Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

"Zi Kun!"

Seeing Li Ji appear, Liu Bei could not hide his joy on his face and subconsciously stood up to greet him.

"Lord."

After Li Ji bowed to Liu Bei, he also nodded slightly to the other counselors and generals in the tent who also stood up subconsciously to greet him.

Among them, Li Ji's gaze could not help but linger on Wei Yan and Pang Tong in the tent for a while, and then he was pulled by Liu Bei to the position that had been empty all the time.

While Liu Bei was delighted, he couldn't help but ask with some confusion.

"Why did Zikun come here at this time? Did something happen?"

After all, according to the previous arrangements, Li Ji ordered Wei Yan and Pang Tong to withdraw their troops quickly and reunite with Liu Bei to assist Liu Bei in clearing Yishui.

However, Li Ji's troops remained stationed near Liyang Bridge to prevent Cao Cao from making a surprise attack and to protect the gradually lengthening grain route.

"In fact, there was an urgent report from Xia Pi, which reached us first. Ji realized that the matter was of great importance, so he rode all the way here to meet with the lord for discussion."

Li Ji took out an urgent report and handed it to Liu Bei, while briefly explaining the reason.

Liu Bei took the urgent report and read it quickly, his face changed slightly, then he passed it to the other civil and military officials in the tent for reading.

The content of the urgent report is a request for help from Tao Qian!
Yuan Shu, with Ji Ling as commander, led an army of 100,000 to formally attack Pengcheng. After only one day, Pengcheng was in a state of emergency.

The low morale of the Xuzhou soldiers was one thing, but what was more important was that Ji Ling had built a large number of siege equipment in advance. Once the army moved, it was almost like an attack on Pengcheng with thundering force.

Zang Ba was a rare brave general in Xuzhou, but he was unable to resist Ji Ling's siege momentum, and he almost immediately asked Tao Qian for help.

After receiving the request for help, Tao Qian did not dare to delay and immediately sent the letter.

"What's going on with Tao Gongzu? Didn't Bei send him a letter based on Zikun's advice, asking him to dispatch troops to Pengcheng? How come Pengcheng is in danger in just one day?"

After that, Liu Bei added somewhat unhappily, "I think Tao Gongzu didn't even send troops to Pengcheng."

Liu Bei already had a good understanding of Tao Qian's current situation.

In name, Tao Qian was still the governor of Xuzhou, but the old and frail Tao Qian had little prestige in Xuzhou.

Now, after a series of defeats, the sphere of influence that Tao Qian can truly command is probably only a part of Xia Pi State.

Zang Ba was a brave general, and his attitude towards Tao Qian before was basically to follow orders but not warnings.

It is likely that Tao Qian received Liu Bei's letter, but was unwilling to further dilute the few remaining troops in Xia Pi City, fearing that Xia Pi City would fall into a crisis of severe shortage of troops to defend the city.

"Mr. Tao was probably worried that Xia Pi City would also be attacked unexpectedly, so he acted a little conservatively."

Li Ji's words were polite, but most people present understood that Tao Qian was simply afraid of death.

Although Tao Qian had already made up his mind to give up Xuzhou, the safety of the lives of the Tao family was what Tao Qian cared about the most. So even when Liu Bei reminded him that Yuan Shu's army was about to invade and attack Pengcheng, Tao Qian was still unwilling to divide his troops.

"Ugh!"

Liu Bei sighed deeply and felt helpless about this.

In just a few years, Tao Qian had changed so much that Liu Bei felt a little at a loss.

A few years ago, Tao Qian still had the courage to lead his troops thousands of miles away to gather troops to fight against Dong Dong, but now it seems that he has lost even a bit of the courage.

"Zikun, does this mean we can only withdraw our troops and return to support Pengcheng?" Liu Bei asked.

"Zang Ba, the defender of Pengcheng, and Lord Tao have long been alienated from each other. If Lord Tao does not help Zang Ba, Zang Ba will certainly not be determined to defend Pengcheng to the death. If there is no support and the Yuan army's offensive becomes more intense, Zang Ba may open the city and surrender." Li Ji pointed out the pros and cons and made it clear what are the priorities.

Moreover, in the initial strategy, Liu Bei's goal of leading the army into Donghai County was to prevent the outbreak of the plague. Now that the main goal has been achieved, it is right to rush to Pengcheng for assistance.

When Li Ji pointed out that Zang Ba might open the city and surrender, the faces of many people in the tent changed slightly.

This possibility is not impossible, on the contrary it is very likely to happen.

The relationship between Tao Qian and Zang Ba was not harmonious to begin with, and loyalty was out of the question.

Although the trend of Liu Bei taking control of Xuzhou had become clear, it must have reached Zang Ba's ears.

Although Liu Bei had both fame and prestige in Xuzhou, the Yuan family was also well-known in the Han Dynasty and was the leading family among the aristocratic families.

Therefore, if Liu Bei had not made any statement for a long time when Pengcheng was under siege, it was not impossible that Zang Ba would choose to surrender to Yuan Shu.

Pang Tong blurted out a warning.

"My lord, you should rush to Pengcheng to help and win over Zang Ba. You must not let Zang Ba surrender to Yuan."

Following Pang Tong, Sima Yi, Xu Shu, Zhuge Liang and others also expressed their opinions, agreeing that they should rush to Pengcheng for assistance.

If Pengcheng is not lost, there will be no major changes in the overall situation in Xuzhou;
But once Pengcheng fell into the hands of Yuan Shu, even if Liu Bei finally took Pengcheng back, the war would further spread to the hinterland of Xuzhou.

Since Langya State and Donghai County had already been destroyed by Cao Cao, once Pengcheng was captured, the war would further spread to between Pengcheng and Xiapi City.

Then in the end, even if Yuan Shu was driven away, all Liu Bei would get was a completely destroyed Xuzhou.

The value gap between a Xuzhou that still has some vitality and a Xuzhou that has been completely destroyed is immeasurable.

After Li Ji's brief reminder, Liu Bei completely understood the reason.

however……

Liu Bei slammed his fist on the table and said angrily.

"How can I face the people of Xuzhou who died tragically under the butcher's knife if I let Cao Cao retreat safely? How can I face the courtesy of Tao Gongzu to give Xuzhou to him?"

Li Ji sighed and said.

"My lord, the dead are gone, and the living remain. It is important to avenge the people of Xuzhou who died tragically, but it is more important to save more people of Xuzhou from the harm of war."

"Don't you know Nanyang County?"

"After Yuan Shu occupied Nanyang County, he imposed heavy taxes and levied heavy levies. He even forcibly conscripted a large number of young men before leaving Nanyang County, making it impossible for them to return home in this lifetime."

"Once Pengcheng is captured, even if you take it back, the people will never be able to recover."

As the chaos continued, many princes undoubtedly gradually realized the importance of population.

Of course, each prince has different emphasis on the importance of population.

In Cao Cao's eyes, every person could be invested in the military farming system to produce food; but in the eyes of the arrogant Yuan Shu, more emphasis was placed on forcibly conscripting people for labor or soldiers.

It is conceivable that the final outcome of the young and strong men forcibly conscripted by Yuan Shu would most likely be death in a foreign land.

Without the young and strong, what should the remaining old, weak, women and children do to survive in the chaotic world? How can they survive in such a miserable state? (End of this chapter)