Chapter 191 Let the couple bite each other first, we will kill the mad dog first! Is there no one left to take care of Liu Bei? Let’s defend Jinling to the death!

Inside the Chinese army's tent.

A small celebratory banquet has been set up.

"Once the lord's head is sent to Xudu, the emperor will be greatly surprised and will certainly confer a promotion on the lord, and Cao Cao cannot stop it."

"As for Cao Cao, he naturally has no face to surround Ye County again, so he has to withdraw his troops even if he doesn't want to."

"But I expect that once he heard of Yuan Shu's death, he would think that Huainan was without a master, and would take advantage of the situation to turn his troops southward, intending to take over Huainan."

"Although Yuan Shu is dead, Lu Bu is still alive. He will definitely gather Yuan Shu's former subordinates and establish himself as the lord of Huainan."

"Although he cannot take over all of Yuan Shu's legacy and his strength will be greatly reduced, it should be no problem for him to occupy Shouchun."

"Let's let Cao Cao and Lu Bu, the old grudge couple, fight each other for now. My lord, take advantage of this opportunity to destroy Sun Ce, the mad dog, and completely pacify Jiangdong. It won't be too late to go north and take Huainan later."

Xiao Fang pointed at the map with his feather fan, giving instructions and planning the blueprint for Lao Liu.

Liu Bei agreed with this and nodded:

"Military Advisor, your words make sense. Let Cao Cao and Lu Bu fight for Shouchun first. We will focus on destroying Sun Ce and taking over Jiangdong first."

The strategy was thus decided.

Liu Bei's expression became solemn, and he raised his glass to Xiao Fang solemnly:

"If it weren't for your support, Jinglue, how could I have killed Yuan Shu, the traitor who usurped the throne, for the Han Dynasty today!"

"This glass of wine must be toasted to you!"

Seeing that Lao Liu was so formal, Xiao Fang quickly put down his feather fan, raised his glass, stood up, and put on a serious expression.

"My lord, you are too kind. Today, my lord was able to defeat the Huainan army and kill Yuan Shu because of your good command of the army and the obedience of the generals. It was not due to Fang's planning, right?"

"Besides, it's not that Fang helped the Lord, but that the Lord gave Fang, a poor scholar, the opportunity to realize his ambitions."

"This glass of wine should be given to Lord Fang Jing."

Of course Xiao Fang understood the human relationships and spoke beautifully.

Liu Bei laughed and said happily:
"That means Bei and Jinglue will achieve mutual success and help our great Han country!"

"Nothing more to say, it's all in this wine!"

Liu Bei raised his head and drank it all.

Xiao Fang smiled and drank the cup as well.

Liu Bei poured another cup of fine wine and raised it to the generals:
"What the military advisor said is very true. The victory in this battle in which the traitor Yuan Shu was killed was all due to the sacrifice of the generals!"

"Come, come, come, today I will drink with you all until we are drunk. Tomorrow we will cross the river to destroy Sun Ce and take Jiangdong!"

The generals were filled with passion and raised their glasses to their seats.

"Destroy Sun Ce!"

"Take Jiangdong!"

Wild and confident shouts echoed in the big tent.

...

On the south bank of the Yangtze River, Zheqi City.

Sun Ce stood by the river with his hands behind his back, his brows deeply furrowed, staring towards the north of the river.

"Master Zhongmou said that he had done his best and could only raise 5,000 soldiers."

"It was probably because when the noble families in Jiangdong heard that Liu Bei's army was approaching Jiangdong, they resigned one after another, which made the people in Jiangdong uneasy and there were only a few people who responded to the call."

A young lieutenant was half-kneeling on the ground, reporting to Sun Ce.

Sun Ce's face became increasingly gloomy, and his fists gradually clenched.

The consequences of his excessive killing have finally shown up.

At that time, the powerful scholars and families in Jiangdong were afraid of his military power and had to temporarily put aside their blood feuds, pretending to submit and serve him, outwardly showing their loyalty to him.

