Chen Gong leaned his forehead against the desk, squeezing his sour eyes hard. His bloodshot eyes matched his pale face and dark circles, and he looked a little weird, always reminiscent of the legendary evil spirits.

Cao Ang sat opposite, looked at the six five-baht coins on the case, and sighed secretly. Undoubtedly, Chen Gong has already surrounded himself, unable to make a decision, and can only rely on divination to make a decision.

"Brother Gongtai, you're too tired, or ......"

"Withdraw." Chen Gong raised his head, and the corners of his eyes twitched. "Feng Kai surrendered to Sun Ce, we have no advantage in troops, and we don't have enough food and grass, so we can't hold out for long."

Cao Ang chuckled in his heart. "What about Nanpingyang and Lu Guo?"

"Give it all up. We retreated to Dongping and joined Cheng Yu. Hold Dongping and Jibei, stabilize the position, and then plan later. ”

"Why don't you stick to Rencheng and wait for the alliance leader to come to help?" Wei Zhen said: "The alliance leader is in Qinghe, and he can arrive in ten days at most. Sun Ce's father and son had gone all out, and they were definitely not the opponents of the alliance leader. ”

Chen Gong glanced at Wei Zhen coldly. "If the alliance leader comes, Sun Ce's father and son are indeed not opponents, but what if he doesn't come?"

"How could it be ......?"

"Yuan Yuanjun has been fighting with Sun Ce's father and son for nearly two months, have you seen that the alliance leader has sent a soldier and a general? Even if this is true between father and son, do you expect him to save us? Spring ploughing is approaching, and the war in Qingzhou is not going well, so he will not make a big move in Yanzhou. ”

Wei Zhen closed his mouth. He didn't completely agree with Chen Gong's opinion, but he didn't have much confidence in Yuan Shao either. According to Chen Gong's plan, at least Cao Ang's safety can be guaranteed. According to his plan, if Yuan Shao does not come, Cao Ang will die.

Cao Ang was still a little hesitant and looked at Chen Gong for a moment. "Brother Gongtai, do you want to ...... Let me think again? ”

Chen Gong nodded. After a while, he pinched his eyebrows and said, "One person is short in wisdom, and everyone is long, and the general can consult the others again." If George Sin's wake up, you can ask him, and maybe he can find out what to do. But you have to hurry, it's going to be dawn soon. ”

Cao Ang was a little embarrassed. That's what he thought, but he didn't expect to be broken by Chen Gong. He took the opportunity to look at the leaky pot in the corner of the house to avoid Chen Gong's eyes, hurriedly withdrew, and rushed to the west courtyard.

Simbi slept a lot during the day, but he couldn't sleep a little at night. As soon as Cao Ang's footsteps sounded, he woke up. Cao Ang entered the house, glanced at Xin Bi, and said happily: "Changshi's complexion is much better, congratulations." ”

"If it weren't for the general, Pi might already be on the Huangquan Road." Xin Bi wanted to get up and salute, but Cao Ang took a step forward and gently pressed him. "Changshi is lying down, I only have a few words, and I will leave after speaking, so as not to disturb Changshi's rest."

Simbi shook his head. "General, I'm already a wasted person, I'm afraid I won't be able to help the general. The general does not have to waste time. ”

Cao Ang wanted to speak and stopped, in a dilemma.

Xin Bi paused for a moment, and then said: "General, Zhu Ling has a law in using soldiers, and he is quite supported by the soldiers, you can go and ask for his opinion." He is a native of Qinghe, and his family members are all in Yecheng, so he will definitely not surrender to Sun Ce. Cheng Yu is a native of Dongjun and has always been close to the general. If I can get their support, it will be of great benefit to the general, far better than a remnant of me. ”

Cao Ang woke up like a dream, hurriedly bowed down, took a few steps back, and hurriedly went out. He secretly regretted it, and just waited for Chen Gong to plan, but he didn't take the initiative to think about it. Now it is not only Chen Gong's plan that needs to be considered, but Zhu Ling's attitude cannot be ignored either. There were less than 10,000 people in the city, but Zhu Ling had more than 12,000 people, and if Zhu Ling's support was not obtained, Chen Gong's plan would be useless.

