Chapter 20: Dong Zhuo decides to ally with Zhang and Liu, Zilong bravely captures Xia Pi!

  But Dong Zhuo's army suffered heavy losses in this battle, with nearly half of its men and horses lost. Dong Zhuo's own son-in-law, Niu Fu, was killed by Zhang Ren, and the invincible Lü Bu was shot in the shoulder by Li You's personal soldiers! At this time, Li You's Yizhou army also suffered heavy losses, but fortunately, they won the battle and completely drove Dong Zhuo's army out of Yangping Pass. Now Li You can deploy troops from Yangping Pass, and it can be said that attacking Yangping Pass is the only way to go, with no other options available. The greatest significance of this victory is that Li You can now advance or retreat at will! Moreover, in terms of military strength, he has narrowed the gap with Dong Zhuo.

  Li Ru, the military advisor and son-in-law of Dong Zhuo, suggested to him: "Now that things have come to this point, it would be better for the Chancellor to retreat his troops back to Chang'an. If we fight again and win, it will be good, but if we lose, other lords will not hesitate to turn against us. It's already too late for regrets!" Dong Zhuo usually listened to Li Ru's words, but this time he was really furious and didn't listen to his suggestion, saying: "Since I led my troops out, I have been undefeated in battle! But only when I encountered that Li Su and Li Hui did I suffer defeat after defeat. It's infuriating! Now I must kill those people to avenge myself!" Li Ru heard his father-in-law and lord Dong Zhuo say this, and knew that he had already made up his mind. He changed direction and advised: "Now we can order Ma Teng and Han Sui to lead their troops from Xiliang to come and assist the Chancellor in battle. We can also send someone to Jingzhou to see Liu Biao and persuade him of the treachery of abandoning our alliance. Furthermore, we can send a skilled speaker to Hanzhong to see Zhang Lu and propose that he take advantage of the situation to attack Yizhou. Let him lead his troops out of Hanzhong to do battle! In this way, Liu Bei's position in Yizhou will be surrounded on all sides, and it will be easy for Zhang Lu to advance into Yizhou from Hanzhong. Liu Bei will certainly order Li Su to turn back and defend against Zhang Lu's army from Hanzhong. Without Li Su, the Chancellor will have a great advantage, and when Ma Teng and Han Sui's troops from Xiliang arrive, taking Yangping Pass will be easy as turning one's hand over! After taking Yangping Pass, Zitong will certainly be empty, and this battle can decide the fate of Yizhou. We can eliminate Liu Bei and Li Su!" Dong Zhuo laughed loudly when he heard this, saying: "Good son-in-law, good son-in-law! But that Liu Biao is too hateful. Now that Li Su has already persuaded him to make peace with Sun Jian's army from Jiangdong, will he still send troops to assist us?" Li Ru said: "We don't need his assistance, we just need him to tie down Zhang Fei at Xiakou Pass so he can't move!" In this way, Liu Biao will have no powerful generals to use, and can only defend Yangping Pass. He will have to send Li Su back to attack Zhang Lu's army in Hanzhong! Dong Zhuo was delighted with this plan, and immediately chose two people to go separately to Jingzhou and Hanzhong to see Zhang Lu and Liu Biao, and discuss the plan to take Yizhou. They agreed that once they took Yizhou, the three families would divide up Liu Bei's territory.

  The messenger soon arrived in Jingzhou, and Liu Biao met with the messenger. The envoy explained Dong Zhuo's intentions, and Liu Biao fell silent for a moment, ordering someone to let the envoy rest at the government office, and summoning the civil and military officials of Jingzhou to discuss matters at his residence!

