I practiced magic in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 125: Fast Boy Yuan Shao
Luoyang, the residence of the Grand Tutor.

In the study, Yuan Wei was playing chess with his eldest son Yuan Yin. Unfortunately, Yuan Yin did not seem to have such leisure time. He was concerned about the current situation in Luoyang: "Father, you asked me to secretly make friends with Dong Cheng and give him advice to make him enemies with Wang Yuanxu. Can you really instigate an internal fight between the New Party and the emperor?"

Yuan Wei held the white pieces in his hand and said calmly, "Dong Cheng has already joined the game. Since Wang Yuanxu wants to fish, I will give him a big fish. I don't know if he will eat it or not after the fish is hooked."

"What do you mean, father?"

Yuan Yin was just an average person, neither good at literature nor at martial arts. He obviously did not inherit Yuan Kui's political wisdom, and he did not understand how dangerous the struggles in the court were.

Yuan Wei was not reluctant about this. After all, there were many outstanding people within the Yuan family of Runan. In terms of military affairs, there were the brothers Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, and in terms of literature, there was Yuan Ji who inherited the Yuan family's foundation. One more Yuan Yin would not make much difference, and one less Yuan Yin would not make much difference.

After all, he was his own son, so Yuan Wei still patiently gave him some advice: "Dong Cheng wants to seize power, and Your Majesty also hopes to cultivate his followers to prepare for the future personal rule. I only need to go with the flow and instigate them to fight with the New Party. We can sit back and watch the fight from the mountain."

Yuan Yin still found it hard to understand: "Would Dong Cheng really be so unwise?"

"Dong Cheng is ambitious but not strategic, short-sighted, and very concerned about his reputation. I asked you to get close to him and flatter him so that he would relax his vigilance against us. He has always been eager to control the military power, and he holds a grudge against Wang Jing because of the incident with the Empress Dowager Dong, so it is not difficult to manipulate him."

Yuan Wei held a high position and had been at the core for many years. He was able to remain standing during the reign of Emperor Ling, which shows his skill and wisdom.

Unfortunately, things have been going wrong recently, especially when it comes to matters involving the Northern Army and Wang Jing. Yuan Wei has run into obstacles again and again, and gradually feels overwhelmed.

After the Dong Zhuo Rebellion, military generals rose to power, military strategists gained strength, the influence of Confucianism began to be impacted, and Yuan Wei found that his words were beginning to have less effect.

In order to completely change this predicament, he can only bet all the chips in his hand on the plan of Confucianism. As long as the plan succeeds, he has the map of mountains and rivers in his hands, and he can shepherd the people on behalf of God and suppress all disobedience in the world.

But everything is ready, now all we need is the imperial seal.

That is why Yuan Wei instigated the struggle between the New Party and the imperial power in order to attract the attention of the outside world and allow him to withdraw from the matter and retrieve the lost imperial seal.

As long as we find the imperial seal, everything will be settled!

…………

Luoyang, Xiyang Gate.

A large army wearing black armor slowly arrived. When the people around saw the flag of the Xiliang Army, they were so frightened that their faces turned pale and they ran around shouting.

"Oh no! The Xiliang people are here again!"

"The Xiliang soldiers are going to kill people again, run for your lives!"

Xu Rong was a little embarrassed when he saw the chaotic scene in front of him. He quickly ordered the soldiers to restrain themselves: "Do not trample on the farmland! Those who disobey the order will be executed!"

"No killing or looting! Anyone who disobeys this order will be executed!"

As soon as the two orders were issued, the entire army became solemn. Not only did they not harm the civilians, but at least they did not dare to disobey openly. After all, military law was still very deterrent.

After Xu Rong led his army to Xiyuan, he immediately transferred part of the military power to Xun You.

At the same time, a secret letter written by Wang Jing himself was handed to Xun You.

Confidential letters and files were tied together with knots, and the knots were sealed with mud and stamped to prevent them from being opened privately.

After confirming that the sealing mud had not been tampered with, Xun You opened the envelope and quickly read the contents. Although he did not see the words "Burn after reading", he still silently threw the secret letter into the brazier and watched the snow-white letter paper turn into ashes with his own eyes, his eyes were terrifyingly cold.

Seeing that Xun You was in a bad mood, several trusted secret guards immediately asked with concern: "Why is the councillor like this? What happened?"

"Nothing, you guys go down first."

Xun You replied casually but did not say what was in his mind.

