" How is this possible?!"
" How is this possible?!"
A furious roar came from Mushui Pass.
Li Ru's face was pale and he was in a daze. Then, his legs went limp and he sat on the ground.
Defeated…
How could he lose?
Xu Rong quickly helped Li Ru up.
"Get lost!" Li Ru pushed Xu Rong away and staggered to his feet.
"Where's Hwa Xiong?"
"I don't know. When I arrived, Hwa Xiong's flag was already out of sight. His troops have also been defeated."
"You were ambushed by Sun Jian?
"Could it be that Sun Jian didn't feign defeat in his camp, or that he didn't arrange for an ambush on our flanks?”
Xu Rong's face was covered in dust, and there were still many crossbows on his armor.
"Neither!" Xu Rong knelt on one knee and shook his head hatefully.
"Everything on Sun Jian's side is as you have predicted.
"Sun Jian's generals Zu Mao and Han Dang's heads have already been taken by me and Hua Xiong.
"There was also Cheng Pu, who was taken away by Sun Jian and his hundred cavalry at the risk of death.”
" What about their heads?!" Li Ru instinctively doubted Xu Rong's words and shook Xu Rong's shoulder hard.
"They were all taken away by the Cao army.”
"Cao Jun?
"Cao Cao?" Li Ru was dumbstruck. He staggered to the battlements alone and looked into the deep darkness.
"I'm really ridiculous…
"What a good move.”
Li Ru sighed.
He finally understood.
"I originally thought that those four surrendered soldiers were sent by Sun Jian.
"Now that I think about it, it's really ridiculous!
"Sun Jian is an experienced general on the battlefield and is familiar with military affairs. His plan to reduce the amount of food he cooks is enough to make me realize that he is already weak.
"If he sets up an ambush, even I might be careless and fall into his trap.
"I overlooked one point.
"How could Sun Jian be so stupid as to send his surrendered soldiers here and let me realize that he had already set up an ambush?
"These four people were all sent by Cao Cao to pretend to surrender!”
Xu Rong was shocked. He walked to Li Ru's side and asked,
"How do you know?
"Perhaps Sun Jian and Cao Cao ambushed me together?”
"You trash!" Li Ru had completely lost his usual composure.
"If Cao Cao and Sun Jian really ambushed him together, how could Sun Jian lose two generals and let Cao Cao take advantage of him?”
"Cao Cao, Cao Cao!" Li Ru gritted his teeth." What a Cao Cao! He schemed against us and Sun Jian!”
Only then did Xu Rong understand. He was shocked and said,
"Cao Cao is actually so ruthless. It's really as Zijiang Xu said, a treacherous hero in a chaotic world!”
Li Ru shook his head, his eyes filled with fear as he said,
"No, it can't be Cao Cao.
"What traitor?
"I know him. He's just a brave but tactless person who talks about military tactics on paper.
"He's even weaker than Sun Jian, so how can he toy with Sun Jian and me?
"There must be someone assisting him.”
Xu Rong's expression was a little strange when he heard this.
He sensed that Li Ru was trying to excuse himself from being schemed against.
Suddenly, Li Ru looked at Xu Rong suspiciously and said sternly,"
"Why didn't Hwa Xiong come back, but you did?!”
"According to what you said, I, Xu Rong, should have died at Cao Cao's hands?!”
Xu Rong was defeated because of Li Ru's plan, so he was already unhappy.
At this moment, being questioned by Li Ru, the fire in his heart burned.
Li Ru rolled his eyes at Xu Rong and said slowly,"
"That's not what I meant.
"I only have a vague feeling that Cao Cao has ulterior motives for you to return.”
Xu Rong coldly snorted, cupped his fists, and said coldly,
"Today's defeat was all thanks to the military counselor's plan!”
Li Ru rolled his eyes at Xu Rong again, suppressing the anger in his heart.
At this time, he could not have any animosity with Xu Rong anymore.
"Don't be angry.
"This defeat is all my fault. I will report it to my lord truthfully.”
When Xu Rong heard this, his expression relaxed slightly.
Li Ru fell into deep thought.
After a while, Li Ru thought of something and asked in a daze,"Protectorate General Xu, how many troops are left in the pass?”
