Chapter 80: Deploying Troops! Punishing the Rebels!

  Cao Cao looked at Yuan Shao's hesitant eyes, then scornfully said: "Benchu, now the people that Lü Bu and others rely on are all cavalry under our command, while the infantry defending the city have been fighting at Tiger Trap Pass for many days and are already exhausted. On the other hand, we still have 200,000 elite soldiers waiting to be deployed, full of spirit and vigor. Moreover, with the heavy rain from heaven, the morale of our soldiers is high."

  Cao Cao paused, looked around at the various lords, and sneered: "Besides, with the heavy rain pouring down and the muddy roads, how much of their cavalry's strength can they actually utilize? Now that we have the advantage of heaven, earth, and man on our side, why not engage in battle?"

  Bang! Yuan Shao slammed his hand on the table and roared: "Meng De is right, now that we have the advantage of heaven, earth, and man, how can we be as timid as a mouse and wait for them to leave?"

  Fight! Fight! Fight!

  The numerous vassals who had heard Cao Cao's words all responded with high morale.

  The roar from the tent spread around, and the soldiers who heard it all responded with high morale: "War! War!" In an instant, one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand, the entire vast camp erupted in a thunderous roar.

  Fight! Fight! Fight!

  The thunderous roar outside the camp suddenly startled the lords inside, who rushed out to see what was happening. When the various lords came out and took a look, they were shocked beyond measure.

  "Good! Good! Good! The morale is usable!" Yuan Shao, seeing the scene at this time, excitedly shouted three good voices, and instantly drew out the precious sword from his waist, pointing to the sky, and roared: "All generals, today assist us, not assist Dong, tomorrow the army will set off for Luoyang, and wipe out the rebels!"

  Exterminate bandits! Exterminate bandits! Exterminate bandits!

  The soldiers heard Yuan Shao's words and excitedly patted their weapons, shouting in unison the two words "Exterminate the rebels". The roar of tens of thousands of people directly dispersed the cloud layer in the sky, and its momentum was overwhelming!

  Thirty miles away, Autumn Water and Lü Bu were also startled by the roar from afar in Tiger Trap Pass. They narrowed their eyes when they saw that all the soldiers' morale was low. After all, today's blow was really too great. Originally, victory was already within sight, but unexpectedly a heavy rain poured down, directly reversing the occupation, causing all the soldiers to lose morale and feel that heaven was helping the allied army.

  Lü Bu's iron face turned green as he saw some soldiers kneeling on the ground praying to heaven, and coldly spat out from his teeth: "Whoever disturbs my army's morale will be beheaded!"

  In an instant, several soldiers rushed out from behind him and charged to the front of several soldiers who were praying to the heavens. They pressed them down to the ground, directly pulled out the large knives in their hands, and with a "pu" sound! The heads fell to the ground, fresh blood slowly flowed out, wetting the earth.

  When all the soldiers were shocked by Lü Bu's decisiveness, Lü Bu turned his head with an ugly expression and looked towards Qiū Shuǐ, only to find that Qiū Shuǐ still had a smile at the corner of her mouth.

  Lü Bu walked up to Qiu Shui with a hint of anger in his heart, clasped his fists and said, "My lord, as the morale of our troops is low, I had no other choice but to take matters into my own hands and execute the soldiers who disobeyed orders. I hope you can forgive me!" After saying this, Lü Bu surprisingly swept his sleeve and knelt down on one knee.

  Qiu Shui quickly pulled up Lü Bu, who was clearly apologizing, but the tone of his words Qiu Shui could not help but hear. At this time, the morale of the army was low and depressed, and Lü Bu was already on the verge of being worried to death. Now, he saw that Qiu Shui, as the leader of the army, did not have any reaction at all, how could his heart be relieved?

  "I am laughing at the high morale of the Allied soldiers, not mocking you, General."

  Lü Bu was even more perplexed by Qiu Shui's response, and he couldn't understand why the enemy's morale was so high. Lü Bu racked his brains but still couldn't figure out what Qiu Shui was thinking, so he waved his hand and asked: "My lord, what does it mean?"

  Qiu Shui smiled slightly and said: "Can you understand Dong Zhuo's temperament?"

  Lü Bu heard the nonsensical words of Qiu Shui, was speechless, but still nodded slightly.

