Chapter 28

Guan Yu stroked his beard and shouted at Lu Bu.

"Lu Wenhou, just wait a moment—I'll go and come right back!"

Lu Bu burst into laughter.

"Excellent! Go on, I, Lu Bu, will be waiting right here—are you scared you won't manage?"

Thereupon, each mounted his horse and returned to his own formation to rest and regroup a little.

Guan Yu climbed the city wall, picked up a bowl of clear tea and gulped it down, then sighed to Chen Deng and Mi Zhu.

"This Lu Bu is extraordinarily skilled in martial arts; I fear that even if I duel him today he may still have some strength left. What do you two gentlemen think?"

Chen Deng replied:

"Lu Bu is brave but lacks foresight; given time, flaws will naturally appear, and we have plenty of opportunities. However, he still has strategists like Chen Gong and fierce generals like Zhang Liao and Gao Shun under his command; we probably can't take him head‑on, so we'll have to wait for Lord Xuan De to arrive before making any plans."

Mi Zhu also chimed in:

"Not bad, General Guan need not rush; today we've also brought twenty thousand Danyang troops under Yuan Long, and once Lord Xuan De arrives we can attack front and rear and capture that Lu Bu."

Meanwhile, in Lu Bu's camp, his men were also discussing how to take the city wall, and Lu Bu said to them:

"This Guan Yu really does have some ability; in a short time I also can't defeat him."

Zhang Liao remained silent at this moment; our side had no moral high ground to begin with, and besides, Guan Yu is an old fellow townsman of mine—I've long heard of his reputation for righteousness—so, given Zhang Liao's temperament, he is even more unwilling to openly oppose Guan Yu.

Gao Shun glanced around, then clasped his fists toward Lu Bu and replied:

"My lord, let me lead the Assault Battalion forward and see whether Guan Yu can break our formation. As the army's commander, constantly charging into battle inevitably invites remarks that we are useless."

Chen Gong pondered for a moment, then said to Lu Bu:

"General Gao Shun's words are sound; let the Assault Battalion go up, and afterwards send General Zhang Liao with three thousand iron cavalry to flank them—the longer we delay, the worse it will be for us."

The Assault Battalion was formed not long ago, when Lu Bu was leading troops in Puyang; during the Battle of Puyang, Cao Cao was constantly vexed by this unit. Although the Assault Battalion is small in number, each member is a stalwart elite soldier, extraordinarily brave in combat.

Although the Assault Battalion numbers only eight hundred, every man wears finely tuned armor, and no attack fails to pierce it. This heavy infantry is clad in iron armor, each soldier wielding a large iron shield and weapons such as swords, spears, maces, and halberds; on the battlefield they move like a massive iron‑clad hedgehog, unstoppable.

"All right, Gao Shun, lead your men to charge their formation—I want to see how they defend!"

Thus Gao Shun led his eight hundred Assault Battalion troops into formation, then directly sent men to challenge the enemy. Gao Shun's character is stern and upright, and he is extremely skilled at commanding troops in battle, but because he is not very talkative, Lu Bu prefers men like Song Xian, Wei Xu, and Cao Xing.

Looking down at the iron lumps below the city, their faces covered with visors, the few people on the wall felt a bit dazed. Is Lu Bu intending to let these iron men fight us?

Chen Deng spoke first:

"These fellows look tough to provoke; the big fellow leading them must be Gao Shun under Lu Bu. They are clad in sturdy armor and wield sharp weapons—likely a defensive‑oriented elite unit. The Danyang troops excel at offense, so I think we should let General Cao Mao lead a charge to break their formation."

"All right, since Lu Bu hasn't come out, let General Guan rest a bit; I'll lead five thousand Danyang troops to smash his pathetic formation."

The stalwart Cao Mao rubbed his palms, planning to give Lu Bu's Assault Battalion a good thrashing.

"Then please leave it to General Cao; after he defeats the enemy, I will personally lead five hundred sword‑and‑shield troops to meet him."

After their bout, Guan Yu and Lu Bu were also tired; regarding Cao Mao's ability, Second Brother still felt reassured, after all, among the people of Xuanzhou, aside from himself, who else could fight as well?

Moreover, the Danyang elite troops have always been a famed military force under heaven; Lu Bu is decent at fighting, but as for commanding troops… Second Brother just stroked his beard and laughed at the thought.

Cao Mao mounted his warhorse, led five thousand Danyang troops out of the city, saw this neatly ordered unit, and raised his spear, shouting:

"Archers and crossbowmen, form ranks and loose arrows!"

Thousands of Danyang archers and crossbowmen drew their bows; instantly arrows flew like a swarm of locusts into the Assault Battalion's formation, with only a ding‑ding sound as a rain of arrows covered them.

Cao Mao stared, his scalp going numb—he hadn't even killed a single person?!

Cao Mao made up his mind and bellowed:

"Hammer men in front, spearmen in the rear, shield‑and‑sword troops guarding the flanks. Follow me and kill!!!"

The ferocious Danyang troops followed Cao Mao as they charged the Assault Battalion; some soldiers wielding meteor hammers slammed hard into the front shield‑bearers of the Assault Battalion.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The Danyang troops' hammer‑wielders swung their meteor hammers, smashing the Assault Battalion's large front iron shields, but before they could rejoice, several spears thrust forward from the opposite side. Several dozen stalwart Danyang hammer soldiers were turned into sieves, while the Assault Battalion's shield‑bearers in the rear stepped forward to fill the gap, and all the soldiers shouted in unison.

The Danyang troops were shaken, but as sons of Danyang they had never feared any opponent on the battlefield; the Danyang spearmen also surged forward to engage, when suddenly a hail of feathered arrows shot from within the Assault Battalion, instantly piercing the spearmen.

Gao Shun raised his spear and shouted:

"Forward the charge, advance without retreat; the spirit of the Assault Battalion is to fight to the death—kill!"

The Assault Battalion's soldiers all shouted in unison, and immediately the front two hundred or so spear‑and‑shield troops pushed forward together.

"Forward the charge, advance without retreat; the spirit of the Assault Battalion is to fight to the death."

These Danyang troops could not inflict effective damage on the Assault Battalion, yet each charge by the Assault Battalion's soldiers could kill over a hundred Danyang troops.

Cao Bao was greatly shocked, hurriedly ordered his troops to retreat, but at this moment the ambush formation camp's sword‑and‑shield troops had already formed a line blocking the Danyang soldiers' sword‑and‑shield troops, and both sides began a blood‑splattering sword‑to‑sword melee.

These ambush formation camp soldiers were all veteran elite troops selected by Gao Shun from Lu Bu's army, each with a combat power of at least 65; in one‑on‑one duels they could usually cut down an opposing Danyang soldier with a single strike, while the Danyang soldiers found it hard to wound them.

Gao Shun, seeing that the Danyang soldiers had suffered many casualties, shouted loudly

"Combine!"

On the battlefield, the ambush formation camp soldiers used large iron shields to split and encircle the Danyang soldiers around them, and the surrounded Danyang soldiers were continuously slain by the emerging large halberd iron hammers and long spears.

At this moment, the Danyang soldiers, famed as the finest troops under heaven, were being routed by the ambush formation camp whose numbers were several times fewer, and Cao Bao, feeling deep anguish, could only lead his own hundreds of personal guards to cut off the rear.