Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 346 Movie Emperor Lü Fengxian

mid-October.

Dong Zhuo launched a full-scale attack on Yuan Shu, who had illegally occupied Nanyang.

Either don't fight, or fight to the death—Dong Zhuo actually understood this principle very well.

Therefore, he planned to mobilize all his troops and eliminate Yuan Shu as quickly as possible.

In this campaign against Nanyang, Dong Zhuo appointed Hu Zhen as Protector-General (Commander-in-Chief of the Army), who led Dong Zhuo's own Liangzhou troops and, along with Lü Bu and Wu Kuang, first attacked Luyang and occupied the key road leading to Wan County.

Other troops will converge on Yin in Henan Province under Niu Fu's command.

As for Yuan Shu, after a series of skirmishes, he naturally knew that Dong Zhuo would definitely launch a large-scale attack. Although he didn't quite understand why Dong Zhuo would send troops to Nanyang in winter, now was not the time to consider the reasons.

Nanyang is a great place, much richer than Runan. Yuan Shu has just arrived and hasn't even settled in yet, so of course he's reluctant to leave immediately.

Yuan Shu then quickly summoned Sun Jian to Nanyang and ordered him to be stationed at the Luyang front to deal with Dong Zhuo.

At the same time, taking advantage of his recent victory, Yuan Shu ordered his troops to quickly move north and garrison Yangren City to increase their strategic depth.

……

Currently, besides his own troops, the most powerful military leaders in Dong Zhuo's army are Niu Fu and Hu Zhen.

Niu Fu was both the governor of Bingzhou and the military supervisor of the Sikong Mansion.

Li Jue, Guo Si, Zhang Ji, and others were military officers under the jurisdiction of the Sikong Mansion, and were currently under the control of Niu Fu.

Lu Bu, Wu Kuang, and other Bingzhou troops were under the command of Hu Zhen, as was Hua Xiong, the commander of Dong Zhuo's personal guard cavalry.

Although Lü Bu was granted the title of Left General of the Household and Marquis of a Township, his status in Dong Zhuo's army was only fifth, since after Zhang Liao left, Lü Bu only had about two thousand soldiers from Bingzhou under his command.

The top four leaders in Dong Zhuo's army were Niu Fu, Dong Min, Dong Huang, and Hu Zhen.

Niu Fu, Dong Min, and Dong Huang were all relatives of Dong Zhuo, so it was only natural that they held high positions, but Hu Zhen was different.

Hu Zhen's relationship with Dong Zhuo was similar to that of Jian Yong and Liu Bei. He led Dong Zhuo's Longxi local troops, which were Dong Zhuo's personal guards. Hua Xiong was the cavalry commander of this force and also the commander of his men's guards.

Dong Zhuo's fellow townsmen from Longxi were naturally used to monitor the Bingzhou troops... There were bound to be some who were close to him and some who were distant.

Hu Zhen had a typical local mentality, was rather xenophobic, and distrusted people from Bingzhou.

It's actually quite normal to have this kind of thinking; every state is like this, and the Bingzhou army doesn't really like the Liangzhou army either.

Dong Zhuo's central army had many soldiers from the capital region, who served as a lubricant between the Bingzhou and Liangzhou armies.

But this time, the lubricant wasn't there for the deployment.

Some are under Niu Fu's command and haven't arrived yet, while others have just suffered heavy losses and are unable to fight.

—The troops from the capital region were most familiar with the terrain of Henan and Nanyang, so Dong Huang sent them out to pursue Taishi Ci. As a result, they were defeated by Yuan Shu's troops, with nearly a thousand dead or wounded.

The defeated captain was named Dong Yue. He was a member of the Dong family of Longxi, but not a relative. He had limited military leadership skills, but he was loyal, obedient, and a good-natured person—perfect for mediating relationships within a team.

A defeated army is certainly not fit to go into battle again. Dong Yue, the defeated general, has already led his remaining troops back to Dong Huang to receive punishment and beatings.

Lu Bu was never happy to be controlled by Hu Zhen, and now that there was no lubricant, the Bingzhou soldiers and the Liangzhou soldiers were even less able to get along, and even their military campaigns were somewhat slow and hesitant.

The slow deployment of troops was not due to Lü Bu's deliberate delay, but rather because their garrisons were located far apart, and they were not mentally prepared for the expedition to Nanyang. Being temporarily reassigned to prepare supplies and provisions was indeed slower.

However, Hu Zhen, as the commander-in-chief, believed that Lü Bu was deliberately arrogant and rude, and that the Bingzhou soldiers were also very disobedient... In addition, Lü Bu had always posed the greatest threat to his position, so he was naturally extremely dissatisfied.

As for Lü Bu... he truly looked down on Hu Zhen.

The Bingzhou soldiers always regarded the Liangzhou soldiers as Qiang and Hu people—there were indeed a large number of Qiang people in the Liangzhou soldiers. Although these Qiang people were not the same as the miscellaneous Qiang people that Bingzhou had dealt with before, the Bingzhou people saw no difference between them.

As a result, the relationship between the two sides deteriorated considerably.

This time, Dong Zhuo appointed Hu Zhen as the main general to attack Luyang. Hu Zhen tried to take advantage of the seriousness of the battle to reorganize the troops... or rather, to suppress the Bingzhou troops.

