Wang Xuan was wondering why all news had vanished like meat buns tossed to a dog after he sent Dian Wei to deliver a message when Cao Zhen, withdrawing from Jiangxia, arrived at Longkang by Shiguo Waterway with thirty thousand troops, preparing to join Sun Ce in a pincer attack on Gan Ning.
At the same time, Gan Ning suddenly led eight thousand troops and a naval force westward through the night, taking Sun Ce's Liao County and Yangquan in Lujiang Commandery in one fell swoop and completely opening the route west.
This move by Gan Ning had gone far beyond Cao Cao and Zhou Yu's expectations. At a time when he was being attacked from both sides, any normal person would have thought Gan Ning's best options were either to concentrate his forces and defend Shouchun to the death or withdraw his troops to Xuzhou. But who the hell knew? Gan Ning's mind simply didn't work like a normal person's.
He had actually pushed west at a time like this!
Was he not afraid that his retreat would be completely cut off, resulting in the annihilation of his entire army?
Was he looking down on the allied forces of Sun Ce and Cao Cao? Or was he looking down on the allied forces of Sun Ce and Cao Cao? Or was he looking down on the allied forces of Sun Ce and Cao Cao?
When they received the news three days later, Sun Ce and Cao Zhen both exploded. It was said that a scholar would rather die than suffer humiliation. Gan Ning was no longer merely looking down on the two of them—he had outright failed to see them!
This was intolerable. As military commanders, how could they possibly suppress their hot tempers? Sun Ce no longer cared