Choose Liu Bei at the start, I am the only one who knows the plot of the Three Kingdoms.

With Sun Jian backing down, Gu Rubing no longer wanted to argue.

After all, both sides had their own concerns.

Seeing that neither side intended to fight, Xu Chu turned to leave.

"Wait a minute, you three, why don't you stay a few more days? Let me show you some hospitality. Otherwise, you won't know how to explain it to your host when you go back, will you?"

Sun Jian dared not let these three people leave. He still had the ability to negotiate with Gu Rubing because of these three people. If they left, what would he talk about? It would be a miracle if Gu Rubing didn't kill him.

Upon hearing this, Xu Chu glanced at Gu Rubing beside him and immediately understood Sun Jian's meaning, then nodded.

Soon everyone returned to the city.

Sun Jian led everyone back to the palace, while Gu Rubing left him at the city gate.

After watching Sun Jian leave.

Gu Rubing immediately looked at Guan Yu and the others.

"How do you feel this time? Do you have the strength to fight?"

Upon hearing this, Guan Yu paused for a moment, then shook his head.

"Brother, if it weren't for the old general forcing Sun Jian to retreat, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to hold out for long. However, if Meng Qi had joined the battle, perhaps we could have turned the tide and won."

With Guan Yu's words in mind, Gu Rubing nodded, now even more certain of his judgment.

Zhang Fei, standing to the side, shook his head in dissatisfaction.

"Big brother, if I had had a little more time, I would definitely have been able to defeat Miao Moqing. With me helping second brother share the burden, it definitely wouldn't have taken long to defeat her."

Guan Yu shook his head helplessly at Zhang Fei's words.

All the legendary generals present were fighting with reservations, and neither side was using their full strength. If Zhang Fei really pushed Miao Moqing to the brink of death, Miao Moqing would definitely use her last resort, and the battle would definitely not be as simple as Zhang Fei thought.

"Alright, let's not talk about this for now. Third brother, go and give this list to the Prime Minister so he can make preparations. You personally deliver the items over."

"Yes!"

Zhang Fei put away the list in Gu Rubing's hand, turned around and left Constantinople.

Sun Jian led everyone back to the palace, and his expression was not good at this time.

"How did you all feel about your battle against Liu Bei's men this time?"

"We can fight them to a draw, but it's not a life-or-death battle. If we fight to the death, we might have a chance to turn the tide against all three of them."

Xu Chu gave the most affirmative answer.

Upon hearing Xu Chu's words, Sun Jian began to regret his actions.

After all, Xu Chu and the others couldn't stay here forever.

Once everyone leaves, wouldn't Liu Bei be able to wipe him out at any time?

Sun Jian grew increasingly frightened. Had he known there was such a large gap in combat strength between the two sides, he would never have let his relationship with Gu Rubing become so strained.

"Gentlemen, while Liu Bei is still alive, please stay here. I, Sun Jian, will remember your kindness, and I will also explain it to your lord."

Upon hearing this, Xu Chu immediately stood up.

"King Wu, rest assured, as long as you allow me to stay here, I will certainly not leave."

Meng Huo also stood up at this moment.

“King Wu, it’s not that I can’t stay here, but we have conditions. Give us five hundred able-bodied men and we can stay.”

"no problem."

As long as these people can stay, Sun Jian would not hesitate to send not only five hundred young men, but even five thousand.

After calming the three down, Sun Jian left the palace.

He has decided that he must maintain his relationship with Gu Rubing.

Sun Jian found Zhou Yu and told him his thoughts.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yu sighed.

He disagreed with the falling out with Gu Rubing back then, not because of Gu Rubing's strength, but because of those mysterious people, who were very likely to target the Anluo Empire.

That's someone even Gu Rubing wasn't entirely confident he could handle.

Now that Zhou Yu sees Sun Jian wanting to back down, he wholeheartedly agrees.

Gu Rubing was just about to rest when he suddenly heard a knock on the door.

"My lord, Sun Jian has arrived."

Zhao Yun's voice rang out from the doorway.

"Come in."

As soon as the voice fell, Zhao Yun opened the door, and Gu Rubing saw Zhao Yun, Guan Yu, and the others, and led Sun Jian and the others in.

Behind Sun Jian was the centurion.

At this moment, the centurion's tattered clothes had been replaced with expensive silk, the wounds on his face had been carefully bandaged, and he was not even dirty. It was clear that he had been taken very seriously.

