"Li Ru has already suggested Dong Zhuo move the capital to Chang 'an. Now, apart from Yang Feng and Zhang Ji who were stationed at the east of the city with 50,000 soldiers. The rest of the troops began to rob and drive away the people. As for the officials on the general's list, I've asked General Zhao to send troops to protect them. There are also blacksmiths, carpenters, and other craftsmen in Luoyang. We have sent them to a military camp thirty miles west of the city in advance according to the list. General Gao has sent two thousand imperial soldiers to protect them. The Imperial Palace was in chaos. Dong Zhuo's personal guards had already entered the palace and started to move everything they could. However, we have already sent people to move the ancient books and various books. It was said that when they left, they even planned to burn down the palace.”Jia Xu didn't waste any time and briefly told Lu Bu about the situation in Luoyang.
"Alright, let's start helping the ministers move now. There is our military camp at the west gate. Gao Shun, gather the people and bring them there. Zhang Liao is there. Zhao Yun, go back to my residence and tell the princess to hurry to the barracks. Right, Military Advisor, where is the Emperor now?”Lu Bu decided to stay in the palace. He couldn't let them burn down the palace. When the time came, he would be the one to guard the palace and take over the task of setting the palace on fire.
"The Emperor has already been brought to his army by Dong Zhuo and Li Ru. He is also outside the west gate.”Jia Xu immediately said.
"Alright, let's move out then. Mr. Wen He, I'll leave this to you. Cao Xing and Song Xian will cooperate with you.”As he spoke, Lu Bu looked at Cao Xing and Song Xian.
The two of them immediately agreed.
Jia Xu suddenly said,"General, in this case, isn't our army in the city too little?"”
"It's alright. When they leave the palace, you will lead the Imperial Army and Zhao Yun's troops to escort the families, officials, and craftsmen. With the cavalry here, it would be enough.”Lu Bu thought for a moment and said. He had to find Dong Zhuo immediately. He had to get his orders. Otherwise, these bandits in Luoyang would not listen to his orders.
Dong Zhuo had already brought over a hundred carts of treasures and the effective Emperor Xian to hide in the military camp. He was about to set off for the west. When he heard that Lu Bu was going to cover for him, he was very happy and immediately chased away Li Cui and Guo Si, who were kneeling in the tent. Originally, Dong Zhuo wanted the two of them to cover the rear. In his joy, Dong Zhuo generously gave Lu Bu another 25,000 cavalry.
With an unexpected harvest, Lu Bu happily returned to Zhang Liao's camp.
Liu Jian had just arrived at the camp and burst into tears when he saw him. "Husband, they killed Liu Bian." You have to avenge him."
Of course, Lu Bu knew about Liu Bian's death. However, he still had to pretend to be shocked. He comforted Liu Jian for a long time and promised to kill Dong Zhuo before she stopped crying. However, she still twitched from time to time.
When Jia Xu arrived at the camp, Lu Bu immediately urged them to set off. Now, the main road to the west was already crowded with people with families. If they didn't leave, it would be even harder to move forward. Jia Xu's troops were all infantry.
He waved goodbye to the reluctant Liu Jian. Lu Bu immediately led 50,000 cavalrymen into Luoyang. Looking at the Western Liang soldiers who were still robbing, he felt helpless. The greed of human nature was laid bare at this moment.
Lu Bu first ordered the soldiers to seal off the palace, then began to chase people away street by street. Fortunately, there were many soldiers. In an afternoon, all the Western Liang soldiers in Luoyang were finally cleared out.
His cavalry quickly withdrew from Luoyang and rushed towards Hangu Pass. As for Lu Bu himself, he stayed behind with Dian Wei and five hundred personal guards. He wanted to burn Luoyang the moment the dukes arrived. Of course, it was only limited to the outer city.
At this moment, the two dukes had already gathered together and rushed to Luoyang City. They had already received the report from the scouts and knew that Dong Zhuo had already led the people in the city to Chang 'an. However, when they saw Luoyang's empty city walls, they did not dare to advance any further. They were afraid that a team of Western Liang soldiers would suddenly charge out from an ambush.
After a long pause, Cao Cao gritted his teeth and prepared to send Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan, each with 5,000 troops, into the city one after the other to scout out the situation.
In this crusade against Dong Zhuo, other than issuing a false edict, Cao Cao did not have any bright spots. If he didn't perform, he wouldn't have another chance.
Just as the Xia Hou brothers were about to enter the city, the city suddenly caught on fire. Dozens of fire spots quickly spread with the help of the whistling north wind. Using the cover of the fire, Lu Bu led his men and quietly retreated from Luoyang.
Seeing that Luoyang City was already on fire, even the dumbest person would know that there were no enemy troops in the city. Kong Rong and Tao Qian, who had relatively good character among the dukes, immediately sent troops into the city and became popular. The more astute Cao Cao had already led Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan into the inner city. However, he was destined to be disappointed. The Xi Liang army had already moved everything that needed to be moved.