  At this time, the Jingzhou army had suffered some losses in the previous battle with Sun Jian's Jiangdong army, although not too great. However, Sun Jian was ruthless and forcibly relocated the civilians to Jiangdong before leaving, which made the Jingzhou army lose its vitality. Therefore, at this time, if they were to fight against Liu Bei's army led by Zhang Fei, Liu Biao was still hesitant and asked his military advisor, Kuai Liang: "Military Advisor, Dong Zhuo has sent an envoy saying that we are untrustworthy. Now he has a special request for our Jingzhou army to attack Xiamen Pass and divide the land of Yizhou. What do you think we should do?" Kuai Liang smiled and said: "My lord, this is an easy situation. We don't need to fight against Liu Bei's army at Xiamen Pass. We can observe from a distance and send General Wen Ping to station his troops near Xiamen Pass as a decoy. Meanwhile, we can send someone to Chengdu to meet with Hanxing King Liu Bei and express our willingness to send troops to help him conquer Shu. If Liu Bei agrees, we can take advantage of the situation and capture Yizhou. If he doesn't agree, we can quietly observe the movements of Dong Zhuo's army or Zhang Lu's army. If their allied forces win, we can attack Xiamen Pass directly. If they lose, we won't offend Hanxing King." Liu Biao was extremely satisfied with Kuai Liang's plan and decided to follow his advice, ordering General Wen Ping to lead 150,000 troops to station near Xiamen Pass and wait for changes in Yizhou. Kuai Liang was indeed a brilliant strategist, but unfortunately met a wise lord too late. Therefore, he didn't have the opportunity to make a bigger name for himself in this era of heroes during the Three Kingdoms period. Kuai Liang's plan was truly a foolproof one!

  At this time, Hanzhong was in the midst of Dong Zhuo sending an envoy to form an alliance with Zhang Lu, but Zhang Lu refused. Zhang Lu is not a simple figure! He is the grandson of Grand General Zhang Ling and the third-generation Heavenly Master (also known as the System Master) of the Five Pecks of Rice sect. His ancestral home was in Feng County, Pei State (now Feng County, Jiangsu Province). He was a warlord who controlled Hanzhong during the late Eastern Han dynasty and one of the heroes of the late Han period. After his grandfather and father passed away, he continued to spread the Five Pecks of Rice sect in the Hanzhong area and referred to himself as "Shi Jun" (Master). For over a decade, he dominated Hanzhong, even occupying it during the reign of Emperor Ling of Han! Suddenly, news arrived that Dong Zhuo had sent Li Su. Yes, it was indeed Li Su, this man with a silver tongue who had persuaded Lü Bu to kill his adoptive father Ding Yuan and later tried to form an alliance with Sun Jian but was beaten out by him. Now, at this critical moment, Dong Zhuo has chosen to employ this man who looks like a Han traitor - Li Su! The arrival of Li Su will surely bring about a miraculous transformation, which is what Dong Zhuo firmly believes in! Although Dong Zhuo does not heavily rely on Li Su, he still understands the man's abilities. This time, selecting Li Su as his envoy is Dong Zhuo's greatest stroke of genius!

  Li Su was clever and did not want to see Zhang Lu first, so he went to see Yang Song, the military advisor of Zhang Lu. This Yang Song was none other than the one in the novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" who loved wealth and had sent Ma Chao to Liu Bei. Li Su came to see Yang Song with many gifts, over ten carts full! When Yang Song saw the treasures arrive at his residence, he personally received Li Su. Li Su said to him: "The two Shu regions are actually one entity; Liu Bei is a hero of the ages. If Western Shu becomes strong, I believe Eastern Shu will also be in danger. Now if you are willing to help my lord Dong Zhuo, when Yizhou is obtained, he will reward you with fifteen counties and appoint you as military advisor of Yizhou." Yang Song was overjoyed at the sight of these treasures and agreed to Li Su's proposal on the spot! The next day, Yang Song personally led Li Su to see Zhang Lu, discussing the matter of allying with Dong Zhuo to take Yizhou. He also said that Dong Zhuo was willing to appoint Zhang Lu as a great general. Zhang Lu was overjoyed and agreed to follow Yang Song's suggestion, preparing to send troops to Yizhou. Yan Pu, the governor of Bazhou, was not foolish and advised Zhang Lu: "Liu Bei is a member of the Han imperial family, and our territories are adjacent without any conflicts! Dong Zhuo is a national thief, now in urgent need of rescue, promising to cede land, it's not worth following!" Just then, someone spoke up from below the stairs: "I am not talented, but I wish to lead an army to take Yizhou and capture Liu Bei alive. I will make him return the land to Dong Zhuo." Yan Pu was advising Zhang Lu not to assist the national thief Dong Zhuo when he saw someone speaking out in favor of sending troops to Yizhou! He looked at the person with anger, and it turned out to be none other than Zhang Lu's younger brother Zhang Wei! Zhang Wei stepped forward and said: "I am grateful for my elder brother's great kindness, I have no way to repay it. I am willing to lead an army to take Yizhou, capture Liu Bei alive, and make him return the land to Dong Zhuo." Zhang Lu was overjoyed to see his younger brother so brave and immediately sent Li Su back through a small road to inform Dong Zhuo of their alliance. He then mobilized 100,000 troops with his younger brother Zhang Wei. At this time, Yan Pu saw that his advice was useless and pretended to be ill in bed, not following the army on their expedition, staying behind in Hanzhong. Zhang Lu ordered Yang Bai to supervise the army, while Zhang Wei and Yang Bai chose a day to set out with 100,000 troops.