But Chen Gong has always looked down on Zhu Ling. He felt that Zhu Ling was a martial artist, and it was not worth thinking too much. Of course, in Chen Gong's eyes, few people are worth thinking about, and even Xin Bi has the shortcomings of being virtuous and too utilitarian. He thought about it for half the night, and he never thought to ask Zhu Ling's opinion, he already regarded Zhu Ling as an ordinary general.

Cao Ang hurriedly left the house with Wei Zhen and rushed to Xicheng. He asked Wei Zhen to inform Cao Ren and prepare to retreat, and he took Pan Zhang and a few other guards out of the city and went straight to Zhu Ling's camp.

Zhu Ling didn't sleep all night. The battle failed during the day, Yuan Tan's life and death were unknown, the Chinese army was lost, the grain and grass were lost, the soldiers were cold and hungry, the people's hearts were fluctuating, and a mutiny might occur at any time, and he didn't dare to close his eyes at all. Knowing that Cao Ang was coming, he breathed a sigh of relief, personally greeted Cao Ang, and put Cao Ang in the big tent. Cao Ang took a seat, first asked about Zhu Ling's situation, and then apologized to Zhu Ling for failing to report the relevant situation in time.

Zhu Ling smiled. "The general is polite. The general of the defeated army, life and death are in the hands of others, and the general should not be so courteous. ”

Cao Ang apologized again, and then told the relevant situation again, and Cao Ren answered Yuan Tan Bubu, persuaded Feng Kai to fail, and until Sun Ce gave an ultimatum and asked him to withdraw from the city before sunrise, except that Chen Gong had made a decision and advised him to abandon the city.

Zhu Ling listened quietly, took one last look at the outside of the tent, and said faintly: "General, it's almost dawn." ”

Cao Ang said goodbye. "Dare to ask the general what he thinks?"

Zhu Ling turned his head to look at Cao Ang, got up and left the table, untied the war knife at his waist, and placed it on the case in front of Cao Ang. "The general of the defeated army has no shame to talk about military affairs, but the general's orders are obeyed." Cao Ang was just about to speak, when Zhu Ling raised his hand to signal. "General, you wait for me to finish. I was originally from Qinghe, and I was a general under the command of the alliance leader, and I was ordered to go to Yanzhou to assist Yuan Yuanjun. However, he has been defeated repeatedly, and this time he can't even guarantee the safety of the king, and he is ashamed of the alliance leader, the grace of the king, and the trust of the soldiers. The general is generous and benevolent, father and son have been in Dongjun, and have won the support of the Dongjun Shishu, if you can get the command of the general, you will be able to work together, the soldiers will use their lives, whether they are fighting or leaving, they can all be happy. ”

Cao Ang breathed a sigh of relief. The reason why he dared to come to Zhu Ling's camp, in addition to Xin Bi saying that Zhu Ling was unlikely to demote Sun Ce, another important reason was that most of Zhu Ling's subordinates were from Dongjun, and when he was in Dongjun, his official reputation was not bad, and he was assisted by a famous person like Chen Gong in Dongjun, and it was far safer for Zhu Ling to support him than to go against him. He himself and Zhu Ling were generals under Yuan Tan, and they usually got along well.

"Gain the trust of the general, and Ang is lucky. However, the situation is urgent, and the general is also invited to speak freely and work together to tide over the difficulties. ”

Zhu Ling pondered for a moment and gave up his hand again. "General, I foolishly thought that after the war, the king was captured, the food and grass were lost, and the army's spirit was unstable, so I am afraid it will be difficult to fight again. It is better to retreat to Dongping first, feast on the soldiers, strengthen the troops, stabilize the morale of the army, and then try to make an enterprising plan. ”

Cao Ang is in the middle of it. He immediately consulted with Zhu Ling, and while sending people to contact and negotiate with Sun Ce, on the condition of giving up Rencheng, in exchange for Sun Ce's release, he allocated grain and grass to Zhu Ling, so that his subordinates could have a full meal first.

Zhu Ling bowed down to receive the order.

Cao Ang hurried back to the city and exchanged views with Chen Gong, and he deliberately did not mention how he had asked Xin Bi for advice. After hearing this, Chen Gong agreed with Cao Ang's decision and immediately sent Wei Zhen to Sun Ce's camp.