Original by Bro Got a Gun, Translated by James
The sun slowly rose up the sky. The Cao troops was already preparing for breakfast. Today was the final day. They absolutely had to capture Kaiyang and return to reinforce Xiapi.
“Lu Bu, Lu Fengxian. This Cao Mende shall obtain your head!” Having tortured by his headache for the whole night, Cao Cao was unable to obtain a good night’s sleep. Right now, he wanted to kill someone really bad.
“Transmit my orders. Tell the troops to prepare for battle. After a single incense worth of time, we shall besiege the city with all our might. He who kills a Lu Bu soldier shall be rewarded ten gold, five mu of fields and a promotion in rank.” The remaining Lu Bu soldiers are the elite amongst the elites. They are very difficult to kill. Their every move and every stroke are meant to kill. They all knew the fastest and the most efficient ways to kill!
[TL: mu = classification for area of fields, it is equal to 1/15 of a hectare. 1 hectare is 2.471 acres. so…. they’ll be rewarded with 0.8367 acres of land that’s good for farming.]
“He who kills Lu Bu shall be rewarded with the title of Marquis, his standing shall be in the Nine Ministers and he will be granted a general!” Cao Cao went all in. He laid down grand rewards to kill Lu Bu.
“The Prime Minister have ordered. All army, prepare to engage. In a single incense worth of time, we are to besiege the city with all our might. He who kills a Lu Bu soldier shall be rewarded ten gold, five mu of fields and a promotion in rank. He who kills a Lu Bu general shall be rewarded with a mansion, ten beautiful women, a hundred gold and three promotions in rank. He who kills Lu Bu shall be rewarded with the title of Marquis, his standing shall be in the Nine Ministers and he will be granted a general!” One by one, the order was transmitted to the whole army. All the Cao generals were sharpening their weapons and wiping their hands. They all wanted to achieve greatness. They all wanted to be bestowed the title of Marquis.
Only Xu Chu was desolate. In today’s battle, his lord have already given the death decree. Lu Bu will certainly die and he will lose another worthy adversary.
“Kakakaka!” A sound of door opening that causes one to be uncomfortable. The city of Kaiyang. The city that that was filled with corpses. The frontal gate of the city that the Cao army was unable to break through even after spending twenty thousand troops have suddenly opened. A general donned in a golden armor and holding a trident came out on his horse.
“Lu Bu?!” Just like how Lu Bu could instantly recognize Cao Cao, Cao Cao could also instantly recognize Lu Bu.
“Did he decide to surrender seeing that he’s in a plight with no way out?!” Cao Cao laughed. Gates in the ancient times are very difficult to close once they’re open. Once opened, it’ll take a long time to close it. This amount of time was certainly enough for his army to rush past. Cao Cao had initially thought that he had to fight a siege battle. However, it appears that it would just be an annihilation battle now.
“Surrender? Impossible!” Guo Jia shook his feather fan. His wine had been hidden away by Old Cao. A Guo Jia without his wine was without doubt unhappy. “If he wanted to surrender, he would’ve done it a long time ago!”
“Then what did he plan to do?!” asked Cao Cao.
“He most likely planned to fight to the death!” replied Xu Chu. Xu Chu was also a general who’s at the pinnacle of first class. Thus, he knew of the loneliness of a general who belonged to the same pinnacle as himself - the bearing of rather die standing than to live kneeling.
“Fight to the death?!” Cao Cao also understood. This was indeed Lu Bu’s style. Lu Bu had once dared to attack the barracks of the eighteen warlords with his mere three thousand Bing Province Heavy Cavalries. Now that Kaiyang’s capture was just a matter of time, Lu Bu would rather exit the city and fight to the death.
Sure enough, Lu Bu held his trident against the sky and shouted toward Cao Cao. “Cao Mende! Lu Bu, Lu Fengxian is here! Come forward and let’s chat!”
“My lord, don’t go!” Guo Jia was concerned about Lu Bu’s actions. Was this man really the man who was known as the God of War? Was he really planning to fight to the death? Or was he planning something else? Just like how generals can’t understand Guo Jia’s stratagems, he too cannot understand the thinkings of generals like Lu Bu.
What Guo Jia was thinking of was whether or not this was a trap set up by Lu Bu. A trap to capture Cao Cao when he goes up to talk.
“Fengxiao, you needn’t be so alarm. With Zhongkang here, Lu Bu cannot possibly injury even my hair!” Cao Cao also knew what Guo Jia was thinking of. However, he wasn’t afraid. That’s because he knew that Lu Bu wasn’t the sort who will break faith and kill an enemy’s commander in talks in front of the whole army.
Before Guo Jia could respond, Cao Cao had already brought Xu Chu and some others and went forward on their horses.