Yuan Shu's chief secretary Liu Chang was quite steady and loyal. Dian Wei and Zhang Yan failed to open the city and had to return to Wancheng in a bad mood.

After returning to the city, a thousand soldiers were taken over. Dian Wei and Zhang Yaner came to the city gate tower and met Zhang Xiu.

But Zhang Xiu received the news first and stood in front of the city gate tower to greet the two of them.

"Han Shouhou (General), the last general is incompetent." Dian Wei and Zhang Yan were both ashamed and bowed to salute.

"The two generals don't need to be like this. It's not that the two generals are incompetent, but that Liu Chang is calm and loyal." Zhang Xiu helped Dian Wei and Zhang Yan up, comforted him for a while, and then let them go down to rest and accumulate strength.

After the two left, Zhang Xiu also sighed. "I didn't expect that although Yuan Shu was incompetent, he got Huang Zhong, a loyal and righteous general in Nanyang. Although Li Shu, the chief clerk, was greedy for money, he was also considered a loyal minister. The chief secretary Liu Chang was also considered steady and loyal."

"Now Huang Zhong is still in the city, it is still a matter of whether he can successfully settle the market."

"Wancheng is still in the hands of Chief Liu. Faced with such a person, I am afraid that the young soldiers and horses under my command will not be able to be defeated. Now I can only wait for Lu Bu and others to conquer the three passes of Taigu, join forces to attack Wancheng."

Zhang Xiu was really helpless in this matter.

............

Taigu Pass.

Since Li Ru, Lu Bu and others pretended to be Zhang Xiu to lead the cavalry and infantry army to camp outside the city, Lu Bu often came out to challenge, and Sun Jian stayed behind and refused to fight.

Lu Bu would occasionally order his soldiers to attack Taigu Pass.

Sun Jian and Cao Cao are in deep grooves and high bases, and defend.

As the saying goes, it doesn’t matter if the scene is ugly, just win.

As time passed, the morale of Sun Jian and Cao Cao's defeated army in Taigu Pass recovered.

On this morning, the sun was bright.

Sun Jian and Cao Cao were each wearing armor and holding swords to patrol the gate. The two finally stopped in front of the gatehouse and looked at Lu Bu's camp.

"Zhang Xiu is also a human being. As long as we guard the pass and do not make any mistakes, we will be invincible." Sun Jian thought of his sanity during this period and couldn't help but smile.

"General Sun said so much. He was so impatient and calm." Cao Cao nodded, agreeing very much.

The two looked at each other and smiled.

Although Luoyang's defeat was really painful, it was not because of the defeat of the army, and it was like a mountain of defeat that was pouring down thousands of miles away. As long as you keep your foot firm, you can fight again.

Now their position is stable.

At this moment, General Zhu Zhi hurriedly walked up from the city, showing a little joy, and reported: "Report to the lord, General Cao, Gong Yuan ordered Li Xiu to escort food, and three thousand new recruits came."

In this situation, the more food and recruits, the better.

Sun Jian and Cao Cao also showed joy, and then the two of them came to the hall of Guanling Mansion with Zhu Zhi and met Yuan Shu's employed Li Xiu.

Li Xiu was in his thirties and was fair-skinned and rich. After the three of them came to see him, Sun Jian sat down with Cao Cao and Zhu Zhi.

"General Sun, General Cao, I am ordered to carry food, supplies, and troops over. This is a list." Li Xiu took out a white cloth and handed it over.

Zhu Zhi stood up and took the white cloth, and presented it to Sun Jian to watch. After seeing it, Sun Jian put it down, gave a solemn gift, thanked him, "Thank you hard, sir."

"You don't have to be polite about your own affairs." Li Xiu bowed and said very politely.

After thinking for a while, Sun Jian asked: "At present, there are more and more people in the three passes of Taigu. Is it possible that the grain in a county in Nanyang can be supplied?"

This is something that Sun Jian and Cao Cao were quite worried about. Nanyang County was not as good as before, and their troops were increasing.

"Please rest assured, General. My lord has sent someone to Runan and the Central Plains to get food. The supply of grain will never be cut off." Li Xiu smiled slightly and bowed his hand and said.

Sun Jian and Cao Cao all felt relieved. Runan County was Yuan Shu's hometown, and his disciples and officials were everywhere in Runan. It was not uncommon to get food.

Now they have three strong passes, lined up in a row, guarding the danger. The troops are endless, and they are slowly trained to become a strong army, and there is sufficient food supply.

It only takes a few months to attack Luoyang again.

Afterwards, Sun Jian asked Zhu Zhi to rest in Guanzhong. He then sent a general to receive the newly arrived soldiers and trained.

As more and more troops were added, Taigu Pass could no longer be blocked. They set up a separate military camp outside the pass.

However, Sun Jian and Cao Cao's good mood did not last long. Not long after Li Xiu left, Huang Gai hurriedly walked in from outside. He had always been calm, but at this moment there was a hint of anxiety on his face and a wooden box in his hand.

"Lord. Someone who claimed to be a minor official under Yuan Gong's command brought more than ten light cavalry. This was a letter from Yuan Gong. The last general asked about it personally, and the man said that there were five thousand infantry soldiers who entered Nanyang County from the east and rushed straight to Luyang."

As he said that, Huang Gai placed the wooden box on the table in front of Sun Jian. Sun Jian's face changed, and Cao Cao stood up quickly next to Sun Jian and prepared to watch together.

