The war of the three kingdoms lasted thirty years, and the Xiongnu invaded the northern territories. Hao Meng came to ask for help.

  In the fifth year of Guangwu, in June, the Xiongnu Left Worthy King Che Niu joined forces with the Wusun and Liu Bao to rebel against the Chanyu. They drew boundaries with the Chanyu Qiangqu.

  The governor of Beidi, Jia Gu, did not know the reason behind it and wanted to mediate the split between Zuo Xianwang and Chanyu. The chief historian of Beidi, Fu Xian, advised: "It's not possible. The governor is the leader of Beidi, how can he personally take risks? The Huns are unpredictable, this time the left wing of the Huns rebelled, the internal situation is unclear, Che Niu and Liu Bao both have ulterior motives. If something happens to the governor, Beidi will be in danger."

  Fu Xian didn't know what Jia Xu had in mind. After Lü Bu's great defeat of the Xianbei, when Jia Xu reported to the imperial court, he attributed most of the credit to himself. Now that the Southern Xiongnu Left Wing had rebelled against the Chanyu, it wasn't a big deal; after all, the Left Wing Xiongnu had killed the Governor of Shaofang in the past, but later they were won over with benefits and no longer rebelled. If Jia Xu could now reconcile the Left Wing Xiongnu and the Chanyu, that would be one of his great achievements. With these two achievements, it would be easy to get promoted to a position in Luoyang as an official. At that time, he could leave this cold and bitter northern land behind. Therefore, Jia Xu didn't listen to Fu Xian's words and insisted on going to reconcile with the Xiongnu; the outcome was predictable.

  Jia Ku and several attendants had just arrived at the Xiongnu border when they were captured by Liu Bao's subordinates. Before they could find out why the Left Wise King was rebelling against the Chanyu, they were killed by Liu Bao. Previously, the Left Wise King had killed the Longshi of Shuofang, and now Liu Bao had killed the Taishou of Beidi, so the Left Xiongnu rebelled to the end.

  In July, Che Niu joined Liu Bao to gather three thousand cavalrymen to harass the Northern Territory Prefecture, saying they wanted to avenge the Wusun tribe's defeat of the Fusu tribe. However, he left Wusun to guard the border, in order to prevent the Xiongnu from taking advantage of the situation and launching a surprise attack. All things in the world are done for profit, it's just finding an excuse.

  The Xiongnu's 3,000 cavalry attacked and harassed the northern region, killing all the way to the city of Maliying under the jurisdiction of the prefecture. They even threw the head of Taishou Jia Gu under the city gate, humiliating the soldiers of the northern region. The Beidi Prefecture had less than 1,000 soldiers, with fewer than 500 cavalrymen. The Longshi Fu Xian did not dare to engage in battle lightly and discussed it with the left and right Duhu of Beidi. Both Zuo Duhu Duan Jun and You Duhu Hao Meng felt that they could not go out to fight and could only hold on to wait for reinforcements. As a result, the city gate of Maliying under the jurisdiction of Beidi Prefecture was tightly closed, and no one dared to go out to fight. Only the innocent villages outside the city were unfortunately slaughtered by the Xiongnu.

  The Xiongnu attacked for several days, but the high walls of Beidi were too thick to breach with just 3,000 cavalry. However, the Longshi saw that the Xiongnu had no intention of leaving and was worried about the surrounding villages being affected, so he called on the left and right lieutenants to discuss going out of the city to seek help.

  Outside the city, 3,000 Xiongnu cavalry surrounded and looted. Going out to seek help was no different from nine deaths and one life. This bitter errand naturally didn't have many people willing to do it. However, Zuoduwei Duan Huo was the younger brother of former Taifu Duan Jie, who had connections, he himself didn't speak of going out, and the Changshi couldn't do anything about him. Therefore, this bitter errand fell onto Youduwei Hao Meng's body. Hao Meng knew that hiding was impossible, so he pretended to be energetic, with a loud and bold statement: "The matter of seeking help cannot be done without me. Changshi can rest assured, I will personally lead the troops to come and rescue."

  Hao Meng then led a group of nearly ten people, leaving the south gate at night to go to Chang'an for help. What Hao Meng did not expect was that the Xiongnu had prepared in advance, and as soon as he left the city, he was discovered by the Xiongnu and intercepted along the way. With only over ten men, how could they resist the Xiongnu wolf cavalry? Hao Meng abandoned the bodies of his subordinates and still couldn't escape the Xiongnu's interception. In a hurry, he turned his horse's head to flee eastward, with the Xiongnu pursuing relentlessly from behind. Knowing that the Yellow River blocked the way in the east, he fled northward after escaping for over ten miles. He fled in disarray, discarding his helmet and armor, and finally shook off the Xiongnu pursuers.

