Of course, Sun Ce couldn't win against Tao Ying if he tried to be patient. The Junzi Army was originally built specifically for field battles. In addition to bows and arrows, grain, grass and horse feed all require very low logistical supplies. Even if the grain is cut off, there will still be horses that taste bad but are rich in calories.

Milk is drinkable, and it is simply invincible in a protracted war of attrition in the wild. As for poor Sun Ce's army, the soldiers need military rations, and the war horses need fine horse feed. They consume huge amounts of food and grass every day, and there are no logistical supplies. They eat a little less food and grass.

How can it be possible to defeat the army of gentlemen who even produce grain for their war horses?

So after working hard for a few days, Sun Ce's army began to lose their composure. This time, the cunning gentleman's army no longer directly attacked and harassed them, but indirectly harassed them through flags, slogans and drums, which not only saved precious bows and arrows,

It also forced Sun Ce's army to slow down and consume a lot of food and grass in the process of marching. It took three days and they still hadn't gone 150 miles. The anxious general Sun Ce's army repeatedly asked for orders to pursue them, but Sun Ce and Zhou Yu were afraid of the terrifying Junzi army.

Although they had limited mobility, they refused to agree to anything and continued to march at a fast pace. Fortunately, the Junzi Army was also afraid of Sun Cejun's powerful crossbow formation and did not dare to approach and fire arrows, so Sun Cejun's casualties did not continue to increase.

In addition to the huge consumption of food and grass, what worries Sun Ce and Zhou Yu even more is the poisonous arrows of the Junzi Army. They don’t know what ghost poison the Junzi Army fed on the arrowheads. Three or four days after being injured, the injuries of nearly 20% of the wounded soldiers began to deteriorate, and the wounds

The pus continued to flow out, and the soldier continued to have fever and twitching of limbs, and died in extremely painful misery. The army doctor was helpless, and even Sun Ce's wounds showed signs of deterioration. A penetrating wound on his left leg was leaking thick water, although Sun Ce was afraid of affecting the morale of the army.

They didn't dare to speak out, but people in Sun Ce's army were still panicked. Rumors were flying everywhere and morale was low. They were afraid of fighting the Junzi Army, and they were even more afraid of the Junzi Army's terrifying poisonous arrows.

Faced with such a bad situation, no matter how tough Sun Ce said, he deeply regretted choosing Tao Ying's army of gentlemen as his opponent in the first battle. Is this a team of moral gentlemen? They are simply a group of foxes.

There are also cunning jackals, a nest of venomous snakes that are difficult to guard against. If you are not careful, you may be bitten by them, leaving fatal injuries! The plan to abandon the attack on Guangling and withdraw from Shouchun for rest began to brew in Sun Ce's mind.

Forming.

If it hadn't been for something that happened later, Sun Ce, who was in a dilemma, might have ordered the withdrawal of his troops, but...

On the seventh day of September, when Sun Ce's army approached Tangyi and officially entered Guangling County, Sun Ce's army, which was advancing at a high speed, had just been harassed by the Junzi Army when a group of light cavalry suddenly came from behind. The leader was none other than

As soon as they met, Yuan Yin, Yuan Shu's confidant and disciple, took out Yuan Shu's personal order and said straight to the point: "General Bofu, my lord's order orders you to return to the army in Shouchun immediately. We have other important matters to discuss.

"

"My lord ordered me to go back? Why?" Sun Ce was extremely surprised. Zhou Yu, Cheng Pu, Huang Gai and others next to him also looked at each other, wondering whether Yuan Shu had already known about our predicament, so he declared us to withdraw?

"Of course there is something big going on." Yuan Yin seemed a little nervous. He could not help but look around quietly, as if he was afraid that Sun Ce would suddenly use force. He also urged: "General Bofu, please don't ask any more questions. My lord has no ill intentions.

I just feel that attacking Guangling at this time would be like taking advantage of the situation and would be ridiculed by everyone in the world, so I declare that you will withdraw your troops and attack Guangling. I will give up for the time being."

It would have been better if Yuan Yin didn't say that. Sun Ce, who was already confused by the rogue tactics of the Gentleman Army, might have really retreated. But Yuan Yin just said that Yuan Shu was afraid of being laughed at by the world. Sun Ce, Zhou Yu and others just wanted to avoid suspicion.