As soon as Liu Bei's army arrived in Jiangdong, these people immediately showed their true colors. Before Liu Bei even surrounded Nanjing, they all turned their backs on him.

Under the huge influence of this group of noble families, even the young and strong common people knew that Jiangdong was about to change hands, and no one dared to board the pirate ship of his Sun family at this time.

With a population of nearly one million in the three counties of Jiangdong, it took Sun Quan a month to recruit less than 5,000 soldiers. This shows to what extent the people of Jiangdong were against him.

"Those villains in Jiangdong, I will deal with them after I defeat the big-eared thief!"

"It seems that I haven't killed enough. This time I must kill them all until they are convinced!"

Sun Ce gritted his teeth, with a cold hatred burning between his brows.

"Although our army is small, it is no problem to defend Zheqi Ferry. The key to whether we can repel Liu Bei lies in Yuan Shu on the north bank."

"As long as Yuan Shu wins this battle, Liu Bei will definitely retreat."

Zhang Zhaoyao pointed to the north bank and said comfortingly.

Sun Ce's complexion improved slightly, and he looked towards the north bank and said:

"Who do you think will win or lose in this battle?

Zhang Zhao stroked his thin beard, squinted his eyes and said:

"Liu Bei is indeed strong, but from what I have seen, the reason why Liu Bei was invincible before was largely due to Xiao Fang's brilliant strategies."

"In this battle of Ruxukou, Liu Bei will have to face Yuan Shu head-on. This is a head-on confrontation between upright armies, so Xiao Fang's tricks will be useless."

"Yuan Shu's Huainan soldiers are obviously more powerful than the Jingzhou soldiers, and they also have the world's best general Lu Bu fighting for them. Their strength should be better than Liu Bei's."

"Zhao believes that Yuan Shu has a great chance of winning this battle."

After hearing Zhang Zhao's proud analysis, Sun Ce's expression suddenly turned from gloomy to bright.

With a hint of sarcasm on his lips, Sun Ce sneered:
"Liu Bei, you have been rampant all the way from Nanyang to Jiangdong, and this time you have finally hit a wall."

"Without Xiao Fang's schemes and tricks, I wonder how you can defeat Yuan Shu this time."

All the generals from Jiangdong relaxed and sneered along with Sun Ce.

"Even if Yuan Shu can repel Liu Bei, there is no guarantee that Yuan Shu will not summon you to cross the river again, seize your military power, and completely control Jiangdong."

"If you don't obey, Yuan Shu will be furious and will send troops to force a crossing of the river. By then, we still need to have enough troops to have the confidence to stop Yuan Shu from crossing the river."

Lu Su poured another bucket of cold water on him.

Sun Ce's smile disappeared, and his brows furrowed again, but he was helpless. "My lord, I have a plan that can get another 5,000 elite soldiers. I wonder if I should tell you about it?"

Sun Quan's confidant, who was half-kneeling on the ground, suddenly spoke cautiously.

Sun Ce's eyes moved slightly, thinking that Zhang Zhao and Lu Su were helpless, how dare you, a nobody, speak so arrogantly?

"What do you have in mind? Tell me."

Sun Ce became somewhat interested and asked casually.

Seeing that he had seized the opportunity, the lieutenant hurriedly stood up and said calmly:
"Previously, the lord had dispatched 5,000 soldiers to suppress the Shanyue people and stationed them between Wu and Hui to monitor the suppression of the Shanyue people."

"My lord, why don't you temporarily change the suppression to appeasement, in exchange for the Shanyue people not coming out of the mountains to cause trouble for the time being, and then you can withdraw these 5,000 troops back to the Jinling front line."

"With these five thousand soldiers, plus the five thousand soldiers recruited by Master Zhongmou, you will have ten thousand soldiers."

"With these 10,000 soldiers and horses, combined with the 10,000 soldiers of our lord Zheqi, it shouldn't be a problem to stop Yuan Shu from crossing the river."

Sun Ce's eyes lit up and he glanced back at Zhang Zhao and Lu Su.

The two counselors both nodded slightly, showing some approval towards the young officer.

