Chapter 245: Anticipating the Enemy, Spring Valley Falls The commander of Chungu City was named Sun He, also known by his courtesy name Bohai. He was a relative of Sun Jian and the father of Sun Huan, a famous general of the Eastern Wu. He was a man of loyal character, taciturn but quick to act. At a young age he followed Sun Jian in his campaigns, often serving as a pioneer. After Sun Jian died and Sun Ce started his army, he followed Wu Jing, Lu Fan and others to join Sun Ce's army and became one of Sun Ce's entrepreneurial team. Originally, many of Sun Ce's generals were from other families, but with the defeats in the past two years, many of them died in battle. Therefore, in order to resist Liu Bei this time, Sun Ce mobilized the Sun Family Gang. Although Sun Ce had a difficult time rising to power, the Sun family actually had many talented people, especially generals, such as the defending general Sun He. After receiving Sun Ce's order to guard Chungu, this man ordered the city to be strictly guarded to prevent Liu Bei's army spies from infiltrating. Originally in Chungu, the purpose was to have scouts observe the movements of the navy. But since Lu Su had received orders and was wandering back and forth all day, the scouts had seen it so many times that they no longer became suspicious.

As a result, Taishi Ci didn't even know that he had quietly reached the reed marsh west of the city. At that night, the sky was covered with dark clouds, and it was pitch dark outside the city. Sun He ordered his men: "There is no moon tonight, and it is all dark. If you see anyone approaching the city, no matter what you say, use your bows and arrows to drive them away first, and then call me." "You are patrolling here, and you are not allowed to let anyone get close to the city. Anyone who violates this rule will be killed!" All his men obeyed his orders and fought on the city walls. Soldiers patrolled meticulously, torches were lit on the city walls, and the defenses were very strict. So when Taishi Ci arrived at the foot of the city, he saw many patrolling soldiers on the city wall and said in a deep voice: "Our army has been observing here for several days, and the enemy's defenses have not weakened!" "Seeing the weather like this, I was about to launch a surprise attack, but unexpectedly the enemy's defense became even more strict!" "With such defenses, even if we can launch a surprise attack, it will be difficult to capture it. I wonder what strategies you have for capturing the city?" Although he did not take the defenders in the city seriously, he did not want too many of his soldiers to suffer casualties, so he asked for advice. After hearing this, everyone was lost in thought. After a while, they heard Qu Chang Wuji, one of his subordinates, speak: "General, I see that the enemy is well-defended on the city walls. We might as well split our forces into two groups!" "I will lead an army to the west gate to deceive the enemy and lure them here. You will go to the east gate!" "If the enemy is not suspicious, I will seize the gate as soon as I get into the city!" "If the enemy becomes suspicious, I will feint an attack and you can attack from the rear. Maybe we can take the city in one fell swoop!" When everyone heard this, they all nodded in agreement. Taishi Ci also stroked his beard and smiled, saying: "I have made great progress in the past three years. This plan is feasible!" Wu Ji gave a shy smile when he praised him like this, but when he glanced at Zhuge Liang, he saw him shaking his head slightly, and he couldn't help but frown and said: "I see you shaking your head, sir. Do you think this plan is difficult to implement?" Seeing this, Taishi Ci and others also looked at Kong Ming, and saw him shaking his head and smiling: "It's not that the general's plan is not feasible, but I see that the enemy general is acting rigorously and must be prepared!"

"If we rush in and attack rashly, it may be difficult to capture this city successfully!" Wu Ji heard this. Although he knew Zhuge Liang was of high status, he was a little displeased when he saw that he was young. "Then according to your opinion, how should our army take the city?" Upon hearing this, Zhuge Liang shook his head and smiled: "Liang has no plan to capture the city!" Wu Ji was about to say something when Taishi Ci said in a deep voice: "Since there is no good plan, our army will follow this plan. It will not waste time and opportunities in vain!" Without waiting for anyone to reply, he proceeded according to Wu Ji's plan. He divided 3,000 soldiers and horses to fight with Wu Ji in the fraudulent city, while he led more than 9,000 people of his own army to go around the back of the city. In this way, when it was three o'clock in the morning, Wu Ji led his troops and horses towards the city. When he was a hundred steps away, he suddenly heard a loud shout: "Who are you outside the city? Stop immediately and tell me your name!" When Wu Ji saw this, he hurriedly stepped forward with a smile to answer, saying that he was the reinforcement sent by Sun Ce. Unexpectedly, as soon as he took a step, he saw the archers on the city wall had already drawn their bows and crossbows. With a whoosh, an arrow shot at his feet. When Wu Ji saw this, he was immediately shocked and asked hurriedly: "Why are you doing this, brother on the city wall? We have no ill intentions, so why are you shooting arrows at us?" When he asked, the city guard shouted: "No matter who you are, when the general arrives, you must not rely on the city!" "If you take one more step, don't blame us for being ruthless!" Seeing the tight defenses on the city wall, Wu Ji was horrified, thinking that nothing could be accomplished today. After thinking for a while, he responded calmly on the surface, but secretly ordered his sword and shield soldiers to move forward and prepare for an attack. While he was preparing to mobilize his troops, he sent soldiers from the city to report the news to Sun He. Sun He had just fallen asleep. Upon hearing this, he stood up and sneered: "Now Liu Bei's army is in the south, and the lord is guarding the place personally. There is no war here, so why do we need troops to help?" "This must be a trick of the enemy army to set up the city. Please prepare your troops and I will defeat them myself!" After saying this, he assembled more than a thousand soldiers and prepared to lead them to defeat the enemy. But as soon as he stood up, he suddenly felt something was wrong and asked the messenger: "How many enemy troops are there? Are they all at the west gate?" The messenger quickly replied that the enemy army numbered about two to three thousand. When Sun He heard this, he felt something was wrong. There were as many as 5,000 soldiers and horses in his city. Even if the enemy came to deceive the city, they could not have only had this number of soldiers and horses.

