Indeed, according to Zhang Fei's estimation, Sun Jian had successfully reached Si Shui City despite encountering some resistance. Now, all he needed was a little time to rest and take down the city.
Li Su, Guo Si, and the others had experienced Li Ru's cold-bloodedness. He didn't care about the lives of his soldiers, and only cared about success or failure. In order to figure out the strength of Sun Jian's troops, he was willing to generously sacrifice two thousand men. These two thousand men would not contribute anything other than letting him know the size of Sun Jian's troops, but for Li Ru, this was enough.
Although Lu Bu was brave, he still remained silent in the face of Li Ru's cruelty. He didn't want to inadvertently become a test for him in the future. Li Ru had asked him to lead 15,000 troops to guard the Si River, and he didn't even have the chance to refuse. Obviously, Dong Zhuo didn't have the intention to consider him. Left with no choice, Lu Bu could only lay in ambush in Si Shui City.
Sun Jian was a very smart general. He did not attack the Si River immediately. The most important thing was to clear out the small groups of Western Liang soldiers in the surroundings. If anything happened, a force of 500 soldiers might cause a tragic death.
Lu Bu did not go out to battle. According to Li Ru's arrangement, he needed to wait in Si Shui City for Sun Jian to come and die. Now, he could only watch as the Western Liang soldiers outside the city were devoured by Sun Jian's troops. There was nothing he could do.
Li Ru watched Sun Jian's troops win day after day, but he was not worried at all. Other than a few important figures in the Western Liang army, no one would have thought of Li Ru's plan because it was a series of plans.
Sun Jian's battle results were reported for three days in a row. The good news made Yuan Shao and Cao Cao heave a sigh of relief. At least now, they had a way out. The other dukes had calmed down their uneasy hearts, but the two of them didn't seem very happy. One of them was Yuan Shu of Yangzhou, and the other was Liu Biao of Jingzhou. There was no other reason than that Sun Jian's old nest, Changsha, was in the middle of their territories. If Sun Jian's strength grew in this battle against Dong Zhuo, he would have a great advantage in Yangzhou and Jingxiang in the future. This was the last thing these two people wanted to see.
"My lord, now that Sun Gongtai's morale is high, I think this mere Si Shui City will definitely be taken down. This time, he is the vanguard, and he must have made the first contribution in the continuous reports. In the future, when he returns to his old nest, it will be very disadvantageous to my lord.”Yuan Shu's subordinates were all over the place, and he didn't know what kind of people they were. Anyway, as long as they were people, if they could please Yuan Shu, it wouldn't be a problem for them to get a good job.
"How could I not know? It's just that the crusade against Dong Zhuo is the top priority now, so I can't do anything about it.”Yuan Shu said in annoyance. The subordinate rolled his eyes and whispered into Yuan Shu's ear,"My lord, I have a plan to make Sun Jian lose his credit.”
"What plan do you have?" Yuan Shu hurriedly asked. His eyes were shining with excitement.
" Sun Jian has been fighting for three days, and the lord has given him the rations for three days. If we don't give him the rations today, the soldiers will panic when they run out of rations. They will be scared to death themselves even if we don't do it ourselves. Moreover, there are still many Western Liang soldiers in Si Shui City. Under such internal and external difficulties, even Sun Jian, who is known as the Tiger of River East, will die without a complete corpse.”That person had a pointy mouth and monkey-like cheeks. He was really filthy.
Yuan Shu thought for a moment, then shook his head and said,"No, no. If we do this now, it will be very disadvantageous to the crusade against Dong Zhuo.”
"The vassals of the east of the country have hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Could it be that we can't take down Tiger Cage Pass without those 20,000 men? Moreover, if this matter is done well, then Sun Jian will definitely not be able to return alive. Once Sun Jian dies, only the heavens and the earth will know.”The man continued to tempt Yuan Shu. Obviously, Yuan Shu was moved by his words. Yuan Shu seemed to be struggling with something. Suddenly, he patted his thigh and said,"A man without poison is a man!”
"My lord is wise!" After that person flattered him, he revealed a smug smile. It was a little cheap and a little cruel.
After Hua Xiong returned to Tiger Cage Pass, Li Ru was going to kill him. Fortunately, several military officials pleaded for mercy and let Hua Xiong escape. However, after this incident, Li Ru became a hated person. Hua Xiong was also depressed. He thought that he didn't die under Zhang Fei's hands, but he almost died in the hands of his own people. Therefore, he hated Li Ru.
Dong Zhuo had noticed Li Ru's arrogance, but he did not remind him to restrain himself. Instead, he encouraged him. Guo Si and the others knew that Dong Zhuo was reminding the officers who led the troops that he was the one who had the final say in the Western Liang Army. It seemed that Dong Zhuo had been giving some pointers to his subordinates for a long time. Now that Li Ru had entered the upper echelons, he could use him to achieve his goal.
In order to make up for his mistake, Hua Xiong, under Li Ru's orders, had set up an ambush thirty miles west of Xingyang to wait for the remnants of Sun Jian's troops. Indeed, under Li Ru's plan, Sun Jian would definitely die this time as long as nothing unexpected happened.
Food was basically the foundation of the soldiers. The status of the soldiers in the Han Dynasty was really low. They did not have any salary. Other than the capital garrison troops and Zhang Fei's Black Armored Army, in this era, no soldiers had any salary. Food was the only motivation for them to work hard for their masters!
