So far, this is the first time that Sun Ce has crushed his opponent with an absolute advantage, and finally verified one sentence: In the face of absolute advantage, any conspiracy is meaningless.

Having said that, such opportunities are not often present after all, and under normal circumstances, he doesn't have absolute advantages, and there are not many opportunities to have advantages, so conspiracies and tricks have to be used, and they have to be used more.

Naturally, letting Lu Qian go was not just to easily take Hulu and kill fewer people, but to have a deeper intention. Guo Jia believed that Chen Gong took advantage of Xinpi's injury to seek benefits for Cao Ang. He seemed smart, but stupid in essence, at least too impatient, and could not be considered real clever. This exposed Cao Ang's plan to be independent will inevitably create a rift between him and Yuan Tan, at least there is a suspicion of taking advantage of others' danger.

Guo Jia decided to seize this opportunity, take advantage of the situation, and turn this rift into suspicion. Lu Qian is just a pawn, and his life and death are not in Guo Jia's plan at all. In Guo Jia's opinion, even if Lu Qian has the potential of a famous general, if he cannot meet a wise ruler who can fully play his role, he will be no different from ordinary people, and he may be discouraged because of his talent. Yuan Tan is obviously not a wise ruler. No matter how he pretends to be a polite and polite person, his family background of the four generations and three dukes makes him unable to regard a powerful man like Lu Qian as his confidant.

Even Cao Ang is not qualified to enjoy honors, so Lu Qian should not count on it. Only famous scholars like Xin Pi and Chen Gong are destined to be the ones who can act as Yuan Tan's confidant.

Lu Qian left, and Guo Jia immediately urged Sun Ce to implement the next plan: attack Cao Ang.

Sun Ce did not attack in person, so he handed over the matter to Sun Jian. Not only Zhu Zhi, but Huang Gai returned to Sun Jian's subordinates, Lu Su and Dong Xi were also temporarily transferred to Sun Jian's command. He followed Sun Jian's command and timely replenished the weapons and supplies for Sun Jian.

After receiving reinforcements, Sun Jian's morale was greatly boosted and he took the initiative to force Cao Ang.

Cao Ang was very cautious. Before Sun Ce entered Hulu City, he knew about Lu Qian leaving the city.

He was stunned at the time and didn't know why Lu Qian made such a choice. He immediately asked Chen Gong to discuss it. After hearing this, Chen Gong was a little amused and blew. He originally thought that Lu Qian could support him at least ten days and half a month, and maybe he could support Sun Ce's retreat. Unexpectedly, Lu Qian didn't hold on for even two days and left the city.

Unlike Cao Ang, he was not concerned about why Lu Qian abandoned the city and left, but the consequences of Lu Qian abandoned the city and left. Sun Ce easily took Hulu, and then he would have to attack Cao Ang with all his strength, and even attack Rencheng all the way north. Before this, Sun Ce said this, and now he has the opportunity to implement it. To take Rencheng, Gaoping is the only way to go, and Cao Ang's situation is very dangerous.

Chen Gong suggested that Cao Ang retreat quickly. The troops on both sides were very different. Sun Jian and Sun Ce were both good at fighting. With Cao Ang’s current troops, once they fought, the losses would be heavy. He suggested that Cao Ang give up Gaoping City and retreat directly to Rencheng. Gaoping is a county town, and the city defense conditions are not as good as Hulu. Although there is terrain next to it, its advantages are limited and it cannot stop Sun Ce from going around and cutting off the retreat.

Cao Ang did not dare to be negligent and immediately set off. He acted very quickly and set off almost at the same time as Sun Jian. Although Sun Jian chased him very tightly, he still couldn't bite Cao Ang. In the evening, he rushed to Gaoping and met Gao Ping's powerful hero who came to greet him. Only then did he realize that Cao Ang had given up Gaoping and retreated directly to Rencheng.

Last time he suffered a loss from a powerful man in Changyi, Sun Jian learned a lesson this time and declined politely, claiming that it was too late and it was not suitable to go to the city to harass him. However, he left the powerful man who came to greet him in the camp, held a banquet and hosted a banquet. At the same time, he sent people to Hulu to inform Sun Ce of the relevant situation.