Because there are many things that cannot be told to others.

After his men left, Xun You was the only one left in the study room again.

"Alas, troubled times are coming, and human life is truly as cheap as grass."

Xun You felt emotional because in the secret letter just now, Wang Jing had instructed him to send more than 10,000 Xiliang soldiers to die.

Except for the 6,000 men under Xu Rong, at least 80% of the remaining Xiliang soldiers would have to die in order to be most "cost-effective".

Xun You was not only the best military strategist of the time, but also the top counselor. He naturally knew Wang Jing's intention, and he knew that such a cruel and vicious plan must have been proposed by Jia Xu.

But even if Jia Xu was not there, Xun You would have made the same suggestion to Wang Jing. After all, the plans of wise men are similar.

Currently, the total number of troops under Wang Jing's command is less than 30,000, of which 10,000 are main forces, and the other 20,000 are all new recruits who have been recruited for less than half a year. Their combat effectiveness is very limited.

However, the number of surrendered soldiers of the Western Liang Army alone exceeded 40,000, of which more than 20,000 were veteran soldiers from Liang Province who had fought with Dong Zhuo. They were experienced in many battles and extremely brave.

These people were mainly Qin Hu soldiers, Xiongnu Tuge, Huangzhong Yicong and eight kinds of Western Qiang, most of whom were not Han Chinese. Not to mention the saying "those who are not of my race must have different hearts", these people were basically foreign mercenaries, and their military discipline was very poor when they were under Dong Zhuo's command. They often did things for money and were loyal to whoever fed them.

Anyone with a normal mind would know that it is impossible to expect these foreign mercenaries to be loyal to the emperor and patriotic.

Although Wang Jing absorbed this group of ruffians and old foxes, he knew that these soldiers were the most cunning in fighting and were not worth reorganizing or reforming. They had even become the biggest destabilizing factor within the party.

That is why Wang Jing kept 20,000 new recruits within the Xiliang Army who still had room for transformation, intending to use them as the core team for the future march into Guanzhong. As for the "old soldiers", he sent them all to Luoyang at once.

Although he understood what was the most efficient and reasonable option, Xun You still found it difficult to calm down after having to kill more than 20,000 people with his own hands.

…………

At Hulao Pass, flags were flying, soldiers were armed with sharp weapons, and morale was quite high.

Wu Qiong came to the wall of the pass, looked up at the Northern Army's flag fluttering in the wind on the city wall, and a scornful smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"He who comes is stopped!"

The convoy was stopped by soldiers guarding the pass. Several soldiers wearing armor and holding spears blocked Wu Qiong's way and made it clear that passage was prohibited.

Perhaps sensing the preparations of the coalition forces of the eighteen princes outside Hulao Pass, the defenders stationed on the wall have now increased their vigilance, and war may be coming soon.

Wu Qiong stepped off the oxcart and said proudly: "I want to see Xu Huang."

"Be bold!"

"How dare you address the general by his name? Who are you?"

Most of the Hedong soldiers guarding the pass were trained by Xu Huang himself. In addition to their status as fellow townsmen and Xu Huang's good character, they all supported him very much.

Now, when he heard that someone dared to call his general by his name, he immediately became angry.

Wu Qiong didn't take these soldiers seriously at all, and began to introduce himself with pride: "I am Wu Qiong, the captain of the Yueqi Cavalry. I am here today on the orders of the Emperor. Why don't you report it quickly? If you make a big mistake, you won't have enough heads to chop off even if you have ten heads!"

Wu Qiong's tone was extremely arrogant, but the soldiers guarding the gate were still frightened by the words "imperial order" and hurried to inform Xu Huang: "General, there is someone outside the gate who wants to see you. He calls himself Wu Qiong."

"Wu Qiong?"

Since being promoted to General Yangwu, Xu Huang has become more calm than before. When he heard the name "Wu Qiong", he couldn't remember that he knew the other person.

Now that the various princes outside Hulao Pass refused to withdraw their troops, Xu Huang had no time to care about other things. He thought that since he had no intersection with the other party, it would be better not to meet them to avoid being misunderstood by his lord.

Therefore, Xu Huang simply shook his head and said, "No."

"But he claims to be your Majesty's man, and this time he came to the general to discuss important matters."

"Your Majesty's men?"

Xu Huang sighed in his heart, but this time, his tone became more resolute: "Since he is your Majesty's man, I cannot see him."

"what?"

The personal soldier who came to report the news was dumbfounded.

