Cao Ang's task was to guard the west gate, cover Zhu Ling's right flank, and prevent the Montenegrin army in the city from breaking through. Considering the actual terrain, Yuan Tan and others estimated that Zhu Jun would arrange for Sun Ce to attack the West Gate, and specially arranged for Cao Ang to garrison this place. From the moment he received the task, Cao Ang was thinking about how to respond.

The worst thing their father and son have lost since their debut was not the battle of Xingshui, but the several battles between Nanyang and Sun Ce. The Battle of Xingyang faced the Xiliang soldiers, who were known for their elite, with a huge disparity in strength and a serious shortage of troops, so they were defeated. Fighting with Sun Ce was different, several times Sun Ce won more with less, Cao Chun and Cao Ang were even seriously injured, Cao Cao was finally defeated and the whole army was wiped out, and he had no face to see Yuan Shao again, and went away to Guanzhong, and his self-confidence was seriously damaged.

Half a year later, Sun Ce's strength became stronger, but Cao Ang lost the protection of his father Cao Cao and had to face Sun Ce alone, which was not a lot of pressure. He repeatedly consulted with Chen Gong, Cao Ren and others, and prepared a variety of response plans, including how to quarrel with Sun Ce.

Facing Sun Ce's invitation, Cao Ang shook his head and said loudly: "General Sun has the courage of Meng Ben and Xia Yu, and Ang is ashamed of himself and does not dare to go against the general." I am willing to do my best to win the battlefield with the general, and never give up. ”

Sun Ce praised: "This Cao Ang is very cunning, he obviously doesn't dare to meet me, but he says it so high-soundingly, and he also insinuates that I am a brave man." This must have been taught by Chen Gong, and it has the sour smell of a scholar. ”

Zhang Hong smiled and said: "I also have a sour admonition, even if Cao Ang is willing, I don't approve of the general meeting him alone." ”

Sun Ce laughed. "Don't worry, sir, I'll tease him." He paused, and then said: "Zhu Ling is at the south gate, Cao Ang is at the west gate, Liu Bei's situation is unknown, who is at the east gate, could it be that Yuan Tan personally went to fight?" ”

"Probably not." Guo Jia shook his head and said: "For us, the East Gate has the condescending cooperation of the Black Mountain Army, which is the most conducive to defense, but for Yuan Tan, it is difficult to defend the East Gate, and he will not go into battle in person." The son of a daughter, he has never been in court, not to mention the Yuan family's billions of family fortunes, and he has the ambition to create a new dynasty. ”

"Send someone to take a look." Sun Ce patted his stomach, a little resentful. "I'm the life of a partial general, but it's the heart of the main general."

Zhang Hong couldn't help laughing. "If Zhu Gong can hold Luoyang, the general will benefit the most, and he should pay a little more."

Several people laughed out loud in unison. Guo Jia called Xu Huang and asked him to arrange for someone to go to the east gate to inquire about the situation. Cao Ang has already fortified on the opposite bank, and it is no longer realistic to sneak across the river, and there is only one way left to attack. Sun Ce honestly prepared for war, first let Zhang Hong be in charge of setting up a camp, taking measures to prevent heavy rains and floods, and then set up a position by the river, and ordered the heavy battalion to prepare to set up a command platform and cut down wood to build a shooting tower for archery.

Sun Ce was busy here, and Cao Ang was not idle, preparing to block the position on the other side, even more serious than Sun Ce. In the face of Sun Ce, he didn't dare to be careless. Fortunately, Sun Ce is the attacker, he is the defender, and the task is relatively simple. Everyone is a clear move, there is nothing to hide, it is completely a contest of strength, to see who is well prepared, to see who is well-trained and well-equipped.

Two hours later, King Chen arrived with 3,000 strong crossbowmen. Sun Ce stepped forward to salute, and together with King Chen, he climbed to the command platform that had just been erected, looking at the situation on the other side, only to find that Cao Ang's formation was actually preparing a stone thrower, and some craftsmen were assembling it, and it was about to take shape.

"This kid learns pretty fast." Sun Ce praised.