"You reminded me that these 5,000 soldiers who were sent to suppress the Shanyue can indeed be deployed."

Sun Ce nodded in approval and asked:
"You are young and quite resourceful. What's your name?"

The junior officer was secretly delighted and quickly replied:

"My Lord, I am Lü Meng, courtesy name Ziming."

Lu Meng.

Sun Ce’s thoughts raced, and he seemed to have a vague impression of this name.

"I remember that Zhongmou recommended a group of young generals a few days ago, and it seems that you were one of them."

Sun Ce finally remembered and nodded slightly:

"Zhongmou has a good eye, and the people he recommends all have some abilities."

"From today on, you are the military commander. Stay and serve in the army."

Lu Meng was overjoyed to hear that Sun Ce personally promoted him and asked him to stay in the army to serve. He hurriedly expressed his gratitude and expressed his loyalty.

Sun Ce adopted Lu Meng's plan and ordered Cheng Pu, who stayed in Jinling, to quickly transfer the 5,000 troops who were suppressing the Shanyue to the Zheqi front.

The military order has just been issued.

From the north bank, a small boat came speeding towards them.

Immediately afterwards, Song Qian came hurriedly and presented a silk book.

"My lord, the spies on the north bank have urgent news."

"Liu Bei defeated the Huainan army at Ruxukou yesterday."

"Yuan Shu was defeated and captured. He has been beheaded by Liu Bei and his head has been sent to Xudu!"

It was like a loud thunderclap.

Sun Ce and his ministers were suddenly horrified, as if they had seen a ghost.

"What did you say? Say it again?"

Sun Ce’s eyes popped open and he shouted at Song Qian in excitement and astonishment.

Both Zhang Zhao and Lu Su had faces filled with horror.

Needless to say, Zhang Zhao had confidently concluded just a moment ago that Yuan Shu had a great chance of winning.

Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, Yuan Shu suffered a miserable defeat.

What’s even more incredible is that Yuan Shu actually lost his life!

Even Lu Su, who never dared to underestimate Liu Bei, looked incredulous.

This news is truly explosive!

"My lord, Yuan Shu was killed by Liu Bei, and the Huainan army was defeated!"

Song Qian's voice sounded helpless, and he quickly presented the silk book.

Sun Ce snatched it away and couldn't wait to unfold it and take a closer look.

The shock on his face gradually turned into astonishment, and astonishment gradually turned into despair.

It was written clearly in black and white, and he had no choice but to believe it.

"With 30,000 Huainan troops and Lu Bu still around, they were still defeated by Liu Bei?"

"Even Lü Bu's Fang Tian Hua Ji was taken away from him, and the old villain Yuan Shu also lost his life?"

"Is there really no one who can stop that big-eared thief? Am I, Sun Ce, really going to die at the hands of Liu Bei..."

Sun Ce muttered to himself, his whole body fell into a trance and desolation, and the silk book in his hand fell to the ground.

Zhang Zhao, Lu Su and others hurried forward to pick it up and were equally eager to take a closer look.

The two of them froze in place, their faces gradually fixed in a moment of shock.

"Why, in a head-on battle of 30,000 against 30,000, Yuan Shu actually lost to Liu Bei?"

"When did the soldiers of Jingzhou become so elite?"

Zhang Zhao muttered to himself, with deep confusion in his eyes.

“I didn’t expect that Liu Bei could defeat Yuan Shu with his upright army in a head-on confrontation!”

"Now that Yuan Shu is dead, Liu Bei has eliminated the threat to Jiangbei. He will definitely cross the river again and attack later!"

"How...how can we resist?"

Lu Su's voice trembled, and he looked at Sun Ce with the same desperate eyes.

Sun Ce stared at Jiangbei for a long time, lost in thought for a long time, and waved his hands weakly:

"Pass the order down, the entire army should withdraw camp and retreat eastward, and prepare to defend Jinling to the death."

"Ugh--"

A long sigh of bitterness and despair sounded by the river.

(End of this chapter)