Chapter 361: Saving others by oneself
When the news of Zhou Yu's great victory came, the princes from all four directions were overjoyed.
Another village has a bright future!
Originally they had prepared to retreat, but they never expected Zhou Yu to be so rebellious. Not only did he defeat Gan Xingba, but he also took advantage of him and took the opportunity to release Cheng Pu into the Yellow River.
"Mr. Zhou is truly a genius!" Cao Cao and Yuan Shao's eyes lit up with surprise, but no one knew what they were thinking in their hearts.
Zhao Yun stopped them by himself.
However, Zhou Yu broke the situation on his own.
These young people really cannot be underestimated!
"Cheng Pu is leading 20,000 naval forces and a large number of advanced warships. Han Dang will definitely send troops to protect the safety of the people north of the Yellow River and ensure that the logistics of Guan Yu's troops are not disturbed."
"And we can take this opportunity to capture Zhao Yun's camp!" Cao Cao said excitedly.
The reason why Zhao Yun's camp was difficult to attack was at least half due to the navy led by Han Dang.
Moreover, as long as Han Dang's navy encounters problems, Zhao Yun's decision to set up camp behind the river would become a completely foolish choice, leaving them with nowhere to escape.
However, before Cao Cao, Yuan Shao and others could be happy for long, war reports soon came from all directions.
"Report! My lord, Zhang Liao is leading his troops southward, heading for Xu Du." Upon hearing this, Cao Cao's face turned pale.
Facing the expectant gazes of Yuan Shao, Liu Bei and others, Cao Cao gritted his teeth and said, "Alliance leader, can I temporarily lead 100,000 defenders to provide support?"
"No, 50,000 will be enough. The rest of the main force will follow the allies to attack Zhao Yun's camp."
Xudu in Yingchuan County is Cao Cao's most core position and must not be lost. Moreover, there is still the "imperial court" there. Although it is just a facade, it is still of great value to Cao Cao.
Yuan Shao frowned slightly: "Meng De, the overall situation is more important. You have so many good generals and strong cities under your command, and a mere Zhang Wenyuan..."
"Report!"
Another messenger ran in and interrupted Yuan Shao.
"What's the matter?"
Seeing your speech being interrupted at an inopportune moment,
"My lord, Guan Yu's troops are heading east, heading for Linzi!"
Yuan Shao, who was about to give a long speech, suddenly shut his mouth, stared at the location of Linzi on the map, and clenched his teeth.
Linzi's geographical location is extremely important. Once it is lost, coupled with Zang Ba's firm foothold in Taishan County, the two can directly split Qingzhou into two halves.
Yuan Shao simply could not bear such a huge loss.
You won't feel any pain unless the whip hits your body.
Seeing that neither of them said a word, Sun Ce and Liu Bei looked at each other.
Liu Bei was kind and generous by nature, and he was well aware of the concerns of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao.
Judging from his own experience, if he were in Zhao Yun's shoes, he would probably not be willing to fight to the death in Zhao Yun's camp.
What’s the point of fighting a war when the house has been robbed?
Sun Ce did not understand what the other three parties meant, and said directly: "Brother Meng De, the leader is right, the overall situation is more important!"
As soon as he finished speaking, another messenger ran in.
Yuan Shao and Cao Cao both looked at Sun Ce.
Sun Ce was viewed as if he had a thorn in his back.
"Speak." Yuan Shao said.
"Ling Cao led tens of thousands of naval forces south to Jiangdong."
The news was unexpected yet not unexpected. The three of them looked at Sun Ce with strange eyes.
Sun Ce suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.
Oops!
The main forces have come to support, and Jiangdong is now quite empty.
Especially when he went south to Jiangdong, although he unified Yangzhou at lightning speed, he left a lot of hidden dangers because his foundation was too weak and his steps were too big. Even with Zhou Yu and Lu Su constantly patching up, he could only digest it slowly.
If Ling Cao's troops were to head south at this time, they would not have to take action. Once the Jiangdong noble families heard the news, there would be undercurrents.
There are countless people who would want to overthrow his rule and rise up in rebellion.
Sun Ce swallowed lightly and looked at the three people's strange looks. He smiled awkwardly: "Of course, the most important thing is our foundation, and we must not lose it."
"Otherwise, although Tian Chengshou will suffer a lot of losses, we will be completely finished. We can't do this kind of loss-making business."
After hearing Sun Ce's self-justification, Yuan Shao and others smiled knowingly.
It’s rare!
The little tyrant of Jiangdong has come to this day.
I still like your unruly look before.
"It seems that Tian Chengshou doesn't dare to fight anymore." Yuan Shao said in a deep voice.
There was both indignation and relief in his tone.
The feeling of powerlessness when the initiative of this war is in the hands of others is really too painful.
If Tian Ze wanted to fight, he would fight. If he didn't want to fight, he would just make random moves and they would have to withdraw from the battlefield.
However, this battle was indeed too difficult and the situation was not good. It might not be a bad thing to retreat at this time.
Although the situation seems to be good for them, they have to know that Tian Ze's main forces have not moved yet.
How could Yuan Shao not see that Tian Ze had great ambitions? If he continued to fight, there would be a risk of annihilation of his entire army.
Cao Cao turned his gaze towards Liu Bei and asked gently, "Xuan De, what do you think we should do?"
"I think what Bofu said is right. The overall situation is more important. Brother Benchu, Brother Mengde, and Bofu, you should withdraw your troops and defend the city first."
"As for Bei, he was not under pressure from Tian Ze's attack, so he led his troops here to resist Zhao Yun's troops to prevent them from continuing to transport food and grass for Zang Ba's troops."
"However, I have come from a long distance with my troops, and we have very little food and fodder. I hope you three can leave as much food and fodder as possible."
Hearing Liu Bei's words, Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and Sun Ce were deeply moved.
Sure enough, Liu Bei is a kind man!
Look at his attitude and position, so high!
Treat others with sincerity and consideration.
Thinking about how Liu Bei had previously contributed his Bai Li soldiers to the overall situation and had never complained even when they suffered a lot of casualties from Sun Ce, the three of them couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
Of course, for Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, this guilt was more passive.
No matter how cunning and heartless they are, they still have to pretend, otherwise the alliance will be difficult to maintain.
"Xuan De, I leave you 30,000 elite soldiers, 20,000 naval forces and Chunyu Qiong to assist you. Thank you for the hard work in cutting off the food supply!" Yuan Shao bowed and said.
Cao Cao also bowed slightly and said: "My dear brother, I have few soldiers, so I will leave Xiahou Yuan and his 8,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry to you."
Sun Ce also said: "Brother Xuande, Jiangdong is far away, and it is inconvenient for me to leave my soldiers with you."
"However, Gongjin had previously seized a number of advanced warships from Tian Ze's command, so he took half of them and left them to my brother."
When Liu Bei heard this, he was very happy.
Especially the look he gave Sun Ce was even more friendly.
This boy has a sincere heart and we can become close friends.
What Yuan Shao and Cao Cao said was fine. This area was originally their territory, and the soldiers left behind were only on temporary loan. They would not be of much benefit to Liu Bei.
Sun Ce actually gave a lot of advanced warships!
Even Yuan Shao was envious of these things.
(End of this chapter)
