When warriors collide [Wei, Wu]

[Sun Ce]

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Preparations had gone well enough, and from Jian Ye the main forward army had arrived at Lu Jiang, south of Hefei and the only city by land in which an effective assault could be made from. All of the 40,000 troops he would land at Wan Kou port would progress to Lu Jiang for their final preparations and link up with another 40,000 stationed there, ready for one final attempt at breaking the Hefei conundrum.

There was hope amongst the ranks of Wu, the Demon himself, Zhang Liao had been taken ill and was forced to withdraw from the castle at the orders of Cao Cao, who with a risky move, installed Lu Bu as his replacement. The appointment would work in one of two ways, either he'd be a more fierce and dangerous opponent than Wenyuan, or he would be overconfident and make a mistake his former subordinate would not have - Sun Ce's strategy would work around the latter possibility.

The column of troops, at the 80,000 mark would march out from the city under the chilly shadows of night and progress onwards at a steady pace for some time, led from the front by Wu's own greatest Warrior, Sun Ce. Night would turn to day and back to night before the column continued their progression into Wei territory. There was no doubt the troops of Hefei would know of their coming, if no scout or spy had caught sight of their vast force, then someone else would have reported it for some amount of payment.

It was not uncommon knowledge that Hefei had been recently reinforced, not just with the addition of the mighty Lu Bu, but by a number exceeding many tens of thousands. From a small force at Xiaoyao, Hefei castle had grown to an astonishing 70,000 at its peak and against Wu's 80,000 the forces of Wei had a major upper hand.

It was several miles until Hefei would be in view, but yet Wu's army halted and waited. Sun Ce gave the orders to hold line, for he had a suspicion they were tracked to their current position, something he had wanted to happen - all he could do was wait and see if the ego took the bait and sallied forth out of his fortifications.

[Lu Bu]

"Such arrogance! I'll see his head on a spike!"

Bu was sprawled out casually on his chaise lounge completely naked resting his head on his hand, swirling a cup of wine in his other. It had been a hot few days and Bu spent most of his time drunk and nude as his favourite wench massaged his feet and oiled his thighs. Another of his wenches stood silently by his side with a jug of finest Jiang vintage ready to fill his cup once he had downed it.

His advisers and generals were forced to look on in horror and rage as their so called leader indulged himself in utter decadence at the peoples expense. They longed for the days when Zhang Liao had been in charge, under his regime everything was organised and disciplined. Everybody knew what their role was and they worked hard for the glory of Wei under the firm but fair generalship of Wenyuan.

It was hard to believe that that their new leader had once been the mentor and friend of their beloved commander, the two could not be more different. Fengxian seemed to delight in their humiliation and misery, he would order them around like they were less than dirt and if they even so much of hinted at complaint they would be soundly whipped and demoted to rank and file. Some even began to think dark thoughts of mutiny and betrayal, none were so bold as to speak this evil and they all still held loyalty to the Cao family and to Wei but Lu Bu could test the patience of even the loyalist of men.

"They will arrive outside our walls within the hour sir", the scout had his head bowed low daring not to make eye contact for fear of being reprimanded, this amused Bu who gave him a mocking smirk. He gulped down his wine and dropped the cup on the hard stone floor of He Fei castle, the rattle echoed through the halls. He sat up and waved his wenches away, they both curtsied and turned their backs but Bu grabbed the younger prettier one by the shoulder pulling her roughly toward him, the girl did not object and for the most part seemed to like it as Bu began kissing her slender neck.

The Generals were feeling a little uncomfortable, the enemy was quite literally at the gates and their leader was still indulging himself in vice. The young girl reached down with her hand and began to gently rub Bu's erect penis as he bit her ear lobe. This carried on for a good few minutes before Bu quite abruptly pushed the girl over onto the floor and leaped off his lounger and began to stroll confidently down the hall, nobody was quite sure what was going on but it was made clear as he shouted back "Go get my armor!".

