Maybe Liu Bei didn't pay much attention to Zhou Yu, but to Zhou Ping, Zhou Yu's importance was second only to Sun Ce.
Zhou Yu's death was equivalent to cutting off Sun Ce's arm.
Now that Sun Ce was injured again, it was inevitable to capture Jiangdong.
"My lord, Cao Cao must be on guard. He can send people to Yecheng to spread the news, saying that Cao Cao wants to connect with Gongsun Bogui and move the emperor back to Xudu. For this reason, Cao Cao wants to attack Xuzhou first, because the lord is dedicated to protecting the emperor.
With Ye City, Cao Cao must want to eliminate it first, and then attack Ye City."
Gan Ning told Liu Bei what Zhou Yu said before his death, which worried Zhou Ping.
If Cao Cao really sends troops to attack Xuzhou at this time, even if Xuzhou will not be captured by him, Liu Bei's troops will definitely go back to rescue Xuzhou, and the plan to capture Yangzhou will be shelved again.
Now Jiangdong is in the palm of his hand. He only needs to hold it tightly to make it his own. He must not lose it at this time.
Liu Bei knew the stakes. Now was the critical moment to pursue Sun Ce and seize Jiangdong. He could not let anything happen to Xuzhou.
"Sir, just send someone to handle this matter."
For things like spreading rumors, Zhou Ping would do better.
Zhou Ping personally selected a dozen people and asked them to rush to Yecheng to spread the news that Cao Cao would join forces with Gongsun Zan and move the emperor back to Xudu again.
Before that, Liu Bei had strong troops and horses, and he was following the emperor's edict and obeying the orders of General Yuan. Therefore, Cao Cao would send troops to attack Xuzhou first, destroy Liu Bei first, and then seize the emperor.
Zhang Fei, Gan Ning and others returned one after another. Liu Bei left Cao Cheng behind and asked him to command 2,000 men and horses to garrison Wuhu while he led the army to continue chasing Danyang City.
Sun Ce arrived at Danyang City, got off the carriage and went to the county government office to rest while waiting for news from Zhou Yu.
Zhou Tai led his troops to deploy city defenses and sent a large number of scouts to find out about Zhou Yu and Liu Bei's troops.
Soon, some soldiers who followed Zhou Yu fled to Danyang. They saw Zhou Tai first and said that Zhou Yu had died in the battle.
Zhou Tai is in a dilemma. Now that General Sun is injured, Zhou Yu's death must have hit him hard. It's best not to tell him the news yet.
He asked people to put down the soldiers who had escaped from the rear. At this time, he heard that Liu Bei had raised troops and continued to pursue Danyang.
"Youping, is there no news about Gongjin yet?"
Sun Ce was worried about Zhou Yu and called Zhou Tai to ask.
Zhou Tai hesitated and did not answer for a long time.
He didn't know how to answer. He didn't want to deceive Sun Ce, and he didn't want to tell the truth now.
"Youping, tell me quickly, has Gong Jin been captured?"
Sun Ce could tell from Zhou Tai's face that Zhou Yu must not have escaped.
But he just thought that Liu Bei would capture Zhou Yu and not kill him.
After all, Zhou Yu's family background was extraordinary, and Liu Bei would not kill him easily.
"General, Gong Jin...he..."
"He surrendered to Liu Bei? Impossible! Impossible!"
At this time, Sun Ce thought that Zhou Tai could not speak because Zhou Yu had surrendered to Liu Bei.
However, based on his understanding of Zhou Yu, Zhou Gongjin and he were as close as brothers, and it was impossible for him to betray him and surrender to Liu Bei.
"General, if I tell you, don't get excited."
Zhou Tai stepped forward and knelt down on one leg, cupped his hands and said.
Sun Ce lay on the couch and looked at Zhou Tai sideways. He felt that something was very wrong, but at this time he just wanted to know the result and said softly: "Just tell me."
Zhou Tai paused for a moment and said: "Zhou Gongjin... died in battle!"
"Haha, Youping, you are not good at talking and laughing. Don't say you are joking. Tell the truth."
Sun Ce couldn't believe it and didn't want to believe it.
"General, Zhou Gongjin is really dead! He was killed by the enemy general Gan Ning. The soldiers who escaped saw it with their own eyes. Zhou Gongjin commanded 5,000 troops, but only more than 300 people escaped."
