Knowing that Xu Rong took the initiative to evacuate Xi County, Sun Ce was surprised. What are you running so fast for? I'm eight feet away from you.

In the face of Xu Rong and the Xiliang soldiers who had the advantage of cavalry, Sun Ce did not dare to be careless. He walked very cautiously, less than thirty miles a day, and only set up camp at three poles in the sun, and set up camp as soon as the sun was in the west, not giving Xu Rong a chance to sneak attack at all. According to the plan, it will take him at least three days, maybe even four or five days, to get to the county. In contrast, Xu Rong withdrew a little too quickly.

In line with the principle of being prepared, after camping, Sun Ce habitually looked for future discussions.

After listening to the briefing made by Pang Tong on the synthesis of scout intelligence. Lou Gui opened his mouth without giving up. Although he had never been here, he was still the most familiar with the terrain in this area.

"If my guess is correct, Xu Rong should face the general on the Danyang Ancient Battlefield."

"Danyang Ancient Battlefield? Where did the Qin army break the Chu army? ”

"That's right." Lou Gui smacked his lips, a little embarrassed. "I knew the place, but I wasn't familiar with the terrain. I can't guess how Xu Rong will set up the formation. He has been here for so long, and he should have known all the places suitable for fighting within a radius of thirty miles, and it is impossible to miss such an important ancient battlefield. ”

Sun Ce was curious. "Lou Zibo, you want to lead the troops, and you have read a lot of military books, why haven't you visited the ancient battlefield so closely?"

Lou Gui was very embarrassed. "Before...... I thought that it was enough to read military books, but who would have thought that commanding troops was so complicated, and there were many things that were not mentioned in military books at all. ”

Huang Zhong, Wen Ping and the others couldn't help laughing. However, after laughing at Lou Gui, he was also a little embarrassed. They have good martial arts and can command troops, but they are not really qualified generals. is also from Nanyang, and they are not familiar with the ancient battlefield that is close at hand, so they are not as good as Lou Gui. In contrast, none of them worked as hard as Sun Ce, looking at the map whenever he had time and asking locals who were familiar with the terrain about the terrain. Not only that, Sun Ce also established a martial arts hall and invited Yin Duan to give lessons to middle and lower-level generals, and even they benefited a lot.

"It's just one possibility, is there any other possibility?" Sun Ce said while laughing: "Xu Rong chose there, we don't necessarily have to listen to him, we can also choose the battlefield by ourselves." Think about it, do we have a better option? ”

Everyone put away their smiles, pondered, and exchanged opinions in a low voice from time to time. After a while, Zhao Yan and Lou Gui got into a fight again, and at first the two were just arguing in a whisper, but soon they quarreled really and fought red-faced. Since the last time Zhao Yan said that Lou Gui was not self-aware, the two of them have not dealt with each other very much, and they often fight in private.

Sun Ce was calm. It's not a family if it's not noisy. "Don't argue, just say what you have to say, and everyone will listen to it together."

"General, I think Xu Rong waiting for us on the Danyang Ancient Battlefield just seems to be the most likely, but in fact it is the most unlikely." Zhao Yan said slowly: "This is more like a trap, the reason why he retreated to the south is that he wants us to think in that direction." Once we really deal with it according to this line of thinking, we don't need to go to the ancient battlefield, we have already fallen into his plan. ”

Lou Gui was not convinced. "If he hadn't fought here, what would he have done?"

Zhao Yan ignored Lou Gui, lifted the copper kettle hanging on the fire pit, added half a cup of salvia soup, and then said: "General, think about it, if we don't chase after him, or if we chase after him, we just don't engage in battle, what will he do?" Wait for us in Danyang, or turn to attack Shunyang? Wait, he will soon run out of food and attack Shunyang, we are behind him, and it is impossible for him to let go of the siege. ”

Sun Ce thought about it and felt reasonable. He motioned to Lou Gui not to be in a hurry and listened to Zhao Yan go on. Zhao Yan didn't seem to think about it, he was silent for a while, and then said: "Xu Rong has been fighting for so many days, the county should be broken, right?" Will he want us to go into the county and trap us in the city? Behind the county is Wuguan Road, we are equivalent to being blocked by him in Wuguan Road, he sent a department to intercept us, and then calmly attack the counties? ”

Lou Gui was stunned, thoughtful, and muttered to himself. "So it's possible." Without waiting for Zhao Yan to be proud, he said again: "If this is the case, whether we enter Xi County or not, the result will be the same, he can send cavalry around us and cut off our retreat." ”

As he spoke, he got up and took the map and sketched it on it.

When he said this, everyone understood. Licheng, Xixian and Shunyang are a triangle, the distance between the two is about the same, if Sun Ce rushes to Xixian first, and then rushes from Xixian to Shunyang, he will have to rush to the road of three hundred miles, about ten days. With these ten days, Xu Rong can calmly set up his position and wait for him to take the bait. If he goes to Shunyang, he will stay in Xixian, not even Xixian, just stop at his current position, Xu Rong can also send cavalry to cut off his back road, and then catch up to fight him.

For Xu Rong, the only trouble was that the mountains here were northwest-southeast, and the cavalry who intercepted his back road had to make some detours, and there was a danger of being ambushed. But considering that Duan Xuan was in the area of Champion and Yuxian, and was actually behind him, this matter was much easier. Perhaps, Duan Xuan is coming now, and he will be able to appear behind him at noon tomorrow at the latest.

"This sinister old thing, I almost fell for him." Qin Mu took a sip and stood up suddenly, his eyes widening. "Then what are you hesitating about, hurry up and retreat, it's too late. Duan Xuan suffered a loss from us last time, this time he seized the opportunity, and he didn't fight with us? ”

Sun Ce and the others didn't move, and collectively ignored Qin Mu. Qin Mu scratched his head and said with a sneer: "What, I'm ...... Wrong? ”

Zhao Yan waved his hand and motioned for Qin Mu to take a seat. "Don't worry, even if we think so, Duan Xuan won't come so quickly. Xu Rong wants to send the news to Duan Xuan, and it will take at least two days for Duan Xuan to set off again, maybe it will be longer. Duan Xuan is plundering the counties, and he is reluctant to put aside his immediate interests and act immediately, but he is still uncertain. Xu Rong retreated so quickly, and he also hoped that we would go to Xixian for two more days to buy a little time. ”

Qin Mu sat back.

Zhao Yan then said: "Besides, this rush to aid the county was originally a contest of morale. Xu Rong left without a fight, in order to wait for us to enter the county, if we retreated before we saw Xixian, we would have fallen behind in morale. But if we advance to Xixian and cause the fact that we force Xu Rong back, then we will win half of the game and take the lead, unless Xu Rong surrounds Xixian, it will be difficult for him to win back this half. ”

Lou Gui nodded frequently in agreement, and then said: "That's right, if we relieve the siege of Wuguan again, then we will win half a game." cut off the reinforcements in the direction of Hongnong and got another son. ”

Qin Mu blinked blankly. "That'...... Let's go to the county? ”

Zhao Yan and Lou Gui exchanged a look, turned to Sun Ce in unison, and said in unison: "General, we recommend stationing in Xi County." ”

Sun Ce twisted his fingers and groaned for a long time. "The bait was tempting, and I decided to eat him."

"Bait?"

Sun Ce smiled. "You can see the benefits of being stationed in Xi County, can Xu Rong not see it? He has spent so much effort to set up a game, and has invested so much money, I don't cooperate, how cold it is. ”