Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Except for the princes who actually led their troops to Suanzao.

As Yizhou Governor Liu Yan, Jingzhou Governor Liu Biao and Xiliang County Governor Ma Teng all began to send envoys to say that due to the terrain, it was inconvenient for them to lead their troops to the alliance in person, and that they would lead troops from other directions to attack Dong Zhuo together with the allied forces, the morale of the princes who came to the alliance was shaken.

The area controlled by Dong Zhuo now is mainly the Sanfu area where Sili and Xi'an are located. With the arrival of Liu Yan, Liu Biao and Ma Teng in the alliance, a substantial encirclement has almost been formed around Dong Zhuo's forces.

victory is in sight!

Even Yuan Shao, who originally did not have much hope for this alliance to defeat Dong Zhuo, now felt that Dong Zhuo's defeat was imminent.

Not only were there the princes of Guandong in front, but also Ma Teng, Liu Yan, Liu Biao and others later on cut off his retreat.

As a result, Dong Zhuo would have to face a situation where he was unable to take care of both ends. Even if he had a large number of soldiers and generals under his command, it would be difficult for him to last long.

This also made the princes suddenly realize a fact, that is, the Han Dynasty still had people's hearts in their hearts, so much so that when the highly respected clan member Liu Yu raised his arm and called for action, a wave of clan members and princes to fight against Dong was aroused.

As the envoys sent by Liu Yan, Liu Biao and Ma Teng respectively arrived in Suanzao, the princes who had been stationing troops in Suanzao without much haste were encouraged and no longer delayed. They chose an auspicious day seven days later to formally swear an oath of blood alliance, and then led their troops west to attack the thief Dong and help Liu Bian to sit on the throne of the emperor again.

Dong Zhuo, who was in Luoyang, would naturally be aware of the changes outside Sili.

At the beginning, Dong Zhuo was somewhat dismissive of Liu Yu's "Exhortation to Punish Traitors", thinking that it was just the self-entertainment of an old man from the royal family.

However, the change in the situation was completely beyond Dong Zhuo's expectations.

Wherever Liu Yu's "Exhortation to Punish Traitors" went, the princes rose up, and heroes from all over the world began to gather in Suanzao for the Alliance, even when there were unusual movements in Jingzhou, Yizhou and Liangzhou.

Dong Zhuo was completely unable to sit still. He even did not stay in the dragon bed where he used to sleep every night. Instead, he urgently summoned his trusted men and stayed overnight in the Prime Minister's Mansion. The next morning, he held a meeting with his civil and military officials to discuss countermeasures.

Compared with the time when Li Ji saw Dong Zhuo in Jizhou, when his body was full of fat and muscles and he looked quite round and naive, Dong Zhuo at this moment, sitting on the main seat, was a big lump of fat, and his face looked ferocious and cruel due to his anger.

Even though there were many veteran Xiliang generals sitting under Dong Zhuo at this moment, they were still intimidated by Dong Zhuo's ferocious power and dared not look him in the face.

"There are countless princes in the world who have received official positions due to my grace, but... they are all ruthless and heartless people. No, they are worse than dogs. They ate my flesh and dared to bite me back. They are so hateful!!!"

Dong Zhuo was venting his anger, and the fat on his face was trembling, but there was no sense of humor at all. Instead, Dong Zhuo looked even more ferocious.

"Wen You, now not only is there the allied forces of the Kanto princes to the east, but also Liu Yan, Liu Biao, Ma Teng and others in the rear are threatening the Three Auxiliary Regions. Is there any way to resolve this threat right now?"

Li Ru, who was sitting below Dong Zhuo and opposite Lu Bu at the head of the civil servants, had a look of deep fatigue on his skinny face. After coughing lightly several times, he reacted belatedly to what Dong Zhuo said and said.

"Prime Minister, I didn't hear you clearly just now. Please repeat it again."

If it were someone else, Dong Zhuo would have dragged that person out and chopped him into minced meat to feed the dogs.

In addition to being Dong Zhuo's trusted adviser, Li Ru was also Dong Zhuo's son-in-law, a true member of the family.

Dong Zhuo had always been quite tolerant towards his own family members. Moreover, since entering Luoyang, Dong Zhuo, who did not trust outsiders, had almost entirely handed over the many tedious matters in the court and the army to Li Ru to manage and maintain.

