"Fengxian, what's the situation in the enemy camp?"
As soon as Lü Bu returned to the group, Dong Zhuo stepped forward and asked him questions.
Lu Bu shook his head with a bored expression: "These rebels are hiding in their shells, which is quite troublesome!"
Despite saying that, Lü Bu showed no sign of annoyance.
The lessons learned from his impulsive actions and his life as a riding instructor in the Imperial Guard had made Lü Bu much more composed.
Dong Zhuo said, "Our army is outnumbered and unable to surround the enemy. It seems we should first test the waters and see how strong these rebels are before making any further plans!"
Tian Feng and Zhang Zhao nodded in agreement; they did indeed need to play it safe for the time being.
As the troops marched in, the rebels inside the camp were also making preparations in a flurry. Five thousand archers were deployed in front of the camp walls, while the remaining ten thousand soldiers stood ready with their weapons in hand.
Lü Bu and Dong Zhuo also began to select men to prepare for the attack.
Soon, Lü Bu selected one thousand trainees, who were then divided into groups of ten and marched up the mountain in a dispersed formation.
The initial phase went smoothly, and before long, Lü Bu led his men to advance to a point two hundred paces from the enemy camp.
Nevertheless, the rebel soldiers guarding the stockade wall did not make a move, nor did they fire a single arrow.
Lu Bu looked puzzled and looked up. When he saw the bows and arrows in the hands of the rebel soldiers, he understood.
No wonder the rebel soldiers didn't fire their arrows. Those crudely made things would be lucky to shoot a hundred paces away. To harm Han soldiers in armor, they would need to be at least fifty paces away.
Having spent a long time in the Imperial Guard, he was exposed to the most advanced weaponry, which led to a slight skew in his perception. Unconsciously, he began to imagine that the enemy was also equipped with the same configuration as the Han army.
Lu Bu couldn't help but chuckle to himself, and then began to calculate the firing distance between his side and the enemy.
Although the rebels' arrows were insignificant, they had the advantage of terrain, being on higher ground, which would amplify the power of their arrows.
The trainees were carrying standard large bows made by the Research and Manufacturing Bureau, which normally had a range of 180 paces. However, since this was a feint attack, their power was greatly reduced, and they could only shoot at a maximum of about 100 to 110 paces.
After a moment's thought, Lü Bu roughly estimated that the rebels' arrows could only kill at a distance of about one hundred paces. In addition, his students were all armored and could protect themselves, so getting within ninety paces shouldn't be a problem.
Afterwards, Lü Bu led his troops to a distance of one hundred paces before stopping. Although his calculations were accurate, he had to be extremely cautious for the safety of these Imperial Guard trainees.
After stopping, Lü Bu immediately waved to Xiahou Dun, who was following behind him.
Xiahou Dun approached excitedly: "What are your orders, Instructor?"
When facing Lü Bu, who was the chief horsemanship instructor of the Imperial Guard, Xiahou Dun still followed the rules of the Imperial Guard and addressed Lü Bu respectfully as "Instructor".
Lu Bu smiled and said, "Yuan Rang, let me see how much your archery skills have improved!"
"yes!"
Xiahou Dun responded, then took the large bow from his back and aimed it at a rebel leader near the stockade wall.
With a twang of the bowstring, an arrow whistled through the air, hurtling upwards towards its target.
Unfortunately, the arrow only flew ten paces from its target before its momentum diminished, and it was dodged by the rebel leader.
Upon seeing this, Lü Bu frowned; his calculations were still ten steps off.
Just as Lü Bu was pondering, the rebel leader who had dodged Xiahou Dun's arrow patted his chest, still shaken, and then looked down at Lü Bu with a mocking expression.
"Haha~, you want to kill me? You'd better come closer. You're too far away, you can't touch me!"
"Hmph, you're asking for death!"
Seeing that the other party dared to provoke him, Lü Bu snorted coldly, then took down the golden eagle bow bestowed by the emperor and aimed it at the other party.
With a whoosh, a sharp arrow shot through the air, heading straight for the rebel leader. In an instant, the leader let out a scream and fell straight backward.
The surrounding rebel soldiers turned their heads and saw a trembling arrow embedded in their leader's throat.
"Ten steps forward!"
Putting away his bow and arrows, Lü Bu immediately ordered his men to continue approaching the enemy camp.
Although he successfully shot and killed one of the enemy leaders, it was only because of the precious bow in his hand. It would be virtually impossible for other students to do the same.
When they were ninety paces from the enemy camp, Lü Bu had Xiahou Dun shoot another arrow.
This time, Xiahou Dun lived up to expectations and successfully shot and killed a rebel soldier.
"Pass on my order: each team member is to take turns shooting at the enemy!"
Seeing that this distance was effective, Lü Bu immediately gave orders to the messenger beside him.
With the sound of a bugle, the Imperial Guard trainees scattered around the area drew their bows and nocked their arrows, aiming at their respective targets.
Although these trainees are only fourteen or fifteen years old, they were all carefully selected from all over the Han Dynasty, and can be said to be one in ten thousand.
After long-term training, and with the careful guidance of Lu Bu, Huang Zhong and others, his archery skills, while not quite hitting the bullseye from a hundred miles away, were not far off.
In an instant, thousands of arrows rained down on the rebel camp. In a flash, hundreds of rebel soldiers near the camp wall let out miserable groans as they fell to the ground, struck by arrows.
The screams of their comrades awakened the surrounding rebel soldiers, who drew their bows and began to fight back.
Just as Lü Bu had predicted, the arrows in the rebels' hands, even with their high ground advantage, could at most wound unarmored targets within eighty paces, posing no threat whatsoever to the armored trainees who were more than ninety paces away.
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