Sun Ce was defeated in Wuhu, and Zhou Yu was killed in Danyang. Sun Ce later fell into a coma. This made their soldiers lose their fighting spirit. They hid in Qu'a city and did not dare to fight. Some of them were already thinking about escaping from Qu'a, and even went to Qu'a.
Liu Bei surrendered.
But now Sun Ce is awake and his injuries have basically recovered, giving them hope of victory.
"Are you afraid of death?"
Sun Ce stood on a high platform, with many soldiers below him, and behind him stood Sun Fu and Zhou Tai, who were also wearing armor, as well as Zhang Zhao, Lu Fan and others.
"Don't be afraid!"
All the people in the audience responded in unison.
"I'm not afraid either." Sun Ce said loudly, "Although Liu Bei has won many times, no one can always win or lose. This time I recovered from my injury and woke up. God will not destroy me, so I will lead everyone to defeat Liu Bei."
, take back the land east of Jiangdong, drive Liu Bei back to Xuzhou, we even want to pacify the world, make great contributions, and become a general and a marquis!"
"You should already know that Liu Bei wants to capture Dantu and cut off our retreat. Guangling's troops have blocked the river and we have no retreat. We don't want to retreat either. We must defeat Liu Bei. Only by defeating Liu Bei can we have a way out.
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"In this battle, I will be at the front, rush into the enemy formation, and behead Liu Bei with my own hands. Those who cherish their lives are hard to win. I hope everyone will join me in risking their lives and moving forward, fighting the enemy with all their strength, and protecting Jiangdong!"
Sun Ce gave a passionate speech, his voice was deafening, and he was filled with heroic spirit.
Someone in the audience shouted: "We must win!"
Everyone immediately shouted in unison: "We must win! We must win! We must win!"
Sun Ce led Sun Fu, Zhou Tai and others to inspect each camp, and made such a speech at each camp.
His speech was indeed very effective, or it could be said that his awakening and recovery from his injuries gave the soldiers confidence. The entire army in the city became highly motivated, and they were all sharpening their swords and repairing their shields, waiting for the battle in three days.
For two consecutive days, Sun Ce practiced horseback riding and spearmanship at the camp's lieutenant colonel's martial arts field to prepare for battle and to test his physical recovery.
He felt pretty good about himself and felt that his force was about the same as before. This time, he had to break through the enemy and go straight to Liu Bei, capturing the thief and the king first. As long as Liu Bei was killed and the enemy troops collapsed, he would be victorious.
For this reason, he selected 500 brave men from the army, led them personally, and prepared to lead them to kill Liu Bei.
"General, do you want to fight for merit?"
Zhang Zhao asked, he and Sun Ce were the only ones in the tent.
"Zibu, do I have a better choice?"
Sun Ce asked rhetorically.
Zhang Zhao thought for a moment, and if he didn't fight, Sun Ce would have no choice but to retreat to Lujiang or surrender to Liu Bei.
Obviously, Sun Ce cannot accept these two options.
But for this battle, Zhang Zhao was not confident that he would win. Based on his understanding, Liu Bei came to take advantage of the victory, and there were fierce generals like Zhang Fei in the army. It was really difficult for Sun Ce to win.
Seeing Zhang Zhao's silence, Sun Ce added, "If Liu Bei is allowed to capture Dantu, we will still have to fight with him. If we retreat to Lujiang at this time, Wu County, Danyang and Jiujiang will all be owned by Liu Bei.
Its force is stronger and it is more difficult for us to fight against it. At this time, Liu Bei's troops outside the city are not too many. This is our only chance to win. If we miss this opportunity, we will no longer have it."
"General, do you think General Yuan and Cao Mengde can defeat Gongsun Zan?" Zhang Zhao asked, thinking of Cao Cao.
"Zibu's intention is the same as Zigang's. He wants to persuade me to retain my troops, temporarily avoid Liu Bei, retreat to Lujiang, wait for Yuan and Cao to join forces to attack Xuzhou, and then come back to recapture Jiangdong?"
Zhang Zhao nodded, this was indeed what he was thinking.
