[Thank you, "Yuns are not me," "Time is not scary" for sending precious monthly tickets! Thank you!]

Sun Ce's life is much better now. In fact, for Sun Ce, the most important thing is time. Time can eliminate all uneasiness and doubts, time can calm down the surging things again, and time can make all unreasonable things take for granted.

For example, the existence of a fifteen-year-old governor of Yangzhou!?

Cao Cao suddenly turned around and went north to attack Xuzhou, which was undoubtedly a huge benefit for Sun Ce, which gave Sun Ce the most critical time. At the same time, the pressure brought by Cao Cao also made Sun Ce's subordinates more cohesive. With the promotion of both sides, Cao Cao invisibly helped Sun Ce stabilize the regime.

However, in Zhang Hong's opinion, this is far from enough. The newly promoted Sun Ce still needs to establish his authority. This authority cannot be achieved only by suppressing his opponents, but should be reflected by defeating powerful enemies.

Therefore, Zhang Hong and Sun Ce were actively studying the possibility of counterattacking Huainan. Now is undoubtedly a very good time. Cao Cao was fighting with Fang Zhiwen around Xia Pi and had no time to care about it. Especially Chen Deng, who is holding the "Yiqian Banner" high, was beaten by Fang Zhiwen and trapped in Lingxian like a betrayal dog, thus forcing Cao Cao into a very embarrassing corner. Cao Cao and Fang Zhiwen must have a fight in Lingxian. If this opportunity cannot be fully utilized, Zhang Hong's huge reputation will be really unworthy of it.

"Please look, Lingxian is more than 200 miles away from Xiaxiang and Tongxian. The best way Cao Cao can choose is to use cavalry to raid. However, in terms of cavalry, the stronger General Zhenbei is undoubtedly. Xu Chu's cavalry is destroyed. This is a clear proof. Therefore, Cao Cao may have to join forces with infantry and cavalry, assemble large troops, and slowly advance towards Lingxian. In this way, the battle in Lingxian will last for a long time."

Sun Ce's eyes lit up: "Mr. Zigang means that we can take advantage of the opportunity when Cao Cao had no time to look south and fight back in the south?"

Zhang Hong smiled and nodded: "That's exactly what it means. Xun You has given up Huoshan Fortress. Now Xiahou Dun is stationed in Shucheng Fortress, which is exactly the same as hanging outside. If we besiege Shucheng now, it is the best time."

Sun Ce thought for a while and said, "Does Mr. Zigang want to surround the site and attack support?"

"Haha, I have this idea, but Xun You is not Yi. In fact, my subordinates meant to take down Shucheng Fortress, so the Lujiang gate was closed. The lord could safely rush his army south to defeat Liu Yao. After all, Liu Yao is our biggest enemy. Cao Cao is not yet. In addition, after Cao Cao got Xuzhou, his strength has been greatly improved. If we cannot improve our strength as soon as possible, Lujiang will not be able to be protected sooner or later!"

Zhang Hong's words made Sun Ce feel a sense of crisis. His brows couldn't help but frown. Cao Cao now has half of Yuzhou in his hands. Now he has Xuzhou again. The improvement of his strength is definitely not a little bit. Cao Cao doesn't have the energy to look south now, but sooner or later, Cao Cao will free up his hands. If he was not prepared at that time, it would be a disaster!

"Mr. Zigang, send troops! Our situation is that if we don't advance, we will retreat, and there is no way out at all. Instead of doing this, it's better to try hard!"

Looking at Sun Ce's resolute face, Zhang Hong nodded secretly: "Lord is wise, but before sending troops, we should contact General Zhenbei first. If we have an elite cavalry to assist, Shucheng Fortress will undoubtedly win! And, there is a chance to eat Xun You's reinforcements!"

Sun Ce understood Zhang Hong’s plan after a moment of thinking.

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Zhang Hong can only be considered a second-rate and close to first-class strategist at most, so his judgment will inevitably make mistakes. When Sun Ce's army marched for three days and finally arrived at Shucheng Fortress and was preparing to attack Shucheng Fortress, news of the end of the Lingxian Battle came, and this result naturally surprised Sun Ce and Zhang Hong.

Fortunately, Cao Cao lost another 20,000 cavalry in the battle of Lingxian. In other words, the number of elite cavalry under Cao Cao is now too short. Moreover, Fang Zhiwen seemed not satisfied with the battle situation in Lingxian. He wandered northwest of Guangling County, waiting for an opportunity to attack Cao Cao again, so Cao Cao was still unable to mobilize his troops to move south.

"It's all the subordinates who make mistakes in the enemy, and they almost missed the lord's affairs. Please punish me!"

Zhang Hong felt a little embarrassed. Although the final result did not deviate much from his original prediction, the process was completely different from his guess. This time it was a coincidence, and it was purely a lucky draw.

"Mr. Zi Gang doesn't need to be like this. When manpower is finally over, it is impossible to accurately predict everything. Now Cao Cao is still entangled in Xuzhou and has no impact on our actions. Why should Mr. Zi Gang blame himself? It's just for this matter, let's see how we should fight this battle!"

Zhang Hong sighed. Although Sun Ce said he did not punish him, the warning in his tone was also obvious. This time it had no impact on the action. What if it had a bad impact? Zhang Hong couldn't help but sweat. This child with a cold face sitting on the upper head was no longer a child in Zhang Hong's eyes, but a lord who held the power of life and death.

