There is no objection to the first two points of Guo Jia's analysis, which is a very realistic benefit. Yuan Yi and Yuan Xu are indeed not suitable for commanding troops. Not to mention troubled times, even in a peaceful and prosperous era. They have low administrative abilities and only like to study, but they like to point fingers without ability. But they are still Yuan Tan's uncles, which makes it difficult for Yuan Tan to deal with. The benefits of letting them resign are very obvious.

Despite this, Pang Tong still reminded Guo Jia that although these two people were incompetent, they were elders after all, and they had always supported Yuan Shao and Yuan Tan. They had never shown any signs of resigning before. They suddenly left at the same time and went to their hometown in Ruyang instead of Yecheng, which seemed to indicate that their resignation was forced. Therefore, the third and fourth points can be explained more reasonably.

Whether this is Yuan Tan's intentional trap or his helpless choice under the weighing of pros and cons, one thing should be the fact: Yuan Tan is eager to win.

This is Yuan Tan’s biggest flaw. With Yuan Tan’s current strength, if he only wants to drive Sun Ce and his son out of Yanzhou, he can force his troops to advance with his superior forces. Sun Jian and Sun Ce have less than 30,000 troops in total, Sun Jian is still attacking Rencheng and occupying most of the troops. Sun Ce directly commands only 3,000 infantry and cavalry, and Yuan Tan has 40,000 to 50,000. If he takes steps forward, Sun Ce can only retreat. At most five days later, Yuan Tan can push the front line to the Rencheng area. Sun Jian will have to lift the siege of Rencheng, either a decisive battle or a retreat.

Although he could clearly win, he deliberately showed such ambiguous flaw, which only shows that Yuan Tan did not want Sun Ce to retreat. He longed for victory and did not hesitate to force himself into a desperate situation. Under this logic, it was natural to drive Yuan Xu and Yuan Yi away and let Li Qian, who had no record, become a striker general.

Guo Jia smiled with his palms. "General, Shi Yuan's sharp cone is showing his sharpness."

Sun Ce nodded with a smile. "Shi Yuan cuts off his heart, Yuan Tan, what can Xinpi do to me? In this way, Li Qian is just a bait delivered to the door. Should we eat it or not?"

Guo Jia and Pang Tong looked at each other, and Pang Tong bowed politely to show politeness. Guo Jia smiled and said, "Will you eat it or not."

"What do you mean to eat or not?"

Pang Tong said: "Yuan Tan's purpose is to hope that Li Qian can entangle the general. Most of the ten thousand people Li Qian led were Shanyin and Jiyin County soldiers, but at least half were the guests of the Li family. These people may not be good at fighting formations, but they are loyal and reliable. When they encounter a general's surprise attack, Li Qian can completely rely on them to stabilize the waves. With few strikes, more surprises will be used to win, and the victory will be achieved in a quick battle. If you cannot quickly defeat the core, you will either retreat, give up Rencheng, which has already won the counties and generals, or fall into a heavy siege. No matter what the result is, it will be defeated for the general."

Sun Yi, who had been quiet, suddenly screamed. "If you take Yuan Tan directly, you will be hit by Yuan Tan's trick, right?"

Pang Tong nodded and smiled and said, "Yes."

"Oh, what should we do? There is no fight, and we can't retreat?"

"So I have to eat or not."

"What you mean is that if you want to fight or not, just like shooting an arrow, you will not be able to trigger it?" Sun Yi slapped his head. "Oh, I understand, this is to buy time for Aweng to attack Rencheng."

Sun Ce smiled, pulled Sun Yi aside, and touched his head. "Look, your brain can still be used."

Sun Yi touched his head embarrassedly. "The one who is close to Zhu is red, and the one who is close to Mo is black. There are so many smart people around my eldest brother, and I listen to conspiracies every day. Even if I am stupid, I can guess three points."

"Then how many days can we fight for?" Sun Quan said: "The siege lasts for a long time, from less than a month to more than a few months. However, Changyi is only a few hundred miles away from Rencheng. Even if he walks slowly, half a month will arrive. How long can we delay?"

