chun, was the real God of War.

However now Cao Chun was in a panic. He was a general. Thus, his sensitivity toward dangers was much stronger compared to regular people!

He had only heard from others of Lu Bu's frightening prowess before. And now, he genuinely experienced it. He genuinely experienced the frightening man known who was known as the God of War, this man who was the Wolf God of the Prairie!

"Fast! Too fast!" Cao Chun saw the golden trident's shadow. Before he was able to react, he already felt a cold wind. This was the feeling of trident about to penetrate his body. "Abominable!" Cao Chun wanted to evade but he found out that there's nowhere for him to evade to. The trident had already block all leeways.

Forward! Only going forward using the horse's galloping strength would he be able to escape!

Worthy of being one of Cao Cao's great general, a general that Cao Cao had faith in, Cao Chun firmly decided to cut loss quickly and not to guard against Lu Bu. Instead, he took out his long blade and slashed his war horse's buttocks.

"Poof!" Piping hot blood was spraying from the war horse's buttocks. Under the immense pain, the war horse immediately started accelerating. In a blink's time, it had flew past Lu Bu and a several horses distance away.

[TL: horse distance…. imagine placing a couple horses between Lu Bu's horse and Cao Chun's horse? Blame the author for making up length...]

"Cutting loose via self injury?!" Lu Bu didn't expect that Cao Chun would've injure his horse. For a general, a good war horse was a comrade in arms, one's second life. Generally, cavalries would treat their horses as a companion. They would love them dearly. Should their horse fall ill, they would be grow very anxious. And now, Cao Chun actually injured his horse to escape. Although his blade had caused the war horse to quickly accelerate, it cannot persist for a long period of time. This battle, no…. perhaps in a moment's time the war horse would fall and die.

Lu Bu could also tell that Cao Chun's war horse wasn't some ordinary horse. Although it could not compare to some famous horses like the Red Hare that he once had, it was still a rare and good horse.

"You want to compare horse strength?!" Lu Bu sneered. If he still had the Red Hare, he would've already reached Cao Chun and killed him with his trident. However he doesn't have the Red Hare now. It wasn't that his current horse was bad. Rather, it was that he wasn't familiar with the horse that he have now. Nevertheless, this didn't obstruct Lu Bu's pursuit.

"Let's see if my Ferghana horse is faster or if your war horse is faster!" Lu Bu slapped his war horse and his already fast war horse suddenly accelerated. It was accelerating like it was sprinting. Lu Bu felt as if that the wind that past by him had turned a bit prickling.

[TL: Lu Bu's mistakened the type of horse Liu Mang brought back? Blood-sweating horse was used to refer to Ferghana horse. It is also what Lu Bu literally called it. Apparently Ferghana horse was heavenly horses back in Han dynasty. They sweat blood when worked because of parasites.]

Arabian war horse! Although this type of horse might be common in modern days and were easily obtained via breeding, in the Eastern Han dynasty, they were genuine treasured horses! There existed three kinds of pure blooded horses: the Ferghana horse, the British horse and the Arabian war horse. Although the Arabian war horses does not have the superior quality of the Ferghana horse, they were pretty up there. Actually, the Arabian war horses was also a kind of Ferghana horse. Lu Bu didn't know of what Arabian war horse, he only knew it to be a Ferghana horse as it had the characteristics of a Ferghana horse.

Throughout the whole Han dynasty and even the history of China, every single Ferghana horse was rare to come by. Lu Bu never would've expected that Liu Mang would bring to him a total of two thousand and fifty of such Ferghana horses!

"How could this be?!" Cao Chun turned pale with fright. Although his war horse wasn't top notch, it was still very good. In the whole world, there were only a couple famous horses that was able to overtake his horse. Lu Bu's Red Hare might've been able to do that, however Red Hare is now in Xiapi! Where did Lu Bu find another such precious horse?!

"Where do you think you're escaping?!" Lu Bu had once again catch up to Cao Chun. His murderous aura had once again drew near.

"I absolutely cannot die!" Cao Chun bite his teeth. He saw that in front of him was the Ferocious Cavalry that was still galloping under his orders. I'm sorry brothers! Cao Chun suddenly lifted his blade up and brandished it. The direction where he attacked was not toward Lu Bu who was behind him but rather toward those who were ahead of him, those Ferocious Cavalry soldiers, his fellow soldiers.

