Chapter 301
Chapter 301 – End of Dong Zhuo
March 10th, 185 A . D .
The Ghost Legion of Zhang He and Ju Shou entered Henei City without resistance .
Instead of meeting with resisting civilians or soldiers, they threw flower petals in celebration to welcome them .
"THANK YOU!"
"BLESS LORD ZHANG JIAO!"
"THANK YOU, HEROES!"
Zhang He and Ju Shou were flabbergasted . They sent several men to inquire about the information about the city right away .
…
The investigation had been completed . The result was in .
It turned out that Dong Zhuo kidnapped all young girls and shipped them to Luo Yang to be his concubines . They even took housewives without caring if they had babies or children to raise .
Men who resisted against Dong Zhuo were killed . All young boys were sold as slaves while seniors were forced to work until they died from exhaustion . Any able men were forced to join the militias and transferred to either Luo Yang or Chang'An .
All surviving civilians inside the city were newcomers and refugees from other towns . They had been hiding from Dong Zhuo's men for a long time before the army departed from the city in a hurry .
"In other words, the former residents in Henei are either taken away or killed . "
The face of Ju Shou and Zhang He turned ugly . Because they did something to Henei's population before they took Shangdang, they felt guilty about the fate of these people .
Han Hao, a former subordinate of Imperial Forces who had joined Shangdang forces, had a family in Henei . He searched around his former resident to find if there was any survivor .
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!"
He found them, but they were dead bodies .
Tears covered Han Hao's face as he hugged the body of his dead mother .
"DONG ZHUO!!"
"DAMN YOU, TRAITOR!!"
More screams could be heard from the city as soldiers with relatives in Henei found the remaining of their families . Even the men who came from elsewhere was enraged by the tragic scenes .
Ju Shou stared at the ruined city and advised Zhang He, "We'll leave a few troops here to help the locals . I want you to head to Luo Yang and secure it with 5,000 men . I'll allocate Qu Yi and Gao Lan to Hongnong . "
"Wait . Didn't we get the order to take only Henei?"
"We did . "
"Sir Ju, you're violating our young master's order . "
"The situation changes . If Henei suffers like this, Luo Yang and Hongnong might be in a similar state . We have to rescue the civilians before anyone else comes and abuse them!"
"…"
Zhang He could not object Ju Shou as he, too, did not want to see a similar scene in Henei again .
…
…
…
March 25th .
Zhang He and his 5,000 light cavalries rushed to Luo Yang . Upon reaching the city wall, he and his troops had to stop .
There were flags from a faction that shocked them .
The banners of Cao .
Cao Cao forces had occupied Luo Yang before they could!
…
This year, Tong added five more members into the clan chat .
Zhang He
Gao Shun
Zhou Cang
Qu Yi
Gao Lan
Only a few individuals, such as Lu Bu, Zhen Yi, Bo Cai, Han Hao, and Zou Shi's family had not joined the clan yet .
Thanked the communication system, Zhang He sent his discovery to everyone .
Zhang He: "Cao Cao has occupied Luo Yang! We arrived here too late . "
Unfortunately, he was not the only one with bad news .
Qu Yi: "Report from Hongnong . Yuan Shu has taken over Hongnong City, and they sent troops to chase us . We are running away from them at the moment . "
Tong: "I didn't remember giving you permission to mobilize to those cities . Explain . "
Ju Shou: "I ordered them, please forgive me . "
Tong: "Reason for the move?"
Ju Shou: "Dong Zhuo's has kidnapped all able men, children, and young women to his city . The rest is dead . I'm afraid the same will happen in Luo Yang and Hongnong, so I ordered them there . Again, please forgive my rashness . "
Tong: "It's fine . Report to me first before you make a decision next time . "
Ju Shou: "Thank you, My Lord . "
Tong: "For now, send reinforcement to Hongnong and get Qu Yi and his squads out of there . As for Zhang He, get back to Shangdang . Don't provoke Cao Cao for the time being . "
Zhang He: "Understood . "
Qu Yi: "Thank you, young master!"
…
…
…
Chang'An City
Changes occurred here as well .
A total of 300,000 militias, made of slaves and conscripted militias from the ruined three cities, joined with 200,000 elites and marched toward Anding .
Dong Zhuo left with the troops as well, leaving Niu Fu, Li Jue, and Guo Si behind .
After Dong Zhuo left, Li Jue and Guo Si met with a group of Xiongnu spies .
"It's time . Gather everyone tonight . We'll kill Dong Zhuo's son-in-law and give this city to our Lord . "
"Understood, sir!"
.
At night, a thousand of Xiongnu, who disguised as civilians, took arms and raided Niu Fu's courtyard .
"What are you!?"
It was too late for Niu Fu to realize what had happened . He was killed by the raiders in his bedroom .
The one thousand Xiongnu changed their clothes into Li Jue and Guo Si's private troop uniforms . They merged into their forces without being noticed .
In the morning, both generals declared to the public .
"Dong Zhuo isn't worthy of being called Emperor! We, the soldiers of the people, vowed to rescue the civilians from this chaos! The Xiongnu has offered us that they will rescue everyone and govern us with just . Abandon those "Dong" banners and join us, and we will restore this land from the chaos!"
