Although Sun Sheng was reluctant to believe that Lu Bu and Dian Wei, two fierce warriors, could rival Xiang Yu, the situation in Danyang was clearly not optimistic.

There's no way that 100,000 men could take down a city defended by 30,000 troops.

Sun Sheng originally relied on the support of those powerful landlords to divide his forces into three routes, preparing to swallow Yangzhou in one fell swoop.

However, he never expected that the Han army would actually dare to wield the butcher's knife against the powerful landlords in Jiangnan, causing his entire plan to fall apart.

Now, of the three armies, only his own remains, and the rear is in imminent danger.

Thinking about all this, Sun Sheng couldn't help but feel agitated, pacing back and forth in the tent, trying to think of a solution.

He stood up and said, "Your Majesty, the Han army is currently attacking Kuaiji. I believe that our army should immediately withdraw and defend our territory!"

"fart!"

Upon hearing this, Sun Sheng angrily retorted, "Now that Huangfu Gui has led a large army to garrison outside Yichun City, if our army withdraws, he will definitely lead his army to pursue us. Wouldn't that be courting death?"

Even an idiot knows that when an army is retreating, it is most likely to be attacked and suffer a rout. Sun Sheng would certainly not retreat like that.

Sun Sheng stopped and said in a deep voice, "There's no other way. Only by eliminating Huangfu Gui's troops can our army retreat safely!"

The group of minor leaders inside the tent exchanged glances, having no better options than to obey orders.

Soon, Sun Sheng dispatched 50,000 troops straight to Huangfu Gui's camp.

Upon learning the news, Huangfu Gui immediately led 27,000 soldiers from the Chang'an Camp out of the camp and into battle formation.

However, Huangfu Gui deliberately arranged the formation extremely loosely, and the banners were all askew.

An hour later, the 50,000 rebels arrived at an open space three miles away from the Han army.

Seeing the Han army in disarray, Sun Sheng and the rebel leaders couldn't help but feel a surge of joy.

Sun Sheng couldn't help but laugh loudly: "Haha~, I was wondering why Huangfu Gui took so long to come to Yichun's aid. It turns out that his soldiers are nothing but a rabble!"

One of the leaders chimed in, "Your Majesty is right. It seems that the main force of the Han army is stationed in Danyang. Huangfu Gui's visit is merely to delay our army!"

Sun Sheng nodded and said in a deep voice, "Since Huangfu Gui's scheme has been exposed by me, today is his doomsday!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Sun Sheng ordered the entire army to attack. Fifty thousand rebel soldiers shouted loudly as they charged toward the Han army.

Seeing the swarming rebel army, Huangfu Gui sneered, then looked at the messengers beside him.

"Pass on my order: archers, advance! The main army, fight and retreat, and must not engage in close combat!"

"yes!"

The messengers responded loudly and scattered in all directions to convey Huangfu Gui's orders.

Soon, seven thousand archers from the Han army stepped out of their ranks and stood in two rows, each crossbow loaded with ten arrows, the sharp arrowheads gleaming coldly, aimed at the charging rebel troops.

The remaining 20,000 soldiers followed closely behind their respective centurions, slowly retreating.

Soon, the rebel soldiers at the forefront reached a distance of 180 paces from the Han archers.

"Release the arrows!!"

With each angry roar from the Han army officers, the first rank of Han soldiers pulled the triggers of their crossbows.

With a series of sharp, twanging sounds, 35,000 arrows shot out like a swarm of bees, heading straight for the rebel soldiers.

In an instant, the more than two thousand rebel soldiers at the forefront let out miserable cries as they fell to the ground, riddled with arrows. Almost every soldier had more than a dozen arrows stuck in their bodies, and blood spurted everywhere.

After the first volley ended, the rebels behind the main force continued to charge towards the Han army, trying to get close as quickly as possible.

However, the Han crossbowmen, who were rigorously trained, were obviously able to rotate at a faster pace.

The crossbowmen who had just fired in the previous round quickly stepped back, and another row of crossbowmen immediately followed to fill the gap, followed by another volley of fire.

This time, because of the closer distance, the arrows fired by the second rank of crossbowmen were more lethal to the rebels.

In just two volleys, nearly five thousand rebel soldiers fell in pools of blood. The rebel troops behind them, seeing the blood-red crossbows in the hands of the Han army, were terrified and dared not take another step forward.

Sun Sheng had anticipated this outcome; he knew that confronting the Han army head-on would not be as easy as he had imagined.

However, in his view, Huangfu Gui was only relying on those seven thousand archers; as long as he could get close, he would win.

Sun Sheng then dispatched a supervisory team to drive the rebel soldiers forward.

At the same time, the seven thousand archers retreated in an orderly manner, loading arrows as they went.

Just as the rebels rushed within 130 paces of the archers, the archers were ready again, and with two volleys of arrows, another 6,000 rebel soldiers fell to the ground.

Seeing their comrades lying on the ground, riddled with arrows, the rebel soldiers at the rear were terrified and retreated in droves, refusing to advance another step no matter how the supervising officers tried to drive them forward.

Just then, the gates of Yichun City opened wide, and the 10,000 garrison troops stationed inside the city suddenly charged out.

Upon seeing this, the rebel soldiers turned and ran, and no one could stop them.

Helpless, Sun Sheng had no choice but to withdraw his troops and return to camp.

Back in his tent, Sun Sheng sat down with a livid face.

He knew that taking down the Han army head-on would not be easy, but he did not expect the Han army's crossbows to be so powerful.

"Your Majesty, I think we should retreat... The Han army's crossbows are too terrifying; the brothers can't withstand them!"

A junior leader said tremblingly, he was terrified. This wasn't fighting a war; it was clearly suicide.

This time, Sun Sheng did not get angry, but pondered deeply, and a hint of retreat began to creep into his heart.

"Report!!"

Just then, a messenger suddenly ran in.

"Your Majesty, I have discovered that the Han army has set up camp in the same spot again and has sent men to collect arrows on the battlefield!"

"oh?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Sheng's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but burst into laughter: "Haha~, you cunning Huangfu Gui, I almost fell for your trick!"

"this....."

Upon seeing their king suddenly laugh, the group of underlings exchanged bewildered glances.

Sun Sheng stood up, glanced at everyone, and said loudly, "These Han soldiers don't have many arrows at all, otherwise Huangfu Gui wouldn't have been fighting and retreating. He wasn't fighting with his back to the river, but rather preparing to escape."

"As long as we can withstand their two volleys, we will surely defeat them in one fell swoop!"

"Your Majesty is wise!!"

The group of minor leaders couldn't help but nod in agreement.

The next day, Sun Sheng led all the remaining rebel soldiers out of the camp. Now that he knew the strength and weakness of the Han army, he was no longer going to hide anything.

Not long after the rebels left their camp, Xu Rong led three thousand soldiers, who had traveled day and night, and finally arrived south of the rebel camp.