Yuan Tan stood on the high slope, looking with his hands behind his back.

In the distance, smoke and dust rolled, one knight after another rushed from a distance, passed through the gap, came to the slope, shouted a few words, and then drove away. The guards standing in the middle of the hillside repeated loudly, and the strategists surrounded by the big case on the top of the slope moved chess pieces representing the forces on the map, displaying the comparison of the forces of both sides on the map in real time.

Thirty miles, twenty miles, ten miles, Taishi Ci and Yan Rou each led thousands of cavalry to approach, and the main force led by Guan Yu followed closely, and the war might begin at any time. With the emergence of cavalry, the range of scout reconnaissance was compressed, and the time delay would increase, and Liu Bei's position was a little unpredictable.

Yuan Tan turned around and looked at Ju Su. Ju Su was holding the case with one hand, stroking his beard while staring at the map on the case with both eyes, without blinking, as if he was thinking.

Yuan Tan knew what he was thinking. Liu Bei not only took the initiative to greet him, but also sent Guan Yu to lead 15,000 infantry and cavalry in front. The two armies were more than twenty miles apart, and they actually meant to copy the battle two years ago. However, the host and guest changed, and Qu Yi was replaced by Guan Yu. This seemed a bit arrogant, but they all knew that Liu Bei had the capital to be arrogant.

Now is different. Liu Bei is no longer Liu Bei two years ago. He trained soldiers in Yuyang for two years and was not idle for a day. He was trained in Yuyang and was very eager to fight. Especially Guan Yu's troops, his 10,000 infantry can be regarded as the strongest elite under Liu Bei. In addition, Taishi Ci and Gongsun Xu led the cavalry to help, and now there is another Yan Rou, which is like a tiger. In contrast, although he has 40,000 infantry and cavalry, most of them are new recruits, and the number of cavalry is seriously insufficient. In the last battle last year, a hundred thousand troops crossed the river, and only more than ten thousand people retreated across the Yellow River, and most of the elite troops were broken in Guandu. One was rising and the other was declining, and Liu Bei was naturally full of confidence. Yuan Tan himself knew in his heart that although he had the advantage of military strength, he was not sure of victory, and he could not afford to lose at all. Sun Ce was on the plain, and Feng Ji was still waiting for his reinforcements. Once the battle was defeated and his morale was dissipated, Sun Ce would probably take advantage of the situation.

Yuan Tan walked to the big case, glanced at the map, and said as calmly as possible: "Prince and Guan Yu are coming, and war is about to begin."

Ju Su nodded, but did not speak. After a while, he realized that Yuan Tan was standing in front of him, and quickly put down his hand and smiled: "Your Majesty, don't worry, our army may have shortcomings in attack, but it is more than enough to defend the formation. Not to mention Guan Yu, even if Liu Bei led his troops to arrive, we can still withstand his attack."

Yuan Tan was puzzled. Ju Su thought so deeply that he thought Ju Su was not confident enough. Ju Su saw his doubts and pointed at Zhuo County. "Empress, the victory or defeat of this battle is Zhuo County. As long as Zhuo County is not lost, we will not lose. Now the biggest disadvantage to me is nothing else, but that Jun Yi was injured. The good medicine has been sent to the city. In about half a month, Jun Yi's injuries have gradually recovered, and our chance to fight back will come."

Yuan Tan glanced at Ju Shu, feeling uneasy. "Don't have enough confidence in Zhang Jun?"

Ju Su smiled silently. "Zhang Jun is for the court. He is not sure of winning, so he will not make a choice easily. Holding troops to watch is already his greatest help to us. It is unrealistic to expect him to send troops to help us reverse the situation." He frowned. "I am still a little confused about what Yan Rou... wants to do."

