Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 84 Dong Zhuo: This deployment is indeed like the snake of Changshan!
The cold winter wind in Jizhou, wrapped in fine snow, dyed the wilderness outside Xindu City into a vast expanse of desolateness.

Five miles northwest of Xindu City, in Dong Zhuo's camp on the bank of a tributary of the Yangshui River, the camp has tall arrow towers, deep and wide trenches, dense deer traps, and the bottom of the trenches is even filled with sharpened wooden spikes. The clanging of armor of soldiers and the neighing of war horses pierce through the wind and snow, like a bear hibernating here, echoing from the top of Xindu City in the distance.

Dong Zhuo stood on an arrow tower at the camp gate, his sturdy body wrapped in a black bear skin cloak. He glanced at the orderly scene in the camp and nodded with satisfaction. In his hand, he was playing with a short knife inlaid with gold and silver that he had captured on the battlefield. The blade was also inlaid with several pieces of jade. The eyes of this tough guy who was as burly and strong as a bear actually revealed a rare bit of tenderness and expectation.

"Erlang, do you think Bai'er will like the gift her father-in-law brought her?" Dong Zhuo's mouth corners slightly raised, and a doting smile appeared on his face.

The one called "Erlang" was Dong Zhuo's son-in-law Niu Fu. Although he was not as brave as Li Jue and Guo Fan, he was cautious and prudent. He did not have the wildness of the Han people from Liangzhou. He even saved Dong Zhuo's life during the chaos of the army.

So Dong Zhuo married his daughter to Niu Fu and treated him as his own son. Because he already had an eldest son, Dong Yan, born to his first wife, at home, Dong Zhuo called Niu Fu "Er Lang".

However, when Niu Fu faced his father-in-law's question, he was slightly stunned and felt a little embarrassed.

The Bai'er mentioned by Dong Zhuo was the daughter born to his eldest son Dong Yan in the fifth year of Xiping (176 AD), and was named Dong Bai. Who would have thought that such a cruel Dong Zhuo not only did not have any dislike for his granddaughter, but instead held her in the palm of his hand and pampered and protected her.

But even though this dagger is extremely exquisite, what girl would like weapons?
Scratching his head, Niu Fu's face flashed with hesitation, and he said with difficulty: "Father, in my opinion, it would be better to wait until tomorrow to return and find a beautiful pearl and jade."

As Niu Fu spoke, he stole a glance at Dong Zhuo's face. Seeing Dong Zhuo's creepy glance, which seemed to indicate dissatisfaction with his dissenting opinion, his heart tightened and he quickly explained, "Bai'er is still young. Although this short sword is exquisite, it is still a weapon after all, and it is stained with blood. It is not good for a child."

After listening to Niu Fu's explanation, Dong Zhuo's originally furrowed brows slowly relaxed. He nodded slightly, gently stroking his beard with his right hand and said, "Erlang, what you said makes sense."

If it were in the past, Dong Zhuo would have refuted Niu Fu mercilessly, and his granddaughter would not be afraid of blood and weapons.

But now things are different. His granddaughter is seven years old, and the prince is only twelve, and he is a minister who is deeply trusted by the prince!
A barely perceptible gleam flashed in Dong Zhuo's eyes.

While he was pondering this, a scout from below returned to the camp, halted his horse, and shouted to Dong Zhuo on the arrow tower, "General, there are over 60,000 bandits, and they are charging straight at our camp. It's Zhang Bao who is leading them!"

Niu Fu thought for a moment, then said solemnly, "Over 60,000 men... It seems Zhang Bao is furious. He's been besieging the city for months and hasn't even taken a single brick off the wall. So, in his rage, he's come to attack us."

Dong Zhuo curled his lips and sneered, his face full of disdain: "Ha, you've been beaten to a pulp under the city of Xindu, and now you're thinking of attacking us?"

Since Dong Zhuo led his army to the outside of Xindu City, he had formed a pincer attack on Xindu City. Every time Zhang Bao led his army to attack the city, Lu Zhi would light a smoke signal and then lead his troops to attack the rear of the army. Several attacks caused no less than 6,000 casualties among Zhang Bao's men.

Even if Zhang Bao was prepared, he would have to mobilize at least 20,000 men, which would have allowed Dong Zhuo's army to restrain Zhang Bao. This was one of the important reasons why Xindu City had been able to hold out for several months.

It took several months for Zhang Bao to finally understand and realize that the wooden barracks outside the city were easier to carve than the bricks and stones of the big city of Xindu.

"Don't underestimate my father. After all, he is three times stronger than me." Niu Fu wanted to remind his father-in-law not to underestimate the enemy, but he saw Dong Zhuo suddenly glare at him and roared.

"Afraid of a bird!"

When Niu Fu saw Dong Zhuo's loud voice and caught a glimpse of the soldiers gathering below to the sound of drums, he understood that his father-in-law was using him to boost morale. The corners of his mouth rose slightly, revealing a smile of understanding.

In fact, he was not afraid of the Yellow Turban Army at all. Unlike what many people imagined, this kind of defensive battle of holding the camp was what these former members of the Liangzhou Army were best at.

