Chapter 246 Sun Jian: I am waiting for support, what are you waiting for?
Lu Bu didn't know that Hua Xiong was killed by Sun Jian, but he knew without even looking that Hua Xiong was bound to lose.

"Ming Jin withdraws his troops!"

Seeing that his orders were of no use, Lu Bu took out his Fang Tian Hua Ji and stabbed three people in a row.

The fourth messenger finally came to his senses and ordered a retreat.

When the cavalry retreated, Lu Bu took a quick look and found that there were nearly two thousand casualties!

If the vanguard had not been different, this cavalry would have collapsed long ago.

And now, the situation is not optimistic.

Looking at this mixed group of cavalrymen, Lu Bu couldn't help but think of the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry, who had also been in this situation all the way and their morale was low.

"Where is Hua Xiong?"

Deputy General Hua Xiong came up and said, "Captain Hua was killed in action."

Lu Bu curled his lips. I had told you to be careful, but you just didn't take it seriously.

"In that case, you will just listen to my orders for now!"

The deputy general hesitated for two seconds, looked at the bloody Fang Tian Huaji in Lu Bu's hand, and nodded in response.

Just at this time, Wei Xu brought his men to Lu Bu and told Lu Bu about Sun Jian’s recent arrangements.

Sun Jian did not have any special arrangements. He just used Gao Shun and others as baits, dug enough horse traps in front of the formation, and turned the front army into the rear army.

The fish has been caught, so the bait is of no use.

Seeing that Gao Shun and others were about to be eliminated, Lu Bu became very anxious.

It didn’t matter to him how many of Dong Zhuo’s men died, but if Gao Shun and others died, he would be heartbroken.

Lu Bu thought quickly and pointed to the west of the mountain: "The whole army is here!"

"Follow me and charge in from the west!"

"I've received news that there is absolutely no trap there!"

The soldiers looked over and saw no bodies, and it seemed there was no trap, so they followed Lu Bu's changing direction with doubt.

Sun Jian remained unmoved. As a veteran on the battlefield, such a small mistake would not happen to him.

After a cup of tea.

Lu Bu completed the task of changing positions, but did not launch an attack immediately. Instead, he came alone on horseback to challenge: "Sun Jian! Do you dare to fight?"

At this time, there were only more than 200 people left in the encirclement, and they were fighting desperately. Sun Jian could have ignored them, but he still accepted the challenge.

"How dare I talk about courage when I'm a defeated general?"

Sun Jian rode on a Qingcong, held his sword in his hand, and pointed at Lu Bu with contempt.

Lu Bu thrust his halberd into the ground and glanced at Gao Shun. Without Sun Jian, he felt less stressed. He sneered and said, "I admit that your military strategy is better than mine."

Then, Lu Bu changed the subject and said, "But my martial arts power is superior to yours!"

"Sun Jian! Do you dare to fight me?"

No general could withstand such a provocation, especially a fierce man like Sun Jian.

"My lord, you can't do that!"

"My lord, please think twice!"

But no matter how his men dissuaded him, Sun Jian took off his helmet, put on a red cap, replaced his ancient ingot sword with a long sword, and rode his horse forward.

Seeing that no one dared to imitate him, Lu Bu put on full armor and rode his horse forward.

Sit down!

When Sun Jian walked out of the horse trap, the Red Hare seemed to receive instructions, started quickly, and rushed over with Lu Bu on board.

The green horse seemed to be provoked and also ran away with Sun Jian on its back.

The owners of the two divine horses did not say a word, but they were competing with each other.

The Red Hare is indeed a top-notch Arabian horse; the Blue Hare is inferior after all.

This allowed Lu Bu to attack first, as the Fang Tian Hua Ji was longer than an ordinary long sword.

He imitated Guan Yu and used a move of halberd dropping from the sky.

Sun Jian seized the opportunity, switched the long sword from his right hand to his left hand, and with his other hand he drew the ring-handled sword from his waist, actually preparing for a double-sword duel!

"Crack!"

The wooden handle of the long sword in Sun Jian's hand could not withstand the damage and broke. With only a tenth of a second left, the ancient ingot sword in his right hand rushed forward to take the blow.

