Chapter 252 The mantis stalks the cicada, but the oriole follows behind
Xu Rong did not lose.

He was just symbolically resisting a few attacks outside Dagu Pass to wear down the enemy's morale.

The so-called one blast, then decay, and exhaustion.

When Jinmao captured the hill and found it was just an empty shell, even if his morale was not affected, he would certainly suspect that there was a trick.

Then, it will be time for Xu Rong to implement his plan.

Xu Rong had already sent his deputy general to prepare a big gift for Jin Mao, it just depends on who the unlucky one will be.

Retreat to Dagu Pass.

Xu Rong had just witnessed the power of the catapult and knew that even though this pass was extremely dangerous, it could not withstand any number of bombardments.

Moreover, Jin Mao will definitely set up the catapult on the hill, which will make its power even stronger.

Therefore, General Xu Rong planted his flag on the top of the city wall, but disappeared quietly, no longer sharing the joys and sorrows with the soldiers.

...

Sun Jian arrived at Dagu Pass and knew nothing about what was happening. He set up ladders and began to attack the city and break through the pass.

Soon, densely packed defenders emerged from the city walls.

When Sun Jian saw this, he immediately called out, "Come here! Put on my double armor!"

He planned to break through the barrier himself.

The elite troops have been used up, and the few remaining men are a mob. If the first siege fails, their true colors will be exposed immediately.

Therefore, Sun Jian had to take the lead himself.

First, it boosts morale, and second, it boosts morale like hell!
As long as they keep winning, the mob will sooner or later become the elite.

In just a cup of tea, Sun Jian had finished putting on his armor and the ladders were ready.

At this time, Jin Mao's order came.

"Sun Yuzhou, the general has ordered us to hold off on the attack and wait for the Stone Throwing Battalion and the Strong Crossbow Battalion to launch the first wave of attacks."

Sun Jian clasped his fists and said to the messenger, "May I ask when the stone-throwing camp and the strong crossbow camp will be ready?"

Sun Jian had also seen the power of the catapult and understood how powerful it was, but loading and unloading this thing was a huge problem.

In addition, powerful crossbows also require a lot of preparation time.

"this…"

Seeing that the messenger was speechless, Sun Jian had the answer in his mind. He clasped his fists again and said, "Please ask the messenger to tell the general that the opportunity for battle is fleeting. We cannot wait, so we will make a test attack first."

It was said to be a test, but in fact it was a general attack.

Either succeed or fail.

If it was the latter, Sun Jian would just stand aside and watch the show. He had lost all his capital anyway, so he could do whatever he wanted.

If it was the former, then he would be the one to take credit for breaking through the barrier. Sun Jian would not hesitate at all in taking advantage of the situation.

After seeing the messenger off, Sun Jian took a deep breath and said loudly, "The first person to reach the summit will be rewarded with 100 gold coins and given the eighth rank of nobility!"

Even though titles are everywhere nowadays, it is still an irresistible temptation for the lower class.

Sun Jian immediately recruited hundreds of suicide squads to climb the mountain.

The total length of Dagu Pass city wall is only five or six hundred meters, and a gate tower occupies nearly several dozen meters of the length, so there are not many places to climb the city wall.

Sun Jian brought a total of eight ladders. He used four of them at first and he was on the second one.

"Crossbowmen, get ready!"

Zhu Zhi took over Sun Jian's command and led 500 archers borrowed from Jin Mao's army.

"put!"

With the sound of bowstrings, the siege began.

With pounding stones, rolling logs, and golden juice, a group of fearless warriors emerged on the city walls and led the remaining soldiers to launch the first wave of intense defense.

However, as soon as Sun Jian, holding his shield, separated a rolling log, he felt delighted.

The enemy is weaker than expected, and doesn't feel elite at all.

"The first credit goes to me!"

Sun Jianqiang took a deep breath, stepped on the last two steps, and leaped onto the city wall. With a swing of the ancient ingot knife, several lives were taken away.

The powerful force instantly created a vacuum around them.

As the second soldier behind Sun Jian jumped onto the city wall, Dong Zhuo's army suddenly lost the courage to fight again and scattered like birds and beasts.

Sun Jian thought that these people were intimidated by his murderous aura, so he didn't think much about it. He raised his ancient ingot knife and shouted: "Sun Jian!"

"Sun Jian!"

After a while, people who came up from another escalator gathered together, and more than a dozen people quickly gathered around Sun Jian.

"kill!"

Sun Jian roared and rushed towards the gate tower, where Xu Rong's flag was.

"Oh!"

Sun Jian kicked open the side door of the gatehouse and was immediately met with strong resistance.

Sun Jian wielded his sword and shield, and almost no one could match him. Only a man who looked like a general was killed after three rounds of fighting.

By the time Sun Jian reached the general's flag, all the dozens of people who came with him were killed, leaving only him.

There were only a dozen injured people on the other side.

Sun Jian admired these people's bravery and fearlessness, so he wanted to recruit them to surrender.

The only answer he had was the sword.

A cup of tea later, there were corpses lying at Sun Jian's feet. Covered in blood, he came to Xu Rong's flag and chopped it down with one blow.

