Three Kingdoms: Rebirth of Liu Bei, the Zhaolie

King Wulu already had his three-foot-long iron hammer in hand. Seeing Guan Yu's ring-pommel sword swinging towards him with the momentum of his charging warhorse, he hurriedly swung his iron hammer to block.

With a "clang".

Guan Yu's ring-pommel sword slammed down on the iron hammer of the Five Deer King.

It is powerful and heavy.

Wu Lu Da Wang's right hand trembled, and he couldn't hold the iron hammer in his hand at all.

The hammer flew out of his hand.

King Wulu was greatly alarmed.

He wanted to escape back to his village, but unfortunately, more than a hundred warhorses blocked his way. In a panic, he spurred his horse and fled to the side.

The horse that King Wulu rode was also a fine steed, running swiftly.

Guan Yu pursued relentlessly with his sword, showing no mercy.

In the blink of an eye, the two disappeared near the checkpoint.

Meanwhile, Liu Bei and the other eight were still engaged in a fierce battle with more than a hundred mounted bandits.

Liu Bei thrust out his long sword with sharp speed, each thrust swiftly piercing a bandit.

The bandits all fled.

Qian Zhao, Geng Yong, Dongye Ban, Xinyuan Jian, Zuo Zi, Zhang Ba, Du Chang, and others also charged into the bandits' cavalry and quickly scattered them.

Although the bandit cavalry numbered over a hundred, three or four of them were shot dead as soon as they arrived, which chilled their spirits. Now, having lost their leader, the Five Deer King, their morale had been completely shattered.

As the famous world boxing champion Mike Tyson said: "Boxing is only 10% about your body and the other 90% about your unwavering will."

Whether it's boxing or battlefield combat, once a person loses their fighting spirit, they become disorganized and vulnerable to being slaughtered.

Especially in ancient warfare, there was a saying: "One should strike while the iron is hot, but the momentum will wane on the second attempt and be exhausted on the third."

A strong momentum leads to a strong fighting spirit.

A weak spirit leads to a lack of fighting spirit.

At this moment, the more than one hundred bandit cavalrymen below the pass, after being shot with arrows and cut with swords, and without anyone to command them, quickly scattered and fled.

Some bandits even began to retreat into the pass.

Seeing this, Liu Bei loudly addressed the remaining seven men:

"Charge in! Quickly!"

Liu Bei, Qian Zhao, and eight others rode their horses and followed the fleeing mountain bandits into the pass.

In war, the moment when one side inflicts the most unilateral damage on the other is when the routed soldiers are slaughtered.

Upon seeing Liu Bei and his men galloping towards them, a flurry of sword thrusts and slashes ensued, and the mountain bandits guarding the pass were already terrified and scattered in all directions.

Liu Bei charged ahead, leading Qian Zhao and others, charging forward all the way.

"Du Chang, do you know the way? Lead the way. Today we must take advantage of their unpreparedness, break through five passes in one fell swoop, and capture Xu Wushan's stronghold."

Liu Bei shouted loudly.

Du Chang immediately said:

"I know the locations of the five checkpoints. Everyone, please follow me."

First, gallop forward on horseback.

Liu Bei, Qian Zhao, and others followed closely behind.

The bandit guards at the second pass had no idea what had happened at the first pass. When they looked up, they saw eight flying horses charging towards them, and they were so frightened that they didn't know what to do.

Liu Bei and his men had already rushed into the second checkpoint.

The higher you go, the more difficult the road becomes.

Fortunately, before each checkpoint, there was a short stretch of flat ground where warhorses could charge.

Taking advantage of Xu Wushan's bandits' carelessness and their fast horses, the group broke through the third and fourth passes in succession and arrived at the fifth pass.

At this time, the bandits at the fifth pass closed their gates early because they saw eight strangers rushing in from the two passes ahead.

Liu Bei stopped his horse at the fifth pass and shouted loudly upwards:

"Your leader, the Five Deer King, has been captured by us. Open the gates and surrender now, and I will spare your lives."

The bandits on the mountain pass were already pale with fright, and could only reply:

"If you let King Wulu give the order in person, we will open the gate."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei knew they didn't believe him.

