Chapter 43: I Will Most Certainly Take Your Place!

Liu Bei easily deflected the previous matter onto Lu Bu. After all, these men were essentially Hua Xiong's former subordinates, and Hua Xiong's performance had left Liu Bei thoroughly satisfied—both in terms of loyalty and martial prowess. Therefore, Liu Bei had no intention of rejecting Hua Xiong's face over such minor details.

"Zijian, are you confident you can completely command these men?" Chen Xi asked with a slight frown. Although he had previously considered how to handle Hua Xiong's subordinates after Hua Xiong was captured alive, he hadn't expected Lu Bu to bring all of them along this time. This made splitting them up rather troublesome.

"Sir need not worry. Since I have already pledged loyalty to our lord, my former subordinates should no longer be calculated separately. Prisoners are prisoners, and military achievements are military achievements. They should not receive special treatment simply because they were once my men," Hua Xiong said solemnly. From this perspective, this fellow was remarkably rigid and doctrinaire.

Chen Xi exchanged a glance with Liu Bei. Seeing Liu Bei nod, Chen Xi turned back to Hua Xiong and said, "Select your men and have them reorganize under your command. I imagine that after spending so much time grinding together, trying to disperse and reorganize them to maintain combat effectiveness would take quite a while. As for the rest, leave them to Lord Xuande to handle. However, if your subordinates return to your command and still perform at this level, don't blame me for stripping away your unit designation."

"Understood!" Hua Xiong replied loudly, though a clear trace of joy leaked through his voice.

After all, military law was military law, and human sentiment was human sentiment. While Hua Xiong was capable of upholding military law when it conflicted with personal ties, it was even better when both sides could be accommodated. After all, Chinese society had been built on personal connections since antiquity.

Before long, Hua Xiong had selected his former men. It was evident that these soldiers were entirely accustomed to Hua Xiong's command. Under his leadership, the newly reorganized troops instantly condensed a solid, cloud-like aura resembling burning red clouds.

Similar to Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun, this cloud of burning red vapor was anchored by the primary general, Hua Xiong, and draped over his troops. It looked even more imposing than the auras of Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun, demonstrating that Hua Xiong, as a fierce warrior of Liangzhou, was also a remarkably capable cavalry commander.

Once Hua Xiong carved out four thousand men, Guan and Zhang were practically drooling. Previously, they had thought the Liangzhou iron cavalry were a disgrace, but now that Hua Xiong had taken charge, they instantly displayed the essence of an elite force.

Chen Xi looked at Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun—who was standing off to the side, seemingly indifferent as he polished his spear—and sighed. This was simply not enough to go around! Although these troops looked terrifyingly formidable to a minor warlord, given the future capabilities of the men present here, even assigning all of them to just one person would still feel a bit sparse.

"Allocate five hundred men to Zichuan as an escort. As for the rest, Yunchang, Yide, and Zilong will each take one thousand five hundred. Anything left over can be handed to me," Liu Bei issued the distribution order.

Presumably, after Guan, Zhang, and Zhao finished dividing the spoils, there wouldn't be much left. However, Liu Bei himself did not command troops directly; he still had the thousand personal guards he brought from the Yellow Turban Rebellion, though they were currently led by Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. Now, by assigning cavalry to Guan and Zhang, those veteran bodyguards could be reclaimed under his direct command—serving as a sort of alternative arrangement.

It had to be said that although Guan, Zhang, and Zhao had not yet experienced many brutal battles, they already possessed the foundation of renowned generals. They quickly stabilized the Liangzhou iron cavalry. While they couldn't quite match the piercing murderous aura Hua Xiong exuded, one could no longer tell they were soldiers who had just suffered a bitter defeat. They already displayed the aura of elite troops, and a brief period of readjustment back at camp would be enough to send them straight back to the battlefield.

Watching Guan Yu and Zhang Fei each leading one thousand five hundred cavalrymen happily circling the plains, Chen Xi was at a loss for what expression to wear. Second Master, haven't you had it a bit too rough? Aren't they just fifteen hundred cavalrymen? Do you really have to look this ecstatic? Don't you know the good days are still ahead of you?

Well, Chen Xi couldn't be bothered to manage Guan Yu and Zhang Fei anymore. He wasn't completely ignorant of the situation. This was still the era of Dong Zhuo's chaos; across the entire realm, the only ones with substantial cavalry forces besides Dong Zhuo were Gongsun Zan and Ma Teng. Though, as for how Ma Teng managed to get his cavalry—Liangzhou was practically reduced to nothing, wasn't that Dong Zhuo's territory?

All in all, cavalry was still extremely scarce at this time. Of course, whether it was Cao Cao before Guandu or Sun Quan and Liu Bei after Chibi, horses remained few and far between. There was no helping it; both Yuan Shao and Cao Cao knew that horses were strategic resources that could not be traded away in large quantities. It was precisely because of this, despite the vast herds of wild horses roaming the grasslands, that the various warlords possessed so few cavalrymen.

"Lord Xuande, notify Generals Guan and Zhang; we need to return to camp. Let's go back and observe the true faces of the various warlords, and after that, we should walk our own path. However, if Li Ruru could use Luoyang as bait, leaving behind other scraps to divide the warlords is probably just a matter of course. I wonder if this bait will be enticing enough?" Chen Xi looked at Guan and Zhang below, who were gradually mastering their formations, and turned his head to speak to Liu Bei.

"Zichuan, is Li Ru really as terrifying as you make him out to be?" Liu Bei asked with some incomprehension upon hearing Chen Xi's words.

"When facing this man, one must never harbor any wishful thinking at any time; otherwise, you are very likely to have a brilliant situation completely ruined by him. It's just a pity he chose the wrong master. If someone with a steady temperament had been sitting in Dong Zhuo's position, the realm would have already changed hands!" Chen Xi stated without the slightest bit of taboo.

Seeing that Liu Bei still didn't quite believe him, Chen Xi sighed and said, "Zijian, from Liangzhou to Luoyang, before Dong Zhuo became completely corrupt, was there ever a time when Li Ru's schemes failed?"

"Ah?" Hua Xiong was startled, completely unprepared for Chen Xi to shift the topic to him. However, upon hearing the question, he began to ponder it. The more he thought, the more solemn his expression became, until finally, he spoke with astonishment, "No, there were actually no failures. I never even noticed it—he always seemed to be concealing his tracks, completely retiring into the shadow of the Prime Minister!"

"There you see, terrifying, isn't it? Zijian followed him for so many years and benefited from his strategies countless times, yet never even realized that he had never suffered a failure before. Therefore, Lord Xuande must not underestimate him," Chen Xi said with an innocent shrug, spreading his hands.

Chen Xi had known long before coming to Luoyang that Li Ru's schemes had never failed. Apart from the fact that Dong Zhuo could distinguish right from wrong at the time, it was also because Li Ru was extraordinarily formidable. Of course, it was also partly because no true strategists had emerged along the route from Liangzhou to Yongzhou during that period, leaving Li Ru to face only minor players.

Liu Bei sighed, "How many capable people there are in this world! Even the likes of Dong Zhuo have talented individuals like Lu Bu and Li Ru following them!" Then he glanced at Chen Xi, seeing his innocent expression, which made him feel a bit better. Afterwards, he looked at his own four fierce generals, and the pent-up melancholy in his heart finally eased.

[Lu Bu was defeated by the hands of my second brother, third brother, and Zilong, and Li Ru has also been outmaneuvered by Chen Xi; sooner or later, he will break with Lu Bu. I have civil officials stronger than Dong Zhuo's, and better martial generals than his as well. One day, I will surely replace him!] Liu Bei thought to himself silently.