"Poof! Poof!" Two blood flowers blossomed. Two heads flew toward the sky. The war horses that lost their masters suddenly stagnated and began to slow down. In moment's time, Cao Chun ran past those horses and two corpses fell behind him blocking the path. Lu Bu was obstructed. If he continued then he would've crashed into the horses.

"This would baffle me?!" Lu Bu looked at the two warhorses that had lost their master and had a hint of admiration toward Cao Chun. This was his fellow soldiers than he killed! It was his brothers! To kill them just like that! To kill them just to save his own life! Not a hint of hesitation at all! As expected of a Cao clansman, he was exactly like Cao Cao!

Lu Bu did not slow down at all. Instead, his war horse's speed increased. Right when his war horse was about to crash into the two aimless Ferocious Cavalry war horses, Lu Bu violently pulled on the rope and, with his legs, grabbed onto the horse's stomach. Immediately, his horse leaped over the two aimless war horses and started pursuing Cao Chun again.

"Not good!" Cao Chun saw that the two warhorses were unable to stop Lu Bu at all. He bite his teeth and was about to attack again.

The two Ferocious Cavalry by his side had already seen Cao Chun's movements and their heart was trembling with fear. Without Cao Chun saying anything, they held their hand toward him and said "General, we shall go first!" Immediately, the two turned around and stroke their horses.

"He who blocks me dies!" Lu Bu's trident impaled the two's body. However, he really was blocked by the two Ferocious Cavalry soldiers this time around, unable to catch up to Cao Chun anymore.

"Lu Bu, this Cao Chun will certainly have his vengeance for today!" Seeing that Lu Bu was stopped, Cao Chun loosened himself and started cursing at Lu Bu.

"Vengeance?!" Lu Bu said coldly. "I fear that you won't have such an opportunity! There have yet to be anyone that I, Lu Bu, wanted to kill on the battlefield to not die!" Lu Bu raised up the spear that was attached to his horse. Every single war horses had this kind of cavalry spear, otherwise they'll be hard to set formations with.

Lu Bu raised his spear. His eyes filled with murderous aura. His hands were like a vise firmly clamping the spear. His veins were exposed on his arms. His whole body was in a explosive state.

"Fly!" Lu Bu's hands have the strength of a thousand jun. And now, his thousand jun strength had all be placed onto the spear.

"Poosh!" A blood flower blossomed. Cao Chun had his eyes wide open unable to believe what had just happened.

"Poof!" On the viewing platform, Cao Cao also surpt out a mouthful of blood. "Zihe! My great general!" Cao Cao fainted.

[TL: Zihe is Cao Chun's courtesy name]

"My lord! My lord!" Panic burst through the viewing platform.

On the Ferocious Cavalry's path of breakthrough, one horse and one man was pinned to the ground by a spear. As the spear pierced through from above, the earth was dyed red with blood.

Ferocious Cavalry. Cao Chun. Cao Zihe. Dead!

Chapter 38: Fengxiao vs Fengxian

My Father in Law is Lu Bu

"The Ferocious Cavalry is finished!" Guo Jia observed the two cavalries' fierce confrontation. It felt like two strong waves clashing with each other before the gate of Kaiyang. He knew that the Ferocious Cavalry would meet its demise. Their commander, General Cao Chun was dead. If he was beheaded in combat, then the Ferocious Cavalry's fighting spirit and morale would still be high, since they were the cream of the crop. Their morale would still be at their highest because of the momentum even after their leader was gone.

However, that would be under normal circumstances. Guo Jia showed wry smiled. Cao Chun's death was tragic and he died in a horrible state. He was pierced by a spear and stuck to the ground like a statue. The spear had his horse alongside him pinned firmly to the ground.

His face still showed the horror and fear he felt before death. His body indicated that he desperately tried to rush his horse to flee in order to escape the imminent death.

Is this a warning to other people to show them what would happen to those who oppose Lu Bu?!

"Lu Bu, Lu Bu!" Guo Jia muttered to himself. Can that man really stand alone against the world?

"Military Counselor, your orders?!" The other generals, including Xu Chu and Xiahou Dun were asking for Guo Jia's next strategic move. Since Cao Cao had fainted, it rested onto Guo Jia as Vice-Commander to issue the orders.

"Right now?!" Guo Jia was at loss. He did not know what order would be wiser. He was currently in dilemma where he could not decide whether he should try to overwhelm Lu Bu's army with his army of a hundred thousand men or whether he should sound the drums and order the retreat?

