The ten thousand troops squeezed into the pass with great difficulty, and the dukes below also rushed to the moat.
Fortunately, the drawbridge was pulled back quickly enough, and the arrows that were closed poured down like locusts. The dukes had not prepared the weapons to attack the city, so they could only retreat after losing dozens of people.
Inside Dong Zhuo's temporary residence, Dong Zhuo was happily entertaining his subordinates. Lu Bu naturally sat on Dong Zhuo's left, followed by Zhang Ji, Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, and Zhang Xiu. On the right were Li Ru, Fan Chou, and a few deputy generals and lieutenants.
"Haha, I'm really happy today. The subordinates of the dukes are actually so useless. Haha, Fengxian was able to fight three people alone and even killed Gongsun Zan. When we return to Luoyang, I'll definitely reward you greatly.”
As soon as Dong Zhuo finished speaking, everyone congratulated Lu Bu. Lu Bu didn't hesitate, raising his wine cup and toasting the crowd.
"Today, Zhang Ji, Xu Huang, and the other generals have also contributed a lot. Godfather should reward them."”
"Yes, yes. When the dukes are defeated, I'll promote all of you. Come and drink." Dong Zhuo said loudly as he hugged the palace maid he brought from Luoyang.
"Prime Minister. Yuan Kui's entire family is trapped in the pass, but the three brothers of the Yuan family are attacking the Mushui Pass. Should we send them to the Mushui Pass as well?”Li Ru also took a sip of wine and asked Dong Zhuo.
"Do as you see fit. Let's not talk about this today. Let's have fun.”Dong Zhuo didn't even raise his head, burying his head in the palace maid's chest as he spoke in a muffled voice.
Li Ru shook his head helplessly and pulled the palace maid who was serving him back to tease her. Dong Zhuo's daughter had inherited all the good qualities of her father, ugly and fat. When he was in Western Liang, he did not dare to find any concubines because of her unruly temper. When he arrived in Luoyang, he was busy with government affairs every day and did not have many opportunities. Now, he might as well let go of the burden and have fun.
In a short while, almost all the generals had started to indulge in debauchery. Only Zhang Ji and Zhang Xiu were sitting there, watching the dancers perform.
Lu Bu hugged the palace maid beside him and laughed in his heart. Wasn't Zhang Ji's wife called Madam Zou? She heard that she was very beautiful and young. She was probably snatched by him. As expected, she did not like these mediocre women. Zhang Xiu, that brat, seemed to be quite afraid of his uncle. His eyes were already shining, yet he still pretended to be a saint. Didn't Zhang Liao say that he really wanted to be my subordinate? When he came over with his uncle, he would practice at Zhang Liao's place first.
Xu Huang, this kid, was quiet. Yang Feng was probably a little unhappy that he was in the limelight. Hehe, take this opportunity to pull him over. He would have two more generals under him.
The high-ranking officials of the Western Liang army were having fun here. The vassal army was frowning.
In the main tent, Cao Cao sat at the head of the table, while the other eight vassals sat on his left and right. The one who replaced Gongsun Zan was his clan brother Gongsun Fan. He was also a brave man, but he was still much weaker than Gongsun Zan in terms of martial arts and resourcefulness.
Sun Jian came with an injury. Although his leg injury was very serious, as long as he didn't touch the wound, it wouldn't be a big deal.
This time, Liu Bei did not shamelessly follow Gong Sun Fan to get a seat. When he was rescued back to the camp, he had already fainted. After the military doctor looked at the wound, he shook his head and said,"There's no other way. We can only apply medicine to stop the bleeding.”
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's faces were ashen. They were both extremely furious. The ancients took filial piety and righteousness as the first, and there were three kinds of unfilial piety, and no descendants were the greatest. Thus, Lu Bu's actions were undoubtedly despicable.
Sighing, Cao Cao said,"Everyone, we have been completely defeated by Lu Bu today. How do you think we should attack next?”
"I can't challenge him to a duel anymore. Otherwise, he would be asking for humiliation. It was better to wait for the ladder to crash into each other and then attack directly.”Tao Qian stroked his beard and said.
"How can it be that easy? If we lock up 150,000 people, we only have 200,000. How do we attack?" Sun Jian said hatefully. He hated the Western Liang Army to the core. First, he lost his army and two generals, and then he was injured. This hatred was really irreconcilable.
"If an army takes a detour to the back of the pass and attacks from both sides, we will definitely succeed in one fell swoop.”Kong Rong said after some consideration.
"Good idea, but who should we send?" Cao Cao clapped his hands and cheered. He had also thought of this idea. However, he did not know who to send. Logically speaking, only he, Sun Jian, and Gongsun Zan were suitable among the nine. But Sun Jian no longer had an army, and Gongsun Zan was dead. He was the only one left. However, this sneak attack mission was too dangerous. If he was not careful, he would lose all of his assets. Therefore, he was unwilling to go no matter what.
The nine of them discussed for a long time, but there was still no result. In the end, they decided by drawing lots.
As a result, Gongsun Fan and Wang Kuang won the lottery. They had to gather 30,000 soldiers tonight and take a detour to the back of Tiger Cage Pass.
After a busy day, the siege weapons were finally completed. The vassals agreed that each of them would attack for two hours. Three days later, when Gongsun Fan and Wang Kuang arrived at the pass, they would attack from both sides and seize the pass.
This plan was indeed not bad. If Li Ru and Lu Bu were not here, it would definitely have succeeded.
