Chapter Forty-Two: A Commander with Troops Is a True Commander

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I have something to take care of today, so I could only post this in the middle of the night...

“Remember this grudge! In the future, you will receive a handsome repayment!”

Lü Bu tossed out a hollow threat, then galloped off in another direction without looking back. Under the incredible speed of the Red Hare, he became a tiny speck within less than a minute.

Not long after Lü Bu departed, the Xiahou brothers and Le Jin, supporting the wounded Cao Hong, hurried over. When they saw Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun standing guard there, they could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.

“Many thanks, Lord Yunchang, Lord Yide, and Lord Zilong!” The Xiahou brothers clasped their fists.

“Our lord was worried that Duke Cao might encounter danger while pursuing Dong Zhuo alone, so he sent the three of us ahead,” Zhao Yun explained, seeing Guan Yu and Zhang Fei both looking at him. “The four of you should quickly rally the scattered troops and escort Duke Cao back to camp. This place is not safe to linger in. The three of us must still assist our lord in defeating the Xiliang Iron Cavalry.”

“Many thanks for Lord Xuande’s assistance!” Cao Cao sighed, yet maintained his usual composure. He saluted the three men and left with disappointment written across his face.

Elsewhere, Chen Xi gazed at the cavalry stretching out in a long line across the plain and sighed. So this was the so-called Xiliang Iron Cavalry? They had fought so desperately for credit that they had even abandoned their formation. Were they trying to get themselves killed?

“This is the Xiliang Iron Cavalry?” Chen Xi asked as he looked at Hua Xiong.

“That bastard Lü Bu did it deliberately! When did he ever turn the Bingzhou Wolf Riders into this?” Hua Xiong cursed furiously.

Chen Xi merely shrugged and said nothing. After spending so long in this world, he had finally understood the situation completely. There were indeed experts here, but most people were ordinary. Learning required wealth, and martial training required even more. They could barely eat their fill, yet they were expected to draw energy from food? What a joke!

Thus, although the physical constitution of the common people in this world was strong, at best it was only comparable to that of special forces soldiers in later generations. As for internal energy, it appeared only intermittently and was practically negligible. Fortunately, their potential was considerable. With proper training and enough food, they could still cultivate a trace of internal energy.

That tiny amount of internal energy was essentially useless, however. At most, it could make a person somewhat stronger than before. Against monsters like Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun, it was completely ineffective.

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If one looked at it this way, no number of ordinary soldiers could compare to a single top-tier general. Yet that conclusion would be completely wrong. Once soldiers formed ranks and their auras merged into one, they could cancel out the foreign auras drifting through the battlefield. In other words, an army that maintained its formation, or simply remained connected as a whole, would not suffer much against a general. If a general charged in alone, the soldiers might even be able to kill him through sheer numbers and relentless resistance.

That was why formation was so important to an army. If soldiers rushed forward in a disorderly mob like a herd of pigs, an army of a hundred thousand might well be beaten so badly by several thousand troops in perfect order that they would not even be able to raise their heads.

That was precisely the situation now. The Xiliang Iron Cavalry had turned their once-perfect arrowhead formation into a long, chaotic snake. They had completely lost the unstoppable momentum of an army whose blade pointed toward victory. Even the aura above their heads had become a disorderly patchwork, with one or two sections vanishing from time to time.

This was supposed to be the finest elite force under heaven? How could they be so different from the White Horse Riders?

Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun did not take long to return. By then, the Xiliang Iron Cavalry had reduced themselves to utter chaos, looking as though they were simply waiting to be captured.

“Zilong, take your White Horse Riders and teach this pack of idiots a lesson!” Chen Xi said angrily. The trash he was about to inherit was actually in this state. He was almost embarrassed to accept them.

“Yunchang, lead the soldiers in striking their center. Yide, lead the soldiers in blocking their vanguard. We will swallow the entire Xiliang Iron Cavalry!” Chen Xi issued his orders in fury. “Zijian, be ready. The moment you believe you can bring the situation under control, attack immediately. Otherwise, I will not order a halt.”

