After the three-way confrontation, Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shu, and Sun Jian joined forces on both sides, and there was exactly one win, one loss and one draw, which seemed to be a draw. However, in fact, the main losses of the Yuan Shu Sun Jian Alliance were recruits, and the rest of the recruits quickly transformed into veterans after experiencing a major war, and their combat effectiveness increased instead of decreasing.

But for Dong Zhuo, the thousands of casualties under Hu Zhen and Hua Xiong were mostly veterans with rich experience. Just based on Xu Rong's beheading, if you calculate it carefully, Dong Zhuo is still at a loss. As for the replacement of Zu Mao at the level of "Thousand People Broken" with a quasi-"Ten Thousand Enemies" level Hua Xiong, for Dong Zhuojun, it was a mess.

What's more, Dong Zhuojun's money and food are in a hurry. Due to the large-scale migration of the residents of Luoyang, the once densely populated capital of the Han Dynasty has now become a depression. The grain and grass needed by Dong Zhuo's tens of thousands of troops could not be obtained on the spot from Luoyang City, and had to be transported from Chang'an, which was hundreds of miles away. Since he couldn't defeat Sun Jian in a short period of time, Dong Zhuo had actually lost this battle strategically.

On the other hand, after the loss of his confidant Zu Mao, Sun Jian was grief-stricken, and spent the whole day in the army to boost morale, and prepare to launch a new round of attacks. And after easily defeating the Liangzhou army, Sun Jian's status became taller in the rest of Yuan Shu's army. Even Zhang Xun, who was defeated, was re-energized by Sun Jian, and was ready to follow Sun Jian and wash away the shame of his defeat in the next battle.

So, driven by Sun Jian, the 55,000 Yuan-Sun coalition army marched step by step and approached in the direction of Luoyang. On the way, although it happened that Yuan Shu was afraid that Sun Jian's prestige after the victory was too high and difficult to control, he cut off the supply of military rations to the front line and asked Sun Jian to retreat. But Sun Jian rushed back to Luyang overnight and showed his loyalty to Yuan Shu in person. As well as the admonition of the Lord Bo Yanxiang, Changshi Yang Hong and others, Yuan Shu once again strengthened his confidence in supporting Sun Jian's battle.

Sun Jian, whose internal worries have been eliminated, has become more and more high-spirited. However, Dong Zhuo's fighting spirit at this time has dropped significantly.

Due to the transfer of Hua Xiong to join the southern battlefield, the battle situation of the Liangzhou Army in Hanoi immediately deteriorated considerably.

Although Yuan Shao in the north was not a master of the art of war, he had Cao Cao, Xu You, and the newly joined Xun Chen and other shrewd soldiers. When Hua Xiong died in the south. Cao Cao and others, who had been in contact with the Liangzhou army on the front line, saw that there was a vacancy in the strength of the Liangzhou army in Hanoi.

Cao Cao, who could already be regarded as a master of the art of war, immediately suggested Yuan Shao and launched a series of temptations. When the news of Hua Xiong's death reached the ears of the Liangzhou army in Hanoi, the Liangzhou army was even more demoralized. As a result, Cao Cao led his troops and horses, and in just one attack, he broke through the camp of the Liangzhou army.

When Cao Cao was suspicious of such an easy victory. But to their astonishment, all the Liangzhou troops took the opportunity to start a complete rout, giving up all the territory they had occupied after months of hard fighting.

The retreat of Hanoi completely exposed the city to the threat of the Kwantung princes. At this time, Dong Zhuo, who was sitting in Luoyang, lost his temper, but also couldn't help but be glad that he had moved the capital to Chang'an early.

But so it goes. It doesn't make much sense for Dong Zhuo to fight Sun Jian again.

Even if he succeeded in repelling Sun Jian's army. The threat from the north of Hanoi remains unravelable. To make matters worse, with the complete loss of the Liangzhou army's territory in Hanoi, Xu Rong's troops, who were still stationed in Xingyang, were threatened by the army's rear roads and grain routes. If Xu Rong of Xingyang can't hold it, then Luoyang will be attacked from both sides from the north and the east.

Considering these disadvantages, Dong Zhuo was very eager to give up the outer defense line of Luoyang. Fight the enemy under the city of Male Castle. As the imperial capital of the Han Dynasty for more than 100 years, Luoyang has a tall city wall and a strong defense, which is by no means comparable to ordinary cities. Dong Zhuo believed that if he let the 20,000 army stick to Luoyang. Even if the enemy reaches 100,000, it will inevitably not be overcome.

Of course, the premise of this battle situation is that Dong Zhuo personally sits in Luoyang. Hu Zhen's defeat has already shown that in the Liangzhou army, except for Dong Zhuo, there is no commander with enough prestige and strength to sit on one side. Even if Dong Zhuo deprived Hu Zhen of his military power after the war and demoted him from Zhonglang General to Captain, he would not be able to conjure up a commander with the qualifications and ability to serve the public out of thin air.

In addition, there is also the disposal of Lu Bu, which is also a trouble for Dong Zhuo.

Hu Zhen's defeat, Lu Bu can be said to be "indispensable". However, this guy who secretly instigated the camp did not leave any useful evidence in this matter, and he also had the credit of shooting Sun Jian's confidant Zu Mao after the war. On the surface, Lu Bu is not only innocent, but meritorious.

Although Dong Zhuo's subordinates were collectively called the "Liangzhou Army" by the Kwantung princes, in fact, the troops that really came from Liangzhou were less than forty percent of Dong Zhuo's subordinates. The remaining more than sixty percent of the troops were all the soldiers of the West Garden Army, the Northern Army, the Southern Army, and the county soldiers under Si Li after Dong Zhuo entered Beijing.