"16,000."
Li Ru was silent.
In order to attack Sun Jian without any risk, Lishui Pass had transferred 10,000 men from the other passes, totaling 30,000 men.
Xu Rong and Hua Xiong had sent 20,000 men to attack Sun Jian and left 10,000 soldiers to guard the pass.
In other words, after being ambushed by Cao Cao, Xu Rong only brought back 6,000 men.
"They will definitely come here tonight and take the risk to seize the pass.
"Send 8,000 men to set up an ambush outside the city.
"Perhaps we can still turn the tide of the battle.”
"How do you know?" Xu Rong hesitated.”
Li Ru let out a long sigh and said,"
"Can't you tell?
"The six thousand people you brought back, as I expected, were released on purpose.”
Xu Rong was about to get angry, but Li Ru raised his hand to stop him.
Li Ru looked worried.
"The reason why he let you all come back was to let these six thousand people spread the fear in everyone's hearts.
"What a good psychological attack!
"At this moment, the morale of our army has already wavered.
"Tonight is the best time for him to break through.
"He wouldn't not try."
Xu Rong also fell silent. What Li Ru said made sense.
In fact, he had already noticed that the Cao army behind him had been following him in an orderly manner.
This didn't seem like the performance of a victorious army.
Unless the Cao army's discipline had reached an appalling level.
But that was impossible.
Among the suanzao dukes, only Gongsun Zan of Liaodong and Sun Jian of Changsha had the ability to lead the army and had years of experience on the battlefield.
With Cao Cao's military discipline, it was impossible for him to not panic when he saw benefits.
In other words, Cao Cao might have let him go on purpose.
How detestable!
Xu Rong gritted his teeth.
"No, no!" Li Ru suddenly waved his hand.
"I'm so angry that I'm confused!
"Cao Cao has a master in his army. He will definitely be careful. He might even ambush us!”
Xu Rong's body trembled once again as cold sweat trickled down his back.
He only knew how to train soldiers and fight wars. He had always looked down on strategists, thinking that they were laymen commanding experts.
However, the confrontation between Li Ru and Cao Cao's men in terms of intelligence and strategy had truly broadened his horizons.
Li Ru looked at the dark void with a worried expression.""Since Cao Cao's army has wise men, he definitely won't attack the city rashly.
"Therefore, he has three choices.
"One, put on our military armor and pretend to be a defeated soldier.
"Second, let a small number of captives who intend to surrender to him take the lead in lowering our guard. They will send a large number of people to hide behind.
"Second, drive the captives to the pass. He will then mix a small number of death warriors with the captives, hoping that the death warriors will break through the gate and buy time for his army to attack Mushui Pass.
" He won't choose the first option."
"Why?" Xu Rong was puzzled.
"If you're the only one guarding the pass, then they might choose one."
"Because you will let them into the city."
When Xu Rong heard this, he felt that Li Ru seemed to be scolding him for being stupid. However, after thinking about it, it was indeed possible that he would carelessly let them into the city.
However, didn't Li Ru Gang open the city gate without any wariness and welcome him in?
Why didn't he think that Cao Cao might have mixed in with his own people?
Li Ru began to mutter to himself. He did not look at Xu Rong, as if he was not talking to Xu Rong.
"They won't choose the second option either.
"Because they must have known that I was in charge of the pass and expected me to see through such a simple plan.
"Therefore, they knew that I would never open the city gates.
"If that's the case, they shouldn't have chosen the third option.
"This…"
Li Ru fell into a long silence.
After a long time, Li Ru suddenly raised his eyebrows and looked at Xu Rong in bewilderment.
"So the flaw lies in you!
"This is also why they let you come back!
"Whether it's two or three, you'll open the city gates, right?”
" This..." Xu Rong was at a loss.
If it wasn't for Li Ru, this was indeed the choice he would have made.
The two of them looked at each other in silence.
After a few breaths, Li Ru suddenly changed his attitude.
He held Xu Rong's arm and said in a pleading and resolute tone,
"Tonight, no matter what, we have to defend Mushui Pass.
"As long as we can defend it.
"No matter what happens, Protectorate General Xu must not open the city gates!”
Xu Rong was stunned for a moment before nodding his head in agreement.
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