  Liu Bei received a letter from Liu Biao! Liu Bei was furious, thinking that when Liu Biao had trouble, he didn't bother to help him, but now that he's in trouble himself, he's asking for his help. He thought about how he had sent his fourth brother Li Yu to help Liu Biao before, and now Liu Biao is colluding with Dong Zhuo to attack him. Just as Liu Bei was getting angry, Chen Gong rushed in and said, "Your Majesty, something bad has happened!" Liu Bei was furious, thinking that just when there was some good news about his fourth brother winning a big battle at Yangping Pass, Chen Gong came in with bad news. Chen Gong told him that Zhang Lu of Hanzhong had sent his brother Zhang Wei to lead an army of 100,000 to take over Yizhou, and Liu Biao had stationed 150,000 troops outside Xiameng Pass. Liu Bei thought about how he couldn't withdraw his troops now, and how he didn't have a great general to lead the battle. Chen Gong suggested that they recall Li Yu's army from Yangping Pass to defend against Zhang Lu's forces, and let Guan Yu temporarily take command. But Liu Bei was not worried, and instead stood up and walked over to Chen Gong, helping him up and saying, "Why are you so panicked? Can't I lead the troops myself?" He decided to personally lead the army into battle, with Chen Gong as his military advisor.

  Li Yu was deeply moved! Li Yu wanted to send Guan Yu and Guan Er back to assist Liu Bei, but Liu Bei's letter clearly stated that Guan Er should assist Li Yu in the great battle against Dong Zhuo's army! With no other choice, Li Yu carefully selected a team of trusted men to immediately return to Yi Province to accompany his elder brother, Han Xing Emperor Liu Bei, on his campaign against Zhang Lu's Hanzhong Army! Who did Li Yu choose? He chose General Zhang Ren, veteran General Yan Yan, and General Wu Anguo! As well as Military Advisor Tian Feng! Three great generals and one strategist! Immediately, Li Yu issued a military order for them to set off and assist Han Xing Emperor on his campaign!

  Here is the translation:

  And what about Liu Bei on the other side? He wasn't in a hurry, what was he doing? Liu Bei was personally handling the prisoners of war captured before the Battle of Yangping Gate! Liu Bei said to the prisoners from Dong Zhuo's army and the new recruits from Yi Province: "Warriors, although you were just captured from Dong Zhuo's army, how do you think we treat you in Yi Province?" The prisoners who had been captured from Dong Zhuo's army all shouted in unison: "Great King! It's great!" Liu Bei continued: "What about the people of Yi Province when they see you today?" At this time, one person stood up and said: "When we were in Dong Zhuo's army, the common people would run away when they saw us. But now that we are here with the Great King, the common people are friendly to us! I am willing to follow the Great King!" Liu Bei saw that this person was exceptionally brave and asked: "What is your name?" The man replied: "I am Gao Shun, a former general under Dong Zhuo!" It turned out that this person was none other than Gao Shun, the organizer of the ambush camp, who had been captured by Guan Yu during the Battle of Yangping Gate! Gao Shun shouted loudly: Liu Bei laughed loudly and said: "You have the guts to be a general, I will make you my vanguard, lead your former troops under Dong Zhuo, and open roads and build bridges for me. Are you afraid?" Gao Shun shouted loudly: "I am not afraid of anything! If the Great King dares to let me be his vanguard, I will fight to the death for him!" Chen Gong wanted to intervene but saw that Liu Bei had made up his mind and couldn't change it, so he remained silent. Liu Bei continued: "My fourth brother Li Yu often says a phrase, which is 'a wolf travels a thousand miles to eat meat, while a dog travels a thousand miles to eat feces!' I ask you, what are you?" The new recruits and prisoners all shouted loudly: "We are wolves! We will eat meat wherever we go!" Liu Bei smiled and said: "Since you are wolves, then our Yi Province army will always give you meat to eat. Today, Zhang Lu of Hanzhong has sent us a gift of meat, do we want it?" The soldiers all shouted in unison: "Eat it up!" Liu Bei continued to talk to the soldiers, and it can be said that his heroic spirit was unmatched. With just a few words, he boosted the morale of this army to its highest point! At this time, the three generals and one advisor sent by Li Yu to assist in the battle also arrived.

