Zhou Yu stood silently on the hillside, looking at the Chaoxian City Cang with flags not far away without blinking, as if he wanted to see through the thick city walls, his brows became tighter and tighter. The slanted sunlight projected the red light onto the city gate. The gray walls of the city gate looked a little weird, like a blood-colored fortress.

"Gongjin, what's wrong? What did you find?"

Huang Gai's camp has almost been built. Seeing Zhou Yu standing here and watching, he couldn't help but feel a bad premonition in his heart, so he came to ask.

"No! But I always think there is something strange about it! It's really weird!"

"Why do we try to attack?"

"That's right! Has General Cheng's contact letter arrived?"

"No, it should have arrived two hours ago. Could it be that something happened? But what could happen?"

Zhou Yu's eyes shrank, and the whole thing suddenly became connected. Cheng Pu lost contact. Chao County City Closing seemed like an empty city. Cao Cao, who was confronting Sun Ce in Shucheng City Closing, and Xu Chu who was wandering outside, were all connected at this moment, as if connected by an invisible thread. Zhou Yu suddenly felt a cold sweat coming out!

"No! General Cheng is in danger!"

"What? What's wrong with Zhongde?" Huang Gai's expression changed drastically and asked in shock, his eyes also stared at Zhou Yu, who was pale.

"No, it's not dangerous, it's already bad! The city wall is probably empty. There are only some horses walking around in it, making us suspicious and afraid to attack!"

"The city gate is empty, but why? What about the Lejin tribe in the city gate? Did Lejin want to annihilate Zhongde's 50,000 infantry and cavalry with 20,000 Lejin's troops?"

"No. Not only Le Jin, but also Xu Chu and Cao Cao!"

"What!? How is this possible? Isn't Cao Cao in Shucheng Fortress? Xu Chu"

"Yes, no one saw Xu Chu, there was only some uncertain news. There was also Cao Cao in Shucheng Fortress only had a flag, and no one saw Cao Cao. Even if he saw it, it might be fake. In fact, Cao Cao was here, and they surrounded and annihilated General Cheng with their superior forces."

"cocoa"

"Although General Cheng is a little irritable, he is never careless in marching. It is impossible to cut off contact with us for a long time. The only way to explain all this is the possibility of being ambushed, and he has not even been able to send out the news. It can be seen that the enemy's troops have a strong advantage, so he cannot pass on the news. Now, General Cheng may have already."

"No, no! No! Zhongde is unparalleled in courage. He will definitely not."

Huang Gai roared loudly, but his expression was not as confident as his tone. Zhou Yu sighed, turned his head to look at Chao County City, and suddenly felt the wonderful feeling of this last glance, and he couldn't help but feel a little confused.

"Gongjin, let's take the troops to get the response immediately!"

"no!"

"Gongjin! Are you scared?!"

"Yes, I'm afraid. I'm afraid that we soldiers will die innocently. Even though we know that there might be a fire pit ahead, I can't jump down with these loyal and brave soldiers, absolutely not!"

Huang Gai stared at Zhou Yu tightly, and Zhou Yu looked at Huang Gai without showing any weakness. Although Zhou Yu was still young, his momentum was not inferior to Huang Gai at all! The old and the young just stared at each other, time passed unknowingly, and the sunset set.

"I really won't go!?"

“真的不能去,程将军恐怕已经全军覆灭,如果我们现在扑过去,无疑直接就掉进了曹操重新张开的大网里面,岂不是自寻死路?!”

"Then let's capture the Chao County Fortress and stand firm and wait for assistance?"

"No, once General Cheng was defeated, the reinforcements were basically cut off. We were very unwise to defend this lonely city, facing the Cao army several times that of ours. The most important thing now is to quickly join the lord and immediately protect the lord to Shu County to fight Cao Cao. No, no, Cao Cao would not be so stupid. This is the weakest time in Xiang'an. There is no general garrison in the inner city, and the generals are not good at fighting. The lord was entangled in Shu City, and our troops were small. Just Xu Chu ambush halfway to prevent our troops from returning to the rescue. Cao Cao could take Xiang'an, then attack Linhu, and cut off our army's retreat to the south!"

Huang Gai was shocked when he heard this. If this was the case, it would be really bad! I didn't expect that Cao Cao would dare to take such a risk, but Cao Cao's adventure was successful. Now the battle situation is extremely beneficial to Cao Cao, but Sun Ce is in a very unfavorable position.

Zhou Yu looked up at the sky and thought for a long time. The situation seemed to be completely unsolvable. If he went east to Xiang'an, most of them would encounter Xu Chu halfway. His troops were not large. If Xu Chu was entangled with him and Xu Chu was still a cavalry, it was hard to say whether he could retreat without hesitation, let alone rescue Xiang'an.