"It won't take long." Lu Yi said slowly: "Spring plowing is about to come, and Yuan Tan is more anxious than us. Moreover, Yuan Tan is in the general. Wherever the general goes, Yuan Tan will go. It is up to me to advance and retreat. If you want to delay it for a few days, you will delay it for a few days."

Sun Quan wondered. "What does it mean?"

"Don't you understand?" Sun Yi jumped up, raised his hand and gave Sun Quan the head. "If Yuan Tan wants to catch his eldest brother, he can lead his nose. Even if he retreats, he may not necessarily retreat towards Rencheng. It's okay to go to Suiyang."

"Brother, what should I do if Yuan Tan surrounds Ahweng?"

"Stupid, Ahweng has more than 20,000 people in his hands. Even if he can't take Rencheng and defend Gaoping, Hulu is still more than enough? At that time, Taishi Ci will be in the direction of Mount Tai, and eldest brother will be in the direction of Suiyang. Yuan Tan will be attacked from three sides. Can he still sleep well?"

Sun Quan suddenly realized, scratched his head, and laughed awkwardly.

Sun Ce smiled but said nothing. In terms of military affairs, although Sun Quan was older than Sun Yi and had been in the camp for a longer time, he was obviously not as talented as Sun Yi. It is no longer practical to continue to stay in his camp, so it is better to let him become an official. Logically speaking, his administrative ability is still OK.

After several people discussed it, Sun Ce adopted Sun Yi's suggestion, gave up Dongzhang, defended Dongdong in the southwest, and Shanfu retreated, making a move to retreat to Suiyang, and retained the possibility of a roundabout attack on Changyi. In order to prevent Sun Jian, who was attacking Rencheng, did not have to worry, Sun Ce arranged for Zhu Huan to guard Kangfu and added two thousand troops to him to cover Sun Jian's left wing.

Zhu Huan had 300 troops. When he was training new recruits, he had always worked hard, and ate and hang out with his soldiers. He was very supportive of his soldiers. He grew up very quickly. During the Battle of Pugupi, his performance was also very impressive, giving him the opportunity to lead a single unit. When Sun Ce swept through the surrounding counties and collected food and grass for Sun Jian, he brought Zhu Huan out and led two thousand troops to occupy Kangfu. After two thousand troops, he had 4,000 people, and they were all elite Jiangdong children, which was enough to defend Kangfu, even if Yuan Tan used more than half of his troops to attack Kangfu.

The news was sent out, and Sun Ce immediately left Dongzhang.

Li Qian rushed from Changyi and walked all the way for a day and night, less than twenty miles from Dongzhang. When he received the news that Sun Ce had withdrawn from Dongzhang, he was so angry that he paused and cursed. "Sun Ce's son, he left without a fight, what a little bully!"

No matter how much he scolds, the problem still needs to be solved. Li Qian is determined to fight, but now he is out of control and is in a dilemma. If he pursues Sun Ce, can he catch up? Even if he catches up, his subordinates will not be able to keep up with his physical strength. It is very likely that Sun Ce will seize the opportunity to attack. If he doesn't chase him, will he continue to move forward or stay in the East?

Li Qian was hesitant and had to ask for advice from his eldest son Li Jin. Li Jin had expected it, so he suggested that Li Qian immediately enter Dongcheng and report to Yuan Tan to warn him. Sun Ce turned to Fangdong, and the area of ​​Shanfu was in the area where he could go around Yuan Tan.

Li Gan was puzzled. "What should we do? Just wait like that?"

Li Jin shook his head. "No, we just slow down and then follow Sun Ce. Once Sun Ce attacks Yuan Envoy, we will rush forward to cut off his retreat and cooperate with Yuan Envoy's plan."

"Combined with Yuan Envoy Yuan's plan? What are Yuan Envoy Yuan's plan?"

Li Jin sighed. "Aweng, don't you think Yuan Envoy will give us the opportunity to defeat Sun Ce, right? We are just bait. The reason why Yuan Envoy sent us as forwards is because we are weak. Sun Ce has a high possibility of defeating us and may take risks. If Zhu Ling is sent as forwards, Sun Ce will see that he has no chance and may leave directly."

Li Gan was stunned for a moment and sighed dejectedly. "There are no good people in these aristocratic families."
Chapter completed!