Designed according to the person, the right medicine is prescribed.

Jiang Gan fiercely confronted Liu Bei, crushing his confidence strongly, making him feel hopeless to win, but the ultimate goal was to incite Guan Yu to fight. Sun Ce said that Guan Yu had good martial arts skills, but he was too proud and had a high opinion of himself, which led to his psychological dislocation. In his mind, he was more loyal to Liu Bei than loyalty between the monarch and the ministers, but his righteousness was more loyal to brothers. First of all, loyalty was respect, and righteousness was more concerned about whether he should do it, and did what he should do, and didn't care whether Liu Bei liked it or not.

It is appropriate to be righteous.

Jiang Gan didn't believe it very much, but after seeing Guan Yu, he believed it after saying a few words. Guan Yu stood behind Liu Bei, like a personal guard, but his expression lacked the respect he deserved. He was more like a strong protecting the weak, rather than a minister guarding the king. Dian Wei and Xu Chu were both rare strong men, but when they stood behind Sun Ce, they would never interfere.

Guan Yu did not respond immediately, but Jiang Gan could see that he was moved. He could fight Sun Ce and save Liu Bei from the fire and win Yuzhou for him. He could not be moved by such a good thing as both worlds.

Jiang Gan temporarily left and asked Liu Bei and others to discuss. As soon as he made a statement, Liu Bei and others started arguing.

Liu Bei was worried that it would rain and that there would be more water and water around Mangdang, which would cause difficulties for the march. Xiang County is the capital of Peiguo County. Although the city is small, it is very strong and difficult to conquer. Once the troops are under the city and the rear road is broken, Xiao County will be in danger.

Jiang Gan just said that Tao Ying led 10,000 troops to help Sun Ce fight, but he didn't say where Tao Ying was. He might be in Xiang County or Pengcheng. Xiao County belongs to Pei State, but Sun Ce and Tao Qian allied, and it was not impossible to cross the border to fight. He abducted Tao Qian 4,000 Danyang soldiers, and it was normal for Tao Qian to take revenge on him. It is urgent to retreat to Xiao County. The safest choice is to wait until the autumn harvest is sufficient, and it is not too late to fight again.

Jian Yong agreed with Liu Bei's suggestion, but Guan Yu opposed it.

Guan Yu said that although Xiang County is strong, it is a small city after all, and there is no need to live in too many people. The final decision on the victory or defeat is the field battle. Sun Ce is stationed outside the city now, which is a clear proof. Qiao County is the prefecture of the governor of Yuzhou. Since you are the governor of Yuzhou, you can't just stay in Xiaoxian, right? Conquering Xiang County and entering Qiao County proves that we have the ability to defeat Sun Ce. Only then will the people of Yuzhou respond to us, and we can get more soldiers, money and food, and strengthen ourselves.

Moreover, Xiaoxian and Xiangxian are less than 200 miles apart. If the attack is not smooth, it is very convenient to retreat. If there is a change in Xiaoxian, reinforcements will arrive in one day. As for the rain, there is no need to worry. After it rains, Tao Qian can’t march, so how can he attack Xiaoxian?

The two had their own opinions, and no one could convince each other, and in the end they had to deal with it. Liu Bei and Guan Yu led the main force to Xiang County, and Zhang Fei led two thousand people back to Xiao County, both to prevent Tao Qian from attacking him and Liu Dai from taking the opportunity to seize his retreat. Yuan Shao asked him to be the governor of Yuzhou to transfer him from Pingyuan County, and Pingyuan County could no longer go back, and Xiao County could not fail again, otherwise he would have nowhere to go once he was defeated.

The plan was decided, and Liu Bei notified Jiang Gan that three days later, our army general rushed to Xiang County and asked General Sun to prepare.

Jiang Gan bowed his hand and left.

Liu Bei immediately sent someone to inform Yuan Yi and Yuan Xu, asking them to set up the camp and rush to Xiang County. He also sent someone to send a letter to Liu Dai. I was about to go south to fight with Sun Ce, and asked Liu Envoy to come as soon as possible and allocate military rations for me to ensure the supply of food for the army.

The capital of the Yanzhou Governor's headquarters is Changyi in Shanyang County, not far from Mangdang Mountain. A day later, Liu Bei received news from Liu Dai that the food was ready and could be transported soon, but I could not come to the battlefield to cheer for the general. The Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou were ready to move and would likely invade Yanzhou. Spring farming is approaching, and I cannot let them destroy the farming season and delay the harvest for a year. I have to rush to Jibei to block the attack. Of course, the prefect of Shanyang Yuan Yi also wanted to withdraw back to Shanyang to prevent unfairness.