Sun Jian was already starting to feel restless. He had lost count of how many times he had shouted at the messenger. He only wanted one day's worth of food. One day's worth of food. The person who went to urge Yuan Shu only gave him one answer: Yuan Shu's men were not here!
What a ridiculous reason! During the great battle, who would believe that a feudal lord wasn't in the camp? Sun Jian had an ominous feeling. The complaints among the soldiers had only lasted for a day, but they had already been magnified infinitely. There was a spy! Sun Jian noticed the situation at the first moment, but he didn't have time to remedy it. When Sun Jian's four generals saw that the situation was out of control, they immediately suggested that Sun Jian move his troops, because it was impossible to attack the Si River now.
Sun Jian's anger was at its peak, but he kept restraining himself. The transfer of troops was relatively smooth. After all, most of the soldiers under him were veterans who had followed him for many years. They still trusted him very much. As for those unfamiliar faces, he maintained a silent attitude. He could only suspect them, but he could not blame them. If he had to blame them, he would have to bear all the responsibility. If he had been more careful before he set off, this situation would not have happened. Although he felt a little regretful, at least he didn't suffer any losses. The small victories he had won in the previous few matches weren't in vain.
When the 20,000-man army was about 50 miles south of the Si River, another army appeared behind them. There were about 10,000 of them. The leader of the army was a general with a murderous aura from afar. He wore a purple gold crown, a robe with five flowers, chain armor, a red rabbit horse, and a halberd. Who else could it be but Lu Bu? And it was at this critical moment that the camp exploded!
That's right! There was a spy in Sun Jian's army, but he did not know who the spy was. At this time, when the morale of the army was unstable, it was impossible to investigate the spy, because this would only make the soldiers more uneasy. In order to avoid chaos, Sun Jian had already sped up the journey. However, God seemed to have played a joke on him. The camp exploded!
"The army outside the pass has run out of food! We have no way out! It's better to find another way out as soon as possible!" Voices rose and fell in the camp, but none of them could calm the morale of the soldiers. The roars of Sun Jian and the four generals were drowned out by the terrified voices of the soldiers. The front and rear troops lost contact at that moment, and the middle troops were directly scattered under the stampede. Many veterans who killed the enemy did not die at the hands of the enemy, but died at the feet of the recruits. The chaotic scene almost made Sun Jian cry. After leading the army for so many years, he was always careful, but this time... However, he had failed miserably.
"That thief Sun Jian is right ahead! Children, follow me to kill!" Lu Bu's shout caused the surrounding soldiers to tremble. Sun Jian's subordinate, Zu Mao, was shocked and shouted,""Not good!" However, Lu Bu had already arrived. Zu Mao naturally couldn't fight with Lu Bu, but he had no choice but to block Lu Bu's fierce attack because he was the person closest to Sun Jian.
Lu Bu rarely used his full strength to kill people because everyone else was as powerless as ants to him. There was only one person who had piqued his interest. However, he had yet to fight him. He wanted to know who wanted to fight that person more. He was eager to fight that person. Therefore, he always used his full strength for that late battle!
"Lone Wolf!" Countless Xiongnu and Qiang people had died to Lu Bu's killer move. Ever since he had killed wolves alone in his youth, he had always fought perfectly. It was a pleasant feeling of slaughter and blood. Only these two things could make him live happily. If he had to add a reason for fighting, he liked the feeling of trampling on his opponent. Whether it was his body or his mind, he would absolutely destroy them!
Cold, deep, cold, and emotionless. This was Lu Bu's gaze, the gaze of someone who had killed for so many years. Death always walked alongside him, but he firmly believed: He could take away death, but death would never take him away!
"Humph! You overestimate yourself!" Looking at Zu Mao, who was trying to stop a chariot with his mantis arms, Lu Bu couldn't help but snort coldly. Another ant who didn't know life and death. He really didn't understand why there were so many weak people! Zu Mao was not a weakling! They were not ants! However, Lu Bu was too strong, so strong that he could not imagine it! The twin sabers that had followed him for many years were instantly cut into pieces, and Lu Bu was still charging at Sun Jian!
Regardless of whether he was born at the wrong time or to repay his kindness, Zu Mao didn't seem to think about anything. His thick chest puffed out at that moment. Courage could infect people. It was the case many times. Whether it was an opponent or a friend, courage was ultimately a very impressive thing. At least for that moment, his courage had stunned Lu Bu. After hesitating for a moment, life and death were two different things. Sun Jian survived, but Zu Mao died. A life for a life!
Sun Jian did not have time to lament the loss of his beloved general. He could only lead his remaining troops and continue to flee south. Lu Bu continued to chase behind him. Zhao Yun's cavalry finally circled around Sun Jian's flank, but it was already too late. Sun Jian, who had lost more than half of his troops, was already in a complete mess. Fortunately, Lu Bu had Li Ru's orders! Otherwise, he might have been able to charge into the army and kill Sun Jian. Now they were playing a game, hunter and prey! Li Ru knew very well where Sun Jian would go in this situation. Thus, he had Lu Bu slowly follow behind Sun Jian to make Sun Jian even more panicked. However, no one had expected that there would be such a cavalry around, and the leader was Zhao Yun!
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。