Chapter 42: The Army Sets Out from Tiger Trap Pass

  However, now that Yuan Shao is the leader of the Guandong coalition, we must prevent the aristocratic families in Luoyang from collaborating with external forces." At this time, Li Ru's face turned gloomy as he slowly spoke to Dong Zhuo.

  Dong Zhuo's anger subsided slightly, and he said impatiently: "There are many aristocratic families in Luoyang like ants, can't they all be killed?"

  Hehe! Li Ru's face sank, and he chuckled twice before saying: "Your Excellency, of course, we can't kill them all. We only need to execute the main culprits, and then the big and small families in Luoyang will be afraid, dare they collude with the Guandong army?"

  Dong Zhuo nodded in sudden realization, saying: "Haha! Our family has long since disliked the Yuan family. Since that's the case, let's start with the fourth generation of the three dukes of the Yuan family."

  Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu in Tiger Trap Pass may not know this, but the alliance of other lords has brought disaster to their family.

  This is the benefit of holding military power in a chaotic world, and it's astonishing that the fate of a family can be decided in just a few words. Who knows how many lives will be lost? In a chaotic world, human life is cheaper than dog's life, no matter whether you are a noble or a commoner, your fate can be decided by just one word from those in power.

  Just as news of the alliance between the warlords in the east had reached Luoyang, and the officials were eagerly watching to see what would become of Dong Zhuo, a piece of bad news suddenly arrived.

  The Yuan family, one of the four noble families, was exterminated to the ninth degree for colluding with the rebels from Guandong. The Yuan family, due to the actions of Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, can be said to have been completely annihilated, not even leaving a chicken or dog behind!

  The civil and military officials of the imperial court all trembled with fear upon receiving the news, each one afraid that they would be next to lose their heads.

  Dong Zhuo then ordered Li Jue to garrison Chang'an, while his son-in-law Niu Fu and Li Su garrisoned Luoyang. Lü Bu was appointed as the vanguard, leading an army of 190,000 troops with a grand total of 200,000, marching towards Tiger Trap Pass.

  Dong Zhuo led sixty thousand elite troops from Xiliang and also marched towards Tiger Trap Pass.

  Adding the 30,000-strong army led by Xu Rong guarding the Tiger Trap Pass, Dong Zhuo gathered a total of 300,000 troops at one point, shocking both the imperial court and the people.

  Tiger Trap Pass has now become a place of common concern for the world. A battle that gathered millions of troops is about to be revealed. Who will win and who will lose?

  Xu Rong nervously looked out at the front of Tiger Trap Pass, where the eighteen vassals had already set up their massive camp. The tents stretched out endlessly, and even Xu Rong, who was well-versed in military strategy, felt a sense of powerlessness in the face of such a large army. Fortunately, he had received a military order today that Dong Zhuo's army would arrive soon.

  The eighteen vassals gathered together to discuss how to attack the Tiger Trap Pass. The Tiger Trap Pass, being a strong pass under heaven, was easy to defend and hard to attack; everyone could see this clearly, no one wanted to waste their own troops, and no one wanted to be the first to take the lead.

  "The report says... The leader of the alliance has received a secret report that Dong Zhuo has led his troops, with twenty-five thousand soldiers, and will arrive at Tiger Trap Pass in no time."

  Boom! After hearing the words of the orderly under the account, the big camp suddenly became chaotic. After all, Xiliang's elite is the best in the world, and only Gongsun Zan's White Horse Righteousness in Youzhou can be compared with it. The soldiers and horses under other lords' accounts are slightly inferior.

  Bang! Yuan Shao looked at the suddenly panicked camp, heavily slapped the table and shouted: "Everyone, our army has more than 60 million, are we still afraid of Dong's mere 20 million?"

  The other lords heard Yuan Shao's words and also quieted down, thinking that it was not bad. Now our alliance has more than 600,000 troops, which is twice as many as the enemy army. How can we lose?

