Chapter 119 Hua Xiong Appears
Yuan Shao appointed Yuan Shu as the governor of grain and fodder, not intending to entrust him with an important task, but because he had other plans.
First, to appease Yuan Shu. After all, this guy is a true character. He was unhappy after Yuan Shao became the leader of the alliance. If he really quit and went home, this drama would be difficult to perform.
Secondly, he could rest assured in leaving it to Yuan Shu. He knew his brother's character well. He was arrogant, rude and violent, but also honest and straightforward to a point of being ridiculous. He would not secretly trip him up.
Thirdly, Yuan Shu was also his potential opponent. In his eyes, he was even a much stronger opponent than Tian Ze. Managing grain and grass was a matter of offending people. Otherwise, Yuan Shu would suffer losses, and Yuan Shu would never get any benefit.
And with Yuan Shu around, some things that are inconvenient to do can be taken care of by Yuan Shu.
Anyway, this guy is so arrogant that he probably wouldn't bother to explain even if he was slandered. He can take the blame no matter how big it is.
In the eyes of the princes and powerful families all over the world, Tian Ze is very strong and reckless, but he is similar to Gongsun Zan at this time in the original historical trajectory, just a little more cunning and arrogant, and has the title of Mu of Youzhou.
He was willing to do such a stupid thing as cutting off his own arm by completely cleaning out the powerful families under his command. No one thought that Tian Ze would not go far.
Although they vaguely realized that Tianze had taken in a lot of people over the years, it was no more than one or two million at most. If there were more, Youzhou and Liaodong would not be able to support them.
Youzhou is a cold and sparsely populated place. Even with these additions, how strong can it be?
Especially for a young man like Yuan Shao who had not experienced many wars, although he had learned a lot about leading troops in battle, most of it was learned from books and he did not have a deep understanding.
He would never have thought that Gongsun Zan in history would be such a good fighter, nor did he think that Tian Ze would be so strong.
Although Yuan Shao had laid out a backup plan in Jizhou early on, he did not put too much energy into it. His initial plan was to follow Wang Mang's plan of the Yuan family, and Liu Xiu's plan was only a backup.
Unexpectedly, Wang Mang's plan failed due to Dong Zhuo's interference, so Liu Xiu's plan was hastily launched, and many aspects were not well prepared.
At this time, he was only somewhat confident, but he did not dare to change the overall situation too much, for fear of another accident.
No matter what, we must first securely take Jizhou.
Jizhou has thousands of miles of fertile land and millions of people, enough to mobilize an army of 300,000 to 500,000.
Only with sufficient military force as a support can we rest assured and face any situation and accident calmly.
This was the profound lesson he learned from the failure in Luoyang.
After finalizing all the matters, Yuan Shao formulated a strategy, aiming directly at Sishui Pass.
Sun Jian took the initiative to step forward and was willing to take on the role of vanguard, leading his troops straight to Sishui Pass.
In Luoyang city, Dong Zhuo held banquets every day since he seized power.
It was worth it that he had been lying dormant for so many years, having to be a dog for the Yuan family and manage the eunuchs. Now he has finally turned over!
Dong Zhuo, who had been bullied and wronged for too long, had begun to indulge himself in revenge. He was completely addicted to beauty and his ambition was gradually fading.
Li Ru received the emergency document from Sishui Pass and hurried to inform Dong Zhuo. Dong Zhuo was shocked and immediately summoned all his generals to discuss the matter.
Marquis Wen Lu Bu stepped forward, and Dong Zhuo was overjoyed. He was about to agree, but was intercepted by Hua Xiong.
"What's the point of killing a chicken with a bull's knife?"
This one sentence made Lu Bu feel so proud.
Hua Xiong also admired Lu Bu in his heart. After all, he had fought with him many times and was completely defeated by him.
The people of Xiliang are the most heroic and believe that the bigger the fist, the more powerful it is.
Dong Zhuo promoted Hua Xiong to the rank of Captain of Cavalry, and ordered him to lead 50,000 soldiers to rush to Sishui Pass overnight to meet the enemy.
At this time, the campaign against Dong Zhuo had just begun, and the princes were unaware of the power of the Western Liang soldiers. Jinan Prime Minister Bao Xin was actually worried that Sun Jian would take the credit, so he secretly sent his brother Bao Zhong to lead troops to Guanxia to challenge him. As expected, Hua Xiong simply raised his sword and beheaded him, thus giving away the first blood.