  Hao Meng knew that from the north of Dingbian Pass, the Great Wall was the border of Shuofang. He had also heard that Lü Bu had been defeated by the Xianbei and had nowhere to go, so he went to find Lü Bu for help. Poor him, he rushed on horseback for two or three days and nights, escaping in a sorry state, exhausted and hungry. Fortunately, it was summer now, otherwise they might have all frozen to death.

  In July, the people of Shuofang were busy harvesting the millet sown by the civilians in early spring. Lü Bu was smiling and checking the grain submitted by the civilians when he saw Gao Shun bring a wounded soldier to see him.

  Lü Bu did not recognize the soldier and knew he was not from Zhongshan, and seeing that he was covered in dirt and looked disheveled, he frowned and asked: "What army are you from? Why are you so disheveled?"

  The soldier replied: "Uh... I'm from the north... Northern Territory... Northern Territory soldier Hao Meng. Report to General Lü, the Southern Xiongnu Left Wing has rebelled, and the Northern Territory Governor Jia Gu was killed while trying to persuade them to surrender. The Chanyu Qiangqu is unable to control the Left Wing of the Xiongnu in Lishi. Taking advantage of the chaos, the White Horse Copper Liu Bao's unit connected with the Left Xiawang Che Niu's unit and raided the Northern Territory. Now three thousand cavalry from the two Xiongnu units have arrived at the county seat of Maliang to raid and plunder. I took advantage of the Xiongnu being unprepared and escaped from Maliang to seek reinforcements."

  Hao Meng was the Bei Di Duhou, with an official rank higher than Lü Bu's. However, he had to ask for help from others and did not want to be ridiculed, so he concealed his official rank. He originally wanted to flee south to Chang'an to report the emergency and seek reinforcements. Unexpectedly, Liu Biao was prepared and blocked all routes to the south, and Hao Meng almost got killed by Liu Biao under his horse. With no route to the east, Hao Meng had to flee north and could only come to Shuo to ask Lü Bu for help.

  Lü Bu heard that the Southern Xiongnu rebelled against the Chanyu and was initially delighted, but upon hearing that the Xiongnu were raiding the northern territories, he became enraged. He ordered his soldiers to march towards the military camp, but after taking a few steps, he asked again: "How many troops does the Xiongnu have?"

  Hao Mengdao said: "About three thousand cavalry."

  Lü Bu's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and Gao Shun was also worried. The northern region had only 400 cavalry, while the Xiongnu had 3,000 cavalry - how could they provide support? However, Lü Bu thought to himself: Although the military strength is vastly different, the northern region may be powerless to rescue them, but the Xiongnu are plundering and their own kind are seeking help - how can they not be rescued? Even if the enemy had ten times the number of troops as him, he would still go take a look, and act according to the situation at the time. Having made up his mind, he quickly returned to the military camp's large tent.

  Lü Bu returned to the camp and gathered his men to discuss how to rescue Beidi. Gao Shun was worried in his heart, but he didn't speak up, following Lü Bu's arrangements. Wei Xu heard that the Xiongnu had 3,000 cavalry and was also worried, but he feared Lü Bu's anger and didn't dare to speak out either.

  Zang Ba said, "When Shuofang was raided by the Xianbei, the Governor of Beidi did not come to its aid. Today, he comes seeking help instead. Moreover, the Xiongnu have three thousand cavalry, while Shuofang has only four hundred soldiers. How can we rescue them? I think it's better not to rescue them."

  Lü Bu's face turned red with rage, and he said in a cold voice: "When people of the same clan ask for help, how can we not rescue them? If we have difficulties and others do not help us, that is their business. But if others are in trouble, it would be fine to ignore them, but now the ones causing evil are the Xiongnu slaves, foreign enemies bullying our clan, even if they were sworn enemies, I Lü Bu would still want to rescue them."

  From the lowest soldier to the highest, such as Gao Shun and Zhang Liao, who were county magistrates and garrison commanders, had been with Lü Bu for a long time and had often received his favors. Today, seeing Lü Bu speak like this, they were even more deeply moved. Zhang Liao listened and said shamefacedly: "It is so, but I will follow the Marquis's orders, I swear to die in pursuit."