"promise!"

Zhang Hong calmed down his chaotic thoughts and responded respectfully.

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The next morning, Sun Ce's army had a meal out of the camp early and set up a large formation under Shucheng Fortress. Sun Ce sent people to fight, clamoring to ask Xiahou Dun to come out to fight alone.

Xiahou Dun is not stupid. If he wins a one-on-one challenge, he will bully the child. If he loses, he will be embarrassing, and will also become a stepping stone for Sun Ce to become famous. Therefore, Xiahou Dun simply refuses to fight alone, so the two sides officially start a war.

Sun Ce started out in a normal manner, mobilizing a large number of long-range troops to fight against the fortress, and then the infantry attacked. Xiahou Dun, who was defending the city, suddenly discovered that the attribute bonus of the opponent's soldiers was actually higher than that of his own! Fortunately, Xiahou Dun was the defensive side with a tall and solid city wall. Fortunately, Xiahou Dun did not go out to fight Sun Ce alone. It seems that Sun Ce is really You Sheng's father!

Sun Ce was very calm and did not rush to climb the city, nor did he try to show his courage like Sun Jian. Instead, he was patient in consuming defensive equipment and soldiers. Most of the time, the infantry just escorted the crossbowmen under the city wall, and the defenders on the city wall shot, or pretended to climb the city from time to time, luring the defenders to throw the wooden rocks.

Xiahou Dun has been standing steadily on the top of the city. The terrain of Shucheng Fortress is not very good for the defense. Although it is adjacent to water on one side, it is now a dry season. There is no water in the river, and there is water and ice, so it cannot be an obstacle. There are slopes on the other three sides, but it cannot stop the enemy's attack. Therefore, Xiahou Dun is now attacked on three sides. On the last side, it was Sun Ce who deliberately left behind, and the three are missing and one is missing.

Seeing Sun Ce sie slow attack, Xiahou Dun's brows became tighter and tighter. He was not afraid of the enemy's bravery, but fear of the enemy's calmness. This was the experience summarized by Xiahou Dun, who had experienced many battles.

The enemy's bravery will reveal flaws, and the pressure on the local area will increase greatly. However, once the flaws are revealed, Xiahou Dun will be confident that he can establish the victory in one fell swoop, just like the battle in Hefei back then.

However, if the enemy is calm and steady, the two sides will compete for basic strength. Xiahou Dun, who is now alone, is obviously not as good as Sun Ce's logistics. If he only relies on the reserves in the fortress, according to the consumption of today, at about fifteen days, Xiahou Dun can only rely on hand-to-hand combat.

The battle began nearly an hour ago, with the sound of horns in Sun Ce's army and the infantry began to rotate. It seemed that Sun Ce had made up his mind to slowly kill Xiahou Dun.

The first daytime attack ended like this. The losses of both sides were not large. Xiahou Dun's losses were even smaller, but the consumption of materials was amazing.

At night, Xiahou Dun attempted to attack, but who knew that Sun Ce was prepared. With Zhang Hong's assistance, he let go of the two thousand cavalry in front and ambushed the four thousand infantry in the back. In the end, Xiahou Dun threw away the four thousand infantry in the back and did not get any benefits.

In the next two days, Sun Ce still attacked Shucheng Fortress slowly, but the situation in Shucheng became worse and worse.

Xun You naturally knew that relying on Xiahou Dun's troops alone was not enough to resist Sun Ce for a long time. After much thought, Xun You sent Li Dian to support Xiahou Dun. After receiving the order, Li Dian led 10,000 infantry and 20,000 infantry from Hefei and rushed to Shucheng County overnight.

Xun You thought that Li Dian might be ambushed by his opponent, but there were 10,000 infantrymen, which was enough to cause his opponent to suffer heavy losses. Moreover, Sun Ce's military strength was not unlimited. If he divided his troops out to fight for reinforcements, Xiahou Dun would definitely be able to seize the opportunity to counterattack.

Xun You carefully informed Li Dian and Xiahou Dun of his plan, so that they could maintain a close relationship, seize the movements of the mobilized Sun Ce army at any time, seize this favorable opportunity, and try to turn defeat into victory and defeat Sun Ce.

To be safe, Xun You wrote to Cheng Yu again, asking him to promptly inform the surrounding military intelligence and grasp the movements of Sun Ce, Huang Zu and Fang Zhiwen's army at any time so that he could adjust his strategies and judge the situation in a timely manner.

Speaking of which, Xun You was already very careful and did everything he could. Based on the current intelligence and situation, the response measures he took were undoubtedly the most appropriate, but he ignored one thing, that is, the effectiveness of intelligence, and some of these intelligences were probably illusions deliberately given by the enemy.

For example, Yuexi's troops are still stationing in Yancheng. What's the point of Yuexi's continued stationing in Yancheng now? Moreover, Yancheng is already a military fortress, and it is even more uninhabited to the west of Yancheng. How did this news be transmitted back?

Perhaps, Cheng Yu was also suspicious when he received and analyzed this information, but he did not realize what the relationship between Yancheng thousands of miles away and Shucheng, which is now fighting fiercely, was because he did not yet have a clear understanding of the speed at which Fang Zhiwen's troops used the navy to send troops on a large scale.
Chapter completed!