Three Kingdoms: I, Yuan Shu, Loyal Officials of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 347 Usurping the Han Dynasty and Seizing the Country!

The light of the Azure Dragon Blade reflected off the tattered armor, revealing the enemy's blood splattered on his robes.

With righteousness as their weapon and loyalty as their soul, they are ready to fight to the death.

What a bloody battle! What a marquis of Hanshou! Even those who came before him, one after another, became his victims.

However, human strength has its limits. As time went by, even though Guan Yu could still hold on with the successive attacks of the Trapped Camp, how could his personal guards withstand such an offensive? They fell one after another.

As the number of guards around him decreased, the pressure Guan Yu had to face alone increased. If he could not fight against so many opponents, that would be the time for Guan Yu to be defeated and killed.

However, in this desperate, all-out offensive, Li Jun's army was also being constantly depleted.

This sudden attack, which aimed to slay generals, raise flags, and take heads from thousands of troops, seems to have completely transformed into a bloody battle of attrition between the two sides.

It remains to be seen whether Guan Yu will be the first to succumb to the pressure and be overwhelmed by the unity of the people rallied by Li Jun's righteous cause.

Or perhaps Guan Yu, with his Green Dragon Crescent Blade, utterly crushed the fear of those temporarily misled by Li Jun and blinded by loyalty and righteousness, completely shattering Li Jun's illusory reputation for righteousness.

However, the two sides fought fiercely, neither willing to back down even slightly, which greatly worried Cao Cao, who was watching the battle from afar on the command platform.

Cao Cao: “???”

What's going on? Didn't Yun Chang say that Li Jun was just a gatekeeper, and that killing him would be as easy as taking something out of a bag?

But what's going on here?
Before Guan Yu took to the field, this surprise force, though it broke into the enemy formation and disrupted Cao Cao's army, was ultimately surrounded and bogged down in a quagmire. Although it was troublesome, it couldn't cause much of a stir.

The reason for inviting Guan Yu was simply to deal with this army more quickly, so as to prevent it from dragging on and colluding with Yuan Shao's army in the camp.

But now, why did Yun Chang's visit have the opposite effect?
Yun Chang, what heinous crime did you commit over there that angered both heaven and man?
Why did this army suddenly become so brave and fearless, and in a short time drive back all the Cao army that surrounded them?

Instead, they surrounded and killed you, Yun Chang, and it looks like your personal guards are almost all killed.

Is this what you meant by "taking your head from ten thousand troops"? Ten thousand troops coming at you to take your own head?

Cao Cao was ashamed!

He was so anxious that he broke out in a cold sweat. After all, he was watching from such a distance and had no idea that Guan Yu's Green Dragon Crescent Blade was so powerful that no one could withstand its blade. It had also caused Li Jun to be terrified and his men to suffer heavy losses.

From afar, Cao Cao could only see that most of Guan Yu's personal guards had been killed or wounded. If he did not rush to his aid, would his Yun Chang be lost there?
"Quickly! Send the order! Rescue Yun Chang at once!"

Who is the commander of Cao Cao's army over there? How dare he remain inactive and attempt to trap Guan Yu in a deadly situation?

As the messenger relayed the message back and forth, a report soon arrived.

"Reporting to the Prime Minister."

The enemy is fierce and fearless. Cao Cao's army has been fighting them to this day, and has suffered more than 20% casualties.

Therefore, the soldiers were afraid and dared not go forward.

Several lieutenants had already led their troops in several charges, attempting to enter the fray to rescue General Guan, but the enemy soldiers were all men of righteousness and selflessness, shouting: "We are determined to charge into battle, even at the cost of our lives!" They were willing to exchange their lives with ours.

Our soldiers, fearing for their lives, were unable to advance into the enemy lines. Several junior officers, left with no other choice, had to remain on the outer flank to support General Guan.

"what?"

Cao Cao seemed to have heard a huge joke: "Our army is all afraid of death and cannot advance into the battle."

"Did I establish a merit-based military system for them and give them so many rewards so that they would cherish their lives?"

