Chapter 28: Joining Hands to Break the Tiger's Den

  Li Chong hesitated for a long time before he finally plucked up the courage to ask Cao Cao about this matter.

  Cao Cao heard this and looked at Li for a long time before chuckling: "Lü Bu has just been defeated, the morale of the troops inside Tiger Trap Pass is low. Once casualties exceed 30%, they will definitely collapse and flee without a fight. Where is the need to annihilate the defending army?"

  Cao Cao was absolutely right. In ancient warfare, if you could kill 40% of the enemy, it would be considered a great victory. Annihilating the entire enemy army was almost impossible.

  If Tiger Trap Pass is a dead end, the defending army may fight to the death, but once they have a way out, it's impossible for the entire army to die in battle.

  The situation of the whole army dying is not unheard of, generally it's a life-and-death battle with an alien tribe that leads to a situation where they would rather die than surrender. In the case of internal wars among vassals, as long as the main general dies, surrendering to the enemy is a very simple matter.

  Unless it's like Gao Shun's ambush camp, Cao Cao's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, Liu Bei's White Ears Elite Army, there are some loyal words to be said.

  Li Chong let out a deep sigh, understanding why Yuan Shao was doing this - he wanted to take advantage of Lü Bu's injury and attack Tiger Trap Pass. This approach couldn't be said to be wrong, it's just that the casualties were too severe. Since ancient times, in siege warfare, when encountering a strong defense like an "U-shaped trench", other than using human lives to fill it, there really wasn't any good solution.

  Yuan Shao didn't care about these soldiers, and neither did the other lords. The troops they brought weren't their best either. If they all died, they could just recruit again. In a chaotic world, as long as there was food and land, there would be no shortage of soldiers. Starving refugees who only had one meal to eat would do anything for another meal, even if it meant knowingly going to their deaths as cannon fodder.

  It wasn't until later periods, when population sharply declined, that various lords began to pay attention to population numbers.

  After Junyu Qiong's troops retreated, the sky had already darkened somewhat, but Yuan Shao still had no intention of withdrawing his army. He ordered a continuous attack on the city throughout the night. Before the Tiger Trap Pass, dozens of bonfires were lit, with dark red flames soaring several meters high, straight up into the air, casting a bloody hue over the sky.

  Below the Tiger Trap Pass, it was even more unbearable. The bodies of tens of thousands of soldiers were piled up, almost level with the city wall. Fresh blood stained the snow red, and flames merged into one piece. At first glance, it looked like a hellish scene, and timid people would be scared to death just by taking a look.

  Li Chong's whole body trembled, his face turned pale, and the thick bloody smell made him almost vomit. In comparison, Cao Cao, Yuan Shao and others looked much better than Li Chong. These people had experienced the baptism of suppressing the Yellow Turbans and had already developed immunity to such a tragic scene.

  At this time, the expressions of Cao Cao and others also became solemn, and the battle was nearing its end! The continuous killing for four hours made the soldiers of both sides extremely exhausted. Yuan Shao stood on the high platform, hesitating in his heart, unable to make a decision, whether or not to make the final blow?

  The coalition forces now have around 150,000 people. If you subtract the 100,000 who are attacking the city, there will be only 50,000 left. Among these 50,000 people, nearly 20,000 are cavalrymen. Yuan Shao is not stupid enough to use cavalrymen to attack a city. The remaining 30,000 people are all engineering soldiers who make equipment and cannot go onto the battlefield.

  These 20,000 men were the last fighting force of the Allied Army. If they could not launch a decisive attack, they had to reorganize their troops.

  In this way, the defenders inside the Tiger Trap Pass will also have a chance to rest, and it is very likely to become a protracted siege.

  "Good at plotting but poor at decision-making!" This is Yuan Shao's personality defect.

  Not mentioning Yuan Shao's hesitation, let's just look at the situation inside Tiger Trap Pass.

  Contrary to Yuan Shao's expectations, Lü Bu had gathered all his iron cavalry and was not preparing to launch a surprise attack on the allied forces, but rather to escape.

