Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 403 Ancient Road Assassination of Dong
While Dong Zhuo led his army to Shanxian, Yang Biao also led a ragtag army composed of officials to Quwoju, west of Shanxian.

Quwo has a natural mountain path, a loess gully, which is a small path that can climb up the cliff on the south side of the ancient Xiaohan Road.

The cliffs in the Shanxian area are all flat land, a type of terrain called a plateau. The plateau in the southern part of Shanxian is called 'Shaanxi Plateau', which is the origin of the name Shaanxi.

During the Zhou Dynasty, the Duke of Zhou and the Duke of Shao used the Shanyuan Plateau as the boundary. The area west of the Shanyuan Plateau was called Shaanxi, which, like Huainan, was a regional name.

It is precisely because Quwo is located on the Shaanxi Plateau and serves as a transit point connecting the plateau with places like Shanxian and Xin'an that this place became a settlement with several pavilions.

When Yang Biao arrived there, he happened to encounter a group of "Yellow Turban bandits" committing a crime.

Those "Yellow Turban rebels" were Lu Bu's men...

Lu Bu wasn't here. News had already reached them that Dong Zhuo wanted Lu Bu to go and take control of Mengjin, but of course Lu Bu didn't go.

Lu Bu was busy setting up obstacles such as pits and rocks on the ancient road west of Shanxian County.

This is used to slow down the driving.

Since the goal was to ambush Dong Zhuo, it was essential to find a way to make Dong Zhuo's carriage stop in a suitable location.

Wang Yun was quite shrewd in these matters.

The people in Quwo were Cheng Lian and Wei Yue.

Wang Yun himself was on the edge of a cliff at the top of the Shaanxi Plateau, preparing to throw rocks.

Cheng Lian and Wei Yue impersonated Yellow Turbans to commit crimes in Quwo. Wang Yun was preparing to ambush Dong Zhuo and had captured some able-bodied men in Quwo to work on the mountain. He also needed someone to take the blame.

When conscripting men, it's not advisable to kill them on the spot, lest they resist to the death and refuse to work.

But after taking the able-bodied men away, they were to kill their families to prevent the news from leaking out.

After Wang Yun led his able-bodied men up the mountain, Cheng Lian and Wei Yue were killing people to silence them and looting houses along the way.

When Yang Biao suddenly encountered a group of "Yellow Turban bandits" killing and looting, his first reaction was naturally to assume that they were the White Wave Yellow Turbans.

The imposters, posing as members of the White Wave Army, have now truly become White Wave soldiers.

When Cheng Lian and Wei Yue were committing the crime, they encountered a large, unmarked army of unknown origin. Naturally, they were panicked, as they had no idea who it was.

The two were brave; their first reaction was to fight!

They have no choice but to fight; Yang Biao has already started making moves...

Although Yang Biao was not very brave, he still had to fight against a few "White Wave Yellow Turbans" when he saw them, because he couldn't go home without clearing the road.

Relying on their superior numbers, they simply swarmed forward.

Cheng Lian and Wei Yue were indeed brave. Several hundred men were trapped in Quwoju, and Yang Biao's main force was unable to do anything to them—mainly because the ragtag army composed of officials' guards had limited combat effectiveness.

Those bodyguards were individually very capable, but they completely lacked teamwork skills...

However, precisely because the bodyguards were highly capable individually, Cheng Lian, Wei Yue, and the others, although able to form a defensive formation to protect themselves, found it difficult to escape.

Quwo is a small, narrow place, making it difficult to escape once surrounded.

Wang Yun, however, was on the top of the Shaanxi Plateau, dozens of miles away, and had no idea what was going on.

……

The next day, Dong Zhuo arrived near Shanxian County.

Dong Zhuo's carriage was in the very center of the vanguard, which was commanded by Commandant Fan Chou.

Fan Chou's rank was already in the fourth tier in Dong Zhuo's army.

Dong Zhuo was the boss, Niu Fu, Dong Min, Dong Huang, and Lü Bu were of equal rank, and Li Jue, Guo Si, Zhang Ji, and other colonels were all under Niu Fu's control. Fan Chou was Li Jue's subordinate.

Fan Chou's status was much lower than Lü Bu's.

But Fan Chou's troops numbered seven thousand, twice the size of Lü Bu's forces, and they were even using Dong Zhuo's banner to clear the way.

This is actually quite unusual. Fan Chou shouldn't have been using Dong Zhuo's banner, and Dong Zhuo shouldn't have been in the vanguard either... but Lü Bu didn't notice.

The vanguard stopped in the obstacle course set up by Lü Bu; the vehicles got stuck in the mud, blocking the road behind them.

Then a gong sounded, and countless large stones fell from the top of the plateau.

Wang Yun, standing atop the plateau, couldn't clearly see the people below, but Dong Zhuo's carriage was easy to identify—it was the largest one, with the most flags and guards around it.

