Chapter 9: Dong Zhuo Escapes with His Life

  Last time, Zhao Yun and Lü Bu fought a fierce battle, with over 100 rounds without a winner. Lü Bu pretended to retreat and escaped on his Red Hare horse. Seeing this, Zhao Yun's eyes turned red with anxiety, and he led his troops in hot pursuit, determined to work with General Li Yu to annihilate Dong Zhuo's entire army.

  At this time, the commander-in-chief of Liu Bei's army, Grand Marshal Li Yu, had already coordinated with Xu Huang and Gao Shun! With a wave of his hand holding the halberd, he gave the order: "The whole army attacks together! Coordinate front and rear to annihilate Dong Zhuo's entire army!" It was truly a case of "the soldiers follow the general's orders like grass follows the wind." Li Yu's command had just finished when the entire army charged forward, attacking Dong Zhuo's army from both front and back. Li Ru ordered Guo Si to lead 100,000 troops to resist Zhang Fei, Guan Yu, Zhang Ren, and Zhang Liao, while ordering Li Su to lead 100,000 troops to resist Li Yu, Xu Huang, and Gao Shun. He himself protected Dong Zhuo with 80,000 troops, waiting for the number one brave general in the land, Lü Bu, to prepare to risk his life to break through the siege of Tianshui City and escape back to Chang'an! At this time, Guo Si and Li Su were fighting hard, coordinating their efforts at the front and rear. They did not care about their own lives, knowing that if they could not hold out, today would be the end for them! The soldiers on both sides were also fighting to the death! But it was clear that Liu Bei's army had already sensed the moment of decisive battle, and their morale was high! Dong Zhuo's army knew they were doomed and fought back desperately! But then: War drums boomed, a stormy sea rising with spring thunder; bugles blared, a bolt of lightning flashing before Mount Wanli.

  Man like a tiger leaving the mountain, horse like a dragon emerging from water.

  Knives and guns advance together, swords and spears crisscross.

  Against the knife, shoulder broken and bone severed; connected to the gun, head pierced through, blocking the sword, throat pierced and breathless, hit by the halberd, abdomen burst and bleeding red.

  People trample each other, horses collide with horses, and corpses are scattered all over the ground.

  With arrows on their backs, they call out to their brothers and search for their fathers, wounded soldiers seeking their sons.

  Directly killing the dark and gloomy ghost wailing divine number black fog confusion.

  But Dong Zhuo's army and the Western Liang soldiers were no match for Liu Bei's Yi Province Army. Moreover, Guo Si and Li Su were not on Liu Bei's side, and they were not a match for Lü Bu, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhang Liao, Zhang Ren, and Gao Shun. The rear army led by Li Su was about to be overwhelmed, and Lü Bu saw this situation. He personally wielded his halberd and charged into the enemy ranks! He ordered all soldiers to make a concerted effort and annihilate Dong Zhuo's entire army. At this time, Lü Bu had added Xu Huang and Gao Shun's troops to his own, making it a mighty army of 100,000 men! This army was now unstoppable, winning battle after battle, and charging straight towards Li Ru and Dong Zhuo in the central army.

  At this moment, Lü Bu led the 50,000 Western Liang Iron Cavalry to launch a counterattack. Lü Bu rode his Red Hare horse and charged into Liu Bei's army, swinging his halberd and killing anyone in his way. His power was unstoppable! The halberd in his hand stabbed out like a whirlwind and swung like lightning. Anyone who encountered Lü Bu's halberd would die, and anyone who touched it would perish. At this moment, Lü Bu personally led the vanguard of the 50,000 Western Liang Iron Cavalry, which was as powerful as an elite army, and brought hope to Li Su's troops. Li Su's army, which had been on the verge of collapse, launched a frenzied counterattack and pushed back Li You, Xu Huang, and Gao Shun by one or two miles. Meanwhile, Lü Bu also broke through the encirclement and reunited with Li Su.

  While the vanguard Guo Huai saw that the rear army was stable, he also relied on his numerical superiority to resist and fight against Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhang Liao, and Zhang Ren for a long time.