At this time, the four passes at the foot of the mountain were open, and in the chaos of war, no one was left to guard the passes.

Liu Bei, unaware of Guan Yu's condition, addressed Zuo Zi and Zhang Ba:

"You two go down the mountain and greet Yun Chang."

"it is good."

Zuo Zi and Zhang Ba each spurred their horses and galloped down the mountain.

The figure quickly disappeared at the third checkpoint.

Not long after.

Liu Bei saw Zuo Zi and Zhang Ba reappear at the third checkpoint, with Guan Yu behind them.

There was a person lying across Guan Yu's saddle.

Liu Bei was overjoyed, knowing that the captured man must be Wu Lu Da Wang, the leader of Xu Wushan's stronghold.

Three horses galloped up the mountain.

Soon, they arrived at the fifth checkpoint.

Guan Yu picked up the man lying across the horse's back and threw him to the ground.

Liu Bei looked closely at the man and saw that it was indeed the King of Wulu.

"Xuande, this kid ran too fast and crashed his head into a tree trunk, passing out. I've picked up a ready-made one."

Upon hearing this, everyone burst into laughter.

Liu Bei couldn't help but smile:

"The contrast between how King Wulu came down the mountain so aggressively and now looks so pathetic is truly too great. — Let's find some water to wake him up!"

Xin Yuanjian immediately dismounted and sprayed the water from the sheepskin bag onto the face of the Five Deer King.

Stimulated, Wulu King's physical consciousness was quickly awakened.

He slowly opened his eyes, first seeing the clatter of hooves all around him, then looking up and seeing Liu Bei and the others, which startled him.

Aragaki Kenji lifted the Five Deer King up.

Wulu King stood there dumbfounded.

Liu Bei said in a deep voice:

"King Wulu, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and tell someone to open the door!"

Everyone burst into laughter.

King Wulu then looked towards the fifth checkpoint and whispered to the bandits guarding the gate:

"Open the door!"

Seeing this, the bandits had no choice but to obediently open the door.

Liu Bei and the other nine men dismounted, took up their swords and entered the fifth checkpoint.

Inside the pass, there were only the elderly, women, and children, all staring longingly at Liu Bei and his men.

Liu Bei knew that these people were all family members of bandits, so he comforted them, saying:

"You need not panic. Now that we have captured the stronghold, we will no longer indiscriminately kill innocent people. Now, you may call your husbands or sons and gather them before the fifth checkpoint. I have something to say."

After he finished speaking, he looked at King Wulu.

King Wulu understood and immediately addressed the elderly, weak, women, and children:

"You all, quickly summon them all. Hurry!"

Those people obeyed and left after hearing what King Wulu said.

The group climbed the steps and entered the main hall of the mountain stronghold, where they sat down on the couches to rest.

The Five Deer King sat cross-legged in the middle.

Liu Bei first let out a long sigh of relief, and then addressed the crowd:

"None of you expected this, did you? We actually captured Xu Wushan's stronghold in this way. Previously, we planned to launch a sneak attack from the back of the mountain, or lure them out and ambush them at the foot of the mountain, but plans always change. This reminds me of Huo Qubing, the Marquis of Champions..."

Qian Zhao then said:

"Huo Qubing's tactics were to break the balance of the battlefield in rapid movement, actively seek opportunities, lock onto the enemy's weaknesses, and deliver a surprise heavy blow to defeat the enemy army in one fell swoop."

Liu Bei nodded:

"What Zijing said is excellent. Opportunities in battle are fleeting. A general must be good at seizing and utilizing opportunities in battle."

"'Forming a battle formation before engaging in combat is a fundamental principle of military strategy; its application lies in one's own mind.' This is the essence of 'maintaining the orthodox while employing the unorthodox.' It requires not only actively seeking opportunities for battle but also creating them oneself."

The famous quote he cited was by Yue Fei, a general who later resisted the Jin dynasty.

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in approval.

……

Attack where they are unprepared, strike when they least expect it.

—Sun Tzu's Art of War, Chapter 1: Initial Planning