The strongest devouring system in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 51 Asking for help

Although Hulao Pass was not breached on the first day, the Guandong Allied Forces, under the command of former Grand Commandant Lu Zhi, decisively broke through it the following day, opening the westward passage. Ding Yuan, the governor of Liangzhou, was greatly alarmed and hastily withdrew his troops from Luoyang! From then on, the Han Empire existed in name only, and the world descended into an era of warlordism.

However, it would take some time for the messenger to deliver the message, so Lu Zhi could only place his hopes on himself. He shook his head vigorously, as if trying to shake all those thoughts out of his mind, and then looked up at the battlefield ahead.

The attack force, mixed with some musketeers, had already reached the foot of the city wall. Although the number of Xiliang musketeers on the Hulao Pass city wall had increased today, resulting in more casualties for the attacking force compared to yesterday, war is never going to be smooth sailing. You can't just forbid the enemy from using muskets.

Lu Zhi ordered the musketeers to suppress the Xiliang musketeers on the city wall, and the attacking troops prepared to attack the city.

On the city wall, Dian Wei's expression was not good. After Li Jue privately requested reinforcements, many more reinforcements came from Luoyang. Although they were all miscellaneous troops from the original Luoyang city, there were quite a few musketeers. These were the defeated soldiers of the original Northern and Southern armies who were gathered together by Ding Yuan.

Dian Wei was not happy to receive reinforcements. In his view, his existing troops were enough to hold off the Guandong army's attack. Li Jue's actions were clearly an attempt to steal credit from him, which was something Dian Wei disliked most. This morning, the atmosphere on the city wall was strange. The Xiliang army generals led by Li Jue and the Bingzhou army generals led by Dian Wei, along with a small number of Xiliang army generals, were divided into two distinct groups. Although they were both on the same city wall, they refused to communicate with each other, giving the allied forces outside the pass a great opportunity.

The fighting raged on the city walls. Wu Anguo was the first to spot Dian Wei. Knowing Dian Wei was very strong, he cautiously charged forward, but he never expected Dian Wei to be so powerful. In just three rounds, Wu Anguo was killed by Dian Wei. Without the help of the Eighth Route Army, Wu Anguo in this world completely collapsed.

Gongsun Zan, who was following behind Wu Anguo, also spotted Dian Wei. Unlike Wu Anguo, who was a big, dumb guy, Gongsun Zan didn't just blindly rush forward thinking he was being careful. Instead, he ordered the dozen or so musketeers behind him to load their weapons immediately. While he was distracting Dian Wei, he also ordered the musketeers to get ready.

Dian Wei, whose attention was drawn to Gongsun Zan, completely ignored the musketeers in the rear of the new Bingzhou army. Instead, he was drawn to Gongsun Zan, who was slaughtering his own men.

"Come and register, I will not kill nameless novices!"

Dian Wei roared.

"Nameless?" Gongsun Zan retorted, "Are you very famous?"

Enraged, Dian Wei charged towards Gongsun Zan. Knowing he was no match for Dian Wei, Gongsun Zan fled to the rear, shouting, "Free fire!"

The musketeers who followed Gongsun Zan up the city wall were all soldiers he had carefully selected from his 20,000 musketeers. Their marksmanship was not perfect, but it was much better than that of ordinary soldiers.

Hearing Gongsun Zan's shout, the seasoned warrior Dian Wei's alarm bells rang. He retreated, but no matter how fast a man's feet were, they couldn't outrun musket bullets. Bang! Bang! Bang! A dozen gunshots rang out, and Dian Wei staggered, shot in the left shoulder and back. Fortunately, his back was protected by armor, so the wound wasn't serious, though blood gushed from his left shoulder, a gruesome sight. Hearing the sound of muskets, Dian Wei didn't linger; he now had a phobia of them.

Dian Wei wanted to leave, but the others were unwilling to let such a good opportunity pass. Gongsun Zan saw that Dian Wei was injured and thought there was an opportunity to take advantage of it, so he immediately launched a counterattack. However, after he rushed up, he realized that even if Dian Wei was injured, he was still not someone he could contend with.

Just as Gongsun Zan was losing ground, a furious roar came from behind: "You thrice-surname traitor! How dare you be so insolent!" A burly man climbed up the rear wall of the allied forces, wielding a spear and charging towards Dian Wei. Gongsun Zan recognized him; it was Zhang Fei, a general under Liu Bei and his close friend from school. Gongsun Zan quickly shouted, "General Zhang, come to my aid and kill this traitor!"

"Zhang Yide of Yan is here! You traitorous thief, take this!"

Zhang Fei charged forward. Zhang Fei's strength was indeed inferior to Dian Wei's, but Dian Wei was currently injured, while Zhang Fei had been conserving his strength. Dian Wei, who was bleeding profusely from his injury, was no match for Zhang Fei. Holding a halberd in one hand, Dian Wei's strength gradually gave out. If it weren't for the desperate assistance of his personal guards, Dian Wei would have been defeated by the combined efforts of Zhang Fei and Gongsun Zan.

Suddenly, Zhang Fei seized an opening in Dian Wei's defenses and thrust his spear, striking Dian Wei squarely in the abdomen. Severely wounded, Dian Wei coughed up blood and collapsed.

"General!"

The surrounding guards were shocked. They charged towards Zhang Fei and Gongsun Zan with reckless abandon. The sheer number of soldiers was no joke; even Zhang Fei, with his strength, couldn't withstand the onslaught of so many elite troops. Seeing the situation was dire, Gongsun Zan said to Zhang Fei, "General Zhang, Dian Wei is seriously injured. Our objective has been achieved. Preserving our strength is paramount! Retreat immediately!"

Zhang Fei wasn't a reckless man; he was just a bit impatient. However, he understood the urgency of the situation, and with his own troops dwindling, Zhang Fei and his men had already penetrated over a hundred meters into the enemy lines. Zhang Fei said to Gongsun Zan, "General Gongsun, you retreat first. I'll cover the rear!"

Gongsun Zan didn't hesitate. He nodded to Zhang Fei and said, "General, be careful." Then he turned and charged back.

While killing, he roared, "Dian Wei is dead! Surrender now!"

Upon hearing Gongsun Zan's roar, Dian Wei wanted to retort, but before he could finish speaking, he coughed up another mouthful of blood and completely lost consciousness.

As soon as Dian Wei fell, the city walls behind him immediately fell into chaos.

As Li Jue gave the order, the Xiliang musketeers rushed from the rear to the front and began to fight alongside their comrades. Only then did the Xiliang army truly begin to coordinate their attacks, but it seemed to be a little too late, as countless Xiliang soldiers had already fallen on the city walls.

"shooting!"

"shooting!"

Li Jue kept issuing firing orders, and with the combined attack of thousands of musketeers and archers, the situation was finally stabilized, and the offensive of the Kwantung Allied Army was halted.

"General Li, what do we do now?" The Kwantung Army's offensive was finally halted. Although Li Jue and Hua Xiong had also discovered the advantage of musketeers coordinating with melee units, it seemed to be a bit too late; their forces were simply running low. If Li Jue hadn't secretly requested reinforcements from Ding Yuan, there would probably only be thirty to forty thousand men left at Hulao Pass.

Watching the retreating Kwantung Army, Li Jue said to Hua Xiong with lingering fear, "The only option now is to immediately seek reinforcements from Luoyang."