142. Anti Dong Zhuo Coalition Formed!

Far from Lie Fan's happiness in Xiapi, Cao Cao overcame tribulations before reaching his hometown Chenliu where he stands his family fortune to raise an army to fight against Dong Zhuo. He knew that he couldn't fight alone, and after reading Lie Fan's statement he sent a letter to form a coalition against Dong Zhuo.

When the new year arrived, Zhu Jun, Huangfu Song, and Lu Zhi along with their families finally arrived at Xiapi. There Lie Fan welcomed them with a lavish banquet, making the 3 veteran generals grateful for the treatment and hard work Lie Fan had down for them.

He also prepared 3 mansions as their residence, the mansion he received from cleaning up his political enemies and merchants that stood in his way previously.

Lie Fan was spending his time with his wives and Wannian having breakfast together, was interrupted by Jia Xu, Xun You, and Chen Qun who together visited Lie Fan to discuss the content of Cao Cao's letter.

At least his breakfast had been finished, so after saying goodbye to his family, Lie Fan brought Jia Xu, Xun You, and Chen Qun to his study. Since Lie Fan took a leave of absence for his wedding and short honeymoon, Chen Qun has actively helped Lie Fan in governing the political situation in Xiapi.

Because of that, Lie Fan began to include him when he was having a private meeting with Jia Xu and Xun You. The three of them are the top advisers under him, it's not that the rest are mediocre but for the overall talent, these three are the top.

Sun Qian, Mi Zhu, Chen Gui, Chen Deng, Wang Lang, Bu Zhi, and Cai Yong are talented in their respective fields. But overall talents, maybe only Chen Gui and

Chen Deng is below the three of them. That's Lie Fan's personal opinion after seeing their historical counterparts.

Lie Fan: "Is there anything that needs my attention making the three of you come to visit me?"

Jia Xu: "Yes My Lord, here's a letter from Cao Cao to you, this just came this morning."

Lie Fan: "Hmm I see, Cao Cao asked me to form a coalition with him to fight against Dong Zhuo."

Chen Qun: "Then this is the same as what My Lord has planned, politically your influence is far more reaching than Cao Cao, and with the two of you combined I'm sure that many local governments will answer the call."

Xun You: "I agree with what Chen Qun said, Dong Zhuo's military power in Luoyang now numbered 200,000 and 100,000 in his territory a total of 300,000. His army is also hardened veterans, especially Bing Army that is under Lu Bu almost every day fighting against the Xiongnu."

Jia Xu: "But I think both My Lord and Cao Cao share the same sentiment of not becoming its leader. It can be seen through the letter that, they formed the coalition together and didn't say about who is becoming its leader."

Lie Fan: "Haha! What Jia Xu said is true! Looks like Cao Cao has seen through my statement deeper than the others, sent my reply to his letter, and said that I agreed and insinuated the leader should be Yuan Shao."

Everyone in the room is at least a veteran in the political circle, they know that if it's not Lie Fan and Cao Cao then Yuan Shao has the highest chance to become its leader. Knowing his personality, Yuan Shao will be more than glad to become its leader.

Cao Cao who is at Chenliu, discussing military matters with his cousin Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, and Cao Ren, and his strategist Xi Zhicai receive Lie Fan's letter.

Cao Cao opened the letter and after reading it, he gave a loud hearty laugh saying that he and Lie Fan are the same people. This makes everyone confused, what does Cao Cao mean by saying that he and Lie Fan are the same people.

Cao Cao showed the letter to Xi Zhicai, and after Xi Zhicai finished reading the content he understood what Cao Cao meant by saying that. The two of them have the same plan, which is to make Yuan Shao the scapegoat for becoming the Coalition leader.

They don't care about the prestige it brings, but the risk they would have to carry seeing as the coalition will implode eventually. Xi Zhicai raised his evaluation of Lie Fan by several levels, looks like what Cao Cao said to him about Lie Fan before is true that he is a formidable opponent.

After the exchange of communication between Lie Fan and Cao Cao, both of them released a joint statement denouncing Dong Zhuo and calling for a punitive campaign against him.

This news was welcomed by all local governments, especially Yuan Shao who was infuriated as he was a step too late. Yuan Shao planned to coup diet at against Dong Zhuo as he was not content with becoming only a Grand Administrator but was checked in place by Han Fu governor of Ji Province.

Now with Cao Cao and Lie Fan's joint statement, Yuan Shao is the next one releasing his statement agreeing with the two of them. Soon many local governments released their statement, one after the other agreeing to join the campaign.

Yuan Shu, Sun Jian, Han Fu, Gongsun Zan, Kong Rong, Liu Bei, Liu Dai, Bao Xin, Yuan Yi, Zhang Miao, Yufuluo, Kong Zhuo, Zhang Yang, Zhang Chao, and Qiao Mao answered the call for a campaign against Dong Zhuo.

When the list of people agreeing to join the campaign arrived at Luoyang, Dong Zhuo knew that his position was under threat and lamented not listening to Li Ru. Li Ru assured Dong Zhuo, that as long as they can stand their ground the coalition will dissolve itself due to the interest chained between the members.

Dong Zhuo hearing that heaved a sigh of relief but still had some bad feelings that were nagging in the back of his mind. Seeing the number of people answering his and Cao Cao's joint statement, Lie Fan sent another letter to Cao Cao if he agreed for the coalition to meet up east of Sishui Pass.

Cao Cao who received the letter, after discussing it with Xi Zhicai agreed with Lie Fan's suggestion that the coalition members meet there. Soon Cao Cao released the statement, inviting everyone who answered the call to meet east of Sishui Pass.