The two divine horses were subjected to a huge force and stopped at the same time.

"Go!"

Sun Jian threw the broken wooden handle in his hand towards Lu Bu, who dodged by turning his head.

With a pull and push of his right hand, the ancient ingot knife in Sun Jian's hand seemed to come alive and entangled the Fang Tian Huaji. His left hand reached for his waist again, and as soon as the ring-handled knife was unsheathed, he waved it towards Lu Bu with both hands.

Lu Bu had already prepared for this. He took his hands off the Fang Tian Hua Ji for half a second, then held the handle of the halberd with his left hand and drew out his ring-handled sword with his right hand to face the sword in Sun Jian's hand.

"Cough, cough, cough"

The two men fought for seven or eight rounds in just two breaths.

When they separated again, they went back to their respective places.

From the corner of his eye, Lu Bu had seen Gao Shun and his men retreating into the woods, but Sun Jian did not pursue them for some unknown reason.

It was as if the two people who had just had hot tempers had never fought.

Then Lu Bu led his men to retreat 500 steps, and Sun Jian ordered his men to start digging traps and building camps, as if he was going to fight a protracted war here.

When the retreat was complete, Wei Xu could not help but ask Lu Bu, "General, why didn't you kill Sun Jian?"

Lu Bu shook his head and said, "He is not as good as me in horse fighting, and I am not as good as him in foot fighting."

"If it's a life-and-death fight, it's still unclear who will win or lose."

Wei Xu was completely confused: "On the battlefield, there is no life or death?"

Lu Bu did not explain, but he had not said a word just now. He went to rescue Gao Shun and others and could not concentrate on the battle.

As for why Sun Jian did not chase, Lu Bu guessed that Sun Jian probably made the same analysis as Lu Bu from the two encounters.

"You are truly worthy of being called the Tiger of Jiangdong. Your reputation is well-deserved!"

"Flying General Lu Bu is worthy of his reputation!"

On the other side, Sun Jian also expressed his feelings.

Lu Bu's guess was correct, and Sun Jian did come to the same conclusion as him.

Besides, Sun Jian had more important things to do, and the personal competition was just a spontaneous event.

As the commander-in-chief of an army, Sun Jian had a lot to consider.

When Zhu Zhi returned to the camp, he came forward to plead guilty: "I failed to annihilate all of Lu Bu's remaining troops. Please forgive me, lord!"

Sun Jian waved his hand and said, "The rest are all hard bones. It's understandable that you can't chew them. I am also at fault."

Zhu Zhi raised his head, then lowered it, clasped his fists and said, "Thank you, my lord."

Ever since Cheng Pu left, Zhu Zhi could no longer see through the lord in front of him. Just like this time, knowing that Lu Bu had more troops behind him, he still had to rely on his 10,000 infantry to fight a field battle with the cavalry.

How is this different from seeking death?

If Dong Zhuo could trap them for ten days or half a month, the entire army would collapse without a fight due to lack of food.

But my lord insisted on fighting outside.

Can't see through.

Privately, Zhu Zhi and Zu Mao were both a little afraid of Sun Jian at this time, but Han Dang was a heartless man and didn't feel it.

Zhu Zhi naturally didn't know what Sun Jian was thinking, and even Sun Jian himself didn't know what he was doing.

After Zhu Zhi left, Sun Jian turned his Qingcong warhorse and faced Guangcheng Pass with deep eyes, as if he was waiting for something.

But even he himself didn't know what he was waiting for.

When Hua Xiong arrived, it was getting dark.

After Sun Jian fought with Lu Bu, the sky became completely dark.

But Lu Bu and others could rest, but Sun Jian could not. He led his men to cut wood and build camp all night.

The next day.

When Duan Wei arrived with a large army, Sun Jian had already built fortifications. Duan Wei felt the situation was difficult after just one look.

The cavalry is invincible when charging into battle, but they are helpless when attacking cities and strongholds.

He also learned from Lu Bu that Hua Xiong was arrogant and gave his head to Sun Jian.

Then you can't just rush in directly.

