Chapter 227: A Lifetime of Wandering

Yuan Shao’s army had a luxurious lineup.

Three of the future “Four Pillars of Hebei” are here: Yan Liang, Wen Chou, and Gao Lan.

Zhang He was still serving in Jizhou and had not defected to Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao didn't want to send out all his forces, but not only did Yuan Shu want to compete with him for the position of leader, but Sun Jian also took away the credit.

How would Yuan Shao, the leader of the alliance, feel about this?
Unlike the time in Luoyang, nowadays what matters is military achievements and accomplishments. If Yuan Shao is always outdone by others, where will he put his face?

Therefore, as soon as the siege began, Yuan Shao used all his strength!
Yan Liang and Wen Chou were the first to climb the mountain, Gao Lan was the reserve, and all kinds of elite troops were used.

Even Yuan Shao's personal guards had to go into battle when necessary.

It’s both a huge reward and a death order.

The entire Yuan army of 20,000 troops were huddled in front of Hulao Pass like ants, forming a sharp contrast with the 2,000 troops of Cao's army.

suddenly!

A large number of defenders appeared at Hulao Pass, and arrows, battering rams, and rolling logs fell like wildfire.

There is indeed a trap inside the pass!

Cao Cao secretly felt lucky. If it weren't for Yuan Shao's 20,000 troops, his 2,000 men would most likely be surrounded and killed, and he would have been unable to escape even if he had wings.

"Who will be the general guarding the gate?"

"How dare you be so courageous!"

the other side.

Hulao Pass.

The general Xu Rong who was guarding the pass secretly thought it was a pity as he almost wiped out Cao Cao's troops.

Cao Cao's prediction was correct. Dong Zhuo did lead troops to support Dagu Pass, but they were all cavalry. The 70,000 infantry were all left behind inside and outside Hulao Pass.

With the coalition forces' current limited strength, it is nothing but a pipe dream to capture Hulao Pass.

However, General Xu Rong was a skilled and bold man, and he wanted to kill another group of princes to completely crush the morale of the coalition forces.

Just then, Cao Cao led two thousand troops to break through the pass. Xu Rong recognized that this was the Cao army that forced the coalition forces to hold their ground.

At the beginning, it gave the illusion that Cao's army was attacking the city smoothly.

However, Yuan Shao did not play by the rules and caught Xu Rong off guard.

Fortunately, Hulao Pass is not so easy to break through.

Yuan Shao has brave generals under his command, and what Dong Zhuo has the most is brave generals under his command.

Yan Liang and Wen Chou relied on their martial arts to attack the city wall several times, but were beaten back by Xu Rong's men.

It was not until sunset that the Guandong coalition forces sounded the retreat, leaving behind more than 5,000 corpses.

Seeing that the Guandong coalition forces had a plan for advance and retreat, Xu Rong gave up the idea of ​​a night attack, but missed the opportunity!
...

The coalition tent.

Yuan Shao washed his face and wiped off the dust, but Cao Cao in the hall was not so lucky. His whole face was black and gray, as if he had touched soot in a pot.

"Cao Cao!"

Yuan Shao threw his face towel to the ground and cursed: "You are so heartless!"

"I have tolerated you time and again!"

"Is this how you repay me?"

The princes, some who knew about it and some who didn't, all stood aside and watched the show.

Cao Cao was also very single, and he clasped his fists and said, "I am eager to achieve success, and I am willing to accept the punishment from the leader of the alliance."

Yuan Shao felt a little relieved when he was called the leader of the alliance, but when he thought about the many soldiers who died in the battle at Hulao Pass, he didn't know how to explain to them.

But Yuan Shao was unable to punish Cao Cao.

Yuan Shao knew exactly who could fight and who could not in the entire tent. If he really wanted to punish Cao Cao, who would fight?
Are you really going to send your own soldiers up there just to serve the Han Dynasty?

Yuan Shao is not that stupid.

"Let's not dwell on the past anymore. Let's discuss how to attack Luoyang."

