Ah, fuck! Brother Sun Ce!
Ah, fuck! Brother Sun Ce!
A force of troops was racing toward Luoyang.
A deep smile crept onto Ding Yuan's face as he watched.
Since hearing the news that Yuan Shu had raised an army with the Deposed Emperor on his back, Ding Yuan had never worn a brighter expression.
At the end of his gaze, a cavalry unit made of white horses.
Their majestic march, easily numbering several thousand, radiated such gravitas that admiration welled up unbidden.
At their head, a man in splendid armor rode a white horse.
The moment he reached Ding Yuan, he dismounted at once and fiercely embraced him.
"Ding Yuan! My brother! I don't know how long it's been!"
"Gongsun Zan, my friend! Have you been well all this time? Ah, ah... I'm sorry my news came late. I should have called on you sooner, but I've been so busy with affairs I couldn't manage it."
"What does that matter! You've come to see me now, haven't you. Seeing you risen so high makes me happy."
"Haha, you have my thanks for saying so. Now, now, let's head inside. I've already laid out a table of wine for my White Horse General. Enjoy yourself to the full today, and around tomorrow, come with me to the Imperial Palace."
"Hoho, quite right. Well then, shall we see what Luoyang liquor tastes like?"
Gongsun Zan walked into the city wearing a joyful smile beside Ding Yuan.
Meanwhile, Lü Bu, who had been watching them and had begun to follow behind Ding Yuan, let out a small, private sigh.
White Horse General Gongsun Zan.
One of the warlords active in You Province, a renowned commander who had been racking up victory after victory against the foreign tribes raiding the border.
Nicknamed the White Horse General for the white-horse cavalry he fielded, he had led several thousand of his elite White Horse Cavalry—his pride and his personal guard—to join Ding Yuan.
Several thousand White Horse Cavalry as an immediate vanguard, and a great army of eighty thousand still racing from You Province.
Answering the call of Ding Yuan, with whom he had long faced the foreign tribes together, Gongsun Zan had gathered every force he could muster and rushed to this place.
Of course, the stated cause was to protect the emperor from the "rebels."
And at the same time, to aid Ding Yuan, his comrade-in-arms and close friend with whom he had spent long years subduing the border tribes... but even the uneducated Lü Bu knew well that his true intentions were not so pure.
It was plainly because he too wanted a taste of power, riding on Ding Yuan, who had advanced to the center and seized control of the government.
Naturally, not only Lü Bu but Ding Yuan himself was well aware of Gongsun Zan's thinking, yet Ding Yuan did not take offense at it.
To properly wield power, a supporting base was essential.
That was exactly why he had joined hands with Zhang Rang, whom he did not particularly like.
In that respect, for Ding Yuan, lending strength to Gongsun Zan—a longtime comrade and ally—would both increase the forces he could mobilize for the immediate war and help solidify his own standing in the future.
Now it's done. Even the White Horse General has joined. Yuan Shu, you cur, come at me if you dare!
Assuring himself of victory in the coming war,
Ding Yuan wore a bright smile as he moved his steps alongside Gongsun Zan.
*
Chenliu City in Yan Province.
A border region with Henan, a place where Sishui Pass was visible right before one's eyes.
Though it was usually a comparatively quiet spot for a pass, at this moment it was so crowded with countless people there was no room to step.
"I, Inspector of Yan Province Liu Dai, greet Her Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress Dowager."
"I, Governor of Henei Wang Kuang, have awaited this day. I will most assuredly crush the rebels and relieve Your Majesty's worries!"
The feudal lords were gathering here at their forward base, leading great armies.
The sight of figures I had hoped to see at least once, assembling with their great armies—as a reader of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, I couldn't help but feel the hype.
Among them, aside from Yuan Shao of Nanyang, with whom arrangements had been made beforehand, and Cao Cao, who had gathered soldiers from his hometown,
Inspectors ruling provinces, like Liu Dai of Yan Province and Kong Zhou of Yu Province, and governors like Wang Kuang and Bao Xin—all those who had belonged to the so-called "Coalition of Eighteen Lords" of the original timeline—were gathering one after another.
Yet, although many were converging, the allied army in this world differed considerably in composition from the eighteen lords of Records and Romance.
A prime example: Han Fu, who in the original timeline had snarled at Yuan Shao over Ji Province, did not come. That was because, unlike then, I had firmly seized the Ji Province region after the Yellow Turban uprising and had left no opening for Han Fu to be appointed Governor of Ji.
According to what I had heard, he was still quietly working in the Luoyang court or something.
Beyond that, the fact that quite a few lords were taking an uncooperative stance, unlike in the original timeline, left me in a rather foul mood.
"I hear that Governor of Xu Province Tao Qian, too, did not honor the edict. He claims he cannot join because of family matters... but it is likely an excuse."
"He will be weighing the situation on his side as well. Well, there is no need to worry. The forces we have gathered so far are already extraordinary, are they not? Once the assembly is complete, we will have a force that suffices."
"I pray... that is so. But those who styled themselves loyal servants of Han are acting in a way I truly detest."
Dong Zhuo wore a cold expression.
As I comforted her, I couldn't help but smile bitterly inside, recalling the situation of the original timeline.
But then...
"G... General! An urgent report!"
The next moment, Tian Kai rushed in to report, and as I heard it, I could only furrow my brow.
Honestly, whether men like Han Fu or Tao Qian came or not didn't matter to me at all.
In my case, I possessed a far stronger force than in the original timeline, and we also had Dong Zhuo's faction on our side.