However, although Duan Wei was the commander-in-chief, he still had to listen to the opinions of other generals before making a decision.

"Everyone, Sun Jian built a tortoise shell overnight. Should we fight or retreat? Tell us what you think."

Duan Wei sat high up in the first seat, looking casual.

He has the capital.

Seeing that no one spoke, Duan Wei began to call out names: "Li Jue, Guo Si, you two go first."

Guo Si stood up, clasped his fists and said, "General, please allow me to lead my troops into battle."

Duan Wei nodded: "Your courage is commendable, but there is no joking in the army. Do you dare to sign a military order?"

Guo Si immediately backed down and said, "I dare not." Duan Wei knew this would happen. Guo Si seemed reckless, but in fact, he would never agree to anything he was not sure of.

Then he looked at Li Jue again.

"General, I see that there is little defense in the mountains and forests behind Sun Jian."

Li Jue gritted his teeth and suggested: "Why not select the Qiang and Hu people in the army to form an army? They have lived in the mountains since they were young, and the mountains and forests are as flat as the ground for them."

"If General Ling leads this army, we can attack from the front and defeat them in one battle!"

Duan Wei nodded again and asked, "Who can be the general?"

Li Jue glanced behind him and saw that all the generals turned their heads away, with expressions that showed they were unfamiliar to everyone.

Only Lu Bu was eager to try.

The person Li Jue and others looked down upon the most was Lu Bu, and they automatically ignored him.

But if Li Jue doesn't recommend, Lu Bu will recommend himself!
"General!"

Lu Bu took the initiative to step out of the line, clasped his fists and said, "I am willing to be the general!"

Duan Wei also disliked Lu Bu, but for the sake of Dong Zhuo's face, he decided to let everyone take the blame.

"What do you think?"

The generals once again focused their attention on Li Jue.

"What do you think, Zhiran (Li Jue's courtesy name)?"

Li Jue was so angry that he wanted to curse. This matter was not just his problem, so why was it all pushed onto him?
"I think so!"

Li Jue simply overturned the table and said, "Since you are going to cheat me, let's not play anymore."

"what about you?"

Duan Wei looked at the others and asked, "What do you think?"

Generals Guo Si, Zhang Ji and others were quite speechless. There were quite a few Qiang and Hu cavalrymen, and Dong Zhuo had close relations with the Qiang and Hu leaders and they called each other brothers.

Nearly ten thousand of the thirty thousand cavalrymen are Qiang and Hu cavalrymen. If they were given to Lu Bu, how powerful would Lu Bu be?
The generals secretly cursed Li Jue for being stupid, but there was nothing they could do as no one wanted to be the scapegoat.

Even a fool knows that Sun Jian would not be without defense, so who would rush forward and die?

In the end, Lu Bu became the leading general of the Qiang and Hu cavalry as he wished.

However, the Qiang and Hu cavalry were scattered among various tribes, and it took a lot of effort to gather them together. In addition, the positions of the various Qiang and Hu small leaders had to be redistributed, which was another arduous task.

Fortunately, Lu Bu had served as a clerk under Ding Yuan, so this little matter was no problem for him.

As a result, Dong Zhuo's army and Sun Jian's troops strangely became peaceful.

Like the calm before the storm.

Two days later.

Lu Bu led his troops down from Mount Song, and Sun Jian had set an ambush behind them.

But the Qiang and Hu were not Lu Bu's own troops, so he had no regrets in using them.

Lu Bu continued to lead his troops to charge.

Finally, the Qiang and Hu cavalry collapsed after losing two thousand people, and Lu Bu took advantage of the chaos to escape.

Sun Jian defended against the enemy behind him, but suffered repeated defeats on the front battlefield.

Since the elite troops were mobilized to guard the rear, most of the troops on the front battlefield were new recruits or semi-new recruits.

After Duan Wei ordered a full-scale assault, Sun Jian suffered a series of defeats on the front battlefield.

Retreat all the way to the rear defense line.

Fortunately, Sun Jian defeated Lu Bu in time, otherwise, the consequences would be disastrous.