Xu Huang did not explain too much, but instead ordered: "Just drive him away. From now on, if anyone claims to be sent by His Majesty, I will not see him."

"Yes, General."

Although the guards were puzzled, they still chose to do as they were told.

Outside the city gate, Wu Qiong, who was waiting impatiently, saw the person who went to report back and immediately shouted arrogantly: "I guess your general already knows my identity? Why don't you invite me in? Can you afford to delay His Majesty's important business?"

The soldiers guarding the city were already very dissatisfied with Wu Qiong's arrogant attitude. When they received Xu Huang's order to drive him away, they did not look at Wu Qiong in a good light: "Please go back. The general has already said that he will not see you." "What did you say! Not to see you?"

Wu Qiong was shocked at first, then he became furious: "You rude fellow, have you told him my identity?"

"Haha, who cares who you are? My general has already said that he will not see anyone who claims to be sent by His Majesty. Even if you are the king of the world, you still have to get out if you come here."

"You are seeking death!"

Wu Qiong could not bear being despised and mocked by a group of soldiers, and immediately wanted to draw his sword and chop them.

"Want to take action? I don't know who wants to die."

The leader of the team defending the city was a young general. He pointed a gun at Wu Qiong and said sarcastically, "If you are not afraid of death, then draw your sword. Let's see if we dare to kill you here."

"kill!"

Dozens of Hedong soldiers immediately stood up, formed a battle formation in front of Wu Qiong, and surrounded the convoy.

On the city walls, there were archers with their bows drawn and arrows ready to shoot at any time.

The archer aimed at his head from a high position, and as if he could feel death approaching, Wu Qiong, who had just pulled out half of the knife, felt a chill in his heart, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

He knew that the group of soldiers in front of him really dared to attack, and if he was really killed, it would probably be a waste of his life. Moreover, he had no intention of sacrificing his life for this.

After all, no matter how grand the cause is, you can only enjoy the fruits of victory if you are alive. If you die, there will be nothing left.

Therefore, Wu Qiong was scared. He didn't dare to draw his sword again. He only dared to ask stubbornly: "You are so rude that you dare to despise His Majesty. Are you planning to rebel?"

However, it unexpectedly caused a burst of laughter from the people on the city wall.

"Ha, it's not like we haven't done rebellion before."

"Oh, Marquis Qi has given us a new life. We will work hard for him, so what if we rebel?"

Most of the Hedong soldiers under Xu Huang were surrendered rebels who had followed Guo Da in the rebellion. It was hilarious that Wu Qiong actually used the threat of "rebellion" to scare them.

It's just rebellion, and it's not the first time!

In the eyes of these Hedong soldiers, following Wang Jing in rebellion is obviously much more promising than following Guo Da, and they are eager to do so.

But Wu Qiong couldn't laugh. He was filled with rage, and he cursed angrily, "Traitors, a bunch of traitors, I will report this to His Majesty and punish you with death!"

Wu Qiong left cursing. He had no way to deal with Xu Huang and these unruly Hedong soldiers, so he could only go back to Liu Xie and tell them off.

Three days later, east of Hulao Pass, the coalition forces camped in Suanzao County.

Yuan Shao received the secret letter that Zheng Tai had sent by water with great difficulty. His face became extremely gloomy and he said in a cold voice: "Everyone, Xu Huang refused to let us go. It seems that we can only attack by force."

"Because he's still stubborn, beat him up!"

"Yes, these traitors should be killed!"

"Not only will we kill them, but we will also execute the entire family!"

The princes of Guandong were excited and looked ready to take action at any time.

Each of them shouted louder than anyone else, but when it came time to assign specific tasks, they began to shirk their responsibilities. It was obvious that no one wanted to take the lead.

After all, what they were facing was the mighty Tiger Pass, with a large number of mechanical crossbow arrays and array defenses built on the walls. They were not Xiang Yu, who could break through the walls by himself.

If we really want to launch a siege by force, our subordinates will suffer heavy casualties regardless of victory or defeat, and the loss will outweigh the gain.

In that case, why not let others go first?

Everyone is so cunning, and the final result is naturally that three monks have no water to drink. They just wait for others to take the lead while they reap the fruits of their labor.

Yuan Shao had no choice but to assign tasks as the leader of the alliance: "We will send troops according to the proportion and gather 20,000 people. The war will start in five days. That's it."

It took several days, but we finally managed to gather 20,000 people by scraping together some resources.