  Lü Bu then smiled and said: "This is indeed a Han hero."

  Lü Bu then left Gao Shun to guard the city and arrange matters within. He led Zhang Liao and others, with two divisions of troops, carrying dry rations and water, following Hao Meng to come to Maliang. Lü Bu knew that cavalry found it difficult to attack a city, so he did not hurry his march. The main force of cavalry rested and recovered their strength, but he sent three companies of scouts in three batches on fast horses to reconnoitre the enemy situation and probe the situation along the way.

  Lü Bu rode for two days, covering over 300 miles, and in the distance saw a stone wall stretching out before him, its beginning and end invisible. The majestic Great Wall ignited Lü Bu's fighting spirit. With a flick of his whip, he urged his horse forward, racing towards the wall. But as they approached, Lü Bu's anger grew. The small pass that Háo Méng had led them to was a tiny gate, its doors worn and decrepit. The two leaves of the door were cracked and overgrown with weeds. Lü Bu seethed with rage at the sight. Such a magnificent wall, yet this small pass was so dilapidated. If the Xianbei bandits attacked the border, such a gate would surely be breached with just a few blows from their battering rams. The Great Wall was impressive, but if its passes were weak, it could not withstand a strong attack, rendering it useless and wasting the efforts of those who had built it.

  Lü Bu halted below the pass of Changcheng, looked up and saw several soldiers on the tower looking out. At this time, Hao Meng also arrived in pursuit. He saw Hao Meng shouting at the gate: "The Shuofang rescue troops have arrived, open the door quickly."

  There was a soldier on the city gate who recognized Hao Meng, and said with good words: "Ah, it's actually Commander Hao. We'll open the door for you." Shortly after, the city gate slowly opened. Lü Bu led his horse into the pass, and when he arrived at the city gate, he saw 17 or 18 soldiers standing in two rows to welcome him. Lü Bu coldly asked Hao Meng: "What is the name of this narrow pass?"

  " Dingbian Pass."

  Lü Bu asked again, "The Guan Yin Pass is a strategic location for military forces. The Great Wall to the north defends against the Xianbei, why are there only these soldiers guarding this pass? If the Xianbei were to attack, how would you defend against them?"

  Hao Meng hesitated for a moment before stammering: "This... this has always been the case. The Great Wall extends north with many large and small passes, the northern land is poor and barren, there are not many soldiers, if we deploy heavy troops to guard every place, the northern land cannot afford it. If we only guard one or two places, we also don't know where the Xianbei will enter from, so it's better not to guard at all. In previous years when the Xianbei came to raid, they would gather and defend the city."

  Lü Bu said coldly: "Gather and defend the city? What about the surrounding villages?"

  Hao Mengdao said: "This... generally speaking, if the Xianbei come to raid, the villagers will escape into the mountains and return after the Xianbei leave."

  Lü Bu's anger ignited, and he lashed out at Hao Meng with his whip. Hao Meng was caught off guard and received a severe lash from Lü Bu. Just as he was about to get angry, he saw Lü Bu's eyes staring coldly at him like ice and fire, so he swallowed his temper instead. His heart was screaming in frustration, but he didn't dare to erupt.

  Lü Bu said coldly: "You are such soldiers, do you know shame?"

  Hao Meng did not dare to answer. Lü Bu shouted: "Who is in charge here?"

  A middle-aged soldier heard the busy exit and said with a smile: "It's Mo Xia, Mo Xia is the head of Dingbian County."

  Lü Bu cracked his whip again, and the gatekeeper was whipped until he wailed in agony. Lü Bu shouted: "As the leader of the pass, the city gate is so broken, how can you not repair it? When I come back, if it's still this old, I'll make you like this!" After finishing speaking, Lü Bu flipped his right hand, and the ghostly spear in his hand stabbed into the ground beside the horse. Then he swung it forward. Suddenly, a stone brick about a foot wide under his feet was crushed to powder, and a stream of broken stones shot out like a current, following the swing of the ghostly spear, falling more than ten zhang away. If that stream of broken stones hit someone, they would either die or be disabled. Lü Bu's subordinates knew how formidable he was, so they didn't think it was unusual. But Hao Meng and the soldiers guarding the pass were frightened out of their wits.

  Lü Bu no longer paid attention to them. He urged his horse forward and galloped northward, with the Yan army cavalrymen closely following behind him.