In addition, Li Ru's health has never been good, and the tasks he was responsible for were quite heavy, so Dong Zhuo was quite tolerant towards Li Ru. He suppressed his anger and explained the current situation again.

When Dong Zhuo finished speaking, there was the coalition of the princes from the east in front, and Liu Yan, Liu Biao and Ma Teng threatening the three prefectures from behind.

Li Ru's eyes were almost wide open, and his face, which was originally pale, turned a little red due to excitement. When he opened his mouth to say something, he couldn't stop coughing again.

This made Dong Zhuo, who was already extremely irritable, a little impatient and he spoke.

"Since Wenyou is not feeling well, you can go down and rest first. We will have someone bring some more tonic food from the palace to Wenyou's residence later to help him recover."

"Wait a minute!"

Li Ru was extremely confused at the moment. Knowing that Dong Zhuo was about to be in great trouble, how could he be willing to go down and rest?
If the situation is allowed to develop in this way, I am afraid that the entire Dong Zhuo force will be able to rest in the ground completely!

"Prime Minister, the situation is already precarious. If we are not careful, there will be no recovery. How can we take a rest now?" Li Ru asked anxiously.

However, unlike Li Ru's extremely anxious attitude, most of the generals present were excited about the upcoming battle.

Among them, Li Jue, a veteran general under Dong Zhuo, was the first to refute with disapproval.

"Military Advisor, this is... a bit too much, isn't it? The princes of Guandong are just a bunch of fickle people. Even if they get together, they all have their own agenda."

"Besides, our army has Sishui, Hulao and other strong passes to block the Guandong princes. We only need to send one general to defend them. Even if the Guandong princes have a million strong troops, what can they do to us?"

"As for Liu Yan, Liu Biao, Ma Teng and others threatening the Three Auxiliary Regions, it is difficult for them to make a difference! With the might of the Western Liang Iron Cavalry under the command of the Prime Minister, if Liu Yan, Liu Biao, Ma Teng and others dare to invade..."

When he said this, the battle-hardened Li Jue sneered, waved his hand confidently, and said.

"As long as the Prime Minister allows me to have 20,000 Xiliang cavalry, I will make sure that Liu Yan, Liu Biao, Ma Teng and their ilk will never return from the Three Auxiliary Regions."

As soon as these words were spoken, many of the Xiliang warriors present unconsciously showed pride on their faces.

It is no wonder that these powerful generals from Xiliang are so arrogant. The Western Qiang Rebellion that had previously caused Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty Liu Hong a great headache was actually just a part of the forces in Liangzhou.

The elite troops stationed in Sili were unable to resist the Western Qiang in the field, so they had to recruit warriors from Western Liang to form a large army with Dong Zhuo as the general, which gradually curbed the rebellion of Western Qiang. This showed how strong Western Liang was, and the elite troops led by Dong Zhuo gradually became known as the Western Liang Iron Cavalry, which was feared by the world.

In addition to the Xiliang Cavalry, Dong Zhuo also swallowed up the Bingzhou Cavalry under Ding Yuan and the elite imperial troops originally stationed in Sili.

It can be said that among the four most powerful armies in the world, namely Liangzhou, Bingzhou, Youzhou and Sili, Dong Zhuo already occupied three of them, which shows that his military power was strong enough to dominate the world.

After Li Jue spoke, Lu Bu, now the representative of the Bingzhou Army under Dong Zhuo, also bowed and spoke.

"Don't worry, father. The princes outside the pass treat them like grass. I am willing to lead the fierce and wolf-like army of Bingzhou, cut off their heads, and hang them at the gate of the capital to warn the world and teach the world that no one in the Guandong region dares to rebel against you."

Just as Lu Bu finished speaking, a man who was as strong as a tiger and nine feet tall and sitting below stood up and spoke loudly.

"Why use a butcher knife to cut a chicken? There is no need for Marquis Wen to go there in person. It would be as easy for me, Hua Xiong, to cut off the heads of the princes in Guandong!"

Seeing his generals volunteering to fight one after another, Dong Zhuo's originally irritable and angry mentality suddenly eased a lot, and he laughed and spoke.

"With all the generals fighting bravely for the lead, why should we worry about the mere princes of Guandong?"

