Zhang Hong did not sleep all night and received a message from Sun Ce sent a quick horse in the early morning. When he learned that he had succeeded in the raid, a big stone finally fell to the ground. But he did not take it lightly. He was not really safe before Sun Ce returned to the camp. In order to support Sun Ce, he tried his best to restrain Yuan Tan's attention. He settled the camp and told Gong Du to guard the camp without acting rashly. He personally led some guards to Zhu Jun's camp.

Zhu Jun didn't sleep well, worried about Sun Ce's safety. If something happened to Sun Ce, not only would the situation be difficult, but he would not be able to face Sun Jian in the future. Seeing Zhang Hong and learning that Sun Ce had completely wiped out Liu Bei's troops, he grabbed his beard and grinned and laughed.

"I knew he could do this little guy."

Taking advantage of Zhu Jun's happiness, Zhang Hong suggested launching an attack to restrain Yuan Tan's troops and create conditions for Sun Ce to return safely. Zhu Jun agreed immediately and sent someone to pass on orders to Cao Bao. Xu Jian. Sun Ce had already successfully attacked Liu Bei and made his first contribution. Now it depends on you. Break through the gap, attack the city, cut off Zhu Ling's retreat route, and connect the Heishan army out of the city.

At the same time, he left five thousand people to guard the camp, and personally led more than 10,000 people out of the camp, forcing Zhu Ling's camp, and posed for a decisive battle.

Zhang Hong also returned to the camp and set off on crossing the river.

For a moment, the war drums and thunder sounded from the east and south sides of Junyi City, echoing each other, and the storm was about to come.

Faced with the war that was in front of him, Yuan Tan was shaken. Although Sun Ce was important, after all, it was thirty miles away. Liu Bei and Jiang Qi had a total of 15,000 troops, three times that of Sun Ce. They had obvious advantages and there was almost no doubt about winning. The only difference was whether they could severely damage Sun Ce. Even if he rushed over, he could only scare Sun Ce away. It was not that easy to kill Sun Ce. The strength of both sides under Junyi City was equal. If the 20,000 Black Mountain Army in the city was considered, he actually had no advantage. If Zhu Ling's entire army was wiped out due to his departure, the losses were far more serious than the loss of Liu Bei's unit.

After repeated weighing, Yuan Tan gave up Cheng Yu's suggestion and adopted a compromise plan. He decided to intercept Sun Ce near Junyi City instead of rushing over. This might make Jiang Qi go some way, but it would be a clever plan to take care of both sides.

——

Sun Ce and Guo Jia looked at each other and laughed at each other.

"Wangxiao, what are your tricks?"

"Return to Cangyuan City." Guo Jia shook his feather fan and said quietly: "Try Jiang Qi's appearance."

"Do you know him?"

"I know a little bit about it. He is from Runan and has followed Yuan's family very early. He is an old official of Yuan's family. He is loyal and filial, and has been deeply trusted by Yuan Shao. His military ability is probably the same as Zhu Ling, but he is not much stronger. The reason why he can sit in Liyang is because of his hometown. Liyang's troops are mainly knights in You and Ji, with about a thousand people, and they are truly elites. However, those knights are now following Yuan Shao to fight, so it is unlikely that they will appear here. Jiang Qi's leadership should still be mainly recruited infantry. It is still possible to defeat him with the ability of the general, but the losses may be greater."

King Chen asked: "Sir, I only considered Jiang Qi's one. What if Yuan Tan sent someone else?"

Pang Tong also expressed his opposition. "Even if Jiang Qi is defeated, if he suffers heavy losses, how can he win against Yuan Tan?"

Guo Jia nodded and said, "Yes, this is the risk. It is my responsibility to not consider it carefully. Yuan Shao actually sent Jiang Qi to help, which is indeed not what I expected."

Sun Ce said: "You made the suggestion, but I made the decision. The first thing to do is to do is to talk about responsibility. But now is not the time to divide the responsibility. You should first talk about why you returned to Cangyuan City, instead of rushing back to Junyi." He knew that Guo Jia had Li Yang and had a detailed work, but Li Yang and Bai Ma were across the river, and the floating bridge was controlled in Yuan Shao's hands. Since Jiang Qi led his army to reinforce Yuan Tan, he would definitely strengthen the blockade. It is normal to delay crossing the river from other places for two or three days, and it cannot be considered Guo Jia's responsibility.

Guo Jia nodded. "Actually, this principle is very simple. When we go back to Junyi, we go against Jiang Qi, we come to each other earlier, and we are closer to Yuan Tan. Once we can't get entangled, Yuan Tan is very convenient for reinforcements. If we return to Cangyuan City, we can go back slowly and guard the city, but Jiang Qi has to walk twenty or thirty miles more, and we will consume more physical strength. From Junyi City, Yuan Tan's chance of sending people to reinforce is even smaller. We just need to deal with Jiang Qi with all our hearts. The only problem now is that there is insufficient military and supplies, and we must be careful in calculating, otherwise we won't last long."

When talking about supplies and weapons, King Chen frowned again. When fighting against an opponent with twice the strength of troops, the strong crossbowmen he led must be the main force, but if there are not enough arrows, his three thousand people will not only not be able to help, but will become a burden. The price of the strong crossbowmen's outstanding shooting skills is that their other martial arts are average, and their battles in the last battle are not stronger than ordinary soldiers. Without arrows, their combat power will be at most 30% left.

There is also food. They did not bring supplies, but only brought dry food for three days. Now they have robbed Liu Bei's supplies and replenished some, but it is still limited and cannot last long. Without food, the morale of the army will be in chaos.

Sun Ce pulled over the map, glanced around Cangyuan City, and suddenly said, "We won't go to Cangyuan City, we will go to Xiao Huang. Since we are going to escape, we might just run away a little further. Maybe Jiang Qi will not chase after him when he runs tired."

King Chen couldn't help laughing out loud. Guo Jia and Pang Tong also laughed and nodded in agreement. Escape was of course just Sun Ce's joke. Going to Xiao Huang is indeed better than going to Cangyuan City. Cangyuan City has been abandoned for a long time and is already an empty city. It can barely be used as a fortress, but there are no households. Xiao Huang is not the case. Xiao Huang has food, so it is worth it to travel twenty or thirty miles more.

Seeing that everyone had no objection, Sun Ce made a decision: Go to Xiao Huang first, see Jiang Qi's pursuit speed before making adjustments. If Jiang Qi chases fast, then enter Xiao Huang City to defend him, first solve the crisis of food shortage, and then make the next plan. If Jiang Qi chases slowly, you can consider training for a while and looking for fighter opportunities in the movement.

In order to ensure the speed of action, Sun Ce decided to release prisoners. These people had just surrendered, and they had no guarantee of loyalty. If they could barely go into battle, they might collapse in one blow, and instead consume a lot of food. Letting them leave is not only a way out for life, but also a way to reduce the burden and go into battle with light.

With Sun Ce's order, thousands of soldiers from the East County scattered, and no one was left except for the two hundred people picked out by Liu Bei.

Sun Ce discussed with King Chen again, gathered most of the arrows and gave priority to supplying the top 100 crossbowmen with the most exquisite shooting skills. Follow him to cut off the rear. The others followed King Chen, led by Guo Ting to protect the guard camp and seize Xiao Huang.

King Chen hesitated for a while, but finally agreed. The top 100 crossbowman followed Sun Ce, and it would be difficult for him to come back. But now, he has been tied to Sun Ce and cannot watch Sun Ce suffer frustration.

"General, these people have been working hard for decades, and you will cherish them."
Chapter completed!