I, Zhou Cang, am the number one tank in the Three Kingdoms.

"Report! Prefect, Sun Quan of Jiangdong has withdrawn his troops!"

"Oh?" Li Shu, the prefect of Lujiang, was somewhat incredulous upon hearing the news of Sun Quan's withdrawal of troops.

On the city tower, Mi Zhu and Mi Fang stand on the left, and Mei Cheng, Lei Xu, and Chen Lan stand on the right.

"Give me a detailed report!" Li Shu excitedly stood up from his desk.

"The spy claims that Chen Deng of Guangling is recruiting soldiers and horses, intending to march south and launch a surprise attack on Jiangdong. Therefore, the Jiangdong camp has already broken camp one after another." The soldier reported the intelligence brought by the spy to Li Shu in detail.

Upon hearing this, Mi Zhu and Mi Fang pondered to themselves that this was indeed the last of Chen Deng's three strategies, and it seemed that it had already produced results.

"Who is covering the rear in Jiangdong? Investigate again quickly!"

As Li Shu spoke, he ordered his servants to put on his armor.

Mi Zhu stepped forward and asked, "Does the governor intend to pursue the retreating troops from Jiangdong?"

Li Shu glanced at Mi Zhu and laughed, "This is a golden opportunity! They are in a hurry to retreat and will be caught off guard. I'll go and give them a good beating to avenge the siege!"

Mi Zhu glanced at Mei Cheng, Lei Xu, Chen Lan and the others standing opposite him. Seeing that none of them had any objections, he still couldn't help but speak up to persuade them.

"Prefect, the strategist's letter arrived yesterday, instructing you to hold the city firmly and not to engage in battle rashly. Moreover, the fact that Jiangdong has retreated with such fanfare suggests a possible trap. Prefect, you should be cautious."

Mi Zhu said that Jiangdong retreated with great fanfare because he believed that although Chen Deng's plan was indeed true, it was somewhat unusual that such a secret could be known in such detail by spies so quickly.

Upon hearing this, Li Shu suddenly sneered and said, "I will surely repay Mr. Mi for his assistance in the future. However, the strategist's letter seems to underestimate us. I will present it to the magistrate as a gift after I have achieved some military merit!"

When Mi Zhu saw that Li Shu was not convinced by the strategist, he wanted to persuade him again, but a servant rushed in and interrupted him.

"Prefect, we have now discovered that the rear guard of the Jiangdong army is none other than Sun Quan himself!"

"Oh?!" Li Shu exclaimed with delight, "Sun Quan, you little brat, it's only right that you die here! Bring me my weapon!"

"Prefect! You must not underestimate the enemy!" Mi Zhu was filled with worry when he saw Li Shu's impulsive behavior, so he stepped forward and bowed to remind him.

Although he knew that Li Shu's allegiance to his lord Liu Bei was merely a stopgap measure after his rebellion against Jiangdong was rejected by Cao Cao.

Neither Li Shu himself, nor Mei Cheng, Lei Xu, Chen Lan, and others who are temporarily gathered together due to the Jiangdong campaign, have truly come to believe in their lord Liu Bei.

However, if something were to happen to Li Shu now, it would be absolutely not beneficial in restraining the eastward advance of the Jiangnan region.

"I've heard that Mr. Mi was once a very wealthy and knowledgeable man in Xuzhou. How about I trouble Mr. Mi to prepare a celebratory banquet for me in the city? Hahahaha!"

Li Shu completely ignored Mi Zhu's advice and even made jokes.

Mi Zhu looked helplessly at Mei Cheng, who was standing at the head of the table opposite him. To his surprise, Mei Cheng was also arrogant, even more so than Li Shu.

Seeing that Li Shu had finished donning his armor and was leaving, Mei Cheng followed him, sword in hand, saying without turning back, "I've heard that you've suffered many defeats, sir. You must be feeling timid because of this. No matter! Just stay here and guard the city!"

Upon hearing this, Mi Fang was furious at the man's rudeness and immediately tried to confront Mei Cheng, but Mi Zhu stopped her.

Li Shu and Mei Cheng laughed as they left the city tower and headed straight for the drill ground to muster their troops.

Chen Lan and Lei Xu, on the other hand, were much calmer and came over to comfort her.

Chen Lan said, "Sir, there is no need to be angry. Since the governor is so confident in his bravery, let him go. We will guard the city for him."

Lei Xu also advised, "Please calm down, gentlemen. The prefect is ignoring the strategist's advice; let him learn a lesson."

Mi Zhu wanted to say more, but Chen Lan stopped him with a single sentence: "To be honest, Mr. Mi, although we have joined forces with the governor, he treats us like outsiders. Please forgive us."

