Yuan Tan accepted Xin Bi's suggestion, and on the one hand strengthened the attack on Sun Jian, on the other hand, he sent troops to reinforce Changyi and Hulu, and sent three messengers, all the way to Yuan Shao for help, all the way to ask Zhang Miao for reinforcements, all the way to Liu He to assist in the attack.

Under Xin Bi's plan, Yuan Tan regained his composure and ordered all his troops to step up their attacks, striving to take Sun Jian's camp as soon as possible. In order to express his determination and boost morale, Yuan Tan held a drum pole and personally beat the war drums of the attack. The main general personally went into battle, and the generals of the battalions did not dare to slack off, and appeared at the forefront one after another to direct the attack.

The morale of the Yuan army was high, and they launched a tidal attack, the crossbowmen shot a rain of arrows, and the foot soldiers attacked continuously in a unit, one of the attacks just showed their decline, and the other roared and rushed forward, attacking at any cost.

Sun Jian felt a great deal of pressure. After fighting for a day and a night, he didn't dare to close his eyes, and the most important thing was that the food and arrows sent by Sun Ce were consumed very quickly. At the time of the war, it was already very reluctant not to add food, where did he dare to lower the ration standard, he originally thought that he could last for three or five days, but Yuan Tan attacked desperately, and he didn't even rest at night, so he had to add food to the soldiers, and they consumed faster, and they didn't even survive for two days.

The situation with arrows is even more dire. Although Sun Jian ordered to wait for the enemy to approach before shooting to reduce unnecessary consumption, at the end of the night, the 100,000 arrows brought by Sun Ce were still exhausted, and there was no long-range strike, and he watched the opponent fill the trench.

At noon, Huang Gai's camp was broken by Cheng Yu, and he had to lead the remnants to retreat into Sun Jian's Chinese camp. After Cheng Yu seized Huang Gai's camp, he immediately cooperated with Zhu Ling to attack Zhu Zhi and attack Zhu Zhi's flank, but after an hour, Zhu Zhi could not support it, suffered heavy losses, and was forced to withdraw into the Chinese army.

In the evening, Cao Ang also captured a battalion. At this point, Sun Jian only had two large battalions left, the Chinese army and the forward, and only more than 6,000 people left of the 10,000 people, more than half of the casualties and prisoners, and there was not much baggage left.

Yuan Tan stopped the offensive and convened the generals to discuss the matter, first rewarding meritorious deeds and motivating morale, and then adjusting tactics and changing the strong attack to a solid defense. He ordered the three large battalions that had been captured to be combined and extended, forming an encirclement of Sun Jian, leaving only one exit, which was directly against the battalion he led, and it was clear that Sun Jian would not be allowed to break through.

In front of the generals, Yuan Tan said that even if the entire Shanyang was lost this time, Sun Jian would be killed here. Shanyang can be recaptured if he loses it, Sun Jian is dead but can't be resurrected, I want to see if Sun Ce comes to save his father.

Yuan Tan was arrogant, and the generals were also enthusiastic, and they each returned to the camp to prepare.

At night, the lights were all night, and the soldiers of the Yuan army adjusted the defense line overnight, set up camp fences, and dug deep trenches. In order to prevent Sun Jian from breaking through, the crossbowmen were on standby. In front of the battle, large cauldrons were erected, porridge was cooked, meat was roasted, and meals were added to the soldiers who worked overnight. The aroma wafts in the night breeze and stimulates everyone's taste buds.

——

Sun Jian stood in front of the camp fence with his hands behind his back, looking at the Yuan soldiers who were an arrow away, his brows furrowed.

The situation was worse than he imagined, and it also exceeded Sun Ce's imagination, no one expected that Yuan Tan would be so desperate and attack at any cost like a madman. In one day, three of the five large battalions were lost.

"Junli, do you still have faith in Bo Fu now?"

Zhu Zhi didn't think twice. "Why not?"

Sun Jian raised his hand and pointed outward. "You see, Yuan Tan is going to trap me here. Bo Fu came to the rescue, just in his trap. If I don't save it, I will definitely die, and Bo Fu will also fall into the notoriety of unfilial piety. What do you think he will choose? ”

"Then can they trap the prince?"

Sun Jian was silent.

"The prince is brave and invincible, if you want to break through, you can break through at any time. What you can't let go of is these soldiers. When I retreated today, I noticed that although Zhu Ling attacked fiercely, he didn't chase closely, and he intended to let me bring more people back, increase our consumption, and force us to mess with ourselves. This should be Simbi's suggestion, and his trick is very poisonous. ”

"Yes, although these resourceful people are powerless, they can kill tens of millions of people while talking and laughing." Sun Jian sighed softly. "I used to despise them too much, but today I know how powerful they are."

"Although Simbi is smart, he is no match for the major general." Zhu Zhi laughed. "I heard that in front of General Yuan's tomb, Xin Bi was made disgraced and embarrassed by the young general."

Sun Jian also knew about this, and couldn't help laughing, and then sighed again. "This time...... I'm afraid not. ”

"It will definitely work, the prince must have faith. In the opinion of the minister, this kind of thing is not the strength of the prince and the marquis, it is better to leave it to the young general to deal with, you still recuperate and prepare for battle, and when the time comes, you will attack inside and outside and break Yuan Tan. ”

Sun Jian nodded. "It's okay, the horse meat should be cooked, let's go have a drink or two." He paused, and then said, "It's a pity that those horses ran for two days and one night in a row, and lost a lot of horses. If you had killed them all the night before, it might have tasted a little better. ”

——

Dongxi, Ding's Manor.

The Ding clan is a great clan in the East, rising from the great Confucian Ding Gong of the Guangwu Dynasty. Ding Gong studied the Ram Spring and Autumn Period and taught many famous disciples, among whom there were extraordinary magnates, and there were as many as 1,000 people on the list wall. With such thick connections, although Ding Gong's descendants have not had any big officials, their family background is very thick, their descendants are scattered, there are more than 1,000 clans, and they can't live in the city, so they can only build a big manor and close the door to the market.

Sun Ce came uninvited. Although Ding was knowledgeable, his force was limited, and he was powerless to resist, so he could only open the door to welcome guests. Although I was reluctant in my heart, I could only force a smile on my face and treat him warmly. Fortunately, Sun Ce's military discipline was very strict, and the soldiers under his command were in good order, and they did not disturb the Ding family, which was a blessing in misfortune.

After the banquet, the head of the house, Ding Bu, chatted with the seat, and the guest and host were talking happily, and a righteous man walked in briskly and said a few words in Sun Ce's ear. Sun Ce nodded and whispered a few words. Yi Cong retreated, Sun Ce pondered for a moment, and said with a smile: "Ding Gong, thank you for your hospitality, I am grateful, I wanted to talk with Ding Gong at night, but unfortunately the military situation is urgent, so I can only wait for the next time." As he spoke, he stood up.

Seeing that Sun Ce was leaving, Ding Bu couldn't ask for it, and hurriedly said: "Bu and the general also hit it off at first sight and benefited a lot. I should have asked the general to stay in the cold house for a few more days, but it was not a coincidence, so I could only wait for the next time. If there is anything you can do to help, please don't be polite to the general. ”

Sun Ce smiled. "Don't hide it from Ding Gong, I really have something to ask Ding Gong for help."

Ding Bu's heart tightened, and the smile on his face was a little stiff. "I wonder what the general needs?"

"Cook the rice and meat, and prepare some ox carts and torches, and maybe some if you have salt and medicine. Ding Gong rest assured, this is what I borrowed, and I will definitely repay it in the future. Well, I'm in a hurry, and I'd better be ready in two hours. ”