Guo Jia pulled himself together and came up with an idea. "Ready the Archers!" Guo Jia shouted with flickering gaze and waved his feather fan.

"Archer unit ready!" replied a general.

"Prepare your bow, target the cavalry in front of us with volley!" Guo Jia issued the order without any hesitation.

"Military Counselor, this?!" The cavalry in front of them were not only the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry but also their ally the Ferocious Cavalry. Even though the commander died, there were still one thousand of Ferocious Cavalry currently engaged in battle.

If the archers let loose those arrows, they won't be able to distinguish between friends and foes. Everyone inside the Ferocious Cavalry, who were their brothers-in-arms and the elite units of the Cao army will be hit.

"Volley!" Guo Jia gave the order with a cold tone while looking at the generals.

"But!" There were still people who wanted to argue with his decision, but kept their mouths shut when they saw Guo Jia's face became cold as ice. Even though Guo Jia was only a weak scholar compared to those generals who are used to fight bloody battles, he was a brilliant tactician who killed thousands of soldiers using his tactics. He therefore had even more blood on his hands than the generals.

"Archers ready your bow and target the cavalry in front of us. Volley!" The Archer battalion's general shouted.

"Yes sir!" The whole archer battalion followed their commander's order and pulled their bows. "Volley!"

"Woosh!" Arrows filled the sky like heavy rainfall and flew towards the cavalry. Normally, archers can only hit the outer layer of an army. But using volley fire, it changed the arrows' angle. First, it shot towards the sky, afterwards it would fall vertically under the gravity and the force made it more lethal.

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!" Loud screams could be heard accompanied with the sound of soldiers falling from their horses.

"Raise shield!" Zhang Liao gave the order.

The Bing Province Wolf Cavalry raised their large shields beside their saddles again which could completely protect them from the volley. However some of them still got hit by the arrows, because the soldiers of the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry also tried to protect their horses with the shield. If you combine the horse and the soldier, even the large shield could not cover every space.

From time to time, soldiers from the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry got hitby an arrow, but it was never critical. They were all trained men who suppressed their pain. Their eyes were shining and blood was flowing out of their mouths, raising their bloodlust to another level.

"Kill them!" One Bing Province Wolf Cavalry soldier eradicated an immense bloodlust in his eys. His horse was shot by several arrows. Even though the horse did not die on the spot, after this battle it could probably not be saved. It could only be killed and used as horse meat. For cavalrymen, their horses were almost as important as their own lives and like their brothers. Not to mention, they hear that Lord Liu Mang who saved their general almost died trying to bring back those horses. That was why the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry treasured them even more.

"Aaaahhhhh!" The Bing Province Wolf Cavalry were protected by their shields, but the Ferocious Cavalry were not so lucky. Since the arrowsshot through volley did not fly horizontally, their body armor could not stop it. One after each other the arrows penetrated them and massacred the Ferocious Cavalry armor like fish on a chopping block.

"Military Counselor?!" The generals who were watching on the side almost exploded in fury. Their own soldiers were dying like flies from friendly fire. Rage could be seen in their eyes. If Xu Chu did not stand in front of Guo Jia, the generals from Xiahou family would probably go mad.

Guo Jia stared blankly at the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry in front of him. "Large shield, spears, horse, what kind of cavalry is this? Is it a heavy cavalry?" Guo Jia hesitated. If it was a heavy cavalry it would be impossible to reach this kind of speed. Heavy cavalry could only do few assaults while wearing heavy armor, afterwards both horses and men will succumb from the fatigue.

The Ferocious Cavalry were already at their last breath. They wore heave armor and were already exhausted. The men and their horses were so tired that some even collapsed under the fatigue. However the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry did not had any signs of exhaustion and their horses were full on vitality. How could this happen?

Guo Jia did not understand this anymore.

Seeing the Ferocious Cavalry taking countless casualties, Guo Jia's heart became soft. "Issue the retreat order to the Ferocious Cavalry!" Guo Jia did not give the order to march the whole army of hundred thousand soldiers. He knew that if he moved the whole army, he could easily overwhelm Lu Bu with number. However to destroy this heavy cavalry in front of him, Cao Cao's army would at least suffer a minimum of 30.000 soldiers. During the siege they had already suffered 20.000 casualties. If another 30.000 would be added to their loses, even if they would have conquered Xu Province, they would not be able to defend it anymore. Not to mention there is another beast lurking in Hebei.