  When the vassals heard the news, they were also shocked. After all, it took the 18 vassals to gather an army of over 600,000, while Dong Zhuo was able to gather an army of about 250,000 on his own. Adding the 30,000 defenders at Tiger Trap Pass, he suddenly had an army of 280,000. The vassals were shocked for a moment.

  Cao Cao stepped out with a serious expression and said, "Alliance leader, gentlemen, do not underestimate Dong Zhuo's army. Although he has 100,000 troops left behind by General-in-Chief He Jin, in the Yellow Turban Rebellion, they fought battles in both the south and north, their military strength is not to be compared with that of the Western Liang army, but it is also not ordinary."

  "After walking two steps, he said: 'However, there are two martial arts generals under Dong's account, both of whom can take the head of a general in the army as easily as taking something from their pocket. We must be cautious when dealing with them!'"

  "Meng De, must you exaggerate and boost others' prestige? Is it that among the various heroes of the world under our command, there isn't a single one who can match him?" Gong Sun Zan stood up, displeased, interrupting Cao Cao's words after hearing him say how great Dong Zhuo's generals were.

  "My account also has General Fang Yue."

  "Not bad, not bad, my generals under me are no worse than that Dong thief."

  For a time, various princes all began to boast about how powerful and majestic the warriors under their command were.

  Yuan Shao looked at the chaotic scene in the camp, his face darkening as he slammed his hand on the table: "Silence! Don't underestimate Dong Zhuo. If he was that incompetent, how could he have occupied Luoyang and held the Emperor hostage?"

  Yuan Shao looked at the big tent that had just fallen silent, and hopefully looked at Cao Cao: "Meng De, can you slowly tell me about the situation in Dong's army? After all, knowing oneself and others is invincible."

  Cao Cao nodded slightly after hearing Yuan Shao's words, looked around at the nobles in the tent, and said with a serious face: "Everyone, it's not that I'm exaggerating about the enemy, but surely you're all familiar with Dong Zhuo's Western Liang fierce tiger, Autumn Water?"

  The vassals nodded slightly after hearing, indeed, the reputation of Xiliang's fierce tiger was not small. It is said that this person has a natural divine power, his arms can tear tigers and leopards, and he is good at using a square sky-painted halberd, which makes the Qiang people suffer in Xiliang.

  "That Ma Chao, the fierce tiger of Liangzhou, was not one bit inferior to his reputation in stories, and was even stronger. Besides this man, Dong Zhuo had also defeated Duan Yun, the governor of Bingzhou, who was known as the Flying General, Lü Bu, whose martial arts skills were not inferior to Ma Chao's."

  Cao Cao looked at the serious expressions of the vassals and said in a gloomy tone: "I received a secret report from Luoyang a few days ago, that Lü Bu of Pingzhou and the fierce tiger of Xiliang had fought 500 rounds without a winner. However, afterwards, Lü Bu actually told his generals that he was no match for the fierce tiger of Xiliang. This shows that these two men are indeed the strongest under Dong Zhuo's command."

  Other vassals heard Cao Cao's words and fell silent, after all, the name of Meng Huo and Zhang Fei, the Flying General of Western Liang, the fierce tiger of Western Liang, these two men can be said to have made a name for themselves by killing on the border, how could they be weak?

  Especially Gongsun Zan, Youzhou and Bingzhou are adjacent, and the name of the flying general of Bingzhou has been heard for a long time, and he has long wanted to experience it.

  Especially the three people standing behind Gongsun Zan, one with a red face, one with a black face, and another who was even more peculiar, with ears that reached his shoulders and arms that reached his knees, it's simply a version of a gorilla.

  Especially the red-faced one, after hearing the vassals discuss how brave and powerful the Western Liang's Fierce Tiger and Pingzhou's Flying General were, a hint of disdain flashed in his eyes, with an air of self-satisfaction on his face. In his heart, he secretly thought that one day he would make these two men die under his sword, to establish his own reputation.

  These three are Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei of Oath of the Peach Garden.

  Report! A soldier rushed into the tent and knelt down on one knee in front of Yuan Shao.

