"No need. It is useless to defend Shucheng now. It will only distract our troops. It is better to give up temporarily. After Sun Ce is destroyed, Shucheng will still be ours when he comes back."
Zhou Ping continued: "Besides, Shucheng is a little far away from Hefei and cannot threaten Hefei. At the same time, Yuan Shu will divide his troops to defend Shucheng, thus reducing the number of enemies attacking Xiang'an."
Liu Bei felt that what Zhou Ping said made sense.
If Shucheng is abandoned and turned into an empty city, Sun Jing will most likely come back to guard it again.
Yuan Shu didn't have many troops to begin with, and he had to leave troops to garrison Wancheng. He would definitely not send too many troops to attack Xiang'an. On the contrary, it would reduce the pressure on Xiang'an, and he would not have to divide his troops too much and concentrate his troops.
Fighting across the river can be said to accomplish multiple things with one stone.
Taishi Ci, Lu Su and others also believed that Shu City should be abandoned and that one should not be too concerned about the gain or loss of a city. The most important thing at the moment was to destroy the enemy. If the enemy was destroyed, the city would naturally be gained.
Liu Bei immediately sent Taishi Ci and Gao Shun each with 5,000 men to attack Xiang'an, and then he led the army and left Shucheng.
At the same time, he sent someone to contact Huang Shechen Palace and asked them to send troops to help him cross the river.
He also sent people to Hefei to inform Guan Yu and Li Jia of his plan. If Sun Ce returned to Danyang, they could immediately march towards Liyang, pursue Sun Ce and launch a pincer attack.
Soon after the soldiers and horses left Shucheng, Sun Jing, who retreated to Juchao, received the report and was shocked.
"Liu Bei actually abandoned Shucheng and his army headed east?"
Sun Jing couldn't believe that Liu Bei would abandon Shucheng like this, and where exactly was the army heading east?
After thinking for a while, Sun Jing thought of Linhu and Xiang'an in the east.
There are currently no soldiers and horses garrisoning Linhu, but there are 3,000 men from Xu Kun in Xiang'an. The purpose of garrisoning Xiang'an is mainly to facilitate the crossing of the river, and also to prevent Huang Zu's navy from landing.
Now Liu Bei is raising his troops to the east, definitely intending to attack Xiang'an.
However, Xiang'an only has 3,000 men garrisoned there. Even if he wants to attack, he does not need to personally lead the army there. He only needs to send a general to lead the army to attack.
And what was Liu Bei's intention in attacking Xiang'an? Was it to welcome Huang She's navy ashore?
However, Huang She only brought 10,000 people, and the combat power of the navy ashore was greatly reduced. It seemed that the navy was not going to welcome Huang She.
Sun Jing thought for a long time, and finally thought that Liu Bei would send his troops to the east to attack Xiang'an, perhaps in order to cross Jiangdong, enter Danyang, and get behind Sun Ce.
If Liu Bei's army is allowed to reach Danyang, Sun Ce will be attacked from both sides by Liu Bei and Hefei's troops. If Sun Ce abandons Liyang and retreats to Lujiang, Liu Bei will run rampant in Danyang and Wu Commandery, and the territory of the two counties will be unprotected.
Therefore, Sun Ce will definitely not retreat to Lujiang. If he wants to retreat, he can only retreat to Danyang to fight Liu Bei.
The danger of his heart and the treachery of his plans are truly unpredictable!
Sun Jing quickly sent people to Liyang to inform Sun Ce of her thoughts, and advised them to abandon Liyang, return to Danyang, garrison Niuzhu, and then divide their troops to defend Chungu, and not allow Liu Bei's troops to cross the river.
At the same time, they also sent people to rush to Xiang'an, hoping that Xu Kun would abandon Xiang'an and cross the river to return to Spring Valley to guard with Jiang Qin. Liu Bei's troops must not be allowed to cross the river.
Jiang Qin only had 3,000 men and horses stationed at Spring Valley. It might not be difficult to block Huang She's troops, but if Huang She and Liu Bei joined forces, Jiang Qin would definitely not be able to defend it with such a small number of men.
However, it is not too far from Shucheng to Xiang'an, only half the distance from Juchao to Xiang'an. Sun Jing only sent people out of the city after Liu Bei's army left Shucheng. When the people he sent arrived at Xiang'an, Xiang'an
It has been surrounded by troops from Taishi Ci and Gao Shun on the east and west sides.
