Sun Jian had sent out 30000 soldiers, but he only brought Huang Gai with him. The other two generals, Cheng Pu and Han Dang, remained in Ping County. They were in charge of guarding the city and mobilizing troops using ships. Due to the loss of Zu Mao some time ago, Sun Jian did not have enough generals.
At this moment, Sun Jian did not know that Dong Zhuo was busy moving the capital. The scouts he sent out only had a rough understanding of the area around Ping County. They also reported that a large number of Dong Zhuo's troops were stationed around Luoyang Imperial City and Yanshi County. However, Dong Zhuo was mobilizing his people and heading toward Luoyang for some unknown reason.
Therefore, Sun Jian's main purpose in bringing his troops out of Ping County was to probe Dong Zhuo's situation. If Dong Zhuo's defenses in Luoyang and Yanshi were very tight, Sun Jian could only continue to wait for reinforcements to arrive before taking action.
At the same time, Sun Jian was also considering whether he should head to Heyin County to meet up with Yang Rui, the vice leader, if he couldn't make a breakthrough along the way. Then, they could plot against Dong Zhuo together. Sun Jian only had one concern. As an "inhuman", the impression that Yang Rui left on Sun Jian was a little too strong. Back then, Yang Rui had almost taken away Yuan Shao's position as Alliance Leader!
Putting aside the fact that Sun Jian had some doubts about Yang Rui, his probing troops this time had brought great panic to Dong Zhuo. Dong Zhuo's troops had already discovered the activities of the Anti-Dong Alliance in the Beimang Mountains. Now that he sensed Sun Jian's troops rushing over, Dong Zhuo immediately thought that Sun Jian's army was about to invade. He hurriedly left behind Hu Zhen, Duan Meng, Wang Fang, and the other generals to guard Luoyang Imperial City while he quickly fled toward Hangu Pass.
This was probably the so-called "every bush and tree is an enemy soldier". The Anti-Dong Alliance that appeared in the Beimang Mountains were actually Yang Rui's troops. However, Dong Zhuo treated them as Sun Jian's vanguard. As a result, the ten advanced checkpoint blueprints that Yang Rui and Li Ru had agreed on would not be available for the time being.
As for Dong Zhuo's reaction … Of course, Li Ru also raised his doubts. He guessed that the troops that appeared around Beimang Mountain were likely Yang Rui's troops. Sun Jian's troops might not be able to take down Luoyang Royal City in one fell swoop. In fact, Li Ru had suggested to Dong Zhuo that they try to take down Ping County.
However, Dong Zhuo had completely rejected Li Ru, and this clearly showed how deep his fear of Sun Jian was! Dong Zhuo had been wary of Sun Jian for a long time. Dong Zhuo and Sun Jian had worked together during the suppression of the Western Liang rebels. At that time, because Dong Zhuo was rude and unreasonable and refused to accept military orders, Sun Jian had suggested to Sun Jian several times that Dong Zhuo should be killed. From then on, Dong Zhuo was quite afraid of Sun Jian.
At the same time, Dong Zhuo was also rather familiar with Sun Jian's strength, and this had always been a source of pressure for Dong Zhuo. Thus, Dong Zhuo's fear of Sun Jian had only grown stronger over time, resulting in Dong Zhuo's current reaction.
Dong Zhuo led Li Ru and the others out of Luoyang Royal City. Hu Zhen, Duan Meng, Wang Fang, and the other generals who had been left behind to guard Luoyang Royal City were also in low spirits. The moment Dong Zhuo left Luoyang, Hu Zhen and the other generals gathered almost all the soldiers in the vicinity of Luoyang Royal City into the city. They were prepared to defend Luoyang to the death, waiting for the troops at Hulao Pass, Gong County, and Yanshi County to retreat. They would also retreat to Hangu Pass.
Currently, the generals guarding Hulao Pass were Zhang Ji, Fan Chou, Xu Rong, and the others. Yanshi County and Gong County County still had Li Jue, Guo Si, Li Meng, Li Su, and the other generals stationed there. If Hu Zhen and the others worked together with this group of generals, it could be said that they would still be a powerful force.
Before Dong Zhuo left, he had given Hu Zhen and the others the mission to strictly defend Luoyang Royal City. After cooperating with the other three defenders, they could retreat to Hangu Pass. Thus, Hu Zhen and the others' actions were not wrong. Moreover, after Hu Zhen reorganized the army, Dong Zhuo still had more than 200,000 men in Luoyang Royal City. It shouldn't be too difficult for them to defend Luoyang Royal City for a few days.