After receiving the order, Yuan Yi came to say goodbye to Liu Bei and took the five thousand county soldiers from Shanyang County back.

Liu Bei sighed to the sky, but he had no choice. He also knew that Liu Dai's mission was more about monitoring him than assisting him. Although everyone's surname was Liu, Liu Dai was a regular royal family with orderly inheritance and a famous scholar, and he did not see him. If it weren't for Yuan Shao's order, Liu Dai would not have paid attention to him at all.

Liu Dai could not count on him, and Yuan Yi left again, leaving only Jiyin prefect Yuan Xu and his 5,000 county soldiers. Liu Bei had only ten thousand troops left, but Sun Ce had 20,000 to 30,000. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that he was not an opponent. He decided to retreat to Xiao County despite Guan Yu's strong opposition.

——

After receiving the news of Liu Bei's retreat, Sun Ce was somewhat disappointed, but he immediately adjusted his plan and entered Xiao County.

The army advanced forward, and Zhu Zhi rushed to Mangdang Mountain as soon as possible, lured the men hiding in the mountains and met with Sun Ce. Tao Ying also sent a letter to Tao Qian, asking him to lead his men to Xiaoxian, cooperate with Sun Ce's battle, and expel Liu Bei.

Five days later, Sun Ce rushed to Xiao County. One day later, Tao Qian also personally led 10,000 Danyang soldiers to Xiao County to meet Sun Ce.

Tao Qian is 61 years old this year. He is still very strong, walking with a windy look, and his waist is straight. He looks more energetic than Tao Ying, but his hair is much whiter. Tao Ying said that these are all caused by famous scholars in Xuzhou these two days. With internal and external troubles, Tao Qian has grown a lot aged a lot. Two years ago, he looked like a fifty-year-old.

Tao Qian and Sun Jian were Sun Ce’s elders. Sun Ce was very polite and went out to greet him in person. Tao Qian was very satisfied. He stroked his beard and looked at Sun Ce for a while, and praised: “There is Jiaer in the Wentai, and my two sons are not as promising as you.”

Sun Ce said modestly: "Mr. Tao Gong praised him and did not dare to be accused of being a good man. He was successful in his studies and was both civil and military. I am just a martial artist, how can I compare with him?"

The two of them praised each other for a while and returned to the camp. Sun Ce held a banquet to greet Tao Qian, and explained his plan in detail, saying that he had planned to let Zhu Zhi enter Pengcheng just for the sake of war, not to seize Xuzhou. Now that he has seen Tao Ying, he feels that Tao Ying is completely competent, so there is no need to do anything else. He explained the affairs of the Mi family brothers. I originally wanted to ask Mi Zhu to manage the logistics for me, but Mi Zhu was loyal to you and refused to take office, so he recommended his younger brother to serve in my account. The responsibility for this is with me, don't take the anger of the Mi family brothers.

Tao Qian was very relieved, and the knot in his heart disappeared. Mi Zhu was very moved to see Sun Ce explaining him specifically, and thought Sun Ce was so considerate. In contrast, although Tao Qian was over 60 years old and had been an official for many years, he was still like a young boy, and he was not as thoughtful as Sun Ce in his work and life. Therefore, Sun Ce's situation in Yuzhou was much better than Tao Qian in Xuzhou.

After eliminating the possible internal barriers, Sun Ce began to arrange the war. After politely soliciting Tao Qian's opinions, Sun Ce decided to encircle Xiao County without attacking, first take Zhuqiu in the west of Xiao County and Peixian and Feng County in the north of Xiao County, cut off the support from Yanzhou, forming an encirclement of Xiao County, and strive to annihilate Liu Bei within the territory of Pei State.

Sun Ce took the initiative to undertake the most difficult task of besieging the city. Facing the main force led by Liu Bei, Zhu Zhi led the Yellow Turban Army to attack Zhu Qiu, and Tao Qian led the Xuzhou Army to the north to attack Peixian and Fengxian.

With Guo Jia as an intelligence expert as a supporter, Sun Ce's plan was detailed and reasonable, and he prepared a number of plans for everyone to choose from. After hearing this, Tao Qian praised him and patted Tao Ying's head and said, "Boy, follow Bo Fu well. Don't be afraid that you are older than him, even I am not as good as me in terms of military use."
Chapter completed!