Sun Jian opened the box and took out the white cloth. After taking a closer look, he handed the white cloth to Cao Cao and asked, "Meng De, this should be Yuan Gong's notes, right?"

"It's Yuan Gaolu (Yuan Shu)'s notes, and the seal is not wrong." Cao Cao immediately affirmed after watching.

Sun Jian nodded and sighed, "What a good Zhang Xiu. If you want to calculate the time, when he came down from the south of Luoyang to attack Taigu Pass, he first sent a general to lead 5,000 troops and went out to the east to detour to attack Luyang. This is to build a plank road openly and secretly travel to Chencang."

"Zhang Xiu is indeed well-versed in military tactics." Cao Cao nodded, then rolled up the letter and put it down, and said, "General Sun. Luyang is the place where Duke Yuan is stationed, with military supplies. Although there are 10,000 troops guarding, they are all new recruits. We must not be careful. We need to send people to save Luyang."

Sun Jian nodded, thought for a while, then looked up and said to Huang Gai: "Punish. Patch the cavalry in our army and put out two thousand cavalry. Join Yi Gong (Han Dang) to save Luyang. Remember, Liangzhou soldiers are strong, don't fight with them. Just enter the city quickly and guard the city. As long as Luyang is not lost, Zhang Xiu will not do anything to us. On the contrary, we will be in a dilemma."

"promise."

Huang Gai also knew the seriousness of the matter, so he responded in a deep voice, and immediately went down to join Han Dang, gathered up two thousand cavalrymen, and went to save Luyang at a speed.

"Although Zhang Xiu is well versed in military tactics, I, Sun Jian, are not bad either. Huang Gai and Han Dang are our generals, plus two thousand cavalry, and 10,000 new recruits in Luyang City. Zhang Xiu only has 5,000 infantry troops, so he can't even break through Luyang."

After being surprised, self-confidence also came back. Sun Jian showed a little proud smile on his face and turned to Cao Cao and said.

"General Sun said very much." Cao Cao thought carefully, but there was no flaw. He also showed a relaxed look and bowed his hand and said.

As stable as Mount Tai, as stable as Mount Tai.

.............

Huang Gai and Han Dang are indeed powerful. Although the two of them were fast racing, they were also cautious and sent spies around to inquire about the terrain to prevent ambushing.

The two of them traveled day and night and soon approached the Luyang area.

On the morning of that day, the two led 2,000 cavalry to stir up dust and headed straight to the south.

Under the two flags of "Huang" and "Han", Huang Gai and Han Dang rode their horses and ran. Suddenly, a group of whistle and cavalry came back in front of them.

Huang Gai and Han Dang looked at each other and stopped. Although the two thousand cavalry behind him were not neat, they also stopped steadily.

"But what news?" Huang Gai asked, looking up, and then he saw a messy soldier sitting behind the whistle chasing, and couldn't help but ask, "Who are they?"

"Report to the general. This group of people claimed to be the defeated army in Luyang. They said that the attack on Luyang was General Cavalry, and the Han Shouhou Zhang Xiu himself. The city of Luyang has been broken, and Yuan Gong..."

The face of the whistle driver was very ugly.

"What's wrong with Mr. Yuan?" Huang Gai asked hurriedly.

"Duke Yuan has been killed by Zhang Xiu. Zhang Xiu used the etiquette of the princes to bury Duke Yuan in the east of the city." The whistleman swallowed and said.

Even Xiaobing knew the seriousness of the problem.

"What!!!!" Huang Gai and Han Dang seemed to have been hit hard by a siege hammer, their chests were shaken, and their internal organs were shifted, and they almost didn't burp on the spot.

After a while, the two of them recovered slightly. Of course, they couldn't believe this matter, it was too fantasy.

Didn’t Zhang Xiu confront them outside Taigu Pass? How could he appear in Luyang? And there were 10,000 soldiers and horses in Luyang City, so why was it broken so quickly?

Afterwards, Huang Gai and Han Dang personally interrogated the defeated troops, sent a probe to Luyang to find out the news, and came to a conclusion that they had to believe.

The dignified prince of the prince and the latter general Yuan Shu actually died in Luyang!!!

Zhang Xiu is really in Luyang.

"It's a big trouble now." Huang Gai and Han Dang sat on the ground, looking at each other, and both saw this sentence in each other's eyes.

"Zhang Xiu fell in Luyang, so who is the person who comes to challenge the generals from time to time outside Taigu Pass?" Huang Gai's mind turned into a cloud of muddy and murmured to himself.

"It's probably Lu Bu." Han Dang thought of a possibility.

Huang Gai's eyes opened, but he was not surprised soon. This might be Lu Bu. Otherwise, who would dare to fight easily with their lord?

And Lu Bu also wore a facial armor.

"Let's not talk about these things for now. The situation is no longer something we can control." Han Dang exhaled, stood up from the ground, found a team of five people, and asked them to go back and tell Sun Jian the news. Then he said to Huang Gai: "Public. Luyang City has been captured. Since Zhang Xiu personally took charge of Luyang, there are five thousand elite soldiers. Even if there are 50,000 soldiers, I'm afraid we can't defeat them. We only have two thousand people and cannot go."

"We should go to Wancheng." Huang Gai also stood up and nodded tacitly.

"Yes, Wancheng and Luyang are gone, but Wancheng is still there. If both cities are gone, then we will be done." Han Dangzhong pointed.

After some discussion, the two generals made a quick decision and led two thousand cavalry together to continue to go south, but this time the target was Wancheng.
Chapter completed!