  Li Yu saw this command soldier, not afraid of sacrifice! Not afraid of loss, quickly break through Dong Zhuo's entire army formation, and annihilate the entire Dong Zhuo army after splitting it up!

  Li Yugang wanted to take the spear in his hand to fight against Lü Bu! Suddenly, a figure emerged from the rolling dust behind him. He saw a man wearing white armor and riding a white horse with a white spear. Li Yu took a closer look and it was none other than his own Tiger General Zhao Yun, also known as Zhao Zilong!

  Zhao Yun killed his way to the front, bowed his hands and said: "General-in-Chief, Lü Bu has fled, and I have pursued him! Now, let's work together with General-in-Chief to annihilate Dong Zhuo's army!"

  Li Yu said to Zhao Yun, "Zilong originally wanted you to take a short rest! But the opportunity is fleeting, now I order you to fight again against Lü Bu! Hold back Lü Bu, this ace of Dong Zhuo's army! Our army can then quickly defeat each and every one of Dong Zhuo's forces! Make them divide and conquer!"

  Zhao Yun said: "I obey the General's order!" Then he spurred his horse, brandished the Dragon-Headed Spear in his hand and charged straight at Lü Bu! He wanted to fight Lü Bu again!

  Lü Bu also saw Zhao Yun arriving, Lü Bu swung the halberd in his hand and rode the Red Hare to meet Zhao Yun. Lü Bu himself knew that according to Zhao Yun's martial arts skills, no one in Dong Zhuo's army could withstand him except for him.

  Zhoa Yun and Lü Bu did not exchange words, they raised their halberds and engaged in a fierce battle! Both were top-notch super warriors, and their fight was like lightning and flint, exchanging dozens of moves in an instant! It can be said that the battle between Lü Bu and Zhoa Yun was thrilling and intense, with tens of rounds passing in a short time, neither gaining the upper hand nor losing.

  Li Yu understood that this was not the time to waste time and ordered the entire army to attack!

  Li Su also understood that at this time, relying solely on the two armies fighting each other would only delay the inevitable. He ordered his entire army to launch a counterattack, hoping to gain the upper hand!

  On this day, the two armies fought for a whole night, and as the sky was about to dawn, Tian Feng saw that the time was ripe. Without delaying any further, he ordered Cheng Yuanzhi to lead 20,000 infantrymen into battle while he himself led 10,000 infantrymen to defend Tianshui City. At this point, Guo Si's army of 100,000 and the armies of Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhang Liao, and Zhang Ren were evenly matched. However, after Cheng Yuanzhi's troops joined the battle, they broke the balance! Guo Si began to retreat towards Li Ru and Dong Zhuo's central army. Just then, Li Ru had ordered his men to set up camp and prepare to delay the enemy while protecting Dong Zhuo as he attempted to break through the encirclement. Suddenly, the sound of war drums echoed from the front lines, shaking the earth like thunder. It turned out that Tian Feng had personally climbed to the top of Tianshui City's walls to beat the drums and boost morale! In an instant, a scout rushed in to report to Li Ru: Guo Si's vanguard was in great disarray, and Tian Feng was sending reinforcements from within Tianshui City to support the battle against Guo Si's vanguard.

  Li Ru received the report and hastily relayed the order: ordering Lü Bu to retreat from the rear army, protect Dong Zhuo and himself as well as the grain and supplies; prepare to divide the army into three routes, two routes to support Guo Si and Li Su to resist Guan Yu and Li You's pincer attack! Lü Bu and himself prepared to protect Dong Zhuo and break through around Tianshui City to escape back to Chang'an.

  Lü Bu received the order and immediately led his troops to charge back to the rear array, killing his way through to protect Dong Zhuo.

  Li Yu led his troops to launch a battle with Guo Si, and at first, Li Su's army was able to hold its ground, but after Lü Bu's retreat, Li Su's army could no longer withstand the attack and began to fall back. In less than an hour, they were about to reach the vicinity of Dong Zhuo's camps, when they heard the sound of killing and clashing of blades coming from within the camps. Li Yu thought: "Have I arrived too late? Has Dong Zhuo escaped?" He hastily ordered his troops to charge into the enemy camp.