  Lü Bu sat upright in the commander's headquarters, with faint bloodstains still on his shoulders. Zhang Liao, wearing armor and helmet, sat beside him.

  Under the dim light, Lü Bu's expression seemed somewhat strange. He said, "Wen Yuan, I'll go up to the city wall to rescue Yu Qian (Gao Shun) later. You two lead the troops first, and I'll personally cover the rear."

  Zhang Liao furrowed his brow and said: "Fengxian, your injuries have not healed yet. Let me take the rear instead."

  Lü Bu burst out laughing and said with a smile: "Don't tell me you're not hurt, Wen Farong? Both of us were shot by Taishi Ci's arrow... Haha... This little injury is nothing to worry about. If I wasn't pretending, Taishi Ci wouldn't have been able to hurt me."

  Zhang Liao had great confidence in his martial arts skills against Lü Bu, and upon hearing this, he didn't say much more, nodded in agreement, and went out to arrange the troops.

  Lü Bu arrived at the top of Tiger Trap Pass and exchanged a few words in hushed tones with Gao Shun, who then turned around and descended from the city wall.

  ……

  After a moment, a dull horseshoe sound suddenly came from inside the Tiger Trap Pass. Yuan Shao's nerves were instantly tense, fearing that the iron cavalry inside the pass would come out and attack his own siege troops. He hastily ordered two thousand cavalrymen to prepare for battle.

  But contrary to Yuan Shao's expectations, the sound of horseshoes inside Tiger Trap Pass gradually faded away.

  After a moment's thought, Yuan Shao immediately understood: "Lü Bu has run away!"

  Not only did Yuan Shao see it, but anyone with a bit of insight could also see that the figures on Tiger Trap Pass had thinned out considerably. There was no need to struggle anymore, and Yuan Shao issued the order for a general attack without hesitation.

  Twenty thousand elite soldiers shouted in unison and charged towards Tiger Trap Pass. Compared to the previous waves of troops, these soldiers were much stronger in combat. Originally, they had been worried about the heavy casualties among the previous waves of attacking soldiers, but when they saw that there were few people on Tiger Trap Pass, they suddenly realized that this time was not a death sentence, and as long as they fought hard, they might be able to defeat the defending army.

  In a chaotic world, the mortality rate of soldiers is too high. These people can only try their best to prove their strength in order to get rid of being cannon fodder and live a little longer.

  The battle was brief, and the 20,000-strong army climbed up the city wall. The defenders of Tiger Trap Pass collapsed, some surrendered, others fled, and in less than an incense stick's time, the allied forces completely controlled Tiger Trap Pass.

  Leave the infantry to sweep the battlefield, and Yuan Shao immediately ordered: Cao Cao led 20,000 cavalrymen to pursue Lü Bu.

  At this time, the sky had already darkened, and Cao Cao was unwilling to pursue Lü Bu overnight, fearing that he would fall into an ambush. However, Yuan Shao insisted repeatedly, and Cao Cao had no choice but to grit his teeth and pursue him out of Tiger Trap Pass.

  After leaving the Tiger Trap Pass, they chased along the official road for several miles. Cao Cao was unwilling to take risks and attack, thinking that chasing for several miles was enough to make amends with Yuan Shao. Just as he was about to withdraw his troops, he suddenly saw flames flickering on the official road ahead and hastily sent Xiahou Dun to investigate.

  Xiahou Dun led dozens of elite cavalrymen, armed with bows, arrows and shields, and burst out. At a distance of 100 paces, taking advantage of the reflection of the snow, he finally saw the situation in front of him clearly.

  There were over fifty horsemen on the official road, each holding a torch, and the leader was none other than Lü Bu.

  Xiahou Dun hastily reined in his warhorse, the main army was still waiting for news behind him. The number of people on both sides was not much different, and he didn't want to have a chaotic battle with Lü Bu.

  Although Xiahou Dun was arrogant, he didn't think he could hold out until the reinforcements arrived. Lü Bu's bravery was too terrifying, and just thinking about the battle at dawn made Xiahou Dun feel anxious in his heart.

  The first volume is about to end, it's a pity! Book friends, take the liberty to recommend and collect it!