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The stars are shining brightly, and the moon is like a hook.

The north wind is howling and the nights are cold.

The sycamore is lonely, the leaves are falling, and a few jays are perched on the branches, enjoying the cold north wind.

Thirty miles outside the city of Dongyuan, the Allied vanguard camp.

In the big tent, Sun Cegao, who had just changed back into a brocade robe, sat on the top seat, drinking himself with a smile on his face, and eating a large piece.

This is the closest town to Dongyuan City, an hour ago was taken by Sun Ce led the army almost effortlessly, just as it was getting late, the army immediately set up camp outside the west gate of Zhendian.

The reason why Sun Ce chose Ximen to camp was to prevent the Xiliang army from sneaking up on the night. If he was to be led by someone else, he would inevitably choose to camp in the town, but he Sun Ce was different from ordinary generals; He went the other way, and after capturing Zhendian, he immediately left and moved to garrison outside Zhendian.

A moment later, when Sun Ce was full of wine and food, four veterans, including Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, Han Dang and Zu Mao, walked into the big tent together, bowed and sat down.

In fact, Cheng, Huang, Han, and Zu are not old, and the so-called veterans are only relative to Sun Ce, who led the army at a young age. These four people are all generals who have followed Sun Ce's father for many years, fought bravely, experienced in a hundred battles, and are loyal to Sun's father and son. They are all people of the same age as Sun Jian, ranging from their thirties to their early forties. On weekdays, Sun Ce respects them a lot, regards himself as a junior, and meets as a gift for his nephew. The so-called upward and downward effect, seeing that the chief general Sun Ce respected the four of them so much, the officers and men in the army naturally wanted to call them "old generals". This "old" word, for older generals, may be very unhappy; But it is an honorific title used on Cheng Pu, Huang Gai and others, implying that they are highly respected. Respectable.

After the soldiers left with tea, Cheng Pu put down the teacup and asked suspiciously: "The young master is a little strange tonight, why don't you camp on the spot in the town, but set up a village outside the town?" The last general is dull, and please make it clear to the young master. ”

Sun Ce smiled when he heard this, his eyes crossed over Huang Gai, Han Dang and Zu Mao, but he saw that they were also puzzled.

Immediately, the corners of Sun Ce's eyes turned up slightly, revealing an unfathomable smile. smiled indifferently: "The reason is very simple, because I don't believe that the people in the town will welcome us to enter the Tun army, and I don't believe that the Dongyuan city guard will give me the forward position outside the city so lightly to Sun Ce." You know, the town I captured tonight is the last barrier on the way for Dongyuan City to defend against our army. The fall of this place means that Dongyuan City has been exposed under the iron hooves of our army; Tomorrow after our army breaks through Dongyuan City. You can go straight to Anyi City, and the soldiers will come to the city! ”

Speaking of which. Sun Ce's tone changed abruptly. sneered: "What kind of place is Anyi City?" That is the base camp of Li Thief's Tun Soldiers! Li Thief garrisoned 100,000 troops in the territory of Sili, and most of them are now assembled in the Anyi camp, as long as our troops are in the city, the Xiliang army will never shrink without a fight like before, they have no way to retreat, they have to fight! ”

"Ahh The four generals under the tent were shocked when they heard this. Cheng Pu said urgently: "Could it be that the young master wants to attack Dongyuan City quickly, and then directly fight the Anyi army?" ”

"That's right! Why not? Sun Ce said disapprerovingly.

Cheng Pu, Huang Gai and other four veterans were anxious when they heard this, and Cheng Pu, who was the leader, hurriedly waved his hand and said, "No, no." Never! ”

Sun Cehu's eyes were slightly angry, and he said in a deep voice with a displeased expression: "Could it be that the four uncles think that I, Sun Ce, can't attack Anyi and are afraid of the Xiliang army?" ”

"No, it's not, the young master is angry." Seeing that Sun Ce was angry, Cheng Pu's expression changed suddenly, and he hurriedly explained: "We definitely don't mean to despise the young master, but we are just uneasy in our hearts, worried that the young master will repeat the mistakes of the old lord Sun Jian and succeed!" ”

Sun Ce's expression changed slightly, the anger on his face decreased slightly, and he asked in a deep voice, "Why did Uncle Cheng say this?" We have been attacking the city for several days, and we have been invincible in all battles, and our morale is high and our fighting spirit is high. There is a saying: the opportunity must not be lost, and the loss will not come again. On the occasion of this great victory, it is a great opportunity for us to take advantage of the victory to capture Anyi, how can we stop abruptly and delay the warplane? ”

Cheng Pu was stunned when he heard this, his expression became more and more anxious, and he continued: "What the young master said is true, and it is because of this that we will come to dissuade the young master from continuing to march, but should garrison to rest." In the past, when Chen Liuhui Alliance, the old lord Sun Jian was also invincible in attacking the city and pulling out the village, and the lone army went deep, so that in the end, the grain and grass were exhausted and the thief army attacked the camp at night, and the success was lost! This incident happened on the border of Henan, only a river away from us, only five years before and after, doesn't the young master remember? ”

Sun Ce's expression changed when he heard this, but he was not panicked and afraid, but his face was gloomy, and he was quite annoyed and angry. It's just that because of his feelings, he didn't get angry immediately, but the heavy snort and red cheeks showed that he was very angry in his heart, but Cheng Pu was a veteran who followed the Sun family's father and son for two generations after all, which made him angry and helpless.