It’s all gone. Let’s talk about it together: Old Yuan Shu knows what propriety, justice and shame are, and is he afraid of taking advantage of someone’s advantage and being laughed at by others? His moral character is probably no better than that of Tao Ying, who is full of benevolence, righteousness and morality, but is full of cocks and dogs and thieves.

?

Suspicious, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu quietly exchanged glances. Sun Ce saluted Yuan Yin and said: "General Yuan, please wait a moment. I will discuss with everyone at the end, and then I will negotiate with you about the retreat. When someone comes, the army will stop advancing.

Prepare food and wine for General Yuan, and ask General Yuan to go down and rest."

Sun Ce's soldiers agreed and invited Yuan Yin to have a meal in the motorcade. Seeing that Sun Ce's attitude was friendly and that Sun Ce's army showed no signs of using force, Yuan Yin felt relieved and followed Sun Ce's soldiers to the motorcade to have a meal. And Yuan Yin

As soon as the front foot was far away, Zhou Yu immediately lowered his voice and reminded Sun Ce: "Bo Fu, something is wrong. Yuan Yin is afraid that he has bad intentions, and he keeps peeking around. He seems to be very wary of us."

"I also noticed it." Sun Ce nodded and asked doubtfully: "What happened in Shouchun? Why did Yuan Shu suddenly order me to withdraw my troops?"

"I don't know about that." Zhou Yu shook his head and gritted his teeth and said, "But I can see that Mr. Yuan Shu definitely didn't have any good intentions when he called you back to the army this time. I'm afraid that when you withdraw to Shouchun, Bo Fu, you will be in trouble.

time."

Sun Ce was shocked, and felt that Zhou Yu's words were reasonable. Although he had good relations with Qiao Rui, Zhang Xun and others under Yuan Shu's account, and was secretly assisted by Yuan Shu's counselor Lu Fan, he also had a close relationship with Ji Ling, Yang Hong, and Yuan Yin.

Many of Yuan Shu's troops were unable to deal with them, especially Chen Ji and Liu Xun, two of Yuan Shu's closest confidants. Because they competed for the positions of the governors of Jiujiang and Lujiang, they even formed a sworn feud with him. Now Yuan Shu suddenly summoned him inexplicably.

If he withdraws his troops now, he must have become suspicious of himself. If he withdraws his troops now, he is afraid that a disaster may be imminent.

"Bo Fu, as you said that night, now that we have reached this point, turning back will be a dead end." Zhou Yu is worthy of being Sun Wu's chief think tank in the early stage. He saw through the current situation at a glance and whispered to Sun Ce.

Said: "The only way to survive is to continue moving forward, take Guangling as a foothold, and then pursue a great cause!"

"Continue moving forward?" Sun Ce hesitated.

"Gong Jin, isn't it too dangerous for you to let the major general do this?" Cheng Pu next to him objected: "Yuan Shu called our troops back, although it was sudden, it may not be malicious. If the major general disobeys the order and persists,

If we move forward and cannot capture Guangling, what will the young general do next?"

"If Yuan Shu doesn't have any ill intentions, it won't be easy." Zhou Yu said calmly: "Bo Fu can tell Yuan Yin that he will not accept the order of the foreign king. Now our army is less than two hundred miles away from Guangling, so it would be unavoidable to give up.

It's a pity that Yuan Yin is asked to reply to Yuan Shu. The military situation is very strong and cannot be delayed. Please forgive the crime of resisting the order. In this way, if Yuan Shu has no ill intentions, it will be an explanation to him. If Yuan Shu has malicious intentions, or he has already suspected Bo Fu.

, then something must be done. At that time, Bo Fu can adapt to the situation and take precautions to avoid withdrawing the troops and returning to the tiger's mouth."

"Gong Jin's words are very good, so he acted like this." When Sun Ce heard this, he immediately agreed to Zhou Yu's suggestion. At that time, Sun Ce led Zhou Yu, Huang Gai and others to the motorcade and found Yuan Yin who came to deliver the order.

Explaining the reason to him face to face, he said that his army was less than 200 miles away from Guangling and it would be a pity to withdraw his troops. He refused to withdraw on the pretext that the general would not accept the emperor's orders, and asked Yuan Yin to explain on his behalf and beg Yuan Shu's forgiveness.