  At this time, Zhao Yun was no longer entangled by Lü Bu, and led the army to charge in first. With a Dragon's Gallbladder Spear, it really made Dong Zhuo's army tremble with fear! Only seeing Zhao Yun waving the Dragon's Gallbladder Spear in his hand, the spearhead shook, and blossoms of pear flowers bloomed, exceptionally beautiful! But this can't be said to have no lethality! Only seeing Dong Zhuo's army, whoever came into contact with Zhao Yun's Dragon's Gallbladder Spear would immediately die a tragic death!

  Xu Huan swung the large axe in his hand, charging into Dong Zhuo's army from the left side with a loud shout! At this moment, Xu Huan was majestic and powerful! With one swing of the large axe, he chopped down soldiers to the left and right! Countless soldiers of Dong Zhuo's army were hacked to death or crushed to death! Xu Huan roared with anger again and again! Sometimes, one move could kill a whole row of Dong Zhuo's soldiers! At this time, the morale of Xu Huan's army was boosted! Like hungry wolves! Although the soldiers of Dong Zhuo's army were also fighting desperately, they could not change their fate!

  Gao Shun rode his horse, holding a spear and charging into the right side of Dong Zhuo's army formation! As soon as he gave the order, the entire army worked together in perfect coordination. When they got close, they would clash; when they were far apart, they would shoot arrows. Whoever encountered Gao Shun's troops was doomed to be frustrated, for his ambush camp had endless variations and Gao Shun himself was also highly skilled in martial arts! With a large spear in hand, he charged into Dong Zhuo's army formation, and it could be said that whoever touched him would die, and whoever brushed against him would perish!

  Li Yu was even more brave, charging into the Dong Zhuo army camp, wielding his square heaven painting halberd, killing anyone he met, and stabbing any general he saw. Just as he approached the core, a high-ranking general emerged, none other than Lü Bu, the world's number one brave warrior. At this time, Lü Bu led his troops to come and fight, in order to hold off Li Yu and give Dong Zhuo and Li Ru time to escape, after all, if Lü Bu wanted to leave, no one could stop him!

  At this time, the person in charge of Dong Zhuo's military power was Li Su, who was both his son-in-law and military advisor. Li Su had long known that he could not withstand Li Yu's attack, and Li Yu had many soldiers and brave generals! So after Lv Bu returned, the soldiers reported to him, and Li Ru told Lv Bu to lead the army to cut off the rear, while he himself protected Dong Zhuo and rushed to the front army to cooperate with Guo Si to try to break into Tianshui City. Lv Bu listened and also knew that now only he could stop Li Yu and Zhao Yun, two of them. As for Xu Huan's martial arts, Lv Bu didn't know yet, because the two had not fought each other before. Moreover, it was clear that Li Ru was really helpless at this time, and Li Ru protected Dong Zhuo with an army of 80,000 to arrive at the front army! Seeing Guo Si also retreating backwards! At this time, Li Ru was truly furious, and he issued a military order eight times in a row, sending troops to attack Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhang Liao, Zhang Ren, and Cheng Yuanzhi's men. Guo Si saw that his reinforcements had arrived, and the soldiers began to fight bravely forward! The balance of war was shifting towards Dong Zhuo's side!

  At this time, General Tian Feng of the Imperial Army guarding the city gate of Tianshui City saw that Dong Zhuo's army was strong and had a large number of soldiers, and began to launch a fierce counterattack, repeatedly repelling the attacks of Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhang Liao, Zhang Ren, and Cheng Yuanzhi. Tian Feng saw that he still couldn't capture Dong Zhuo's army, so he angrily drew his sword and left 5,000 soldiers behind, leading another 15,000 men to charge out of the city to reinforce them.

  Tian Feng calculated the situation at this time; both sides had suffered heavy losses in the repeated battles, and he had lost 40,000 men. The military strength of Dong Zhuo's army was lower than that of Liu Bei's army. Although Dong Zhuo's army had 340,000 people, after several battles, there were only about 220,000 to 230,000 left. If they didn't attack now and let Guan Yu and others be defeated by Dong Zhuo's army, then they would not be able to wait for the arrival of reinforcements, and Tianshui City would inevitably fall into enemy hands. Therefore, Tian Feng immediately ordered his own troops to go out and fight!

