Eastern Han Dynasty, not the Three Kingdoms

Lü Bu was halfway through his march when he encountered Hua Xiong's defeated army. Hua Xiong, terrified, blurted out, "General Lü, this is terrible! Sun Ce is like a god of war descending upon earth. The allied forces are surging like a tide. Sishui Pass has been completely surrounded. Our defenders have suffered heavy casualties and are powerless to resist. Sishui Pass is now impregnable. We have no chance of taking it!"

Upon hearing this, Lü Bu's face darkened. He knew Sishui Pass had been breached. If the allied forces were truly approaching in force, retaking it would be a futile attempt. With no other options, Lü Bu led his troops back to Hulao Pass.

When they arrived at Hulao Pass, Li Jue, Guo Si and other generals were standing at the pass with mocking expressions on their faces.

Li Jue shouted sarcastically, "Lü Bu, Lü Bu! Don't you boast of being invincible? Why have you returned in such a dismal state?" Li Jue secretly gloated, "Hmph, that Lü Bu brat! Let him fight the allied forces to the death. It would be best if he were defeated, to show his incompetence. Even if he can resist for a while, both sides will suffer. Then Guo Si and I can send our troops, and the credit will be ours. That old villain Dong Zhuo will undoubtedly rely on us even more, and our status and strength will be greatly expanded."

Guo Si also sneered, "Huh, since you are so powerful, why don't you lead your army to retake Sishui Pass? Are you afraid of the coalition of princes?" Guo Si was thinking in his mind: Let Lu Bu be the first to take action, we will conserve our strength, sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, and when they have almost finished fighting, we will go out to clean up the mess, and the merit of the battle of Hulao Pass will be ours.

Lü Bu glared at them and shouted, "Stop your nonsense! The coalition is powerful; a strong attack at this moment is absolutely not the best strategy." Lü Bu was filled with resentment. These two villains clearly wanted to use the coalition to weaken my forces, so they could reap the benefits and use their own military might. Their intentions are despicable. But now that Dong Zhuo trusted them, I had no choice but to swallow my anger.

Li Jue burst into laughter: "Haha, what do you mean by the coalition forces are so powerful? I think you are just a coward!"

Guo Si continued, "You can camp in front of Hulao Pass first, and when the allied forces arrive, you can engage them first. We want to see how capable you are!"

Lü Bu understood that Li Jue and Guo Si intended for his Bingzhou army to serve as the vanguard, wearing down their strength until both sides were equally defeated, and then they would reap the benefits. However, at this moment, he had no choice but to set up camp in front of Hulao Pass.

Lu Bu looked at the smug faces of Li Jue and Guo Si, and secretly vowed that one day he would make them pay for what they did today.

Under Sun Ce's surprise attack, Sun Jian captured Sishui Pass with unstoppable force and unstoppable speed. Sun Jian immediately dispatched a messenger to deliver the news of this victory to the allied forces. While the allied forces were still en route to Sishui Pass, they were pleasantly surprised to receive the news.

When Yuan Shao and his men heard this news, they completely forgot about Emperor Liu Bian and disregarded him. With a wave of his hand, Yuan Shao casually relayed the news of their victory to the emperor, seemingly unconcerned with his authority. Without even waiting for the emperor's instructions or instructions, they eagerly led their vast army directly to Sishui Pass.

Upon learning of this, Emperor Liu Bian, who was at the imperial headquarters, was furious. He angrily addressed Lu Zhi, who was standing beside him, "Master Lu, Yuan Shao and his men are truly going too far. They have no regard for me, the Emperor!" Lu Zhi, also looking helpless, bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, please calm down. In this situation, Yuan Shao and the other princes are so powerful that they truly don't care about Your Majesty." Emperor Liu Bian frowned, his tone filled with worry, "Alas, I am helpless now. However, this Sun Jian is exceptionally brave. I could use him." Lu Zhi nodded in agreement, "Your Majesty is wise. Sun Jian is indeed brave. If we can win him over, he might be useful to Your Majesty. However, in the current situation, winning him over may be difficult." Emperor Liu Bian pondered for a moment and then said, "In any case, send someone to observe secretly and look for an opportunity to win him over." Lu Zhi accepted the order and said, "As you command, Your Majesty."

As soon as he entered Sishui Pass, Yuan Shao immediately became very proud and completely ignored the fatigue of his soldiers from the march and the subsequent battle strategy arrangements. He directly ordered a grand banquet.