But unlike Dong Zhuo's optimism, Li Ru still frowned, knowing that this matter could not be solved so easily.

While he was busy dealing with Dong Zhuo's military and government affairs every day and had no time to take care of other things, someone somehow connected all the princes of the world together.

Not to mention the princes of Guandong, Li Ru has always been aware that the Guandong families headed by Yuan Shao always have ulterior motives, but Liu Yan and Liu Biao are the major threats to the rear, threatening Dong Zhuo's retreat.

Once the Three Auxiliary Areas were breached, even if Dong Zhuo firmly defended the important passes in Sili, he would still be trapped there, and would be no different from a dead body in a tomb.
However, before Li Ru could think deeply about the connections between all aspects, his extremely tired head began to feel dizzy and weak, and the sound of coughing could not be stopped from coming out of his throat.

This made Dong Zhuo feel a little distressed when he looked at Li Ru.

After all, Li Ru is the real family member, and Dong Zhuo was able to swallow up the elite troops of Sili and Bingzhou while maintaining internal stability. A large part of the reason was that he had Li Ru, the chief steward, who was doing his best to maintain it.

"Wenyou, if you feel unwell, you should go down and rest first. We have countless brave generals and elite soldiers under our command. If the princes of Guandong dare to rebel, we will fight them."

At this moment, Dong Zhuo also felt a bit of heroic spirit that had not been completely drained by alcohol and sex, and his face showed some of the demeanor of the fierce general from Xiliang who had once charged into the front.

"Prime Minister, this matter cannot be solved by military bravery alone. The key is that our army has been besieged by the heroes of the world in Sili and Sanfu. We are caught in a dilemma and cannot take care of both ends..."

Li Ru, who knew Dong Zhuo's impatient personality, had no time to think deeply. After a little thought, he forced himself to speak.

"For now, we must first try to disintegrate the united forces of the heroes. Otherwise, even if our army can win for a while, it will not be able to win forever, and will surely be buried in the hands of the princes of Guandong."

"What do you think, Wenyou?" Dong Zhuo asked with a frown.

Li Ru frowned and thought for a moment, then remembered the "Exhortation to Punish Traitors" that Dong Zhuo had mentioned before. He took it and glanced at it quickly, then said in a deep voice.

"Since the princes are invading Sili under the pretext of helping Liu Bian to restore his throne, why not just go all out and poison that little Liu Bian to death, thus eliminating the excuse for the princes in Guandong to unite."

Poisoning Liu Bian?

As soon as these words were spoken, some of the Xiliang warriors present couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

Although Dong Zhuo was now completely in power and could do whatever he wanted, including sleeping on the dragon bed, poisoning the queen mother, raping princesses and concubines, etc., Liu Bian was, after all, the legitimate son of Emperor Ling and had once been the emperor.

Poisoning the emperor has a completely different meaning.

Dong Zhuo just thought about it for a moment, a cruel look appeared on his face and he spoke.

"The life of a little Liu Bian is not enough to deter the Guandong princes. There are still many people in the court who are closely connected with those Guandong princes. This time, we will eliminate them all and teach those treacherous people the price of betraying us."

When this matter was mentioned, Li Ru hesitated and reminded, "Prime Minister, if this is the case, the first one would be Grand Tutor Yuan Wei. If he is killed, we will never stop fighting with the Yuan family."

Dong Zhuo sneered and spoke.

"Now that I have seen through the nature of those Guandong noble families, I will kill them all! Only by killing them until they are afraid can I make them truly prostrate themselves at my feet."

……

As for the changes in Luoyang, Yuan Shao, who was in Suanzao, naturally knew nothing about it.

They had no idea that Dong Zhuo, a former follower of the Yuan family, would actually dare to kill Yuan Wei, who was so helpful in running all the affairs of the court, and even killed all the Yuan family members in Luoyang.

Therefore, Yuan Shao was secretly preparing for the alliance ceremony with excitement, waiting for the official alliance day to arrive tomorrow.

At the same time, Li Ji, who was riding in the chariot with Liu Bei, was looking into the distance and looking at the map to identify the direction of travel.

"Zikun, how long is the journey to Suanzao?" Liu Bei asked.

Li Ji pointed to a location on the map and answered in a gentle voice.

"No rush, we can reach Suanzao before dusk today." (End of this chapter)