Hu Zhen then ordered Lü Bu and Wu Kuang to lead the vanguard, and deliberately threatened them: "You have arrived late, causing our army to lose the initiative. If we do not win this battle quickly, one of you will be executed to maintain military discipline."

Lu Bu and his men were naturally very dissatisfied upon hearing this, as it was clear that they were going to use the Bingzhou soldiers as cannon fodder.

After discussing the matter, Lü Bu led his troops forward quickly, seemingly obediently becoming the vanguard.

In the evening, Hu Zhen led his main force to Guangcheng, which was twenty miles from Yangren City.

The vanguard general Lü Bu has sent word that Yuan Shu's troops have already entered Yangren.

Hu Zhen then ordered his troops to feed and graze in Guangcheng, and after resting, to advance at night and attack the city at dawn the next day.

However, just as Hu Zhen's army was preparing food, Lü Bu's general Hou Cheng rode back at full speed and reported to Hu Zhen: "There are not many enemy troops in Yangren City, so we can take this opportunity to attack the city. The vanguard is small and lacks weapons. I request that you, Commander, quickly attack the city and occupy Yangren, otherwise we will miss the opportunity once the enemy reinforcements arrive!"

The siege equipment was indeed in Hu Zhen's central army. Upon hearing this, Hu Zhen did not allow his troops to rest and marched into battle overnight.

A few miles outside Yangren City, they encountered Lü Bu's camp. Lü Bu explained to Hu Zhen, "We lacked weapons and equipment, which is why we were unable to attack the city earlier. The enemy has now sent reinforcements into the city, so it will be difficult to attack for the time being."

Hu Zhen's army was hungry, thirsty, and exhausted, and had no fortifications, so they had no choice but to set up camp and rest.

Since Lü Bu had rested outside the city during the day, he volunteered to be a night scout. Hu Zhen thought Lü Bu was quite sensible when it came to fighting...

At midnight, Lü Bu suddenly ordered his cavalry to make a commotion and shout, "Enemy attack!"

Many people also shouted for killing, or yelled battle cries like "Capture Hu Zhen alive!"

Hu Zhen's central army, unaware of the enemy's numbers, panicked and scattered. In the dead of night, with nothing to see, they abandoned their armor and fled.

After fleeing for about ten miles, Hu Zhen found that there were no enemy troops pursuing him. It was already dawn, so he returned to the outskirts of Yangren City, intending to retrieve his weapons and armor.

The garrison inside Yangren City was indeed small, but with Hu Zhen's troops fleeing, most of the siege supplies were destroyed, making a rapid siege impossible...

Hu Zhen originally planned to rebuild the baggage train, but at this time Sun Jian's troops did indeed arrive in Yangcheng as reinforcements.

There was no way to fight anymore, so Hu Zhen decided to retreat and ordered Lü Bu to cover the rear and block the enemy's pursuit.

Lu Bu's entire scheme was designed to kill Hu Zhen; how could he possibly cover the retreat?

Lu Bu's troops took a detour and traveled another route, sending another report: "Sun Jian's army is formidable. Although our troops fought to the death, we were unable to withstand the enemy's massive force..."

Sun Jian, of course, would not let such an opportunity pass him by. He immediately led his troops in pursuit and easily broke into Hu Zhen's central army.

Hu Zhen was already panicked when he received a report from Lü Bu that Sun Jian's army was powerful. Sun Jian's charge was indeed fierce, and as a result, Hu Zhen was thrown into chaos.

Hua Xiong, the commander of the central cavalry, managed to organize several hundred men and stabilize the battle amidst the chaos, but unfortunately, he encountered Sun Jian in pursuit.

Sun Jian killed Hua Xiong in battle and pursued him for twenty miles, all the way to Guangcheng.

Hu Zhen suffered a crushing defeat, and Dong Zhuo's local militia suffered heavy losses, with more than 2,000 soldiers killed or wounded. If auxiliary soldiers and laborers are included, the losses exceeded 6,000—almost all the laborers transporting supplies were unable to be evacuated.

Lu Bu didn't actually suffer any losses. After putting on an Oscar-worthy performance as Hu Zhen, he once again led his army to hold off Sun Jian at Guangcheng, this time truly covering the rear...

After receiving the battle report, Dong Zhuo cursed Hu Zhen as incompetent and immediately ordered Niu Fu to be appointed as commander, changing the strategy from offense to defense and reorganizing the defenses.

Lü Bu became the commander of the Guangcheng defense line, no longer subject to anyone's control. Dong Zhuo allowed Lü Bu to find an opportunity to defeat Yuan Shu on his own.

Now, Dong Zhuo and the officials of Luoyang will most likely miss the emperor's ancestral worship ceremony at Mount Tai, and Dong Bai will also be unable to be sent to Qingzhou. After all, Yuan Shu and Sun Jian's forces are already very close to Luoyang, and they cannot leave without defeating Yuan Shu.

After winning two consecutive battles, Yuan Shu transferred Zhang Xun, Ji Ling and other main forces of his troops to Luyang. Like Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shu also understood the principle of fighting to the death. Now that he had the upper hand and the initiative, he should increase the intensity of his attack.

The Nanyang area is embroiled in a large-scale tug-of-war, which is unlikely to end anytime soon.

(End of this chapter)