Lu Fan and Yuan Xu fought for a day, regardless of victory or defeat.

Lu Fan's subordinates are more refined and relatively better equipped, and they have always occupied the initiative, but the two-fold difference in strength still makes Lu Fan feel pressure. He originally wanted to show a flaw and lure Yuan Xu to attack, but Yuan Xu was very cautious and took every step of the way, which made Lu Fan dare not take it lightly.

Both played conservatively, and neither took much advantage.

That night, Lü Fan received news from Sun Ce that Zhang Chao and Dong Wan were rushing to Suiyang with 20,000 Chen Liu's troops, and Sun Ce asked him to retreat immediately and return to Suiyang to preside over the war. Although he had known that this possibility was possible, Lu Fan still felt that it was a pity. However, he knew Sun Ce's plan and knew that this was a very good opportunity, so without saying a word, he pulled out the camp overnight and withdrew.

The next day, when Yuan Xu finished breakfast and was about to lead his troops out of the camp to engage in battle, the scouts came to report: There was no one in Lu Fan's camp.

Yuan Xu was stunned for a long time, not knowing what was going on, so he had to send more scouts to find out the news. After tossing for a day, Yuan Xu finally confirmed that Lu Fan had withdrawn, and he was in a hurry, and in one day, he rushed to Ji's, almost at the speed of a rapid march.

Yuan Xu didn't know why, but he still sent a letter to Yuan Tan to explain the situation, and at the same time continued to lead his troops to advance to Changyi.

——

After reading Yuan Xu's military report, Yuan Tan struggled a lot to hold back his laughter.

"George, Sun Ce should have also received the news, how do you think he will respond?"

Simbi was calm. "Eventually, he will retreat, but he probably won't retreat so easily. If he had the opportunity, he would definitely raid Yuan Jiyin, and then retreat in order to retreat decently. ”

Yuan Tan felt that Xin Bi was reasonable. Chen Liu and Jiyin sent troops one after another, and Lü Fan was forced to retreat, indicating that Sun Ce's offensive was contained and he would have to retreat next. With Sun Ce's character, how can he swallow this breath if he doesn't fight a battle and then withdraw.

"Are we going out of town to pick up?"

"No, just remind Yuan Jiyin to be careful, even if Sun Ce succeeds in kicking the camp, it won't affect the overall situation, let him be arrogant for a while, wait for the army to assemble, and then trap him, maybe he can succeed in one blow."

Yuan Tan nodded again and again. "Angry and scratching, humble and arrogant, is in line with the meaning of the art of war. George, do you want to write a letter to stimulate him? ”

"You can try."

Yuan Tan immediately called the chief secretary Ruan Yu and asked him to write a letter to Sun Ce. Ruan Yu is a native of Chen Liuren and a disciple of Cai Yong. When Sun Ce entered Yuzhou, he once asked Cai Yong to ask for a letter to invite Ruan Yu, but Ruan Yu ignored him. Yuan Tan entered Yanzhou, and Mao Jue of the same county recommended him to Yuan Tan as Yuan Tan's chief secretary. Writing articles is a housekeeping skill for him, and it will be written in a while.

Yuan Tan laughed out loud after reading it. "George, do you think Sun Ce will be so angry that he wants to kill when he sees this letter?"

Xin Bi also looked at it and said with a smile: "I guess not." Why don't we make a bet? ”

"Bet on it." Yuan Tan was in a very good mood and agreed. After making an appointment, he asked, "Why did you say no?" ”

"Sun Ce is not Sun Jian, although he is young, he still has a certain ability to control anger. What's more, there is Guo Jia by his side, Guo Jia will definitely remind him. There is a huge disparity between the enemy and me, no matter how reckless Sun Ce is, he will not act impulsively and fall into death. Simbi raised his eyebrows, a cruel smile in his eyes. He paused, and said: "But the effect is small does not mean that there is none, just like a small flame, it may be blown out in one breath, and it may also burn down the entire mansion." ”

Yuan Tan was thoughtful. "George, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to defeat Sun Ce. You're my ovary. ”

Simpi looked away. "Envoy, this is the beginning of the counterattack, there is still a long way to go before victory, and you must not take it lightly."