The soldier lowered his head, though he wanted to retort: ​​"No matter how high your rank or how great your wealth and honor, you still need to be alive to enjoy them."

If you were to run into a group of lunatics shouting about their determination to fight to the death, wouldn't you be afraid to go up against them?

That's why General Guan was surrounded and killed by them; otherwise, he might have escaped.

But the soldier remained silent, only bowing his head repeatedly.

A cold glint appeared in Cao Cao's eyes as he gave the order:
"Quickly dispatch troops from all units to provide assistance, and spare no effort to rescue Yun Chang."

"Are you out of your mind?"

He chuckled coldly, "A group of people from Qi who have nothing left can only fight desperately."

But do you think you can defeat my entire army of 100,000 just by risking your life?

As he spoke, he gestured with his eyes for the soldier to relay the order.

"Temporarily halt the offensive against Yuan's camp, and quickly dispatch Wei Yan with troops to reinforce them, so as to completely quell this rebellion."

Since they're so reckless, I'll see how many lives they have left to pay for it!

"only."

With Cao Cao's order, more of Cao's troops were transferred, and Li Jun's pressure suddenly increased. He had to withdraw more troops to resist Cao's army outside, which finally allowed Guan Yu, who had been fighting fiercely all this time, to catch his breath.

However, this period of good fortune was short-lived. Just as Cao Cao ordered the mobilization of more troops to deal with Li Jun first, news soon arrived that a large number of Yuan troops had broken out of their camp.

Clearly, they had learned of the arrival of reinforcements and planned to launch a coordinated attack from within and without.

Cao Cao was prepared for this and had ordered Xu Huang to lead his troops to switch from offense to defense, occupying the layers of Yuan army camps that had been breached earlier, in order to delay the enemy.

But the second message he received next caused Cao Cao's expression to change drastically.

"Report!

Reporting to the Prime Minister, another army has arrived ten miles away, carrying a banner with the character "Han" written on it.

"Chinese?"

Cao Cao's expression changed drastically; how could he not be horrified?

With the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty right here, who else would dare to display the banner with the character "Han"? It goes without saying.

But wasn't he attacking the State of Qi? How could it be so fast!
Cao Cao suppressed his fear and hurriedly asked:

How many troops have arrived?

Answer:

I don't know.

Prime Minister, we can only see banners covering the sky and black armored soldiers stretching across the mountains and plains ten miles away. We can't see the end of them at a glance. How can we count them?

Their armor gleamed in the sun, and they surged forward like a tidal wave, their battle chilling to the bone. Their cries to the heavens and earth shook incessantly; how could one possibly count their numbers?

Banners filled the sky, obscuring the sun?

Black armor covers the mountains and plains?

An army that stretches as far as the eye can see!

Cao Cao felt his liver and gallbladder shatter. Could it be that Yuan Gonglu was truly waging a war with the entire nation at stake, as stated in the proclamation: "He has dispatched 830,000 troops, vowing to destroy me?"

The thought of this overwhelming force made Cao Cao's vision blur. Although his heart was already ice-cold, he forced himself to remain calm and uttered only two words:
"Ming Jin!"

"Zheng! Zheng! Zheng!"

As the sound of the gong resounded across the land, Cao Cao's troops, who had been fighting everywhere, all lined up and retreated.

Even Guan Yu, who had finally been rescued from the encirclement by Wei Yan after breaking through the enemy lines and was about to seek revenge on Li Jun, was caught in the crossfire.

He could only take a deep look at the more than 800 guards lying in pools of blood around him, and then, with the remaining hundred or so men, he left with resentment.

Li Junze collapsed to the ground, staring blankly at the mountains of corpses and seas of blood around him. What a bloody battle!

Of the 600 who charged into battle, 400 died. Of the more than 12,000 Qi troops he brought from Xuzhou, only 5,000 remained.

In fact, if they hadn't been surrounded and killed by the troops mobilized by Cao Cao, they would have had no way to retreat and nowhere to escape.

His noble spirit of facing death without fear had long been shattered by the stark losses of war.

