Chapter 282: Bloody Battle in Chang'an, Lü Bu's Small Victory
Luoyang.

As soon as Zhang Yang returned to Luoyang, he was summoned by General Zhu Jun. When he arrived at the meeting place, he found that there were too many people.

Yuan Shu, governor of Yuzhou, Yin De, prime minister of Langya, Liu Kui, prime minister of Donghai, Ji Lian, prime minister of Pengcheng, Yuan Zhong, prime minister of Pei, Ying Shao, prefect of Taishan, Xu Qiu, prefect of Runan, Fu Qian, former prefect of Jiujiang, and Zheng Xuan, doctor.

Except for Yuan Shu, the others were connections that Tao Qian brought over from Xuzhou and nearby areas.

They didn't know yet that Xuzhou had been occupied by Cao Cao, and the news had not yet spread.

This was also the main reason why Cao Cao was able to capture many places in Xuzhou with great momentum.

Zhu Jun sat at the upper left, and Yuan Shu sat at the upper right.

Judging from the positions, Zhu Jun should be the leader, but judging from Zhu Jun's attitude and the words of the people present, it can be seen that Yuan Shu is the leader.

"Uncle Zhang Zhi is here."

Zhu Jun did not stand up and said, "Please sit down."

Instead, Yuan Shu quickly stood up, walked up to Zhang Yang, and said enthusiastically, "Uncle Zhi, we meet again."

"Last time we parted in Jizhou, I never thought that there would be such a big change between you and me."

Afterwards, Yuan Shu took Zhang Yang aside and introduced the famous scholars, county governors, and prime ministers present one by one.

Zhang Yang had never seen Yuan Shu like this before. How flamboyant was Yuan Shu when he first served under the former general He Jin?

He is completely different from now!
As Yuan Shu stood up, Zhu Jun stood up unnaturally as well. It was not until Yuan Shu returned to his seat that Zhu Jun spoke: "Everyone, I am here to gather the army by the order of the emperor to welcome him back to rule the world!"

Zhu Jun pointed at Zhang Yang with one hand and Yuan Shu with the other and said, "Now that Yuan Yuzhou is leading an army of 10,000 and Zhang Zhishu is leading an army of 20,000 to help us, this is a perfect opportunity!"

"It's better to do it today than to wait for a day!"

"Why not swear an oath today, march into Chang'an tomorrow, and welcome back the emperor!"

Zhu Jun looked at Yuan Shu and asked, "What does Yuan Yuzhou think?"

Yuan Shu said cheerfully: "The General of Chariots and Cavalry will make the decision on this matter. I am just one of the loyal ministers of the Han Dynasty."

Zhu Jun then said loudly: "The oath-taking ceremony has officially begun!"

No matter what Zhang Yang and Yu Luofu thought, everyone present seemed to be used to it.

Only Yuan Shu asked, "Did Zhu Cheqi forget something?"

He didn't say anything when I asked him just now, but now that I was about to get to the point, he started acting up again.

I thought Yuan Shu had reformed, but he turned out to be still the same. Fortunately, Zhu Jun had seen big scenes and had good skills in cultivating his qi, so he didn't lose his temper on the spot.

"Yuan Yuzhou, please speak frankly."

Yuan Shu said unconcernedly, "Let's not talk about Captain Zhang and Yang. Let's just say that Jin Mao's troops are guarding the four southern passes of Luoyang. Has Zhu Cheqi asked them if they are going to the expedition together?"

Everyone knew the truth about this matter, and now that Yuan Shu brought it up, everyone naturally looked at Zhu Jun.

Actually, there are 50,000 soldiers in the army, but in fact, only about 10,000 of them are capable of fighting.

The Southern Xiongnu were good at fighting favorable battles and pursuit battles, but were completely useless in offensive battles.

The 10,000 men under Yuan Shu were all remnants of his former troops and new recruits, and their combat effectiveness was unknown.

The combat effectiveness of Zhang Yang's 4,000-strong army is okay, and the 3,000 elite soldiers sent by Tao Qian are also good. The rest are just a bunch of rotten fish and shrimp, not even a mob.

Such a team wants to capture the heavily guarded Hangu Pass?

Even if Zhu Jun is the only surviving famous general of the old generation, we cannot ignore the huge gap in strength between the enemy and us.