Zhao Yun led the thirteen hundred White Horse Riders onto their mounts at the same time. A clearly visible mass of white clouds appeared above the unit, then rapidly gathered around Zhao Yun’s aura. Before the troops had even launched their attack, they had already become a single, unified whole.

“The White Horse Riders!”

Zhao Yun lightly tapped his silver spear against his helmet, then charged at the Xiliang Iron Cavalry at the head of his formation.

“Kill!”

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei roared as they led their own soldiers into the attack. A sheet of azure light and a sheet of dark radiance respectively appeared above their heads, enveloping their entire units.

Boom!

With a casual strike, Guan Yu unleashed power nearly equal to his previous all-out attack. A streak of azure light cleaved viciously through the Xiliang Iron Cavalry.

“That is what a true general looks like. A general without soldiers is just a weakling.” Chen Xi watched the attacks of Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun with profound emotion. With the strength of their soldiers reinforcing them, the power of generals rose dramatically. Within the limits of their abilities, the more troops they commanded, the stronger they became. But once they exceeded that limit, the troops became a burden. Not only would they fail to grow stronger, but poor command and deployment would disrupt the formation and reduce the overall strength of the army.

After three moves, the Xiliang Iron Cavalry was completely stunned. Had their formation remained intact, those three attacks would have killed no more than a hundred or so men. But now that their formation had collapsed, they no longer had the collective aura of their comrades to distribute the damage. Even though Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun had deliberately avoided striking areas where the troops were most concentrated, the dead already numbered well over three hundred.

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“Everyone, stop!”

Hua Xiong rode his yellow-maned horse straight out from among the soldiers and shouted loudly, “I am Hua Xiong! If you know what is good for you, drop your weapons! Just look at yourselves, you bunch of fools! With me gone, what have you become? Your damned formation is completely gone, and you are still seeking death! Bah, bah, bah! Surrender! Every one of you, surrender!”

Hua Xiong gradually slipped into his local dialect as he shouted. He could still speak somewhat properly when addressing Liu Bei and the others, but after seeing this group of fellow countrymen, he had reverted to dialect after only a few sentences. After a furious tirade, the entire Xiliang Iron Cavalry surrendered.

Their commander, Lü Bu, had vanished. The entire army had been beaten senseless. Hua Xiong, once the foremost warrior of Xiliang and formerly their superior officer, was now calling for their surrender. With someone to lead them, all the soldiers surrendered as well. After all, wherever they served, they were still soldiers earning a living. If they refused and were killed, everything would be over.

“Black Boy, you idiot!”

Hua Xiong strode over and slapped the leading commandant across the face, knocking him from his horse. He then kicked him several times.

“What did I teach you back then? Have you forgotten every damn thing? Second Dog, you too! Are you trying to get yourselves killed? Your formation is gone, and you still pursued them! Are you begging for death? Do you want to be reborn already?”

None of the commandants who had been beaten dared to resist. They simply endured Hua Xiong’s savage beating.

“Get up. Come with me to see our lord. I will no longer follow Chancellor Dong. What about you?”

“We will follow the general’s orders!” several commandants hurriedly replied.

“Let’s go. Chancellor Dong is no longer the commander who drank with us back in Xiliang. There is no need for us to risk our lives for him anymore. Over the years, we have already repaid whatever we owed him. At most, when we face him in battle from now on, we will keep our distance.”

Hua Xiong helped the commandants to their feet.

“My lord, these are all officers who once served under me. Some of the elite Xiliang cavalry who came this time were also formerly my men.” Hua Xiong bowed to Liu Bei. “Their abilities are not truly as poor as they appeared today. I ask that you give them another chance.”

“Do not worry, Zijian. The defeat of your men today was caused by Lü Bu’s eagerness to seize credit. How could it be their fault? They were merely obeying their commander’s orders. How could they have disobeyed?”

Liu Bei smiled, indicating that he did not take the matter to heart.

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