Chapter Thirty-Four: The World is Like a Chessboard

  Cao Hong had killed over a dozen Western Liang soldiers, but he was also exhausted. He felt the large sword in his hand was extremely heavy, and every swing required all his strength.

  Even Cao Cao's shoulders and arms were injured, and he couldn't hold his sword to fight. In his heart, he secretly thought: My fate has come to this, I will not be able to revive!

  Just as the two were disheartened and demoralized, they suddenly heard a loud shout: "General Cao, don't worry, Taishi Ci is here!"

  Cao Cao and Cao Hong hastily looked in the direction of the sound, and saw that Taishi Ci was leading dozens of elite cavalrymen rushing over like flying birds. Behind him were Li Zhong and Liao Hua. Cao Cao was suddenly overjoyed.

  As soon as Xu Rong saw Cao Cao's reinforcements arrive, he was anxious and hastily ordered his soldiers to launch a desperate attack, hoping to kill Cao Hong and Cao Cao before Taishi Ci arrived. However, when Cao Hong saw Taishi Ci coming to their aid, he regained some hope and rallied his spirits, once again wielding his large sword and fighting Xu Rong to a stalemate.

  Seeing that he couldn't kill Cao Hong in a short time, Xu Rong sighed secretly. He had heard from Lü Bu that Taishi Ci's martial arts were powerful, and he knew he was no match for Taishi Ci. His troops were also outnumbered, so he could only retreat quietly.

  Xu Rong wanted to leave, but Taishi Ci disagreed. He didn't want to kill Xu Rong, the key was that the war horses of the Western Liang soldiers made Taishi Ci extremely envious. So Taishi Ci took out his bow and arrow and shot a burst of random arrows. At this time, Li Chong also led the infantry to arrive nearby and intercepted Xu Rong's soldiers, starting a fierce battle.

  As for the soldiers under Li Chong, it's not worth mentioning that they were naturally arranged in an array of contention. However, these Yellow Turban soldiers were all seasoned veterans who had survived a hundred battles, each with some martial arts skills. In the chaos of battle, almost every one of them could take on two enemies at once. As a result, Xu Rong was defeated, and even Li Chong managed to kill an enemy soldier under Liao Hua's protection.

  After being baptized by the Tiger Pass, Li Chong didn't have much feeling about killing people, but he was somewhat excited.

  Actually, with Li Chong's status, in the midst of the chaotic army, it wasn't very dangerous. Not only did Liao Huaxiang protect him, but the soldiers responsible for protecting him also worked hard to deflect incoming attacks, so he basically had nothing to worry about. As long as Li Chong focused on attacking, he could easily establish some military achievements, as long as his martial arts skills weren't too poor.

  This is also one of the reasons why some sons of aristocratic families always get rich in the army.

  Xu Rong was killed and his horse was taken by someone. Li Dian hastily came to Cao Cao's side and asked, "Is Mengde seriously injured?"

  Cao Cao heard this and smiled bitterly, saying: "Today I have narrowly escaped with my life, thanks to the assistance of Zi Liang and Zi Hui. I am not very grateful, for I, Cao Cao, since I started fighting against the Yellow Turbans, have never suffered such a defeat. It's truly humiliating."

  Li Jiuxian comforted him hypocritically: "Dong Zhuo is treacherous, and Meng De was careless and fell into his trap. Victory and defeat are common in the military, so Meng De doesn't need to worry about it."

  Cao Cao shook his head and remained silent, resting with a sullen expression.

  Li Chong saw Cao Cao somewhat disheartened and secretly thought: It's best if you never recover! But he ordered his men to bandage Cao Cao's wounds, melt snow for rice, and rest on the spot.

  Before long, Xiahou Dun led a cavalry to search for Cao Cao. When he saw Cao Cao, he was overjoyed.

  Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren and others also arrived soon after. Cao Cao took stock of his men and horses, and found that from over 10,000 at the start, he had less than a thousand left. He felt downcast and said: "Zi Huan, Cao Mengde's army has been defeated, I have no face to return to Luoyang. Please convey my words to Yuan Shu when you see him, that Cao Cao will repay the debt of gratitude for saving his life another day." With that, Cao Cao took his leave.

  After finishing speaking, Cao Cao also ignored Li's persuasion and rushed to Yangzhou to recruit soldiers (Record of the Three Kingdoms).

