Chapter 11

"This is to set up a posture for a decisive battle with us."

"I wonder what everyone's views are on this?"

Hearing this, the various lords stared at each other with wide eyes.

After a long time, they still couldn't come up with a comprehensive strategy.

"Sigh~~~"

"What a bunch of useless trash that can't be propped up!"

Yuan Shao cursed secretly in his heart.

But there was no help for it; the various lords had become very sensitive after the surprise attack on the camp.

Attacking Hulao Pass means losing more soldiers and generals.

Those small lords who didn't have much of a foundation to begin with were already thinking about leaving the coalition and returning to their bases.

Seeing that no one was willing to speak up,

Yuan Shao had no choice but to start calling names.

He set his sights on Cao Cao and said:

"Mengde, how do you view the current situation?"

Cao Cao knew that this fellow Yuan Shao would definitely assign tasks to him.

Therefore, he was well prepared for the current situation.

"Brother Benchu, if we continue to attack Sishui Pass, it will only waste our strength and have no meaning."

"It would be better to send a portion of the army to remain outside Sishui Pass as a diversion."

"The main force should be led by you personally to march to Hulao Pass for a decisive battle with Dong Zhuo."

Although Cao Cao had few troops, he was one of the few in the coalition of lords who truly wanted to capture Luoyang and take back the Emperor Liu Xie.

Therefore, this strategy of dividing the troops was also carefully considered by Cao Cao.

But upon hearing this,

the various small lords were immediately unhappy!

Damn it!

The previous night raid had already caused their troops to suffer significant losses.

If they were to continue attacking Hulao Pass, wouldn't they lose everything?

The chattering objections of the various lords rose and fell in the camp.

It made Yuan Shao, the leader, feel like his head was going to explode.

Sure enough, the coalition has too many problems.

Cao Cao was very glad that he had left this mess to Yuan Shao in the first place.

If he were the one sitting in Yuan Shao's seat today, he would probably be even more irritable than Yuan Shao.

"Quiet, quiet!"

Helpless, Yuan Shao had to use his authority as the leader to signal the various lords to remain quiet.

"Lord Leader, you must be discerning!"

"It's not that we are stingy, nor is it that we don't want to crusade against the Dong thief and rescue His Majesty."

"It's just that we are truly willing but lack the strength!"

The person who spoke was Qiao Mao, the Prefect of Dongjun.

He had a total of three thousand troops under his command, and nearly half of them died in Hua Xiong's surprise attack last time.

For such small lords, their limited troops are equivalent to their own lifeblood.

If all their troops were lost, even returning to their territory safely would become a problem.

Similar to Qiao Mao, there were several other lords.

Their luck was not very good.

When Hua Xiong raided the coalition camp last time, their stationing area was very close to Yuan Shu, so they were greatly implicated.

"Everyone, rest assured, I, the leader, am well aware of your difficulties."

"But now is the critical period for crusading against the old thief Dong Zhuo."

"If you cannot work together, I fear you will inevitably suffer Dong Zhuo's retaliation in the future!"

Yuan Shao threatened.

Hearing this, the few small lords who had been jumping the most suddenly quieted down.

The reason these few were able to become Inspectors and Prefects was precisely because of Dong Zhuo's appointment.

If the coalition disbanded, it would mean they would very likely have to face Dong Zhuo's retaliation alone!

Involving the question of whether they could continue to survive, the few small lords no longer dared to casually question the decisions made by Yuan Shao.

Seeing that the opponents had been handled, Yuan Shao decided to adopt Cao Cao's suggestion and divide the coalition of lords into two routes.

The first route, led by Cao Cao.

Taking the weaker lords of the coalition, they would camp outside Sishui Pass to pin down the defenders inside.

The second route, led by Yuan Shao himself.

This is also the main force of the coalition.

For example, Gongsun Zan, Han Fu, Tao Qian, and Sun Jian, who had more strength and more troops, were all in this route.

It is worth mentioning that.

Because Yuan Shu was seriously injured and should not move around, he remained outside Sishui Pass.

Seventy percent of the troops under his command were handed over to his younger brother Yuan Yin, who followed the main coalition force to Hulao Pass.

Compared to the coalition of lords, each with their own ulterior motives,

in Luoyang City, the various troops under Dong Zhuo were eager to try, intending to establish military merit in the upcoming war.

However, whether it was the Xiliang direct line, the Bingzhou Army, or the Luoyang Imperial Guard,

there was no tacit understanding between the three parties.

To put it nicely, it's called showing their own edge.

To put it bluntly, it's called looking at each other with disdain!

In order to ensure that there were enough troops in the rear for support,

Dong Zhuo brought a total of 130,000 troops to the Hulao Pass front line.

Among them, Lu Bu commanded 50,000, Zhang Ji commanded 60,000, and Xu Rong had the fewest, only 20,000.

It's not that the Luoyang Imperial Guard had few people.

It's that most of the troops in the Luoyang Imperial Guard had been broken up by Dong Zhuo and incorporated into the New Army.

This made Xu Rong, the leader of the Luoyang Imperial Guard faction, appear in a very awkward position.

However, for the sake of survival and to ensure his brothers could have a good life,

Xu Rong was also desperate to go to the front line to make merit this time!

The three armies, under the gaze of Li Ru and Fan Chou,

left the Luoyang city gate in a grand manner.

They galloped toward Hulao Pass.

To boost morale, Dong Zhuo decided not to take a carriage but to ride a horse with the cavalry.

However... due to Boss Dong's increasing obesity,

a single warhorse could no longer carry him.

Helpless, he had to ride two horses side-by-side, which barely allowed him to keep up with the speed of the main force.

When they arrived at Hulao Pass,

Hua Xiong and Gu Yi, along with the 20,000 Xiliang Iron Cavalry previously stationed at Sishui Pass, had already arrived one step ahead.

Seeing Hua Xiong, Boss Dong excitedly gave him a bear hug.

"Good lad!"

"I said you had the ability."