Upon receiving the news from Sun Jian, Sun Ce and Guo Jia looked at each other and smiled.

"Chen Gong is going to be in trouble. If he gave up Gao Ping, the people who wanted to dig his ancestral grave might have to line up." Guo Jia smiled proudly.

Lu Qian lowered his head and came to Yuan Tan.

Yuan Tan had a dark face and said nothing. He was very disappointed with Lu Qian and gave up such an important place as Hulu without a single arrow, proving that it was a wrong decision for him to use Lu Qian.

"Zike, what's going on?" Mao Jie said. He is Gongcao and is in charge of personnel affairs. Lu Qian was recommended by him to Yuan Tan. Lu Qian was incompetent and he was not good-looking in his face.

Lu Qian knew very well, but he was prepared for it. Before speaking, he took out the offensive and defensive picture Sun Ce gave him from his arms. Yuan Tan glanced at it and was not in the mood to look at it. Xin Pi was very curious, reached out to take it over, looked at it carefully, and raised his eyebrows.

"Zike, don't you know that Caodong County has been going to reinforce you? After receiving your news, the envoy issued an order to Caodong County overnight. Gaoping is only one day away from Hulu, and he should have arrived long ago. With Caodong County's troops to reinforce you, you have enough troops to defend the city, so why is there insufficient manpower?"

"I know." Lu Qian bowed and said, "But Caodong County did not enter the city. I waited for him for three days, but I didn't see a soldier or soldier."

Xin Pi did not speak, turned to look at Yuan Tan. Yuan Tan was puzzled, took the picture from Xin Pi, looked carefully, and was furious and his face turned pale. Cao Ang was ordered to reinforce but could not stay, resulting in Lu Qian's lack of strength to defend the city. Facing Sun Ce's superior forces, he could only abandon the city and leave. The primary responsibility for the loss of Hulu was not Lu Qian, but Cao Ang. If Cao Ang entered the city in time, five thousand people would be enough to defend Hulu. Even if Cao Ang did not enter the city, as long as he took the initiative to attack and attracted some of the troops, Sun Ce would not be so calm.

"It's unreasonable. Cao Ang made a big mistake. Hulu lost, Shanyang's gate was opened, so he opened the door and bowed to the thieves!"

Xin Pi gave Yuan Tan a wink and signaled him not to lose his composure. Although Yuan Tan saw it, he still couldn't suppress his anger. It was not surprising that Hulu had fallen. He had already decided to fight Sun Ce in Changyi, but Hulu was so easy to lose it, which was not in his plan. After Sun Ce easily took Hulu, Fang and Dongchang did not have enough conditions to refuse to defend. Sun Ce could reach Changyi all the way, leaving him with very limited time to prepare.

It was finally easy to drive Sun Jian out of Changyi, but now Sun Ce is here again. Can you still have a breather?

At this time, Xinpi said to Liu Biao: "Brother Jingsheng, is your family still in Gaoping?"

Liu Biao was stunned for a moment. "Here."

"Hurry and send someone to pick them up. Sun Ce said before that Gaoping is the only way to take over Rencheng. He can kill the Shan family, or he may kill you Liu Biao."

Liu Biao's face suddenly changed. In this regard, he knew better than Xinpi that it was not just the Shan family, but Sun Ce killed the Xi family and the Kuai family when he was in Xiangyang. "No, Cao Ang has nearly 10,000 people, and it is more than enough to guard Gaoping."

Xin Pi didn't speak, but just looked at Liu Biao with pity. Yuan Tan saw it sincerely and was unhappy. Xin Pi's words were suspected of causing harm. He was also very angry when Hulu lost, but now is not the time to cause trouble for Cao Ang. He still needs Cao Ang to guard the Lu Kingdom and Rencheng area.

"George, Cao Ang isn't that so cowardly, right?"

Before he finished speaking, Cao Ang's messenger arrived. Sun Jian went north, and Cao Ang had insufficient troops and had to retreat. He decided to give up Gaoping and retreat to Rencheng.
Chapter completed!