  The next day, Liu Bei personally offered sacrifices to the commander's flag and took command of the battle himself. He ordered Gao Shun to lead the 20,000 prisoners captured from Dong Zhuo's army at Yangping Gate as vanguard! (Liu Bei was a man who did not use people he suspected, but once he used someone, he would not suspect them again. He gave Gao Shun independent command, without consulting Li Yu, because Li Yu knew Gao Shun's abilities.) He appointed Chen Gong and Tian Feng as military advisors to the army. He also appointed Wu Anguo to lead 20,000 cavalrymen as the left wing, and young General Zhang Ren to lead 20,000 soldiers as the right wing. He appointed veteran General Yan Yan to accompany Liu Bei and the two military advisors with an army of 60,000 as the central force, because they were fighting on their own territory, Liu Bei did not leave any troops behind. This was a decisive battle against Zhang Lu's Hanzhong army!

  At this time, Dong Zhuo's army and Liu Bei's army led by Li Yu were stuck at Yangping Pass for half a month! But just yesterday, Li Yu received a secret letter sent by General Zhao Yun, the content of which was that the 50,000 troops led by Zhao Yun had arrived near Xiapi City! Now, after three days of observation, Zhao Yun is convinced that Xiapi City is empty and requests Li Yu to take Xiapi City! Li Yu immediately gave a reply! Just one sentence! "Fuck her!" The soldiers on Zhao Yun's side went back and told Zhao Yun! Zhao Yun also conveyed Li Yu's order to the lower-ranking officers, Wu Yi, and Huo Ge, with just one word: "Fuck her!" The whole army was overjoyed! When Zhao Yun assisted in the battle against Gongsun Zan in Hebei, he first received Li Yu's order to lead his troops, and then received a royal decree written by Liu Bei himself, ordering him to secretly take Xiapi City!

  The geographical location of Xiabian City is special, and it can be said that taking Xiabian has taken away the front line of Yangping Pass, which will become a new front line! In this way, taking Xiabian City, the entire Yizhou will not be exposed to Dong Zhuo's army! It can be said that defending Yizhou is to defend Xiabian first! This Xiabian is also the passage for Liu Bei's army to march west to Xiliang and advance to Chang'an! Therefore, from these two points, Xiabian City is crucial to Liu Bei's army! As for Dong Zhuo, Xiabian City has stored grain and supplies for this war! However, because it was his own backyard, the city walls were high and grand! Dong Zhuo did not send many troops to guard it! This gave Zhao Yun the opportunity to take Xiabian City!

  When Zhao Yun arrived at Xiangyang City, he didn't rush to attack. He knew that Li You had just won a big victory at Yangping Pass! So he observed for several days and saw that Dong Zhuo was repeatedly withdrawing troops from Xiangyang City due to the pressure on the front line! Zhao Yun is a cautious person, and he sent several scouts to probe the bottom of Xiangyang City. Only after confirming that Xiangyang City was empty did he send someone to ask Li You for orders to attack! Although Zhao Yun had already received the king's order, he was afraid that taking Xiangyang would be unfavorable to Li You's overall situation, so he still asked Li You first! But unexpectedly, Li You didn't even consider it and told Zhao Yun "Go for it!" Zhao Yun felt confident!

