Three Kingdoms: I choose Xiao Qiao and Da Qiao, why are you crying, Diao Chan?

Chapter 176 Xu Dabao! (Thanks to the monthly ticket support from book friend 2022…0202~)

Without waiting for Zhou Tai to answer, Sun Ce and Huang Zhong came straight over with a strong man wearing a red hat, thick armor, and an ancient ingot knife on his waist.

Huang Zhong and Sun Ce knelt down before Lu Bu and pleaded guilty:

"I am incompetent and have caused my subordinates to suffer heavy losses... I hope the lord will punish me!"

Looking at Sun Ce and Huang Zhong, they were almost covered in blood.

Although Lu Bu felt extremely distressed, he also knew that there must be clear rewards and punishments in the army.

He said in a calm voice:

"You have suffered heavy losses and should be severely punished, but considering that you have successfully completed the mission objectives, it can be considered a great achievement.

"Since your merits and demerits offset each other, I won't punish you this time!"

Sun Ce and Huang Zhong both breathed a sigh of relief:
"Thank you, my lord!"

Without saying much, Lu Bu immediately fixed his eyes on the burly man behind the two men.

When Lu Bu saw the ancient ingot knife on the opponent's waist and the iron chain behind the handle, a name immediately popped up in his mind.

He asked in a doubtful tone:
"It was you who saved my soldiers, right? I am Lu Bu, thank you for your help, brave warrior!"

As he spoke, Lu Bu bowed deeply to the man.

It was surprising to see that the tall and noble Lu Bu would show such great courtesy to a nobody like him for the sake of his subordinates.

Xu Sheng suddenly understood why Huang Zhong and Sun Ce admired this guy so much.

The once infamous Lu Bu was much more easy-going than he had imagined.

However, Xu Sheng knew very well that some people were very good at disguising themselves. They looked gentle and kind on the surface, but they might be extremely perverted in private!
Before finding out the other party's true face, Xu Sheng decided to wait and see and not sincerely submit.

He returned the greeting to Lu Bu:
"You are welcome, Lord Wen. I was planning to come and seek refuge with you, but I happened to see General Huang and his men in danger on the way.

"I can only offer my humble contribution, but it's mainly because General Huang and his men are brave enough.

"If they hadn't held out for so long, they would have consumed a lot of the enemy's combat power.

"It would be difficult for me to help them turn the tide of the war with only two hundred brothers under my command."

Seeing Xu Sheng being so humble, Sun Ce smiled bitterly and said:
"Brother Xu, you are too modest. If you hadn't attacked the enemy commander and beheaded him, scaring the enemy off, how could we have been rescued?"

Brother Xu?
Hearing Sun Ce's address, Lu Bu felt more and more that the other party was the man he had guessed, "a man who kills with wine and a sword and slaughters madly", so he couldn't help but ask:

"May I ask your name, hero?"

Xu Sheng clenched his fist and replied:

"My surname is Xu, my name is Sheng, and my courtesy name is Wenxiang!"

The moment he heard the name, Lu Bu showed an expression of "just as I expected" and blurted out subconsciously:

"Xu Dabao, it turns out it's really you!"

Xu Sheng: ???
"Xu... Dabao?"

Sun Ce had a confused look on his face, his lips twitching slightly, he wanted to laugh but didn't dare to.

Lu Bu suddenly realized that he had said something he shouldn't have said, and quickly made up a story:
“No, what I meant is… when I was in Wu County, I heard from the locals that there was a hero named Xu who was quite brave and often performed heroic deeds nearby.

"The local villagers didn't know his name, so they affectionately called him - Xu Dabao!"

Seeing that Lü Bu had revealed the location of his hometown, Xu Sheng suddenly realized something:

"So that's how it is... I never thought I would have such a strange name in my hometown..."

Seeing that Xu Sheng and the others were not suspicious, Lu Bu secretly breathed a sigh of relief and patted Xu Sheng on the shoulder:

"Brother Xu, are you really willing to join our army?"