"The Cao Army is retreating?!" Lu Bu looked over to the command platform. Cao Cao was already gone and only a scholar was remaining there. This should be Guo Jia, the legendary genius?

Lu Bu gave a cold laugh. Let me, the God of War test the ability of the legendary genius.

Lu Bu waved his trident and signaled his Bing Province Wolf Cavalry to release the remnants of the Ferocious Cavalry. Lu Bu had already lost interest in them. Cao Cao's Ferocious Cavalry were elites. Their abilities before were roughly the same with those of the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry. But now, the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry had changed. The soldiers from the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry who survived under the siege of Cao Cao's army became the cream of the crop. Every one of them would be equally matched in prowess to other captains.

Coupled with excellent horses, spears, heavy armors and giant shields that Hanyang brought, it could be said that the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry had currently no equal match.

"Hanyang?!" Lu Bu frowned. While fighting the Ferocious Cavalry his thoughts were constantly with Liu Mang whose life or death was still unknown.

"Cao Cao! Cao Mengde?!" Lu Bu's eyes irradiated a strong killing intent. "Don't you want this Lu Bu's life? Now come and taste this tiger's counterattack!"

"All units prepare to counterattack!" Lu Bu shouted while wielding his trident.

The Bing Proving Wolf Cavalry did not hesitate but quickly regrouped. The opponent was an army of a hundred thousand. Even the current elite Wolf Cavalry could not break through and might even perish while fighting inside this army. However, no one questioned Lu Bu. Someone who could compare to Lu Bu in leading a cavalry had not been born in this world yet.

"Lu Bu? What do you intent to do?!" Guo Jia watched how Lu Bu let the crippled Ferocious Cavalry flee and how he was charging directly towards his army.

"A army of three thousand attacking an army of one hundred thousand?!" The fighting spirit erupted in Guo Jia's eyes. "it is time to remove the teeth of the tiger!"Guo Jia waved his command flag and the war machine made of a hundred thousand soldiers began to move.

"Shield formation at the front and spear unit behind them. Archers at the back!" When cavalry lost their mobility they would be as good as dead.

Guo Jia and Lu Bu both had prepared for the decisive battle.

"Humph?!"Lu Bu sneered. Gou Jia, ah Gou Jia, in scheming and planning, I Lu Fengxian am not your equal. However on the battlefield, I will teach you a lesson!"

"Flank, aggressive formation!" The Bing Province Wolf Cavalry suddenly made a huge turn and was speeding past the Cao army's flank.

Attacking the flanks? Do you really think that I Guo Fengxiao's reputation were some hollow words?" Guo Jia observed how the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry was moving at a high speed towards the Cao Army's flank and commanded "Flank tight formation! Spearmen advance!" Guo Jia waved again the flag and commanded "Arches prepare yourself. Target the Bing Province Cavalry' horses, rapid fire!"

" Guo Jia noticed it at the first glance. Aiming for the soldiers who were heavily armored was useless, but if they shot the horses the riders would be thrown off and squashed to death.

"Lu Bu, come and show me your skill!"

Chapter 39: Fengxiao vs. Fengxian (End)

My Father in Law is Lu Bu

"All army prepare for engage!"Guo Jia gave his orders. The spearmen readied themselves to the front in an offensive formation. Only Guo Jia, Guo Fengxiao was able to look at an incoming cavalry attack and instead launch a counterattack.

"Infantry dared to assault the cavalry?!"Lu Bu was surprised. Usually whenever infantries encountered cavalries, they either flee from the cavalry or defend against them, never attack back.

"Something's wrong!" Lu Bu was not the fool, Guo Jia was known as the sly genius so he's definitely outstanding. It was impossible for him to make such a blunder! Once the cavalry break through and the infantry formation, then the infantries could only wait to be killed!

"It's a bait!" Lu Bu immediately understood. These spearmen are a bait! Once Lu Bu attacks these spearmen, the archers would immediately shoot from behind and their shielded troops would force through the flanks, surrounding them and cutting out their path to escape.

"This is bad!" thought Lu Bu. The archers stopped shooting in a volley and turned to shooting straight at them.

"Their target is our warhorses!" Lu Bu shouted in surprise. "Whole army! Raise your shields! Protect the war horses!" Lu Bu really underestimated this Guo Fengxiao. Who would've expected that he would've found out their weakness so fast.