Upon seeing Dong Zhuo's troops halt, Wang Yun immediately ordered the dropping of rocks.

A huge rock fell and smashed into the carriage. With a deafening roar, Dong Zhuo's carriage was smashed to pieces.

Fan Chou looked up and could vaguely see people wearing yellow turbans on the top of the cliff.

Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Fan Chou's vanguard was thrown into disarray, cut in two by falling rocks and tumbling mud. Seeing the falling rocks, Lü Bu shouted "Father!" and charged against Fan Chou's troops, intending to put on a dramatic performance.

But Fan Chou just stared coldly at Lü Bu and ordered his men to surround him.

Dong Zhuo's carriage had indeed been smashed and buried under a pile of rocks.

But neither Wang Yun nor Lü Bu knew that Dong Zhuo was not in the carriage...

That was indeed Dong Zhuo's carriage, luxurious and spacious, but it was empty.

Although Dong Zhuo didn't understand, Li Ru and Liu Ai discerned the hidden meaning in Jia Xu's words.

Li Ru sent men to secretly observe Shanxian County and investigate Lü Bu's movements.

Upon learning that Lü Bu had not gone to Mengjin, Liu Ai instructed Dong Zhuo to place his carriage at the front of the army, while Dong Zhuo himself rode in Liu Ai's carriage to follow the central army.

Upon receiving news of the rockfall in Shanxian from the vanguard, Liu Ai sighed, "Lord Dong, I'm afraid Lü Bu has rebelled..."

Dong Zhuo's face turned ashen: "I treated him like my own son, and he actually tried to kill me! I'll tear him apart with my own hands!!"

……

"Those Yellow Turban villains are so despicable... Cloth... Why is this carriage empty?!"

When Lü Bu discovered that Dong Zhuo was not in the carriage, he was dumbfounded.

Fan Chou pointed his halberd at Lü Bu, a mocking expression on his face: "General Lü, are you grieving for my troops? Who is that on the plateau?"

Fan Chou's troops did indeed suffer heavy casualties. The area affected by the rockfall was vast, covering hundreds of paces, and also brought down a lot of yellow earth. It's estimated that just clearing the road will be a difficult task.

However, Fan Chou's men did not clear the road immediately, but instead surrounded Lü Bu.

"Is Master Dong not here?"

Lü Bu was taken aback: "Where is Lord Dong?"

Fan Chou waved to his men, signaling them to prepare for defense in Shanxian: "Lord Dong ordered General Lü to go to Mengjin, why is General Lü disobeying orders?!"

“…Gao Shun!”

After a moment of silence, seeing that Fan Chou's army was blocked by falling rocks and mud and could not pass, Lü Bu directly swung his halberd and slashed at Fan Chou.

Having failed to assassinate Dong Zhuo and instead being surrounded by Fan Chou, Lü Bu had no choice but to break out as quickly as possible... His reaction was quite swift.

At this time, only half of Fan Chou's troops were separated on the Shanxian side, and they were on the narrow ancient road.

Lu Bu went to "mourn" with only a hundred or so men by his side, but a hundred or so men in narrow terrain were not without the power to fight.

"Charge into battle!"

Lu Bu's voice was loud, and Gao Shun responded at the entrance of Shanxian County.

A heavily armored infantry unit charged out of the county and headed towards Fan Chou's troops.

Lü Bu rallied his spirits and brandished his halberd to fight Fan Chou.

Fan Chou commanded his troops to attack together, and they actually managed to hold off Lü Bu.

Fan Chou was no ordinary man; Dong Zhuo allowed him to lead the vanguard because of his bravery and fighting prowess.

However, it seems that no one in Shanxian County can withstand Gao Shun's attack.

Gao Shun led 800 men, all of whom were elite, and charged westward. Although Fan Chou's men were numerous, they could not withstand them.

However, Gao Shun's troops fought too fiercely, often risking their lives, resulting in heavy losses.

Before long, the ancient road was littered with dead and wounded. The terrain was narrow and there was nowhere to retreat, resulting in extremely heavy casualties on both sides.

……

On the other side, after Wang Yun and his men threw rocks down, they also saw a battle taking place on the ancient road.

Wang Yun thought he had succeeded, so he ordered Wang Rou's men to kill the able-bodied men who were carrying the stones, and then retreated down the mountain.

But from a distance, they discovered that Quwo was actually at war.

Cheng Lian and Wei Yue thought that Wang Yun was coming to reinforce them, which greatly boosted their morale.

Yang Biao and his men, seeing the Yellow Turbans still on the mountain from a distance, realized they couldn't be wiped out anytime soon, so they retreated a bit towards Xin'an County.

Xin'an is a typical valley county with only one road leading to it. Hangu Pass is located at the easternmost part of Xin'an County.

(End of this chapter)