Yuan Tan smiled bitterly. When he learned that Yan Rou led his troops to assist Liu Bei, he was as bad as Ju Su. Yan Rou had always supported Yuan Shao and Liu Yu. When Yuan Shao was alive, he helped him settle the matter of Xing Ju, the captain of Huwuwan. After Liu Yu's death, he formed an alliance with Xian Yufu and others. He was supposed to be his allies, but now he sent troops to assist Liu Bei, which seemed to indicate that the Youzhou family had forgotten Liu Yu and his son. Liu He's death cut off their contact with the Youzhou family, which triggered a result they didn't want to see. Ju Su probably regretted it now. If he had known this, it would have been better if he hadn't been irritating Liu He at the time.

It's over here, and regret is useless.

Another scout rushed to the slope and reported the latest news: Taishi Ci and Yan Rou had arrived. Ju Zu ordered people to move the chess pieces of the warriors, while Yuan Tan looked up and looked into the distance. On the horizon, he had already seen the figure of the cavalry, and the smoke and dust kicked from the horse's hooves arrived first under the storm of the autumn wind.

The soldiers standing on the slope also saw the figures of the cavalry and stood up to form a combat formation and prepared for the battle. Especially Yan Liang, who was lined up in the north of the hillside, issued an order and ordered the soldiers to keep their pace and not panic, while warning the central army. The cavalrymen who lined up on the hillside also stood up, rectified their horse harnesses, put away their mats, stood beside the war horses, and were ready to charge at any time.

After a while, the cavalry came to the formation and stopped outside the range of the powerful crossbow. There was no strict formation, but they just gathered loosely, with twenty or thirty cavalry each galloping to both sides, inquiring about the news, and rode out from the horses and slowly coming to the front of the formation.

Yuan Tan looked carefully. Although he could not see his face clearly, or even the style of armor, he had a sense that this person should be Taishi Ci who seriously injured Zhang He not long ago. He hurriedly said, "Come here, I will order Yan Liang to keep his position tightly and not to fight." He knew that Taishi Ci and Yan Liang had fought many times, and Yan Liang was suppressed and beaten by Taishi Ci because of his lack of strength. Now Yan Liang has been under his command and has been entrusted with him with important tasks. If Yan Liang wants to separate from Taishi Ci again, and violate Jushu's prior arrangement and go to fight rashly, it would be troublesome.

Ju Su stopped him. "Don't worry, please see how Yan Liang responds. Even if he is reckless, it will be too late for you to give orders."

Yuan Tan thought about it and didn't say anything else.

Taishi Citi came to the formation, stood a hundred steps away, and said loudly: "Yan Zishan, the old friend is here, won't you come out to see him?"

Taishi Ci had long seen Taishi Ci in the formation. Taishi Ci was the kind of person who was unique even if he was mixed in the crowd, not to mention that he was now dressed in a freshly dressed and angry horse, his armor was sophisticated that he exuded the aura of a rich man on his body.

That set of Mingguang armor will cost fifty gold, plus the fine steel spear in your hand, the war horse at your waist, the war horse at your crotch, and the equipment will be at least 100 gold.

Yan Liang felt a little sad. He stopped and wanted to attack Taishici's subordinates with a crossbow. These Hebei people had no knowledge. They didn't know that Taishici was a famous archer. Don't not shoot him, but was shot to death by him with an arrow. That would be embarrassing. He turned over and came to the formation, and went out for more than ten steps, refusing to move forward. Yuan Tan saw him stopping from afar, and then breathed a sigh of relief.

"Taishi Ziyi, are you okay?" Yuan Tan shouted loudly.

Taishi Ci laughed. "Why, the brave and fearless Yan Hutou is so vigilant now, even if he has to talk about the past with his old friends?"