"Swoosh, swoosh!" Arrows fell like rain, one by one the horses dropped. Fortunately, the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry was armed with their large shields and thus did not suffer any causality. The ones with their horse shot immediately changed their horse. This was possible because they had less than three thousand soldiers surviving when Liu Mang brought back five thousand horses.

In no time, Lu Bu had lost no less than a hundred horses, causing him to have a great heartache. All of these horses were good horses. Every one of them could be considered a horse king! And now, however, they died in the charge.

"Humph! Although your cavalry are strong, it appears that your horses aren't!" sneered Guo Jia as he saw the dead horses. Guo Jia then relay his command again "Order for archers, rapid fire, target warhorse!" Cavalry without horses, would it still be cavalry then?

"Guo Fengxiao!" Lu Bu's eyes were flickering. He hold high his trident and commanded. "Increase speed! Increase distance!" Lu Bu understands that archer's range is limited, so once they increased their distance, they will no longer be harmed.

"Retreating?!" Guo Fengxiao looked at the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry gradually getting further away. He wanted to intercept them; however he does not have the mobility of a cavalry unit. Although his army numbered a hundred thousand, he cannot do anything to Lu Bu.

"Clip clop clip clop!" The Bing Province Wolf Cavalry that was once retreating turned around to once again face their enemies. "Retreat? I, Lu Bu, never know the word retreat!" Ordinary archers can shoot a distance of one hundred and twenty steps, expert archers with training can shoot a distance of a hundred fifty steps.

Under Lu Bu's leadership, the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry arrived at a distance of about a hundred and fifty steps from the archers, they turned around and immediately prepared for a long distance attack against the two flanks.

"What is he planning?!" Guo Jia frowned, he cannot comprehend Lu Bu's intention. "Bows?" All the soldiers of the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry took out their bows and set themselves ready to shoot their arrows.

A distance of a hundred fifty steps. It was a safe distance. A distance that cannot be reached by arrows. Did Lu Bu went crazy?

A breeze blew by Guo Jia's face. It was a fresh and cool sensation.

"Wind!" Guo Jia suddenly open his eyes extra wide. "Wind! Gale!"

"That's right, Guo Fengxiao, it is wind!" Lu Bu smile faintly. Lu Bu had already taken into consideration of the wind's movement when he prepared for his long distance attack. He noted that his cavalry was located at the origination location of the wind whereas the Cao army was located at the ending location of the wind. While a hundred fifty steps was the maximum distance an archer's arrow could reach, however, in the event of a favorablel wind, that's a different story.

"To not reciprocate is against etiquette! Brothers of the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry, unleash your arrows!" All of Bing Province Wolf Cavalry soldiers are expert mounted archers and with the advantage of wind, every arrow landed at Cao army main camp.

The first to suffer big casualties was the Cao archers who were hiding behind the main army. As they are the biggest threat to the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry, so Lu Bu's very first step is to wipe them out. Additionally, these Wolf pups already had deep hatred for the Cao army's archers. Thus, they were basically releasing arrows non stop.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Arrows were falling like the rain. Within the rain, blood flowers blossomed from time to time. Immediately the Archery Unit suffered major causalities. The hundred thousand strong Cao army suffered three thousand dead. The rest were also mostly injured.

"Bam!" Guo Jia spontaneously threw down his war fan and punch angrily against a pillar.

"Bing Province Heavy Cavalry!" Lu Bu had already raised his trident.

"Hungry! Starving!" The wolves once again went berserk under Lu Bu's leadership "All army, charge!"

Guo Jia knew that when his archer unit was defeated, his plan was completely ruined. He wanted to use his spearmen unit as the bait, however, now that his fishhook had been gone, the bait had became fish feed.

What is a massacre? It's when a group of heavy cavalries rush into a group of spearmen. With only spears as their weapons, the spearmen simply cannot penetrate the defense of the cavalries. On the ontrary, the cavalry was able to easily penetrate the defense of the spearmen armed with plank armors. Even if they were to encounter the few officers that possess metal armor, they could still easily kill them in a couple rounds of bouts.

During the slaughter, Lu Bu saw an acquaintance, Li Dian! Although Li Dian is heavily injured during siege of Kaiyang, the spearmen unit was his squadron. Therefore, even though he was heavily wounded, he would still lead his soldiers.

Although they say revenge is a dish best served cold, Lu Bu doesn't agree. He believes to take his revenge immediately.

