Yuan Tan sat according to the case, while eating and looking at the map, which was covered with various marks with cinnabar, and the deployment of troops on both sides was marked on it, although the war had not yet started, but the pre-war atmosphere was already very strong, and people did not dare to take it lightly.

Although he was concerned about the entire battle situation, even Yingchuan and Runan were in his attention, he was most concerned about Sun Cebu in the southwest of Junyi City. Cao Ang had just sent the latest news, and Sun Ce had already set up a covering position on the opposite side, and the battle flag of King Chen and Liu Pet was among them. As they expected before, the war drums of the first battle would be beaten by Sun Ce, but they didn't expect that the dignified King Chen would cooperate with Sun Ce in the battle.

Yuan Tan crooked his mouth and showed a shallow smile. "Come on." He grabbed a ball of rice, slowly squeezed it tightly in his hand, wrapped a piece of sunflower cabbage, brought it to his mouth, took a bite, and chewed it slowly, as if he had chewed Sun Ce in his mouth, and each bite was particularly hard.

The rice is fragrant, full of grains and full of elasticity. Yuan Tan was very satisfied. He ate two more rice balls, put every piece of rice in the bowl into his mouth, then pushed the bowl open, cleaned his hands, picked up another piece of fish tart, carefully dipped it in the sauce, and put it in his mouth.

"Xiansi, the alliance leader has a book." Liu Biao walked in quickly, holding a letter in his hand, his face full of joy.

Yuan Tan looked up at Liu Biao, put down his chopsticks, swallowed the fish that had not been chewed in his mouth, wiped the corners of his mouth, and then got up, took the letter with both hands, turned to the north, and bowed respectfully.

Liu Biao saw it in his eyes and didn't move.

After Yuan Tan finished saluting, he took the book knife, pried out the sealing mud, opened the shiny wooden box, took out the letter paper inside, looked at the familiar font, and showed a warm smile on his face. This is Yuan Shao's handwriting, which he has been accustomed to reading since he was a child.

"I am really grateful to my father for taking care of the war in Yanzhou."

Liu Biao echoed: "Yes, the general's father and son are filial piety, which is enviable. ”

Yuan Tan nodded again and again and began to read the letter. The letter was very long, one foot wide and four feet long, and the letter paper was full of neat and neat official letters, and it was meticulous. Yuan Tan read it word by word, read it again, carefully put the letter away, and a light smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"We've got reinforcements."

"Reinforcements?" Liu Biao was surprised and delighted.

"Yes, my father sent Jiang Qi to lead 10,000 people to come for reinforcements."

Liu Biao stroked his palms and smiled. "In this way, we have a 30% better chance of winning."

Yuan Tan didn't speak, thoughtful. Liu Biao saw it and put away his smile. "Xiansi, what are you worried about?"

"I'm worried that Sun Ce will scare away." Yuan Tan put down the letter, held the case with both hands, stood up, and paced back and forth in the tent. "In the past few days, there have been reports from the scout camp that Sun Ce's personal guard cavalry has been acting as a scout mission, and the range is getting farther and farther, and I am worried that it will not be long before Liu Bei will be discovered by them. Just Liu Bei, Sun Ce is still not at ease, Jiang Qi led 10,000 people to come, how can Sun Ce not know? At present, the siege has not yet been closed, if Sun Ce sees the disparity in strength and abandons the city and flees, what can he do? ”

Liu Biao looked at Yuan Tan and didn't know what to say. He is a confidant of Yuan Tan, of course he knows what Yuan Tan is thinking, defeating Zhu Jun has never been his goal, Sun Ce is. For this famous young man, Yuan Tan has an indescribable envy. Anyone, no matter how good his family background is, no matter how good he is, has a sense of shame in front of Sun Ce's legendary achievements. Only by defeating Sun Ce can he prove that he stands at the peak of his peers.

This has almost become Yuan Tan's obsession, but in comparison, Cao Ang is much more calm.

Seeing that Liu Biao didn't speak, Yuan Tan stopped, glanced at him, and said with a smile: "Don't you want to avenge the Quai Xenodu?" ”

Liu Biao sighed. "Xiansi, I am Sun Ce's defeated general, I dare not hope to defeat him, and I am not qualified to advise you on what to do. But I still want to say that you have to focus on the big picture and don't let personal emotions interfere with your judgment. ”

Yuan Tan patted his forehead and said with a smile: "Yes, I am too persistent, staring at Sun Ce." Well, since there are 10,000 people with Jiang Qi, there is no need for Liu Bei to hide, let Sun Ce attack with peace of mind. ”

Liu Biao was very satisfied, turned around and went out to convey the order. Yuan Tan raised his eyebrows and looked at Sun Ce's position on the map.

"Sun Bofu, I really attach importance to you, and I have arranged an old opponent for you."

——

Early the next morning, after breakfast, Sun Ce left the camp as a team. Zhang Hong and Gong Du led 3,000 men to guard the camp, and the rest were commanded by Sun Ce and came to the edge of the chasm. Cao Ang also arrived, standing on the command platform. Sun Ce raised his hand, Cao Ang was stunned for a moment, and then raised his hand and waved.

After Sun Ce sat down, he ordered someone to beat the war drums and prepare for battle.

The strong crossbowman brought by King Chen climbed the shooting tower and began to test fire. Sun Ce built fifty shooting towers along the river, separated by ten paces between them. King Chen selected 300 strong crossbowmen, and each floor cooperated with six people, three of them went upstairs to shoot, and three of them stood by downstairs. One hundred and fifty crossbowmen armed with six-stone crossbows first attacked the stone throwers on Cao Ang's position.

The chasm at this moment was more than one hundred and thirty paces wide, beyond the range of an ordinary bow and arrow, and even a stone-throwing machine with a range of two hundred paces could not be too far from the river bank, otherwise it would only be able to play a role when rushing to cross. Cao Ang imitated the catapult, but did not learn all the skills of the catapult, and if he could not see the target, the aiming of the catapult would be a big problem. In order to be able to see the target, the catapult can only be built on the shore, within the range of the crossbowman.

One hundred and fifty strong crossbowmen began to test the fire, and soon some of the people operating the stone throwers were shot by arrows, blood splattered, and they fell to the ground screaming. Cao Ren, who was in command in front of the battle, ordered people to drag the seriously wounded people away from the battlefield and replenish the manpower, and at the same time ordered the stone throwers to counterattack and smash the shooting towers.

The stone thrower roared, and the straw bags filled with sand flew into the sky and smashed into the shooting tower opposite.

The crossbowmen on the upper floor stepped up their firing, firing one sharp arrow after another across the chasm and shooting at the people who had no armor to protect them. Cao Ren arranged a big shield to protect him, but he couldn't protect it thoroughly, and he was still constantly hit by arrows. The hit rate of the stone thrower was not high in the first place, so it was greatly discounted, and dozens of people were injured before a straw bag hit the shooting tower on the opposite side.

Dodging the building shook violently twice, but did not fall, and quickly regained his balance, the strong crossbowman on the watchtower was originally a little worried, but seeing that the shooting tower was so strong, he was more relieved, and he was engrossed in shooting.

"Whoosh!" Although the arrows are not dense, the killing efficiency is very high, even across the chasm, the hit rate is more than 20%. In contrast, the catapult not only has a slow rate of fire, but also has a pitifully low hit rate, less than one percent.

Cao Ren secretly complained to himself, knowing that his side could not occupy the upper hand in the first round of long-range battles, and these stone throwers would become waste sooner or later. While informing Cao Ang, he ordered the archers to prepare, and after the long-range strike failed, the real attack was bound to follow.