At this point, it is meaningless to say this anymore, because all the princes are frightened by Dong Zhuo and no one dares to show up.

Even the most powerful routes have lost their strength one after another, what can they do?
“No one dares to fight?!”

Yuan Shao was shocked and angry: "Are the Jibei Xiang Bao Xin and Yanzhou Governor Liu Dai the only true heroes in the world?!"

"You are just people seeking fame and reputation?!"

No one answered. Yuan Shao rubbed his brows, looking very tired. He waved his hand and said, "Go away, everyone."

He didn't want to fight anymore. It was meaningless. It would be better for him to adopt Feng Ji's strategy and find an opportunity to annex Jizhou.

...

Otani Pass.

When Dong Zhuo led his army to arrive, Sun Jian had not yet captured the pass.

Dong Zhuo couldn't help but be curious when such an unreasonable thing happened.

Could it be that Lu Bu has such ability that he can defend Dagu Pass?
Dong Zhuo already knew the news of Hu Zhen's death in battle. Now so many days have passed and Dagu Pass has not been breached. If it's not Lu Bu's fault, who else could it be?
However, when Dong Zhuo entered the pass, he immediately realized that the fact that Dagu Pass was not lost had nothing to do with Lu Bu, but must be a problem on Sun Jian's side.

Daguguan, meeting hall.

Dong Zhuo looked at Lü Bu kneeling down to apologize and laughed loudly, "Fengxian, why do you say that?"

"Victory and defeat are common in the military. If we lose this time, we can win again next time!"

He did not call Lu Bu by his name or his official title, but called him by his courtesy name, which was enough to show that Dong Zhuo had no intention of killing him.

Lu Bu was deeply moved. He knelt on one knee and clasped his fists, saying: "Lu Bu has been wandering for half his life, and I only regret that I have never met a wise master. If you don't abandon me, I am willing to worship you as my adoptive father!"

The smile on Dong Zhuo's face froze. He didn't expect that just a move to win people's hearts would lead to someone wanting to be his adoptive father.

He valued Lu Bu and was even extra tolerant of him, not because he wanted to adopt him as his son, but because he wanted to win the hearts of the people in Bingzhou.

Especially since the Bingzhou troops had just been defeated and were scattered in all directions, if Dong Zhuo treated Lu Bu very harshly, those deserters would never dare to return.

Then the loss this time becomes real.

But if Lu Bu was adopted as his son, the Bingzhou troops would have no worries and would return to the army obediently.

"Good good!"

Dong Zhuo's expression changed very quickly. He laughed loudly and gave him a false support, saying, "Fengxian, my son, please get up quickly."

Dong Zhuo was almost 50 years old, but he had no son to carry on the family line. He accepted Lu Bu as his adopted son, which made him feel a little uneasy, but that was all.

Lu Bu raised his head, tears streaming down his cheeks, and clasped his fists again, saying, "Foster father, from now on, I will follow you, no matter what happens!"

After Lu Bu stood up, Dong Zhuo asked Sun Jian for information in detail.

"The Jiangdong Tiger is worthy of its reputation!"

Dong Zhuo said with emotion: "I never thought that my son would be so brave."

Lü Bu clasped his fists in anger and said, "Father, if the horse can't hold me up, I will kill Sun Jian in three rounds!"

"Oh?" Dong Zhuo asked curiously, "What kind of warhorse does my son ride?"

Lu Bu turned his head and said embarrassedly: "It's a horse from Xiliang."

The reason why Lu Bu acted like this was because the Xiliang horse was a famous horse of the Han Dynasty, and had followed the Champion Marquis to the north to fight against the Huns.

Lü Bu was a little embarrassed to say that the Xiliang horse was not worthy of him. Dong Zhuo was even more curious, and he looked up and down at Lü Bu's size, and nodded and said, "That's true."

Lu Bu's body size is like Yao Ming's height combined with O'Neal's weight, plus the weight of his armor and weapons, which would weigh at least 200 kilograms. An ordinary Xiliang warhorse could not possibly support it.