"Li Dian, thou still recognize I?!" Lu Bu with his horse arrived in front of Li Dian. Li Dian was already in imminent danger. His infantry soldiers cannot withstand the force of Lu Bu's cavalry. If not for his person guards who persistently protecting him. He, Li Dian, would likely had already died in the chaos.

"Lu Bu!" Li Dian smiled very bitterly. He knew that he can't escape today. Had it only been the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry, Li Dian still believe that he would be able to escape using his martial abilities, however, Lu Bu was the one who came!

Even with Xu Chu, Xu Huang and himself together, they were not a match for Lu Bu. And now, he is only alone, how can he hope to survive?.

"Your memory's not bad!" Lu Bu smiled.

"Clang!" Li Dian dropped his weapon to the ground and said "Marquis of Wen, Dian knew that he cannot escape death, but before I die, Dian would like to plead a final request to Marquis of Wen!" Li Dian was already severely wounded in Kaiyang and had joined the battlefield in this wounded state. Now that he encountered Lu Bu, it was completely totally impossible for him to escape.

"Had you accepted your fate?!"Lu Bu said while looking at Li Dian. On the battlefield, a general's weapon is his life. If you threw down that weapon then that means you had already given up your life. "Speak, I shall hear!"

"It is not that I accepted my fate! Dian just didn't wish cause more casualties!" said Li Dian. "Dian can commit suicide in front of Marquis of Wen, but Dian also request the Marquis of Wen to please allow my eight personal guards to live!"

"General!" Hearing Li Dian's words, the eight personal guards who were next to him grew anxious. "We will fight to the death to protect general!" Do they not fear when encountering Lu Bu? They were all afraid! In Kaiyang siege, the originally one hundred strong personal guard unit was left with only them eight. However, how could they possibly exchange their general's life for their own?

"And if I refuse?!" On the battlefield, the most important personnel to each general were their fellow soldiers, their personal guards. Seeing them, Lu Bu remembered how Hao Meng, Song Xian, Wei Xu and Hou Cheng. They were all at a point Lu Bu's personal guards. Had he been in Li Dian's position, would they protect me to death? Would I exchange my life for theirs?

"If Marquis of Wen refuses, then Dian can only fight the Marquis of Wen to the death!" Said Li Dian after taking a deep breath. His complexion was pale, his body was still severely injured and he was currently fighting his tiredness.

"Good, I promised you!"Said Lu Bu after thinking a while and with closed eye. "You die and these eight men may return to the main army!"

"In that case, Dian gives his thanks to the Marquis of Wen!" After saying that Li Dian took up the long blade that he threw to the ground. This time, he wasn't planning to fight back; instead, he was going to commit suicide.

"General you cannot! You cannot!" The eight guards started panicking. They wanted to go forward and seize Li Dian's blade. However, Li Dian's martial skills were above them. He was also their commander; thus they revere him and dared not do such.

"Could it be that you all are not listening to my orders now?!" Li Dian stared at them angrily. "Scram! All of you, scram! Return! Live and help this Dian take care of his old father and mother!"

"General!"

"Poof!" A blood flower blossomed mid air. The long blade was covered with their commander's warm blood. Li Dian, dead!

"You all, return!" Lu Bu saw the Li Dian who just committed suicide and felt a bit disturbed.

"Return?! He he!" The remaining Li Dian bodyguards one by one knelt down in front of Li Dian's corpse. "General, we deeply regret for unable to fulfill your final wish! We are unable to help you take care of your old father and mother! Please wait for us below, we shall follow you immediately!"

"Poof! Poof! Poof!" Eight kneeling corpses appeared in front of Li Dian's corpse. Their blood sprayed all over Lu Bu's face.

Lu Bu licked his lips "this blood turned out to be warm!"

In the midst of Cao main army

Guo Jia said "Lu Bu, Lu Fengxian, deserving of the title of God of War!" as he looked toward the front with flickering eyes. The spearmen battalion was already pushed all the way back to the main camp. Amidst the air, Lu Bu and Guo Jia's gaze met.

"Guo Jia, Guo Fengxiao, you're pretty good too! The stratagem of the sly genius! The scheme that took away this Lu Bu's Xu Province!" Lu Bu's brows were also raised.

"In that case, we shall fight again!"

"Certainly!"

