Xu Rong set up a dead battle.

Anzhong is in the west of Nirvana, and it is bordered by turbulent water in the south. The city is in the south of the turbulent water. If you fight in the city, you can only fight in the south of the city, or directly force under the city of Nieyang and force Sun Ce to fight a decisive battle. However, in any case, to set up a position in the north of the turbulent water and to the west of the Nirvana is tantamount to cutting off the right flank and retreating, and it is by no means a reasonable choice.

But Xu Rong said a word, and the Xiliang generals thought so, and almost didn't hesitate, and immediately agreed.

Xu Rong said, you don't trust me, and the army's morale will inevitably be shaken. I stand in the middle army, on the right is Nirvana, behind is the turbulent water, there are cavalry cruising back and forth, not much, more than 1,000 horsemen can be controlled tightly. All you need is one stationed on the left to block my path. I have no way out except to move forward, only in this way can you rest assured, can you concentrate your forces, fight without distractions, and defeat Sun Ce.

Rise from the ashes. I'm going to put myself to death first, you should be relieved, right?

What Li Meng and the others were most worried about was that Xu Rong betrayed them, and when they heard that Xu Rong would put himself to death first, and Xu Rong would die first, of course they were happy and agreed.

Xu Rong also has the advantage of doing this, the right flank and rear flank are all rivers, as long as some cavalry is arranged to cruise back and forth on the opposite bank, there is basically no need to consider the problem of being attacked by Sun Ce, and the troops of the formation can be saved and concentrated on the left flank and the front formation. They now numbered more than 20,000 men, with more than 5,000 cavalry and 15,000 or 6,000 foot soldiers. With foot soldiers, the cavalry is on standby to maneuver, and the troops are more abundant.

Sun Ce had the strong support of the counties, and the number of troops increased rapidly, which was close to 30,000, and if he did not stand on the back of the river, he had to use the cavalry as a flank, wasting the speed advantage of the cavalry and turning it into a desperate attrition. As far as the current situation is concerned, the last thing they can afford is to fight for attrition.

After the task is assigned, the generals will prepare separately. Zhang Liao stayed behind and raised questions about Xu Rong's arrangement.

"General, why did you do this?"

"What else can I do?" Xu Rong smiled bitterly: "Wenyuan, in public and private, this battle can only be won and not defeated." Sun Jian is brave, Sun Ce is cunning, father and son each have male soldiers, once they occupy Nanyang, Jingzhou and Yuzhou are not owned by the imperial court, Yangzhou and Jiaozhou will also become Sun's backyard, and one of the world's thirds will go. Yu privately, I cooked Li Min, slaughtered Nanxiang and Shunyang, and I was deeply guilty, even if others can forgive me, I can't forgive myself. The day of defeat is the day of my death. I can only defeat Sun Ce, recover Nanyang, and do my last bit for the imperial court, and maybe I can atone for some of my sins. ”

Zhang Liao was silent, he could understand how much pressure Xu Rong felt in his heart. Cooking Li Min is a last resort, Tu Nanxiang and Shunyang are also forced to do so, he wants to use the slaughter of the city to stimulate morale, to use the slaughter of the city to deter the people of Nanyang and reduce resistance, he originally planned to change his tactics after the forced landing, focusing on Fu, but now that Sun Ce has arrived, the hearts of Nanyang people have fallen to Sun Ce, and he has no chance.

This notoriety will follow him for the rest of his life, and even go to the grave, engraved on the tombstone, and written into history.

"Wen Yuan, you lead your troops to Xinye, look at the Xiangyang side, don't let Sun Fu support Sun Ce. The Cai family supplies Sun Ce's ordnance, and there are ships, and I don't want any ship to suddenly appear behind me. ”

"General, send someone else, I'll stay with the general."

"You're staying with me? Ha, the fewer people around me, the more reassuring they are, the more reassuring they are, and the more likely we are to win. Xu Rong raised his hand and signaled Zhang Liao not to insist. In case of defeat, with you south of the turbulent water, I will at least have a chance to cross the river. ”

Zhang Liao bowed down to receive the order.

——

As the sun rises in the east, the two armies face each other, and the soldiers of both sides enter the battlefield in turn under the command of war drums.

At this time, all intrigues and tricks are useless, and all that remains is a contest of strength.

The county of Anzhong is still there, but the county seat is long gone, and only a ruined city remains. Nirvana water went around the east of the city, washed the river, and half of the city wall collapsed. There are still some old houses in the city, which are inhabited and reclaimed, but it is winter, there are no crops, and the war is imminent, and the owner has fled with his family, and there is not even a ghost. After more than 100 years of wind and rain, most of the original rammed earth walls collapsed and became several large mounds of earth.

Sun Ce climbed a mound and used it as a command platform for the Chinese army. Outside the flag, he erected a pure white flag, and there were only two words on the flag: revenge! The words were written in blood, had dried up, red with black in the middle, and condensed with deep hatred. Every soldier who looked at this banner gritted his teeth, and his eyes were as fierce as a wolf.

Xu Rong stood up against the water, and he was surprised by all the surprises, which was a taboo for anyone with a little military common sense. But Sun Ce quickly understood Xu Rong's distress, it should be the handkerchief brought by Guan Nan that took effect.

What's on the handkerchief? Nothing but the Suzaku sign that identified him. Guan Nan is not a person who is good at lying, he can't play complicated counter-plots, but the suspicion between the Xiliang generals and Xu Rong cannot be repaired, and Xu Rong's behavior of giving up Wuguan Dao and capturing the city is too abnormal, and the combination of the two, he wants to explain clearly It is definitely not a simple matter.

When people are in a hurry, they will swear by swearing. Xu Rong was forced to be in a hurry, and he had to set himself up in the place of death first and live to death. Only in this way can he dispel the suspicions of the Xiliang soldiers and make a desperate bet to fight to the death.

The more you guess, the more suspicious you become. Sun Ce just wants them to guess, how big the suspicion in their hearts is, how likely it is. The reason why he endured Wancheng Haoqiang until now was that he didn't want to have a conflict before the foreign enemy was eliminated. Although they may not regard him as the lord of Nanyang, their goal is the same in terms of expelling Xu Rong and avoiding being slaughtered by the Xiliang soldiers. Even if there is a disagreement, it will not turn into a violent conflict until the danger is gone.

So now Xu Rong has to work hard, but he is very moisturized and has sufficient backup. But he didn't intend to let Xu Rong go like that. has been planning for so long, how can it be wasted. Regardless of whether there was suspicion between Xu Rong and the generals of Xiliang, no matter how big the suspicion between them was, in line with the principle of having dates and not having dates, he prepared a little surprise for Xu Rong.

But the trouble is not small. Sun Ce squinted his eyes and carefully looked at the other party's gradually forming battle formation. It was too far away for him to see who the generals in each position were, but he could tell the difference between foot soldiers and cavalry, and the Xiliang cavalry he saw in front of him was very few, no more than two thousand cavalry at most. According to the experience gained from several battles, Xu Rong hid at least two thousand horsemen or more.

Where are these cavalrymen? What is Xu Rong going to do with them?

Sun Ce was vigilant and called Qin Mu and asked him to send all the cavalry out to guard and find out the location of the Xiliang cavalry as much as possible. Several captures, plus Qin Mu's original war horses, the personal guard cavalry is now nearly a thousand, and it is not enough to fight against the Xiliang cavalry, but it is more than enough to be a scout. Wearing fine armor and a three-stone crossbow, even if they encounter a scout of the Xiliang soldiers of a similar scale, they have the strength to fight.

Qin Mu took the order and left.