If they offered help, that would be nice, but at this stage, I should probably be grateful they weren't pointlessly siding with the other camp and raising swords against us.
However, at that moment, something far graver—a development I truly had not expected even by the standards of the Records or Romance—came flying at me out of nowhere.
That thing was...
"Wha... what? Gongsun Zan?"
"Yes. That White Horse General from You Province has joined hands with Ding Yuan. According to the scouts' reports, he has already led his vanguard into Luoyang..."
Hahahaha... Ah, shit... Brother Gongsun Zan!
At the unexpected move by Gongsun 'Chan,' my mind automatically filled with hollow laughter and curses.
In the Records, he hadn't appeared much at this time, but in Romance, the White Horse General Gongsun Zan had joined the Anti-Dong Zhuo Coalition alongside the Liu Bei brothers.
He would later commit all sorts of misdeeds and ultimately meet a miserable end at Yuan Shao's hands, but personally, I still held some goodwill, or perhaps sympathy, for the Gongsun Zan of the original timeline.
He had a strangely familiar feel, like the neighborhood fool-brother, and he tried to look after Liu Bei's party because they were his juniors from the same school,
and his later fall from grace was not uninfluenced by his mental collapse after being crushed by Yuan Shao; I had thought he might have room to reform, much like Cao Cao.
In that sense, I had been thinking that if Gongsun Zan came to us, as in Romance, I would treat him well, but...
This unexpected betrayal(?) from Brother Gongsun Zan was making me feel pretty damn dirty.
Damn... Did he build some bond with Ding Yuan while they were smashing foreign tribes together on the frontier?... Anyway, this is getting really shitty...
Frankly, Gongsun Zan was one thing, but Liu Bei's failure to appear was stirring up a bigger anxiety for a different reason.
The people who, in Romance, had joined the Anti-Dong Zhuo Coalition alongside Gongsun Zan.
Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei—the three sworn siblings of the Peach Garden Oath.
Just in case, I had sent them a separate edict, but now the close older brother of Liu Bei, the very Gongsun Zan who had led her to the Anti-Dong Zhuo Coalition, had abruptly sided with the other camp.
Depending on how this went, I might again fail to see Liu Bei, or in the worst case, I might have to fight the three Peach Garden brothers as enemies.
No... even so, it won't come to that. Knowing Liu Bei's character, she wouldn't help the traitors Zhang Rang and Ding Yuan. But if that's the case, then the one who can face Lü Bu is... gone.
The line of Ji Ling, Xu Rong, and Sun Jian was not bad, but honestly, could their combat power defeat Lü Bu? By my calculation, it would probably be dog-shit difficult.
Ji Ling was openly overpowered by Lü Bu,
and Xu Rong was fairly strong, but in Romance he lost a Single Combat to Xiahou Dun and died.
The likeliest possibility was Sun Jian... In the Records, Sun Jian had even defeated Lü Bu in battle, but in this world, although she was a brilliant commander, her one-on-one combat ability—perhaps weakened by the Romance's influence—was roughly on par with Ji Ling's or slightly lower.
At this rate, even if we managed Sishui Pass, there was a hundred-percent chance we would suffer like hell at Hulao Pass.
For reference, Sishui Pass and Hulao Pass are originally the same place, but here they're split into two—either because this world follows Romance, or just because the heavens want to screw me over.
I mean, seriously, how was I supposed to beat Lü Bu without the Liu Bei sisters?
On top of that, we had fewer people than in the Original Timeline, while the other side had Gongsun Zan added, nearly doubling their strength. Honored Heaven, wasn't this trolling way too hard?
With no way to clear the stage-two boss in sight, I was tasting the sensation of my insides burning up.
But then...
"U... um, General? I ha... have something to report..."
A soldier hurriedly approached and carefully delivered his report.
Still irritated, I asked him.
"Haa... What is it?"
"Well... right now, some strange fellows are causing a disturbance outside."
"Strange... fellows?"
"Who would dare? How many are there?"
Dong Zhuo questioned in a cold voice, and the soldier flinched before answering in a stiff voice.
"Y... yes, it's a small group that looks to be barely over three hundred. They say they, too, received Her Majesty the Emperor's edict and are clamoring to be let in."
"Three hundred?"
"Hmm..."
Inspectors, of course, and even governors one rank below them had the power to move at least several thousand troops. The fact that they had brought a mere three hundred meant they had either grossly skimped on forces, or else they didn't hold much of an office.
Since I had only sent edicts to those of governor rank and above, it didn't sit well either way.
Good grief... My stomach is already churning, and now what... Could there really be someone forging edicts?
In the original timeline, it was said that Cao Cao forged an imperial edict to serve as the cause for the Coalition of Eighteen Lords, but here we had no need for that because the emperor was right here with us.
In this situation, forging an official document was naturally a capital crime worthy of having one's head smashed in.
Wondering just what kind of bastard would dare such audacity, I asked the soldier.
"Who is this person who dares cause a disturbance where Her Majesty resides?"
"Yes, I hear he holds some post like County Magistrate or County Commandant... and his name is Liu Bei."
"Liu Bei?... Haha... What did you say his name was, Liu Bei...?! Shit... Liu Bei?"
"?!"
A sudden chill began to race down my spine.
"Gonglu? Wha... what's the matter? Why is your expression..."
Dong Zhuo voiced her confusion at my sudden change of state.
But in that moment, without even the presence of mind to care about her, I began to walk toward the spot where the city gate stood.