After hearing Chen Lan tell the truth, Lei Xu nodded to Mi Zhu to show his agreement.

Mi Zhu sighed helplessly, "If the governor remains so stubborn and self-willed, he will surely bring about a great disaster!"

Li Shu, Mei Cheng, Lei Xu, and Chen Lan were indeed a disorganized group.

Li Shu, formerly a follower of Sun Ce, always relied on his bravery and martial prowess. Mei Cheng was originally a local strongman's subordinate, who later gathered 30,000 men to establish a separatist regime in Chaohu. He was always arrogant and domineering.

Although Lei Xu also gathered a crowd to become a bandit, he had fought his way up for so many years and had long heard of Liu Bei's great name, so he was the most eager to join Liu Bei.

Chen Lan was originally a general under Yuan Shu. Together with his deputy Lei Bo, he fought against Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei more than once and knew the strength of Liu Bei's army well.

Li Shu once allied with three others to plunder the Jianghuai region, which greatly alarmed the local people. Later, Li Shu surrendered to Sun Ce and had less contact with the three.

Because of the uprising in Jiangdong and the westward advance, Li Shu invited Mei, Lei, and Chen to join forces to resist Sun Quan, and thus they all gathered in Wancheng.

Not long after Li Shu and Mei Cheng left the city, they each led three thousand soldiers out of the city gate and rode at full speed to the Jiangdong camp. When they arrived at the camp gate, they found that the camp was indeed empty.

Looking at the messy footprints and ruts on the ground, with hay scattered everywhere, at the far end of the camp, one could still vaguely see the figures of soldiers slowly retreating.

Li Shu was overjoyed and said, "This time we will definitely take Sun Quan's head, and teach that strategist Xu Shu by your side no longer to look down on us!"

Mei Cheng said, "The prefect only attacked from the camp, while I pursued him from the main road outside the camp!"

Li Shu nodded, and the two then split up.

"Whoever takes Sun Quan's head will be rewarded with a thousand pieces of gold! Kill him!" Li Shu shouted, spurring his horse into a gallop, and the soldiers behind him also charged forward bravely.

After charging straight for a mile, a cannon suddenly roared!

Ambushing troops sprang up from all sides in the camp, and the sounds of battle shook the heavens!

Li Shu panicked and was about to rein in his horse when it landed on a huge wooden plank covered with hay.

The moment the horse's hooves touched the ground, the wooden planks suddenly opened up, revealing a large pit filled with sharp wooden stakes. The warhorse, completely unprepared, sank straight in.

Li Shu was also thrown out, and before he could even react, he and his warhorse were riddled with arrows from the wooden stakes, dying instantly.

The soldiers following behind were also caught off guard, and one by one they were knocked into the pit by the people behind them. The pit was quickly filled with the bodies of the soldiers.

The remaining soldiers were almost all slaughtered by the ambush troops from Jiangdong. Only a hundred or so managed to escape the camp and flee towards Wancheng.

Mei Cheng, on the other side, heard the cannon fire in the camp and realized he had fallen into a trap. Just as he was about to turn back, a group of men charged out from the road ahead. The leader was none other than Cheng Pu, a veteran general from Jiangdong, who was wielding an iron spear and charging straight at Mei Cheng.

Mei Cheng shouted "Withdraw the troops!" and ran back. Before he had gone half a mile, Taishi Ci suddenly appeared from the side gate of the camp.

Caught off guard, Mei Cheng didn't even have time to raise his sword before Taishi Ci slit his throat with a single halberd while he was still on horseback.

His men were originally bandits and outlaws, but upon seeing Mei Cheng's death, they all dropped their weapons and knelt down to surrender.

Mi Zhu, Mi Fang, and others have been guarding the city ever since Li Shu and Mei Cheng ignored their advice and sent troops.

As time passed, Mi Zhu's heart pounded. Sure enough, less than half an hour later, some of the routed soldiers began to run back.

Fearing pursuit from Jiangdong, the defending troops dared not open the city gates until the dust settled before letting the deserters into the city.

After a long while, only a hundred or so of the six thousand soldiers that Li Shu and Mei Cheng had led out had returned.

Chen Lan and Lei Xu were still shaken, but at the same time, they secretly admired Xu Shu and Mi Zhu's foresight.

Having witnessed the defeat firsthand but failed to prevent it, Mi Zhu couldn't help but feel immense concern about the safety of Wancheng and the constraints imposed on Jiangdong by the entire eastern front.

Chen Deng's strategy is highly likely to fail at the last minute!

Thinking of this, Mi Zhu quickly called for someone to bring him pen and ink.

With a long sigh, he wrote a messenger letter to his lord Liu Bei and his strategist Xu Shu with trembling hands.