Seeing that Sun Ce was silent, Cheng Pu's eager expression eased slightly, and he continued to persuade: "Back then, the old lord Sun Jian was because he despised the combat strength of the Xiliang Army, thinking that the Xiliang Army was frightened by the allies, the soldiers had no fighting spirit, and the army was discouraged, so he chased and fought fiercely, and conquered more than ten camps of the Xiliang Army within half a month. Unexpectedly, just as our army was advancing vigorously, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu brothers were in the rear and cut off our army's grain and grass, so that our army's food and grass were in short supply, and the Xiliang army took the opportunity to rob the camp and returned defeated.

The situation we face today is very similar to that of the past, almost exactly the same, the same. Up to this time, the young master led the front army to attack the city all the way, brave and invincible, and had already made great achievements. However, I don't know if the young master has noticed that almost none of the walled cities we have captured have encountered stubborn resistance, and every battle has been conquered in one fell swoop, which can be called overwhelming. Could it be that the powerful Xiliang Army is really so unbearable, and its combat effectiveness is so weak? ”

"Huh?" Sun Ce's eyebrows were raised slightly, his eyes suddenly widened, and he muttered, "What does Uncle Cheng mean by this?" Do you want to say that these walled cities were deliberately left to us by the Xiliang Army, how can there be such good things in the world? ”

"The last general has no intention of doing so." Cheng Pu shook his head and said: "The young master is calm and impatient, and Rong Mo will be clear about the truth." This time, we followed the young master to fight Lian Jie, and at first the end of the general and Gong Fu and others were very happy, thinking that the young master was no less brave than the old master, and his wisdom was not too much, and he was expected to uphold the old master's last wish. Based on Jiangdong, the achievement of fame. However, our army was still invincible, and even captured ten walled cities in a row within ten days, but never encountered decent resistance. This made the last general and others overjoyed, and they were faintly uneasy in their hearts, and they always felt that a qiē came too easily, almost effortlessly, and the battle was better than the attack, is this the so-called Xiliang army with strong soldiers and horses? ”

As he spoke, Cheng Pu's face showed a thick sense of worry. After calming down, he continued: "So, the four of us secretly paid attention to the ensuing battle, and found that whether it was the defenders stationed in the city or the soldiers in the camp, the combat effectiveness was extremely limited. The weapons in their hands were also rusty, and even the weapons held by some soldiers were already dilapidated. After this discovery. We immediately went to the prisoner of war camp. Ask the reason for the surrender in person.

From the surrender of the troops, we learned that among the ten walled cities we captured, all the defenders were ordinary county soldiers who had not been included in the sequence of the Xiliang army. On weekdays, they were only responsible for guarding the city gates and checkpoints, and in the past two years, they have almost never participated in the war, and they have not been trained strictly, and their military discipline is lax. Combat effectiveness is extremely poor. It is said that as long as they do not do evil or oppress the good, they can still receive some food and salary every month, and they are well paid. Enough to fill the stomach of the family. Because of this, these county soldiers guarded the city gate every day, handed over on time, and lived a comfortable life for two years. Over time, the weapons in their hands were rusty, and their combat effectiveness can be imagined. Therefore, in the face of the attack of the vanguard of our allies, they were simply vulnerable and could not resist the powerful attack of our army. ”

Cheng Pu seemed to be unfinished, but he suddenly kept silent, as if waiting for Sun Ce's response, faintly revealing the meaning of the school examination. Obviously, although he, Huang Gai, Han Dang, Zu Mao and others were very loyal to Sun Ce, they still had doubts about Sun Ce's ability to lead them back to their former glory, and they were not sure. Therefore, on many issues, they will not explain thoroughly, leaving room for them, and deliberately waiting for Sun Ce to make a judgment before explaining the reason.

This kind of behavior seems to be a bit contemptuous of Sun Ce, and it seems that Sun Ce is not taken seriously, but in fact, they are doing this out of kindness and sincerely love Sun Ce. And this is precisely the tangible embodiment of their loyalty and the Sun father and son, the reason why Sun Ce respects them and regards themselves as juniors is because they have always been loyal, earnestly taught, followed by good persuasion, and single-mindedly helped Sun Ce grow up quickly.

