Chapter Eighty-One: Dong Zhuo Arrives

  As for where these 100,000 infantrymen came from, it turned out that after Dong Zhuo and Li Ru returned to Luoyang, they raised their big knives at the major families in the city of Luoyang, collecting countless gold, silver, and precious jewels from the families. They also obtained private soldiers from the major families, totaling 100,000 men. When Dong Zhuo found out, he was overjoyed that his people had acted quickly. If not, these 100,000 private soldiers would have caused chaos in Luoyang, and Dong Zhuo's forces were still at Tiger Trap Pass. At that time, wouldn't Luoyang have been retaken by the counterattacking families?

  The iron cavalry, like a burst dam, surged out of Luoyang City in waves, frightening the people inside, wondering who Dong Zhuo would lead his troops to attack this time.

  Report! A soldier hastily rode a war horse to the front of Yuan Shao and other lords, pulled the reins tightly, and the horse stopped immediately, showing its exquisite riding skills. After dismounting, he quickly knelt on one knee and shouted to Yuan Shao.

  "Report! Lord of the Alliance, a large number of enemy tracks have been discovered ahead!"

  Yuan Shao's eyes burst out with a fierce glow after hearing this, and he suddenly roared at the rest of the crowd: "Everyone, the time to make achievements is now!"

  "In the beginning, the Western Liang army had been fighting for a long time and was already exhausted. We must quickly dispatch troops!" Cao Cao hastily said to Yuan Shao after hearing the report from the scout horse.

  "Yes! Let's overthrow these treacherous vassals at once." The other vassals responded in unison.

  Yuan Shao's spirit was high as he surveyed his surroundings, then shouted: "The entire army will advance at full speed!"

  Qiu Shui and others also received the scout's report, the eighteen vassals' army in front accelerated their advance, while Dong Zhuo's troops had already arrived from behind, and for a time, the faces of all the generals were filled with solemnity.

  Lü Bu's eyes were filled with a serious gaze as he clasped his hands together and said to Cao Cao, "Your Excellency, if we are not careful now, we will be attacked from both sides!"

  Qiu Shui heard and would not have known Lü Bu's worries, but in the march to war, who has a hundred percent guarantee to dare say that he must win? Qiu Shui looked around at the four weeks, all with solemn worried faces, and said coldly: "Everyone, victory or defeat is just this one move!"

  "Lu Bu, take orders!"

  "I'll take him down!" Lü Bu bellowed in a majestic and powerful voice.

  "Let Gongxian lead the 30,000 iron cavalry to lure the Allied Forces far away and make them march towards the direction of the Taishi army. Remember! Do not let the enemy discover the truth!" Qiu Shui instructed Lü Bu with a serious face.

  "We'll get the order at last!" With that, Lü Bu's eyes filled with a fierce intent as he swung his halberd.

  Iron cavalry soaring, Dong Zhuo personally led his flying bear army and tens of thousands of elite iron cavalry galloping on the ground, issuing wave after wave of rumbling sounds.

  "Report! General Taishi, an unidentified large army has been spotted approaching us from the front!"

  Dong Zhuo raised his hand and signaled, and instantly the neighing of countless war horses stopped. Tens of thousands of troops marching in formation suddenly came to a halt, revealing that Dong Zhuo's army was a well-trained elite force.

  Li Ru looked at Dong Zhuo, whose face was filled with a serious expression, and saw a hint of worry in his eyes. Li Ru sighed inwardly, the Grand Tutor was no longer the same as the old Dong Zhuo of Xiliang, he had already become timid before the battle!

  "My son-in-law, what should we do now?" The majestic Dong Zhuo in his golden armor asked Li Ru with a worried look.

  Li Ru looked at the now obese Dong Zhuo in front of him, and thought back to the Dong Zhuo he knew in Xiliang. The two faces that were once so similar now seemed like those of two different people. He let out a quiet sigh, then turned to Dong Zhuo with a cold tone: "My lord need not be anxious, order our scouts to reconnoiter again and find out whose large army is ahead, while our own army will keep their blades at the ready, prepared for battle at any moment."