Xu Sheng clasped his fists solemnly:

"If Lord Wen doesn't give up, I and my more than 100 brothers are willing to serve Lord Wen!"

"it is good!"

Lu Bu clapped his hands happily and immediately appointed Xu Sheng as the military and mighty captain!
Xu Sheng was quite surprised to be appointed as a captain right after he arrived. He knelt on one knee in front of Lu Bu:

"Sheng, I am willing to serve the lord with all my heart!" Lu Bu smiled and helped Xu Sheng up, then asked the military doctor to quickly treat Huang Zhong, Sun Ce and other wounded soldiers.

At the same time, he ordered the army to set up camp on the spot and have a good rest!
A day later, Lu Bu checked the injuries of Huang Zhong and his two men and the more than one hundred surviving cavalrymen.

Huang Zhong and Sun Ce are slightly better, but are also not suitable to continue fighting.

Zhou Tai was the most seriously injured, but he was also very lucky and was not fatally hit by eight bullets.

But it is obviously impossible to recover in a short period of time.

Lu Bu immediately dispatched 3,000 infantrymen to escort the three men and the remaining more than 100 elite cavalrymen back to Yuanling City in the rear to recuperate.

He continued to lead 57,000 troops and nearly 10,000 civilians to cross the river that Huang Zhong and his men had previously crossed.

Even though the battlefield on the other side of the river had been cleared.

But looking at the land stained red with countless blood, Lu Bu could fully imagine how tragic the previous battle was!

Fortunately, this battle successfully defeated 5,000 enemy troops.

Among them, more than 2,000 were beheaded, and most of the remaining 2,000 became deserters.

If I go back as a defeated soldier, I will most likely be punished, so it is better to just return home as a deserter.

As a result, there were only 15,000 people left in Linyuan City.

Among them, 5,000 people were just a temporary force composed of young people in the city.

It will be much easier for Lu Bu to attack Linyuan City again than before.

Although Sun Ce and his two companions paid a heavy price in this battle, they also achieved remarkable results!
The more than one hundred elite cavalrymen who survived will also gain considerable growth after this bloody battle.

In the future, these more than one hundred cavalrymen will serve as the foundation for Lu Bu to establish a new "special forces"!
……

In Linyuan City.

Listening to the scout's report, Jin Xuan's face turned pale as paper, and he asked in a trembling voice:

"How could this happen, why is this happening!

"Five thousand soldiers were unable to wipe out even one thousand enemy troops, and the situation was reversed by the sudden appearance of two hundred bandits...

"Is this God's will to kill me, Jin Xuan?"

Jin Xuan looked at his son for help and asked helplessly:

"Son...what do you think we should do?"

Jin Yi frowned, trying hard to think of a way to break the impasse.

However, with his ability, he could only think of some simple strategies.

Faced with Lu Bu's 60,000 tiger troops approaching the city, he was helpless for a while...

After a long silence, Jin Yi suddenly thought of Lü Bu's previous attitude towards his enemies, so he said to Jin Xuan:

"Father, Lü Bu recently conquered the three counties of southern Jing without any effort and reaped great rewards.

“If our army fights desperately, the enemy will definitely have to expend a lot of manpower to capture Linyuan City.

"Lü Bu certainly doesn't want to waste too many troops on us.

"We can take advantage of the other party's psychology and negotiate with them.

"It's probably impossible for you to continue to be the governor of Wuling, but it should be no problem for him to spare the lives of my son and me!"

After hearing his son's words, Jin Xuan felt like a drowning man who had grabbed a life-saving straw, and a glimmer of hope instantly appeared in his eyes.

But soon, he said bitterly:

"I made a boast in public before my father that I would make Lu Bu pay the price.

"If I surrender to Lu Bu just to survive, wouldn't that be a loss of face for my father?

"How can I, your father, hold my head high in front of those civil officials and military generals in the future?"

(End of this chapter)