To the surprise of Sun Ce, Zhou Yu and others, after hearing Sun Ce's reply, Yuan Yin not only did not get angry because Sun Ce resisted the order, but instead agreed to intercede for Sun Ce in front of Yuan Shu and immediately offered to leave. Although Sun Ce casually asked to stay, Yuan Yin

Yin refused to delay at any cost. He didn't even finish the food and wine. He picked up more than ten servants and hurriedly set off on the road, returning to Shouchun to report the news.

It was not until Yuan Yin was sent away that Sun Ce finally came to his senses and exclaimed: "No! Yuan Shu must have doubted me. Otherwise, if I disobey orders, how could Yuan Yin, who is at odds with me, let it go?"

"Yuan Yin immediately agreed to my request and then left in a hurry. He must be afraid that I will harm him and is very wary of me."

"It makes sense. It seems that there must be a villain slandering Yuan Shu." Zhou Yu agreed and suggested: "Bo Fu, it's not too late. We must march immediately. The sooner we arrive at Guangling, the better. Tao Ying is trying every possible means to do this.

To delay our army's advance, I think his Guangling City defense is not fully prepared. The sooner our army arrives at Guangling, the greater our chances of capturing Guangling."

"That's all we can do." Sun Ce made a decision immediately, turned to the generals and ordered: "Send the order to the whole army, speed up the advance. The soldiers cannot stop, the horses cannot stop, and rush to Guangling at full speed!"

The generals sang their promises, and Sun Ce ordered Cheng Pu: "Old General Cheng, from now on, I will hand over all the cavalry, a total of 900 people, to you. If Tao Ying's son comes to harass you again, you will immediately lead the army to pursue him.

The powerful crossbows suppressed his bows and arrows and drove him away. But remember, the pursuit should not exceed ten miles. If you chase ten miles, return immediately. As long as you contain Tao Ying's army of gentlemen, our infantry can take the opportunity to march!" Cheng Pu!

Hold your fists and sing the promise loudly.

After the order was conveyed, Sun Ce's army finally gave up the heavily guarded turtle formation and marched eastward in a hurry. The scouts of the Junzi Army fed back the news to Tao Ying. Tao Ying was overjoyed, knowing that Sun Ce finally could not hold back his anger at any cost.

Marched at full speed, immediately led the Junzi Army to attack, and once again harassed the flanks of Sun Ce's army. The cavalry of Sun Ce's army, which had been prepared for a long time, also quickly attacked under the leadership of Cheng Pu, and started a cavalry battle in the open area in the west of Guangling County——

To be precise, it should be a cavalry battle that transcends this era. There is no one-on-one battle between generals that is common in this era, and there is no cavalry melee. They get together and cut each other with knives. Some are just exchanges of strong bows and crossbows, and constant detours.

Intersperse and find opportunities to win in mobile battles.

To fight this kind of cavalry battle that transcended the times, the Junzi Army, which had been trained to fight this kind of cavalry battle since the day it was founded, certainly took a huge advantage. Although the crossbows of Sun Ce's cavalry did have a range greater than the Junzi Army's bows and arrows, they could also do it with one hand.

They hold the reins and raise the crossbow with one hand to shoot, but the firing frequency of the strong crossbow is too slow. They have to rein in the horse and load the arrows with both hands. The crossbow is far less flexible than the Junzi Army's bow and arrow, so the Junzi Army basically only needs to avoid Sun Ce's strong crossbow.

After the first wave of shooting, you can confidently and boldly approach and fire arrows to kill people. After the first cavalry battle, Sun Ce's army paid the price of nearly a hundred cavalry to drive the Junzi's army ten miles away, but the Junzi's army also suffered losses.

He acquired ten soldiers who were more valuable than gold.

Having suffered a loss due to the gap in the range of the bow and crossbow, Deputy Director Tao naturally would not be fooled again. When another cavalry battle was launched, Deputy Director Tao divided his troops into two groups and first let a group of gentlemen attract Cheng Pu's

The cavalry moved the tiger away from the mountain to lure Cheng Pu away. Another group took the opportunity to sneak attack Sun Cejun's infantry. While ants gnawed the bones, they shot and killed Sun Cejun's infantry. At the same time, they slowed down Sun Cejun's advance speed, forcing Sun Cejun to stop advancing and form a formation to fight back. At the same time,

At the same time, the plan of equipping some gentlemen's troops with powerful crossbows to make up for the lack of range of horse bows also began to appear in Tao Ying's plans.