Yuan Shao personally led the troops, sat in the center of the army, and directed the siege.

All one could hear outside Hulao Pass was the sound of war drums and the cries of killing, which swept in like a tsunami.

The 20,000-strong army, formed into twenty huge square formations of a thousand men, began to slowly advance along the Yellow River.

Dong~dong~dong~
The high-spirited war drums boosted the morale of the coalition forces.

At this time, the coalition forces of the eighteen princes clearly had an absolute advantage in military strength, and the 20,000 people sent out were at most just vanguards.

The huge crowds of people made the earth tremble.

The fluttering flags seemed to cover the sky.

On the walls of Hulao Pass, the defending soldiers suddenly felt unprecedented pressure. It was the first time for them to participate in a battle between two armies on this scale.

Although Guo Da claimed to have 100,000 men under his command when he raised the banner of rebellion in Hedong, in reality, only one-tenth of these 100,000 men were able to go to the battlefield, and the rest were all old, weak, sick and disabled, just making up the numbers.

But now the coalition forces of the princes have a real 20,000 vanguards alone. They are wearing armor, holding halberds, spears, swords and other standard weapons of the imperial dynasty, and are even equipped with siege equipment.

They were so well prepared and their ranks were so orderly that their momentum alone was incomparable to that of the refugee army under Guo Da's command.

"General, how should we respond?"

There are only 8,000 soldiers defending the city, which is not even half of the enemy in front of them. Now that the coalition forces are coming in full force, the 8,000 new recruits from Hedong are suddenly agitated, and panic is quietly spreading.

Xu Huang was a famous general, so he naturally saw that the combat effectiveness of the new recruits under his command was actually not bad, but they had not experienced bloody battles and lacked morale and confidence.

"Leave the city and form a battle array!"

Xu Huang knew very well that he could not defend Hulao Pass by stubbornly defending it. In addition to relying on geographical advantages, military spirit and morale were also very important in defending the city.

In Luoyang, the Hedong soldiers were foreign troops and had no sense of identity with the capital. It was impossible to ask them to work for others.

Therefore, if one wants to boost the morale of the troops, the only way is to fight outside the city, first demonstrate one's power, and then have the capital to defend to the death.

"General, please think twice. The enemy is so powerful. How can we easily leave the city and fight in the field?"

"Yes, it is better to defend the city and wait for reinforcements."

Several people from the same clan who came to follow Xu Huang also came out to dissuade him, not wanting to take the risk of leaving the city.

However, Xu Huang knew very well that there would be no reinforcements at all.

The south of Luoyang was directly threatened by Sun Jian and Yuan Shu. Once the enemy crossed the Yi River, there would be no defense. Therefore, Luoyang could be attacked at any time. It would be good if they did not withdraw troops from Hulao Pass to support it. How could they send reinforcements?

Therefore, if you want to defend Hulao Pass, you can only rely on yourself!
Xu Huang naturally would not say that there was no reinforcement. He just raised his arms and shouted in front of all the soldiers: "Although the allied forces of the princes are numerous, they have their own ulterior motives and are not united! The allied forces may seem strong, but in fact they are in internal chaos and vulnerable. Our army is united and will surely defeat them in one battle."

Xu Huang was the commander-in-chief of the Hedong camp and had great prestige among the new recruits, so his words immediately boosted the morale of the entire army.

"Kill out!"

"Let these ragtag troops know how powerful we, the elite troops of Hedong, are!"

In this way, Xu Huang led four thousand people out of the city and formed a battle line.

A few miles away, in the coalition army formation, Yuan Shao also saw the unusual movement at Hulao Pass from afar, and immediately laughed contemptuously: "Wang Yuanxu doesn't know how to judge people. He actually sent such a fool to guard the pass. How difficult is it to break through Hulao Pass?"

The group of princes around him burst into laughter, and some took the opportunity to flatter Yuan Shao: "What the leader said is very true. It is really stupid not to use the geographical advantages and natural dangers."

"Isn't this perfect? ​​After we destroy this army, it will be a piece of cake to break through Hulao Pass. Hahahaha, God is really helping us!"

Yuan Shao could hardly suppress his restlessness, and his desire for a great victory became even more urgent. He immediately ordered the entire army to speed up and engage the enemy as soon as possible.

Although speed is of the essence in war, in many cases, speed is not necessarily a good thing. For example, the current situation of the coalition forces is about to cause trouble.

(End of this chapter)