Cao Ang sat in front of the desk, looking at the map in distraction.

Chen Gong held one hand behind him, stroked his beard with the other, and slowly paced back and forth. He has also worked hard in the past two days, his eye circles are a little dark, his eyes are full of bloodshots, and he can't even take care of his appearance, which he has always cared about. Wei Zhen and Bao Xun sat aside, silent, no one spoke, their faces were gloomy, and their eyes were terrified.

The atmosphere in the tent was oppressive, as before a storm, and it was breathless.

There was the sound of heavy footsteps at the door, and when it reached the outside of the big tent, it suddenly became lighter. Then, Cao Ren walked in, glanced at the situation in the tent, and lightly bypassed the Chen Palace, came to Cao Ang's face, and asked with his eyes. Cao Ang leaned over and whispered a few words in his ear.

Cao Ren's face changed. "Really?"

"Even if there are discrepancies, it should only be a matter of details." Cao Ang smiled bitterly, "Our own scouts have also seen Sun Ce's battle flag. ”

Cao Ren was silent for a long time. He understood why Cao Ang called him over at this time. Yuan Tan sent a message, saying that Sun Ce led more than 1,000 horsemen to pass by Rencheng and went north, which should have met with Tai Shici, Zang Ba and others. Yuan Tan was worried that Sun Ce would be detrimental to Nanpingyang, and hoped that Cao Ang would pay attention to it.

Fan County and South Pingyang are the contact points between Rencheng and Lu County. Fan County is in the west and belongs to Rencheng State. Southern Pingyang is in the east, originally belonged to Shanyang County, Yuan Tan adjusted the defense area, and after handing over this piece to Cao Ang, South Pingyang and Gao Ping were assigned to Cao Ang's defense area, so that Cao Ang could unify the dispatch. The weight of Fan County is at the ferry, and the county seat is on the west bank of Surabaya. The importance of South Pingyang is in the topography, the east of the city is Yishan, the west of the city is the Yanshan, the location is especially important than Fan County, so Cao Ang sent Bao Shao to guard. Bao Shao has more than 2,000 Taishan soldiers and recruits, and his strength is strong.

Fan County has been surrounded by Tai Shici, Zang Ba and others, if Nanpingyang is lost again, Rencheng will really become a lonely city. However, the terrain of Nanpingyang is dangerous, and it is not so easy to attack, and this news was sent by Yuan Tan, so the reliability is limited. In view of the discord between the two sides, it is necessary to identify Yuan Tan's intentions.

"Southern Pingyang is not easy to attack, but it is possible that Sun Ce will send people through the mountains and into the southern part of the Lu country. Three of the six counties of Lu are in the south, occupying the south, raising grain and grass, and also ensuring the back road for Sun Jian. Chen Gong turned around and said slowly: "I think Yuan Tan and Xin Bi may have realized that Sun Ce's whereabouts were uncertain and difficult to capture, so they wanted to increase the siege of Sun Jian and force Sun Ce to throw himself into the net. He wanted to send someone to go around Sun Jian's back, but he was worried that we would be suspicious, so he deliberately threw this problem to us first. ”

Cao Ang pondered for a moment. "Sun Jian has four or five thousand people of Zhu Zhi behind him, and if Yuan Tan wants to cut off Sun Jian's back road, he needs at least 10,000 people, maybe even 20,000 people. If grain is collected on the spot, it is inevitable that several nearby counties will suffer. ”

"That's right, if the meat gets in your mouth, it's hard to spit it out."

"Shall we give it to him, then?"

"Give it to him." Chen Gong snorted lightly: "Yuan Tan and Xin Bi are eager to win, stop him at this time, once they are defeated, he will put all the responsibility on us." Let him and the Sun family father and son work hard, we will preserve our strength, no matter who wins or loses in the end, it is not a bad thing for us. Besides, if Tai Shici and the others really surround Nanpingyang, it will be a great threat to us. ”

"Well, then I'll answer them right away."

"Lend them the boats in the city, without which they cannot cross the water quickly." Chen Gong laughed silently. "Driving away Zhu Zhi is also good for us, at least the roots of the ears can be quieter."