  "Chancellor, nowadays greed has become second nature! Emotions are unpredictable!" At this time, Xu Ronghua and others walked to the front after seeing Lv Bu's conversation with Qiushui, Xu Rong lowered his head and pondered Qiushui's words for a moment before raising his head and saying to Qiushui.

  Qiu Shui nodded slightly, "Not bad, now the Prime Minister is greedy by nature, and now Tiger Trap has fallen into the hands of the Allied Army, while the wealth in Luoyang City has not been withdrawn yet. What do you think the Prime Minister will do?"

  Everyone seemed to understand something after hearing Qiu Shui's words. Lü Bu's face lit up with joy, and he said to Qiu Shui: "The lord means..."

  Xu Rong listened and did not rejoice like others, but calmly thought for a moment and said: "Your Excellency, although the Prime Minister is greedy, compared to worrying about his life, I think the Prime Minister will not choose to fight to the death with the allied army!"

  Xu Rong's words were like a basin of cold water poured over everyone's heads, and for a moment, everyone's eyes turned to Qiushui with questioning gazes.

  Qiu Shui smiled coldly and said, "Don't worry, I will let the Prime Minister choose."

  At this time, in Luoyang City, Dong Zhuo of Chang'an, who was already preparing to move the capital, received a letter from the soldiers under the Autumn Water Tent.

  Dong Zhuo finished reading the letter in his hand and fiercely threw it to the ground, furiously roaring: "You rebel, I will surely kill you!"

  At this time, Li Ru carefully picked up the letter that Dong Zhuo had thrown to the ground and examined it closely. At the same time, his face showed an abnormal color, and beads of sweat continuously slid down from his forehead.

  When Li Ru finished reading the contents of the letter, he hastily walked to Dong Zhuo's side and shouted: "Your Excellency, now we must rush to rescue Hu Lao, if not, we are in danger!"

  Bang! Dong Zhuo's thick and heavy arm slammed onto the table, furiously roaring: "How could I not know? It's all because of this rebellious traitor's evilness! How detestable!"

  The original letter reads: "Taishi dear, I and Fengxian have received your order to prepare to return immediately. However, we have discovered that Xu Rong and Hua Xiong are secretly resentful of you for ignoring their past contributions. They plan to open the gates and surrender as soon as our army withdraws, and then the enemy will take advantage of the situation and launch a surprise attack. Our army is outnumbered and will surely suffer heavy losses. Xu Rong and Hua Xiong are deeply respected in the army, so we dare not act rashly. We hope that you can lead the army to come and quell the rebellion as soon as possible. Autumn Water dear."

  Originally, in the letter from Qiu Shui, it was mentioned that Xu Ronghua and others were not willing to be abandoned by Dong Zhuo and sent to their deaths. They had secretly defected to the enemy. As a veteran of Xiliang, Xu Rong had many supporters under his command, and more than half of the troops in Guanzhong were under his control. After Qiu Shui discovered this, he did not dare to make it public, but instead discussed it with Lü Bu and tightly grasped the military power in his hands, quickly dispatching soldiers to report to Dong Zhuo.

  Once the Tiger Trap falls, the morale of the allied army will be greatly boosted, and with the addition of Xu Ronghua Xiong's Western Liang army, it will be like adding wings to a tiger. Even if Dong Zhuo moves to Chang'an, his military strength will be greatly reduced. In contrast, the allied army's strength has not decreased but increased, and many Western Liang soldiers have been added to their camp. Once the news of Dong Zhuo abandoning Xu Rong and others spreads throughout the army, the morale will be shaken, how can they defend Chang'an?

  Fortunately, Qiu Shui and others were vigilant and did not tear their faces with Xu Ronghua and others. Pretending to be unaware of the discussion with Lü Bu, they refused to give up the soldiers in Guanzhong and decided to defend Hu Lao Pass firmly. At the same time, secretly sent people to ask Dong Zhuo for help, quickly send troops to support Hu Lao, and take control of Xu Rong's military power.

  Dong Zhuo followed Li Ru's advice and led 50,000 Western Liang cavalrymen and 100,000 infantrymen to rush to Tiger Trap Pass.

  Thanks to [I am a bookworm] brother for the reward, I will try my best to write more words and store them up, so that they can be released in time. Thanks for everyone's support all along. There is still one chapter updated tomorrow afternoon.