Sun Ce received a reply from Guo Jia in the middle of the night, and then he realized that Sun Jian planned to attack Yuan Tan's camp and create opportunities for him to raid. However, the plan could not keep up with the changes, and he was surrounded by Yuan Tan. Guo Jia immediately changed the plan and left the opportunity for the raid to Sun Jian again.

There is no problem with this. Qi Zheng is not static. The soldiers are like water, and no one can act according to the preset plan. The most common situation is to adapt to the situation. The level of a strategist and the command ability of a general all include the ability to make decisions on the spot. Not only must they be able to plan, but they must also make good decisions.

However, Guo Jia's plan has a key point, and it can even be said to be a flaw: he will face 10,000 elite troops with 600 steps and cavalry, and support it for at least one day, waiting for Sun Jian to break Yuan Tan's camp. Guo Jia and Zhu Huan cannot count on it. Like his mission, they attracted most of Yuan Tan's troops and created opportunities for Sun Jian's sudden attack.

Guo Jia dares to mention this plan, but no one who is more conservative dares to do this. If he is negligent, even if he does not die, he will lose his general and his vitality will be greatly damaged. Not to mention anything else, the six or seven thousand infantry and cavalry, including Zhu Huan's troops, will definitely not be able to save it. Even if he wins, the losses will be very heavy.

It was too late to change the plan, so Sun Ce turned to consider how to achieve the goal. When it was almost dawn, he called Xu Chu, Dian Wei, and Ma Chao to the front. He did not say that this was Guo Jia's plan, for fear that they would scold Guo Jia. Unexpectedly, these people were very calm, without any expectation of excitement or anger. Sun Ce was very surprised, and looked at this and then that.

"You... aren't you worried?"

The generals looked at each other with a confused look on their faces. Ma Chao asked, "General, should we worry?"

"We have four or five thousand people behind us, and there may be four or five thousand people ahead. Maybe Yuan Tan will send more people to come, and the strength comparison is close to 20 to 1, and we can't just leave. We have to hold them back for at least one day."

"Oh." Ma Chao blinked his eyes, suddenly patted his heart, and said exaggeratedly: "General, I'm so worried." Before he finished speaking, he couldn't help laughing. Xu Chu and Dian Chu chuckled and shook his head. Xu Sheng and Chen Wu laughed similarly, while Guo Yuan and Xie Guanglong were like Ma Chao, laughing so hard that they were slacking off, as if they had heard some nice jokes.

Several people laughed for a while, Ma Chao put away his smile and said seriously: "General, the only thing I worry about now is that you will take them to the battlefield like last time, but you will not take us."

Sun Ce was speechless. Are these people brave and fearless, or are they simple-minded? Do you think you can play a family in such a dangerous battle?

"Okay, since you are so confident, I'll tell you how to fight?"

"How else can I fight?" Ma Chao raised his hand. "The advantage of the cavalry is speed. He rushed up and killed a few people. The crossbow has a long range, but the crossbow's firing rate is slow. With a distance of 300 steps, each crossbow can only shoot one or two times at most. We disperse the team, launch an attack from the flanks as much as possible, and reduce the hit rate. As long as we enter the formation, the rest will be simple, and kill whatever we want."

He smacked his lips again. "It's a pity that there are no pretentious things, otherwise it would be useless even if Yuan Tan had many people."

Sun Ce's heart moved. "Meng Qi, are you talking about the iron armor of a horse?"

"Have you seen it?"

Sun Ce smiled. "I heard from Jia Xu that he said that Yuan Shao had such a cavalry, his men and horses were all wearing heavy armor, and he was not afraid of arrows, so he could be used to rush into the formation."

Ma Chao slapped his thighs, his eyes full of envy. "That's it. If all our two hundred cavalry are armored cavalry, then you don't have to worry about anything. It is the most effective to deal with infantrymen."

"We will try a few sets after this battle. Now think about how to fight."

Several people discussed it and finally felt that the traditional infantry and cavalry joint attack tactics were more practical, with infantry breaking formations and cavalry assaults. In order to increase long-range lethality, the Yuan army on the opposite side equipped a large number of crossbows, which weakened the melee ability. As long as they could break into the front, the power of the powerful crossbows would be greatly reduced. It is common sense that the crossbows' weak melee ability is. With those spearmen alone, the sword and shield hands cannot protect them. The key is how to break into the front. If you hold a shield and rush hard, the loss will definitely not be small. The close-range shooting of the powerful crossbows cannot be prevented even if the infantry uses a large shield.

Just as Sun Ce scratched his head about this, Xie Guanglong said slowly: "General, leave this matter to me."

"What are you going to do?"

Xie Guanglong raised his head and looked at the distance. "I went around the edge of the swamp, smashed their pot, and set a few more fires. When they were in chaos, the general sent cavalry to rush over and chop people's heads."

Sun Ce turned his head and looked west along Xie Guanglong's gaze. A few wisps of smoke were rising, which seemed particularly peaceful under the mist in the morning. Sun Ce smiled. Yuan Tan's subordinates were so careless. Perhaps they felt that he would not be able to escape, so they actually made fires and cooked. He really couldn't escape, but the smoke in the cooking indicated the location, and there was fire and water, which made it much easier to create chaos. People were relaxed when they waited for food, and their vigilance was much lower than usual, not to mention that these people worked hard all night.

"You should be safe."

"General, it's not that easy for them to catch me." Xie Guanglong waved his hand and called Guo Yuan and the two knights who were carrying out the mission with him yesterday. Four of them led their horses and walked quietly northward. Xie Guanglong went to inquire about the situation yesterday and conducted some investigations on the nearby terrain. Three miles north of their camp, there was a swamp, which was not big or deep. There was some water accumulation, so be careful that you could still walk. There was no big problem for a few people to circumvent the ambush.

Sun Ce immediately arranged the task. "Meng Qi, you are ready. Once Lao Xie and the others succeed, you will rush forward. Remember to create panic as much as possible and disrupt their formation. It would be even better if you can drive them into the swamp. But you must be careful and don't get stuck."

"Don't worry." Ma Chao waved his hand carelessly, with nonchalant face, and patted the horn bow on his waist. "Where are the best generals, what about you?"

"I will stay here and keep the way out for you. If you don't go well, don't force me to withdraw first, I will go and pick you up."

Ma Chao grinned. "General, I won't give you this opportunity. As long as I thank you and the others succeed and let us break into the formation, no one can stop us. Ling Ming, what do you think?"

Pang De smiled but said nothing. Obviously, he agreed with Ma Chao's statement. Sun Ce did not refute him. At this time, even if he was arrogant, it would be better than being cautious. Only by rushing hard can the problem be solved.

"Zhongkang, Zigu, each of you brings a horse as a meat shield, don't be reluctant to leave. Yuan Tan still has four or five thousand horses. As long as we win, all the losses can be made up."

"Here." Xu Chu and Dian Wei responded, and there was no further information. They have always been talking little.
Chapter completed!