Furthermore, Xiliang is a bandit den, and the quality of the soldiers is really low, which really makes the people of Luoyang suffer.
While Yu Yi was hesitating, Dong Zhuo suddenly thought of something, turned his horse's head, looked in the direction of Luoyang, and ordered: "We can't let the princes of the Eighteenth Route take advantage. We must burn down all the existing residential buildings, especially the Burn all the ancestral temples and palaces!"
So the northern and southern palaces became a sea of fire, and the Changle palace became a scorched earth. Dong Zhuo sent Lu Bu to Mang Mountain north of Luoyang to dig out the coffins of the late emperor and his concubines, and looted all the treasures buried with them. Some soldiers also took advantage of the situation to rob and dig out the tombs. Tomb, Mangshan was in chaos.
Dong Zhuo loaded the robbed things into vehicles. There were thousands of transport carriages, and all the emperor, concubines and others were robbed and drove away towards Chang'an.
Dong Zhuo's general Zhao Cen saw Dong Zhuo leading the army towards Chang'an, so he offered Sishui Pass to the eighteen princes. Sun Jian, as the vanguard, quickly drove in, and Liu Bei and the other three also killed him. After entering Hulao Pass, other princes also led their soldiers in.
Sun Jian marched hastily towards Luoyang. Far away, he saw flames shooting into the sky in the direction of Luoyang. A thick black smoke rose straight into the sky. There was a deserted situation for two to three hundred miles around. Sun Jian quickly sent soldiers Go to Luoyang to put out the fire. At the same time, let the princes garrison troops and horses on the wasteland first, and do not enter Luoyang.
After Cao Cao learned about the situation, he thought this was a very good opportunity, so he came to find Yuan Shao, the leader of the alliance, and said, "Now that the Dong thief is fleeing to the west, we can take advantage of the victory and pursue him with the superior strength of the princes, but you are holding back. What's the reason? ?”
Yuan Shao replied: "After several rounds of attacks, the soldiers and horses of the princes are quite tired. I'm afraid there is no benefit in marching again."
Cao Cao argued: "The Dong thief burned down the palace of the Han Dynasty and kidnapped the emperor and his concubines, causing the world to tremble and not knowing where to return. This is because God wants to destroy him. If we don't fight to decide the matter at this time, he will be killed." You will miss a good opportunity. Are you still doubting whether to march?"
The princes had the same idea as Yuan Shao, and said: "The traitor Dong moved the capital to Chang'an, and he must have been prepared. If he rushes to send troops, he will be ambushed, so it is better not to go there easily."
Cao Cao was furious and said: "Shu Zi is not enough to make plans!"
So he led tens of thousands of troops from his headquarters, as well as generals Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Li Dian, Le Jin and others to pursue Dong Zhuo in person.
After Liu Bei and the others entered Luoyang City, their first reaction was to look for Yu Yi's whereabouts. In the ruins, Liu Bei found Yu Yi's flying knife, thinking that he had been buried in the sea of fire, and burst into tears.
Guan Yu advised from the side: "Brother, why are you so sad? Yu Yi's belongings alone are not enough to judge that he is dead."
Zhang Fei also advised him from the side and said: "The fourth brother Jiren has his own destiny. I am afraid that Dong Thief has been taken to Chang'an long ago. We should continue to go to find out the news."
It is said that Dong Zhuo led the Xiliang troops to the territory of Xingyang in great force, and the prefect Xu Rong came out to greet them personally.
Li Ru considered that there might be pursuers, so he said: "Prime Minister Dong has abandoned Luoyang. In order to prevent pursuers, you can send Xu Rong to lead an army to hide beside the mountain dock outside the city. If pursuers arrive, you can let him go." Go over and wait until they reach my place before intercepting and killing them, so that if there are more pursuers behind, they won't dare to come over."
Dong Zhuo adopted this suggestion and at the same time sent Lu Bu with a group of elite troops to contain the rear of the army.
Lu Bu was rushing to his destination and met Cao Cao's troops on the way. Lu Bu felt very happy and said: "It's just as Li Ru expected!"
Lu Bu prepared his soldiers to prepare for Cao Cao's arrival.
When Cao Cao saw Lu Bu, he cursed: "Traitor! You kidnapped the emperor and brought trouble to the people. Where do you want to run?"
Lu Bu scolded back: "You are a coward who has betrayed your master. It is in vain that the Prime Minister thinks so highly of you, and you still dare to talk nonsense here!"
Xiahou Dun raised his spear and leaped on his horse, rushing directly towards Lu Bu. The two fought for less than a few rounds when suddenly there was a cry of killing from the left. It was Li Jue who led the army to kill. Cao Cao quickly ordered Xiahou Yuan to meet the enemy. At this time On the right, there was another call for death. Guo Si led some soldiers to fight out, and Cao Cao sent Cao Ren to fight.
These three groups of ambush soldiers were all extremely brave and unstoppable. Xiahou Dun could not resist the enemy Lu Bu, so he had to fly back to the formation. Lu Bu led the cavalry to cover up the enemy. Cao Cao's army was defeated and had no choice but to retreat to Xingyang. When they arrived at the foot of a barren mountain, it was already the second watch and the moon was shining brightly. The bright light illuminated the place like daytime, so he gathered the remaining soldiers and prepared to take a rest and bury pots to make rice. Before they started to take action, suddenly there were shouts of killing from all directions. Xu Rong had been ambushing here for a long time, and all the ambush soldiers were pull out.
Cao Cao panicked for a moment, got on his horse and ran away. He happened to meet Xu Rong, and quickly turned the horse's head and continued running. Xu Rong took out his crossbow and shot Cao Cao in the shoulder with an arrow. Cao Cao's ninja was in severe pain. He ran for his life in a panic and came to a hillside.
There were two sergeants lying in ambush in the weeds. When they saw Cao Cao's horse approaching, they stretched out two spears from the darkness and stabbed Cao Cao's horse. Cao Cao had no choice but to fall off his horse and was captured alive by two unknown soldiers.
Suddenly, a man on horseback rushed over quickly, slashed the two infantrymen to death with a knife, and dismounted to rescue Cao Cao. When Cao Cao saw that general, it was Cao Hong, Cao Cao sighed: "I am going to die here, don't you want to Leave me alone and leave quickly."
Cao Hong said: "My lord, please get on your horse and I will walk."
Cao Cao firmly disagreed and said: "If you encounter bandit soldiers and you are walking on the ground, how should you respond?"
Cao Hong advised: "The world can be without me, Cao Hong, but it can't be without you, my lord!"
Cao Cao sighed: "If I can survive this time, it will be all due to you!"
Cao Cao got on the horse. Cao Hong took off his coat and followed the horse with his sword in tow. At about the fourth watch, he saw a big river appearing in front of him, blocking the way.
Behind him came the shouts of the pursuers. Cao Cao looked at the sky and sighed: "It seems that the sky is going to destroy me. You should run away quickly."
Cao Hong quickly stepped forward to help Cao Cao dismount, took off his armor, and then swam across the river with Cao Cao on his back, and finally swam to the other side.
After the two reached the other side, the pursuers also arrived soon after. They fired arrows across the water to the other side. Cao Cao was covered in water. With the help of Cao Hong, he continued to move forward.
At daybreak, the two of them walked together for more than 30 miles and took a rest near a hillock. Suddenly they heard loud shouts and earthquakes around them. A group of men and horses came quickly. Cao Cao looked and saw that it was the enemy general Xu Rong who was crossing the river from above. Come and catch up.
Cao Cao was panicked for a moment, and suddenly Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan flew up with dozens of horses and shouted: "Xu Rong, don't hurt our lord!"
