Chen Gong leaned his forehead against the table, squeezing his sour eyes hard. His eyes were covered with bloodshot, and his pale face and dark circles looked a little weird, always reminding people of the legendary evil ghost.

Cao Ang sat opposite, looked at the six Wuzhu coins on the table, and sighed secretly. Undoubtedly, Chen Gong had already surrounded himself and could not make a decision, so he could only rely on divination to make a decision.

"Brother Gongtai, you are too tired, why don't you..."

"Retreat." Chen Gong raised his head, and the corners of his eyes twitched. "Feng Kai surrendered to Sun Ce. We have no military advantage and we don't have enough food and grass, so we can't hold on for too long."

Cao Ang's heart skipped a beat. "What about Nanpingyang and Lu?"

"Give up all of them. We retreat to Dongping and meet Cheng Yu. We defend Dongping and Jibei, stabilize our position, and then make a plan."

"Why don't you stick to Rencheng and wait for the leader to help?" Wei Zhen said: "The leader is in Qinghe and can arrive in at most ten days. Sun Ce and his son have already given their all, and they are definitely not opponents of the leader."

Chen Gong gave Wei Zhen a cold look. "If the leader comes, Sun Ce and his son are indeed not opponents, but what if he doesn't come?"

"How could it be..."

"It has been nearly two months since Yuan Envoy Jun fought with Sun Ce and his son. Have you seen the leader sent one army and one general? If the father and son are like this, do you still expect him to save us? The spring farming is approaching and the war in Qingzhou is not going well. He will not make a big fight in Yanzhou."

Wei Zhen shut his mouth. He did not fully agree with Chen Gong's opinion, but he had no confidence in Yuan Shao. Withdrawal according to Chen Gong's plan can at least ensure Cao Ang's safety. Follow his plan, if Yuan Shao doesn't come, Cao Ang will die.

Cao Ang was still a little hesitant and looked at Chen Gong for a moment. "Brother Gongtai, why don't I think about it again?"

Chen Gong nodded. After a while, he pinched his eyebrows and said, "One person is short-sense and everyone is long-sense. The general can ask others. If George Xin wakes up, you can ask him, maybe he can check the rest and make up for the missing. But you have to hurry up, it will be dawn soon."

Cao Ang was a little embarrassed. That's what he thought, but Chen Gong said it. He took the opportunity to look at the leaking pot in the corner of the house to avoid Chen Gong's eyes, hurriedly withdrew, and rushed to the west courtyard.

Xinpi slept a lot during the day, but at night he couldn't sleep. As soon as Cao Ang's footsteps sounded, he woke up. Cao Ang entered the house, looked at Xinpi, and said happily: "The Changshi's complexion is much better, so please congratulate him."

"If it weren't for the general, Pi might have been on the road to the underworld." Xinpi wanted to get up and salute, but Cao Ang took a step and gently pressed him. "Changshi, I only have a few words, and I will leave after I finish speaking, so I won't disturb Changshi's rest."

Xinpi shook his head. "General, I'm already a useless person. I'm afraid I can't help the general. General doesn't have to waste time."

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

Xinpi paused for a moment and said, "General, Zhu Ling has rules for using troops and is very supportive of the soldiers. You can go and ask for his opinions. He is from Qinghe, and his family is all in Yecheng. I believe he will not surrender to Sun Ce. Cheng Yu is from Dongjun and has always been close to the general. If he can get their support, it will be of great benefit to the general and is far better than me, a remnant."

Cao Ang woke up from his dream and bowed quickly, took a few steps back, and hurried out. He secretly regretted that he was just waiting for Chen Gong to plan, but he didn't take the initiative to think about it. What he had to consider now is not only Chen Gong's plan, but Zhu Ling's attitude also cannot be ignored. There are less than 10,000 people in the city, but Zhu Ling has more than 12,000 people. If he does not get Zhu Ling's support, Chen Gong's plan will be useless.