"King of Wu, what do you mean by this?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Jian immediately pulled the centurion in front of Gu Rubing.

"Your Highness, I am truly sorry. I was out of my mind before, and I had no intention of harming you. After all, we have the connection through Shangxiang, so our relationship is closer. To show my sincerity, I will release this person for now. As for those things, you can give them to me if you want, or leave it at that if you don't!"

"Oh, King Wu, I don't quite understand what you mean. Didn't you just want to kill me?"

"Your Majesty, how could I possibly want to kill you? I have only recently become a legendary general and wanted to test my strength against your men, which is why I pretended to be like that. There is no need to discuss matters of life and death between us."

Gu Rubing naturally didn't bother listening to Sun Jian's incoherent words, but he understood that Sun Jian was planning to back down.

Gu Rubing had always been somewhat hesitant about Sun Jian.

The moment Sun Jian became a legendary general, his status among all the warlords rose sharply.

Cao Cao and his allies tried their best to win over Sun Jian, and Cao Cao would inevitably take action if war broke out between them.

That would increase my pressure a lot. Rather than letting Sun Jian become my complete enemy, it would be better to let him become a fence-sitter, at least he would turn to both sides and not stand on one side.

Moreover, if Sun Jian were really killed, things would be difficult to discuss with Sun Shangxiang.

After hesitating for a moment, Gu Rubing stood up.

As Gu Rubing stood up, every hair on Sun Jian's body stood on end.

Zhao Yun and his men were ready to take action at any time.

However, at that moment, Gu Rubing suddenly burst into laughter.

Since the King of Wu has said that this matter is a misunderstanding, then I will take it as a genuine misunderstanding. We can leave this matter alone, but I will still give you what I promised. I will take this person with me now, and let this matter rest. No one should mention it again.

"No problem, thank you for your kindness, Your Highness. Rest assured, this will not happen again."

Gu Rubing nodded.

After Sun Jian left, Gu Rubing looked at the centurion.

"Are you alright?" "My lord, I'm fine. I just don't know what's wrong with Sun Jian. He suddenly gave me a bath and changed my clothes, moved me to a big house, and even treated my wounds."

Upon hearing this, Gu Rubing burst out laughing.

"Alright, since everything's alright, let's pack up and get ready to go."

Everyone nodded after hearing this.

Sun Jian stood on the city wall, watching Gu Rubing and the others leave, and remained silent for a long time.

Sun Jian was quite helpless regarding his misjudgment of the strength of both sides.

He had considered that there was a gap in combat strength between the two sides, but he did not expect the gap to be so large.

"Gongjin, do you think we'll have another chance to defeat Liu Bei in our lifetime?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yu smiled helplessly.

Gu Rubing's display of strength this time surprised Zhou Yu as well.

Zhou Yu was somewhat confused about defeating Gu Rubing. His current thought was no longer about conquering the Han Dynasty, but whether he could survive under Gu Rubing's strong pressure.

"My lord, we now have only two choices: one is to join Cao Cao and balance the power between the two sides, and the other is to join Liu Bei, help him pacify the Han Dynasty, support him to become the new emperor of the Han Dynasty, and pray that Liu Bei will be loyal to us and give us a way to live."

Sun Jian was unwilling to accept Zhou Yu's second point.

He didn't want to entrust his fate to others and pray that they would give him something to eat.

Therefore, Sun Jian could only choose the first path given by Zhou Yu, which was to join Cao Cao and balance the power between the two sides.

"Inform Cao Cao that from today onwards, we will provide him with full support. I have only one request: that he be allowed to wage a full-scale war against Liu Bei."

Zhou Yu knew that Sun Jian had made his choice, and as the strategist, his job was to help his lord fulfill his expectations.

"Yes!"

Gu Rubing led everyone back to Mianzhu City.

At this moment, Gu Rubing also received bad news.

That is, Sun Jian once again sent reinforcements to Cao Cao.

This time, the reinforcements numbered as many as 200,000.

Reinforcements are slowly entering Yizhou by waterway.

Upon receiving this news, a hint of anger flashed in Gu Rubing's eyes.

Sun Jian, that opportunist, turned against everything far too quickly.

"My lord, should we put pressure on Sun Jian, or discuss with the Prime Minister about moving the main battlefield to Liangzhou and fighting Sun Jian there?"

