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"Click!"

The ancient ingot knife in Sun Ce's hand fell on the floor and made a loud sound.

"This is impossible, it is impossible!" Sun Ce murmured.

Halfway through the military meeting, the latest battle report came. Danyang was captured by Fang Zhiwen for two hours. The defender Cheng Pu was killed by the formation, and the city gate was then broken. The cavalry rushed into Danyang City. The morale of the defenders collapsed. Most of them surrendered. A small number escaped outside the city and were chased and killed.

Then Fang Zhiwen's cavalry advanced south and easily captured the two cities of Wuhu and Liyang.

If Fang Zhiwen continued to move south after resting, Wanling would probably not be able to defend it.

All the ministers at the meeting were silent. Zhou Yu stood up and looked at Sun Ce and said, "Master, let me go to Wanling!"

"I am willing to go!" Huang Gai also asked for a fight.

Sun Ce was shocked, as if he had come to his senses, and reached out to pick up the ancient ingot knife that fell from his knees and put it back on his knees. The whole process was very slow. Zhang Hong, who was careful, clearly saw that Sun Ce's hand was trembling slightly.

"Gongjin, do you think you should station troops in Wanling to fight Fang Zhiwen?" Sun Ce's question was not loud, but it seemed very heavy, but Zhou Yu was a little difficult to answer.

If it was just to meet his preferences, then the stationing troops in Wanling and continuing to fight against Fang Zhiwen would definitely be praised by Sun Ce. Even if it was denied by Zhang Hong and others in the end, Zhou Yu and Sun Ce's position was still highly consistent, and at least it could win Sun Ce's trust.

But objectively speaking, how could the smart Zhou Yu not know? It is definitely not a good idea to continue to fight Fang Zhiwen at this time. Sun Ce is now like a tiger trapped in the mud. The more he struggles, the deeper he falls. The greater the price he will pay to be able to escape in the future, and the benefits he gets will have a huge impact on future development.

As Sun Ce's beloved son, you can't push your brothers into the mud in order to stabilize your status, right?

Zhou Yu was struggling for a while, shook his head in Sun Ce's expectant gaze and said, "If the lord needs it, the subordinates will be absolutely right and will immediately lead troops to fight Fang Zhiwen to the end, but as a subordinate, the subordinates need to consider the long-term interests and gains and losses for the lord more, rather than just echoing the lord's intentions."

"So, what should Gongjin thinks he should do?"

"My lord Fang Zhiwen's attitude is now very obvious. If the lord refuses to cross the east, it means a war, a war with the purpose of destroying our army. The lord thinks that our army can defeat the Youzhou army?"

Sun Ce glanced at everyone, and everyone lowered their heads and dared not look at Sun Ce. Sun Ce said sarcastically: "Gongjin, shouldn't you ask everyone this? Isn't you the final say? Can you defeat the Youzhou Army?"

Zhou Yu smiled self-deprecatingly: "Since the lord asked this, then the subordinates will tell the truth that if our army goes to war with the Youzhou army in full, it will definitely be defeated. The Youzhou army has an absolute water advantage. Now that Zhu Zhi and Gu Yong rebelled, our army's water power is basically gone. Without any resistance, the Youzhou army can drive straight into the sky, and anywhere from Changsha to Jiujiang can become the landing ground for the Youzhou army. Our army has no way to fight against the Youzhou army at all, and can only defend the city. The Youzhou army does not even need to attack forcefully. As long as it is divided and encircled, our army will collapse without fighting until the ammunition and food are exhausted."

Sun Ce was speechless for a while and said dejectedly: "Gongjin thought we should surrender?"

"Lord, Fang Zhiwen did not say the word surrender, why should you be despised? Fang Zhiwen suddenly went south with two purposes. First, he obtained Danyang, Yuzhang and Changsha. First, he could form a strategic situation of siege and isolate Cao Cao, and second, he also blocked the southern alien forces from going north to covet the Central Plains; second, Fang Zhiwen hoped that the lord could invest his combat power to Yingzhou Island, so that Fang Zhiwen could extract more combat power from the direction of Yingzhou to consolidate the situation in the Central Plains. Therefore, what we need is not surrender, but to bargain with Fang Zhiwen to see how to sell the things in his hands at a good price so that he could gain a greater territory and voice in Yingzhou."

"Lord, Gongjin said so much. If you surrender, don't mention it again. This will cause misunderstandings among the soldiers in the army and will be detrimental to the future lord's political choice!"

"Hmph! Mr. Zigang is deceiving himself!" Huang Gai asked coldly, but Huang Gai's words did not resonate at all. The other generals in the army lowered their heads and did not speak. In fact, the military's fighting spirit was not firm, especially after Cheng Pu was easily defeated by Fang Zhiwen, the originally arrogant Jiangdong Army suddenly fell from one extreme to the other.

Sun Ce shook his head, trying to throw out the dizziness and dizziness.

"There is no need to argue about this matter. Mr. Zigang is right. Fang Zhiwen did not ask us to surrender, but negotiate. If we do not accept the negotiation, he will use the army to make us surrender. This is the case. Didn't everyone read Mr. Zibu's letter? Zigang and Gongjin's words are right. As an individual, I feel humiliated because my skills are not as good as others, because my final choice is forced. This humiliation made me say irresponsible words and make irrational choices, which also led to General Cheng Pu's defeat and humiliation. This is a fault!"

