Chapter Seventy The Team's Morale Has Collapsed

  By the time Yuan Shao and Cao Cao arrived, Luoyang had already been reduced to a smoldering ruin. The once prosperous city of Luoyang was now nothing but a memory.

  The Allied forces still got Luoyang as they wished, but what can be done with such a Luoyang? There are so many more refugees, and they need food.

  "Report, the leader of the alliance, General Sun said that he was burned while putting out a fire earlier and will not be attending this meeting of the vassals." A messenger rushed in to say.

  Only then did Yuan Shao's advisor, Xu You, whisper a few words in his ear. Yuan Shao was shocked: "Is this true?" Xu You nodded. "Everyone, since General Sun has been injured by the fire, we should go visit him!"

  "Originally, we should have arrived in Luoyang tonight and the big fire in Luoyang has also been extinguished. We should gather our troops to pursue Dong Zhuo first!" Cao Cao was greatly disappointed, hearing that Yuan Shao did not plan to pursue, but instead went to see Sun Jian first, and it is unknown what Xu You said in Yuan Shao's ear.

  "Meng De, don't be in a hurry. You said it yourself that we've been traveling day and night to get here. If we continue marching, we'll definitely become exhausted. Even if we catch up with Dong Zhuo, what can we do? We're not necessarily going to win the fight either. Why don't we take a break for a few days?" Yuan Shao's words gained the agreement of most of the lords. After all, everyone had come for their own benefit, and now that they had taken Luoyang, they hadn't gained anything for themselves, so what was the point of continuing to fight?

  "You people... are not worthy of making plans together." Cao Cao stormed out of the main tent, what kind of people were these? Everywhere, they were all thinking for themselves, didn't they ever think about the great Han at all? Calculating the time, if he rushed over now, perhaps he could still make it.

  Liu Bei also wanted to pursue Dong Zhuo, the whole Luoyang was burned down, and Dong Zhuo must have gained a lot of good things. Liu Bei was afraid that Dong Zhuo had set up an ambush, and his two thousand soldiers could not afford to be injured. The governor of Xuzhou, Tao Qian, and the governor of Beihai, Kong Rong, exchanged a glance, also followed Cao Cao out of the big tent. "Meng De, if you don't mind, we two are willing to follow Meng De to pursue Dong Zhuo."

  "Alright, I misunderstood you all just now. Please forgive me." Tao Qian and Kong Rong repeatedly said it was nothing. "Sir, this pursuit must also have a measure, I reckon Dong Zhuo will definitely set up an ambush to wait for us to fall into!"

  "Oh? What's this pursuit method, I'd like to hear more about it?" The Northern Sea Prefect Kong Rong had an inexplicable fondness for Zhang Rui. Kong Rong always felt that there was a kind of power on Zhang Rui's body that kept attracting himself, a power similar to the one in his own ancestral temple.

  "Dong Zhuo has set up an ambush to protect the baggage, and Yuan Benchu also saw this point and did not send troops. But we can't just sit back, so let's use a clever plan. You three, Lord, Tao Steward, and Kong Beihai, will be the first wave, pretend to retreat when you see the ambush, Dong Zhuo will think the pursuing troops are scattered and won't make any more defenses. Then our second wave will launch a fierce attack and we will definitely win."

  "Good count, Meng De, you got Zhang Jun Shi, it's really enviable for us!" Tao Qian and Kong Rong said flattering words. Zhang Rui's old face turned red, but the history book just recorded it that way? You two praise me so high, what if I don't live up to it, then I'll be finished, Zhang Rui hurriedly modestly said a few words.

  "Dian Wei, Cao Chun, I order you to be the vanguard with me. Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren, Cao Hong and Wen Ping will form the second echelon. Prepare to pursue!" The generals all responded in unison, dispersed and began to assemble their troops, preparing to give chase.

  Cao Cao is still good at deployment, the ambush may be Lü Bu, so he must bring Dian Wei and Cao Chun. Now that Zhao Yun has reached a critical moment, it's natural for Cao Chun to take over. The second echelon consists of newly joined generals, who can be said to have not yet established any merit compared to the previous two, so the second echelon is basically just mixed with some achievements.