——

Before Sun Ce received Yuan Tan's letter, he had already received news from Lu Fan and knew that Yuan Xu was coming. After reading the letter, he laughed and reached out to flick the letterhead. "This Ruan Yuanyu is worthy of being Cai Bojiao's disciple, the article is really well written, and he doesn't swear dirty words when he scolds."

Guo Jia took it and took a look, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it aside. "If the article is well written, the winner will be decided, and the world will be simple. Don't look at Ruan Yu's conceit now, when the general wins the world, let him write an article to scold Yuan Tan, he may write better than this article. ”

Sun Ce couldn't help but laugh out loud. Guo Jia can be described as hitting the nail on the head. He also used to be a literary and artistic youth, he had read some ancient texts, and felt that articles about the world and a good article could turn things around, and he longed for stories such as Li Bai's drunken cursive cursive national book. Later, when I knew a little about history, I realized that these were all legends. An article is an article, and it can't play such a big role, and those so-called stories of an article that affects history only see the article, but intentionally or unintentionally ignore the history behind it.

Not to mention anything else, this Ruan Yu is also a high-minded self-promise in folklore, and does not cooperate with Cao Cao, but in fact, he is listed as the seventh son of Jian'an, singing with Cao Pi and others, and is the guest of Cao's father and son. If he can win the world, presumably Ruan Yu will also write articles to praise him, or scold Yuan Tan for him.

Literati, there are a few people who are really virtuous, at least Ruan Yu is not, and neither is his son Ruan Ji.

"So how do we deal with it?"

"Ignore him."

"It's as simple as that?"

"Ignoring him means that you can't get angry, and you have been provoked by him, but you haven't reached the point of losing your mind. A letter was useless, but it was Simbi's way of testing the general, who had to give the reaction he wanted to see, so that he could think of himself and lead him into the trap step by step. ”

Sun Ce pondered for a moment. "Then before we retreat, do you want to vent?"

"It doesn't matter if you vent or not, but the general must grasp the scale and don't be self-defeating." Guo Jia thought for a while, and then said, "I think it's better to endure it first." This is just the beginning, if the general is out of control at this time, it is not in line with the general's previous achievements, but it is easy to arouse the vigilance of Xinbi. We're going to surprise him. For Simbi, the stronger the general, the more fulfillment he can gain from defeating the general, and the more tempting it will be for him. If the general is too weak, he may not be interested. ”

Sun Ce shook his head. These people are all masters of figuring out people's hearts, and none of them are good at stubble. Needless to say, Guo Jia and Xin Bi are also important figures in helping Cao Pi compete for the throne. So if you calculate it carefully, Sima Yi is his junior.

"Okay, it's up to you."

Sun Ce didn't write a reply, so he directly blasted the messenger out, and then left Changyi and retreated to Dongwei.

——

After listening to the report, Yuan Tan sighed with emotion, and offered a bet with sincerity: a jade pendant, and then asked Xin Bi if he wanted to go out of the city to chase it.

Xin Bi shook his head and stared at the jade pendant in his hand for a long time, the corners of his mouth slightly raised. "Don't worry, wait for Liu He's news. If he can break through the East China Sea and Pengcheng and cut off Sun Ce's retreat, this battle will be called happy. ”

"Can Liu He do it?"

"If he can, his loss will not be small, and if he wants to survive, he must win the support of the envoy. If you can't ......" Xin Bi raised his head and looked at Yuan Tan with a smile. "Then he will have to lower his head even more when he sees the envoy in the future."

Yuan Tan woke up like a dream, patted his forehead, and laughed loudly.