Sun Jian lived up to his reputation as the Fierce Tiger of Jiangdong. After arriving at Sishui Pass, he actually defeated Hua Xiong head-on.
But Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu did not want Sun Jian to progress so smoothly, nor did they want Dong Zhuo to be defeated so quickly, so Sun Jian's food supplies were cut off and he was subsequently defeated.
Zu Mao was beheaded, leaving only the two "Heng Ha" generals Cheng Pu and Huang Gai.
When the news of Sun Jian's defeat came, Tian Ze looked at Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu calmly.
The two were equally shocked and puzzled, and could not tell who was acting. There was too little information, and Tian Ze could not figure out who was behind it. You have to know that Sun Jian is now a subordinate of Yuan Shu. Although Yuan Shu also has the motive to do this, Tian Ze always thinks that Yuan Shao is more likely.
Yuan Shao said with great sorrow: "I never thought that Sun Wentai would be defeated by Hua Xiong."
"Humph, some time ago, General Bao's brother disobeyed orders and marched forward without authorization, not only killing himself, but also losing many soldiers. Now, Sun Jian has been defeated by Hua Xiong, which is really a bad start and has greatly damaged his morale!"
Then he looked at the princes on both sides: "Everyone! Everyone! Why don't you say anything?"
Tian Ze and Liu Bei and Gongsun Zan beside him looked at each other, feeling helpless.
What should I say? Say that we are a mob?
One sent troops out on his own, and the other had his food supplies cut off by his own people.
At this time, in front of you, the great leader Yuan, should we hold your good friend Bao Xin accountable, or your brother Yuan Shu accountable? Or should we hold you, the great leader Yuan, accountable?
I’m afraid that after I say these words, the person will be gone soon.
Although it was only the first alliance, the various princes naturally formed various factions after they had a certain understanding of each other.
Gongsun Zan, Liu Bei and Tian Ze, as fellow disciples, naturally formed a small circle.
Tian Ze found Liu Bei as soon as the alliance meeting took place. Gongsun Zan, who was far away and arrived a little late, also quickly found the two of them.
There is no way, I am weak alone! Half of the 18 princes are Yuan Shao's men. If they don't stick together, they will be killed easily.
Fortunately, Yuan Shu, who was always jumping around, acted as a troublemaker and coerced several princes, which prevented Yuan Shao from becoming the only powerful one.
Tian Ze once again gave Yuan Shu a thumbs up in his heart.
Cao Cao and others also looked at Yuan Shao calmly.
They could see that Yuan Shao was just pretending, and no one would really say anything at this time.
"Report!"
The messenger came jogging at this time and broke the deadlock.
"Report to the leader, Hua Xiong led the cavalry down the pass, picked up the red cap of Governor Sun with a long pole, and shouted and challenged Sun in front of the camp."
Upon hearing this, Yuan Shao snorted coldly: "Who dares to fight?"
Yu She, a subordinate of Yuan Shu, stood up, and Yuan Shao was overjoyed. Then Yu She was killed by Hua Xiong in less than three rounds.
At this time, Zhang Fei behind Liu Bei, Xiahou Yuan behind Cao Cao and other generals could not help but want to stand up, but they were held down by Liu Bei and Cao Cao respectively.
At this time, Han Fu stood up and said: "I have General Pan Feng, who can kill Hua Xiong!"
"Okay, quickly call General Pan to fight!" Yuan Shao was overjoyed.
Tian Ze glanced at General Pan, who was full of pride, calmly.
As early as the beginning of the alliance, he used the art of gazing to look at all the princes, civil and military officials in the allied tent, including the "unparalleled general" who was talked about by many people in later generations.
Unfortunately, Pan Feng was quite capable, but only at second-rate level. Moreover, the axe he used had obvious flaws, and only top-notch generals could play it.
Later, Tian Ze saw Pan Feng going out with a mountain axe. Not long after, news came that Pan Feng had been beheaded.
All the princes present were horrified.
Yuan Shao was both happy and anxious at this time.
What made him happy was that the generals under Yuan Shu and Han Fu offered themselves up like this, but what made him anxious was that although he wanted to see the attack go badly, it couldn't be so bad!
If we don’t even win a battle, the situation is likely to collapse!
"It's a pity that my generals Yan Liang and Wen Chou haven't arrived yet. If one of them were here, there would be no need to fear Hua Xiong!"
After hearing Yuan Shao's provocation, some generals in the tent could no longer bear it.
(End of this chapter)
