Cao Ang sat in front of the desk, looking at the map in a daze.

Chen Gong held one hand behind him, stroked his beard with the other hand, and paced back and forth slowly. He had worked hard these two days, his eyes were a little dark, his eyes were covered with bloodshot, and even his appearance that he had always cared about was a little concerned. Wei Zhen and Bao Xun sat aside, silent, and no one spoke, his face was gloomy and his eyes were panicked.

The atmosphere in the tent was very depressing, just like before the storm came, making people breathless.

Heavy footsteps came from the door, and when they arrived outside the tent, they suddenly became lighter. Then, Cao Ren walked in, took a look at the situation inside the tent, walked around Chen Gong lightly, came to Cao Ang, and asked with his eyes. Cao Ang leaned over, leaned over and muttered a few words in his ear.

Cao Ren's face changed. "Take it serious?"

"Even if there are differences, it should be just a matter of details." Cao Ang smiled bitterly: "Our own scout also saw Sun Ce's battle flag."

Cao Ren didn't say anything for a long time. He understood why Cao Ang called him over at this time. Yuan Tan sent news that Sun Ce led more than a thousand cavalry past Rencheng and headed north, and should have met with Taishi Ci, Zang Ba and others. Yuan Tan was worried that Sun Ce would be unfavorable to Nanpingyang and hoped that Cao Ang would pay attention to it.

Fan County and Nanpingyang are both liaison points between Rencheng and Lu County. Fan County is in the west and belongs to Rencheng Kingdom. Nanpingyang is in the east and originally belonged to Shanyang County. Yuan Tan adjusted the defense area and handed this area to Cao Ang. Nanpingyang and Gaoping were assigned to Cao Ang's defense area for Cao Ang to be unified in the dispatch. Fan County is at the ferry entrance, and the county is on the west bank of Sishui. Nanpingyang is at the terrain. The east is Yishan and Fushan is at the west of the city. The location is especially important than Fan County, so Cao Ang sent Bao Shao to guard it. Bao Shao had troops and recruited more than 2,000 Taishan soldiers, and was strong.

Fan County has been surrounded by Taishi Ci, Zang Ba and others. If Nanpingyang is lost again, Rencheng will become an isolated city. However, Nanpingyang is in a dangerous terrain and not so easy to attack. In addition, this news was sent by Yuan Tan, so the reliability is limited. Given the appearance of both sides, it is necessary to identify Yuan Tan's intentions.

"Nanpingyang is not easy to attack, but Sun Ce may send people through Fushan and into the southern part of Lu. Three counties in the six counties of Lu are in the south, occupying the southern part, raising food and grass, and ensuring the retreat for Sun Jian." Chen Gong turned around and said slowly: "I think, Yuan Tan and Xinpi may have realized that Sun Ce's whereabouts are uncertain and difficult to capture, so they want to increase the siege of Sun Jian and force Sun Ce to fall into the trap. He wanted to send people to the back of Sun Jian, but he was worried that we would be suspicious, so he deliberately threw this problem to us first."

Cao Ang thought for a moment. "Sun Jian has four or five thousand Zhu Zhi's men behind him. If Yuan Tan wants to cut off Sun Jian's retreat, at least 10,000 people, or even 20,000 people. If grain is collected on the spot, the nearby counties will inevitably suffer losses."

"Yes, it will be difficult to spit it out after the meat enters the mouth."

"Then do we want to give it to him?"

"Give it to him." Chen Gong snorted softly: "Yuan Tan, Xinpi is eager to win. If you stop him at this time, once you lose, he will put all the blame on us. Let him fight hard with the Sun family father and son. We preserve our strength. No matter who wins and who loses in the end, it will not be a bad thing to us. Besides, if Taishi Ci and others really surround Nanpingyang, it will pose a great threat to us."

"Okay, then I'll reply them right away."

"Lend them the boats in the city. Without the boats, they cannot cross the water quickly." Chen Gong laughed silently. "It will be good for us to drive away Zhu Zhi, at least we can calm our ears."