Among the generals of Dong Zhuojun, who was not born in Liangzhou but held military power, Lu Bu was the one with the highest status. If this guy is punished by Dong Zhuo with some rumors with unknown evidence, at least half of Dong Zhuo's soldiers will have a considerable degree of unease and resentment in their hearts.

As a result, Dong Zhuo had to forgive Lu Bu for his actions in Hu Zhen's army, but because of his successful breakthrough, he killed Zu Mao and named Lu Bu the "Marquis of Duting". In addition, in order to weaken Lu Bu's influence in the army, Dong Zhuo also transferred Lu Bu to his side on the grounds that he had been assassinated by the remnants of the Yuan clan, Yue Cai Captain Wu Fu and others, and transferred him to his side to listen to him.

Lu Bu was not dissatisfied with the new transfer issued by Dong Zhuo. For him, Dong Zhuo was the strongest minister in the court and the most important guarantee for the Son of Heaven to govern. If he can get a higher official position by becoming Dong Zhuo's cronies, it will of course be a great thing.

Besides, staying in the barracks and leading the soldiers, where can you enjoy comfort with Xiangguo?

Lu Bu is a lover. ] people. His wives and concubines had all been placed in Chang'an City with the footsteps of the Son of Heaven at this time. Dong Xiangguo adheres to the rule of one country, and it is impossible to leave the center of the imperial court for too long. Follow Xiangguo, when Xiangguo returns to Chang'an, Lu Bu can also take the opportunity to return to Chang'an's home and stay with his wives and concubines for a while.

After dealing with the aftermath of Hu Zhen's defeat, Dong Zhuo judged the situation and decided to shrink the military force into Luoyang City, relying on the complete city defense system built in Luoyang City for more than 100 years to resist the rebellious attack of Kwantung. As long as the Kwantung rebels are under the fortified city of Luoyang, when the veterans of the division are tired, it will be the day when Dong Zhuo will launch a large-scale counterattack!

However, just when Dong Zhuo began to take the initiative to retreat and prepare for the offensive and defensive battle of Luoyang, a letter from Chang'an changed Dong Zhuo's mind again.

The letter was sent by Dong Min.

As Dong Zhuo's younger brother, Dong Min is undoubtedly an important backbone of the Liangzhou family. These days, Dong Min is exhausted in order to suppress the situation in Chang'an. However, in terms of prestige and ability, he is much worse than Dong Zhuo after all. Even if he tried his best, it would be difficult to maintain the situation in Chang'an for a long time.

Today's Chang'an City can be described as an undercurrent. Those guys who didn't dare to move under Dong Zhuo took advantage of Dong Min's power at this time and became active one after another. However, in order to ensure the supply of the front line and stabilize the situation in Chang'an, Dong Min did not dare to coerce the ministers of the DPRK and China too much. As a result, the situation in the DPRK and China has become more and more smoky.

Dong Min complained loudly in the letter, and faintly revealed that he had discovered the private conspiracy of some courtiers. It's just that because this matter is widely implicated and may affect the transportation of front-line military supplies, Dong Min said in the letter that it is inconvenient for him to deal with those rebels immediately.

After reading this letter, Dong Zhuo immediately made a decisive decision to return to Chang'an. Today's Chang'an City is his foundation, and it is connected to Liangzhou to the west. If there is a change in Chang'an, Dong Zhuo will not only immediately lose the orthodox position and status of the imperial court, but also have no way to return to Liangzhou to defend himself.

In contrast, the place of Luoyang is a secondary territory that can be defended and cannot be defended. Today's situation can be described as a domestic and external dilemma for Dong Zhuo. At this moment, he still does not lack the courage to break the wrist of a strong man.

However, before evacuating Luoyang, Dong Zhuo still has some things to try.

Although Luoyang experienced a large-scale relocation of the capital, the focus of the Liangzhou army's migration at that time was on the wealthy and official households in Beijing, and not much attention was paid to the forced relocation of ordinary people. Therefore, there are still some people in Luoyang who have carefully escaped the drive of the Liangzhou army and stubbornly live in their homes in the city.

Since he had decided to abandon the place, Dong Zhuo would not leave any manpower and material resources useful to the enemy. Therefore, under the command of Dong Zhuo, Niu Fu led his subordinates to take out the same set of tactics commonly used in the battle against the Qiang rebels in Liangzhou, and carried out a thorough wealth search and clean-up activity on the houses and residents in Luoyang City.

And those palaces, houses, etc., that cannot be taken away, Dong Zhuo will not leave them to the Kwantung rebellion. After the army leaves, there will be a fire that will completely engulf the former prosperous imperial capital of the Han Dynasty.

On the other hand, although he knew that there was little hope, Dong Zhuo still sent an envoy to contact Sun Jian privately, hoping to use the official position of the imperial court and the appointment of state and county officials to buy Sun Jian. In order to show his sincerity, Dong Zhuo was even willing to marry Sun Jian as a family of children!

The person who sent Sun Jian was Captain Li Dao, the head of the four captains of the "Dragon, Tiger, Leopard and Bear" in the Liangzhou Army. As soon as he saw that Li Dao had actually become an envoy, Sun Jian knew that Dong Zhuo was very sincere this time.

However, no matter how sincere Dong Zhuo is, Sun Jian will not intend to negotiate with Dong Zhuo. He understands his strengths and weaknesses, because he has more than enough martial arts and less than Wen Tao. If there is no one to provide Sun Jian with logistical supplies, no matter how much he can fight, he can't bring a group of hungry soldiers to the battlefield? (To be continued......)