Three Kingdoms Mythology World.

It turns out that Li Jue's previous boasting was just a bluff.

Even the desperate sneak attack on Lin Mu was part of the plan, designed to keep Lin Mu calm.

After looting the nearby supplies, Lin Mu and his group left. They might not be back for another day or two.

During this period, all those who needed to be evacuated were evacuated.

"Ten days' worth of resources and half the troops? This..." Fan Chou was stunned by Li Jue's decision.

The strategist specifically instructed that we should leave 30 days' worth of supplies and 5 million troops to buy time. Why has it changed now?

"The strategist's judgment on Lin Mu is very accurate. That Lin Mu doesn't eye other men's wives and beauties, he only has his eyes on their supplies and resources... We can't let him get away with it... Anyway, the lord's agreement with Yuan Shao is for ten days. After ten days, the Guandong Coalition will arrive, and we'll just withdraw..." Li Jue explained.

"As for the supplies and resources we're taking with us, we'll divide them among the three of us. Our main force is starving," Li Jue said meaningfully.

Upon hearing this, Fan Chou raised an eyebrow and a mischievous smile appeared on his face.

Everyone has selfish desires, and they are no exception.

"Actually, I would prefer to secretly withdraw all the troops and leave an empty city to annoy those guys... But unfortunately, Lin Mu has broken in, so I can't do that now."

"Hehe...how about we leave a million ordinary soldiers here to delay Lin Mu? Even if they're all wiped out, it won't matter," Fan Chou said with a wicked grin, as if the sacrifice of those million defenders was nothing out of the ordinary.

“Alright, I’ll contact Xu Rong. He should have already started crossing the river to Xingyang City,” Li Jue said in a deep voice.

And so, while Lin Mu led his men back to rest and await the garrison's encirclement, a scheme of feigning an attack while secretly advancing was unfolding.

Lin Mu and the others did not notice anything unusual.

Furthermore, what Lin Mu didn't know was that Xu Rong, whom he had been longing for, had still come to Hulao Pass!
"What? No, this is too risky..." The next evening, Xu Rong met with Li Jue and learned about the temporary plan from him, his expression changed slightly.

It wasn't that he wasn't greedy; being in this corrupt environment, Xu Rong couldn't possibly remain untainted, or he would be ostracized. But he also had principles.

He didn't object to the embezzlement of Hulao Pass's resources, since they might eventually be seized by the warlords of Guandong. His lord, Dong Zhuo, had long anticipated this.

He couldn't bring himself to withdraw most of the garrison while leaving a million soldiers to die; at least, he couldn't participate in the decision-making process.

“Ziran, Zihua, I can help transport supplies, and I agree to the retreat of the garrison, but not too many troops can be withdrawn, and no troops can be left behind to cover the retreat. The lord and the strategist will not allow it,” Xu Rong advised.

"Actually, I have a brilliant plan to solve our current predicament," Xu Rong suddenly whispered mysteriously as he leaned closer.

"Oh... what brilliant plan does Boyun have?" Li Jue asked with a look of surprise.

"When the Guandong Allied Army moves, you should do the opposite. Lead your army out of the city and charge towards a single point to attack the Guandong Allied Army. Then break through their lines and join me in Xingyang City. After that, attack Suanzao City and cut off the Guandong Allied Army's retreat," Xu Rong said solemnly.

It turns out that although Xu Rong was not sent to Hulao Pass to cut off the rear, he was given a more dangerous mission: to lead his troops by boat eastward along the Yellow River to cause trouble behind the Guandong Allied Army.

He could accept causing trouble behind the Guandong Allied Army, but what he couldn't accept was that the troops assigned to him were not the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, but ordinary local soldiers.

This left him speechless... However, he also knew that the Xiliang Iron Cavalry had been mainly used to escort the people and officials of the capital, and there were basically no spare troops left.

The relocation is the most important matter at present. The only way to hinder and weaken the Kwantung Army is to rely on the Fubing (military garrison) under his control.

The garrison inside Hulao Pass was mainly composed of soldiers who had been withdrawn from cities such as Xingyang and Zhongmu.

However, when he arrived, he discovered something even more outrageous: the boats allocated to them had very low durability and were all in terrible condition; some of them had even been stolen from local fishermen...

He had a premonition that after crossing Hulao Pass and reaching the Xingyang section of the river, the boats would basically disperse, meaning that their journey by water would be a one-way trip...

After exchanging words with Jia Xu, he composed himself and set off.

After hearing Xu Rong's 'brilliant plan,' the group discussed it and found it feasible.

After all, if they could break through and secure a position, they would have achieved a great feat. And what did the loss of their own troops matter to them...?

"We'll stick to the plan. We'll leave four million troops behind and hand the rest over to Zhang Liao. We'll also give him a portion of the supplies. After all, we'll rely on them to keep the enemy occupied after Hulao Pass," Li Jue said solemnly.