[Sun Ce]

Everyone knew what Wu would be planning to do - to take Hefei and use it as a basin to push on into Shou Chun and then into the central plains and Xu Chang. It would be deemed a risk by many who had taken notice of Wu's assault, they had again pumped many men into a fight against a just as formidable Wei force, who with another month or two could be further reinforced with ease; it meant Wu had to win, or else they would find it difficult to recover and try a third time.

At the fore of the formation Sun Ce led his troops closer to the famed fortification, casual and relaxed in his mannerisms as he spoke and acted with a smile on his face and a glint in his eye. It was something he always did prior to war, it helped reduce the stress of his men, boost morale and he hadn't even done much different to his usual self - perhaps that was the difference that made him better than most.

It would be no more than a minute or two from sight when the lord of Wu was brought to the attention of his lead scout, who brought his horse up beside him and gave word of the castle up ahead. With a nod of the head, Bofu gave his acknowledgement and thanks prior to his next daring idea.

"Halt the column and present them into a defensive position - use the terrain to our advantage and await my return." He gave commands to his lieutenant who seemed understanding of his ruler's motives, if unsure of if they would be successful or not.

With a lash of the reigns, his horse sped off away from the forward army, pressing forward towards Hefei with minor urgency. He ducked under the branches of trees before grassland presented itself and there he slowed down, coming only to a trot as before him after a mere minute or two of riding, he came upon the strong walls of Hefei.

He prepared his voice for words as the onlookers atop the walls looked down and saw the image of a lonely rider but 50 metres out of effective crossbow range. They'd hear his voice, youthful, yet commanding and with that voice they'd recognise the challenge and who it was from.

"I seek the Flying General - the arrogant bastard of two slain fathers - the one they label the best warrior of our generation! Send for him and tell him the conqueror of the south seeks him out!"

His voice bellowed towards the castle walls. He had no idea if Lu Bu was present there or not, nor did he care a great deal. He had much to tell him, in as much time as he wanted, but deep down he knew they would cross blades sooner rather than later and the real champion warrior would be named.

[Lu Bu]

The men on the wall spoke to each other in hushed mumbling voices, they had been given more than enough warning to prepare themselves for inevitable battle but the way in which the Wu leader casually and confidently rode up alone put them at ill ease. Nobody was quite sure what to do, the junior officers wondered if they should reply with words or arrows and the troopers were eagerly awaiting some kind of direction. They knew also that if they initiated an action that displeased their lord commander they would find themselves stripped of rank with a good flogging their troubles.

It became very quiet, only the Blue Flags of Wei could be heard flapping in the breeze when from behind the Crossbowmen could hear the large thunderous footsteps of their commander, his armoured boots crushing the stonework beneath him. Lu Bu was adorned in his imposing Black, Iron, Plated, Armour which shimmered magnificently in the light and covered every orifice. Under one arm he clutched his Stag helmet close to his chest, a colossal Iron studded shield with the symbol of Wei was thrown over his back, it was so huge that it would take 4 normal men just to lift it. In his other hand was that famous Halberd Sky Scorcher, the widow-maker, the piercer of souls, the devils own fang.

His men took an awe inspired gasp as they watched the god-like figure approach, a raging fire burning in his eyes, his long silky black hair flowing elegantly in the wind. He said nothing to his men, he had no need to, his presence alone was enough to fill them with confidence and reign utter terror upon his enemies. The Crossbowmen moved aside as Lu Bu took his place upon the wall and glared down at the tiny figure before him, he would have laughed at how ridiculous his nemesis looked if he was not so painfully afflicted with hate. He took a deep breath and boomed his voice from his chest making sure that all his men could hear it true and even his enemies who would no doubt shudder at the Demons roar.

"Well if its isn't my dear friend the 'little conqueror', and how very little you are! Do you have any idea how stupid you look down there? Why not come closer so we can all get a better view of your pretty little face hmm? Or are you scared? Ha! how silly of me, of course your scared! You have come face to face with death! Tell me 'Little conqueror' how does it feel to know your time in this world is about to run out? It must be truly humbling for such a little man, no?"