However, the problem lay in the mentality of these defending generals. Hu Zhen and the others had followed Dong Zhuo for a long time, and their understanding of Sun Jian was not far from Dong Zhuo's. They were also filled with fear of Sun Jian's strength. Before the battle had even begun, they were already somewhat afraid!
On the other hand, when Sun Jian led his army near Luoyang, he discovered that there was no one around except for a mess. Not only were there no signs of Dong Zhuo's troops, but there wasn't even a single NPC civilian. All the villages and towns were empty, and all kinds of resources seemed to have vanished into thin air.
Thinking back to the reports of the scouts, Sun Jian immediately thought of a possibility. Thus, Sun Jian urged his troops to gallop toward Luoyang Royal City. After more than two hours of rapid travel, Luoyang Royal City appeared in the eyes of Sun Jian and the others. Moreover, along the way, Sun Jian and his troops didn't encounter any resistance. They didn't even see a trace of human habitation!
This undoubtedly made Sun Jian even more certain of his thoughts. Thus, he immediately led his troops toward Luoyang Royal City's northern gate — Hangu Gate. According to Sun Jian's judgment, it was very likely that Luoyang Royal City was also empty at this moment!
However, when the troops rushed to the Hangu Gate, Sun Jian's troops were stopped in their tracks by a rain of arrows from the city walls. This immediately overturned Sun Jian's previous judgment. However, Sun Jian wasn't too surprised. After frowning slightly in thought, the corners of his mouth faintly revealed a trace of a smile.
Next, Sun Jian still seemed to be very confident. He ordered his men to set fire to everything forty to fifty miles away from the Hangu Gate. Then, he led his troops to the east gate and east gate of Luoyang Royal City. However, these two city gates were still heavily guarded and heavily guarded!
After discovering this situation, the expression on Sun Jian's face seemed to become even more certain. He had his soldiers continue to set fire and smoke within the two city gates, using this to confuse the guards within the city. He himself continued to lead most of the soldiers in a roundabout manner towards Luoyang Imperial City's southern city gate.
Moreover, as they advanced, Sun Jian only sent two to three thousand men to approach Luoyang Royal City. The rest of his troops advanced from sixty to seventy miles away. Although Luoyang Royal City's walls were extremely tall, one could only see thirty to forty miles away. Thus, most of Sun Jian's troops couldn't be discovered by the guards in the city.
"Hmph! Dong Zhuo actually dares to deceive me? How can he hide from me, Sun Jian! "
When Sun Jian arrived near Hangu Gate, he discovered that Dong Zhuo had actually stationed quite a few troops at the city gate. This situation was slightly out of Sun Jian's expectations. However, he only thought for a moment. He prepared to gather his troops. Attack Hangu Gate!
At this moment, Huang Gai, who had come with Sun Jian, suggested, "General, it won't be too late to observe for a while longer."
Huang Gai was a general who had followed Sun Jian through many battles. Naturally, his relationship with Sun Jian was not ordinary. This could be seen from the way he spoke. It was precisely because of this that Sun Jian gave Huang Gai sufficient respect. He then ordered his three thousand men to retreat ten li away and wait for the city's reaction.
"Report! Sun Jian's banner has been discovered at Hangu Gate! "
Within Luoyang Royal City's Southern Palace, the messenger had already rushed in for the umpteenth time to report this news. In the past four hours, the messengers had reported the situation at the Valley Gate, the Upper East Gate, and the Middle East Gate one after another. They all claimed that the banners of Sun Jian's troops and Sun Jian himself had been found!
"What is Sun Wentai trying to do?" Hu Zhen seemed to be talking to himself.
After learning about Sun Jian's previous actions, Hu Zhen, Duan Meng, and Wang Fang, the three generals of Dong Zhuo's camp, gathered in Nangong Yu's study. They were prepared to discuss countermeasures to prevent Sun Jian from catching them off guard.
"Sun Jian has only been in Henan for two or three days. I don't think he can gather enough men. Now that Sun Jian's banners have appeared at the North Gate, East Gate, and South Gate, it must be a diversion tactic. Why don't we take advantage of the fact that the other side hasn't stabilized themselves yet? Why don't we first go out of the city and fight a few rounds to exhaust Sun Jian's strength?
