The strongest devouring system in the Three Kingdoms

"Probably not. If the Kwantung Allied Forces hadn't gained the upper hand, Ding Yuan wouldn't have fled to Chang'an in such a hurry."

"That being said, we must still be careful. Tell the brothers tonight to be on guard in case of any accidents. Also tell them that if this plan succeeds, I will reward the entire army with one percent of the treasure!"

"On behalf of my brothers, I thank you, my lord." Upon hearing Chen Er's words, Xu Rong was greatly shocked. One percent—that was quite a lot! Xu Rong had heard that Ding Yuan and Li Ru had practically emptied Luoyang. Even the passing Xiliang soldiers were saying that Li Ru had dug up all the imperial tombs in Luoyang, and that all the burial goods of the imperial family over the past hundreds of years had probably been looted by Li Ru. Moreover, even just one percent of the wealth in the Luoyang imperial palace treasury was enough to ensure that the five thousand soldiers at Hangu Pass would have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of their lives. How could Xu Rong not be shocked and grateful?

In fact, Chen Er's approach was to win over the hearts of the people. After all, Xu Rong seemed to have won over the hearts of the people, but the two thousand soldiers under Xu Rong were not so easily won over. Therefore, Chen Er had to find a way to make these soldiers firmly follow his ideas. In this situation, how could he make them firmly follow his ideas? It was very simple: money!

As expected, upon hearing Xu Rong relay Chen Er's orders, all the soldiers became excited. They didn't care who they were loyal to; they knew that following Chen Er would bring them a lot of money. Besides, looking at the equipment of the Youzhou soldiers around them, even some soldiers who had initially considered deserting abandoned those thoughts. They couldn't afford to turn down money, no matter who they were dealing with; that was their truest thought.

Reality is harsh; loyalty is a load of rubbish, money is the only true loyalty. Under Chen Er's money offensive, the Hangu Pass garrison, who were originally vassals of the Xiliang army, immediately became loyal to Chen Er. Of course, some officers planted by the Xiliang army have been controlled by Xu Rong and Zhao Yun's cavalry, and their fate will be decided after the war.

While Chen Er secretly occupied Hangu Pass, the Guandong Allied Forces at Hulao Pass were fretting over the fire that had engulfed the pass. It turned out that after receiving Li Jue's plea for help, Li Ru immediately ordered a full retreat. Since Ding Yuan had already gone to Chang'an, and Li Ru and Niu Fu had essentially plundered all the wealth in Luoyang, Li Ru wasn't so kind to the civilians. Those who could be relocated naturally followed the Xiliang army, while those who couldn't be moved immediately were ordered to be relocated, and the army was used to force these civilians out of the city. But was Li Ru truly acting for the sake of the civilians? Not entirely. His primary objective was to use these civilians to delay the Guandong Allied Forces that were about to pursue them.

Although Li Ru and other high-ranking officials of the Western Liang army analyzed that the Guandong Allied Army would be hesitant to advance in Luoyang, no one could be sure that the warlords would not pursue them. As a strategist, Li Ru still made preparations for any eventuality when arranging the plan.

How long will it take to extinguish the fire that has been brought under control?

"Reporting to the Alliance Leader, the fire on the city tower of Hulao Pass has been extinguished. We can pass through once the fire on the streets inside the pass is put out. I estimate it will take more than three hours," a junior officer replied to Yuan Shao.

"Ju Yi".

"The end will be here."

"Send another 5,000 men to help put out the fire. We must catch up with the fleeing Xiliang army as soon as possible."

"You will finally understand."

Thanks to the efforts of the allied soldiers, the fire at Hulao Pass was extinguished. As for those unimportant places, Yuan Shao and his men had no time to care. Having finally broken through Hulao Pass, who cared whether the pass was intact or not? The priority now was to get to Luoyang as quickly as possible.

However, the warlords of Guandong could never have imagined that while they were putting out the fire at Hulao Pass, thick smoke was also billowing up from Luoyang City, almost obscuring the entire city.

Seeing the thick smoke rising from Luoyang, Li Jue, who had just arrived, had hoped to rest in the city for a while, but unexpectedly, Li Ru and Niu Fu had already set it ablaze. Helpless, Li Jue could only order his soldiers to rest outside the city for a while, eat some dry rations and drink some water before resuming their march to catch up with Li Ru and his men.

On the afternoon of June 4, Gao Shun personally led a division that finally arrived at Hangu Pass. This was a mixed infantry division, which included three musketeer regiments and a mixed regiment of swordsmen, shieldmen, and spearmen.

With the support of this division, Chen Er finally had enough confidence. However, Chen Er did not let Gao Shun lead his army into the pass. Instead, he had Gao Shun hide in a forest northeast of Hangu Pass as a surprise attack.

On the morning of June 5th, scouts reported that the vanguard of the Liang army west of Luoyang was still fifty li away from Hangu Pass. According to the scouts, the vanguard of the Liang army consisted of three thousand cavalrymen, and behind them were countless carts and infantrymen escorting the people around Luoyang, most importantly women, able-bodied men, and children. In the chaos of the times, these could be considered strategic resources.

"What did you say!" Niu Fu grabbed the messenger and asked, "You said Hangu Pass has fallen into the hands of the Youzhou army?"

"That's right, General, Hangu Pass has indeed fallen into the hands of the Youzhou army." The messenger said with a mournful face. He was just a messenger, why was he being treated like this? How was he supposed to know how Hangu Pass had fallen?

"What should we do?" Niu Fu asked Li Ru beside him. "Wenyou, now that Hangu Pass has fallen into Chen Er's hands, and the Guandong Allied Army is chasing us from behind, if the Guandong Allied Army catches up, we will not only be unable to bring these treasures back, but we may not even be able to return ourselves."

“Don’t worry, Chen Er’s attack on Hangu Pass must have been a lightly armed raid, and his forces were small, but they should all be elite troops. Otherwise, Xu Rong’s two thousand or so defenders wouldn’t have fallen before any news got out,” Li Ru analyzed. He pulled the messenger aside and asked, “You just said that General Xu Rong was still answering questions on the city wall, is that true?”

"Reporting to the strategist, it is true. General Fan Chou personally spoke with General Xu Rong, and then our army, completely unprepared, approached the gate and was caught off guard by the Youzhou army," the messenger said.

"So, General Xu Rong has either surrendered or been taken into custody. Marquis Wen is currently seriously injured and unable to fight for the time being. Our army is now in a very dangerous situation." Li Ru shook his head and said. He urgently needed to calm down. As a strategist, Li Ru kept telling himself to stay calm.

"Wenyou, what should we do now?" Niu Fu said to Li Ru. "If all else fails, should we detour through Qingni Pass?"

"No, that's too far, there's not enough time, and the roads at Qingni Pass are rugged and transportation is extremely inconvenient. With so many vehicles and supplies, our army simply cannot pass through normally. Once the Allied forces catch up, we will get nothing."