Chen Wang was puzzled. Sun Ce pointed to the stone thrower on the opposite side and asked Chen Wang to see, Chen Wang glanced at it, and saw that this stone thrower was different from the original style, and it was changed from a human pull to a counterweight, and he couldn't help but praise it repeatedly, feeling that this small change had a great effect, which not only saved manpower, but also ensured the stability of the power of each launch. When he learned that it was improved by Huang Yueying, a little girl, he stroked his palms and sighed.

"Generals can use people, and even women can play such a big role."

"The king doesn't have to be envious, when your daughter returns from a study tour in Wancheng, you will find that women are not only not worse than men in many aspects, but even stronger than men. It's a shame to let them be satisfied with their husbands and children. If you have talent but nowhere to exert your talents, how can you not give birth to right and wrong? ”

King Chen laughed, and then sighed: "Everyone is like this, not only women, but also men. ”

Seeing that Cao Ang had a stone thrower, Sun Ce did not dare to slack off, and invited the craftsmen of the baggage camp to discuss. After some discussion, the master of the baggage camp did not approve of building a stone thrower to fight back. Stone-throwing machines are easy to build, but materials for throwing are hard to find. The chasm water comes from the Yellow River, the sand content is extremely high, and it has to be cleared every once in a while, and sometimes the Yellow River will burst, so there is a lot of sand on both sides of the chasm, but there are no stones. The use of sand as a throwable object requires straw bags, which are limited in weight and not lethal enough. Moreover, our army is the attacking side, and after crossing the river, these stone throwers cannot be transported across the river, and they become waste, which is a major waste of manpower and material resources.

After Sun Ce weighed it repeatedly, he felt that the opinions of the craftsmen were very professional, so he canceled the plan to build a stone thrower to fight back. The combat consumption is huge, the stone thrower has no decisive role, and the input and output are not proportional, so there is no need to waste energy.

But Sun Ce did not take Cao Angjian's stone thrower lightly. According to the estimation of the size of the stone throwing machine built by Cao Ang, the firing range was about 200 steps, which was equivalent to the four-stone crossbow, and Sun Ce asked Chen Wang to arrange some six-stone crossbows with more than 24 steps to shoot on the shooting tower to deal with these stone throwing machines. A watchtower can stand two to three crossbowmen, enough to suppress two or three stone throwers. The catapults were operated by the people, who had no iron armor to protect them, and if they were shot from a crossbow, they would be almost 100% injured.

King Chen agreed, personally selected a crossbowman with excellent archery, prepared a six-stone strong crossbow, and prepared some oil-soaked cloth, tied to the shaft of the arrow, and used to burn the stone thrower.

After preparing for a day, neither side launched an attack, and after arranging for the guards, they returned to the camp to rest, recuperate, and prepare for the next day's battle. Sun Ce and King Chen discussed tomorrow's battle while eating, Xu Huang came back, he not only went to the Chinese army, but also personally went to the east gate to check, ambushed the other party's two scouts, and confirmed after interrogation that the person Yuan Tan arranged at the east gate was Cheng Yu, a native of Dongjun.

Hearing the name Cheng Yu, Sun Ce didn't dare to be careless. Cheng Yu is a strategist in the history books, and he is the same as Guo Jia, but he is not a full-time strategist like Guo Jia, he can actually command the army and become a general. Of course, this person is most well-known for the human jerky incident, this is a ruthless person, Cao Bao and Xu Wei don't know anything about him, and if they don't get it right, they will suffer his losses.

Sun Ce found Jiang Gan and asked him to remind Cao Bao to be careful of Cheng Yu.

Of course, Sun Ce is most concerned about Liu Bei, Liu Bei's whereabouts are unknown, and he has always been a thorn in his heart. Liu Bei's ability to command the army is average, but his subordinates, Guan and Zhang, are two fierce generals, and it is very suitable to charge into battle. If he suddenly rushes out when the two armies are deadlocked, it will not be good news for his own side.

He called Elfang and asked him not to care about the battle near Junyi, and sent people to expand the search area to a hundred miles to ensure that Liu Bei could not suddenly appear.

Elfang took the order and left.

Watching Sun Ce continue to arrange tasks, Chen Wang didn't say anything, but his eyes were full of appreciation.