"Somebody come!"

Dong Zhuo immediately felt a desire to please him and said, "Go and fetch the Red Hare!"

Lu Bu suppressed his curiosity and waited patiently.

When he saw Red Hare for the first time, Lu Bu couldn't take his eyes off it.

There is no military general who doesn't love a good horse. As the best among the Arabian horses, Red Hare is definitely the favorite of all military generals, no doubt about it!

"My son, I will honor you first." Dong Zhuo looked at Lü Bu's dazed expression and said with great satisfaction, "How about this Red Hare? Do you like it?"

As if he was bewitched, Lu Bu nodded and said, "I like it! I like it very much!"

The next moment, Lu Bu realized that the occasion was not right, and hurriedly bowed and said, "Father, please forgive me. I was distracted."

"No problem." Dong Zhuo said casually, "This Red Hare is a pure Ferghana horse with excellent quality. I spent a lot of effort to get it."

“BMW is given to heroes!”

"Since my son Fengxian doesn't have a suitable warhorse that can bring out your strength, I will give you the Red Hare, hoping that you can become my hero!"

Lü Bu did not hesitate, he knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times to Dong Zhuo, swearing: "Don't worry, foster father! I will kill Sun Jian for you!"

"Sun Jian, just a nobody." Dong Zhuo's contemptuous expression suddenly turned into a ferocious one: "I want you to get Yuan Shao's dog head for me!"

The main culprit behind Sun Jian's opposition to Dong Zhuo was Yuan Shao.

Since the Guandong coalition forces rose up, before Dong Zhuo sent out his troops, he wiped out all of the more than 100 direct descendants of the Yuan family in Luoyang in order to intimidate Yuan Shao.

Unexpectedly, Yuan Shao was indeed ambitious and had no intention of avenging Yuan Wei, Yuan Ji and others. He even broke through Hulao Pass and threatened the capital.

Therefore, the person Dong Zhuo wanted to get rid of day and night was either someone else or Yuan Shao!
Hearing Dong Zhuo's words, Lu Bu said without hesitation: "I will take Yuan Shao's head for my adoptive father!"

Dong Zhuo nodded with satisfaction and said, "Come here! Show my son a seat!"

Immediately afterwards, Dong Zhuo ordered people to prepare a dinner while beginning to discuss countermeasures against the Guandong coalition forces.

Lu Bu just buried his head in eating meat and had no say in political matters.

"Wenyou, now that Dagu Pass is safe, I will return to Luoyang."

Dong Zhuo said with a grim look on his face: "Moving the capital is imperative!"

He had had enough of these terrifying days. The Guandong coalition was not Dong Zhuo's biggest worry.

On the contrary, Jinmao in the south has been silent for some time, which made Dong Zhuo feel a little uneasy.

Dong Zhuo was convinced that Jin Mao was of the same kind as him, both ambitious people.

Such a person actually disappeared and only wanted to farm the land?

How can it be!

Dong Zhuo believed that Jin Mao must be plotting a huge conspiracy.

As for Yuan Shu and Liu Biao, they certainly could not stop Jin Mao from sending troops north.

Once Jin Mao sends out troops from Nanyang County, the army will be able to overwhelm Luoyang City within three days.

By then, Dong Zhuo really had no confidence in fighting Jin Mao.

After all, Sun Jian and the Guandong coalition forces were still watching covetously from the sidelines.

Li Ru also understood this and nodded, saying, "My lord, you are right. Only by moving the capital to Chang'an and controlling the three prefectures can we be invincible."

"but!"

Li Ru said solemnly: "If we don't find out the truth about Sun Jian's retreat, it will be a luxury to move the capital safely!"

Dong Zhuo nodded, grabbed the lamb leg with his left hand, put it to his mouth and took a bite, then raised the wine jar with his right hand, signaled to the generals, and took another big gulp.

