Chapter 154: Gu Yi takes command, the second son-in-law is no good, Old Dong says let the granddaughter

"My lord, the situation is critical."

"If the twenty thousand troops under Xu Rong are annihilated by Han Sui again, I'm afraid this Liangzhou will be further and further away from our army."

Li Ru said, stopping himself.

In fact, the anger in his heart was no less than Dong Zhuo's!

As the housekeeper of the Xiliang army,

the Xiliang army could grow to this day, and Li Ru's contribution was also indispensable.

This time, the reason Old Dong let his second son-in-law Niu Fu take command

was mainly to let his second son-in-law Niu Fu make up for his mistakes and regain the lost prestige.

But this guy Niu Fu was good, he didn't know how to cherish the opportunity placed before him.

Originally, this battle didn't have much difficulty.

Niu Fu only needed to cooperate with Li Jue and Guo Si, fight steadily, and I'm afraid it wouldn't take long to defeat the Guanxi coalition led by Han Sui.

Now it was good, not only suffering a defeat,

but also causing Xu Rong, Zhao Yun, and Zhang He to be deeply trapped in the enemy's encirclement.

"This kid Niu Fu, I can no longer use him no matter what."

"Wenyou, draft a transfer order later."

"Order Niu Fu to return to Chang'an from Chen Cang immediately, and the military power in his hands will be temporarily handed over to Li Jue and Guo Si."

Dong Zhuo finally decided to fire Niu Fu.

It would be fine if this second son-in-law didn't have any great ability on weekdays,

but he dropped the chain at critical moments.

"My lord, are you planning to hand over the command of this battle to Li Jue and Guo Si?"

Li Ru asked.

Hearing this, Dong Zhuo was slightly stunned.

Old Dong himself was naturally very familiar with the abilities of Li Jue and Guo Si.

But in the face of this critical situation,

even if the command was handed over to Li Jue and Guo Si,

I'm afraid it would be difficult to turn the tide.

To put it plainly,

Li Jue and Guo Si's abilities were definitely stronger than Niu Fu's,

but they hadn't reached the level of an excellent commander.

At most, they were two good battle generals.

Under Old Dong's command, the two could charge into battle without fear.

But letting them be commanders personally,

I'm afraid...

it was simply not enough to win this battle.

Niu Fu's crushing defeat had caused an impact that was too terrible.

What the Dong Zhuo army needed next was not just to repel Han Sui, but to completely defeat Han Sui!

Otherwise, Liangzhou would only become more and more alienated.

And the days of being brought under governance would become more and more indefinitely far away.

"How about I go to the front line to sit in command personally?"

Dong Zhuo asked tentatively.

Before the words fell, Li Ru immediately interrupted:

"My lord, this must not be done!"

"The time since moving the capital to Chang'an is not long, and the hearts of the people have not yet fully attached."

"If you really go to the front line to sit in command, certain people in Chang'an City will inevitably have some thoughts they shouldn't have."

"Moreover, you are now the Prime Minister of the world today."

"How can you do everything yourself?"

This time, Old Dong was really a bit anxious.

Just imagine, a battle that was originally sure to be won turned into a disadvantage under the scourge of this pit-like Niu Fu.

If this happened to anyone, I'm afraid they would be anxious.

However,

because of the crushing defeat, the morale of the front-line soldiers was extremely low.

If they wanted to counterattack smoothly next, they must have someone who could hold the fort to go to the front line.

Right now in Chang'an City,

if we talk about status and position in the army, the only people higher than Niu Fu, this second son-in-law, were probably only Old Dong and Li Ru himself.

However, the affairs Li Ru needed to handle were far more than Old Dong's!

Old Dong was the Prime Minister of the Han dynasty on the surface, but he actually didn't handle much government affairs.

The person who was really exercising the power of the Prime Minister had always been the Imperial Secretariat, Li Ru.

Some military affairs of the Xiliang army, plus some government affairs in the court, were almost all decided by Li Ru.

Unless he encountered big things, Old Dong generally wouldn't enter the field personally.

Li Ru's name as the "housekeeper of the Xiliang army" was not an empty reputation.

"If I cannot go to the front line personally,"

"how can the situation on the front line be stabilized?"

"Could it be that I have to count on Fan Chou, Zhang Ji, or Hua Xiong and Lu Bu?"

Old Dong was melancholy.