If Xiang'an falls, Sun Ce can only retreat to defend Shu County, or go west to Wan County to defend. Cao Cao's troops in Shucheng and troops from Hefei and Liyang will immediately siege Shu County and Wan County. When Sun Ce is surrounded, he will inevitably involve defenders from other places to come to rescue. As a result, Cao Cao will wait for his work and surround the site to fight for assistance. The entire strategy will fall into an extremely passive situation.

现在最好的办法,就是大踏步的后退,退到长江以南去,以保存实力为宗旨,然后依托长江天堑与曹操对峙,至于百姓,能走多少是多少吧!

周瑜低下头,再次看向巢县城塞,说不好自己还真是最后一次看到这个城塞了!

“撤退,我们立刻绕过襄安疾奔临湖,先将临湖守住,然后让舒县和宛县,居巢百姓和部队尽快渡江南下,襄安失守,整个庐江都不可守了!”

“怎么会!只要我们坚守临湖,待到主公回援临湖,就能与曹操形成对峙!”

"What's the use? We were pressed to such a little place on the Yangtze River. We had no strategic depth to say, and we could only defend the city, while Cao Cao was on the periphery. The initiative was in the hands of the enemy. What's the point of fighting this war besides consuming strength?"

"this"

“公覆,此时形势危如累卵,一个错失,就可能会让我军陷入万劫不复之地,将主公的大业毁于一旦.绝对不能意气用事!”

"Okay! I listen to Gongjin!"

“甚好,公覆立刻去拔营,我给主公写信告知此事.我们必须拼命直奔临湖,抢在曹操之前到达临湖设防,同时让主公立刻南返舒县,组织民众撤退!”

"promise!"

Cao Cao did as Zhou Yu analyzed. He divided Xu Chu into ambushing the south of Juchao. He wanted to ambush Zhou Yu's troops again, but he led his troops and Le Jin's infantry to Xiang'an, and captured the empty Xiang'an in one fell swoop late that night.

不过让曹操遗憾的是,襄安的百姓似乎都收到了消息逃跑了,还有就是许褚并没有等到自投罗网的周瑜,至于周瑜的去向.如今暂时还不知道.

After Cao Cao took Xiang'an, although he wanted to take Linhu in one go, the troops had to repair them. They fought for two fierce battles in a row, and even the iron-killed troops were not enough.

After arriving in Xiang'an, Cao Cao received a letter from Xi Zhicai, who was stationed in Shucheng Fortress. Sun Ce had bypassed Shucheng Fortress and headed south to Shu County. It seemed that the other party had discovered Cao Cao's plan from Cheng Pu's destruction. Cao Cao felt that he could not delay any longer, so he sent Cao Zhen, who had a little rest, to make him run to Linhu, and wanted to take advantage of Sun Ce's army's panic to take down Linhu in one fell swoop and complete the entire strategic deployment.

可惜,等曹真到了临湖的时候,却发现临湖城头戒备森严,稍微尝试了一下,就遭到了凌厉的反击,曹真只好退了回去,在十里外结营,等待曹操的到来.

After Cao Cao arrived the next day, he found that Linhu City was actually Zhou Yu's troops. He couldn't help but admire Zhou Yu. Cao Cao also tried to attack once, but Zhou Yu's defense was very steady and it would be impossible to take Linhu in a short time.

Looking at Sun Ce again, Sun Ce was shocked when he learned that Cheng Pu's troops were completely destroyed. Then Zhang Hong also came back and guessed Cao Cao's next move. Zhou Yu's letter came later. Zhou Yu's suggestion made Zhang Hong sigh. Although Sun Ce was unwilling to accept the fact that he was defeated, regardless of whether he wanted to, he was now in an extremely dangerous situation.

"Lord, Gongjin's advice is that Cao Cao captured Xiang'an, and the next one is Linhu. Although Gongjin and Gong overthrew to defend Linhu, Linhu City is small and should not be held firm at all. If Linhu loses, Shu County will become an isolated city. The lord is here, Cao Cao's best bait. The troops coming to rescue will become Cao Cao's targets. Lord! The situation is critical, so we must investigate!"

“这难道只有退回江南一途?”孙策一脸的不甘,提着刀的手指关节由于过分的用力显得青白吓人.

“只有如此,否则只能死守临湖和宛县,但是如此被曹操压着打,除了白白的损耗实力,实在是看不到什么益处,若是此时刘备再从背后发力”

“刘备,他敢?!他不是最好名声么?怎么会作出这种事情?”

“若是底下人私自作为呢?借口这种东西,随时都能找得到.”

"So, I can only withdraw?"

“对,而且必须尽快,尽可能多的将百姓也撤离,主公速返舒县,然后组织百姓向宛县撤离,百姓撤离之后,我们再退向宛县.”

"Can't you rely on Jiang Xia to fight Cao Cao?"

"Is Jiangxia important or Danyang, and Yuzhang important?"

孙策脸色铁青,双目赤红,神情甚是狰狞,踌躇了好一会,才终于从牙缝里挤出了几个字:“这好吧,就依子纲先生所言,撤退吧!”(未完待续……)
Chapter completed!