"Your order is here, and I dare not leave lightly. If you are rude, I would like to forgive Brother Ziyi." Yan Liang also laughed loudly, "I heard that you have improved your martial arts. Now I am plagued by civil affairs and dare not duel with you." He spoke relaxed, but he felt a little whispered in his heart. He had fought with Taishi Ci many times, each with his victory or defeat. He believed that Taishi Ci was a rare opponent and was the most satisfying to fight. He had to follow his original intention, and naturally he would respond happily at this time. He fought with Taishi Ci for 300 rounds and loosen his muscles. However, before the battle, Ju Su repeatedly stated that this battle was mainly about defense, and no one was allowed to fight easily, and he did not dare to violate the order easily.

He is from Xuzhou. Now that Xuzhou has been under Sun Ce's hands, Yuan Tan still trusts him so much and has entrusted him with important tasks. I don't know how many Jizhou people are jealous of him and are waiting for him to die in battle to take over his position. In addition, Zhang He was injured, and he didn't know if Taishi Ci has made great efforts recently. If he fights one-on-one, negligently and injured, it would be embarrassing. Since Ju Shu was not allowed to fight, he would bear it.

He didn't look back, but he knew Yuan Tan, Ju Su was looking at him, and with the autumn wind blowing, he might hear what he said. Even if he couldn't hear it now, he would know it in the future.

Seeing that Yan Liang was unwilling to respond, Taishi Ci didn't say much. Seeing the knights who were scouting on both sides came back, he drove his horse back to the formation. The knights reported that Yuan Tan's formation was guarded strictly, like an iron barrel. Both sides were like the front, with spears and huge shields, strong bows and hard crossbows, infantry outside, cavalry inside, it was obvious that they wanted to defend the formation to the death and wait until they broke through the formation and had no time to fight back.

Taishici guessed the result when he saw Yan Liang's position. He was surprised. Yan Rou was so angry that he cursed and looked at Taishici, hoping that Taishici could have a clever plan to break the formation so that he could observe it nearby. Taishici laughed silently and patted Yan Rou on the shoulder.

"Berwin, there is a solution, but you can't see it today."

"When can I see it?"

"I'll let you see when you send me five hundred good horses."

Yan Rou is also a smart person, and he understood it as soon as he heard it. Taishici was ordered to come to Youzhou. It would be impossible to say if he didn't have a killer move. However, this killer move is relatively high and ordinary war horses cannot bear it. Of course, Taishici's words are also exaggerated. After all, he has the help of Gongsun Xu's uncle and nephew. Even if there are no five hundred good horses, there are always one or two hundred horses, but it is not time to take action yet.

As for the killer move, of course, it must be used when deciding the outcome. Now it is to help Liu Bei fight, why bother to do so?

"Brother Ziyi, don't worry, after this battle, I will go to the grassland and find a way to raise five hundred good horses for Brother Ziyi." Yan Rou patted his chest. "I heard for a long time that there is a wooden school under the command of Marquis Wu, and there are countless skilled craftsmen. I also want to see how exquisite the horse armor made in the Central Plains is."

"I have a chance, I have a chance." Taishici laughed.

Taishici and Yan Rou divided the work. Yan Rou led the cavalry to chase and kill the scouts, cutting off Yuan Tan's eyes and ears. Taishici was responsible for surveying the terrain, drawing a map, and giving it to Guan Yu, so that Guan Yu would be mentally prepared for the battlefield situation. In the battlefield chosen by Yuan Tan, these tasks must be started from scratch. Fortunately, Taishici has rich combat experience and the soldiers around him are familiar with these things and do not take any effort. After the arrangement is made, Taishici dispatched soldiers, grouped with a hundred people, running back and forth along Yuan Tan's formation, and conducting a tentative raid. He did not expect to break through Yuan Tan's position, but made Yuan Tan's subordinates dare not take it lightly, maintain a highly tense situation, and consume their energy and energy.

Although it was a test, no one dared to take it lightly in front of Taishici's superb archery skills. Before the battle, Yan Liang informed Taishici of his strength. Now Taishici is in front of him, and no one wants to be defeated by him. Everyone is focused on it, as if facing a great enemy.
Chapter completed!