Chapter 21: The overwhelmed Alliance Leader Yuan, Xu You says I have a plan!

"Gongsun Bojui, what do you mean by this?"

"Crusading against the old thief Dong Zhuo is a matter of benefiting the country and the people, to restore the Han dynasty and save His Majesty from fire and water!"

"How can we give up halfway because of a little setback?"

Yuan Shao instantly stood on the moral high ground and attacked Gongsun Zan. ===== CHAPTER 42 =====

But it was clear that this set of rhetoric did not work on Gongsun Zan.

He glared with wide eyes and said in a deep voice:

"The fate of the Han dynasty is not something that can be changed by one or two of us."

"But my good brother, the commander of my White Horse Volunteers, Yan Gang, must return to my side alive!"

Sun Jian, standing beside Gongsun Zan, also echoed at this moment:

"Zu Mao has followed me for many years and has saved my life several times in times of danger."

"If I abandon him today, I am simply unworthy of being a man!"

Gongsun Zan and Sun Jian, although the scale of the land they governed was not large,

their military strength was the most powerful in the entire coalition, besides the two Yuans!

Especially Gongsun Zan.

His White Horse Volunteers had guarded the frontier for many years, and every dazzling battle record was splattered with the blood of the Wuhuan people!

Historically, Gongsun Zan was also the biggest obstacle to Yuan Shao's unification of the four provinces of Hebei.

The two sides fought for nearly nine years.

It was not until the eve of the Battle of Guandu that Yuan Shao finally eliminated Gongsun Zan and occupied the four provinces of Hebei.

This shows Gongsun Zan's powerful strength!

If Yuan Shao had not obtained the help of Qu Yi and the Vanguard Death Soldiers, whether he could have blocked Gongsun Zan's military edge would have been an unknown.

Who would eventually fall into the hands of the North was also unknown.

At this moment, if Gongsun Zan and Sun Jian insisted on leaving the Guandong coalition,

the coalition's combat effectiveness would be greatly reduced.

Besides this, it would also cause a chain reaction.

Those small warlords who already had thoughts of retreating would quickly imitate these two.

The warlord coalition would also fall apart in a very short time.

Therefore, no matter what, Yuan Shao could not allow Sun Jian and Gongsun Zan to leave the coalition.

Even less could he let these two go and discuss the exchange of prisoners with Dong Zhuo privately.

However, Yuan Shao could not come up with any bargaining chips that would satisfy Sun Jian and Gongsun Zan at this moment.

After much persuasion, he finally managed to stabilize the emotions of these two so they wouldn't immediately turn against him.

After Sun Jian and Gongsun Zan left the camp, Yuan Shao's face instantly sank.

Suddenly, the tent was lifted again.

A green-robed scholar walked in with hurried steps.

"My lord, it has been investigated clearly."

"The reason that fellow Hua Xiong was able to think of the strategy to raid the coalition camp at Sishui Pass was because he received guidance from a person named Gu Yi."

"Gu Yi?"

"Who is this?"

Yuan Shao didn't react when he heard the name Gu Yi.

After all,

as the alliance leader and the head of the Yuan family, the leader of the world's aristocratic families,

Yuan Shao was "forgetful of noble people."

Yuan Shao had almost no impression of the poor commoner Gu Yi, who had been driven out of the coalition camp by Yuan Shu earlier.

After listening to the green-robed scholar's explanation,

Yuan Shao slowly remembered such a person as Gu Yi.

"Heh, this Gu Yi does have some talent."

"But mixing with someone like Dong Zhuo will sooner or later lead to his death."

Yuan Shao proved with facts what it means to be "sour grapes."

Although Gu Yi had already proven his own ability,

for someone of Yuan Shao's status, it was impossible to admit his own mistakes.

In fact,

if even one of the various warlords in the coalition had stood up for Gu Yi at the beginning, he wouldn't have defected to Dong Zhuo and become an enemy of the coalition.

And now,

the coalition warlords had dug a hole for themselves and finally tasted the bitter fruit.

Their goal now was not to conquer Hulao Pass, but how to ensure their own troops would not suffer too much loss!

Even the alliance leader Yuan Shao was at his wit's end.

"My lord, facing the Dong Zhuo army, we can actually change our thinking."

The green-robed scholar said.

"Oh? Ziyuan? Could it be that you want me to negotiate peace with the Dong Zhuo army?"

The green-robed scholar was none other than Xu You, a trusted strategist under Yuan Shao.

He was also Yuan Shao's close friend for many years.

And he was the current head of the Yingchuan Xu family!

Compared to strategists like Guo Tu and Feng Ji who had joined recently,

in terms of personal feelings, Yuan Shao and Xu You were undoubtedly the deepest.

But as the saying goes,

love deeply, hate deeply.

Perhaps it was precisely because of the deep personal friendship between Yuan Shao and Xu You

that during the Battle of Guandu in history, Xu You believed Yuan Shao could not punish him.

As a result, the enraged Yuan Shao, on the advice of the "rhythm master" Guo Tu, planned to execute all of Xu You's family!

This move deeply hurt Xu You.

It strengthened his determination to betray Yuan Shao and defect to Cao Cao.

Ultimately, it determined the outcome of the Battle of Guandu.

And now,

the relationship between Xu You and Yuan Shao had not yet broken.

Xu You, who had many clever ideas, thought of a "curve-saving-the-nation" strategy for Yuan Shao.

... ===== CHAPTER 43 =====

"My lord, Dong Zhuo is powerful, but not impossible to deal with."

"The reason the coalition cannot achieve results now is that their forces are scattered and their hearts are not united."

"If all the armies of the coalition were handed over to you to command personally, let alone Hulao Pass, even Luoyang City could be conquered!"

These words of Xu You spoke directly to Yuan Shao's heart.

As the alliance leader, Yuan Shao was actually very tired.

The strength of the various warlords varied.

Those with weaker strength were fine; they generally didn't dare to be too arrogant.

But those with stronger strength, such as Gongsun Zan and Sun Jian, Yuan Shao could not force them to do things they didn't want to do.

In fact,

if we talk about the number of soldiers alone,

the Guandong coalition had far more soldiers than the Dong Zhuo army.

But the armies under Dong Zhuo were all organized.

Even the Luoyang Imperial Guard faction, which had the lowest status, could exert considerable combat power under the leadership of Xu Rong.

Looking at the coalition side,

those small warlords who brought a few thousand people to participate in the alliance mostly wanted to take the opportunity to gain some fame and make up the numbers.

Expecting them to fight with all their might to attack Hulao Pass?

They might as well wash up and go to sleep! ===== CHAPTER 44 =====