But right now, it seemed there was only this choice. Jiangdong's navy had been beaten to the brink of collapse by Jiang Siming's fleet.
Their original two thousand warships had been reduced to just three-quarters in less than an hour. At this rate, the Jiangdong fleet would be completely annihilated in under three hours.
Liu Bei immediately found Cao Cao and Gongsun Zan and told them about his idea of abandoning Red Cliffs.
Unexpectedly, the two agreed at once. Rather than sit here waiting for Jiang Siming to attack, it was better to run first.
The three struck a deal and prepared to lead their troops back to land to defend the cities.
Sun Quan panicked when he saw this.
"Are you abandoning my Eastern Wu at a time like this? Are you not despicable traitors?"
Cao Cao was the best at spinning things. He walked over, pointed toward the river, and said, "Sun Zhongmou, look at your Jiangdong navy. It's about to be wiped out. If you run with us now, there's still a chance of survival. But if you wait until the navy is completely destroyed and Jiang Bei comes ashore, you'll surely die without a burial place."
Sun Quan was frightened. He had indeed seen his navy beaten into a miserable state.
"But as the lord of Eastern Wu, if I flee from battle, the army's morale will surely collapse," Sun Quan said hesitantly.
Liu Bei walked over and joined Cao Cao in deceiving him. "What's so difficult about that? You can simply have Zhou Gongjin continue holding this place. This whole Red Cliffs scheme was his terrible idea in the first place, so he should bear the consequences."
When Sun Quan heard this, he was somewhat reluctant to abandon Zhou Yu, a great general. But at