Sun Jian had killed Dong Zhuo's subordinate, Hu Zhen, and sent a soldier to report his victory. The few people present were overjoyed. Yuan Shao didn't ask about the matter of Yang Rui sending troops to the east. Instead, he summoned a group of feudal vassals to the tent for a discussion.
"This time, Sun Wentai has achieved victory at the start of the battle. Let's lead our troops and take advantage of this opportunity to launch a surprise attack and seize Hulao Pass in one fell swoop. With that, we will be able to capture that old thief Dong Zhuo!" Cao Cao suggested to Yuan Shao, Yang Rui and Qiao Mao before they even arrived at Yuan Shao's tent.
Although there were only four vassals present, Yuan Shao was the Alliance Master, Yang Rui was the Vice Alliance Master, and Qiao Mao was the initiator of the Alliance Master's Demand for Dong Zhuo. If these people reached an agreement, the other vassals would also agree.
To everyone's surprise, after Cao Cao spoke, Yuan Shao continued to ignore him. Not only that, but even Yang Rui, who had been proactively asking Yuan Shao to send troops, did not speak up. Qiao Mao was the same.
Cao Cao saw that the situation was somewhat abnormal. Although he did not know the exact reason, he did not say anything else. In truth, the reason Yang Rui did not agree with Cao Cao was that he had already sent troops to the east and west, so he was not in a hurry. As for Yuan Shao and Qiao Mao, they were more concerned about preserving their strength.
It just so happened that the other vassals had also arrived one after another, so no one said anything else. When the remaining seventeen vassals had all arrived and sat down, Yuan Shao then reported the news of Sun Jian's small victory to everyone.
"If anyone has any opinions, feel free to speak."
After hearing Yuan Shao's words, Cao Cao hesitated for a moment, but he still stood up and voiced his opinion.
"Alliance Master Yuan Benchu, Vice Alliance Master Blazing Sun, Lu Gong, Yuan Wei, Wen Jie … Sun Wentai has achieved a small victory at Hulao Pass. He killed Dong Zhuo's subordinate, Hu Zhen. It is only right that we, the feudal vassals, should do it in one go. If we take over Hulao Pass with thunderous methods, Luoyang Imperial City will be within our grasp. For this reason, I implore the two Alliance Chiefs and the various generals to immediately dispatch troops to Hulao Pass to avoid any complications! "
After Cao Cao got up, he greeted the various vassals present one by one. Only then did he reveal the idea of sending out troops, causing the various vassals to be stunned. They wondered why Cao Mende was so worried today. It was a good thing that Sun Wentai received news of victory from the frontlines, so it was reasonable for him to immediately send out his troops. Actually, the other vassals who arrived later didn't know that Cao Cao had already met with a soft rebuff …
"What Meng De said makes sense. That's how it should be!"
"If we can take down Hulao Pass in one go, the journey to Luoyang will be a smooth one. Why should we fear a mere Dong Zhuo?"
"That makes sense, that makes sense!"
“.....”
After hearing Cao Cao's words, more than half of the vassals muttered softly. They agreed with Cao Cao's idea of sending out troops. However, there were also a few vassals who did not express their opinions. This included Yuan Yi, Gongsun Zan, Yuan Shu, Ma Teng, Tao Qian, and the others. These people were either scheming and felt that there was still room for discussion, or they were people who acted according to Yuan Shao's mood. Of course, this included Tao Qian, the good guy who reacted a beat slower.
Yang Rui had a bad feeling about this. This was because the ones who agreed with Cao Cao the most were the various vassals in Shandong. Before this, almost all of them supported Yang Rui's decision to send out troops to Hulao Pass. Now, while they supported Cao Cao's words, they did not forget to shoot a glance at Yang Rui. The message they were sending could not be any clearer.
"All the vassals in Shandong feel that it's appropriate to send out troops to support Sun Wentai and take down Hulao Pass in one go. In my opinion, why don't we do this? Vice Alliance Master Blazing Sun will lead the various vassals in Shandong to go and assist Sun Wentai. What do you think?" Yuan Shao quickly said when he heard the discussion among the various vassals in the tent.
"Hmph! In that case, does Alliance Master Yuan Benchu still want to have a feast of sour dates and think that he is the rear army? "Yang Rui immediately said with a cold snort.
After Yuan Shao mentioned it, Yang Rui finally understood why he had a bad feeling about this. From the beginning to the end, it was mostly the various vassals in Shandong who supported him. Now that these vassals all agreed with Cao Cao's words, Yuan Shao happened to seize the opportunity. He immediately wanted Yang Rui to lead these vassals to Hulao Pass.
Of course, Yang Rui would not easily agree to this. Although Yang Rui was the one who strongly advocated sending out troops in the beginning, it was a completely different concept. Back then, Yang Rui wanted the various vassals to station themselves near Hulao Pass. It was very different from just a few vassals sending out troops now.
If Yang Rui were to lead the various vassals in the south, he would have to directly face the generals guarding Hulao Pass in Dong Zhuo's camp. How could people like Hua Xiong and Lu Bu be so easy to deal with? It was even inevitable that he would suffer heavy losses. Yang Rui was not willing to be labeled so easily and bear the responsibility of not being a good commander.
"You! How dare you slander this Alliance Master! "
Yuan Shao once again experienced Yang Rui's fierce words. At this moment, he was already so angry that he was fuming with anger. However, Yang Rui had hit his soft spot. For a moment, he could not effectively defend himself or counterattack. He could only firmly believe that Yang Rui was slandering him.