And so, the three hit it off and unexpectedly altered Li Ru's plan. They then acted swiftly, beginning their retreat the following night.

That night, most of the supplies and troops were moved to the west side of Hulao Pass, and then preparations were made to leave the city.

Lin Mu and his men were unaware that such a thing would happen. After looting, they rested and waited for the encirclement.

While they were waiting for the garrison to come and annihilate them, they discovered that the enemy had not come. Not only had they not come, they had even retreated!
The intelligence about the great retreat of the garrison at Hulao Pass was obtained from Yuekou.

Because Le Jin's Thunder Legion was lying in ambush in the West District.

Le Jin was tasked with following Lin Mu's plan: to infiltrate the residential areas and streets of the western district, closely monitoring the movements of the garrison within the pass. His objective was to create disturbances at opportune moments to draw away some of the garrison's forces, relieving pressure on the Jiuyang Legion. Furthermore, he could provide flanking support to the Jiuyang Legion in case of an emergency. He could also coordinate with the Jiuyang Legion to encircle the enemy forces trapped in the city… a highly flexible and mobile strategy.

This revealed the movements of the garrison inside the pass, but instead of searching, they launched a massive retreat!
Le Jin stayed in a high pavilion, gazing into the distance.

However, as night fell, he noticed something unusual. The area around the west gate, which was usually not heavily guarded but at least sparsely lit with occasional patrols, was unusually "lively" tonight.

The kind of liveliness wasn't a large-scale search for the enemy, nor was it the clamor of troops being mobilized in preparation for battle; rather, it was a kind of light and urgent sense of movement.

At first, Yue Jin thought that the garrison had discovered their presence and wanted to break out under cover of night or adjust their defenses, so he ordered his soldiers to be extra careful, hide their figures, and not alert the enemy.

He himself quietly went deeper into the street to investigate, observing intently by the dim moonlight and the scattered firelight in the city.

Upon seeing this, Le Jin's pupils suddenly contracted. Countless soldiers were pouring out from the depths of the West District.

The soldiers were in a hurry; they didn't seem to be going to war, but rather...moving house!

The usually deserted streets were now crowded with shadowy figures and carriages! They were not assembled in formation, but rather moving towards the city gate in a state of near chaos yet with a subtle order and speed.

Large quantities of grain and supplies were loaded onto oxcarts and horses, and many soldiers were also carrying heavy bundles, clearly indicating that they were carrying supplies.

What alarmed him even more was that the moving soldiers were not the old, weak, or disabled; on the contrary, many of them were strong men with relatively neat armor and steady steps.

"Something's not right..." Yue Jin's heart skipped a beat.

"If we're going to encircle and annihilate them, the shield-bearers should be in front, with the elite troops bringing up the rear, in a tight formation, instead of dragging their families and supplies along like this!" He keenly realized that this was no ordinary military mobilization, but more like a... retreat! And a large-scale retreat with core supplies and the main force!

He immediately recalled the strategists' previous assessment that Li Jue, Fan Chou, and their ilk were incompetent and would only hold the city to the death or retreat when all hope was lost, thus delaying as much time as possible.

But what I saw before me was completely different from what I had predicted.

They haven't even surrounded and killed their 400,000-strong army, and the Kwantung Allied Forces haven't even moved, and they're already retreating?!
Before Le Jin could think further, he seemed to already hear the distant sound of the city gates slowly opening...

Le Jin immediately contacted his lord and informed him of the situation.

He then turned back and led his army in a surprise attack.

However, at that moment, a murderous aura suddenly enveloped him, and the next instant, a spear light suddenly appeared in the darkness, heading straight for his head.

"Clang!~~~" Le Jin suddenly lowered his head, and the next moment his long sword appeared, blocking the spear.

"Who goes there?!" Yue Jin shouted.

The next moment, Xu Rong's figure slowly appeared.

"Xu Rong!!!" Yue Jin's pupils contracted sharply when he saw the blurry figure of Xu Rong.

They risked their lives to rush in, all for Xu Rong... They said Xu Rong wouldn't come, so why is he here now? Could the information from the inside agent have been wrong?
"Clang! Clang!" Before Yue Jin could react, Xu Rong had already charged forward again, spear in hand. The two began their fierce battle.

Lin Mu's camp, Yue Jin VS Dong Zhuo's camp, Xu Rong!

A clanging sound spread out, and the aftershocks of the terrifying collision of divine energy were also surging.

Xicheng District is starting to get lively!

Just then, a commotion arose behind Yue Jin. Although Commander-in-Chief Yue Jin had not returned or given any orders, the deputy corps commander had the authority to react, emerging from the ambush point to ambush the retreating troops. (End of Chapter)