  Yuan Shao asked with a curious expression: "What's going on?"

  The little servant was so nervous that he didn't dare to lift his head, and stuttered: "Master, I received news from Luoyang, Dong Zhuo has beheaded the entire Yuan family, including three generations of nobles. Now, the old master's head is already hung on the gate."

  Pffft! Yuan Shao heard the report from his subordinate soldiers and became so enraged that his face turned bright red, spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood, before fainting to the ground.

  "Master of the alliance! Master of the alliance!"

  When Yuan Shao was helped up by the other lords and slowly came to, he roared in anger: "The old villain Dong Zhuo, I will not rest until one of us is dead."

  "The alliance leader calms down, the alliance leader calms down." The vassals saw Yuan Shao's expression and all comforted him with concern, but it was unclear whether they were truly worried or gloating over his misfortune.

  At the time of the Allied discussion, Dong Zhuo had already led a large army to rush to Hu Lao Pass and was waiting for an opportunity to attack.

  At Tiger Trap Pass, Xu Rong respectfully faced Dong Zhuo who was rushing over and cupped his fists in greeting: "Your subordinate greets the lord."

  "Never mind, is there any news about the rebellion in Guandong?" Dong Zhuo asked anxiously as he stood on the Tiger Trap Pass, gazing out at the endless rows of tents in the distance.

  "Your Excellency, the eighteen vassals have already gathered and will soon attack the pass. Xu Rong also gained courage at this time, with the arrival of reinforcements, Xu Rong no longer felt that the Eastern Coalition Army was anything to be feared. If he were given 200,000 troops, Xu Rong would indeed be confident in defending Tiger Trap Pass without losing it, and then wait for the Eastern Coalition Army to retreat due to exhaustion of food."

  However, Dong Zhuo would not think so, and he still wants to go and test the prestige of the Guandong Coalition Army.

  Li Ru also saw the expression in Dong Zhuo's eyes at this time, and knew what his father-in-law wanted to do. He hastily advised: "Your Excellency, now our army has just arrived at Hu Lao Pass, and the soldiers and horses are all exhausted. Let's rest for a day and go out of the pass tomorrow to challenge the enemy, so as to sweep away the prestige of the allied forces. At that time, the morale of our army will be greatly boosted, and there is also the advantage of having a barrier. Why should we fear the Eastern Allied Forces?"

  Dong Zhuo clapped his hands heavily on the city wall, saying with hatred: "Today I will let these rebels go, tomorrow I will make them pay! Hmph!" After that, Dong Zhuo coldly snorted and gazed deeply at the camp of the Eastern warlords.

  Dong Zhuo was just about to leave the city gate when he suddenly thought of something and said to Hua Xiong: "Hang the head of Yuan's traitor on the city gate, I want to see what reaction Yuan Shao will have, haha!" After that, he laughed loudly and walked down from the city gate.

  Li Ru smiled and followed Dong Zhuo away.

  Qiu Shui watched as Dong Zhuo left, then turned to Lü Bu beside him and said heavily: "Brother Fengxian, tomorrow you must not underestimate the heroes of the Guandong army."

  "General, the Kanto army is just a group of mice, what can they do?" At this time, Hua Xiong stood out with an unwillingness to fall behind, and proudly said. Hua Xiong himself only admired one person in martial arts, Qiushui, but after meeting Lü Bu, he added another, as for others, how could they enter Hua Xiong's eyes?

  Qiu Shui's eyes chilled as she stared straight at Hua Xiong, and Hua Xiong was immediately intimidated by Qiu Shui's cold gaze.

  Lü Bu was also somewhat puzzled: "Could it be that there are still experts in the Eastern Army?"

  At this time, Qiu Shui finally shifted his gaze, and Hua Xiong let out a long sigh. After all, the prestige of the Western Liang's fierce tiger was something that made Hua Xiong's heart tremble with fear, and he was even more wary of Qiu Shui. Thinking back to the cold and indifferent gaze that had regarded him as if he were already dead, Hua Xiong felt a chill in his heart.