Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

"So, Zikun thinks Cao Bao has the ability to lead 60,000 soldiers to stop Cao's 100,000 troops?" Liu Bei asked with some hope.

Li Ji's face straightened, but he spread his hands out and answered.

"It's definitely unstoppable."

This time, Cao Cao put almost all his accumulated wealth into the attack on Xuzhou. He had many generals and counselors under his command, and he raised the banner of "revenge" to inspire the morale of the entire army. How could Cao Bao possibly be able to stop such a powerful force?
However, this abrupt answer almost choked Liu Bei, and he spoke in annoyance.

"If that's the case, shouldn't I be even more worried?"

Li Ji smiled slightly and said meaningfully.

"My lord is too aware of being a relative of the Han dynasty and worries too much about Xuzhou. This may be the reason why Tao Gongzu is worried."

This made Liu Bei's expression slightly stunned, and then he suddenly reacted.

Liu Bei always had the Han Dynasty in his heart, and always regarded Liu Yu, Tao Qian, Gongsun Zan and others as Han ministers.

In this way, to put it nicely, it means having a sense of ownership.

But just because Liu Yu, who always adhered to his duties as a Han minister, didn't care much, it didn't mean Tao Qian wouldn't care.

Due to his age, Tao Qian knew that he did not have the ability to expand outward, but he was also more concerned about whether others would interfere with his own business.

"It seems that I am indeed a little too anxious." Liu Bei said introspectively.

"My lord, Xuzhou has been peaceful for many years and has a profound foundation. Even if Cao's army attacks more vigorously, it will not be captured in a short time..."

"Besides, even if the situation in Xuzhou has reached an irreversible point, Shouchun and Wujun are only a stone's throw away from the southern part of Xuzhou, so there is no need to worry."

After a pause, Li Ji gently explained to Liu Bei the route that Yangzhou could take to support Xuzhou and the preparatory marching plan.

After all, Yangzhou is too close to Xuzhou.

Wu County and Guangling County are only separated by a river. In addition, with the ships in Liu Bei's hands, he is capable of cutting off the rear food supply routes of Cao's army that has penetrated deep into Xuzhou at any time.

That is why, facing Cao Cao's massive southward attack on Xuzhou, Li Ji, who possessed the ability to overturn the chessboard at any time, was not in a hurry at all.

Even if the worst outcome occurred, it would only be the destruction of Tao Qian and the division of Xuzhou between Liu Bei and Cao Cao.

From a strategic perspective, the only one who was always hurt was Tao Qian.

Moreover, the longer the battle in Xuzhou is delayed, the longer it will take Yuan Shu to go north to capture Yanzhou.

Overall, it is beneficial to Liu Bei.

Following Li Ji's explanation, Liu Bei's brows relaxed a lot, but were still slightly furrowed, and he said.

"But no matter what, the deeper Cao's army goes into Xuzhou, the more Xuzhou's people will suffer from the war. How can I bear it?"

Hearing this, Li Ji recalled some of Cao Jun’s deeds and gave a reminder.

"In this case, my lord, you can send a letter to Cao Cao in the name of the Han royal family, reminding Cao Cao not to harm the people when he raises an army for revenge, and not to massacre the city."

"He dares?!"

Liu Bei's eyes widened. The word "massacre" seemed to have touched Liu Bei's bottom line, and his tone changed instantly.

Although the Han Dynasty had lost all its prestige and the local princes had attacked each other during the turbulent times, the various princes within the Han Dynasty had generally maintained relative restraint so far.

There were those who exploited the people, but there had never been anyone who unscrupulously turned their butcher knives on the Han people and massacred the city.

However, Li Ji was very clear that Cao Cao in the original trajectory was not only daring, but even massacred people in the city, causing rivers of blood and incurring the wrath of heaven and the resentment of the people.

In the original trajectory, Liu Bei, who had just relieved Kong Rong in Qingzhou, was furious and led thousands of soldiers to the south to rescue Xuzhou.

As for the reasons why Cao Cao massacred the city, there are only a few possible reasons. One is to intimidate people and disintegrate the resistance in Xuzhou;
Second: plunder the wealthy people of Xuzhou to the greatest extent possible;

Three: Replenishing military rations...

But no matter which one it was, raising the butcher's knife against the Han people was something Li Ji could not accept, and Liu Bei could not tolerate it even more.

Liu Bei was actually somewhat skeptical about Li Ji's reminder.

Although Cao Cao's reputation had been ruined due to his insults to the ancient sages in Qingzhou, in Liu Bei's mind, Cao Cao's image was still quite good, and he was regarded as a righteous man with the Han Dynasty in his heart.

However, Li Ji's reminder was not without reason, so Liu Bei quickly wrote a copy and sent someone to deliver it to Cao Cao, reminding Cao Cao, as a minister of the Han Dynasty, not to harm innocent people when starting a war.

……

When Liu Bei's letters were delivered to Tao Qian and Cao Cao respectively, they both almost simultaneously discarded them.

Tao Qian simply thought that Liu Bei was talking without any worries. Once Tao Qian gave up Langya State and Donghai County and retreated to Xiapi and Pengcheng, the entire Xuzhou would actually lose more than half of its land.

Even if Xuzhou was finally defended, Tao Qian's already limited prestige would probably suffer another heavy blow.

Furthermore, in Tao Qian's view, Liu Bei was deliberately exaggerating Cao Cao's military strength in order to force him to ask Liu Bei for help and then gradually hand over the real power of Xuzhou.

Qingzhou had been in trouble with the Yellow Turbans for many years and had long been impoverished. Even if Cao Cao mobilized an army of 100,000, how much money and food could he have?
As long as they hold out for a while, Cao's army will naturally have no choice but to retreat.

Cao Cao's reaction was similar to Tao Qian's. He thought that Liu Bei was talking without any worries.

Cao Cao did not have the deep foundation like the Yuan family, nor did he have the full support of a large number of noble families. He was also not like Liu Bei, whose money and food seemed to flow out on their own and could never be used up.

War is essentially a battle of money and food.

If Cao Cao did not plunder the people of Xuzhou, then this expedition to Xuzhou would mean he would have no guarantee.

Therefore, after entering Langya State, Cao Cao, under the banner of "revenge", plundered money and food wherever he went like a swarm of locusts, and forced the people living near Qingzhou to move to Qingzhou to cultivate land.

The public opinion is not important.

If they are sent to forced farming, they will naturally become obedient.

Population and money are the foundation of everything.

Therefore, although Cao's army entered Langya State with great momentum, their marching speed was not fast and they advanced slowly all the way southward.

Near the beginning of June, Cao's army, which had been slowly sweeping through Langya for a month, finally arrived at Kaiyang, where Cao Bao was stationed with a large force.

……

at the same time.

The war between Ji and You broke out again.

Yuan Shu also officially withdrew from Nanyang County. At the same time that Lu Bu began to take over Nanyang County, Guan Yu, who had been prepared early, also quickly took back a part of Nanyang County near Xiangyang.

Among them, Wancheng, one of the barriers to the north of Xiangyang, was attacked by Guan Yu who personally led 20,000 elite troops to the city.

Wancheng remained semi-independent in Huang Zu's hands, and neither Yuan Shu nor Liu Bei had the right opportunity to capture it before.

After all, Wancheng is the strongest city in Nanyang County, and there are more than ten thousand elite troops stationed in the city.

If we really want to attack by force, it will take at least half a month and cost tens of thousands of soldiers casualties, and there is basically no chance of taking it.

(End of this chapter)