After thinking it through, he led his troops to the street and said: "Let's go and have you wait outside the city. We'll go back in at dawn and see how you guys proceed!" Upon hearing this, the soldiers rode away on their horses. After a while, they suddenly heard shouts and screams from the west. Seeing that there were indeed enemy troops outside the city, everyone said to Sun He: "General, since the enemy is in the west, we might as well send reinforcements as soon as possible!" But when Sun He heard this, he shook his head and said: "Please wait for a moment. I am worried that this may be the enemy's plan to attack from the east while making a feint to the west!" When everyone saw this, they stopped trying to persuade him and waited for a moment. Suddenly, they heard shouts and screams coming from the east. It turned out that after Taishi Ci led his troops to the east gate, he waited there. When he heard the shouting and killing from the west, he ordered his soldiers to quietly climb up the city wall with grappling hooks. Unexpectedly, they were discovered by Sunhe's troops, and the two armies fought again at the east gate. When Sun He saw that there was a battle at the west gate first and then noises at the east gate, he knew that the main force of the enemy was probably at the east gate, so he led his troops and attacked towards the east gate. When they reached the gate, they rushed up to the city and engaged in a battle with Taishi Ci's troops. After the two armies had fought for a while, Taishi Ci heard the shouts from the city getting louder and louder, and knew that reinforcements were coming. It would be difficult to capture the city, so he had to call back his troops. Sun He defeated Taishi Ci's attack and laughed: "Liu Bei's army has run out of tricks and can't break through in the south, so they come to Chungu to look for an opportunity!" "How can I be the kind of person who falls into such a trap so easily?" With this smile, he ordered his soldiers to guard the place strictly, and he returned to the mansion to rest. However, Taishi Ci originally wanted to launch a surprise attack, but was seen through by Sun He and retreated in defeat. When they arrived at the reed marsh, they took a quick count and found that the casualties in this battle were as many as five or six hundred. Seeing this outcome, Taishi Ci was furious and said: "You failed to launch a surprise attack today. Everyone, take a good rest. I will lead you to capture the city tomorrow!" The generals were also indignant when they heard this, but Zhuge Liang stepped forward and said with a smile: "Wait a minute, General. I have a plan that may be able to break the city!" Wu Ji was feeling ashamed because his plan had failed. When he saw him approaching, he said angrily: "Since you have a plan, why didn't you tell us earlier, instead of waiting until we suffered heavy casualties before offering your advice?" Zhuge Liang listened to this without saying anything, but just looked at Taishi Ci quietly. Seeing him like this, Taishi Ci frowned and said in a deep voice: "Sir, what plans do you have to break into the city?" "Our soldiers are exhausted right now. If you really have a good plan, why not wait until tomorrow to implement it?" But when Zhuge Liang heard this, he smiled and said: "This plan can only be implemented tonight. I hope the general will follow the strategy just now and attack the west gate first, then the east gate!" "If we act this way, we can take this city in one fell swoop!" Everyone listened, thinking it was a brilliant idea, but they didn't expect it to be these words, and they immediately burst into laughter.