On the battlefield, there was no crying, no joy. They were all like Li Jun, staring blankly at everything around them, as if they still couldn't believe that they had survived.
Only the banner of "Invincible Vanguard General" still stands tall, fluttering amidst the mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

On the other side, Cao Cao hurriedly reorganized his army, determined to escape back to the pass before Yuan Shu's army arrived, or all would be lost.

Only after taking stock of the battle losses did they realize that nearly eight thousand of Cao Cao's troops had been killed in the battle, despite the large number of soldiers surrounding and attacking Li Jun's group.

Although most of your troops were tied down by Yuan's army in the camp, you tens of thousands of men surrounded and killed ten thousand of them, yet you suffered more than ten percent casualties.
Seeing this casualty ratio, Cao Cao finally understood why his army was afraid to advance.

Adding to the losses suffered in the past ten days of attacking cities and breaking through strongholds, and besieging Yuan's army, the 100,000 men he brought with him have dwindled to just over 80,000.

The original plan was to annihilate Yuan Shu's army outside the pass before Yuan Shu arrived, thus cutting off one of Yuan Shu's arms.

Now, it's a mess. We don't even know if Yuan Shu's arm is broken, but I'm already suffering from various injuries.

The crucial point is that Yuan Shu also came!

Even if some soldiers were lost in battle, as long as the generals and troops outside the city were captured and Yuan Shu's camp and stronghold were dismantled, the strategic objective would be achieved, and it would not be a loss.

The problem is that Yuan Shu arrived too quickly. Cao Cao had to fight a bloody battle outside the city for half a day, only to end up with nothing. When he saw Yuan Shu coming, he could only slink back.

But it shouldn't be.

Even if the State of Qi was weak, it was still a province.

I've only been fighting Yuan's army here for over ten days, how come Yuan Shu has arrived?
Even if conquering cities and seizing territories takes no time, you can't expand your territory this quickly!

Was Lü Bu a useless piece of trash?
Or did he withdraw all of Qi's troops to attack my Yanzhou, and then give you the entire Xuzhou for free?

At this time, Cao Cao was of course unaware that all of this was due to a time lag. Because intelligence transmission was slow, and without intelligence, the enemy situation was unclear, and the army dared not move rashly.

In contrast, Yuan Shu had taken precautions before launching his attack. Before Lü Bu could even launch his backstabbing, he had already almost finished defeating the Qi Kingdom.

This led to the situation where, when Cao Cao received news from Xuzhou that Yuan Shu was attacking Qi and was preparing to take advantage of the opportunity to attack the Han army outside the city, he was caught off guard.

In reality, Yuan Shu had already finished fighting in Xiapi and was preparing to wrap things up in Langya.

One step behind means falling behind at every step. Yuan Shu always took the lead in military operations, while Cao Cao was still waiting to ascertain the enemy's situation before he could launch an attack. How could Cao Cao possibly keep up with Yuan Shu's blitzkrieg strategy?
When Yuan Shu arrived with his 150,000-strong army, he found only a dilapidated camp. Outside the camp, Lu Xun, Yang Hong, Taishi Ci, Xiahou Dun, and others came to pay their respects.

After taking stock of the troops, it was discovered that the Yuan army had also suffered losses during the more than ten days of fighting. Currently, there are still more than 40,000 troops remaining in the camp. When they join Li Jun, the total number will reach 50,000.

Thus, the two forces joined together, forming a total of 200,000 troops, who all marched to Huanyuan Pass and besieged the city.

Yuan Shu ascended the Great Han Dragon Banner, rode in a six-horse chariot, wore the jade seal at his waist, and donned a robe with a five-clawed golden dragon. He stood under a colorful canopy, gazing up at Huanyuan Pass.

Cao Cao also led his army back to the pass, where they stood ready for battle, looking around from the top and bottom of the pass.

Their eyes met; this was the first time the two had met since the alliance at Suanzao in the past, when the eighteen warlords attacked Dong Zhuo.