But the Yangzhou army is different. It may be too much to fight Dong Zhuo's army one against two, but they can definitely defeat him in a one-on-one fight.

Zhu Jun explained without hiding anything: "I have already sent a letter to transfer the troops of Yangzhou, but the Jin Yangzhou are still trapped in Yizhou and can only come out during the dry season."

"Without Jin Yangzhou's order, the Yangzhou Army will not dispatch a single soldier."

Zhu Jun had to admit that his favorite disciple had surpassed his master and even used a respectful title for him.

Yuan Shu curled his lips, but did not dare to say anything bad about Jin Mao openly.

The last disastrous defeat was still fresh in people’s memory. The Yuzhou army was naturally afraid of the Yangzhou army and would tremble at the mere sight of them.

The dry season is about to come, and Yuan Shu dare not take the initiative to bring bad luck.

"Does Yuan Yuzhou have any questions?"

Facing Zhu Jun's question, everyone looked over again.

Yuan Shu made a compromise and tried to win Zhang Yang's favor, saying, "Zhu Cheqi didn't even ask Captain Zhang Yang for his opinion."

"Captain Zhang Yang's troops number 20,000, accounting for a small portion of the army. No matter what, we should at least ask them, right?"

These words really impressed Zhang Yang, and he bowed to Yuan Shu.

Zhu Jun understood Yuan Shu's intentions and said, "I originally thought that Lieutenant Zhang Yang was from Yuan's Yuzhou corps. Now it seems that he needs to reorganize his military."

Suddenly, Yuan Shu lost his composure and stood up and said, "Zhu Cheqi is right!"

"I was confused. Captain Zhang Yang will obey my orders from now on."

Zhang Yang had no objection. He was originally a subordinate of Yuan Shao, but he betrayed Yuan Shao because he was held hostage by Yu Luofu. Now that Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao have formed an alliance, he has returned to the battle sequence.

Zhang Yang bowed to Yuan Shu, which was considered as his acknowledgement of what Zhu Jun said.

"What other questions does Yuan Yuzhou have?"

Yuan Shu said happily: "No more!"

With the addition of Zhang Yang's 20,000 men, Yuan Shu's strength was greatly enhanced. With Yuzhou as his backing, Yuan Shu believed that he would be able to return to his peak in the near future.

Zhu Jun nodded and said loudly again: "The oath-taking ceremony officially begins!"

This time no one objected.

Afterwards, Zhu Jun took the lead, with Yuan Shu as his assistant, and a new coalition was formed to fight against Dong Zhuo, vowing to welcome the emperor back to Luoyang.

Yuan Shao, the governor of Jizhou, and Yuan Yi, the governor of Yanzhou, were fighting a fierce battle with the Black Mountain coalition and were unable to pay attention to the south, so they jointly issued a statement to support this action.

With Yuan Shao taking the lead, Cao Cao would have to follow suit to show his support no matter how busy he was attacking Xuzhou.

The most interesting thing is that Jin Mao also sent support from Yizhou, saying that after defeating the traitor Liu Yan, he would lead his army to the north and send troops to Chang'an from Hanzhong County.

Of course, these are all things to follow.

The attack and defense of Hangu Pass had already begun. Zhu Jun was worthy of being a famous general. He deployed troops and made strategic plans, forcing Niu Fu, the defender of Hangu Pass, to flee in panic.

Dong Zhuo had no choice but to dispatch Huayin defender Duan Wei to lead his troops to provide support.

Perhaps Dong Zhuo changed after Diao Chan ruined his son. He no longer appointed people based on personal connections and continued to let Niu Fu be the commander-in-chief. Instead, he ordered Duan Wei to replace Niu Fu to guard Hangu Pass.

Although Duan Wei is not as talented as Xu Rong, he is more than twice as strong as Niu Fu.

With the help of powerful generals such as Li Jue and Guo Si, Hangu Pass was quickly defended.

However, Dong Zhuo had to face another problem: Chang'an was poorly defended.

After fleeing back from Luoyang, Dong Zhuo lost 25,000 men under Lu Bu and Dong Cheng, leaving only more than 35,000 men in the Western Liang army.

Later, he recruited more soldiers and restored the number to more than 50,000.