Lie Fan prepared his army, he brought 50,000 soldiers to join the coalition. Lie Fan brought all of his generals, including Taishi Ci who is slowly being assimilated to join his ranks. As for advisers, Lie Fan brought Jia Xu, Xun You, Chen Qun, and Chen Deng alongside him the rest stayed in Xu Province.

Lie Fan actually wanted to let some of his generals stay in Xu Province, but then he remembered 3 veteran generals staying in Xu Province so he brought all of his generals, trusting them with the defenses of Xu Province.

Zhu Jun, Huangfu Song, and Lu Zhi happily accepted this task, they felt that they had something they could do to repay Lie Fan's kindness to them, and they also had their own younger generations that could be trained.

Lie Fan only brought 4 of his bodyguards, that is Guan Hai, Huang Shao, Bo Cai, and Gong Du while the rest stayed protecting his family from any kind of danger.

After 3 days of preparation, the Lie Fan army prepared their logistics and equipment. Lie Fan spends each day with his wives and Wannian before saying goodbye to them. Ying Yue, Diao Chan, and Cai Wenji hugged him and kissed him on the cheek saying It's a lucky charm for him.

Lie Fan smiled warmly, kissed each of their foreheads and after giving a hug to Wannian he adorned his armor and together with his bodyguards rode their horses to Xiapi's western gate.

When Lie Fan's back can't be seen anymore, Ying Yue, Diao Chan, and Cai Wenji shed some tears due to their worry for Lie Fan. This time the fight would be bloody, and the three of them know that so that's why they put up a brave front for Lie Fan so he will not be worried about leaving them in Xiapi.

At Xiapi's western gate, Lie Fan's army is already in formation and his retinue is waiting for him there. Lie Fan arrived at the location, and after receiving confirmation that his army was ready Lie Fan led the march from the front.

His advisors get on the carriage prepared for them, and follow Lie Fan, their position is between between Lie Fan and the soldiers. Lie Fan's part march passing by Xiaopei and Chenliu, spending a month before they arrived at the designated location.

There, Lie Fan sees that Cao Cao, Liu Dai, and Bao Xin have arrived after seeing the banners. Lie Fan ordered his Army to make camp beside Cao Cao's camp, he brought Jia Xu, Chen Deng, Huang Zhong, and Dian Wei with him as his bodyguard acted like a personal guard.

He entered the main tent which was very high, and there he saw stools and tables prepared for each member that answered the call. Lie Fan greeted Cao Cao, Liu Dai, and Bao Xin who arrived before him, thanking them for answering the call against Dong Zhuo.

Cao Cao who hasn't seen Lie Fan for a long time, se that he has become more mature and has a more dangerous aura than before. Cao Cao and Lie Fan can be considered an acquaintance, so the two of them conversed more with Liu Dai, and Bao Xin sometimes chimed in.

Cao Cao: "Governor Lie Fan, I see that you have brought two great warriors alongside you! I can see from their demeanor that they have a strong prowess!"

Lie Fan: "Haha! Lord Cao Cao had a great eyesight! This is Huang Zhong and Dian Wei, I personally recruited the two of them after they bested me in a duel!"

Cao Cao: "What a great feat they have done! I have seen Governor Lie Fan personally in battle and your prowess is unmatchable in that battle, I envied your luck to recruit such talented people!"

Lie Fan just laughed, agreeing with what Cai Cao said while snickering in his heart that Dian Wei should have been your general but I take him first. Soon more members came, and Sun Jian, Kong Rong, and Zhang Chao joined Lie Fan and Cao Cao's side making their own circle.

Liu Dai and Bao Xin also joined this circle invited by Cao Cao, seeing as the two of them were his neighbors. Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan were the last to arrive due to the long distance they took to travel before they arrived here.

Seeing that all the members have arrived, Cao Cao and Lie Fan raise a toast to thank everyone for answering the call. After that, Cao Cao asked everyone to discuss who they would elect as their leader.

Hearing this everyone was surprised, they thought that it was either Lie Fan or Cao Cao who would become the leader seeing as they called for this crusade. Lie Fan at the side, instantly suggested Yuan Shao become the leader as he have the highest background among all of them.

Yuan Shao who heard his name being called by Lie Fan, was immediately proud and stood up promising to do his best if he was elected. Cao Cao seconded Lie Fan's motion for Yuan Shao to become the coalition leader.

Sun Jian was confused by the machinations made by Lie Fan and Cao Cao, as he can be considered to know the two of them and the personalities they have. Seeing that Lie Fan and Cao Cao both voted for Yuan Shao, everyone followed suit agreeing for Yuan Shao to become the leader.

Yuan Shal who was elected, thanked everyone for their trust in him and promised to lead them to defeat Dong Zhuo. As his first act as the leader, he appointed Yuan Shu as the Logistic leader and Sun Jian as the vanguard of the coalition.

Sun Jian who heard this knew that Yuan Shu had told Yuan Shao about their animosity, he wanted to protest but he knew it was futile. Lie Fan who heard this, stood up and asked for him to be the vanguard as well with Sun Jian.

Everyone was surprised by this, as becoming the vanguard meant that you would have the highest casualties so everyone tried to avoid this position. Yuan Shao was surprised by this, but considering Lie Fan was the first one to vote for him he gave Kie Fan's face and agreed with his request under Yuan Shu's resentful gaze.

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Name: Lie Fan

Title: Yellow Heaven Subjugator

Age: 22 Years Old (189 AD)

Level: 14

Next Level: 412.000

Renown: 215

Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 7)

SP: 656.700

ATTRIBUTE POINTS

STR: 819 (+20)

VIT: 385 (+20)

AGI: 373 (+10)

INT: 385

CHR: 93

WIS: 319

WILL: 207

ATR Points: 0