Sun Jian cut off the head of the general-like figure, held it high, and walked outside the gatehouse, shouting, "Xu Rong is dead!"

"You still don't surrender?"

Seeing this, Sun Jian's troops started shouting.

"Xu Rong is dead!"

"Surrender quickly!"

The troops defending Otani Pass were defeated.

...

On top of the hill.

Jinmao was still observing the loading progress of the catapult.

Suddenly, he heard someone shouting something down the mountain, and immediately called someone over to ask, "What happened down the mountain?"

The visitor said excitedly: "My Lord! Dagu Pass has been breached!"

"General Sun has breached Dagu Pass!"

Jin Mao immediately realized that something was wrong. If Xu Rong was really that weak, he would not have suffered such a big loss.

The first battalion was almost wiped out!
"There must be something fishy going on here!"

Just as Xu Rong expected, Jinmao felt that something was fishy and there must be something fishy going on.

Maybe Xu Rong has already prepared a trap to trick people.

Before Jin Mao could make a decision, Zhang Fei came like a cat smelling blood.

"Lord!"

"Dagu Pass has been breached!"

"Hurry up and order us to attack!"

Zhang Fei said anxiously: "All the military merits will be taken away by Sun Jian!"

Jin Mao raised his hand and said, "Don't worry."

"Something is fishy. Let me think about it."

Zhang Fei was so anxious that he jumped up and down: "If you think about it again, the brothers won't be able to drink any soup or water at all!"

At this time, Xun You was not around, and Jin Mao became annoyed by what Zhang Fei said.

"shut up!"

"War is a place of life and death, how can it be played with?"

"Ouch!" Zhang Fei was angry and anxious, but who could blame Jin Mao for being his lord?

Jin Mao stood on the top of the mountain, looking down at Sun Jian's unstoppable force. It would be a lie to say that he was not anxious.

But due to his cautious nature, he would rather earn less but ensure safety.

"Send the order!"

"All camps and units are not allowed to move without my order."

Then, Jin Mao looked towards the east. At this time, the sun was setting, dimly illuminating the route that Huang Zhong and others had taken.

"Order Huang Zhong and Gong Lei to gather the troops and return the same way."

To prevent any fraud, Jin Mao sent someone to inform Sun Jian, commanding him to stop in time and not to chase too deep.

But now the gate of Dagu Pass is wide open, and it would be unreasonable not to occupy it.

"Zhang Fei!"

"Zhang Fei?"

Jin Mao turned his head and found that Zhang Fei was struggling with a small tree on the ground with a resentful look on his face.

"Zhang Fei!!" It was not until Jin Mao's voice rose three degrees that Zhang Fei reluctantly stood up and clasped his fists, saying, "I will be here."

"Forget it." Jin Mao deliberately waved his hand and said, "Since you are so reluctant, I will let someone else take over the credit of Dagu Pass."

Only then did Zhang Fei perk up.

"My lord, please don't!"

"I know I was wrong. Please give me another chance and I will listen to you!"

Jin Mao said with a smile: "That's what you said."

"Zhang Fei, listen to my orders!"

"The general is here!"

"I order you to lead our troops to occupy Dagu Pass. After occupying Dagu Pass, you must not advance rashly. It will be a great achievement if you can hold on to it."

"Ah?" Zhang Fei was not happy about the merit and profit, but was upset because he could not chase and kill the defeated soldiers.

"Ok?"

Seeing Jin Mao narrow his eyes, Zhang Fei shrank his neck and clasped his fists, saying, "Yes."

Fearing that Zhang Fei might not behave himself, Jin Mao ordered, "Dong Xi, go with Zhang Fei and keep an eye on him!"

"If Zhang Fei makes any unusual move, you will take his place!"

Zhang Fei suddenly shouted in grievance: "My lord, do you really not trust me?"

Jin Mao asked back: "Have you committed few crimes?"

Zhang Fei was counting seriously on his fingers when Jin Mao kicked him on the butt.

"If we lose Dagu Pass, you will be the only one I will hold responsible!"

Zhang Fei then went down the mountain with a smile on his face.

Jin Mao looked at Dagu Pass in front of him and rethought his previous decision. After finding that there was no problem, he began to dispatch the entire army.

...

Under Dagu Pass.

Sun Jian was chasing and killing them vigorously when he suddenly heard that Jin Mao had sent another messenger with orders.

"There's a trap ahead, so we can't move forward?"

Suddenly, Sun Jian frowned.

Just when he didn't know what to do, Han Dang arrived with his men and asked angrily, "Who are these people?"

"My lord! That black-faced fellow under the command of the Yangzhou governor is going too far!"

"It was obviously us who captured Dagu Pass, but that guy insisted on talking about the credit of his master."

"I bother!"

Ever since the last time he had a grudge with Zhang Fei, Han Dang has been calling Zhang Fei this and that.

Han Dang spat on the ground and said, "I really want to slap him!"

"Lord Yi, I have said before that as long as you endure until a certain point, you no longer need to endure."

Sun Jian seemed to have made some important decision and said, "Now, the time has come!"

Han Dang was overjoyed and said, "My lord, you should have done this long ago!"

