Chapter 200 Gong Jin, you've been worrying too much
On the second day after Sun Ce asked Zu Lang to lead troops to defend Spring Valley, the scouts sent to Xiang'an suddenly reported back, saying that Xu Kun had abandoned the city and left. He led his troops out of the city at night, but was chased by enemy soldiers and lost 3,000 men.
They were all gone, and only Xu Kun and more than 300 people escaped, heading towards Liyang.
"Who are the enemy generals? How could they cause General Xu to be defeated so miserably?" Sun Ce asked in surprise.
"It's Tai Shici," the scout replied.
In fact, Taishi Ci killed and captured only more than a thousand people. The rest mainly fled in various directions and took the opportunity to run home instead of following Xu Kun.
"Tai Shi Ci! I once fought with this man, but his force was not inferior to mine. General Xu was chased by him. No wonder he was defeated so miserably."
Sun Ce still remembered that his general Chen Wu died at the hands of Taishi Ci. It was lucky for Xu Kun to escape this time.
Now that Xiang'an has been lost, it will be even harder to defend Chungu. If Chungu is lost again and Liu Bei's troops cross the river and enter Danyang, the consequences will be disastrous.
Sun Ce glanced at Zhou Yu and Huang Gai, said nothing, and just thought quietly.
Zhou Yu and Huang Gai were silent at this moment, each thinking of countermeasures.
Huang Gai was a native of Lingling, Jingzhou. His ancestors once had someone who was appointed as the prefect of Nanyang. However, he was lonely since he was a child. He often used his spare time as a wage earner to study and practice military affairs.
It is somewhat similar to Liu Bei's. One of his ancestors was an official, and he was from a poor family. His father died early, and his life was difficult. One made a living by weaving mats and selling shoes, while the other made a living by selling goods at a negative salary.
The only difference is that Huang Gai likes reading, but Liu Bei doesn't like reading very much.
Huang Gai was later appointed as a county official, was inspected as Xiaolian, and was hired by the government. After that, he followed Sun Jian to conquer the north and south.
Zhou Yu suddenly said: "General, Xiang'an has been lost, General Xu has been defeated, and the troops and horses have not been able to retreat to Chungu. Even if Zu Lang's three thousand troops can arrive in time, Chungu will not be able to withstand Liu Bei's army."
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"Whatever Gong Jin means, you might as well say it bluntly."
Sun Ce saw Zhou Yu speak and then stop, as if he had something to hide.
Zhou Yu hesitated for a moment before continuing: "Liu Bei captured Shucheng and then abandoned it in order to cross the Yangtze River. Now we can also abandon Liyang and return all our troops to Danyang. We must block Liu Bei and defeat him or destroy him."
Hurry back to Lujiang, and you must not let him run rampant in Jiangdong."
"Abandon Liyang and return to Jiangdong?" Sun Ce was a little surprised.
Liyang is not far from the river and is the frontier city to defend Jiangjin. If Liyang does not fall, it is impossible for the enemy troops to cross the river from here.
Sun Ce finally recaptured Liyang, how could he give it up so easily? This is why Zhou Yu hesitated.
"If we defend Liyang, Niuzhu also needs soldiers and horses to garrison. If we divide our troops so much, it is better to retreat to Niuzhu. The enemy has no ships and it is difficult to cross the river from here. Niuzhu can already be defended. We can also gather troops to join Liu Bei.
war."
Zhou Yu knew how powerful Liu Bei's troops were, and now he just wanted to concentrate his forces. If he fought with Liu Bei, he would not be easily defeated.
Sun Ce stood up and walked slowly back and forth in front of the generals, obviously thinking about Zhou Yu's proposal.
With the current situation, it is impossible to sit back and watch in Liyang, nor to raise another army to attack Xiang'an.
Xiang'an has been occupied by Liu Bei. If we attack now, we will still be attacked from the front and rear by Liu Bei and Hefei's troops.
It was certain to return to Jiangdong, but what Sun Ce was hesitant to decide was whether to give up Liyang.
"General, give me three thousand soldiers and horses, and I will be able to defend Liyang."
Huang Gai suddenly stepped out of the queue and raised his hands, speaking loudly.
