Chapter 142

Subsequently, under the chairmanship of Yuan Shao, the alliance leader.

The eight warlords swore an oath with blood.

Raising the banner of "Reviving the Han Dynasty and returning to the old capital"!

After all the procedures were completed.

The warlords took their seats one after another.

Yuan Shao was the first to speak in the coalition camp:

"Gentlemen, the last time we gathered here was three years ago."

"Now, old friends are withering away one by one, while the old thief Dong Zhuo is becoming more powerful; it is truly an outrage against heaven and man!"

"According to reports from scouts, the old thief Dong Zhuo’s granddaughter’s husband, Gu Yi, has already led 100,000 elite troops to station in Luoyang."

"The two gateways to Luoyang, Sishui Pass and Hulao Pass, will certainly be difficult to conquer with the support of these 100,000 elite troops of the old thief Dong Zhuo."

"Therefore, this alliance leader intends to first set our sights on that scoundrel Sun Ce!"

"This person is exactly the same as his father, Sun Jian; he is the worst of the worst!"

"At the last coalition meeting, if it hadn’t been for the betrayal of this scoundrel Sun Jian, our heroes of Guandong would not have been defeated so miserably!"

Hearing what Yuan Shao said, the warlords present all nodded in deep agreement.

Especially Yuan Shu.

Our "Honey Water Brother" has suffered long enough under the father-son duo of Sun Jian and Sun Ce!

These two, father and son, are more ruthless than the other when it comes to fighting!

And they are both executioners incarnate!

As for the noble families within Yuan Shu’s territory, they kill every one they catch.

As long as they didn’t run away in time, all their family assets were confiscated, and all their heads were chopped off!

However... are the noble families really all that Sun Jian and Sun Ce killed?

They clearly killed the "nurses" behind the scenes who were strongly supporting Yuan Shu!

With Yuan Shu’s chicken-like combat ability, even with superior forces, he is no match for the father-son duo of Sun Jian and Sun Ce.

Most of the battles between the two sides ended in Yuan Shu’s defeat.

Fortunately, the coalition has finally arrived!

Yuan Shu believed from the bottom of his heart that the day of his revenge had arrived!

Therefore, the moment Yuan Shao finished speaking.

Yuan Shu immediately stood up and said through gritted teeth:

"The brat Sun Ce is a despicable and shameless villain!"

"If this person is not eliminated, my heart will not be at peace!"

"Gentlemen, let’s rest for a while and prepare to march tomorrow to deal with that brat Sun Ce!"

The warlords all nodded.

Although eliminating Sun Ce, who is entrenched in Yizhou, doesn’t have any direct benefits for them.

But Sun Ce is, after all, on Dong Zhuo’s side; if left unchecked, he will always be a hidden danger.

However...

Just as the warlords were about to agree to Yuan Shu’s invitation to march.

Several sentries suddenly flew into the coalition camp!

"Alliance Leader, something terrible has happened!"

"That scoundrel Sun Ce has taken all his soldiers and withdrawn from Yizhou, heading south toward Wuguan!"

Hearing this, the warlords couldn’t help but look at each other, staring wide-eyed.

"How preposterous!"

"Could this dog thief be thinking of fleeing to Chang’an from Wuguan to join Dong Zhuo?"

Yuan Shu was furious.

He saw that he could soon deal with Sun Ce.

But this scoundrel actually fled without a fight at such a critical juncture!

This feeling was like punching a ball of cotton!

"Sigh..."

"This Sun Bofu is quite a smart man."

"Knowing he is no match for the coalition, he actually took the initiative to abandon the city and defect to Dong Zhuo."

Cao Cao sighed.

To be honest, although they are in opposing camps, he really admires Sun Ce a bit.

A real man knows when to bend and when to stretch; this quality is not something that appears in ordinary people.

"Since he has fled, let him flee."

"Gonglu, you aren’t losing anything, are you?"

"You can just take this opportunity to reclaim the lost territory."

Yuan Shao said to Yuan Shu with a smile.

However, these words sounded even more uncomfortable to Yuan Shu than eating excrement!

In the lands in Yizhou that were occupied by Sun Ce, there are no longer any noble families.

In other words.

Even if these lands return to Yuan Shu’s hands, they are like chicken ribs—having lost their original value.

This scoundrel Yuan Shao is clearly trying to deliberately tease Yuan Shu by taking this opportunity.

But there is no way around it.

The gap in strength between Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao has already widened significantly.

Even if Yuan Shu wanted to retort to Yuan Shao, he couldn’t find a suitable excuse at the moment.

Regarding Sun Ce abandoning the city and fleeing.

Although the warlords were a bit shocked.

They accepted it quite quickly.

The only person who felt a faint sense of unease in his heart was Liu Bei.

He always felt that the direction Sun Ce fled in might not be Wuguan.

Wuguan might just be a smokescreen.

Liu Bei’s sixth sense was not wrong.

Although Sun Ce’s flight direction looked like Wuguan at first glance.

But before he even reached Wuguan, he suddenly led his army to change direction and headed straight for Huainan!

As everyone knows, Wuguan has always been under the control of Old Dong.

Although this pass is not famous in the romance, its strategic significance is quite important.

Through Wuguan, one can go directly from Nanyang to the vicinity of Chang’an.

Sun Ce deliberately fled toward Wuguan to release a smokescreen, making the Guandong warlords mistakenly believe that he wanted to abandon the city and defect to the big brother, Dong Zhuo!

But in reality?

After following Gu Yi’s strategy, Sun Ce’s goal from beginning to end was Liu Bei’s territory, Huainan!

Liu Bei is a new force that has only recently risen among these Guandong warlords.

Although the troops he can mobilize are more than Kong Rong and Zhang Yang.

They are far inferior to Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Gongsun Zan, Tao Qian, and Yuan Shu.

This time, in order to join the alliance.

Liu Bei led 25,000 Huainan elites and the two generals Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, leaving his base empty.

The troops left behind to guard Shouchun City were only about 5,000, and most of them were new recruits.

The person guarding the city was Liu Bei’s fellow townsman, Jian Yong.

Looking at Sun Ce’s side, he has a total of more than 20,000 elite Sun Army troops!

Plus, it is led by Sun Ce himself.

And assisted by veteran battlefield generals like Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, and Han Dang.