But Chen Gong has always looked down on Zhu Ling. He thought that Zhu Ling was a martial artist and was not worth too much effort. Of course, in Chen Gong's eyes, few people were worth it. Even Xinpi had the shortcomings of being misbehaved and being too utilitarian. He thought about it in the middle of the night and never expected to seek Zhu Ling's opinions. He had already regarded Zhu Ling as an ordinary general.

Cao Ang hurried out of the mansion with Wei Zhen and rushed to the west city. He asked Wei Zhen to inform Cao Ren and prepare for retreat. He took Pan Zhang and several other guards out of the city and headed straight for Zhu Ling's camp.

Zhu Ling did not sleep all night. The battle failed during the day, Yuan Tan's life and death were unknown, the central army was lost, the food, grass and supplies were lost, the soldiers were cold and hungry, and people were fluctuating, and mutiny might occur at any time, so he did not dare to close his eyes. When he learned that Cao Ang was coming, he breathed a sigh of relief, went out to greet Cao Ang in person, and invited Cao Ang to the tent. Cao Ang took his seat, first asked about Zhu Ling's situation, and then apologized to Zhu Ling after failing to report the relevant situation.

Zhu Ling smiled. "General, please be polite. The defeated general will be in charge of life and death. He should not be treated like this by the general."

Cao Ang apologized again, and then told the relevant situation again. Cao Ren responded to Yuan Tan's failure and persuaded Feng Kai to fail. He said that Sun Ce finally sent a spy and asked him to withdraw from Rencheng before sunrise. However, he did not say that Chen Gong had made a decision and suggested that he abandon the city.

Zhu Ling listened quietly, took a last look outside the tent, and said quietly: "General, it's almost dawn."

Cao Ang bowed again. "How dare you ask the general what he thought?"

Zhu Ling turned to look at Cao Ang, stood up and left the table, took off the sword on his waist, and placed it on the case in front of Cao Ang. "The defeated general is not a fool to talk about military affairs, but the general is obedient." Cao Ang was about to speak, but Zhu Ling raised his hand to signal. "General, wait for me to finish. I was originally from Qinghe, and I was ordered to go to Yanzhou to assist Yuan Envoy Yuan. However, I was defeated repeatedly, and this time I could not even guarantee the safety of the envoy. I am ashamed of the leader of the alliance, and the envoy knew the kindness of the general, and the envoy was ashamed of the trust of the general, and the only thing I owe to death. The general was generous and kind, and the father and son came to Dongjun one after another, and were deeply supported by the scholars and commoners of Dongjun. If I could be commanded by the general, I would be able to be united and the soldiers would use their lives. They would be able to fight and leave.

Cao Ang breathed a sigh of relief. In addition to Xinpi saying that Zhu Ling was unlikely to surrender to Sun Ce, another important reason why he dared to come to Zhu Ling's camp was that most of Zhu Ling's subordinates were from Dongjun. When he was in Dongjun, his official reputation was quite good, and he had famous Dongjun scholars like Chen Gong assisted him. Zhu Ling supported him much safer than being against him. He and Zhu Ling were in charge of Yuan Tan's command and got along well with him.

"It is a blessing to be trusted by the general. However, the situation is urgent. Please speak freely and work together to overcome the difficulties."

Zhu Ling thought for a moment and bowed again. "General, I thought that after the war, the envoy was captured, the food and grass were lost, and the morale of the army was unstable, so it would be difficult to fight again. It would be better to retreat to Dongping first, enjoy the soldiers, prepare for the troops, stabilize the morale of the army, and then seek a progressive plan."

Cao Ang was in a state of mind. He immediately discussed with Zhu Ling, and sent someone to contact Sun Ce to negotiate, on the condition of giving up Rencheng in exchange for Sun Ce's release, while allocating food and grass to Zhu Ling and let his subordinates have a full meal first.

Zhu Ling bowed to accept the order.
Chapter completed!