Zhou Ping had long been worried that Xu Kun, like Sun Jing, would choose to abandon the city and retreat to Spring Valley, which would make it difficult for him to cross the river. Therefore, he proposed to Liu Bei that Taishi Ci and Gao Shun should surround the east and west sides, and at the same time pay attention to the movement of soldiers and horses in the city and take precautions.
They retreated and crossed the river.
At this time, Liu Bei's army has not yet arrived, and there is still one day to go.
Xu Kun originally found out that Liu Bei was sending troops to attack, and thought that he could defend Xiang'an with only 10,000 troops and horses.
However, a report was soon received that Liu Bei himself was leading an army towards Xiang'an, and it seemed that he was going to concentrate his forces to attack.
After receiving the information, Xu Kun panicked. Liu Bei had 30,000 troops and he only had 3,000. Moreover, Liu Bei was now famous. After the soldiers in the city heard about it, many people were talking about abandoning the city and running away.
Just when Xu Kun was hesitating whether to flee or defend, Taishi Ci and Gao Shun rushed all the way to Xiang'an and surrounded the east and west sides respectively.
It was also at this time that Xu Kun received a letter from Sun Jing asking him to retreat to Spring Valley.
"General, let's retreat!"
Xu Kun stood on the east gate tower, looking at the enemy camp outside the city, and the military lord standing next to him advised him.
"Dongcheng is surrounded by enemy soldiers. How do we retreat? Where to retreat?" Xu Kun asked quietly.
"Liu Bei's army has not yet arrived at this time, and his advance army has few soldiers and can only surround the east and west sides. We can leave the city from the north and cross the river if we can. If not, we can retreat north to Liyang and join forces with General Sun.
.If we hesitate any longer, Liu Bei’s army will arrive and surround the city on all sides. We will not be able to retreat no matter how much we want!”
"Sun Youtai said that Liu Bei raised his troops and wanted to cross the river to get behind Bo Fu and attack Hefei's soldiers in front and back. If we abandon the city and retreat without being able to cross the river to defend the Spring Valley, wouldn't it be convenient for Liu Bei?
"
Xu Kun knew that if he stayed, he would most likely die in battle, because even the military princes around him wanted to retreat. Once Liu Bei's army arrived, the city would definitely not be able to defend it.
But if he just left like this, he would feel sorry for Sun Ce.
"General, if we defend the city and do not retreat, we will not be able to wait for General Sun's reinforcements to come to rescue us. Moreover, Shu City is attacked, and General Sun will not save it, let alone a small city like Xiang'an. General, our troops are too few!"
"
The military prince tried to persuade them that it was not that their own troops were too few, but that the enemy's troops were too numerous and too powerful, which put great pressure on them.
Xu Kun was under great pressure. He knew that if he wanted to defend, he would definitely not be able to hold on, but it was difficult to make up his mind to retreat.
"General..." the military lord called again.
"If you want to retreat, you must retreat tonight. Go and prepare the soldiers." Xu Kun finally made up his mind.
The military prince was overjoyed and hurriedly raised his hands and said: "No."
Taishi Ci was stationed east of Xiang'an. According to Zhou Ping's instructions, he had sent people to guard the road to Jiangjin, and at the same time prepared troops and horses to pursue him. Because Zhou Ping had predicted that Xu Kun might abandon the city and retreat.
Taishi Ci admired Zhou Ping's abilities, but Zhou Ping initially disapproved of his attack on Shu City. As he said, Sun Jing abandoned the city and retreated, even though he had captured the city, it was useless.
Now Zhou Ping thought of crossing the river to attack the enemy. Judging from the current situation, this was the best strategy.
Taishi Ci also agreed very much, and also agreed with the judgment that Xu Kun might retreat.
When night fell, Taishi Ci was wearing armor and sitting in the tent. The military princes and generals stood on both sides, waiting for the news.
Liu Bei's army will arrive tomorrow, and Xu Kun will leave tonight, so we must be ready to pursue him tonight.
Finally, when midnight was approaching, the soldiers hurriedly came to report that the north gate suddenly opened and enemy soldiers came out of the city.
Taishi Ci immediately stood up and said with a smile: "Haha, it's as expected, sir, let's chase him."