In this way, Sun Jian led his elite troops to repel Duan Wei's attack again.

The fighting lasted until evening, when both sides withdrew.

Sun Jian lost more than 5,000 people in this battle.

In addition to 2,000 Qiang and Hu casualties, Dong Zhuo's army also lost more than 3,000 people on the front battlefield.

The combined casualty ratio of both sides seems to be one to one.

In fact, more than half of Sun Jian's troops were dispersed, and there were only more than 2,000 casualties.

night.

Duan Wei was excited and kept giving orders to the various troops.

"Where is Lu Bu?"

"The general is here!"

"I order you to gather the Qiang and Hu cavalry..." Duan Wei gave a long list of orders.

Lu Bu agreed.

"Where is Li Jue?"

"The general is here!"

...

Unlike Dong Zhuo's army which was excited, Sun Jian's army was in a state of panic, with some even being beheaded for spreading rumors of defeat.

Even so, Sun Jian was unable to stop the soldiers' private pessimism.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that tomorrow is Sun Jian’s last day.

If we don't take this opportunity to retreat, we'll really die here.

"Lord, withdraw!"

As Cheng Pu's successor, Zhu Zhi had no choice but to persuade him: "Retreat to Guangcheng Pass, there is still time!"

In the military tent, under the dim light.

Sun Jian's expression flickered.

"Can't withdraw!"

Sun Jian's resolute voice rang out in the tent: "How can two legs outrun four legs?"

"Even if we retreat now, we will be defeated tomorrow!"

How could Zhu Zhi not understand this principle? But if he continues to defend, won’t he be defeated tomorrow?
Recalling that Sun Jian had been looking in the direction of Guangcheng Pass during the day, Zhu Zhi couldn't help but ask, "My lord, are you waiting for the governor of Yangzhou?"

As soon as these words came out, everyone was shocked.

Han Dang was the first to jump out and question: "Zhu Zhi! What nonsense are you talking about?"

"How could the lord wait for that kind of person!"

In Han Dang's opinion, Cheng Pu could not resist Jin Mao's instigation and betrayed his lord.

Therefore, Jin Mao is a villain in Han Dang's eyes! A bad guy!
But some words change their meaning once they are spoken.

Zhu Zhi ignored Han Dang and continued to ask, "My lord, please answer me!"

"Alas." Sun Jian sighed deeply, "Besides the governor of Yangzhou, who else can I expect?"

He stood up and slowly disappeared into the darkness.

"Yuan Shu?"

"Yuan Shao?"

"Or the likes of Liu Biao and Liu Yan?"

In the darkness, Sun Jian's tone revealed helplessness: "In the entire world, he is the only person who will support me, and the only person who can support me."

"There is only one Yangzhou Mu!"

Sun Jian walked slowly out of the darkness, looked at the bloodstained generals and said, "If I don't place my hope in the governor of Yangzhou, who else can I place my hope in?"

Zhu Zhi wanted to refute, but today's battle made him realize that they could defeat Dong Zhuo with their strength alone.

Look at the 30,000 cavalrymen outside. Even if there are only more than 20,000 left now, they still have less than 5,000 people left!

Moreover, morale is low and they are at an even disadvantage compared to the beginning.

Not to mention attacking Luoyang, even breaking through Dagu Pass would be extremely difficult.

Is it really true that the only way left is to place hope on others?

"But where is the governor of Yangzhou?"

Zhu Zhi focused on the reality and said, "My lord, you haven't communicated with the governor of Yangzhou yet, so are you just going to wait like this?"

Sun Jian's entire face was exposed under the light, and he smiled.

"Jun Li, you have to look at things comprehensively."

Sun Jian raised his voice and asked, "Have you seen Cheng Pu in the past few days?"

As soon as these words came out, Han Dang was the first to jump up and say, "My lord, why do you have to mention that villain?"

Zhu Zhi ignored it.

suddenly!

Zhu Zhi understood!
He looked at Sun Jian excitedly and said, "My Lord! Could it be that..."

Sun Jian nodded, raised his head, and said as if he was looking up at the starry sky: "Counting the days, it's about time."

(End of this chapter)