  Seeing Cao Cao retreat, Li Zhong finally had the heart to check the gains. After clearing up, Li Zhong was overjoyed. This time, he brought more than 200 people on the expedition. After this battle, only a few people were lightly injured (Li Zhong did not participate in the frontal battlefield from the beginning and did not fight with a large number of enemy troops, so there were no deaths). He also captured dozens of enemy soldiers, over 100 war horses, truly gaining both men and wealth.

  Crossing the great river ( Bian River), Li Mi returned to Luoyang to see Yuan Shao.

  At this time, a sudden heavy snowfall occurred, with cold winds howling, making it extremely difficult for Li Chong's troops to march on, and they could only temporarily encamp for several days.

  When the snow had dispersed and three days had passed, Li returned to Luoyang. The vassals had all gone their separate ways, leaving only Yuan Shao waiting for news of Cao Cao.

  Li Zhong hastily went to see Yuan Shao. When Yuan Shao learned of Li Zhong's return, he quickly summoned him into the big tent for questioning.

  When Li Chong had finished telling the story of Cao Cao's defeat, Yuan Shao closed his eyes and sighed: "I have wronged Mengde!"

  After a while, Yuan Shao said: "Meng De and I are very close friends. This time, thank you, Zi Huan, for saving me. I am grateful to you, just make any request you have."

  "Fat sheep!" Li Zhong's heart was delighted, and he raised his head to say: "This time the imperial court has appointed Li Zhong as the magistrate of Guangwu. However, Guangwu is adjacent to Xianbei in the north and Xiongnu in the west, with many battles and abandoned farmland. I hope Marquis Yuan can lend some grain and soldiers, do you think it's possible?"

  Yuan Shao nodded slowly and said, "The troops are not a problem, I will allocate 500 to you, but the grain is difficult to give to you. It's not that I, Yuan, am stingy, but the allied army has been short of grain for a long time. To be honest with you, I didn't send troops to pursue Dong Zhuo because we were short of grain, which made Meng De somewhat resentful towards me."

  Yuan Shao was not boasting, but wanted to spread the news of Han Fu's insufficient supply of food and soldiers through Li Ju, so as to save his own reputation.

  Provisions are insufficient! When Li Chong heard Yuan Shao say this, he was moved in his heart and suddenly had an idea. The expression on his face changed unpredictably.

  "Doesn't Young Master have a plan to solve the problem of food and fodder?" Yuan Shao hastily asked, seeing Li Zhong's expression.

  Li Chong actually had a half-measure to solve Yuan Shao's grain and fodder problem, as long as he let Yuan Shao swallow Han Fu according to historical records, but Li Chong didn't know whether it would be beneficial for himself to let the two fight each other in advance, so he hesitated and remained silent.

  After careful consideration, Li Chong decided it would be better to first make friends with Yuan Shao, and in that case, Yuan Shao might consider him as "one of his own people!"

  Li Chong said in a low voice, "I think that this expedition against Dong Zhuo is not going well, it's all because Ji Zhou Han Fu has two hearts. Otherwise, with the abundant grain and money in Ji Zhou, how could we be short of food? The four generations of the Yuan family have produced three chancellors, it is reasonable to take his place!"

  Yuan Shao's eyebrows rose at the words, and his heart was also somewhat stirred, but he had few soldiers under him, how could he be a match for Han Fu? So he asked: "How can we take his place?"

  Li Zhong smiled secretly in his heart, thinking that this was easy. He said: "As I see it, outside of Jizhou, Han Fu is lacking in grain and fodder. Lord Yuan can entice Gongsun Zan to attack Han Fu, and Han Fu will certainly ask for Lord Yuan's help to drive off the enemy. At that time, Lord Yuan can naturally take his place."

  Yuan Shao nodded secretly, according to Li Chong's words, Han Fu would probably ask him to resist Gongsun Zan, in other words, even if Han Fu didn't fall for the trick, he could still sit back and watch the two tigers fight. Thinking of this, Yuan Shao smiled: "Your words are very good, when the matter is settled, I will definitely recommend you as the governor of Yanmen."

  "Thank you, Lord Yuan!" Li Chong hastily thanked him, secretly cursing in his heart, "You dogs bite each other!"

  Leaving Yuan Shao's large tent, Li Zhongsheng feared that Yuan Shao would go back on his word, so he quickly took the 500 soldiers and armor that Yuan Shao had promised him and set off straight for Guangwu.