Hearing Zhao Yun's advice, Gu Rubing immediately fell into deep thought.

What he needs most now is someone to help him devise strategies, and Lu Su is definitely not the one who can do that.

"You all stay here and guard the city. I'm going to the Jingzhou camp to find the Prime Minister."

"Yes!"

Gu Rubing, along with Zhang Fei, Huang Zhong, and Ma Chao, arrived at the Jingzhou camp.

It seems that Zhuge Liang already knew that Gu Rubing would come.

"My lord, I have been waiting for you for a long time."

"Prime Minister, did you know I would come?"

"When I learned that Sun Jian had reinforced Yizhou with 200,000 troops, I knew that my lord would definitely come."

Hearing this, Gu Rubing smiled helplessly and said, "Prime Minister, let's not beat around the bush. Just tell me what you plan to do?"

"My lord, Sun Jian's move is to force Cao Cao to wage war against us on all fronts. Liu Zhang and Sun Jian may not have much else, but they have the most troops. Although the quality of these troops is not high, their numbers far exceed our expectations. Fighting against them will drag us into an endless vortex."

"So, Prime Minister, you mean we should ignore them and still attack Cao Cao?"

"Yes, Cao Cao is their only support now. As long as we defeat Cao Cao, Liu Zhang and Sun Jian will lose the courage to fight against us. Defeating Sun Jian is just defeating Sun Jian, but defeating Cao Cao is equivalent to having the entire Han Dynasty. What do you think, my lord?"

Gu Rubing hadn't expected that Cao Cao would give them so much courage.

"If we defeat Cao Cao, will we be able to completely pacify the Han Dynasty?"

Gu Rubing still had some doubts about Zhuge Liang's words.

"That's right. Liu Zhang and Sun Jian are now recklessly reinforcing Cao Cao, so the battle with Cao Cao will be our decisive battle against the three warlords. My lord, you must be prepared to fight to the death!"

With Zhuge Liang's affirmation, Gu Rubing nodded.

Soon, Gu Rubing returned to Mianzhu City.

This time, he returned with 100,000 troops given to him by Zhuge Liang, along with 300,000 new recruits being transferred from Xuchang.

However, this troop deployment has left Xudu's military forces in a state of emptiness.

Gu Rubing informed everyone present of the news of the reinforcements.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the news.

After all, Cao Cao's forces at the front were far too numerous, exceeding their expectations.

Ten days later.

All of Sun Jian's troops supporting Cao Cao have arrived.

This gave Cao Cao considerable confidence, not because of Sun Jian's 200,000 troops, but because both Sun Jian and Liu Zhang were telling Cao Cao that they would do everything in their power to support him in every way possible, and that they would never let Cao Cao become the next Shi Xie.

And they not only said it, they also did it.

Along with Sun Jian's army came a large amount of grain and fodder.

These provisions are more than enough to supply this army of 200,000.

Cao Cao now commands an army of 500,000.

It far exceeded Gu Rubing's 200,000-strong army in Mianzhu City.

Cao Cao immediately had the idea of ​​launching an attack.

Not long after, Cao Cao ordered Cao Ren to lead an army of 300,000 to block the city of Mianzhu, intending to fight Gu Rubing to the death.

Looking at the endless army outside the city, Gu Rubing felt a sense of helplessness.

Just then, Lu Su arrived at Gu Rubing's side.

"My lord, judging from Cao Ren's posture, it's obvious he's preparing to attack the city. The walls of Mianzhu are not high, so let's retreat and enter Mianzhu Pass. At least it's easy to defend and difficult to attack. As long as our reinforcements arrive, we can launch a counterattack at any time."

Lu Su was clearly not optimistic about this battle, after all, the difference in numbers between the two sides was too great, and they were blocked at the gate of Mianzhu City, which meant that even if they had any plans, they would have no chance to implement them.

Upon hearing this, Gu Rubing stared at the camp ahead.

After a moment of silence, Gu Rubing immediately shook his head.

Although Mianzhu Pass is easy to defend and difficult to attack, if Cao Ren concentrates all his troops at Mianzhu Pass and surrounds it, they will indeed be unable to attack, but we will also be unable to get out. The enemy only needs to cut off our food and supplies, and in the end, we will starve to death without receiving reinforcements.

Upon hearing this, Lu Su sighed. (End of Chapter)