After driving away the Yuan family's caravan, Zhao Hao led his personal guards and strolled leisurely toward the north gate of Chang'an.

With Xue Rengui and Chang Yuchun transferred away, Zhao Hao's personal guard is still quite strong. The only one he needs to be careful about is Ju Shou, but with Guan Hai as his bodyguard, he should be fine.

Meanwhile, Dong Zhuo, inside Chang'an, was still fast asleep, embracing two or three palace maids.

This time, Zhao Hao did not use powerful weapons such as trebuchets and giant ballistae; all the infantrymen climbed the city walls using ladders.

Night blindness has been largely eradicated among the local soldiers recruited by Zhao Hao.

Therefore, even during nighttime operations, none of them were affected.

"Kill them!"

"Charge into Chang'an!"

Chang'an is a large city, and it is impossible to complete the encirclement and attack in a short time with only tens of thousands of infantrymen.

Zhao Hao did not intend to attack Chang'an from all sides. This time, he naturally used the old method: a three-sided encirclement!

Zhang Yan led one army, Xue Rengui and Chang Yuchun also led their own armies, and the three armies attacked the south, west and east of Chang'an City.

Unlike battles fought in military formations, which aim to surround three sides and leave one side vulnerable, open field battles are about annihilating the enemy.

Meanwhile, scouts in twos and threes quietly entered the city through the north gate to report on the situation in various places.

Unfortunately, it was tough on Guo Fan, who led half of the Flying Bear Army and supervised the battle from the city walls...

"Hold on! Hold the line!"

"Where is the person who went to the palace to report? Why hasn't he returned yet!"

However, no matter how much Guo Fan roared...

In the pitch-black night sky, the only answer he could receive was the sound of his enemies fighting!

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Everything has gone wrong!"

When Li Jue first received the news that Zhao Hao's army was attacking the city overnight, he didn't feel much.

Chang'an's city walls were high and its moats deep. Zhao Hao did not use siege engines such as trebuchets and giant ballistae. He originally thought that this night attack was just a harassment and a strategy to wear down the enemy.

But when military reports came from all directions, he finally couldn't sit still any longer. He personally donned his armor, took his sword, and entered Dong Zhuo's bedchamber.

"His Majesty!"

Li Jue was at his wits' end. Dong Zhuo was sleeping so soundly that the palace maids attending to him had long since stopped breathing. Otherwise, they would have woken up long ago when Li Jue shouted at him.

"Hmm... Hmm? Zhiran, what has awakened me?"

Dong Zhuo wasn't without his morning grumpiness, but when he saw that it was his old subordinate Li Jue who woke him up, his grumpiness lessened considerably.

"His Majesty..."

"Ugh...wait, why do these all smell bad? What bad luck!"

"Uh... Guards! Drag these lowly people away for His Majesty."

"Well, let's drag them all down and bury them. They didn't even get to enjoy their blessings; their lives were just too short."

"Why did you wake me up in the dead of night, so innocent and carefree?"

After the guards dragged the two palace maids away to bury them, and one person carried the sedan chair back to the bedroom, Li Jue took a deep breath and poured out everything in one go.

"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! Han Sui, Ma Teng, and Yang Qiu, with a combined force of over 40,000 men, have rebelled against the Great Xia and led Zhang Han's army from the north into the camp."

The troops under Li Meng and Yang Ding suffered heavy casualties, and the whereabouts of the two generals are unknown!

The troops of Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun, stationed at Shangluo and Wuguan, totaling 30,000 men, all raised the banner of rebellion and responded to Zhao Hao.

Zuo Fengyi's army clashed with Zhao Hao's white-banner generals, suffering 30,000 dead and 15,000 wounded. The survivors fled back to You Fufeng and asked General Niu Fu to become their leader.

"Now, Zhao Hao is leading a large army to besiege Chang'an. I don't know how long the city walls can hold out, or whether there are still spies Zhao Hao has planted inside the city. I think... I think Your Majesty should retreat to Youfufeng first!"

Dong Zhuo slammed his fist on the table in fury, “Useless! A bunch of useless fools! Zhao Hao doesn’t have many infantrymen; it won’t be easy for him to take the city walls that Guo Fan is responsible for defending. Zhi Ran, haven’t any reports come from Nanyang, Jingzhou, or Yizhou?!”

Li Jue's lips twitched. "Your Majesty, Mr. Wenhe has only just arrived in Nanyang, and the messenger we sent on the fast horse last time has probably only recently arrived in Jingzhou."

Not to mention, Hanzhong in Yizhou has been seized by that scoundrel Zhang Lu. Zhang Lu has openly rebelled against our army, and our messengers can't get through there; they have to go around Jingzhou to enter Yizhou, which takes even longer..."

Bang!

Enraged, Dong Zhuo grabbed a teapot and smashed it against a pillar in the distance.

"I'm so angry! I'm so angry!"

Dong Zhuo was so angry that he could hardly breathe. He got up and paced back and forth for a while before finally speaking.

"Dong Huang and Dong Yue are still in Chang'an. Zhi Ran, send someone to deliver the order to them to assist Guo A Duo in defending the city!"

"Hmm...send another group to try and break out of the city. Instruct Niu Fu of Youfufeng to gather the routed soldiers and reorganize the army. Whether he comes to my aid or waits for an opportunity to strike is entirely up to him!"

Li Jue wrote it all down, and then ordered his personal guards to take Dong Zhuo's warrant and ride away at top speed to deliver the message.

When Li Jue returned, Dong Zhuo was seen stroking his beard, and his eyes had become vicious.

"Hmph, if Zhao Hao makes things difficult for me, I won't let him have it easy either!"

Zhi Ran! Find a civil official and have him draft an imperial edict for me.

Yuan Shao was appointed Governor of Ji Province and General Who Guards the East, and was tasked with suppressing the rebellious Zhao Hao!

Yuan Shu is hereby appointed Governor of Yangzhou, General of the Rear, and Marquis of Guannei. He shall immediately send troops to annihilate Zhao Hao!

Liu Yan was appointed King of Shu, and Liu Biao was appointed King of Jing. They were also ordered to send troops to destroy Zhao Hao!

If those fools in Yanzhou and Xuzhou are willing to send troops, tell them they can at least be granted the title of Duke!

Li Jue's heart skipped a beat, but he still respectfully wrote down every word Dong Zhuo said.

Just as he was about to act, he turned back and asked again.

"Your Majesty, what about Youzhou...?"

Dong Zhuo waved his hand, "In Youzhou, only Gongsun Du has any connection with us, but now that Xu Rong has been missing for many days, we have no one left to contact Gongsun Du."

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