After hearing this, Cao Ren and others couldn't help laughing. They played Yuan Tan and Xin Pi on the applause. Chen Gong was brave enough and scheming enough.

Sun Guan lost miserably, not only losing in a row, but also losing all the bets he could make. If Sun Ce hadn't stopped, Xie Guanglong and Guo Yuan would have almost won his pants. However, Sun Guan was very happy. He told Sun Ce that it was very rare to meet so many masters in one day. Although he lost today, he had a happy game and had not been so comfortable for a long time.

Sun Ce said he was speechless. He was so happy when he was beaten to the point of being blue and swollen. It seemed that he had many competitions with others, and Dugu Qiubai was defeated. He watched for a while and knew that Sun Guan's martial arts skills were not weak. If he hadn't come up, he would have been hurt by Xie Guanglong and Guo Yuan. It would be a problem for him to tie Xu Sheng, Chen Wu and others.

Sun Guan accepted the gambling and refused to take back the bet he lost. Sun Ce was not willing to force himself, so he had to arrange for Ji Ling to arrive. When the weapons arrived, he transferred the equipment of fifty people to Sun Guan first. Sun Guan was overjoyed and hurriedly thanked Sun Ce.

After a fight, Zang Ba and others were able to see Sun Ce's strength, and their mentality changed unknowingly. Sun Ce immediately said his plan. It was difficult to raise more than 30,000 people, so they had to divide their troops. Ji Ling went south and Zang Ba went north, which not only reduced the difficulty of raising food, but also maintained mutual support. Sun Ce promised Zang Ba and others that if the predetermined strategic goal could be achieved and Dongping was occupied, he was willing to hand over the Dongping Kingdom to Zang Ba and others to control. As for who is the prime minister of Dongping, you will decide for yourself and I will not intervene.

Zang Ba and others were moved. There were seven cities in Dongping. Even though they were attacked by the Yellow Turbans many times, there were more than 300,000 households, and they were 2,000 stones all the way. For them, this temptation was great. Compared with Tao Qian, Sun Ce was much more generous.

Seeing that Zang Ba and others were interested, Sun Ce immediately explained his plan. He hoped to cooperate with Tao Qian, with Mount Tai as the boundary, Tao Qian was responsible to the west of Mount Tai, and he was responsible to the west of Mount Tai. Therefore, he needed someone who both parties could trust to control Mount Tai and dispatch it in the middle. He was optimistic about Zang Ba. If Zang Ba was willing to accept this task, he could provide Zang Ba with some supplies.

Zang Ba did not agree immediately, saying that he would consider it for a while. Sun Ce knew that Zang Ba was not Sun Guan and others, and could not be bought with the equipment of a Dongping prime minister or hundreds of people. He did not refuse to cooperate, nor would he be loyal to him easily, nor would he sit idly by Sun Ce to win over Sun Guan, Wu Dun and others. If he was anxious, it would only backfire. So he did not urge Zang Ba, but just told Zang Ba that I would stay here for two days, hoping that you can give me a clear answer in two days.

Zang Ba agreed.

Sun Ce was not idle while waiting for Zang Ba's reply. He assisted Ji Ling in formulating a combat plan and arranged for Ji Ling to arrive at the defense zone as soon as possible. Ji Ling was very motivated and set off after cleaning up. But things were not going well. As soon as he arrived in the east of Fan County, he received news from the scout: Yuan Tan sent general Feng Kai and Han Meng to lead 20,000 troops across Sishui, occupying several mountain passes between Rencheng and Gao Pingyang, blocking Ji Ling's road to the south.

When Sun Ce received the news, he complained secretly. This time Yuan Tan took the lead. Yuan Tan's purpose may not be just a few mountain passes, otherwise he would not need to send 20,000 people. He may have surrounded Sun Jian's retreat and formed an encirclement against Sun Jian, forcing himself to fight him to a decisive battle.

Sun Ce immediately rushed to Fan County with Taishi Ci to meet Ji Ling.
Chapter completed!