Chapter 40: The Wisdom of Crying

My Father in Law is Lu Bu

With the battle of Kaiyang ended, the war in Xu Province came to an end. The Cao army which consisted of 100,000 soldiers, adding Liu Bei, Big Ear Liu's forces of 20,000 soldiers would sum up to a total of 120,000 soldiers. With the leading of Military Counselor Guo Jia and the brave generals like Cao Ren, Xiahou brothers, Yu Jin, Li Dian, Xu Huang and Xu Chu, they had conquered the Xu Province, but Lu Bu broke through their siege and escaped.

After the war, Cao Cao was distressed for losing more than 50,000 out of his 120,000 soldiers. The saddest part for him was to lose his precious Ferocious Cavalry. Before the battle his elite cavalry consisted of 3000 elite soldiers. After the battle they were left with less than 300 wounded soldiers. Training a single soldier of Ferocious Cavalry was equal to training 10 normal soldiers, which means losing all 3000 riders of Ferocious Cavalry were equal to losing 30,000 infantries. That counted only for the rider's training without considering the loss of horses and equipments.

The battle also cost Lu Bu dearly. Originally he had 70,000 defenders. With the Formation Breaker and Bing Province Wolf Cavalry, he had a force of a total of 75,000 people. At the end, only around 2,500 soldiers survived. He had lost not only Xu Province, but also 4 generals: Song Xian, Wei Xu, Hou Cheng and Cao Xing.

Now he was left with only Zhang Liao, Gao Shun and Zang Ba.

Among the 5000 warhorses that Liu Mang brought to Kaiyang, only less than 4500 had survived. Most of the horses died under Guo Jia's volley fire.

"Did Hanyang wake up?!" Lu Bu asked the people in the carriage while he took off his cloak and helmet.

"Father, he is still in coma!" Inside the carriage was a gorgeous girl with long silky black hair and a pretty face. She had inherited Lu Bu's dashing eyebrows and Madam Yan's gentle look. She was indeed a beauty with rare charm!

This young lady was indeed Lu Bu's eldest daughter!

Lu Lingqi's face showed exhaustion. She had taken care of Liu Mang day and night, while doing things such as feeding him and helping him to wash his body. Her face blushed when thinking about it.

In the whole Lu Bu army, she was the only person who was qualified to attend to Liu Mang. Men were not suitable to do this kind of job and women were rare on the battlefield. They either came from Lu Bu's family or Zang Ba's family. Miss Lu was the most suitable candidate to take care of Liu Mang because of their engagement.

"Still not yet waken up?"Lu Bu frown his eyebrows. Liu Mang was his benefactor who had helped him in countless bad looking situations. First, Liu Mang rescued him from the White Gate Tower and then brought food to his army. After that, Liu Mang had brought 5000 warhorses and spears which saved Lu Bu in a life or death situation. So talking about Liu Mang's wellbeing, Lu Bu could not be more concerned. Until now, he had visited to his son-in-law for no less than ten times.

"My lord, you don't need to worry! Hanyang will survive. He is a little pale, his vitals and breathing weakened a bit. Nothing else!" reassured Chen Gong. The strategist Chen Gong had changed his uniform and now ore civilian clothes since his uniform were already soaked with blood. In addition to the civilian clothes, Chen Gong was also wearing the aluminum armor brought by Liu Mang. Chen Gong became a handsome guy in this attire! When standing next to Lu Bu, one cannot tell who was more charming.

"His vitals and breathing are weakening?!" Lu Bu was deep in his thoughts. He seemed to be preoccupied with fear and hesitation, but could do nothing but leaving the place. "When Hanyang wake up, inform me immediately!"

"Yes, Father!" Lu Lingqi nodded. Although Liu Mang and she were not husband and wife yet, they were already engaged. In addition, she knew that the man, who had seen her nude, saved her whole family in this crisis.

Is he really a saint?! Even though Lu Lingqi did not know much about military affairs, she was aware that bring so many warhorses and equipments out of nowhere was not something an ordinary person can do!

At this moment, there was another person who was in the same state as Liu Mang, the big boss, old Cao. Cao Chun's death and the destruction of Ferocious Cavalry were enough to make old Cao faint and did not regain his consciousness until recently.

When he woke up, his first words were "How is my Ferocious Cavalry?"

Guo Jia replied while showing a bitter smile, "My lord, from the 3000 Ferocious Cavalry only less than 300 survived!" But even that number was just a hollow one. The soldiers who had survived were severely wounded. Besides, the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry had diminished the Ferocious Cavalry's courage into the air. An army under such circumstances was unable to go into battle ever again.