Upon hearing this, Taishi Ci frowned and hesitated for a moment. Zhuge Liang saw this, stepped forward, bowed and said with a smile: "General, if you follow my advice and this city is not taken, I will be punished by military law!" Seeing his determined expression, Taishi Ci could not say much, so he gritted his teeth and said: "Well, I will follow your plan and see how the enemy responds!" As he said this, he led his troops back to Chungu City again. Wu Ji still led the feint attack, while he was the main attacker. But this time he assigned 5,000 soldiers to Wu Ji, and he himself led more than 7,000 soldiers to go around the back of the city. It was almost five o'clock in the morning, a time when people were mentally exhausted. As soon as Wu Ji arrived, he rushed towards the city with his troops without saying a word. The shouts of killing once again resounded through the night sky. With great momentum and vigor like a tiger, they actually charged straight to the top of the city. When Wu Ji saw this, he was delighted and hurriedly urged his soldiers to attack the city. Seeing the enemy coming in full force, the defenders in the city hurriedly sent people into the city to wake up Sun He. Sun He had just slept for an hour and was feeling groggy when he suddenly heard that the enemy had returned. He cursed angrily and led his troops to the west gate for reinforcement. When they arrived here, they saw that the enemy had already attacked the city, so they led their men to fight hard, trying to force the enemy back. But at this moment, Taishi Ci heard shouting and killing from the west, so he ordered people to sneak to the foot of the city and climb up the city with grappling hooks. By the time Sun Ce's army discovered it, Taishi Ci's troops had already entered the city. Upon seeing this, the two armies started fighting again, but this time, not only did no reinforcements arrive at the East Gate, but the number of soldiers and horses was decreasing as the battle went on. Taishi Ci was overjoyed when he saw this, and simply took a shield and climbed up the city wall himself. At the same time, Sun He was fighting at the west gate, when he suddenly heard shouts of killing at the east gate. His heart immediately dropped to the bottom, and he exclaimed: "What does the enemy want? Are they using the same old trick again?" He wanted to bring troops to reinforce, but he saw that the enemy troops at the west gate were getting more and more courageous, and he could not retreat for a while. After a delay of two moments, an urgent voice was heard from inside the city: "The enemy has entered the city! The enemy has entered the city!" When Sun He heard this, he was horrified and hurriedly ordered his troops to withdraw. However, as soon as he reached the city, he saw Taishi Ci leading his troops to attack. In desperation, he had to step forward and fight with Taishi Ci. However, Taishi Ci was a fierce general of the time, and he was no match for him. Moreover, he had no horse, so how could he resist him! However, Sanhe was knocked to the ground and captured on the spot. With Sun He being captured, Chungu was officially declared fallen. Taishi Ci was defeated first and then won overnight, and he was very happy. He quickly sent someone to invite Zhuge Liang into the city and said with a smile: "Thanks to your plan, sir, our army was able to capture the city in one fell swoop!" "But I don't know why, I hope you can tell me, sir?"

Upon hearing this, Zhuge Liang explained to Taishi Ci: "Yinliang saw that the enemy generals acted cautiously and were extremely vigilant." "General, even if you attack fiercely, it will not be effective!" "But they have been defending for days and their soldiers are exhausted. If we fight now, their morale will be reduced and we can attack from here!" "Moreover, the general has used his old tricks again, and the enemy general is unprepared. When he sees the incident at Ximen, he should first help Ximen." "The East Gate is thus relaxed, and with your bravery, we can take it down in one battle!" After hearing these words, Taishi Ci was immediately impressed by Zhuge Liang. Although this plan tonight is simple, it grasps the wisdom of human nature and can only be done by a wise man! As he thought about this, he remembered that he had captured Sun He, so he hurriedly said: "Now our army has captured the enemy general Sun He, who is Sun Ce's cousin. I wonder what we should do?" Zhuge Liang smiled when he heard that the enemy commander had been captured. "We originally opened the passage here. Now that we have defeated the enemy, we will help the lord defeat Sun Ce!" "I think this place is behind the enemy's main camp. If we see Chungu being attacked, Sun Ce will have to come to the rescue." "Why not use Sun He's seal and send your troops to lure Sun Ce here." "As long as Sun Lang leaves the stronghold, our army will be able to capture his camp!" "Wait until they lose the protection of their camp, then we can attack from here and maybe capture them!" When Taishi Ci heard the plan, he was overjoyed and acted according to it. He used Sun He's seal as a letter and sent his troops with a fake military order to march towards Sun Ce's camp. Because Chungu was only seventy or eighty miles away from Fanchang, the soldiers marched out of Chungu and arrived at the Fanchang stronghold in less than a day. When everyone heard that Liu Bei's army had divided its forces to launch a surprise attack on Chungu, they were all shocked. Chen Duan hurriedly said: "My lord, Chungu is our army's retreat route and cannot be lost. Since the general is asking for help, it shows that Taishi Ci has a lot of troops!" "We must rush to reinforce, lest Spring Valley be lost and disaster strike!" If someone else raided Chungu, Sun Ce would not send troops easily. But when he heard that it was Taishi Ci who led the troops, he ordered Han Dang and others to guard the camp strictly, and led 5,000 soldiers to reinforce Chungu. (End of this chapter)