The 52nd chapter: Oath of Alliance in the City of Loyalty, a shocking phrase from Sun Jian

  Thanks for the reward! (Strawman)

  The next day, dark clouds pressed down on the city, and strong winds blew in waves, but this seemed to have no effect on Yuan Shao's determination to make a blood oath.

  Yuan Shao had previously ordered his soldiers to build a three-layered platform, with flags and banners arrayed in all directions, topped with white streamers and yellow axes, military symbols and commander's seal.

  Yuan Shu shouted "Ascend the platform" and Yuan Shao adjusted his clothes and sword, then ascended the platform with the support of several people.

  Yuan Shao, facing the various lords, said in a loud voice: "Now that Dong Zhuo is on the rise, harming loyal ministers and slaughtering innocent people, it is truly an unfortunate thing for our great Han dynasty! At this time, all the lords are afraid of the downfall of the state, so they work together with all their might, making a blood oath to punish the rebels, exhaustively demonstrating their loyalty, dying for the state, without any second thoughts! Heaven and earth, spirits and gods, can all bear witness to this!"

  When he finished speaking, the crowd made a blood oath. Then, Yuan Shao stepped down from the altar, and the crowd supported him to ascend to his tent and sit down. The various lords sat down one after another.

  Yuan Shao said: "Yesterday, I wanted to make Ma Tai the vanguard, do any of you gentlemen have any objections?"

  Cao Cao said, "Ma Teng has the bravery of a million men, making him the most suitable vanguard. However, before that, I hope the alliance leader sets military discipline, so there will be rules to follow!"

  Yuan Shao burst out laughing and said, "Still, Meng De has thought this through thoroughly. Since all of you have elected Yuan as the alliance leader, Yuan must ensure that rewards and punishments are clear-cut. All the lords present must restrain their subordinates and wait for orders from the generals. If anyone disobeys, they will be severely punished without mercy! Does anyone here have any objections?"

  After seeing that everyone had no objection, Yuan Shao continued: "The ancients said that before the troops and horses move, the grain and grass go first. The matter of grain and grass is indeed a major event for the military! I, Yuan, want to let my younger brother Yuan Shu be in charge of the overall management of the grain and grass, to ensure that the supply of grain and grass is sufficient. Do you gentlemen have any objections?"

  Seeing everyone's approval, Ma Chao immediately stood up from his seat and said: "I heard that the Governor of Beihai, Kong Rong, has the virtue of yielding a pear. Why doesn't the Lord of Yuan let him be in charge of grain and forage?"

  Kong Rong was delighted to hear the groom's praise, but he also knew that this matter of governing grain and grass was not so simple. Now that Yuan Shao is the alliance leader, such a major event would certainly be entrusted to a trusted person to manage.

  Kong Rong smiled and stood up, saying to the groom: "Thank you for Ma Tai's kindness, but this matter of grain and fodder is really complicated. Kong thinks that his ability is not as good as General Yuan Shu's, so let's follow what the alliance leader said."

  Hearing Kong Rong say this, the groom sat down in disappointment.

  Yuan Shu looked at Ma Fu with great satisfaction and said to the various lords: "Since Lord Yuan has entrusted me, Yuan Shu, with such an important task as overseeing the grain and fodder, I will certainly do my utmost to ensure that everything goes smoothly."

  After discussing the matter of grain and fodder, Yuan Shao immediately ordered Ma Feng to lead 5,000 cavalrymen to go and attack the pass.

  At this time, Sun Jian, the governor of Changsha, suddenly stood up and said: "Since the Lord of Yuan has sent Ma Chao to come forward, we have no objection. However, on the battlefield, killing enemies can't be done with just individual bravery!"

  Ma Fu fixed his gaze and saw that the man had thick eyebrows and big eyes, with a hint of white in his hair and beard, holding an iron whip.

  While Ma was wondering who this man was, Cao Cao said to him: "This is Huang Gai, a senior general under Sun Taigong, with the style name Gongfu, from Queling, Lingling."

  Huang Gai laughed and said: "I didn't expect Cao Mengde to know our family's secrets so clearly!"

  "Gentlemen, you are all renowned figures in China, and I, Cao, have always admired you. Naturally, I want to get to know you better, so that I can learn from you."