At the banquet, Yuan Shao sat at the head of the table, his drunken eyes glazing over Sun Jian's bravery as if he were putting on a show. He did this, firstly, to win over Sun Jian and try to ease the rift between them; secondly, to create the illusion of magnanimity and forgiveness, thus defusing any potential conflict between them.

However, this only intensified Yuan Shu's jealousy of Sun Jian. Yuan Shu wondered, "What merit has Sun Jian deserved to be praised so generously by Yuan Shao? He's just a warrior, how could he steal my limelight?" The other princes watched Yuan Shao's praise of Sun Jian. Some, though slightly puzzled, simply watched silently, while others harbored ulterior motives, secretly plotting their own schemes.

As expected, Yuan Shu was displeased by Sun Jian's humility and accommodating attitude in response to Yuan Shao's praise. Yuan Shu had long considered himself a superior, as if everyone should be his vassal, yet Sun Jian was clearly not his subordinate. Consequently, Yuan Shu developed the illusion that Sun Jian had betrayed him, and he devised a plan. He would have Sun Jian lead his troops to attack Xingyang. This way, as the quartermaster, he could use his authority to withhold food and other supplies from Sun Jian's troops, putting him at a disadvantage during the battle.

Yuan Shu stood up, a cunning glint in his eyes, and shouted, "General Wen is a brave and skilled warrior. I propose that we divide our forces now. Let the allied forces attack Hulao Pass, while General Sun Jian leads his forces to attack Xuanmen Pass in Xingyang. This way, we can attack from both sides, making it difficult for the enemy to cope."

Yuan Shao frowned slightly upon hearing this and turned to look at Sun Jian. Sun Jian, paralyzed by his previous victory and buoyed by the crowd's praise, was now filled with pride and invincibility. Sun Jian's face flushed, his eyes hazy yet revealing a sense of confidence and arrogance. Without a second thought, he readily responded, "Okay, let's do this!"

Cao Cao then hurried out and said, "Absolutely not, Lord Yuan! We have just won a victory. We should concentrate our forces to pursue the victory. How can we easily divide our forces? This will only disperse our strength and give the enemy an opportunity to exploit! We should work together and attack Hulao Pass in one go. Dividing our forces is too risky."

However, Yuan Shu was trying to fool people. He was only thinking about his own plans and ignored what Cao Cao said. He immediately retorted, "Meng De is wrong. Dividing the troops has its advantages. We can put pressure on the enemy in multiple places at the same time, so that they cannot take care of both ends. Moreover, this is a good opportunity to expand the results of the battle." Cao Cao looked at Yuan Shu's face and understood his intentions, but everyone seemed to be overwhelmed at this time. Even though he was extremely anxious, he could do nothing and could only sigh inwardly.

After weighing the pros and cons, Yuan Shao ultimately did not adopt Cao Cao's opinion. He waved his hand and said, "Okay, no need to say more, it's settled. Divide the troops!" In this way, the strategy of dividing the troops was finally decided, and Cao Cao could only watch the situation develop in the direction he was worried about, his heart full of worry and helplessness.

A conspiracy against Sun Jian thus unfolded. Some of the other princes watched with indifference, hoping to watch the two tigers clash, while others secretly worried for Sun Jian, suspecting Yuan Shu was plotting against him. Most chose silence, believing that in these turbulent times, the best strategy was to maintain a prudent and cautious approach. They knew the Yuan brothers' minds were unpredictable, and getting involved in their feud wouldn't necessarily be a good idea. It was better to wait and see how events unfolded.

Cao Cao's fears would soon be realized. At the banquet, everyone was immersed in the joy of their current victory and a blind optimism about the future. Sun Jian was unaware of the terrifying presence of Xu Rong, the defender of Xingyang. He only believed that his army was invincible, completely unaware of the immense challenges and dangers that lay ahead. As Cao Cao watched the crowd, his anxiety grew deeper. He knew Xu Rong was a formidable general, a battle-hardened warrior with exceptional military talent, and no one would easily defeat him. But Sun Jian, lost in the alcohol and the crowd's praise, completely ignored Cao Cao's warnings and failed to fully understand Xu Rong's formidable character. Yuan Shao and his allies, also misled by the current situation, hastily decided to divide their forces, seemingly certain of victory, unaware of the painful lessons the impending storm would bring. As time passed, the hidden crisis loomed, and Sun Jian and the allied forces would pay a heavy price for their underestimation and recklessness.