Sun Ce was still hesitant at first, but now after hearing Huang Gai's words, he suddenly made a decision in his heart and said happily: "Gongfu, if you are willing to defend Liyang, Guan Yu will not be able to pull you away, but the three thousand people are less, I
I give you five thousand men and horses, and as long as you defend Liyang, it will be a great achievement."
Huang Gai responded: "No."
Zhou Yu hurriedly advised: "General, if we have 5,000 men and horses to guard Liyang, and Niuzhu is divided into 5,000 troops to garrison, then the general will have fewer troops, and it will be difficult to fight Liu Bei!"
Sun Ce smiled and said: "Since there are already five thousand troops left to guard Liyang, Niuzhu only needs to leave three thousand troops to guard."
"General, have you forgotten Huang She's navy? Niuzhu is more important than Liyang!"
"It is precisely because the Jiangxia navy is on the river that we have to leave soldiers and horses to guard Liyang. I used 5,000 men and horses to hold back Liu Bei's 20,000 soldiers in Hefei so that they could not join forces with Huang She. After crossing the river to attack me, the public
Jin, don’t you know what I mean?”
"It's just that Liu Bei led more troops, and after we divided our troops, the remaining troops..."
Zhou Yu understood Sun Ce's intention, which was to block Hefei's troops and prevent them from crossing the river from Liyang.
But Zhou Yu was even more worried that Sun Ce might be unable to defeat Liu Bei if he divided his troops too much.
"Gong Jin is overly worried! Although Liu Bei's troops are strong, I am not weak either. In a battle with him, the outcome is unpredictable. Moreover, Liu Bei may not be able to cross the river. We must send more troops to Spring Valley. If
If you can keep the spring valley, you will have no worries."
Zhou Yu, like Zhou Ping, could only put forward opinions. How to decide was Sun Ce's business.
Now that Sun Ce has made this decision, he has nothing to say but agrees.
Soon, Xu Kun fled to Liyang with more than 300 people. This cousin immediately asked Sun Ce to plead guilty.
"Bo Fu, I lost Xiang'an, and almost all my troops were wiped out. You... you punish me!"
Sun Ce helped Xu Kun up and said, "It's good that you can come back. I don't blame you for this. It's also my fault that I didn't expect that Liu Bei would turn to attack Xiang'an. You go and rest first."
Xu Kun was tired and hungry after escaping all the way.
Xu Kun's mother is Sun Jian's sister, so the two of them are relatively close cousins. Sun Ce will not punish Xu Kun no matter what.
He was even given two thousand men and horses to command.
Zhou Tai also returned soon. Sun Ce left 5,000 men and horses behind and left them with Huang Gai to guard Liyang. He led more than 22,000 men and horses and left Liyang.
After crossing the river, Song Qian was asked to lead 3,000 men to stay at Niuzhu, while Zhou Tai was asked to lead 2,000 men to rush to Spring Valley to guard with Jiang Qin. He personally led the army behind.
When Guan Yu and Li Jia of Hefei learned that Sun Ce had led his troops to retreat, they immediately followed Liu Bei's instructions before leaving and left Xu Ding to command five thousand troops to garrison with Liu Fu, the commander of Hefei.
Guan Yu and Li Jia led 15,000 people and marched towards Liyang.
At this time, Huang She and Chen Gong arrived with ten thousand naval troops, and Liu Bei still led Tai Shi Ci and Gao Shun as the vanguard.
Taishi Ci led 6,000 men, and Gao Shun led 5,000 men. Together with Huang She, they crossed the river to attack Chungu.
Lu Su was left behind to lead 3,000 men to guard Xiang'an, and he led more than 10,000 people to set up camp along the river. He waited until Spring Valley was captured and the entire army crossed the river immediately.
At this time, Sun Jing led troops into Tunshu City again, and was considering whether to attack Xiang'an, but she also thought that Liu Bei had not yet crossed the river, and if his thousands of troops went there, they would probably never return.
If you want to attack, you must wait for Liu Bei's troops to cross the river. It is best if Liu Bei is defeated by Sun Ce in Danyang. Then you can capture Xiang'an and stop Liu Bei from crossing the river and retreating. This is the perfect strategy.
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Therefore, Sun Jing stayed in Shucheng, just paying attention to Liu Bei's movements at all times.
