Seeing that His Majesty said this, Zhuge Ke had no choice but to leave in dismay no matter how unwilling he was.

Looking at Zhuge Ke's back, Sun Quan knew that he was still unwilling to give in, so he couldn't help but frown slightly:

Although Zhuge Yuanxun had great strategies, was his temperament a bit too strong-willed?

However, the current situation did not allow Sun Quan to think too much. Instead, Zhuge Ke's suggestion gave Sun Quan a hint:

"Right now, I am outnumbered. If the army rushes to attack Hefei, the thieves may not be able to come to my rescue in time. Why should I fear that they will attack and disturb my way back?"

Thinking of this, he immediately gave up the idea of ​​taking precautions along the way and ordered the entire army to speed up.

Man Chong, who was also heading to Hefei, was extremely anxious after hearing the news, but he stopped and summoned the generals:

"Although there are hundreds of thousands of thieves, the new city of Hefei was built under my personal supervision and is located in a dangerous location. The city is well-defended and the soldiers are strong, so the thieves will not be able to attack overnight."

"Now the enemy is outnumbered and we are outnumbered. If we move our army forward and meet the enemy head-on, we will attack the enemy with a small number, and we may not have a chance of victory, so we have to find another plan."

Wang Ling had always been at odds with Man Chong, and there was a police presence in Guangling, so he had already separated from Man Chong and led his troops to support him.

Man Chong had 40,000 people in his hands. He first gave 3,000 to Tian Yu to go to Hefei in advance, and 5,000 to stay in Shouchun.

Therefore, starting from Shouchun, the maximum number of people could not exceed 32,000.

Over the years, the climate has been erratic, with droughts, floods, and locust plagues occurring alternately without interruption.

Even in winter, it is often warm for one or two years and freezing for three or four years.

Although we are just getting ready to enter winter this year, the chill is already a bit overwhelming, and it looks like it will be another cold winter.

During the march, no matter how careful you are, someone will catch wind and cold. If the wind and cold persist, it will easily lead to epidemic diseases.

Therefore, those with stroke and cold must be isolated. Even if there are auxiliary soldiers and civilians, some soldiers must be assigned to take care of them.

Be lenient if you expect the enemy, be lenient if you expect yourself to be lenient.

Man Chong can only calculate its troops based on 30,000 troops now, no more.

Not only Man Chong knew this, but the generals also knew how many troops they had. When the commander said this, they all nodded.

"Then I wonder if the general has a plan?"

"We cannot fight head-on, but I also believe that General Tian can hold Hefei. Therefore, we will no longer go to Hefei this time, but divide our troops into two groups."

"I will personally lead the elite cavalry all the way to Xiaoyaojin and harass the thieves' food routes."

Having said this, Man Chong glanced at everyone and said loudly:

"There is another route, which is hidden around Hefei. One is to respond to the city at any time, and the other is to look for fighter opportunities and wait for attacks."

"I believe that Sun's thieves stayed at Chaokou for more than two months. Now after landing, they suddenly rushed to Hefei. Therefore, this siege mold was either transported from Chaohu or made temporarily under the city."

"Let's not talk about the temporary siege equipment made by the city, but if he really transported it from Chaohu..."

Man Chong's eyes flashed and he looked at everyone, "I need a brave general to lead the strong men in the army to rush into the enemy's formation and burn their siege equipment to delay the enemy's attack."

The generals looked at each other, and finally someone stood up and said loudly:

"The general has white hair and beard. He is over seventy years old and yet he personally leads the army into battle. How can we dare to retreat in front of the battle?"

Man Chong was overjoyed: "Good!"

Immediately, he separated from the generals and soldiers into two groups, Man Chong personally led ten thousand fine cavalry, and headed towards Xiaoyaojin with great fanfare.

The remaining 20,000 people quietly continued towards Hefei.

Sun Quan, who was not far from Hefei, was shocked when he learned that Man Chong was leading the army and did not come to Hefei but to Chaohu Lake:

"How dare Man Thief An be so bold? Does he really dare not to save Hefei?"

Sun Quan's eyes were filled with disbelief.

The thieves in Hefei have few soldiers. If Man Chong really can't come over, are they really not afraid of the city falling?

In his panic, he blurted out subconsciously:

"No! I must lead the army back, just in case."

Thinking of this hurried journey, Sun Quan couldn't help but regret. How much better would it have been if he had chosen to travel slowly and be prepared along the way?

"Your Majesty, the army has been marching in a hurry all the way, and now it suddenly turns back. The officers and soldiers in the army must have doubts. If the army's morale is shaken by then, the big thing will be over!"

Sun Tai, the son of Sun Quan's fourth brother Sun Kuang, followed him north this time and was responsible for escorting the siege equipment. At this time, he learned that Sun Quan wanted to turn back and quickly dissuaded him:

"If Your Majesty is worried about the safety of your retreat, you can just send more men back to defend. Why do you need to personally lead the army back?"

"The thieves have few soldiers. Now that Man Chong has not saved Hefei, we will take the opportunity to attack the city. Then we will see whether Man Chong will cut off our retreat first or we will capture Hefei first."

When Sun Quan heard this, he couldn't help but hesitate.

He thought for a while and then said:

"Having said that, the Wei thieves' elite cavalry are indeed our army's formidable enemy and must be guarded against. Why don't you escort the siege equipment and continue moving forward, join Zhuge Yuanxun, and attack the city together."

"I am stationed here. If there is trouble in the rear, I will turn back to rescue them. If there is no worries in the rear, I will go and join forces with you."

Between the two decisive battles, there is no room for hesitation, let alone delay.

Sun Quan was good at politics but not good at military strategy. At this time, he used political and muddy methods between the two formations. It seemed that he was taking care of both ends, but in fact it was difficult to take care of both ends.

Sun Tai originally wanted to persuade him again, but when he saw that Sun Quan had made up his mind and Hefei was in sight, he wanted to send the equipment to the city as soon as possible, so he gave up.

But it was this short journey that caused a disconnect between Sun Tai and Sun Quan who were escorting the siege equipment.

Hefei New Town is surrounded by mountains rising abruptly.

When Sun Tai led his army into the foothills, he looked at the mountains and couldn't help but sigh:

"The Wei thieves chose this place to build a new city. They really have a unique vision!"

At this time, the sudden rumbling of war drums was heard in the valley, flags were erected on the mountains, and at the same time, shouts of death were heard, and countless Wei troops rushed out of the mountains and forests.

Sun Tai was so frightened that he almost fell off his horse: "When did the thieves set up an ambush here?"

Didn't Zhuge Ke already arrive at Hefei City?

Where did this Wei bandit ambush come from?

Unless you are prepared in advance, or you are a rare elite soldier, you may not be able to quickly form a formation to stop the enemy when you encounter an attack while marching.

Not to mention that most of the troops Sun Tai led this time were auxiliary troops to transport attacking tools.

Now that they were attacked by the Wei army, chaos suddenly broke out.

"Don't panic! Come here, send the order, and all the ministries will come closer to me!"
Chapter completed!