"According to this, the ten walled cities that our army captured before are actually the city checkpoints that the Xiliang army deliberately abandoned, and they are not as important as we imagined?" Sun Ce said suspiciously with a gloomy face.

Cheng Pu nodded lightly when he heard this, and replied in a low tone: "Although the last general doesn't want this to be true, this is the case. At the same time, our army encountered several slightly stubborn resistance in the repeated siege of the city and the village, in fact, some county soldiers were loyal to the Li thief and would rather die than surrender, so in ten days, our army suffered tens of thousands of casualties, and the total number of defenders in the ten walled cities was only 20,000 horses, of which more than 8,000 defenders were young and strong people who were temporarily organized in the villages and towns along the way. ”

"How so? What about the Xiliang Army, where did they hide? Could it be that they all cowered in the camp of Anyi without fighting, and watched us attack the city along the way but turned a deaf ear? Sun Ce said angrily.

Cheng Pu was gloomy when he heard this, and he didn't know what to say. At this time, Huang Gai opened his mouth and said: "The young master doesn't need to be angry, in fact, this matter is not difficult to understand. This time, the allied forces were huge, with 500,000 troops, known as 700,000, and at the beginning of the alliance, the troops were in full swing. Just like the current battle situation in Hedong, the generals under Li Thief moved the people along the way to other places in advance, and only some of the people were unwilling to leave their homeland, so they would take up arms and resist our vanguard army with the defenders.

As for where the Western Liang army in Hedong County retreated, it was self-evident. Anyi camp is backed by the Yellow River, the north is a high mountain cliff, the south is still the Yellow River, guarding the choke point of the three states of And, You, and Hebei to invade Chang'an, and has always been an important garrison town of the Xiliang Army. Previously, the Anyi battalion had 40,000 soldiers, and then Xu Rong's headquarters in the Henan battalion were also secretly transferred here, plus the shrinkage of the counties in Hedong, these soldiers and horses added up to 100,000 people. Therefore, the last general said a depressing word, with only 40,000 or 50,000 horses in our hands, we are not the enemy of the Anyi army at all, if we rush to fight against it, we will definitely be defeated and return, and there is no reason to win! ”

Compared with Cheng Pu, who spoke subtly, Huang Gai was indeed straightforward, and although his words were very unpleasant, he told the truth unabashedly.

After Sun Ce heard this, he said angrily with a gloomy face: "Speaking of which, the real purpose of your coming here is to persuade me to postpone the attack on Dongyuan City, and to miss the opportunity to take advantage of the victory in vain. I'm not wrong, am I? ”

"Exactly, that's exactly what the last general meant!" Huang Gai continued.

As soon as these words came out, Cheng Pu, Han Dang and Zu Mao were immediately shocked, and they squeezed their eyebrows at Huang Gai again and again, signaling him to quickly change his words and confess, otherwise he would definitely be punished by Sun Ce.

"Hahaha!" Just when Cheng Pu and the other four veterans were sincerely afraid, but when they saw Sun Ce, who was still angry just now, laughed loudly, there was no anger on his face, and he smiled very happily, really laughing.

"Young master, what's wrong with you? Please don't be angry, the last general will confess, the words are too intense, please punish the young master! The moment he saw Sun Ce laughing wildly, Huang Gai, who had stiffened his neck and refused to bow his head to admit his mistake, suddenly panicked and hurriedly confessed. He thought that Sun Ce was mad, and he actually laughed madly in anger, this is a sign of hysteria!

"Young master, young master, you must not have an accident!" When Sun Ce raised his head and laughed, Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, Han Dang and Zu Mao hurriedly got up and ran to the upper steps, shouting urgently, for fear that Sun Ce's anger would be extremely attacking.

Seeing the four veterans running to him with eager faces, Sun Ce was quite moved and said with a smile: "You don't have to worry, I'm fine, I've never been better!" Hahaha! ”

"Young master, are you alright?" Huang Gai asked in surprise, Cheng Pu, Han Dang, and Zu Mao also looked at Sun Ce eagerly, and their care was fully revealed.

Sun Ce restrained his laughter and said with a smile: "Thank you Uncle Huang for your concern, I'm fine." Although my Sun Ce is young and vigorous, he is not so narrow-minded as to be so narrow-minded. The four uncles are all brothers in life and death of my father, that is, the elders of my Sun Ce, no matter who I am angry with, I will never be angry with you. What's more, your loyalty can be shown to the sun and the moon, and the love and love make me feel the five inner five and remember it for life. Come, I'll sit down and speak. ”

While talking, Sun Ce got up and walked down from his position, walked to the tent and sat with Cheng Pu and the others. But Cheng Pu and the others were stunned and inexplicable, looking at each other, unable to understand why Sun Ce's temperament had changed suddenly and become so reasonable.

―――――――――――― (To be continued)(To be continued......