This back-and-forth fight lasted for two days, each with casualties. After Sun Ce's army entered Yuguo County, all the Junzi Army's reserves of arrows were exhausted, and they were forced to end this not very successful guerrilla.

After fighting, he threw away Cheng Pu's pursuit and rushed back to Guangling City. He returned to Guangling to preside over the defense of Guangling.

Why is this battle of the Junzi Army not very successful? Because the purpose of the Junzi Army was to contain Sun Cejun for ten days and a half, but as a result, they were forced to return to Guangling on the ninth day of September, although Sun Cejun still needed at least one day to arrive.

Guangling, but it only restrained Sun Cejun for about ten days in total, and could only barely complete the task. At the same time, it cost the precious lives of more than 60 Junzi Army soldiers. It can be said that the gain outweighed the gain and the loss was huge - at least in one fell swoop.

Deputy Director Tao, who killed Sun Cejun veteran Han Dang and nearly a thousand Sun Cejun, felt that he had suffered a big loss.

Relying on the abnormal endurance of the Mongolian horses, the Junzi Army returned to Guangling City on the night of the ninth day of September. What made Tao Ying, who was already exhausted, breathed a sigh of relief that the Junzi Army's hard work these days was not in vain. The neighboring Yuguo and Jiangdu

The people in the county have all evacuated into Guangling City, and at the same time transferred all the food in the two counties, leaving not a single grain of rice or grain for Sun Ce's army, successfully completing the task of strengthening the walls and clearing the country. At the same time, the people in Guangling City

The city defense has also been greatly improved. All the places that need to be strengthened have been reinforced, the trenches that need to be dug have been dug deeper, and the water from the Zhongdu River has been introduced to fill it, making it difficult for Sun Cejun's siege vehicles and ladder trucks to approach directly.

After entering Guangling City, Tao Ying first arranged for the injured Junzi Army soldiers and horses to be treated by doctors and veterinarians, and then took the trouble to tell General Xuzhou to prepare high-protein and vitamin-rich food for the Junzi Army soldiers. Then he led Lu Su

Following Zhang Zhuo, he returned to the Guangling Prefecture to discuss the next step in the military situation. After returning to the Prefect's House, Deputy Director Tao, who was affectionate and philanthropic, had to ask Zhang Lie about someone's situation, "General Zhang, what's up with that little girl Lin Qing?"

You won’t come to welcome me in triumph?”

"I was originally here." Zhang Jie said with a smile: "When she saw that you were safe and sound, sir, she went back to rest. She also said that as long as you are not dead, she doesn't have to worry about collecting your body.

"

"What this little girl is saying is really unlucky." Tao Ying smiled bitterly. He had no choice but to put her affairs aside for the time being, and pulled Lu Su to Zhang Jie to introduce Lu Su and Zhang Jie.

By pretending to be polite to each other, it can be regarded as a formal partnership.

"Master, how are you?" After finishing his polite exchanges with Lu Su, Zhang Lie couldn't wait to ask: "What's the result of this expedition?"

"We killed Sun Jian's old subordinate Han Dang, and Sun Ce's infantry and cavalry probably killed hundreds of thousands of people." Tao Ying replied lightly.

"Have you killed Han Dang?" Zhang Lie exclaimed, "Have you killed Han Dang who followed Sun Jian in defeating Dong Zhuo's army?"

Tao Ying nodded and said seriously: "General Zhang, it doesn't matter how successful the Junzi Army is. The key to deciding the defense of Guangling is the six thousand infantry under your command. The next battle to defend the city will be up to you."

.”

"Please rest assured, Sir." Zhang Jie replied confidently: "The soldiers under the general's command may not be as good as the experienced soldiers under Sun Ce Xiao'er in field battles, but in the battle of defending the city, the general will have the confidence to compete with Sun Ce Xiao'er.

A handful."

"General Zhang, please forgive me for speaking frankly, but I don't dare to rest assured." Tao Ying shook his head and said in a deep voice: "I have witnessed with my own eyes the combat effectiveness and organizational ability of Sun Ce's army in the past few days. To be honest, it is not the same as ours in Xuzhou.

The difference between ordinary armies is huge. To put it bluntly, one Sun Ce army soldier can be equal to three of our Xuzhou soldiers in a field battle, and can also be equal to two of our Xuzhou soldiers in a siege battle! And when it comes to columns,

When fighting in formation, three hundred veterans of Sun Ce's army are enough to defeat our thousands of Xuzhou troops!"
To be continued...