The next day.

A biting wind howled as dawn broke in the east.

The winter sun broke free from the constraints of the Mongolian Plateau and leaped into the sky.

At the foot of Helishan Mountain, flags fluttered and voices clamored. Along the banks of the Shandan River, an army that stretched as far as the eye could see slowly advanced.

It covered the mountains and plains, blocking out the sun, rolling in like a tidal wave.

The seemingly endless open space outside the city was quickly filled with a vast expanse of heads, warhorses, and banners, a dark, dense mass.

The city, three zhang high and ten li wide, suddenly seemed so small in the face of such a sea of ​​people, as if the surging tide of people could swallow it up.

Having learned their lesson from last night's sneak attack, Lü Bu, Han Sui, Ma Teng, Yue Ji, and others were deeply saddened and determined to make the best of a mistake.

Today, we will send out scouts five miles away during our march, and our 50,000 troops will follow closely, with the front and rear in perfect formation. There is absolutely no possibility of us being ambushed again.

At the same time, Lü Bu ordered all his troops to prepare all means to deal with the cavalry.

If the Xuanjia Cavalry reappears, they will pay a heavy price.

The armor and weapons of the more than 100 Xuanjia cavalry who died in battle last night were immediately stripped off by Wei Xu, along with the armor of their warhorses, and then given to Lü Bu's personal guard cavalry.

A sharp horizontal sword, a handy lance, a crossbow capable of firing in rapid succession, and a bright armor that arrows cannot penetrate and ring-pommel swords cannot cut through.

Even the saddle and stirrups on the horse's belly terrified skilled cavalrymen like Lü Bu, Ma Teng, Han Sui, and Yue Ji.

No wonder they were able to sweep through their 70,000-strong army with less than 2,000 cavalry, and even take 20,000 lives.

The weapons and equipment before them were far beyond their comprehension.

Even with all their thoughts, they couldn't imagine that the world possessed weapons and equipment far superior to their own.

Leaving aside the weapons and armor, the saddle and stirrups alone were enough to leave the two cavalry generals, Lü Bu and Ma Teng, in awe.

These seemingly simple objects, when used on warhorses, allow riders to traverse with ease, significantly increasing their combat effectiveness.

Yueji, the Qiang marshal, was terrified.

Once Han cavalry acquired such equipment, their nomadic horsemanship advantage was instantly diminished.

After that, wouldn't we be completely dominated by others?

He also secretly began to take note.

After Lu Bu's hundred personal guard cavalrymen put on this equipment, they actually had the imposing presence of five-tenths of heavy cavalry.

Seeing such a formidable military formation, the frustration of last night's surprise attack and heavy losses vanished.

The next morning, they hurriedly dispatched troops to attack Lude.

The scouts reported that apart from the nearly two thousand heavily armored cavalry and three thousand infantrymen, there were no other troops in the city.

Lu Bu agreed wholeheartedly; if they could hold off these two thousand heavily armored cavalry, the rest of the infantry would be no problem.

Although we lost 20,000 troops yesterday, most of them were new recruits who had surrendered from the rebels. We can use the enemy to streamline our personnel and save on food supplies.

If we can take down these two thousand heavily armored cavalry in one fell swoop and obtain their equipment...

With these two thousand sets of equipment, plus the brave soldiers and fine horses of Liangzhou, a heavy cavalry force of Liangzhou can be formed.

Lü Bu was confident that he could elevate Ding Yuan to become the most powerful governor in the land, and as for Dong Zhuo of Bing Province, he could easily crush him underfoot.

Perhaps Dong Zhuo would then obediently bring the Red Hare horse to him.

Lü Bu thought this way, and Han Sui, Ma Teng, and Yue Ji also had their own thoughts.

"Gentlemen, while the city's troops are still few, let's work together and take the city in one fell swoop."

"If we can capture this place, we can reach Juyan Lake in the north and Dunhuang and Jiuquan in the west."

"After this battle, I will appoint the three of you as prefects under Lord Ding, so that you may be in charge of a prefecture and hold absolute power."

Lu Bu summoned his generals, rode his horse slowly to a spot two miles outside Lude City, pointed at the city wall, and shouted loudly.

The Liangzhou rebellion led to the coercion of local governors into joining the uprising.

With the help of Ma Teng and the Qiang people, Ding Yuan also persuaded Han Sui, the third-in-command of the rebel army, to defect, and quickly quelled the rebellion. The prefects who participated in the rebellion were all killed.

This has resulted in vacancies in local government positions.

With the appointment from the governor's office, Ma Teng, Han Sui, and others gained even greater influence in Liangzhou.

When the generals heard Lü Bu say this, they were overjoyed.

In this day and age, who wouldn't want money, food, soldiers, horses, and territory?

If there's no benefit whatsoever, who would want to go to war?

Even Marshal Yueji, because his king Cheliji wanted to build a good relationship with Ding Yuan, ceded the Huangshui River and the vast grassland of Xihai in Xiping County to their tribe for survival.

"We will obey General Lü's orders and advance with all our might, conquering the city and recovering the three counties of Hexi."

The crowd clasped their hands and shouted.

"The enemy general, that young white-robed officer wielding a halberd, is already a defeated opponent of mine."

"When the army surrounds the city, I'll provoke him into a one-on-one fight."

"He will not dare to leave the city. The morale in the city has plummeted. We will launch a general offensive and take the city in one fell swoop."

He glanced at Wei Xu and Gao Shun, who were closely following him, as well as the hundred guards who had just changed into the equipment dropped by the Xuanjia Cavalry.

Lü Bu was arrogant and full of vigor.

"General, let me go and challenge them!"

Wei Xu, relying on being a relative of Lü Bu, acted as if he were someone important and looked down on everyone else.

Now, 50,000 troops are pressing on the city, ready for battle.

Even if there were heavily armored cavalry in the city, they would never dare to go into battle again.

"good!"

Lu Bu waved his hand, and Wei Xu, with a dozen or so cavalrymen, rode straight to the city.

......

At this moment, the military flags on the city wall fluttered in the wind.

On the city gate tower, Liu Wei, wearing a golden crown and a robe of a four-clawed python king, stood with his hands behind his back.

Xue Rengui, Shen Lian, Li Siye, Geng Chun and other generals stood respectfully to the left and right with solemn expressions.

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