Three Kingdoms Mythology World.

Lin Mu was not the only one who stirred up trouble after Hulao Pass.

Of course, Sun Jian did not dare to raid Dong Zhuo's land transport fleet at this moment, because Lü Bu was among them. If he were to be ambushed, the losses would be far beyond what he could bear.

Therefore, his current goal is still to cause trouble in the area between Luoyang and Hulao Pass.

Let's return our perspective to Hulao Pass.

Lin Mu sped along the road for several more hours before finally spotting signs of battle.

Following the trail, they quickly rushed for a while before finally getting power to the battlefield.

Even after several days, the battle between the Nine Yuan Legion and the Thunder Legion and the retreating troops was still not over.

Lin Mu lightly jumped to a rooftop, taking in the battlefield.

Although the two legions in the Great Wilderness Territory had the advantage of mobility, they could not completely cut off the retreating tide and could only delay it for some time.

However, high mobility has one advantage: the casualties of the two legions are very small.

"Didn't Fan Chou and Li Jue come?" Lin Mu murmured.

It's unclear whether the capture of Xu Rong spurred them on, but they didn't lead their troops to aid the retreating forces. Moreover, the retreating troops contained very few Earth-rank or Heaven-rank generals.

After briefly analyzing the battlefield situation, Lin Mu, carrying the Dragon God Spear, also joined the battle.

With his strength as a peak Heaven-ranked martial general, he directly exploded in a evacuation torrent, cutting off an evacuation street.

Lin Mu did not begin an extreme, crushing massacre. Instead, he directly used his combat power to draw a line on the spot, making himself an impenetrable barrier against ten thousand men.

This retreating force only began to fear Lin Mu after paying the price of thousands of soldiers.

Behind Lin Mu on the street, corpses, various supplies, and treasure bags were piled up...

After a series of intimidation tactics, the soldiers on this street withdrew and then changed course... However, Lin Mu went to other streets and began to continuously cut off the retreating torrent.

They held out until Dian Wei and his two companions arrived, at which point the nearby streets were blocked, trapping hundreds of thousands of retreating troops in the vicinity.

None of them went on a killing spree; they simply blocked the way.

Subsequently, with the combined efforts of the Nine Suns Legion and the Thunder Legion, these soldiers were captured.

And this group of soldiers was the last one.

After the battle, the people of the Great Wilderness took turns resting on the spot. Some rested, while others cleaned up the battlefield and guarded the prisoners.

In the temporary camp, Lin Mu received a report from Le Jin.

"In this operation, we sacrificed 7,382 lives, annihilated more than 790,000 enemy soldiers, and captured more than 370,000. The enemy withdrew at least three million soldiers and their supplies," Le Jin said solemnly.

This battle was a great victory. A mere 400,000 men dared to confront an army of millions and still won!
However, they were determined to leave, and 400,000 was simply not enough to stop them compared to several million.

"However, this haul is also very substantial, five times what we looted last time!" Le Jin said in a deep voice.

"A million-strong army, just like that, gone... How did Dong Zhuo and his men make that decision?" Dian Wei was speechless.

"Logically, shouldn't they have surrounded and attacked us? Instead, they were frightened by us and retreated?" Taishi Ci was also very puzzled.

"They never intended to defend Hulao Pass to the death. After Lü Bu's defeat, Hulao Pass was destined to fall," Lin Mu said, shaking his head.

"They should have retreated before the time agreed upon with Yuan Shao."

"My lord, if Lü Bu hadn't been defeated, would Hulao Pass have fallen?" Yue Jin asked again.

"It will definitely break through eventually. Even if it holds out, it will eventually surrender Hulao Pass."

"The place Dong Zhuo really wanted the Guandong Coalition to go was not Hulao Pass, but Luoyang, the capital!" Lin Mu said meaningfully.

When everyone heard the words, they were thoughtful.

"My lord, who has taken the title of the greatest warrior in the land? Was it you, my lord?" At this moment, Yue Jin became gossipy.

"No, it wasn't me." Lin Mu waved his hand and said, "Actually, I'm also curious, why isn't there the voice of the Heavenly Dao (system notification)?"

"My lord, could it be that Lü Bu wasn't completely defeated, and Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei didn't truly defeat Lü Bu, so the title never changed hands, which is why there was no 'Sound of Heaven'?" Huang Zhong speculated.

Upon hearing this, Lin Mu and the others nodded thoughtfully.

This guess seems to best fit the previous situation.

"Tap tap!~~~" Just then, a sound of footsteps came.

Wang Yue strode in.

"We've investigated thoroughly. There are at least three million troops still defending the city, mostly holding their positions on the eastern city wall," Wang Yue reported.

Hulao Pass only has two walls, east and west. The west side was for retreat, while the east side faced the chaotic army from Guandong.

As for the north-south direction, it is a naturally dangerous path formed by high mountains and cliffs.

Now the western city wall is basically controlled by the Great Wilderness Territory, leaving only the eastern city wall.

"What? There are still so many soldiers?" Lin Mu was slightly surprised upon hearing this.

They've already started a major retreat, so why not withdraw most of the troops? Instead, they've left behind almost half of their forces.

"Their supplies are meager; they have no baggage or anything like that. And there's no sign of any supplies for defending the city either," Wang Yue added.