The two consecutive days of attacks had been extremely orderly, and the dukes had all been making loud noises but little rain. They had not risked their lives to attack at all.
Li Ru quickly discovered that two dukes had disappeared. Thinking about it again, he knew their plan.
In Dong Zhuo's meeting hall, Li Ru deliberately put on a profound appearance and told everyone about the dukes 'plan to attack from both sides.
Lu Bu, who was watching from the side, laughed to himself. He had long felt that the dukes 'attacks were too strange, and upon closer inspection, he understood the mystery behind them. He was already prepared and had Zhang Liao's cavalry lying in ambush outside the pass. Even if they were attacked from both sides, it would not be a big deal.
However, since Li Ru had said it, he would let him show off. Dong Zhuo hated it when his friends showed off in front of him. But Li Ru insisted on using such a method to snatch the credit. Wasn't he looking for trouble?
As expected, when Dong Zhuo heard the news that the dukes were going to attack from both sides, he immediately jumped up and shouted,"Why didn't you say something so important earlier?”Then he turned to Lu Bu and said,"Fengxian, hurry up and send 20,000 cavalrymen to search the pass. Don't let them come in."”
"Yes, foster father. Can I bring Zhang Xiu and Xu Huang along?”Lu Bu stepped forward and cupped his fists.
"Yes, yes, go, go.”Dong Zhuo said impatiently. He was most concerned about his own safety.
Lu Bu immediately turned around and left the hall. Ignoring Li Ru and Yang Feng's resentful gazes, he headed straight for the camp where the cavalry was stationed. Naturally, Dong Zhuo's messenger went to inform Zhang Xiu and Xu Huang.
By the time the twenty thousand cavalrymen were gathered, Zhang Xiu and Xu Huang had already arrived. After encouraging them, Lu Bu brought them to Zhang Liao.
Zhang Liao had been sent here yesterday, and he had been told to look for Gongsun Fan and Wang Kuang's troops.
When he heard Zhang Liao's report, he found out that only 30,000 dukes had come. However, since Gong Sun Fan was here, he had to keep him. In this way, the Gongsun family would have no more talents.
He sent Zhang Liao and his 5,000 cavalrymen to surround them and wait to capture them.
As for Xu Huang and Zhang Xiu, Lu Bu had given them five thousand cavalrymen and told them to lie in ambush on the left and right. When Gongsun Fan and Zhang Xiu arrived, they would charge out from the left and right. And he himself would rush out from the front and take advantage of the chaos to kill Gong Sun Fan.
In fact, Lu Bu and Li Ru had kept a secret from Dong Zhuo. While they were ambushing Gongsun Fan, they could also have the Western Liang army set up an ambush inside the pass. When the feudal lords arrived, they could directly destroy the armies of the seven feudal lords with fire.
However, Lu Bu did not wish for the dukes to lose so miserably. Li Ru wanted to say it, but because of Dong Zhuo's attitude, he didn't want to say it. He would wait until Dong Zhuo noticed his importance before giving him advice.
The battles on the two battlefields started almost at the same time.
Behind the pass, Gongsun Fan and Wang Kuang finally saw the wall of Tiger Cage Pass. Countless cavalrymen rushed down from the hills on both sides. The army immediately fell into disarray. Gongsun Fan and Wang Kuang managed to organize soldiers to defend themselves. Lu Bu's 10,000 cavalrymen charged out.
Looking at Gongsun Fan, who also held a long spear and looked like his brother, Lu Bu charged forward.
Wang Kuang, who was with Gongsun Fan, happened to see Lu Bu charging toward him. He immediately turned his horse around and ran toward the rear. Gongsun Fan didn't understand what was going on. He cursed Wang Kuang for being a coward and disloyal as he turned to look at Lu Bu.
When he noticed that it was Lu Bu, it was already too late for him to run.
Riding on his Red Hare Horse, Lu Bu charged at Gongsun Fan. Just as he was still in fear, the crescent blade of the Heavenly Halberd had already swept past his waist.
Ignoring him, Lu Bu charged at the soldiers behind him.
After Lu Bu had killed another six or seven soldiers, he was finally done. Gongsun Fan let out a shrill scream. His upper body fell off the horse, but his lower body was still sitting on his horse.
The Western Liang cavalrymen chased after him for two hours. More than 8,000 people were beheaded. Out of the nearly 20,000 captives, less than 2,000 managed to escape.
Meanwhile, at Tiger Cage Pass, the dukes heard the battle cries from afar and thought that the sneak attack had succeeded. They immediately ordered the entire army to split into four teams and take turns to charge up the pass.
Of Dong Zhuo's 150,000 troops, 50,000 were cavalry, and the remaining 100,000 were infantry. However, the vassal army only had about 150,000 soldiers, so it was easy to defend. In addition to Li Ru's command. It was like harvesting the lives of the vassal army's soldiers.
Only after losing more than 20,000 men did Cao Cao realize that something was wrong and hurriedly withdrew his troops.
When they were slowly retreating, Guan Shang suddenly threw down the heads of Gongsun Fan and Wang Kuang, and they realized that the sneak attack had failed.
Wang Kuang had been captured by Zhang Liao. Dong Zhuo had beheaded him and thrown him out of the pass.
(Many readers feel that the separation of powers and a democratic system could not be established in the Three Kingdoms era. I have checked many websites and it is indeed the case. I have taken it for granted and will make some changes, but the plot will not be changed.)
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