Now Duan Wei and Niu Fu led 30,000 men to defend Hangu Pass, and there were only 20,000 Western Liang troops left in Chang'an.

On the other hand, Wang Yun, even if Lu Bu did not bring Zhang Yang and others, he would still have more than 30,000 people!

As long as Wang Yun could incite the troops of Ma Teng and Han Sui who had just arrived to rebel, or keep the two men neutral, he would have a great advantage against Dong Zhuo.

Chang'an, Weiyang Palace.

At the court meeting today, Wang Yun was extremely aggressive and attacked Dong Zhuo's weaknesses everywhere.

Dong Zhuo, who had always been strong, was unusually passive in his defense, as if he was unable to withstand the attack.

For a moment, the ministers in the court were like sharks smelling blood, biting Dong Zhuo madly, vowing to tear off a piece of flesh.

"I impeach Dong Zhuo for his tyranny!"

"I impeach Dong Zhuo for his tyranny!"

"I impeach Dong Zhuo..."

Except for a few Doctors of Confucian classics, the civil servants in the late Han Dynasty were not all weak scholars. They might not be very good at martial arts, but they were definitely good at talking.

"Your Majesty! I request that you issue an edict to execute the traitor Dong Zhuo!" Wang Yun was eager to accomplish his goal in one fell swoop, and he shouted like a madman: "Come here! Bring me a sword!"

Dong Zhuo glanced at him and snorted disdainfully, "Alright! Let me duel with Wang Situ, today in the hall, to decide who will die!"

Suddenly, Lu Bu and Li Su, who had been waiting outside the hall, rushed in with their men.

Last time, after being humiliated by Li Jue, Lu Bu took a detour and returned to Chang'an.

But someone led his troops in faster than Lu Bu.

Left General Dong Yu!
Right General Dong Huang!
Dong Yu led the Yulin Guard and was responsible for the security of the palace, while Dong Huang led the Huben Imperial Guard and was responsible for the public security in Chang'an City. In fact, they were mainly responsible for the safety of Dong Zhuo.

Wang Yun was well prepared for this. Lu Bu, Li Su and others led elite troops, and their numbers were greater than those of Dong Yu and Dong Huang.

Soon, the brutal soldiers confronted each other inside and outside the palace.

Seeing that a war was about to break out, Emperor Liu Xie pretended to be calm and tried to keep his voice steady as he said, "My dear ministers."

"Why can't we sit down and discuss the grudge properly? Why must we shed blood?"

"I have experienced bloodshed in the palace once, and I don't want to experience it again. Please stop the war, okay?"

"Master Dong?"

"Wang Situ?"

"For my sake... no... for the sake of the emperors of the Han Dynasty, how about you leave today?"

Faced with Emperor Liu Xie's almost pleading tone, Wang Yun wanted to stop there.

But the arrow is on the string and must be fired.

How could Lu Bu miss the only chance?
If Dong Zhuo is not killed today, the next person to run away will be him, Lu Bu!

Wang Yun was too anxious and was about to fight a decisive battle before he had made all the arrangements. If Dong Zhuo was really that easy to kill, he would have died long ago. How could he have survived until now?
But after Wang Yun tasted the power, he would not listen to anyone, let alone someone like Lu Bu who always lost battles?
Even Zhang Yang and Yu Luofu could not be won over. In Wang Yun's eyes, apart from his excellent martial arts, Lu Bu was a useless reckless man.

Dong Cheng and Li Su did not understand Dong Zhuo as well as Lu Bu, so naturally they took Wang Yun's words as the final word.

This is the main reason for the current situation.

"Fengxian." Wang Yun looked at Lu Bu and said, "Withdraw the troops."

Without even turning his head, Lu Bu said, "That's easy for Situ Wang to say. If I take one step back, the Xiliang army will tear us to pieces!"

"Why don't you let the Xiliang army withdraw first?"

Unexpectedly, Wang Yun really came to the Xiliang army and bowed to Dong Zhuo, who was heavily guarded, and said: "Master Dong, as long as you can guarantee the safety of the emperor, I am willing to die to apologize."

"Please evacuate the palace first."

Dong Zhuo was also afraid of Lu Bu's military strength and didn't want to start a fight here without any reason.

"Well, then each of us will retreat five steps."

The two men were talking to themselves and didn't notice that Lu Bu looked strange.

