Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

【plum】

The big flag seemed to be shining brightly under the setting sun, but it also made Ji Ling's pupils shrink sharply and his body tremble.

The only one under Liu Bei who held high this banner was the patriotic Marquis Li Ji.

Liu Bei unexpectedly sent reinforcements to Pengcheng at this time...

More importantly, it was Li Ji who led the troops personally.

Almost instantly, Ji Ling began to want to back down. Even before Ji Ling led his troops to the battle, Yuan Shu summoned Ji Ling privately to explain some key matters.

Among them, one thing is that Ji Ling must be extremely cautious when facing Li Ji, and it is better to do nothing than to not make any mistakes. Even if he has to retreat, Ji Ling will be forgiven if necessary.

It can be said that in the Battle of Jingxiang, Li Ji broke Yuan Shu's originally proud back, making Yuan Shu not only willing to put aside his pride and join forces with Yuan Shao and form an alliance with Lu Bu, but also causing him to suffer from a large psychological trauma towards Li Ji.

"How could you, Cao Cao, let Li Ji appear here?"

Ji Ling couldn't help but curse Cao Cao to ease the intense fluctuations in his heart, but he was conflicted for a moment.

If the general was someone else, facing the city gates of Pengcheng that had been wide open, Ji Ling would almost without hesitation choose to send a force to temporarily resist the reinforcements and occupy Pengcheng as soon as possible.

But the one who came was Li Ji!

Even though Ji Ling did not have time to investigate the strength of the army, the large flag with the word "Li" on it alone was enough to represent a hundred thousand soldiers.

After only hesitating for three breaths, Ji Ling made the decision.

Follow the instructions from the lord, and rather do nothing than make no mistakes, so as not to reveal a fatal flaw in front of Li Ji.

It's like Ji Ling dared to turn his back to Chen Lan without any precautions, but if Zhang Fei was standing next to him, would Ji Ling dare to turn around and bend down?
At this moment, the situation in Pengcheng was so bad that it would be an understatement to say that it was just one step away from being conquered.

But under Ji Ling's order, the Yuan army that had originally attacked Pengcheng fiercely just barely scraped by the wide-open city gate of Pengcheng before quickly retreating.

This sudden change undoubtedly stunned the Taishan bandits, who were prepared to resist to the death and even fight to the death in the streets under Zang Ba's orders.

And it was not just the Taishan bandits who were stunned. Chang Xi, who had captured the north gate, was on the verge of collapse.

We are still fighting to the death, why are you retreating, General?

At this moment, Chang Xi just wondered whether he was dreaming or he was not fully awake.

Seeing that Pengcheng was about to be lost on all sides and the capture of Pengcheng was about to become a fait accompli, Yuan's army actually withdrew!

More importantly, Yuan's army retreated, but Chang Xi, who was targeted by the furious Zang Ba, did not have time to retreat.

At this moment, Zang Ba's eyes were almost red when he looked at Chang Xi.

When Chang Xi attacked the north gate, Zang Ba finally realized why the situation, which could have been barely delayed, suddenly deteriorated to this point.

Chang Xi not only chose to leave Pengcheng, but also chose to betray his master and surrender to the enemy.

Therefore, when Zang Ba saw that the situation in Pengcheng was irreversible and losing ground everywhere, he ordered Sun Guan and others to delay time as much as possible, while Zang Ba chose to lead his elite troops directly to the north gate and head straight for Chang Xi.

It was not only to kill Chang Xi, the traitor who sold out his master for fame and fortune, but also to kill this traitor who almost destroyed the hopes of many Taishan thieves to wash their hands and get a clean slate.

He also intended to retake the north gate and leave a passage for the Taishan bandits to evacuate Pengcheng.

"Ahhhh, Changxi, you are a traitor who betrayed his master and joined the enemy. Even the heaven has forsaken you. The new master you joined has already left, leaving you, a dog with a broken spine, here."

Although Zang Ba did not know the reason for Yuan's army's retreat, he was not in a hurry to investigate. Instead, he chose to pick up his steel knife and led his personal guards to charge towards Chang Xi, who was a hundred steps away.

Seeing Zang Ba's murderous look, Chang Xi, who already had less than three points of confidence, became even more frightened and shouted loudly.

"Left and right, hurry up, stop this fellow Zang Ba." However, Chang Xi could only mobilize his 300 to 400 trusted men. The rest of Yuan's army began to retreat after hearing the sound of the horn, treating Chang Xi, the nominal commander, as nothing.

And those 300 confidants were all born as Taishan bandits. They were also hesitant and fearful of Zang Ba before they even made a move. How could they stop Zang Ba?
Seeing that Zang Ba was getting closer, Chang Xi no longer dared to hesitate. He turned around, jumped on a fast horse and retreated out of the city, without even bothering to greet his confidants.

"Don't run away, you bastard! Leave your life behind!"

Zang Ba, who was furious, shouted loudly and ran a few steps wildly. He suddenly felt dizzy and almost fell to the ground on the spot.

Pengcheng was able to hold out for another day under Ji Ling's all-out attack that had been brewing for several days, all thanks to Zang Ba's running around to boost morale and personally fighting to repeatedly force back Yuan's troops that had rushed to the top of the city.

But Zang Ba was not an iron man after all, and he had six or seven wounds of varying sizes on his body.

Seeing that Yuan's army at the north gate was also retreating rapidly, Chang Xi jumped on a fast horse and fled away. This made Zang Ba angry, but also relieved.

This sigh of relief almost made Zang Ba collapse on the spot.

Zang Ba then managed to stand firm again. Seeing that the Taishan bandits who were abandoned by Chang Xi had no will to fight, he shouted angrily.

"Why don't you just lay down your weapons and surrender? When will you do that?"

There is no need to say much about Zang Ba's reputation among the Taishan bandits.

Chang Xi's departure also made these Taishan bandits feel disheartened. After being shouted at by Zang Ba, they chose to surrender after only a moment's hesitation.

Immediately, Zang Ba endured the discomfort and simply rearranged the defense of the north gate, then hurried to the south gate where Ji Ling's army was located.

There must be a reason why Yuan’s army suddenly retreated.

As the defender of Pengcheng, Zang Ba naturally needed to understand this.

On the way to the South Gate, Zang Ba had actually guessed an answer.

The reason why Ji Ling chose to retreat when Pengcheng was about to fall must be that reinforcements had arrived in Pengcheng.

Where will the reinforcements come from?

Tao Qian?

Zang Ba never counted on the foolish and old governor of Xuzhou, so there was only one answer.

The bulk of the reinforcements that Zhang Fei mentioned finally arrived.

When Zang Ba rushed back to the South Gate, Sun Guan, Wu Dun and Yin Li had also arrived at the South Gate. They hurriedly came towards Zang Ba and were about to report the intelligence to him.

Zang Ba, however, raised his hand to interrupt Sun Guan and others, and quickly walked to the top of the city wall, looking at the scene outside the city.

It can be said that Yuan's army is all over the mountains and plains, and there is no need to say much about its mighty force.

Even though Yuan's army had been attacking the city for many days, they still had about 90,000 combat soldiers, lined up in neat array, which was a frightening sight.

In contrast, the Han army arrayed opposite Yuan's army appeared quite weak.

Zang Ba, who was watching from afar, made some estimates and felt a little depressed, with a bad feeling in his heart.

Compared with Yuan's 90,000-strong army, the reinforcements that arrived, even including Zhang Fei's cavalry, were probably only about 20,000.

Ninety thousand versus twenty thousand...

Danger! (End of this chapter)