Yuan Shu chuckled softly, looked at Cao Cao, and asked with his hand on his sword:

"Traitor to the nation!"
They held the emperor hostage and commanded the feudal lords; those who obeyed prospered, and those who resisted perished.

Cao Cao, did you ever think of this day?
Blood flowed on the imperial steps before the Luoyang Palace, and relatives of the emperor died in the emperor's palace.

This blood feud runs deep!
If I do not report this, I will have failed as a subject of the Han Dynasty!

Cao Cao: “???”

Ruwen, do people say it?
You, a member of the Yuan family, what kind of blood feud are you trying to avenge for the Han Dynasty?
Was he unworthy to be a Han official?

But you are not a Han official at all!
You keep calling me "Imperial" all the time, do you have any shame?
You call me a traitor? That's truly laughable!

I've only ever heard of the pot calling the kettle black, never of the pot calling the kettle black.

Cao Cao was so angry he gritted his teeth and sneered repeatedly.

"Highway, you've already acted it out!"

Open your eyes and look at the robe you're wearing, and the mark on your waist!
The emperor sits beneath you, his banner bears the true dragon flag, and the "Great Han" banner fluttering above your head is proof of your treason!
Each and every matter should be taken seriously.

All the officials, the emperor's relatives, and scholars from all over the land are watching with open eyes!

"Look at you, you traitorous usurper!"

As he spoke, he raised his sword high and angrily pointed it at the banner of the Han chancellor on the city wall.

"To hold the emperor hostage and command the feudal lords?"

The mighty Han Dynasty is in decline!

Ask anyone in the nine provinces of this world: if it weren't for my efforts to maintain order, how many of you usurpers would obey the Emperor's commands?

The Han Dynasty was in decline!

It was only because I pacified the Central Plains and welcomed the Emperor that the last banner of the Han Dynasty was kept standing, preventing you traitors from usurping the throne!
You use this as an excuse to unjustly claim the title of King of Han, but all your talk of loyalty and righteousness is utter nonsense!
Today they invade the Central Plains, feigning to serve the emperor, but they are unwilling to be kings; they come to do the emperor's work!

He laughed as he looked up at the sky, glared angrily at Yuan Shu below the city, and rebuked him:

"Yuan Gonglu!"

If you are truly loyal and virtuous, then the emperor is in Luoyang!

"Dare you lay down your armor and surrender, to serve in the same imperial palace?"

Yuan Shu's expression suddenly turned cold as he stared at Cao Cao on the city wall, then suddenly let out a sneer.

He slowly took out a blood-stained imperial edict, its words righteous and stern.

"They control the court and bully the young emperor!"
They formed factions, suppressed dissent, and executed loyal officials of the Han dynasty!

The walls of Luoyang are piled high with white bones, upon which are the names of loyalists.

Your evil deeds will be recorded in the annals of history, and the emperor will issue a blood edict to the feudal lords!
Cao Cao, today I am heading north to cross the Han River, and this belt serves as my edict.

A thief who steals the country, stop pretending to be a loyal minister!

"Treasonous traitor!"
You're quite the smooth talker!

If the Emperor had not personally informed me that I had never written an edict in the belt, who in the world could have seen through it all? You are the chief culprit who overthrew the Han Dynasty!

A forged imperial edict serves as your puppet, while I am but a knife in your hand!

With the blood of this Han official, in the name of righteousness, offer my head as a sacrifice to prove your loyalty!
No wonder he came from a family that had held high office for four generations; he is a loyal and virtuous man of the Han Dynasty!
The truth will eventually come out, and your treacherous schemes will be exposed!

Yuan Gonglu!
If you can keep pretending, then keep pretending until the world is unified. At that time, the emperor will sit in the court and the King of Han will stand beside him.

I want to see if you, a loyal and virtuous man, will be fit to be the emperor of the Han Dynasty!

"It's all just pointless verbal sparring; let's see who's truly capable with their hands!"
"Cao Cao, the fate of this empire rests on who rules today!"

"Ha, traitor who usurped the Han throne!"

"Hmph, a usurper of the country!"

(End of this chapter)