Although Liang Province is a place where war horses are produced, even if Dong Zhuo has good relations with the Qiang and Hu people in Liang Province and can buy war horses at low prices, he cannot afford the huge expenses of a cavalry army.

After all, the Later Han Dynasty was no longer the glorious era of Emperor Xiaowu's conquest of the Mobei region, where hundreds of thousands of war horses were deployed for a single battle and tens of billions of coin were spent annually on military expenditures. To quell the Liangzhou Qiang Rebellion, the Later Han court invested no less than 30 billion coin, repeatedly emptying the treasury. Even if Dong Zhuo had spent all his wealth, he could only raise a "Flying Bear Army" of a thousand Liangzhou warriors. Compared to the tens of thousands of cavalrymen that would often assemble during the Liangzhou Qiang and Hu rebellions, this was truly insignificant.

Therefore, Dong Zhuo relied on camps with deep trenches and high fortifications when fighting against the Qiang and Hu people in Liang Province for many years.

Use the Feixiong Army to provoke them, and then defend the camp to wear down their fighting spirit. When their fighting spirit is lost and their soldiers are tired, the Feixiong Army will charge into the formation, and the infantry will follow closely behind to kill them and defeat them.

This kind of fighting method was almost deeply imprinted in the bones of the old Liangzhou people. However, in order to cooperate with his father-in-law, Niu Fu still stepped forward and said, "Father, why do you underestimate the moth thief so much?"

"If it were a few months ago, when my army first arrived, and this official led an attack, I would have been a bit apprehensive." Dong Zhuo glanced at Niu Fu, sheathed his dagger back at his waist, and took a deep breath. The white vapor he exhaled instantly dissipated in the cold air, and the ice on his curly beard melted by the white vapor and dripped down his beard. Then he kicked the railing of the arrow tower hard, shaking the snow to pieces. He said loudly, "Now the camp has tall arrow towers, deep trenches, and dense deer traps. Why should we be afraid of the moth bandits?"

It must be said that Dong Zhuo's ferocious face and muscular physique, which was so strong that even the description of a strong and powerful man could not describe it, made his words extremely convincing. Moreover, for several months, the soldiers had already made up their minds whether Dong Zhuo was a mediocre general or a good general.

Whether a general is mediocre or not can be seen from his marching order without having to fight in the battlefield.

Over the past few months, the march has been orderly, and all matters in the camp, big and small, have been handled properly. Although the enforcement of military law is a bit harsh, it is all handled in accordance with military regulations without bias.

Therefore, all the troops felt relieved and went to their respective defensive positions in an orderly manner according to the pre-arranged plan. Seeing this, Dong Zhuo nodded slightly with satisfaction, and a hint of satisfaction appeared in his eyes.

At this time, a gray mist of snow suddenly rose from the distant horizon. Dong Zhuo narrowed his eyes, put his hands on the awning and looked into the distance. He saw yellow flags like a forest, and 60,000 Yellow Turban soldiers wrapped in coarse linen clothes were stepping on the snow and pressing towards the camp.

The leader was wearing a yellow turban and iron armor. Beside him was a yellow turban strongman holding a large banner with the words "General Digong" in his hand. It was Zhang Bao himself.

However, there were only a few sets of iron armor among the 60,000 Yellow Turban soldiers, and even leather armor was rare. The weapons in the army were mostly wooden spears and hoes. Even when the front-line soldiers saw the trenches and stakes outside Dong Zhuo's camp, especially the sharp wooden spikes under the trenches, many of them showed some fear.

Dong Zhuo leaned on the arrow tower and looked at the Yellow Turban Army in front of him. He couldn't help but shook his head and chuckled, then ordered people to light the wolf smoke in the camp.

"Zhang Bao, how come you don't learn from your mistakes?" Dong Zhuo said to Niu Fu with a smile, "Does Erlang know about the snake at Changshan?"

Niu Fu shook his head with a hint of doubt on his face. He was from Liangzhou, so how could he know about the Changshan Snake?

"After returning to Luoyang, Erlang, read more military books." Dong Zhuo patted Niu Fu's shoulder and explained, "In Sun Tzu's Art of War, Chapter Nine: Terrain, it says, 'As for the snake of Changshan, if you strike its head, its tail will follow, and if you strike its tail, its head will follow."

Niu Fu didn't think his father-in-law would talk about irrelevant things when the battle was about to begin. He lowered his head and thought for a moment. Then a flash of inspiration came to his mind: "Could it be that my camp and Xindu City are related?"

Dong Zhuo smiled with satisfaction upon hearing this, and nodded, saying, "This deployment is indeed like the snake of Changshan!"

"If you attack the city, my troops will arrive; if you attack my camp, my troops will arrive!"

At the same time, Lu Zhi, standing on the top of Xindu City, saw the signal smoke and looked at Liu Bei and Zhang Fei beside him. He said with a smile, "Since Dong Zhongying sent out the signal smoke, why don't Xuande and Yide go along?"

Liu Bei and Zhang Fei looked at each other. After being besieged for several months, even a clay man would get angry, let alone these young people who were full of vigor and vitality?
So the two of them said without hesitation: "That is what we wish for, we dare not ask you!"

(2649 words)
(End of this chapter)