Yuan Tan sat on the case, eating while looking at the map, with various marks painted with cinnabar on it, and the deployment of both sides was marked on it. Although the war had not started yet, the atmosphere before the war was about to come was already very strong, making people dare not take it lightly.

Although he was concerned about the entire battle situation, even Yingchuan and Runan were within his attention, what he cared about the most was Sun Ce's army southwest of Junyi City. Cao Ang had just sent the latest news that Sun Ce had set up a cover position on the opposite side, and the battle flag of King Chen and Liu Chong was included. As they had expected before, the drum of the first battle would be sounded by Sun Ce, but he didn't expect that King Chen would cooperate with Sun Ce in the battle.

Yuan Tan tilted his mouth and showed a faint smile. "Come on." He grabbed a ball of rice, slowly pinched it in his hand, wrapped a piece of sunflower, sent it to his mouth, took a bite, and chewed it slowly, as if chewing Sun Ce in his mouth, each mouthful was very forceful.

The rice was very fragrant, full of grains and elastic. Yuan Tan was very satisfied. He ate two more rice balls and put every rice in the bowl into his mouth. Then he pushed the bowl away, cleaned his hands, picked up another piece of fish sashimi, dipped it carefully, and sent it into his mouth.

"Xiansi, the leader has a letter." Liu Biao walked in quickly, holding a letter in his hand, his face full of joy.

Yuan Tan looked up at Liu Biao, put down the chopsticks, swallowed the fish sashimi that had not been chewed in his mouth, wiped the corners of his mouth, then got up, took the letter with both hands, turned to the north, and bowed respectfully.

Liu Biao saw it and did not move.

After Yuan Tan finished his tribute, he took the book knife, pried out the sealing mud, opened the shiny wooden box, took out the letter paper inside, looked at the familiar font, and showed a warm smile on his face. This was Yuan Shao's handbook, which he had been accustomed to since childhood.

"My father is busy with all kinds of things and is still trying to teach and care about the war in Yanzhou. I am so grateful."

Liu Biao echoed: "Yes, the general's father and son are kind and filial, and it is enviable."

Yuan Tan nodded repeatedly and began to read the letter. The letter was very long, one foot wide, and four feet long. The letter was full of neat official script, meticulous. Yuan Tan finished reading it word by word, read it again, carefully put it away, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"We have reinforcements."

"Reinforcements?" Liu Biao was both surprised and happy.

"Yes, my father sent Jiang Qi to lead 10,000 people to reinforce."

Liu Biao smiled with his hands. "In this way, our chances of winning are 30% more."

Yuan Tan didn't say anything, thinking. When Liu Biao saw it, he put away his smile. "Xiansi, what are you worried about?"

"I'm worried that Sun Ce will be scared away." Yuan Tan put down the letter, held the case with both hands, stood up, and paced back and forth in the tent. "In the past few days, the scout camp has been reporting. Sun Ce's personal guard cavalry has been acting as scout missions, and the range is getting farther and farther. I'm worried that it won't take long for Liu Bei to be discovered by them. Only Liu Bei, Sun Ce is still worried. Jiang Qi is leading 10,000 people to come. How can Sun Ce not know? It has not yet been encircled. What if Sun Ce sees the huge gap in troops and abandons the city and flies away, what should he do?"

Liu Biao looked at Yuan Tan, but he didn't know what to say. He was Yuan Tanyi's confidant, so of course he knew what Yuan Tan was thinking. Defeating Zhu Ye was never his goal, but Sun Ce was. Yuan Tan had an indescribable envy of this famous young man. No matter how good his family background or how outstanding he was, he felt ashamed of himself in the face of Sun Ce's legendary record. Only by defeating Sun Ce can he prove that he was at the peak of his peers.

This almost became Yuan Tan's obsession, but Cao Ang was much more calm in comparison.

Seeing that Liu Biao was not speaking, Yuan Tan stopped, looked at him, and smiled and said, "Don't you want to avenge Kuai Yidu?"

Liu Biao sighed. "Xiansi, I am Sun Ce's defeated general. I dare not expect to defeat him, and I am not qualified to suggest you how to do it. But I still want to say that you should put the overall situation first and don't let personal intention interfere with your judgment."

Yuan Tan patted his forehead and sneered: "Yes, I'm too persistent and I'm staring at Sun Ce. Well, since there are Jiang Qi and ten thousand people, there is no need for Liu Bei to hide it. Let Sun Ce attack with peace of mind."

Liu Biao was very satisfied and turned around and went out to convey the order. Yuan Tan raised his eyebrows and looked at Sun Ce's position on the map.

"Sun Bofu, I really value you very much and have arranged an old opponent for you."

——

The next morning, after breakfast, Sun Ce went out of the camp. Zhang Hong and Gong Du led 3,000 people to guard the camp. The remaining people were commanded by Sun Ce to come to the edge of the Honggou. Cao Ang also arrived and stood on the podium. Sun Ce raised his hand. Cao Ang was stunned for a moment, and raised his hand and waved it.

You are polite, you have to fight, but after Sun Ce sat down, he ordered people to beat the war drum and prepare for the battle.

The powerful crossbowmen brought by King Chen climbed up the shooting tower and began to test the shooting. Sun Ce built fifty shooting towers along the river, ten steps apart. King Chen selected 300 powerful crossbowmen, and each building cooperated with six people, three climbed up the tower and shot, and three were on standby downstairs. One hundred and fifty powerful crossbows held six stone crossbows and first attacked the stone throwing machine on Cao Ang’s position.

The gap at this moment is more than 130 steps wide, exceeding the range of ordinary bows and arrows. Even a stone thrower with a range of 200 steps cannot be too far from the river bank, otherwise it can only work when crossing. Cao Ang imitated the stone thrower, but did not learn all the skills of shooting. If the target is not seen, the aiming of the stone thrower will become a big problem. In order to see the target, the stone thrower can only be built on the shore and is within the range of the powerful crossbowman.

One hundred and fifty powerful crossbowmen began to test the shooting, and soon a Min Yi who operated the stone thrower was shot by an arrow, with blood splattering everywhere, and he fell to the ground screaming. Cao Ren, who was commanding in front of the formation, ordered the seriously injured Min Yi to drag the battlefield and replenish his manpower, and ordered the stone thrower to counterattack and smash the shooting buildings.

The stone thrower roared, and the straw bag filled with sand flew into the sky and smashed towards the opposite building.

The powerful crossbowmen on the shooting tower stepped up their shooting, shooting one branch after another of the sharp arrows across the gap, and shot at the Minyi who was not protected by armor. Cao Ren arranged a large shield to protect him, but he could not protect him comprehensively, and the Minyi continued to hit the arrow. The hit rate of the stone thrower was not high, which was even more severe. He injured dozens of people before a straw bag hit the opposite Shooting Tower.

He shook violently for two times, but did not fall, and soon returned to balance. Looking at the powerful crossbowman on the building, he was a little worried, but he was even more at ease when he saw the shooting tower so strong, and he was more at ease and was shooting with all concentration.

"Swoosh swish swish!" Although the arrows are not dense, the killing efficiency is very high. Even through the gap, the hit rate is more than 20%. In contrast, the stone thrower not only has a slow firing speed, but also has a pitifully low hit rate, less than 10%.

Cao Ren complained secretly, knowing that in the first round of long-range shooting competition, his side would not occupy the top, and these stone throwers would sooner or later become waste. While notifying Cao Ang, he ordered the archers to prepare. After the long-range strike failed, the real attacks would inevitably follow.
Chapter completed!