When Cao Ren and the others heard this, they couldn't help laughing. Playing with Yuan Tan and Xin Bi on the applause, Chen Gong is bold enough and scheming deep enough.

——

Sun Guan lost very badly, not only losing consecutive battles, but also losing all the bets he could take. If it weren't for Sun Ce's drinking, Xie Guanglong and Guo Yuan would almost have won his pants. But Sun Guan was very happy. He said to Sun Ce that it is very rare to meet so many masters in one day, although he lost today, he was happy to fight, and he hadn't been so comfortable for a long time.

Sun Ce said that he was speechless, hundreds of people, he was so happy to be beaten with blue nose and swollen eyes, it seems that he usually competes with others, and he is alone and defeated. He watched from the sidelines for a while, and also knew that Sun Guan's martial arts were not weak, if he hadn't come up, he would have been damaged by Xie Guanglong and Guo Yuan, and it would not be a problem for him to draw with Xu Sheng, Chen Wu and others.

Sun Guan admitted to losing the bet and resolutely refused to take back the lost bet. Sun Ce was not reluctant, so he had to arrange for Ji Ling to wait for the ordnance to arrive, and then transfer the equipment of fifty people to Sun Guan first. Sun Guan was overjoyed and hurriedly thanked Sun Ce.

After a fight, Zang Ba and others were able to get a glimpse of Sun Ce's strength, and their mentality changed unconsciously. Sun Ce then explained his plan. It was difficult to raise food and grass for more than 30,000 people, so it was necessary for them to divide their troops. Ji Ling went south, and Zang Ba went north, which not only reduced the difficulty of raising food, but also maintained mutual cooperation. Sun Ce promised Zang Ba and others that if he could achieve the predetermined strategic goal and occupy Dongping, he was willing to hand over Dongping to Zang Ba and others for control. As for who will be the prime minister of this Dongping, you will decide for yourself, and I will not interfere.

Zang Ba and the others were thrilled. There are seven cities in Dongping, even if they have been harassed by the yellow turban many times, there are more than 300,000 households, and 2,000 stones all the way, for them, this temptation is very great. Compared with Tao Qian, Sun Ce is much more generous.

Seeing that Zang Ba and the others were interested, Sun Ce immediately explained his plan. He hopes to cooperate with Tao Qian, with Mount Tai as the boundary, Tao Qian is responsible for the west of Mount Tai, and he is responsible for himself to the west of Mount Tai. Therefore, he needs someone who can be trusted by both parties to control Taishan County and dispatch in the middle. He is optimistic about Zang Ba, and if Zang Ba is willing to accept this task, he can provide Zang Ba with some supplies.

Zang Ba did not agree immediately, saying that he would think about it for a while. Sun Ce knew that Zang Ba was not Sun Guan and others, and he was not something that could be bought by a Dongping minister or the equipment of a few hundred people. He will not refuse to cooperate, nor will he be easily loyal, let alone sit idly by and watch Sun Ce win over Sun Guan, Wu Dun and others. If you rush it, it will only backfire. So he didn't urge Zang Ba, but just told Zang Ba that I would stay here for two days, and I hope that after two days, you can give me a clear answer.

Zang Ba agreed.

Sun Ce was not idle while waiting for Zang Ba's reply. He assisted Ji Ling in formulating a battle plan and arranged for Ji Ling to rush to the defense area as soon as possible. Ji Ling was very motivated, packed up and set off. But things did not go well, as soon as he arrived in the east of Fanxian County, he received news from the scouts: Yuan Tan sent the generals Feng Kai and Han Meng to lead an army of 20,000 people to cross Surabaya, occupy several mountain passes between Rencheng and Gao Pingyang, and block Ji Ling's road to the south.

Sun Ce received the news and secretly complained to himself. This time, Yuan Tan took the lead. Yuan Tan's purpose may not be as simple as a few mountain passes, otherwise he doesn't need to send 20,000 people, he is likely to outflank Sun Jian's back road, form a siege of Sun Jian, and force himself to fight a decisive battle with him.

Sun Ce and Tai Shici immediately rushed to Fan County to meet Ji Ling.