"From 3000 to 300!!" Old Cao muttered to himself "Why did I have to pursue Lu Bu to

Kaiyang! Why couldn't I celebrate a victory feast after capturing Lu Bu?!" Old Cao lamented with deep regret.

"What about Zihe!" Boss Cao had thought about his younger clan cousin.

"His body has been put into a coffin with care. Before his death he retained a look where he showed his utter loyalty to you my Lord!"Guo Jia whispered to Cao Cao. How could he tell Cao Cao that Cao Chun's face was actually full of fear and disbelief before his death?!

"Zihe, oh Zihe!" Boss Cao started sobbing. If you compare Cao Cao with Liu Bei in weeping, Cao Cao was almost an equal match. During this time of chaos at the end of Han Dynasty, among the many people who wept, Liu Bei was unsurpassable. His profound ability to weep overshadowed his other abilities.

Cao Cao was hit hard by this sadden news. He lost both Cao Chun and the Ferocious Cavalry. A cavalry unit he spent many years cultivating. Cao Cao's tears rolled down from his face when thinking about this. He rushed out of the tent crying barefooted. He ran to a coffin, kneeled down on the ground and cried even louder and started to put on a show.

Many people sympathized with Cao Cao's weeping, since dashed out straight after waking up, not even wearing clothes or shoes. The scene immediately reminded the generals the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for Cao Cao. This kind of show made those generals to feel that it was all worth it to die for old Cao.

The Three Peach Oath Bros were also standing next to him.

The youngest one, Zhang Fei was the most naive out of the three brothers. Seeing Cao Cao's bitter cry he said "Cao Cao is really not a bad person! He is crying so heartbroken for the dead general. After all, he is a sentimental man who cares for his soldiers a lot!" Zhang Fei was truly simple-minded. In Zhang Fei's point of view, anyone who cries and drinks can be seen as good guy.

"Meng De is also a hero!" Guan Yu also started to appreciate Cao Cao a little. If his big brother Liu Bei did not found him first, perhaps he would now serve Old Cao. Coa Cao granted Lu Bu's Red Hare to Guan Yu, that's why he would certainly put in good words for Cao Cao.

Looking at his brothers, Liu Bei did not show any expression. In his heart he thought "Oh brother, can't you see that Old Cao is trying to buy you with the Red Hare? Why are you seeing him with one eyed closed?" Liu Bei then said "Oh my two brothers, why don't you observe closely at Cao Cao's lips? Who or what is he crying for?" From here they could not hear what Cao Cao was saying but Liu Bei was actually observing Cao Cao's lips movements.

Zhang Fei could not read Old Cao's lips movements. "Big brother, how can I read his lips movements?"

"Zihe? Zihe! Ferocious Cavalry?" Guan Yu's expression become complex after observing Cao Cao's lips movements.

"My lord, overcome your sorrow!" Guo Jia's was currently the most helpless person since Old Cao was only screaming Zihe's name.

Old Cao opened the coffin cover before Guo Jia could run over to stop him. With tearful eyes Old Cao shouted "Zi-…!" But his words were suddenly cut. The one who lied in the coffin was Li Dian who committed suicide in front of Lu Bu.

"Li Dian?!" Cao Cao suddently felt that his loss now was even greater. The Ferocious Cavalry was destroyed, Cao Chun is dead and now Li Dian also died. Even though Li Dian was as vice general, his skills were top notch. Old Cao had planned to make him gain more experience before promoting him to the position of general. But now, Li Dian was dead and laying inside the coffin.

"So where is Zihe?!" Cao Cao carefully asked. He did not dare to be loud, or others would know that he had been weeping for a wrong person. Although Li Dian was a very important general, Li Dian's death cannot make Old Cao weep so miserably.

"General Cao Chun has already been escorted to Xu Du with a big and excellent cart." Guo Jia whispered to Cao Cao's ear. Cao Chun's body was nailed tight to the ground from a spear that Lu Bu threw. His body and his warhorse had been conjoined and could not be separated. Guo Jia couldn't find a coffin big enough to hold a man and a horse. He had no other choice but sending Cao Chun's body to Xu Du. He would request a custom-made coffin when the cart arrived in Xu Du.

"Mancheng, oh Mancheng!" Old Cao's immediately changed his words.

TL: Mancheng is the courtesy name of Li Dian.