Sun Ce sighed slightly: "This seems to be a safe plan, but if Liu Bei is allowed to take Wu County, Danyang and Jiujiang County, Wang Lang of Kuaiji will definitely respond to Liu Bei, especially Danyang, which is a place with elite troops, Liu Bei will definitely increase his troops. Even if Yuan Yuan
Cao joined forces to attack Xu, but they may not be able to work together, and Liu Bei is already strong. If Liu Biao from Jingzhou is there to help, it seems not difficult to defend Xuzhou. If we want to retake Jiangdong at that time, how difficult it will be!"
"It's just that if we can't win this battle..."
Zhang Zhao said worriedly, but did not finish his words.
Sun Ce understood his worries: "Zibu is worried about Liu Bei having Zhang Fei around, right?"
"If Zhang Fei can be transferred away, it will be easier for the general to win. Doesn't Liu Bei want to capture Dan Tu? As I expected, Liu Bei will definitely keep Zhang Fei by his side. We can take advantage of him to divide the troops, and the general will lead his troops."
Ma rescues Dantu, first destroys the enemies attacking Dantu, and then fights with Liu Bei, we will definitely win."
Zhang Zhao thought of a way for Sun Ce to avoid Zhang Fei and win easily.
Sun Ce shook his head: "I have made an appointment with Liu Bei, how can I be dishonest? Although Zhang Fei is brave, I have a plan to deal with it. In this battle, I only need to avoid Zhang Fei and not fight with him."
You can go straight to Liu Bei. Except for Zhang Fei, no enemy general can stop me. When I capture and kill Liu Bei, not only can I retake Jiangdong, I can even seize the land of Xuzhou."
After all, Sun Ce was stabbed by Zhang Fei, so he was still quite afraid of him.
Zhang Zhao knew the importance of this battle, and also knew what it would mean to Sun Ce if he won and killed Liu Bei. No wonder Sun Ce was so desperate.
Given the current situation, this is Sun Ce's only chance.
Liu Bei's camp outside the city is also preparing for this battle.
Liu Bei and Zhou Ping also understood the importance of this battle. If they win, the land of Jiangdong will belong to Liu Bei. If they lose... neither Liu Bei nor Zhou Ping think they will lose.
If he really loses, Liu Bei may give up the attack on Yangzhou, return to Xuzhou, and become a prince with peace of mind.
On the day before the decisive battle, Liu Bei, wearing armor and leading Zhou Ping, Zhang Fei, Gan Ning and others, personally visited each camp to boost morale before the battle.
"My fellow officers, Yuan Shu and Sun Ce gathered together to rebel. We obeyed the edict and fought against the rebels. We won consecutive battles and demonstrated the power of heaven. Sun Ce rebelled against heaven and wanted to fight us. This is his way of self-destruction. Tomorrow, we will fight against the thieves and bandits.
Fight, I hope that all the officers and men will be brave and not afraid of death, and work hard to kill the thieves. Those who have meritorious service in killing the enemy will be rewarded, and those who shrink back due to fear of the enemy will be killed!"
In fact, these soldiers and horses of Liu Bei's attack on Yangzhou this time have won consecutive victories, and their morale does not need to be boosted at all.
However, this battle was indeed too important. Liu Bei still wanted to publicize his name of sending troops. At the same time, he killed pigs and sheep, rewarded each camp, and fed the soldiers well as a show of favor, so that they would work harder to kill the enemy tomorrow.
Zhou Ping seemed to be more relaxed, and Sun Ce took the initiative to ask for a battle, which shows that he was eager for quick success, and eager for quick success is a taboo for military strategists. In this battle, it was difficult for Sun Ce not to lose.
The sun sets and the sun rises, and the night passes quickly.
It was July of the third year of Jian'an.
Liu Bei left Cao Cheng to command 3,000 soldiers to guard the camp. He led 15,000 soldiers and horses, led Zhou Ping, Zhang Fei and others to the foot of Qu'a City, formed a formation, and trapped the camp with Gao Shun and 3,000 soldiers.
For the front formation, Zhang Fei and Gan Ning each commanded 3,000 soldiers for the left and right formations, and Liu Bei commanded 6,000 soldiers for the central formation.
Zhou Ping stood beside Liu Bei, with Xu Chu, Zhang Wu and other guards behind him.
Opposite, Sun Ce, wearing armor and holding a spear, was also in formation, looking at each other from a distance.