Looking at the empty inner city and palace, Cao Cao felt helpless. This opportunity to become famous was wasted. Other than Xu Zhu being injured, he didn't get anything else.
It was time for the alliance to come to an end. To the west was Hangu Pass. This pass could not be circled around and attacked from behind. To attack it forcefully, one would have to pay a considerable price. No duke would be willing to sacrifice their forces like this. Moreover, Yongzhou was Dong Zhuo's base. They would never be able to attack Chang 'an with just their forces.
Of the 17 dukes, only 15 were left, and Sun Jian refused to leave the camp due to his injuries. Therefore, only 13 people came to Yuan Shao's tent.
Looking at these 13 people, Yuan Shao couldn't help but feel proud in his heart. Haha, this time, I'm in the limelight. When I return to Jizhou, I'll see how my family fawns on me. After thinking for a long time, he said,"Everyone, we've already reached Luoyang. What should we do next?”He was in a hurry to return to the Bohai Sea.
Cao Cao immediately said," Of course we must continue attacking. Dong Zhuo has captured Emperor Xian. We must let him bring Emperor Xian back to Luoyang."”After saying that, he deliberately looked at everyone's expressions. Clearly, no one agreed. Not a single one stood up to agree.
In the end, Bao Xin stood up and used the excuse that the Yellow Turban had started to make trouble in the territory again. He wanted to go back and pacify the Yellow Turban.
Thus, the dukes also wanted to return home. Faced with the empty Luoyang City, no one was interested in occupying it.
Sun Jian, who was the most aggressive among the dukes, was also disheartened by the fact that his army had almost been wiped out, and Gongsun Zan had also died on the battlefield. Cao Cao's suggestion was completely ignored. No one supported his suggestion.
Helpless, he could only say something ruthless,"Humph! If you guys don't go, I'll go myself. I'll let the world see who's the true backbone of the Great Han Dynasty.”With that, he left the tent.
Yuan Shao was very happy to see Cao Cao eat turtles, but he still pretended to shout,"Meng De, come back quickly. Let's discuss this further.”
Before dawn the next day, Cao Cao led his army through Luoyang and headed west. The other dukes had a celebratory feast together before leaving Luoyang. Of course, they were celebrating the fact that they had successfully driven the traitor Dong Zhuo out of Luoyang.
Gongsun Zan's troops were completely annihilated. The Liu brothers and their hundreds of soldiers who were under him had nowhere to go. Fortunately, Tao Qian took a fancy to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's martial arts and personally went to Liu Bei's tent. With a few words, he successfully moved Liu Bei, who had already become a eunuch, and made him happily follow Tao Qian back to the Xu Prefecture army camp.
Ever since he was injured by Lu Bu, his personality had completely changed. In the past, he always brought his two sworn brothers with him. Now, he didn't want to see the two of them, especially Guan Yu's long beard. It was something he didn't want to face. His own had already begun to fall off slowly, becoming sparse.
From Gongsun Zan to Tao Qian, Liu Bei was quite satisfied. After all, Tao Qian was the governor of a province. With the abilities of his two younger brothers, he would definitely be able to get a good position with him. Now, the only thing he wanted to do was to build his own army and settle scores with that detestable Lu Bu. Since Tao Qian, this old man, had delivered himself to his doorstep, it just so happened that he pushed the boat with the current. No matter what, Xu Prefecture also had the world-famous Danyang Soldiers.
Cao Cao's group arrived at Hangu Pass smoothly, but they were completely dumbfounded. Facing the city walls that were five to six zhang tall, he began to regret. But he couldn't just go back like this. Otherwise, he would be laughed at even more.
Enduring his heartache, he gave the order to attack. Seeing Xiahou Yuan leading the army to carry the ladder and rush up the pass, he couldn't help but close his eyes. These were the soldiers he had recruited with great difficulty.
Seeing the approaching soldiers, Zhang Liao ordered the archers to attack. The 5,000 archers drew their bows.
As the rain of arrows rained down, hundreds of soldiers instantly lost their lives and fell to the ground. Cao Cao's archers had yet to enter the shooting range.
After the archers had risked their lives to get close to the city wall, they began to shoot at the city wall under the protection of the sword-shield soldiers. However, Lu Bu suddenly appeared with 10,000 cavalry.
Under the leadership of Lu Bu and Dian Wei, the cavalry formed a charging formation and charged towards Cao Cao's rear.
Guan Shang also lowered the drawbridge at the right time. Zhang Liao led 10,000 cavalry and charged out.
Cao Cao's thirty thousand soldiers were newly recruited soldiers and had not undergone much training. They immediately fell into chaos and began to flee in all directions. Several of his generals hurried over and killed a few soldiers who had disrupted the morale of the army. Only then did they manage to gather five to six thousand men and retreat eastward.
Lu Bu didn't chase after them and killed many of the stubborn people who resisted desperately. After capturing the remaining 10,000 or so people, they returned to the pass.
(Today's second update.)
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。