  Zhao Yun first dispatched Wu Yi to lead 5,000 soldiers into Xiabian City in batches. At that time, the commander of Xiabian City was Li Meng. Li Meng was actually not capable in both literature and martial arts, but because he had followed Dong Zhuo for a relatively long time, he managed to mix his way up to this point! It can be said that Li Meng was a veteran of Dong Zhuo's army! However, what was this veteran doing at this moment? He didn't even notice Zhao Yun's 50,000-strong army! What was he doing?! Actually, he was drinking wine for no reason! Moreover, Zhao Yun's marching troops had extremely strong concealment capabilities! Indeed, Li Meng did not detect a single thread of their presence! And what did Zhao Yun let Wu Yi lead 5,000 people into Xiabian City to do?! Zhao Yun wanted this batch of people to seize the city gate of Xiabian City! Because Xiabian City was where Dong Zhuo's army stored its grain, Dong Zhuo spared no expense in building the city walls extremely high and large, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack! Zhao Yun did not want to increase unnecessary sacrifices! Therefore, he dispatched Wu Yi to lead 5,000 people into the city in batches!

  Besides, Zhao Yun and Wu Yi made a plan. When Zhao Yun gave the signal by lighting a fire, Wu Yi would open the city gate at all costs! Zhao Yun ordered Huo Go to lead 10,000 soldiers as the left wing, Leng Bao to lead 10,000 soldiers as the right wing, and he himself led 15,000 soldiers as the central army. This battle was prepared to be a decisive one, with no reserve forces, to take down Bian City in one go!

  Zhaoyun sat on his white dragon horse, wiping his dragon gall spear. On his fair and handsome face, there was a hint of murderous aura! This hint of murderous aura was for the Dong Zhuo army guarding the city below!

  Huo Nuona was a famous general of Shu Han in the late period. At this time, he was only in his teens, but still had the style of a famous general. He was concentrating on talking to basic military officers!

  Leng Bao was a big roughneck, afraid of nothing, wielding his large knife and whispering to the soldiers: "Later I'll charge first, if we're going to die it's me who will die first, just follow me!"

  Forty-five thousand soldiers had long been fed and prepared for battle! Zhao Yun, in order to keep his troops hidden from Dong Zhuo's scouts, had them eat dry rations these past few days, not daring to light fires for cooking. Zhao Yun promised the soldiers that once they entered Xiapi City, he would reward the army with three days of feasting - meat and wine aplenty! At this time, Zhao Yun's position in the army was unspoken but well understood. All the officers and men were willing to die for Zhao Yun! Not to mention that Zhao Yun, also known as Zhao Zilong, always fought bravely and took the lead in every battle, which further elevated his status within the army!

  At dusk that day, the sun had already set early, and the moon was already high in the sky. Zhao Yun did not rush to send out troops, but waited until the sky was completely dark before ordering them to put on their helmets, rein in their horses, and march on foot through the mountains and forests, advancing towards Beidi City under cover of night.

  It was a starry night. Zhao Yun led his troops to march at night, passing by several outposts of Dong Zhuo's army in front, and the outpost soldiers asked which army they were. Zhao Yun ordered someone to respond loudly: "We are on our way to Xiangyang City to escort grain under the order of Dong Zhuo!" Then, without waiting for the Dong Zhuo army to see clearly the flag number, he ordered his men to get rid of the sentry! As a result, whenever they passed by several places, no one lit a fire to warn Xiangyang City. Dong Zhuo indeed trusted his rear too much, and Zhao Yun's troops encountered no obstacles. At three o'clock in the night, Zhao Yun led his army to arrive under Xiangyang City!

  Zhao Yun ordered the soldiers to surround the city and set fire to the grass, telling them that Wu Zhi had arrived and letting them rush to seize the city gate. At the same time, he ordered the generals and soldiers outside the city to make a loud noise and charge in, pretending to be a decoy army, so as not to let Li Meng know whether they were real or fake.