"When have I ever slandered Great Alliance Master Yuan? Hasn't Alliance Master spent the past few days like this? Haha … Haha … "Yang Rui knew that he had completely offended Yuan Shao. At this moment, he did not care too much about it. He brought out Yuan Shao's previous inaction. This immediately caused Yuan Shao to be speechless.
Fortunately, the other vassals also spoke up to persuade him. Only then did the atmosphere in the tent ease slightly. Yang Rui was not willing to say anything more.
In truth, whether it was Yuan Shao's unwillingness to send out troops or Yang Rui's unwillingness to be the frontline commander, most of the vassals present could guess some of the reasons. They believed that it was nothing more than him wanting to preserve his own strength.
Although the eighteen vassals were mighty and their total military strength was higher than the previous one, most of them were soldiers that were temporarily put together. The number was sufficient, but there was still a large gap between the ranks of the soldiers and Dong Zhuo's troops. This was the reason why the vassals were not very proactive.
If one were to talk about the individual strength of the soldiers, including Yang Rui's troops, Changsha Prefect Sun Jian's troops were still the strongest. They had the most high-ranking soldiers. Sun Jian's soldiers had experienced many real battles before this, including the suppression of Zero, the Guangxi bandits, and the subsequent killing of Jingzhou Provincial Governor Wang Rui and Nanyang Prefect Zhang Zi. Therefore, his troops were all veterans who had killed and fought along the way. This was also an important reason why Sun Jian's troops could achieve a small victory against a strong enemy like Dong Zhuo …
The vassals were in a stalemate for quite some time, unable to reach a consensus. They could only disperse. At this time, Yang Rui's navy soldiers and ships had also returned. Yang Rui ordered the navy soldiers to rest for a while. When night fell, he sent the remaining Fifth Grade warriors to board the ships. They set off once more with the navy soldiers, heading upstream toward Luoyang.
The next morning, Yuan Shao once again summoned the various vassals for a meeting. This time, for some unknown reason, Yuan Shao's attitude was much better. He was courteous to the various vassals and no longer displayed his previous sharpness.
"Everyone here is a hero of the present age. Since we have sworn an alliance to attack the renegade Dong Zhuo, we should work together to defeat the renegade Dong Zhuo. From today onwards, we will mobilize our troops and head toward Hulao Pass to meet the enemy!
However, the terrain in front of Hulao Pass is narrow, and we have a large number of soldiers. I would like to lead the troops and set up camp at Xingyang. Xingyang and Hulao Pass are very close to each other. We can take over the enemy's pass at any time. What do you think? "
For some reason, Yuan Shao's attitude changed quite a bit. Thus, the seventeen vassals present all agreed to Yuan Shao's proposal.
After that, Yuan Shao said that even if the seventeen vassals moved together, the number of soldiers was still too great. Thus, he assigned the southern vassals — Northern Ji Chancellor Bao Xin, Yan Province Governor Liu Dai, Dong County Governor Qiao Mao, Shanyang Province Governor Yuan Yi, Yu Province Governor Kong Lian, Xu Province Governor Tao Qian, and Chen County Governor Zhang Ji — to be led by Yang Rui. Yuan Shao himself would lead the remaining vassals and follow behind.
Yang Rui was not afraid that Yuan Shao would play any tricks. After all, when Yuan Shao made the arrangements, all the vassals were present. He would not go back on his words and cause dissatisfaction among the vassals. Therefore, Yang Rui ordered the vassals under his command to return to camp and prepare. Just after noon, Yang Rui took the lead and led the vassals in the direction of Xingyang City.
At this point, there was finally some movement in the plot against Dong Zhuo. This was especially so for the players in the vassals' allied forces. At this moment, they were very anxious. Hence, Yang Rui gave the order to allow the players to move freely and gather at Xingyang City.
Yang Rui even gave the players the freedom to explore Hulao Pass in advance. Naturally, this was greatly welcomed by the players. With this, the players who joined Yang Rui's vassals could finally be like the players who participated in the plot. They could freely kill the forces in Yang Rui's camp. At the same time, they could also participate in the vassal contribution points reward …
According to the marching speed of Yang Rui and the other vassals, they were much slower than Sun Jian's vanguard. The players who were the most enthusiastic at the front would probably be able to reach Xingyang City and even Hulao Pass in slightly more than a game day. However, the NPC soldiers in the vassal army at the rear would not be able to reach Xingyang City without two to three days of travel.
After the vassal army under the command of Yang Rui set off, he walked in front of the other vassals with the other seven vassals to show their concern for the soldiers.
When Yang Rui and the others walked in front of Chen County's Governor Zhang Miao's formation, a strong gust of wind suddenly blew. The Tooth Gate Flag in Zhang Miao's army was almost blown over. At this moment, a burly man grabbed the Tooth Gate Flag that was about to fall, causing everyone to exclaim in admiration.
"This boor's strength is extraordinary. He can actually hold the Tooth Gate Flag alone!"
"He's really strong!"
“.....”
The Tooth Gate Flag was the symbol of an army. It could not be easily tilted. However, the Tooth Gate Flag was very long and big. It could only be moved by the strength of several people. The scene just now could be said that the burly man had single-handedly held up the symbolic flag. It was truly an extraordinary strength. It was not something an ordinary person could do.
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