"I'll kill a few more to celebrate."

After saying that, Han Dang led his men forward to chase and kill the fleeing soldiers.

With a smile on his face, Sun Jian turned around and looked at Dagu Pass.

He originally wanted to call him brother, but since Jinmao was so disrespectful to him and even took credit for his achievements, he wanted to reap the benefits.

Then Sun Jian would no longer have to pretend to be nice to Jin Mao.

Anyway, the road ahead is smooth, and Sun Jian can take this opportunity to raise this group of rabble to a higher level.

By then, we will be able to fight even against Dong Zhuo’s army.

Once he enters Luoyang, won’t it be Sun Jian’s turn to show his skills, as the sky is high and the birds can fly freely and the sea is wide and the fish can leap freely?

Sun Jian, blinded by greed, had long thrown all caution to the winds and ignored all the abnormalities.

...

The reason why Dagu Pass is a dangerous pass is that it has a depth of nearly three kilometers.

The place where Sun Jian drove the defeated soldiers was only in the middle, nearly three miles away from the Luoyang Plain.

Xu Rong never arranged the main force to guard the pass, but instead ambushed in a dangerous area behind Dagu Pass.

The guards in the gate towers were all the more loyal among the wounded soldiers. They were quite powerful, and so was that general.

Xu Rong's act of abandoning his pawns to save his chariot was just to wait for Sun Jian to come and die.

He knew very well that Jin Mao was a cautious person and would never underestimate the enemy and advance rashly, but it was unrealistic to defend the pass.

Even in the period of complete victory before the withdrawal of troops, Xu Rong did not dare to say that he would definitely win against Jinmao, not to mention that there was a high possibility that his secrets would be known. It would be foolish to fight any further.

Sun Jian is different.

Xu Rong knew that Sun Jian was an ambitious man and would definitely not be willing to be inferior to others, so he would definitely break with Jin Mao.

The fall of Ogu Pass was this opportunity.

"The general is as good as a god!"

The scout reported in a low voice: "Sun Jian's troops have advanced deep into the enemy territory alone and will soon arrive."

Xu Rong nodded, everything was as expected.

After a while, another messenger came with the report.

"General, General Lü Bu and Lieutenant Li Jue are already in place."

Xu Rong clapped his hands and said excitedly, "That's great!"

"Today I will hunt down the tiger Sun Jian!"

"Pass my general's order!"

"Lü Bu and Li Jue must trap Sun Jian to death!"

"Here!"

Xu Rong began to give orders continuously, and the ambushing troops on both sides of the valley began to camouflage and gradually disappeared into the mountains and forests.

An hour later.

The shouts and screams are approaching.

Xu Rong was not in a hurry to show up, waiting for the first batch of defeated soldiers to escape.

After Sun Jian's front troops left, Xu Rong still did not move.

It was not until Sun Jian passed the center of the ambush that Xu Rong raised his flag as a signal and appeared at the same time.

"General Xu Rong is here!"

"Sun Jian!"

"I've been waiting for you for a long time!"

Dense ambushes suddenly appeared on both sides of the valley, and arrows, stones, rolling logs, and fireballs were all thrown into the valley.

"Fell into a trap!"

In the valley, wailing sounds resounded through the sky.

Sun Jian's face turned pale. It was too late to regret now.

The most hateful thing is that Xu Rong blocked the way of retreat with huge rocks, and the only way to survive seemed to be to break through forward.

But Sun Jian knew that going forward was a dead end, and there must be more ambushes waiting for him there.

But what can we do? If we stay, we will surely die!
"Push forward!"

Sun Jian shouted: "The enemy is in the valley, there are no enemies ahead!"

These words undoubtedly gave everyone great courage, and they charged forward under the rain of arrows.

At this moment, the green horse under Sun Jian's crotch was quite smart. It dodged left and right, perfectly avoiding danger and carrying Sun Jian all the way to the front.

In the valley, Xu Rong saw this, drew his sword and shouted, "Kill!"

Nearly five thousand elite troops of Xu Rong, except for the archers, rushed down the mountain with weapons raised.

However, Xu Rong was not in a hurry to go down the mountain. He took the precious carved bow from his personal soldier, aimed at Sun Jian and shot an arrow.

Unfortunately, the horse Qingcong was smart and took the arrow on behalf of its master Sun Jian.

Xu Rong cursed inwardly and ignored Sun Jian. Instead, he shouted, "Sun Jian is dead, why don't you surrender?"

Suddenly, a small half of Sun Jian's army began to kneel down and surrender, and the battle was basically over.

the other side.

Sun Jian felt the horse's speed increase suddenly and he felt heartbroken. He knew that the life of this blue horse that had accompanied him for many years was about to come to an end.

As the light in front of him gradually grew brighter, Sun Jian thought he was about to escape.

Unexpectedly, as the view in front of him opened up, Sun Jian saw a large number of cavalry waiting outside.

The two people in the lead were old acquaintances.

Lu Bu! Li Jue!
"Is God going to kill me?"

At this moment, if Sun Jian said that he had no regrets in his heart, it would be a lie, but admitting defeat was not Sun Jian's character.

(End of this chapter)