  At this time, Li Meng was drinking with his generals and had fallen asleep in his tent. When he heard the sound of drums and shouting, he quickly jumped up and asked the soldiers beside him, "What's going on?" Before he could finish speaking, a soldier came to report that a large number of Liu Bei's troops from Yi Province had arrived, but they didn't know how many there were, and the city gate had been breached. The soldier said that Zhu Bo, an old general of the Han Dynasty, was transporting grain back to the city and saw the fire outside the city wall, and he didn't know how many enemy soldiers were attacking.

  Zhu Bo led his troops to rescue the city quickly. When the soldiers saw him coming, they reported back to Zhao Yun immediately. Zhao Yun's subordinate, Leng Bao, heard the report and said to Zhao Yun, "General, this is an emergency! The enemy is behind us, I request that you divide your troops to resist them." Zhao Yun didn't respond to Leng Bao and shouted loudly, "All generals, just focus on advancing forward with all your might. When the enemy arrives from behind, I will take care of it myself!"

  The soldiers heard Zhao Yun's words and rushed forward to attack without hesitation. In an instant, flames rose up everywhere, and smoke filled the sky. When Zhu Bo led his troops to rescue the city, Zhao Yun turned his horse around, held his spear horizontally, and fought against Zhu Bo alone.

  Zhu Bo was no match for Zhao Yun, and after exchanging blows two or three times, he couldn't resist anymore. Zhao Yun saw his chance and struck Zhu Bo's back with his spear when their horses crossed paths, knocking him off his horse. However, Zhao Yun didn't kill Zhu Bo because Liu Bei had given orders earlier that if they encountered old ministers of the Han Dynasty, they should capture them alive without killing them.

  At this time, Zhao Yun's army had already charged into the city.

  Li Meng was like a dream come true! He Li Meng knew that Dong Zhuo, the demon king, would know if he lost grain and grass, and even more so if he lost the city of Xia Pi. His head would definitely be moved to a new home! Li Meng immediately ordered his troops to come and block Zhao Yun's army, then ordered someone to quickly report to Dong Zhuo that something had changed in Xia Pi!

  Li Meng was also desperate at this time, because he wanted to live. As long as Dong Zhuo came, the city would be safe and his life would be saved! So Li Meng's top priority was to defend the city and buy time until Dong Zhuo's main force arrived!

  However, it was very unfortunate that his bravery had enraged Zhao Yun, who charged towards him on horseback with his spear. Li Meng swung his big knife and saw Zhao Yun, but he didn't take Zhao Yun seriously because during the Battle of Tiger Trap Pass, Zhao Yun had escorted Liu Bei back to Yi Province and hadn't fought much.

  So Li Meng was unaware of the danger and swung his big knife, not retreating but instead advancing towards Zhao Yun. But Zhao Yun was no ordinary person! As soon as he approached Li Meng, he didn't stop his horse and launched a "Welcome Three" attack, with three spear thrusts aimed at Li Meng's face, each one faster and more vicious than the last!

  Li Meng had never seen such spear techniques before, and in just one round, he was struck by Zhao Yun's spear and fell to the ground, dead. At this time, Zhao Yun didn't stop, shouting: "Those who do not surrender will be killed! If you surrender, you will be spared!"

  Many of Dong Zhuo's soldiers were forced conscripts and ran away in droves. Those who fled, Zhao Yun did not pursue. Some with smaller courage directly knelt down and surrendered. The remaining ones who resisted to the death were less than one-fifth.

  Zhao Yun knew that now that the city had fallen, Dong Zhuo must have known about it! He must end the battle quickly! Zhao Yun personally wielded his dragon-scaled spear and participated in the final slaughter. The battle was intense, as Dong Zhuo's soldiers also didn't want to die and were fighting back desperately.

  In less than a quarter of an hour, the city was already filled with corpses, and blood flowed like rivers! Zhao Yun's face remained unchanged throughout the battle!

  After less than a quarter of an hour, the battle ended completely. Zhao Yun feared that there might be traitors among the surrendered soldiers, so he ordered them to be expelled from the city.

  Zhao Yun wasn't a killing god like Bai Qi, and he didn't kill the surrendered soldiers. He only drove them out of the city.

  On the other hand, Mang Gong immediately rushed to report to General Li Yu that Zhao Yun had taken down Xiapi City. He also told Li Yu that Zhao Yun was preparing to lead his troops in a desperate defense of Xiapi City, and urged Li Yu to seize the opportunity to launch a pincer attack on Dong Zhuo's army from both front and back, annihilating them in one fell swoop.