Upon hearing this, Lin Mu abruptly stood up and paced back and forth. This situation was beyond his expectations... and he had a premonition that what happened next might be even more unexpected!

"Fan Chou and Li Jue never intended to evacuate completely, nor did they want to be the rearguard... They might be planning a preemptive strike!!!" After analyzing for a long time, Lin Mu came to a startling conclusion.

Such a thing never happened at Hulao Pass in my past life!
Of course, in the previous life, such a large section of the Hulao Pass city wall did not collapse, leaving such a large and unblockable gap for the Kwantung Allied Forces...

"My lord, this will make our plan of gradual encroachment very difficult!" Huang Zhong said meaningfully.

The first reason for this adventure into Hulao Pass was for Xu Rong. This crucial mission has now been accomplished.

Secondly, it's for the city's resources and population!

Take, for example, the 370,000 prisoners of war this time!

"It's going to be difficult. Fan Chou and Li Jue haven't come to our aid. They're probably planning to hold out on the west city wall to the death," Lin Mu sighed softly.

After that, Lin Mu began pacing back and forth, pondering a plan.

After a while, Lin Mu returned to his seat and sat down.

"My lord, what should we do next?" Yue Jin asked in a deep voice.

"Let's stick to the plan and transfer the prisoners and supplies back, then come back to Hulao Pass!" Lin Mu said in a deep voice.

"My lord, what should we do about the millions of people inside Hulao Pass?" Huang Zhong asked.

Hulao Pass is a formidable pass and a strategically important military stronghold, but it was also inhabited by civilians. The number was relatively small, and those with the means and vision mostly moved away.

For ordinary people, Hulao Pass was a dangerous place.

Currently, Dong Zhuo's forces control Hulao Pass, and the people inside can stay safe by staying at home. But what will happen if the Guandong Coalition forces invade? That remains to be seen…

"To implement a psychological warfare strategy, we should say that Dong Zhuo's garrison has retreated, leaving only a rearguard. After that, the Guandong Coalition will surely break through Hulao Pass."

"And after the Kwantung Allied Forces break through Hulao Pass, the people they will use as scapegoats are the civilians within the city. The Kwantung Allied Forces will regard them as accomplices of the traitor Dong Zhuo!" Lin Mu said quickly.

Actually, this shouldn't be considered a threat, but rather a prophecy. Because this actually happened.

After the Kwantung Allied Forces paid a heavy price to capture Hulao Pass, they were unable to defeat the retreating Dong Zhuo army, so they turned on the civilians in the city.

The reason is simple: Dong Zhuo's soldiers were hiding among them... This is to eliminate the traitors!
"Yes!" Le Jin replied.

And so, the quiet Hulao Pass began to bustle again.

The people who had been hiding deep in their homes had no choice but to come out... Lin Mu's psychological warfare tactics really hit the soft spot of the people.

Before the city garrison east of Hulao Pass withdrew, they helped transport supplies to the city, and some of the people were conscripted to build the warehouses. In a sense, they were accomplices.

Coupled with the fact that the previous retreat had been too tumultuous and had already put the people on edge, the once quiet inner city of Hulao Pass was now in an uproar after some further instigation.

Besides winning hearts and minds, it's also essential to establish authority.

The Nine Suns Legion and the Thunder Legion quickly transported the prisoners and supplies out of the city, and then used the teleportation array that Lin Mu had used before to transport them back to Yizhou, a state under the control of the Great Wilderness Territory!
Afterwards, they quickly returned and took up positions on the western city wall.

If the civilians wanted to evacuate, they would have to face these two legions.

At first, Le Jin did not negotiate with the people at all. After several rounds of arrows, a large number of people who rushed to the west city wall to leave the city fell down.

Afterwards, they would reveal their identities as feudal lords and their troops to intimidate the people and make them temporarily despair.

Over the course of several days, the crowd at Hulao Pass was in an uproar.

Ten days passed quickly, and the Kwantung Allied Forces still did not launch an attack.

Fifteen days have passed, and things remain the same... However, all the people inside Hulao Pass have been evacuated during these past few days...

Pluck feathers from a passing goose!

The entire city was deserted. Lin Mu occupied the west city wall, while Fan Chou and Li Jue occupied the east city wall.

The two are like parallel lines, ignoring each other...

In a pavilion on the west city wall, Lin Mu and others gathered for a meeting.

"Damn it... Sun Jian, that guy, took advantage of us and still acts innocent!!" Dian Wei said with a deep frown.

"There's no right or wrong. We're all involved, so how can we talk about right or wrong?" Lin Mu waved his hand and said.

His previous inexplicable annihilation of Sun Jian's navy and ships was also a matter of stance and interests...

"My lord, shall we let them enter Hulao Pass?" Huang Zhong asked.

"Of course not, this is our territory!" Lin Mu wasn't going to back down.

It turns out that after Sun Jian became the opportunist, he slaughtered many of the soldiers who had escaped from his control and plundered a lot of supplies, thus enriching himself.

Instead of keeping a low profile, he wanted to break through the western city wall into Hulao Pass and join forces with the Guandong Allied Army in the east to capture Hulao Pass in one fell swoop!

Lin Mu would definitely not agree to this.

While Lin Mu and the others were having a meeting, two figures slowly emerged from the shadows on a rooftop near the west city wall.

(First update of 2026! Happy New Year!!) (End of Chapter)