March 12th.
After confirming that Cao Cao seemed to have given up on crossing the river, the cavalry sent by Luoyang to patrol Mengjin increased instead of decreasing.
From four times a day to six times a day.
Almost every four hours, there would be a group of cavalry from Luoyang patrolling the river.
Because Li Ru was very confused.
Three days ago, on the ninth day of the lunar new year.
Xu Rong personally sent a message to Luoyang, saying that Cao Cao was preparing to cross the river on the north bank of Mengjin Pass.
Li Ru believed that the Cao army on the north bank of the Yellow River was probably bluffing and would not dare to cross the Yellow River.
After instructing Dong Zhuo to increase his patrol of Meng Jin.
In order to prevent Cao Cao from doing anything at Tiger Cage Pass, Li Ru came to help Lu Bu and Fan Chou guard the pass.
This garrison went from the ninth to the twelfth.
However, for three days, there was no abnormal movement at Tiger Cage Pass.
The dukes did not even bother to put on an act, all of them holed up in their camps and never came out again.
This made Li Ru somewhat uneasy.
Could it be that Cao Cao was really going to do something north of the Yellow River?
Therefore, he ordered people to increase the intensity of the inspection of the Yellow River's Mengjin Pass, just in case.
March 13th.
All the citizens of Luoyang City who could move had moved out.
There were only a few women, children, old and weak who were abandoned because of hunger or disability. They were searching for clothes and food among the dead in the alley, barely surviving.
They still did not know what kind of fire was about to greet them.
Dong Zhuo sent someone to Mengjin to inform Xu Rong and Li Meng.
Once the fire in Luoyang started, they would burn Mengjin and head to Hangu Pass to guard the rear.
March 14th.
Li Ru rushed back to Luoyang and began to carefully plan the retreat with Dong Zhuo.
Chongde Hall.
Dong Zhuo was in a good mood.
After all, he was about to leave the troubled Luo Yang and return to the pass that he was more familiar with.
When he returned to Guanzhong, he would truly be able to rest easy.
He had already made up his mind. Once he returned to Guanzhong, he would immediately order people to build a "Longevity Dock" in the county below Long Mountain.
The great craftsman had already drawn up the blueprints.
Longevity Dock is 70 feet high and 70 feet thick. The size of the structure, the city walls and palaces are the same as those in Chang 'an.
All the treasures they had obtained from this robbery were kept in the warehouse of the Myriad Longevity Dock.
And store food and grass in it.
After the success of the project, Wang Xiong occupied the world.
If it doesn't work, I'll be old enough to stay in this dock.
At this point, the only thing that made him unhappy was that he had been very passive ever since the dukes of the east of the country rose up.
Before he left, he decided to teach the eastern dukes a painful lesson.
"Wenyou, I intend to personally lead the troops out of Hulao Pass tomorrow and have a great battle with the rats in the east of the country.
"After that, we will follow your plan and retreat.”
Li Ru was speechless.
They were going to retreat, so what was there to show off!
However, Li Ru also understood his father-in-law's temper.
If Dong Zhuo didn't have a good fight to vent his anger and resentment, he would vent it on his subordinates.
It had to be said that everything depended on one's efforts.
Li Ru thought about it and really thought of a brilliant plan, and it was a wonderful one.
"My lord, I do have a plan that can help you defeat the Guandong alliance army.
"Not only will this plan allow my lord to defeat the alliance army, but it will also allow us to safely retreat from Luoyang, so that the alliance army will not dare to pursue us for a short period of time.”
Dong Zhuo's interest was piqued. He raised his eyebrows and asked,"Wenyou, tell me quickly."
"Didn't this subordinate offer a plan to burn the pass and retreat?" Li Ru asked.
"Originally, I was worried that Tiger Cage Pass was too close to the river, and the dukes would extinguish the fire in a short time before chasing me with cavalry.
"It is also because of this concern that Xu Rong and Li Meng were sent to bring up the rear for us.
"Now, my lord suddenly suggested that we teach the Guandong alliance army a lesson.
"This reminds me of how to use this fire.”
"Oh? How?" Dong Zhuo was curious.
" Once we burn Tiger Cage," Li Ru said," the dukes under Tiger Cage Pass will definitely react quickly. We've already retreated.
"At that time, they will definitely put out the fire in Tiger Cage Pass with all their might and then immediately chase after us.
"We can ambush here." Li Ru pointed at Gong County on the map.
Dong Zhuo saw that it was indeed the best place for an ambush.
Gongxian County is 60 miles west of Hulao Pass and 60 miles east of Luoyang.
It is surrounded by Shouyang Mountain on both sides in the northwest, and Luoshui River is in the east. There is an opening between Luoshui River and Shouyang Mountain.
Behind the entrance was a plain.
This terrain was like the upper half of a gourd.
Whether it was Lu Bu and Fan Chou from Tiger Cage Pass or the alliance army that was about to catch up, they would have to pass through this narrow opening.
As long as they blocked the entrance, they could capture all the allied forces that passed through.
"If we burn Tiger Cage Pass, it means that we have completely burned our escape route.
"The eastern dukes must have thought that we would flee as quickly as possible.
"Thus, he will never suspect that we are playing tricks and will chase after me at full speed.
"We only need to send a few thousand people here to pretend to retreat.”Li Ru pointed at a plain south of the entrance.
"When they catch up, we'll order the ambush here to charge out and block this opening.”Li Ru pointed at Mount Shouyang on the west side of the entrance.
"The art of war says: 50 li for profit, half the army will arrive.