  Meanwhile, Zhao Yun ordered Wu Yi to cut down trees and dig up rocks to create rolling logs and stone catapults to defend Xiapi City to the death. He also ordered Huo Jie to concentrate all the cavalry archers and crossbowmen to prepare for a desperate defense of the city walls.

  However, instead of closing the city gates, Zhao Yun flung them wide open and led his one thousand cavalrymen out of the city, stationing them outside the gate. He had given strict orders that no matter what happened to him, no troops were allowed to come out of the city to rescue him. Zhao Yun was preparing to launch a desperate charge against Dong Zhuo's army camp, not allowing them to form an attacking formation, in order to buy time.

  Originally, Zhao Yun hadn't intended to lead so many soldiers, but unexpectedly all his men wanted to fight alongside him to the death. Left with no choice, Zhao Yun selected one thousand cavalrymen to stay behind, and ordered the rest to return to the city walls to serve as infantry defending Xiapi City.

  Time passed minute by minute, if not to say the exact time, it was probably less than an hour. Dong Zhuo and his son-in-law Li Ru, as well as Lü Bu, led a large army of 150,000 to reinforce the city!

  Because of the fire in the lower city, Li Ru had already guessed what had happened to the lower city. Before Li Meng's soldiers could reach Dong Zhuo's tent, they ran into Dong Zhuo! Dong Zhuo was shocked, but Li Ru was a wise and cunning man. He suggested that Dong Zhuo's brother, Dong Wen, and General Zhang Ji display flags and banners to create a diversion, trying to deceive the army led by Li Yu as much as possible. Meanwhile, let Lü Bu lead the remaining less than 40,000 Western Iron Cavalry as vanguard to advance towards the lower city first. Dong Zhuo and Li Ru personally led the main force to follow up! The momentum was to retake the lower city!

  At this time, Lü Bu led the Western Liang Iron Cavalry to rush forward and arrived at Xia Pi City. He saw that Zhao Yun had already set up his formation and was waiting for him! However, others didn't take Zhao Yun seriously, but Lü Bu knew how formidable he was. Last time, although they only briefly clashed, Zhao Yun managed to hold his own against Lü Bu's powerful attack, not falling behind in the three exchanges of blows. Lü Bu understood that Zhao Yun was no ordinary person and immediately ordered his cavalry to form up! However, Zhao Yun wouldn't give Lü Bu this opportunity! Zhao Yun raised his Dragon Head Spear and shouted: "Close the city gate!" Wu Yi and Huo Jie had no choice but to retreat and close the city gate. Zhao Yun saw that the city gate was closed and shouted loudly: "All officers, it's time to achieve merit and establish our reputation! With guns in hand, follow me!" He charged forward with his spear, leading the vanguard into the encirclement, breaking through left and right like entering an uninhabited land. His spear danced all over, as if performing a pear blossom dance; his body was surrounded by swirling snowflakes. Behind him, one thousand elite Iron Cavalry from Yi Province closely followed! Lü Bu was shocked and intimidated by Zhao Yun's sudden move, and for a moment, he didn't dare to confront him. Because Zhao Yun's method was simply reckless and suicidal!

  But Lü Bu was still Lü Bu, and at first he was startled by Zhao Yun. Before long, however, Lü Bu regained his composure, but in that brief moment, Zhao Yun led the Iron Riders of Yi Province to slay no less than one or two thousand of Lü Bu's Western Liang cavalry! Enraged, Lü Bu brandished his halberd and charged at Zhao Yun. Zhao Yun knew that when cavalry clashed, speed was key, and he couldn't afford to engage Lü Bu in single combat while letting his own Iron Riders fight individually. So Zhao Yun didn't bother fighting Lü Bu at all, focusing solely on charging forward! Lü Bu was furious! But what could you do when you're angry? Lü Bu had no choice but to reorganize his cavalry and form a battle array to counterattack against Zhao Yun's cavalry formation!

  What's the outcome of the game?

  Kiss me in my heart, never changed! Wish you an early return, Bodhisattva of White Button!