Just as the Xiliang army was preparing to retreat.

Above the main hall of Weiyang Palace.

The Golden Sheep suddenly yelled, "Protect the Emperor!"

Dozens of elite soldiers from Yangzhou disguised as the emperor's guards immediately swarmed to Liu Xie's side, and then retreated behind the throne.

This also became the fuse for the war.

Lu Bu took the lead and said, "Kill Dong Zhuo!"

While both armies were still in a daze, Lu Bu charged into the Xiliang army alone with his halberd.

Dong Zhuo retreated quickly, and his flexible posture was difficult to combine with his fat and bloated body.

When Lu Bu wanted to chase him again, the Xiliang army had already reacted and surrounded him with ferocious faces.

Lu Bu was not riding a horse, so his fighting power was halved. He did not dare to be arrogant anymore and could only watch Dong Zhuo escape from the side door of Weiyang Palace.

Wang Yun spoke nicely, but when the war really broke out, he ran faster than anyone else.

Almost at the same time as Wang Yun, the Grand Herald Yang Biao also ran out.

The two old guys looked at each other and ran towards the Gui Palace north of the Weiyang Palace at the same time.

There is no other reason, there are no troops deployed there.

The rest of the officials were not so lucky.

The blood-thirsty Xiliang army and Lu Bu's troops didn't care who was around them. As long as they were not comrades, they would be killed!
The battle lasted for a day and a night, from inside the palace to outside the palace.

The blood dyed the inside and outside of the palace red, and corpses were everywhere, with no one to manage.

The next day.

Lu Bu assembled a large army and attacked the Xiliang army’s Meiwu camp directly.

General Ma Teng, who was ordered by Dong Zhuo to attack the West, led 20,000 troops to resist.

Lu Bu thought he was invincible and led the charge.

Unexpectedly, Ma Teng and a group of young generals actually blocked his fierce attack.

If the sharpest tip cannot break through, the subsequent large force will not be able to expand the results of the battle.

The situation was hopeless, so Lu Bu led his men to retreat one mile.

Ma Teng did not pursue, and the two sides confronted each other.

Lu Bu shouted loudly: "Young general, tell me your name!"

"Ma Chao Ma Mengqi of Wuwei!"

Ma Chao said without showing any weakness: "I heard that Lü Fengxian was the best in the world in martial arts, but after seeing him today, he is just so-so."

Lu Bu endured being beaten by the Yangzhou army and being ridiculed by Li Jue, but now an unknown young general dared to mock him, and he was immediately furious.

"Don't be so arrogant, you little brat!"

"If Ma Teng hadn't blocked your way, I would have taken your head!"

"Come on!" Ma Chao rode forward and continued to challenge, "Here is my head, take it if you can!"

Lu Bu hated himself for being too talkative. Why did he provoke Ma Chao? If they really fought, no matter he won or lost, his reputation would be ruined.

The victory was unfair.

If I lose, I will bring shame to my grandma's house.

It's not a good deal no matter how you look at it.

"The child is rampant, who is willing to take his head for me?"

The lieutenant Cheng Lian was known for his bravery. He rode out and said, "Wen Hou, wait a moment. I will take the boy's head right away!"

Having said that, the man rushed out.

Lu Bu warned loudly: "Watch out for his horse, it's also a divine horse!"

Sure enough, as soon as Ma Chao started, the gap between the two sides' horses became apparent.

Cheng Lian was also a veteran on the battlefield, so he immediately became cautious.

At this time, Ma Chao was only sixteen years old and had just come of age. He was still a little immature in all aspects. Without Ma Teng's care, it was still difficult for him to deal with Cheng Lian.

However, Ma Chao was born with supernatural powers, and Cheng Lian soon showed his disadvantage.

In addition, Ma Chao has a strong learning ability. He grasped Cheng Lian’s weaknesses in just twenty rounds, and every move was fatal.

Seeing that Cheng Lian was in danger, Lu Bu drew his bow and arrow, and shouted: "Watch out for the arrow, kid!"

Only then did he shoot it and save Cheng Lian's life.

The trajectory of the spear in Ma Chao's hand was accurately predicted by Lu Bu. He was shocked and dared not pursue him, so he returned to his own camp.

Both sides ceased fighting.

(End of this chapter)