  Yuan Shao sat upright in his seat and burst out laughing: "Look at Cao Mengde's mouth!"

  Ma Fu didn't have time to laugh now. He walked up to Huang Gai and said with a provocative tone, "General Huang, do you want to try your luck against me?"

  Huang Guai shook his head and said, "In terms of intelligence, I am certainly not as good as my master! I think the vanguard candidate must be a person with both wisdom and bravery. If you want to make everyone convinced, it's not impossible to try it out!"

  Yuan Shao saw this situation and did not stop it. He directly said to Sun Jian: "Wentai, then trouble you and Ma Taisui to have a try!"

  Sun Jian stood up and adjusted his sleeve: "Governor Ma, if you were surrounded by ten times as many bandits, what would you do?"

  Ma Fu did not expect Sun Jian to be so direct. Looking at the tall and majestic, spirited Sun Jian, Ma Fu couldn't help but sigh about his short life. However, after sighing, he still had to answer the question.

  "What's difficult about this? Just stretch your neck and accept the punishment!"

  As soon as this remark was made, there was a stir inside the tent.

  "Fortunately, you haven't gone yet. Otherwise, wouldn't you be handing over these 5,000 soldiers to Dong Zhuo, letting them suffer a terrible fate?"

  Ma Chao didn't even look at Yuan Shu, but instead said calmly: "As a general, if you can't anticipate the enemy's moves beforehand, how can you be worthy of being a general? Since we can't escape from the siege of the enemy army, rather than struggling to survive, it would be better to accept our fate and die with dignity!"

  Cao Cao was the first to applaud and praise, while other lords also expressed their agreement after a moment of silence.

  Sun Jian said: "Your insight is quite different from others, and it's in line with my intention. However, if you were to surround the enemy with ten times the number of troops, what would you do?"

  The groom looked up at the sky and laughed loudly: "This is even simpler. Leave a way out, make a show of force and then let them go! If they are determined to die, then Ben Taigong will lead the army away!"

  "What kind of reason is this?" Sun Jian questioned.

  Ma Fu said: "For the sake of the future, remember that relying on strength to bully the weak is not the way to calm the world. The great trend of the world is complex and chaotic, it's not solved by war, but by winning people's hearts! If we treat the weak like Bai Qi did, killing 400,000 surrendered soldiers of Zhao, what's the point of war? It's just a game of slaughter!"

  Sun Jian nodded and said: "Alright, since you mentioned Zhao Guo, then Sun will not learn from Zhao Kuo's paper tactics! I wish you a great victory."

  Huang Gai still disagreed, he walked to the front of Sun Jian and bowed his head saying: "My lord, such a good opportunity is being handed over to this little boy? What he said may sound reasonable, but the world ultimately belongs to the strong. If we don't kill others, are we waiting for others to come and kill us? As a general, if one has too much compassion, it's hard to achieve great things! Isn't Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Western Chu, a living example?"

  "Whether it's good fortune or bad, it's still unknown! Since he's willing to go, let's temporarily conserve our strength and observe from the sidelines."

  After Ma Teng sent off the various lords, he escorted him to a location two miles outside of Xiazhuo and said: "This time you go first to probe the situation, if we can fight then we will fight, if not then preserve our strength, absolutely do not indulge in one man's bravery!"

  Before the groom could respond, Yin Feng, who was standing beside him, said: "Don't worry, milord. These 5,000 cavalrymen were recruited with great difficulty by us. We won't let them become a dowry for other lords."

  The groom also said: "I will make it cheaper."

  Ma Teng felt relieved and let them go after hearing his statement.

  While on their way to Zishui Pass, Yin Feng was chattering nonstop.

  Yun Ying really couldn't stand him nagging, so he said: "What you're saying is that you think all the heroes are useless, and Ma Teng doesn't even give a single hair, not even willing to send extra soldiers to Ma Tai Shou? Can I solve this by just nagging about it? If you have the ability, then cut off the 17 routes of the heroic group with one knife, and then go to Luoyang to slaughter Dong Zei."

  Yin Fengyi listened and suddenly became speechless, he didn't expect that even this small guard would have such a big temper...