Sun Jian doesn't have three heads and six arms. Right now, our city doesn't lack soldiers. If we send more soldiers, even Sun Jian won't be able to withstand it! Why should we hesitate? If you're worried about missing something, the two of you can defend the city. I'll lead the troops out of the city and charge! "
Seeing that Hu Zhen was hesitant, Wang Fang asked for a battle.
"Duan Meng thinks that we should focus on defending the city. No matter how much trouble Sun Jian makes, if we don't do anything, then no matter how brave Sun Jian is, won't he have no place to show his bravery?
Thus, why don't we defend the city and wait for the troops from Hulao, Gong County, and Yanshi to arrive? Then, we can retreat to the west of Hangu Pass. At that time, let alone Sun Jian, even if all the heroes of the eighteen armies come together, what can they do? "
Duan Meng also spoke up. However, he didn't agree with Wang Fang's plan to leave the city and fight. He believed that it was best to defend the city and wait for reinforcements.
"General Wang and General Duan's words are both reasonable, and my judgment coincides with General Wang's.
Although Sun Jian has set up many diversionary tactics, it can be assumed that not all of his troops have arrived. Why don't we go out of the city and fight? While exhausting the enemy's strength, we can also reduce Sun Jian's prestige. Otherwise, if we wait for Sun Jian's troops to arrive, we won't have many chances to fight even if we want to.
Moreover, we can't wait for the troops from Hulao, Gong County, and Yanshi alone. It can be assumed that these troops will need four or five days to arrive. At that time, if the heroes of Guan Dong follow us, we can't be sure if these troops will be able to meet up in time. That's why Hu Zhen thinks that it's best for us to leave a way out … "
Hu Zhen's words had already made his position clear. He also believed that they couldn't just sit and wait. Moreover, he believed that the simultaneous incidents at the city gates meant that only the troops from the east and north of the city were real. There had already been movement on North Mang Mountain a day or two ago, and they shouldn't have all retreated.
Only the south of the city was probably where Sun Jian had set up a small number of diversionary tactics. Although there were no movements outside Shangxi Gate and Guangyang Gate, it was either an open net or a large number of troops were lying in wait! Hence, Hu Zhen and Wang Fang ordered the mobilization of seventy to eighty thousand men and left Kaiyang Gate to meet Sun Jian's troops.
After Hu Zhen and Wang Fang left the city, Sun Jian's troops, who were originally ten miles away, retreated again and again, as if they were preparing to avoid battle. Their reaction was indeed in line with the two's previous thoughts. Hence, the two of them ordered their troops to follow closely behind, prepared for a great massacre.
However, after chasing for thirty to forty miles, they suddenly heard a series of hurried drum beats ahead. Sun Jian's twenty thousand troops suddenly flashed out and met Hu Zhen and Wang Fang's troops head-on. Hu Zhen and Wang Fang knew that there was an ambush, but seeing that the terrain ahead was flat and that the other party only had twenty to thirty thousand men, they didn't retreat immediately. Instead, they prepared to use the momentum of the charge to fight Sun Jian's troops head-on.
As soon as the battle started, Hu Zhen and Wang Fang were already regretting their decision. Sun Jian's troops seemed to be few in number, but they were all high level special forces. When their own troops met the enemy's troops, four to five of them couldn't do anything to one of them. The situation on the battlefield immediately became unfavorable for Hu Zhen's side.
From this, Hu Zhen and Wang Fang guessed that the enemy's troops might very well have a great general among them who had buffed their troops with support skills. Otherwise, even if Sun Jian's troops were all high level special forces and their own troops had the support of two great generals, the difference in strength between them and the enemy's troops wouldn't be so great.
"Kill! Who dares to fight with me?! "
Right at this moment, a general charged out from Sun Jian's troops. Hu Zhen and Wang Fang recognized this person. It was Sun Jian's great general — Huang Gai! Although Hu Zhen and Wang Fang were afraid, if they retreated now, it would destroy the morale of their troops. In this chaotic battle, their side would undoubtedly lose!
Hence, after exchanging a glance, Hu Zhen and Wang Fang pounced toward Huang Gai together, barely blocking his attack. However, they still couldn't gain any advantage.
"Are you trying to bully my Sun Jian's generals? Let's fight one on one! "
At this moment, Sun Jian also charged out from the midst of his troops like a tiger roaring. Immediately, Hu Zhen and Wang Fang's faces turned pale with fright …
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