【Stalemate Phase】

After Cao Cao fled back to Sour Zao, he still thought that the coalition forces should take the initiative to attack, instead of drinking and partying here every day and having fun, so that if he did not want to forge ahead, he would only disappoint the people of the world and would not bring victory to the coalition army. He suggested to everyone that Yuan Shao led the Hanoi soldiers to Mengjin, and the general of Sujuo was stationed in Chenggao, occupied Aocang, and established camps in Yuyuan and Taigu to control the dangers, while Yuan Shu went from Nanyang to Dan and Xi, and entered Wuguan to attack Guanzhong, thinking that as long as this was the case, Dong Zhuo would not be able to defeat him, and the Kwantung coalition army would definitely be victorious.

But Zhang Miao and others did not accept his proposal, but thought that Cao Cao was already a general of the defeated army and should review himself, which made Cao Cao very disappointed. So Cao Cao took his subordinates to Yangzhou to recruit troops, gathered more than 1,000 people, and went to Hanoi to join Yuan Shao.

At this time, Sun Jian finally joined Yuan Shu, and he was listed by Yuan Shu as a general who broke the captives, led the history of Yuzhou Assassin, and was subordinate to Yuan Shu, preparing for the Northern Expedition to Dong Zhuo.

Once, Sun Jian set up a banquet outside the east gate to entertain the grain transport officer, but it happened that Hu Zhen's advance cavalry suddenly attacked, but Sun Jian still handled it calmly, and ordered his subordinates not to move lightly, but slowly entered the city, Dong Zhuojun's generals saw that Sun Jian's troops were very neat and prepared for the fortified city, so they did not dare to attack, and finally retreated.

Later, Yuan Shu sent Sun Jian to Liangdong to garrison troops, and Dong Zhuo also sent Xu Rong and Li Meng to attack everywhere, and Sun Jian and Xu Rong had an encounter in Liang County, which resulted in a complete victory for Xu Rong, and Sun Jian was defeated and fled (Note 1). At that time, Sun Jian liked to wear a red turban, but in order to escape smoothly, he asked his close general Zu Mao to wear it, and he escaped from the path. Zu Mao is not stupid, after he attracted the pursuers, he covered the red scarf on a burning pillar in front of the grave, Dong Zhuojun was misled by this, and Zu Mao escaped like this.

At this time, Yuan Shao, Wang Kuang and others in Hanoi County also had the intention of marching. Wang Kuang sent his own engaged Han Hao to lead troops to garrison Mengjin, and sent "Taishan soldiers" to garrison Heyangjin, ready to attack Dong Zhuo at any time. After Dong Zhuo found out, he sent some soldiers and horses to bluff to make Wang Kuangjun think that they would cross the river from Pingyin County to attack, and sent elite troops to detour from Xiaopingjin to the rear of Wang Kuangjun's army to launch a surprise attack, and Wang Kuangjun's army was almost wiped out.

[Separately? 】

Although Han Fu finally decided to support Yuan Shao in history, after thinking about it, he still felt that Yuan Shao would threaten him, and those generals of the sour jujube coalition army were really inactive, so he began to gradually reduce the supply of the coalition army. After the sour jujube coalition army ran out of food, the army had to be disbanded, and everyone led the army back to their own territory, but everyone still maintained their alliance with each other and still agreed to jointly crusade against Dong Zhuo.

After the dissolution of the coalition forces, Liu Dai killed Qiao Mao due to a discord with Qiao Mao, the former Yanzhou Assassin (probably because Liu Dai replaced Qiao Mao as the Yanzhou Assassin, causing the two to be at odds), which further broke down the Dong Alliance. Although Yuan Shao knew that Han Fu was afraid of himself and embarrassed himself everywhere, he still maintained a relationship with Han Fu and focused on the overall situation, maybe at that time Yuan Shao knew that people like Han Fu were not terrible, and he would use them for himself sooner or later.

After Dong Zhuo saw the retreat of the coalition forces, he sent Han Rong, Yin Xiu, Hu Muban, Wu Xun, and Wang Guixiang to negotiate peace with Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, and others (Note 2). But before, Dong Zhuo had already slaughtered the Yuan clan in Luoyang and Chang'an, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu both had a bloody feud with Dong Zhuo, both of them directly rejected Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao asked Wang Kuang to kill Hu Muban, Wang Gui, and Wu Xun, Yuan Shu also killed Yin Xiu, and in the end only because Han Rong was famous. Although Yuan Shao did not agree to negotiate peace with Dong Zhuo, at this time, Yuan Shao's mind was no longer on the crusade against Dong Zhuo.