"Ah~"

Dong Zhuo let out a long breath and sighed, "Jin Mao is quite clever. He can even make such a fine wine!"

It turned out that the wine Dong Zhuo drank was actually a strong liquor, which naturally came from Yangzhou to Luoyang.

Looking at the wine, Dong Zhuo was even more afraid of Jin Mao, and couldn't help but anxiously asked: "Does Wenyou have a candidate who can find out the facts in a short time?"

Li Ru ate like a scholar, chewing slowly and drinking slowly. Hearing this, he looked up at Lu Bu across from him and said, "Lv Qi Du just got a BMW, so it's a good opportunity for me to go out for a stroll."

Dong Zhuo thought so too. The Red Hare could travel a thousand miles a day. Who could catch up with Lu Bu who was alone?

"Fengxian, my son, are you willing to investigate the enemy situation for me?"

Lu Bu immediately stood up and bowed, saying, "That is what I wish for, but I dare not ask for it!"

"Don't worry, foster father. I will definitely get Sun Jian's dog head for you!"

Seeing Lu Bu's flushed cheeks and obvious drunken appearance, Dong Zhuo couldn't help but shake his head and felt uneasy.

This adopted son doesn't seem very smart and this decision was too rash.

Fortunately, Li Ru saw the opportunity early and slammed the table and shouted angrily: "Lü Bu! The lord wants you to investigate the enemy, not to kill them!"

"Is it clear?"

Lu Bu was startled and half of his drunkenness subsided. Then he realized that the person he was facing was Dong Zhuo.

Last time, Lu Bu was almost killed by Dong Zhuo because of a trivial matter, if he had not run fast.

"very clear!"

Lu Bu quickly assured: "I will definitely investigate the enemy situation for my adoptive father."

Then he stood up and said, "I'll leave right away!"

Dong Zhuo then stopped Lu Bu and said, "It is getting late. It will not be too late to talk about it tomorrow."

After thinking for a while, Dong Zhuo said in a deep voice: "My son, what you said makes sense. If we can get Sun Jian's head on the way, that would be great!"

"Here!"

...

What happened to Sun Jian?
Why wasn't the attack sustained?
If Sun Jian let go of such a great opportunity, he would not be called Sun Jian!
the reason is simple.

Liu Biao, with Jin Mao's support, stabbed Yuan Shu in the back.

Yuan Shu felt endlessly betrayed and took his anger out on Sun Jian of Jin Mao's faction.

Originally, Sun Jian led the charge, while Yuan Shu provided food and supplies in the rear, and the credit was shared equally between the two.

Now that he knew what Jin Mao had done, Yuan Shu had to suspect that Sun Jian had ulterior motives and must have some plan that he was unaware of.

Therefore, Yuan Shu directly cut off Sun Jian's food supply, forcing Sun Jian, who had no food, to give up the attack and rush back to Luyang County, Nanyang County overnight.

In Yuan Shu's tent, Sun Jian was extremely excited. He drew on the ground, analyzing the situation and the interests of all parties.

Sun Jian said: "I have sacrificed my life for the country to fight against the rebels and for the general to avenge his family. I, Sun Jian, have no deep hatred for Dong Zhuo, but you, the general, have listened to the words of the villain and actually doubted me!"

Yuan Shu felt guilty and could not feel at ease.

Sun Jian continued, "Now the great mission is about to be accomplished, but the military rations are insufficient. This situation is exactly the same as when Wu Qi shed tears at Xihe and Yue Yi failed at the last moment! Please observe carefully, think deeply, and make a decision as soon as possible!"

Yuan Shu was unmoved. He pointed to the southern part of the map that Sun Jian had drawn, a place that Sun Jian had deliberately avoided, and asked, "Why don't you tell me what Jin Mao is thinking?"

He added: "It's not me who cut off your military rations! It's Jin Mao!"

"If it weren't for Jin Mao's mischief, you and I would have stood on the top of Luoyang City to welcome the emperor!"

(End of this chapter)