The garrison soldiers cheered . They, too, had enough of Dong Zhuo's tyranny and harsh taxes .
The civilians in Chang'An also celebrated and spread good words for the Xiongnu, even though they were the foreigners .
People in this era did not mind who would be their governor or Emperor . As long as they saw hope or a better lifestyle, they always jumped toward the new attraction as they had nothing to lose .
Seeing the positive reaction, Guo Si and Li Jue grinned .
The promise and the words they said just now was totally bullcrap . They did not think Xiongnu would spare them as they had experienced fighting with them before .
Xiongnu people in their eyes was no different than Dong Zhuo . They enslaved their enemies and plundered riches from other forces . Fortunately, they were not as lustful as the fat black tyrant .
Li Jue: "Our job is complete, my lord . "
Guo Si: "Chang'An is yours, my lord . They are willing to serve you . "
Khan: "Very well . I'll reward both of you when I finish with Ma Teng and Dong Zhuo . "
Liu Yang: "Keep your eyes on the east . Be careful of that Zhang Tong . "
Liu Yang: "I can sense that he has three wings, and his power is more solidified now . Although he has one fewer wing than our King, do not let your guard down . "
Li Jue & Guo Si: "Yes, princess!"
…
…
…
March 31st .
It did not take long before Li Ru noticed the ominous signs as Chang'An stopped transporting supply convoys to the frontline armies .
He deployed a messenger back to Chang'An, hoping that his guess could be wrong .
…
April 15th .
Xiongnu garrison forces in Anding separated into two . They retreated to Wuwei and Tianshui without bothering fighting with the massive troops of Dong Zhuo .
They did not need to!
Dong Zhuo occupied Anding back without bloodshed, but he discovered a grim situation .
Xiongnu stole all civilians and provisions from Anding . It was an empty city!
Dong Zhuo flew into a rage while Li Ru's face paled from the revelation . He understood why Chang'An's supplies were so late, and his messenger never returned .
'We've been had! Chang'An must have fallen when we left the city . That means there are insiders or betrayers within our ranks!'
Li Ru's brain processed in his fastest speed, surpassing when he was in his prime in youth . He ignored Dong Zhuo and met with Hua Xiong in private .
"Sir, Hua . I have something urgent to request your aid . "
Hua Xiong was also not stupid . He noticed the abnormally of the provision supply line at the same time that Li Ru began suspecting it .
Huo Xiong decided to be frank, "Have we lost?"
"Oh, you knew? Yes, big time . "
"What do you need me for then? Kill Dong Zhuo and surrender to the Xiongnu?"
"Ha! You should have told me that you're this smart . Yes, you're half-right . But, you don't need to dirty your hands . I want you to manage your troops and convince them to surrender as well . It will be better if we do it when we have enough forces to fight, so we can have bargain chips to ask for an important position in exchange for our surrendering . "
"You'll kill Dong Zhuo yourself, then?"
"Well, yes . Leave that fatass to me . Please handle the men and the militia . I need you to convince them that Xiongnu has a better future for them, okay?"
"Aye, whatever . Serving Xiongnu is better than dying for that pig . "
"Thank you for your understanding!"
…
At night of the same day,
The frustrated Dong Zhuo rested in his room with his female slaves . He had done his deeds and killed everyone afterward, venting her anger on the innocent girls .
He woke up late at night as he could not sleep . His mind was filled with hatred and anger because of the Xiongnu who took his cities and treasures from him .
"Guards! Clean my room and tell that goddamn Li Ru to come here!"
It did not take long for the guards to clean the corpses, blood, and replaced everything in the room with new wares . Li Ru also arrived along with new maidservants and plates of food .
"Your Majesty . This lowly servant has arrived . "
"Took you quite a while! I want to hear about the progress of our war with Xiongnu!"
"Your Majesty . I can see that you're upset . First, please enjoy this food while I'm preparing to explain everything . I have to arrange a strategic map for you, so it might take a while . "
"Hmm! You'd better be fast! Well, I'm quite hungry at night, anyway . "
Dong Zhuo did not refuse the midnight meal . He grabbed a boiled chicken leg and began eating it along with duck soup and beef .
Li Ru sighed and put several pieces of tokens on top of his prepared map table, pretending not to see or pay attention to Dong Zhuo while he was working .
Within fifteen minutes, Dong Zhuo finished his food . All plates were left with bones and waste that he spat out . He chugged a jar of wine that the maids brought him before he slammed it on the table .
"LI RU!! TOO SLOW!!"
"Yes, yes . I'm almost done . Please be patient, you idiot of a pig . "
"What was that!?"
Dong Zhuo stood up in anger . Before he could draw his sword and hack Li Ru to pieces, he could feel the rising heat in his throat and stomach .
His vision blurred . At the same time, Dong Zhuo thought that a hundred needles had pierced his heart because the pain from the heart attack was unbearable .
"… You … Poison!"
"Correct answer . Guards, cut off his head, and we won't have to starve for this useless fatass . "
"Li … Ah . "
*SWUA*
The guard hacked Dong Zhuo's neck with his large saber, cutting it in one strike .
Li Ru gazed at the head of the ugly fat face of Dong Zhuo . He snickered, "Well, thank you for marrying your daughter to me, father-in-law . You have been helpful . Kukuku . "
