Lü Bu led the charge, with Wei Xu's thousand light cavalry and Gao Shun's elite troops positioned on the left and right respectively, and a hundred heavy cavalry hidden among them.

With a roar from Lü Bu, Dong Zhuo, who had already received Yuan Shao's challenge, was gathering his civil and military officials to discuss the matter.

Niu Fu looked uneasy, Li Jue and Guo Si avoided eye contact, while Li Meng and Wang Fang, oblivious to the danger, were eager to try.

Li Ru stroked his goatee, his eyes darting around.

However, a captain behind Niu Fu remained calm, but a cunning, fox-like sneer flashed in his eyes.

"Gentlemen, the imperial court has issued a challenge, and now there are challengers from outside. Should we accept the challenge or not?"

Dong Zhuo threw out the challenge letter, his face twitching with bulging fat.

It is estimated that Chen Lin wrote this challenge, which, while issuing the challenge, also concisely scolded Dong Zhuo.

"Father-in-law, the guy we challenged is Lü Bu. Do you remember him? When we entered Jinyang, it was this guy who fought us at the gate!"

"He fought all four of us without being defeated!"

"This guy is exceptionally strong and skilled; I'm afraid even a general wouldn't stand a chance against him!"

"We tried to bribe him with Red Hare, but he refused."

Li Ru, Niu Fu, Li Jue, and Guo Si immediately started discussing it amongst themselves.

"If we do not fight back, wouldn't that dampen the morale of our Bingzhou cavalry?"

"The 10,000 iron cavalry that were built with great expense are now cowardly and unwilling to fight. Won't this make us a laughingstock of the world?"

Dong Zhuo, of course, disagreed.

Although he held the young emperor in his hands, the people in Luoyang seemed to have calculated that he wouldn't dare to do anything to the young emperor, and were brazenly ready to start a war.

This made Dong Zhuo doubt whether his strategy was wrong.

Now, the situation in Bingzhou is critical, with reports of attacks coming in like snowflakes. In addition, Liu Wei's 10,000 troops have appeared in Hexi Commandery. Bingzhou is now besieged on three sides.

The troops of Fan Chou, Zhang Ji, and Hua Xiong, who had retreated from the west bank of the Yellow River, were initially sent by Dong Zhuo to support Xu Rong and Duan Wei.

Later, Dong Zhuo unexpectedly encountered the young emperor presented by Zhao Zhong and Xia Hui at Beiman Mountain, thinking he could use the young emperor to force the ministers to compromise.

However, instead of accepting Dong Zhuo's demands, they gathered a large army and, ignoring Empress Dowager He's pleas, demanded that Dong Zhuo hand over the young emperor.

Fearing losses on both sides, Dong Zhuo followed Li Ru's advice and sent Fan Chou, Zhang Ji, and Hua Xiong with 15,000 troops to Luoyang to provide support.

Meanwhile, Xu Rong, Duan Wei, Hu Zhen, and Dong Yue preserved their strength and gradually withdrew from Bingzhou to join forces in Luoyang.

Occupying the capital region seems better than being surrounded on three sides in Bingzhou.

With the natural barrier of the Yellow River, the Hulao Pass to the east, and the Hangu Pass to the west, if he were to gather his more than 100,000 troops, it would be quite easy to subdue the 150,000 troops that the imperial court had cobbled together outside Luoyang.

The army arrived one after another, and soon became a strong and well-equipped force.

When Dong Zhuo heard that it was Lü Bu who had come to challenge him, he recalled the fondness he had felt for Lü Bu outside Jinyang City. He thought, "If I have such a fierce general, how can I be invincible?"

“Father-in-law, it is impossible to fight generals. Knowing it is impossible, you did it and ended up killing a group of generals.”

Seeing that Dong Zhuo wanted to fight, Li Ru said, "Hua Xiong is the bravest of the three armies. He has already entered Hedong. Why not refrain from fighting for a few more days and wait for General Hua to arrive before engaging in battle?"

Hua Xiong's bravery was known to the generals of Bingzhou; he was far superior to them.

"No, by the time Hua Xiong arrives, it will probably be five days later!" Dong Zhuo shook his head.

Seeing that everyone was afraid to fight, Li Meng and Wang Fang stepped forward and said loudly, "My lord, although we two are not good enough, we are not afraid of death and cherish our lives. We are willing to lead the troops into battle so as not to let that scoundrel Lü Bu become arrogant."

“Foolish! We are not afraid of war, but we are cautious about war. Do you two understand?” Li Ru rebuked Li Meng and Wang Fang for their recklessness.

"Wenyou, your courage is commendable!" Dong Zhuo said, "We must not be intimidated by Lü Bu's bravery!"

"Li Meng and Wang Fang, each of you will lead two thousand cavalry into battle. Remember, you must only engage in direct combat; never fight Lü Bu one-on-one!"

Dong Zhuo repeatedly gave him instructions.

"Rest assured, my lord, the Bingzhou Iron Cavalry has been meticulously trained by the two of us. They are as swift as our own arms and invincible in every direction."

"We admit we can't beat Lü Bu in a one-on-one fight, but when it comes to cavalry charges, we've never lost to anyone!"

The two were overjoyed and immediately accepted the order.

Lu Bu's army consisted of one thousand cavalry and eight hundred infantry.

If the two of them send out four thousand cavalry, wouldn't they be swallowed up like a tidal wave?

"Gentlemen, please join me in watching how these two generals lead their troops to defeat Lü Bu's army!"

Dong Zhuo then ordered everyone to leave the camp to watch the battle.

Knock knock knock!

As the war drums sounded on Dong Zhuo's side, Li Meng and Wang Fang each led two thousand cavalrymen out from the left and right sides of the camp.

Horses like dragons, people like a tide!

The mounts of the four thousand Bingzhou cavalrymen were sold to Dong Zhuo from the Hetao region.

Although these were the leftover horses from the northern deserts, they were undoubtedly larger and stronger than the horses in the Central Plains, even surpassing Wei Xu's thousand Qiang horses from the Western Liang.

Lu Bu's horse from Xiliang was one in a thousand, yet it was on par with the warhorses of the Bingzhou cavalry.

"Hehe, General Ding is right, Dong Zhuo has sent men to fight!"

"We'll see soon enough how brave and extraordinary Lü Bu, whom General Ding described as invincible, truly is."

On the side of the imperial allied forces, the civil and military officials were in an uproar when they saw Dong Zhuo sending troops to fight.

Ding Yuan was confident and chatted amiably with Yuan Shao.

When Lü Bu saw Dong Zhuo's troops emerge, he rode forward and shouted, "You've kept me waiting for too long! Which of you is so reckless as to come and die?"

"A grown man, a seven-foot tall man, yet he recognizes another man as his father! I never imagined there could be such an unfilial person in this world!"

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