  Li Ru was not foolish either, he saw Tian Feng leading the army to battle at this time, not defending the city of Tianshui, and felt that it was a good opportunity. So he sent someone to carefully check the number of soldiers in the army. After careful calculation, although his side had more people and momentum, the combat effectiveness was really not a match for Liu Bei's Yizhou Army! At this time, the 340,000-strong army had lost only 270,000 men. This still included Lü Bu's own 50,000 Western Liang Iron Cavalry and the defeated soldiers of Yan Xing who had been integrated into the army! At this time, Li Ru heard the sound of killing behind him getting closer and closer, and after calculating the time, he estimated that Li Yu's reinforcements would arrive here soon, probably in two or three hours. For this reason, Dong Zhuo was also very anxious at this time. He had also regretted provoking Liu Bei several times, and in his heart, he knew that he was really not a match for Li Yu! It could be seen that Dong Zhuo had twice mobilized troops to take Liu Bei's Yizhou, but each time he was defeated by Li Yu. And at this time, every minute counted, whether his life and property could be preserved or not was uncertain. This made Dong Zhuo worried sick, now Dong Zhuo was unable to eat or sleep, thinking hard, but still couldn't think of a solution. Now Dong Zhuo could only entrust his life and property to his adopted son Lü Bu and his son-in-law Li Ru!

  Li Ru's brow was deeply furrowed, and Guo Si accompanied him. After some thought, Li Ru said to Guo Si: "General Guo Si, Li Jue is attacking us from both front and back. If this continues, we will surely be defeated."

  Guo Jie also sighed and said: "Military strategist, I am also worried about this matter now. Our army's combat power is really not a match for Liu Bei's army."

  Li Ru said: "General Guo Jia, for the sake of protecting our lord, I have a plan, but I don't know if it's feasible?"

  "What plan do you have?"

  Li Ru smiled wryly and said, "I want you and General Li Su to fight to the death at the rear. I will protect our lord with Feng Xian and escape around the city back to Chang'an. You wait until you see me and our lord escape, then follow afterwards!"

  Li Ru's words startled Guo Jia, who hastily said: "Military Advisor, this is too reckless! Our army may be completely defeated!"

  Li Ru's expression remained stern as he continued, "How can one obtain the tiger's cubs without entering its lair? We cannot just watch our lord die here. If we can rescue him from this disaster, I think our lord will ensure that both generals or their descendants will live a life of wealth and honor. Even if the two generals die on the battlefield, they will be able to smile in the afterlife!"

  Kuang Ze listened to Li Ru and understood that Li Ru was not discussing with him, if he refuted, he would definitely die immediately!

  Guo Zhan said helplessly: "Now that things have come to this point, I will respectfully follow your orders, but please, Military Advisor, do not forget what was said today."

  Li Ru solemnly said: "General Guo Jia, just be at ease!"

  At this time, Tian Feng wielded the precious sword in his hand, personally led the main army, and rushed into the battlefield, rushing straight into Dong Zhuo's army formation. When he arrived at the two armies, Tian Feng drew his sword and roared with anger: "Today our army has already grasped the victory, and Dong Zhuo's army is now on the decline! We should fight bravely! Exterminate Dong Zhuo's entire army! Those who fight bravely today will surely make their names known in history. As for those who retreat, military law will be enforced! I am originally a weak scholar, but I also want to gain my own merits in battle at the forefront of the two armies! Are you willing to follow me and engage in a fierce battle with Dong Zhuo's army?"

  Behind Tian Feng, all the soldiers shouted in unison: "We are willing to follow General Tian, to live and die together, to share life and death!"

  Tian Feng pointed his treasured sword forward and the whole army charged forward swiftly!

  Li Ru was shocked when he heard the news and thought: What? Is Tian Feng daring to lead his troops into battle in person?

  Will Dong Zhuo be able to escape back to Chang'an? To be continued!