In the second year of Chuping (191), Han Fu, Yuan Shao and the generals of Kwantung discussed that Emperor Xian was young, controlled by Dong Zhuo, and far away in Chang'an, separated by the passes, and did not know life and death.

Cao Cao said: "The reason why our people have raised troops, and people from near and far have not responded, is precisely because our actions are just. Now the emperor is young and weak, although he is controlled by traitorous ministers, but there is no mistake like Liu He, the king of Changyi, who can lead to the death of the country, once you change someone else, who in the world can accept it! You set up Liu Yu to the north, and I respect the emperor in the west. ”

Han Fu and Yuan Shao wrote to Yuan Shu and said: "The emperor is not the son of Emperor Ling, we are ready to depose the young master according to Zhou Bo and Guan Ying, set a precedent for the acting king, and honor the great Sima Liu Yu as the emperor." Yuan Shu also refused.

Soon after, Han Fu and Yuan Shao sent their former Lelang County Taishou Zhang Qi and others to Youzhou with their proposal and presented Liu Yu with the honorific title of emperor. When Liu Yu saw Zhang Qi and others, he scolded them sharply and said: "If the emperor is torn apart today, and the emperor is in trouble outside, I have received great favor from the country and have not been ashamed of the country." You are supposed to serve the royal family with all your heart, but instead you are planning this kind of conspiracy to defile me! He firmly refused. Han Fu and others asked Liu Yu to preside over the affairs of Shangshu and serve as an official on behalf of the emperor, but Liu Yu still did not accept it, and planned to flee to the Xiongnu to isolate himself, so Yuan Shao and Han Fu gave up.

After Yuan Shao failed to support Youzhou Mu Liu Yu, he started the idea of Jizhou again, and at this time, Yuan Shao, the leader of the coalition army, had actually withdrawn from Dong Zhuo's crusade.

【Tough Alliance】

Whether you have read "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" or read the official history, everyone can't help but feel that Yuan Shao, the leader of the alliance, has actually not played much role, and feels that his ability is like this. But to be fair, Yuan Shao himself really can't be blamed for this.

Because in history, although Yuan Shao was the leader of the Kwantung Alliance, he was not as majestic as we imagined.

After Yuan Shao escaped from Luoyang, although he was appointed by Dong Zhuo as the Taishou of Bohai, he was subject to Han Fu, and how Han Fu was jealous of him and how he made him pigtails was also introduced above. As a result, although Yuan Shao became the leader of the alliance, he had no real name, and the troops he could control were only in the Hanoi area, even if it was this army, it was brought by Wang Kuang, Zhang Yang and others, and Cao Cao led more than 1,000 people behind, and there were very few troops directly under him. Like the troops in the area of Sujube and Yuan Shu's subordinates, Yuan Shao couldn't control it at all. Yuan Shao was not unprepared to attack Dong Zhuo, but in the end, Dong Zhuo attacked first, and Wang Kuang's troops were all wiped out.

In fact, Yuan Shao was also very miserable at the beginning, and his alliance leader was only in name, and he couldn't mobilize the princes below at all, and he didn't have that strength transfer, just comparing the strength of the army, he was not much stronger than Cao Cao at the beginning. This is also why Yuan Shao later had the idea of setting up another emperor, he was not because his power was big and he was ambitious to go further, but because Yuan Shao was in name only, but wanted to save the country, control the princes of Kwantung through the authority of the emperor, and then fight to the death with Dong Zhuo. Yuan Shao doesn't know the consequences and costs of being separated? Not necessarily! This is just like Yuan Shao persuaded He Jin to mobilize warlords from outside to enter Beijing, there is no way! Anyway, if you go on like this, you can't beat Dong Zhuo, so it's better to gamble.

But in any case, it is undeniable that Yuan Shao did not reasonably use his position as the leader of the alliance and his influence to complete the great cause of seeking Dong, at least he could do better, which is why Bao Xin felt that he was inferior to Cao Cao.

Note 1: It is also recorded in the "Later Han Dynasty" that Niu Fu sent Li Dao, Guo Yan, Jia Xu and others to attack the Kwantung coalition army, first to Sun Jian, and then to break his army in Liangdong. Sun Jian led a thousand horsemen to break the siege.

Note 2: Dong Zhuo's peace discussion is said to have occurred after the defeat of the coalition forces, and it is said to have been after Yuan Shao captured Jizhou.