"Lord, the general will inevitably be killed on the battlefield. Cheng Demou has long had this awareness as a general, let alone failure. This is all for the responsibility and destiny of the general. The lord does not need this. The lord has his own destiny. I believe that no one of the generals here will retreat!"

Huang Gai's words were sonorous and powerful, like the sound of metal and stone, which made everyone feel ashamed. Sun Ce nodded vigorously and gradually cheered up.

"If a certain decision is made to negotiate with Fang Zhiwen, can you be willing to continue to follow someone to travel east and rebuild a home in a foreign country?"

"I'm willing to go!"

"The last general will definitely follow the lord!"

Everyone expressed their opinions that none of them said they would leave. But in this case, no one could openly sing the opposite. Zhou Yu smiled slightly. Sun Ce did it on purpose. He wanted to block everyone's back first.

Sun Ce forced a smile: "This is the last choice. Before that, you have other ways to get rid of our current predicament."

"Lord, maybe we can unite with the surrounding princes, or maybe some people cannot agree with Fang Zhiwen's approach."

Sun Ce looked at Chen Duan who was speaking and nodded without objection to Zhou Yu. Zhou Yu said understandably: "Liu Bei and Cao Cao, only Liu Bei and Cao Cao have the ability to fight against Fang Zhiwen, so we can choose only these two forces. First of all, look at Liu Bei. Now what Liu Bei is most worried about is Cao Cao rather than Fang Zhiwen. Moreover, Fang Zhiwen is not trying to occupy Jiangdong, but just supporting Zhu Zhi, a pro-Youzhou force. Therefore, no matter in morality or actual interests, Liu Bei will not blatantly confront Fang Zhiwen, unless he can make a sincere peace with Cao Cao and unite to fight against Fang Zhiwen. But this is obviously impossible. Incoming and far-reaching attacks are so stupid!"

Chen Duan's face slightly stopped and retorted unwillingly: "What about Cao Cao? Our army can act in conjunction with Cao Cao. As long as Cao Cao is in Mount Tai and the East China Sea, it is feasible to increase the attack efforts, or our army let Cao Cao go south and resist Fang Zhiwen together, right?"

"At that time, the front gate was the tiger and the back gate. Even if Cao Cao was a benevolent, righteous and moral gentleman, he really fought with Fang Zhiwen for us. Then, will Lord Chen think Liu Bei would add to the wrongs at this time? What would Yuan Shao do? Even if everything goes well and Fang Zhiwen retreats, what should Cao Cao's army do? Could Cao Cao also let us go to Yingzhou to make a fan?"

"this"

"Report, lord, the latest information from Tongling."

Sun Ce waved, and the servant handed over the sealed letter tube. Sun Ce hurriedly opened it, hesitated for a moment and quickly unfolded it. His face became even more ugly after seeing it.

"Look at it for everyone."

Sun Ce handed the letter to Zhang Hong beside him. Zhang Hong took it and saw it, but sighed softly and shook his head.

Sun Ce looked at everyone's puzzled eyes and said slowly: "It was my uncle's letter. Our trade fleet was intercepted by Zhu Zhi's fleet on the river. Now it is all detained in Tongling. Zhu Zhi's fleet is coming upstream. I guess he wants to destroy our last little naval army."

"Lord, Zhu Zhi did not detain Lord Sun. It seems that Fang Zhiwen's attitude is still very clear. He is just oppressing the lord to enter substantive negotiations as soon as possible."

"Mr. Zigang, this is also a threat. If you continue to delay, you may not be able to put people back so easily next time! Also, the fleet can be detained, so the land, real estate, shops, goods, etc. can be confiscated. Now they are just a hot topic."

Sun Ce looked at Zhou Yu, clenched the ancient ingot knife on his knee with his fingers, glanced at everyone, and said in a deep voice: "Everyone, the situation is clear. I have decided to agree to cross the east in principle and order the army to guard the city without any move. He appointed Gongjin and Zibu as plenipotentiary envoys to Moling to negotiate with Fang Zhiwen."

"I'm going to receive the order!"

"The public overthrows the city to strengthen the vigilance and prevent anyone from taking the opportunity to cause trouble."

"promise!"

As soon as Sun Ce's decision was made, everyone here felt relieved. Those loyal to Sun Ce were happy for Sun Ce's correct decision and comfort, those with selfishness were glad for themselves to avoid losses, while those who were both determined wanted to go back and find another way out. Sun Ce looked silently, and saw everyone's expressions, but his heart was like a bottle of five flavors.

Sun Ce, who was exhausted and desperate, returned to the back house listlessly. Sun Quan quietly came in and brought Sun Ce a bowl of ginseng tea. Looking at his eldest brother's depressed appearance, Sun Quan asked in fear: "Brother, are we really going to Yingzhou? Is Yingzhou far away?"

Sun Ce was stunned for a moment, took a deep breath, dispelled his depressed face, looked at his younger brother and said with a smile: "Zhongmou, don't worry, brother will protect you. Yingzhou is not very far away. I heard that the people on Yingzhou Island are similar to Shanyue."

"Oh, then do we need to prepare?"

Sun Ce clenched his fists hard and said, "Haha, no, it's still early! I'll talk about it when I go to Yingzhou Island to build a territory. Don't worry, Yingzhou is not as unbearable as you imagined." (To be continued...)
Chapter completed!