  Cao Cao is indeed a master at using people. Zhang Liao and Cao Chun will think, "The lord always keeps me by his side"; while the other generals will think, "The lord is giving me credit for this achievement". It can't be said that he isn't clever.

  Lü Bu, who was on the march, suddenly received a military report from Dong Zhuo, asking him to take up the rear and secretly ambush both sides of the baggage train, and when the enemy army attacked, he would launch a fierce counterattack.

  "It seems you're up to something good again, so we'll withdraw first." Li Jue made a face at Lü Bu and led the Flying Bear Army to join Dong Zhuo.

  "General, the Taishi's partiality is too obvious, isn't it? Since our state army surrendered, we have been diligent and loyal, but somehow we can never compare to those Western Liang soldiers. Good things always elude us, and it's always us who are left to guard the rear!"

  The speaker was another of Lü Bu's Eight Robust Warriors, named Wei Xu. He was also a relative of Lü Bu and had always been highly regarded by him. Among the Eight Robust Warriors, perhaps only he dared to speak like this.

  "Wei Xiu, don't mention this again. I have my own way of handling things. If you don't want to die, then take care of your own mouth. Whatever the Grand Master orders, we will follow. As the Grand Master's adopted son, would he harm me?"

  Jian Lian Wei continued to eat closed-door buns, and the others didn't dare say anything more, they all obediently went to perform their military duties.

  Foster father, you won't harm me, will you? In this world, which father wants to harm his own son? Looking at the carts and carts of gold, silver, and grain, these are all the spoils collected by Dong Zhuo, I think. As for me, Lü Bu, who has been fighting on horseback all my life, I never thought that I would end up doing this kind of thing for someone else.

  "General, do you hear the sound of horseshoes? It seems like a large cavalry is approaching." Zhang Liao reminded beside Lü Bu. Lü Bu calmed down and indeed heard the sound of horseshoes, it seemed that Dong Zhuo had guessed correctly, those allied armies were not giving up yet.

  Lü Bu gave a signal with his eyes to his subordinates, and they dispersed in all directions.

  Cao Chun took the lead, swiftly charging towards Dong Zhuo's grain transport team. Since Dian Wei arrived, Cao Chun felt his status was strongly impacted. Although Cao Cao didn't say anything, as they were sworn brothers, he couldn't just fall behind. When there was nothing to do, he would charge forward a bit more, and when killing enemies, he would be even braver. After all, he was also a son of the Cao family.

  "Meng De, look quickly, so many grains and treasures, haha..." The logistics troops saw the arrival of the coalition forces and were frightened to flee in disarray. The coalition forces did not encounter any resistance and seized the Western Liang army's supplies.

  Cao Cao heard Cao Chun's words and did not feel the slightest excitement, Zhi Bo was right, there was indeed an ambush. "There is an ambush, retreat quickly." Cao Cao shouted loudly, turned his horse around and ran back.

  At this time, only a cannon sounded, and Lü Bu's subordinates killed from both sides. Fortunately, Cao Cao had previously made arrangements, and the subordinates also had a plan in mind. They symbolically resisted twice, turned their horses around, and fled like the wind.

  "Alright, don't chase anymore. Meeting up with Taishi is more important. I'm sure after this battle, no one will be able to catch up again." Lü Bu said.

  What Lü Bu did not expect was that shortly after he left, another cavalry unit targeted the Western Liang army's baggage train.

  "Yuán ràng, shí jī yǐ dào, wǒmen gāi chū jī le." Cáo rén yě suàn shì cáo shì zǐ dì zhōng wéi shù bù duō de jiàng cái, tā xīn sī chóu mì, xìng gé jiān yì, duì zhàn chǎng de bǎ wò hěn shì dào wèi.

  "Charge the entire army!" Xiahou Dun also felt that the time had come, let out a loud shout, and the many generals behind him had been holding back their energy for some time, having followed their lord without achieving any merit, this time they must make a big display of their prowess.

  Without the protection of Bianzhou's army, how could Xiliang's heavy troops be a match for a group of tiger generals? Before long, the battle had already subsided, and the spoils were so rich that Xiahou Dun couldn't close his mouth in laughter.

  "The whole army retreats." Xiahou Dun ordered people to pull up the captured baggage and head towards Cao Cao's large camp.