Zhou Tai was not good at words, so when he saw that Sun Ce didn't believe it, he said it firmly.
"Gong Jin is dead! Gong Jin is dead!"
Sun Ce recited softly, tears flowing from the corners of his eyes.
"It's impossible, Gong Jin can't die! Gong Jin, Gong Jin, if I had listened to you and retreated to Danyang as soon as possible, you wouldn't have died...cough cough cough..."
Sun Ce suddenly shouted loudly, then coughed violently, vomited out a pool of blood, and then fainted.
"General, general..."
Zhou Tai hurriedly stepped forward and shouted, but Sun Ce lay quietly on the couch, motionless.
"Quick, call the doctor." Zhou Tai shouted urgently.
The doctor had been waiting on Sun Ce and usually stayed outside the room. At this time, he had already heard Sun Ce yelling and coughing and ran in from outside the room.
After a while of manipulation, he exited the room and asked Zhou Tai: "What did you say to the general that made him so angry?"
"I told the general about Zhou Gongjin's death," Zhou Tai replied.
"Oh! How could you tell him this at this time!"
"What happened to the general?"
The doctor shook his head and sighed: "Originally, the general's abdominal injury was not serious and he would recover after a period of rest. However, the rapid driving along the way tore the wound, and now it is burning in his heart again. I...I can't do anything.
!”
"You must heal the general!" Zhou Taiyi said anxiously.
"Well, if you want to cure the general, you must have the miracle doctor Hua Tuo here. But the miracle doctor Hua Tuo is far away in Qiao County, Peiguo. He often goes out to practice medicine and his whereabouts are elusive. It is not easy to find him. Moreover, the general has to wait for
It won’t be that long!”
When Zhou Tai heard that Hua Tuo could cure Sun Ce, he hurriedly said: "No matter how far away, whether he is at home or not, I will find him."
He immediately sent more than a hundred people to search for Hua Tuo at his home in Qiao County and also in the Xuzhou area of Yuzhou. Whenever he saw Hua Tuo, he must be brought back. If he is unwilling, he will be kidnapped.
Come, just don't kill him.
One day later, Sun Ce was still unconscious and lying quietly on the bed.
Zhou Tai stood by the couch, regretting that he should not have informed Zhou Yu of his death, as he was the one who killed General Sun.
"Zhou Sima and Liu Bei's troops are heading towards Danyang. They will arrive in two days."
The scout came back to report.
Now that Sun Ce is unconscious, and Xu Kun and Zhou Yu are dead, he is the only Sima official in Danyang City who has the highest position, so he can only make the decision.
"Zhou Sima, what should we do?"
A military prince came and asked.
"General Sun can no longer stay here, we must retreat." Zhou Tai said.
"Where are we going to retreat to?" the military leader asked again.
Zhou Tai thought for a while, there are Molinghushu and other cities to the north of Danyang City, but if he retreats to those places, Liu Bei will follow closely.
It is even worse if we retreat to Liyang, which is currently being attacked by Guan Yu.
Therefore, Zhou Tai only thought of one place to retreat, and that was Qu'a.
Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, Lu Fan, Sun Fu and others are all in Qu'a, and there are 5,000 soldiers and horses in Qu'a city to protect Sun Ce.
It was more than three hundred miles from Danyang to Qu'a, a long journey. What he was most afraid of was that Sun Ce would no longer be able to withstand the bumps, and the wound would get bigger and bigger.
But apart from Qu'a, Zhou Tai couldn't think of a better place.
"Qu'a." Zhou Tai finally replied.
"You lead a thousand men to protect the general and retreat to Qu'a. The general is injured, so don't go too hastily on the way. I will lead a thousand men to guard Danyang to stop Liu Bei." Zhou Tai said again.
The military lord was surprised and said: "Zhou Sima, Liu Bei has 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers and horses. Can you defend Danyang with only 1,000 men?"
"Don't worry about whether I can hold Danyang, as long as I can protect the general from retreating to Qu'a, go ahead."
"promise."
Zhou Tai asked the military lord to lead a thousand men, and asked Sun Ce to lie on the carriage, with the doctor accompanying him. They left the city and drove slowly towards Qu'a. At the same time, he sent fast horses to Qu'a to report to Zhang Zhao and others, asking them to lead troops to meet him.
He himself led more than a thousand soldiers and summoned the people in the city to guard Danyang and cover Sun Ce's retreat.