  "Good! Good! Good!" Dong Zhuo immediately ordered the army to rest in place and sent out countless scouts to investigate.

  "Report! My lord, a large army has been spotted ahead, all bearing the banner of Dong Zhuo!" A scout rushed to report urgently to Yuan Shao and the others.

  Yuan Shao's face flashed with a hint of joy, and he immediately said coldly: "Good, we should launch a full-scale attack to destroy them!"

  "Start slowly!"

  Yuan Shao had just ordered the army to advance at full speed when someone raised an objection. A look of dissatisfaction flashed in his eyes, and then he saw that it was his childhood friend Cao Cao who was questioning him. He suppressed the dissatisfaction in his heart and asked: "What instruction does Mengde have?"

  Cao Cao saw the dissatisfaction flashing in Yuan Shao's eyes and hastily retreated, thinking to himself that this young Yuan Shao really treated others as his subordinates, ordering them around. Although he felt a surge of discontent, he didn't show any signs of it on his face. This shows that Cao Cao was able to defeat Yuan Shao in history because of his cunning nature.

  "In the beginning, we were tracking down Lü Bu and others, but unexpectedly, we found an army with a large banner bearing the character 'Dong'. Isn't this suspicious?"

  Yuan Shao's face showed a moment of hesitation, and then his eyes turned to the other lords. The other lords all lowered their heads in contemplation due to Cao Cao's words.

  Sun Jian stood up at this time, his eyes fixed firmly and said: "The alliance leader, we formed an alliance to plot against Dong Zhuo, not Autumn Water and Lü Bu. If the front is Dong Zhuo, we will destroy him directly. Autumn Water and Lü Bu are like tigers who have lost their nest, what's there to fear!"

  The other lords heard Sun Jian's words and suddenly realized, Ah, we originally came to punish Dong Zhuo, not to punish Lü Bu of the Autumn River. If it was really Dong's villain in front, wouldn't that be just right?

  "Gentlemen, don't be careless. Have you all forgotten the great fire at Tiger Trap Pass?" Cao Cao shouted in a hurry as he saw everyone nodding in agreement.

  Hiss! When they heard Cao Cao's words, the faces of all the vassals flashed with a hint of fear. Lü Bu and others were not only brave and good at fighting, but also unmatched in using troops, with many cunning tricks up their sleeves. The scenes before Tiger Trap Pass still seemed to be unfolding before their eyes.

  At this time, visible in the air, Dong Zhuo's army and Yuan Shao's eighteen vassals were like two banks, while a group of people hid in a cluster of trees on one side, three forces, for a moment seemingly balanced, without any movement.

  "My lord, I have led the allied army to a place not far from Taishi's great army, but unfortunately both armies have not moved. I don't know what to do?" Lü Bu asked, having completed the order given by Qiu, and seeing that things had not gone as he had hoped in his heart, he walked up to Qiu and asked.

  At this time, Qiū Shuǐ's heart was also racing with anxiety. Things were not going as smoothly as he had hoped, and it seemed that the cycle space did not want him to complete his task easily. How detestable! No matter how anxious Qiū Shuǐ felt in his heart, his face remained unchanged. It was because at this moment, the large army led by Qiū Shuǐ did not have a stable rear, and once the commander panicked, the morale of the entire army would instantly collapse. Qiū Shuǐ's desire to complete the cycle space's task was simply a foolish dream.

  Just as the three parties were holding back, several armored soldiers sneaked out of the woods and looked around cautiously before running towards Dong Zhuo's army.

  PS: Thanks to [Da Shen ^ Meteor] for the reward, today's two updates are done, and I won't ask for clicks in the next two days. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas! May you have fun playing and work smoothly!