"This place is 60 miles from Tiger Cage Pass. They must be exhausted by now.
"If we catch them off guard here, we will definitely be able to kill them and make them flee.
"After that, we can slowly retreat.
"At least for the next day, they won't dare to pursue us any further.
Dong Zhuo's eyes lit up when he heard that. He was full of praise." Wenyou is indeed a brilliant plan!
"I have literary talent, so why worry about the world being unstable and not achieving great things!”
……
March 15th.
Tiger Cage Pass.
In the alliance army tent.
The dukes gathered together and hypocritically discussed how to take down Hulao Pass.
Ever since the Spring and Autumn Period, everything had been about etiquette.
No matter what the inside was like, the surface must be done well.
In fact, everyone knew very well that they were wasting time in Tiger Cage Pass, and no one would really contribute.
After all, the emperor had already moved west to Chang 'an.
If he really did contribute, who would he show it to? Who knew?
Based on Cao Cao's plan that day, Dong Zhuo was really short of food.
Therefore, Dong Zhuo would not be able to resist for long and would follow the emperor to the west.
There was no need to fight Dong Zhuo to the death.
But no one would say it out loud.
Because as long as this "demotion" was done well on the surface, it would be of great benefit to everyone present.
How could the world know what the truth was?
They only needed to release the news to the world that they had put in their utmost effort to save the Han Dynasty and eliminate the country's traitors.
Then everyone present would be a teacher of justice and would have a reputation.
When they returned to their respective territories, everyone could speak righteously and be their own local emperors.
Other than Gongsun Zan and Sun Jian, all the other scholars understood this kind of hype.
In the past few decades, this was how their fathers and ancestors got their names.
This was a "valuable experience" that these great clans did not spread.
As the vassals exchanged cups, a messenger walked in from outside the tent.
"Reporting to Alliance Master, General Cao has come.”
"Oh?" Yuan Shao was surprised to hear about Cao Cao.
He had not received any news from Cao Cao for half a month. He thought that Cao Cao was like the other princes, robbing and looting.
"Pass it on."
"Hey, Cao Cao ~"
Yuan Shu said Cao Cao's name in a strange tone and laughed mockingly.
"That fellow went to Hebei to be a coward, and he actually dared to send a letter.
"To think that he even initiated the righteous army. Isn't he afraid that the world will laugh at him?”
" You can't say that on the road," Zhang Miao said seriously." Brother Meng De went to Hebei to cover the rear for us, to prevent Dong Zhuo from attacking from behind.”
Gongsun Zan snorted coldly."
"Bring up the rear my ass!
"He said that he would bring up the rear, but I think he's just afraid that we'll be jealous of the weapons, armor, money, and food he seized from Mushui Pass.”
" What are you barking at this time?!" Sun Jian saw that Gongsun Zan was insulting Cao Cao again and was furious.
"Oh, so it's the Great Hero Sun." The corner of Gongsun Zan's mouth curled up." He wears the armor of the Cao army every day and carries the flag of the Cao army.
"I think you really think you're Cao Cao's dog, hahahaha…"
"You brat!" Sun Jian raised his eyebrows and was about to draw his saber.
Gongsun Zan had an expression that said,"Come and hit me."
Bao Xin didn't pay attention to the two people who argued every day and defended Cao Cao,
"Brother Meng De can take down Mushui Pass, so how can he be a coward in Hebei?
"He asked Wentai to pretend to be his troops here. He must be plotting something.
"How could we, the finches, know Meng De's ambition?”
Qiao Mao immediately sneered.
"Bao Jibei is right!
"We are all swallows, but Cao Mengde is a swan!
"No, no, no. With Cao Mengde's ambition, I'm afraid it's not enough to take Luo Yang!
"I'm afraid he'll only give up after taking Dong Zhuo's head!”
Some of the people who had always looked down on Cao Cao chuckled and shook their heads when they heard Qiao Mao's words.
He told Cao Cao to cross the Yellow River and go south to attack Luoyang. When he returned, he went straight to Dong Zhuo's head.
It was more likely that Dong Zhuo would directly offer his head to Cao Cao.
It was a fantasy.
Yanzhou Governor Liu Dai and Qiao Mao had never been on good terms, so he said sarcastically,"
"It's not impossible.
"Brother Meng De, since you can take over the Mushui Pass, why can't you give us another surprise?”
The governor of Yuzhou, Kong He, couldn't help but retort,"
"What a bullshit surprise.
"In my opinion, Cao Cao was only lucky enough to take down Mushui Pass.
"He'll show off in front of us first, and we'll be satisfied if we get what we want.
"If he continues to stay in Tiger Cage Pass and can't display his strength, wouldn't he be showing his cowardice and becoming a laughing stock?
"It's better to find a high-sounding reason to hide in Hebei.
"Anyway, no matter what, once he takes over the Mushui Pass, he will be able to do it.
"Cao Cao's reputation is destined to be known by the world.
"However, if we were to be defeated at Tiger Cage Pass, our reputation would be greatly reduced.”
What Kong Xiong said made sense.
Whether it was those who had a good impression of Cao Cao or those who had a bad impression of Cao Cao, they all silently agreed.
Only Sun Jian and Bao Xin scoffed at these words.
Yuan Shao was neither happy nor angry about this.
In the end, he was too lazy to stop this group of people from discussing.
Not long after, Cao Cao's messenger arrived at the tent.
"Alliance Master, my lord has a silk scroll for you.”
"Oh? Bring it over." Yuan Shao looked at the envoy and asked curiously.
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