Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

"It's hard to get off the tiger..."

Xun Yu sighed deeply, and his expression gradually returned to normal.

Just at this time, a steward from the mansion stood outside the door and reported in a low voice.

"General Cao Ren has arrived."

After hearing this, Xun Yu straightened his clothes and went to see Cao Ren.

Xun Yu arrived at the reception room and spoke with a somewhat apologetic tone.

"General Zixiao, sorry for the long wait."

"Mr. Wen Ruo."

Cao Ren quickly stood up to return the greeting, not daring to be arrogant in front of Xun Yu.

In addition to Cao Cao's high regard for Xun Yu, what is more important is that the ability to govern demonstrated by Xun Yu is truly amazing.

After exchanging some pleasantries with Cao Ren, Xun Yu went straight to the point.

"General Zixiao, how many soldiers and horses can be prepared within three days?"

Cao Ren was slightly startled, then answered, "Is it for defending the city? Or for fighting outside the city?"

"Of course we will go out of the city to fight." Xun Yu replied.

This made Cao Ren look a little embarrassed, and then he raised three fingers.

"Including the young and strong men I have sent for emergency training during this period, there are only about 3,000 of them at most."

After a pause, Cao Ren said frankly, "This is the maximum number of troops that can be deployed to fight outside the city. Maybe even the soldiers guarding the governor's mansion will have to be reduced."

"That's enough."

Xun Yu smiled and did not question Cao Ren.

Although Cao Cao left Xun Yu in Qingzhou, Cao Ren still checked and balanced Xun Yu on military affairs. If Xun Yu wanted to use troops, he had to go through Cao Ren no matter what.

Cao Ren couldn't help but ask after hearing this. "Where is Mr. Wen Ruo planning to deploy his troops?"

"Jinan State."

Xun Yu's light words made Cao Ren's expression change, and he spoke in embarrassment.

"In that case, I'm afraid I can't obey your orders."

"If I had about 5,000 elite soldiers under my command and had a good location to defend, I am confident that I could still stop Sun Ce for a while. But with only 3,000 soldiers who are not elite at all, it is like hitting a rock with an egg. It may even cause more unrest in Qingzhou."

At the end of his speech, Cao Ren hinted at some explanation and admonition.

Although Cao Ren was able to gain Cao Cao's trust because the two sides were relatives, in fact Cao Ren was also quite capable, and he was proficient in both civil and military affairs, and in military operations and government administration.

Therefore, because Cao Ren was well aware of the difficulties facing Qingzhou, he understood even more clearly that once the last 3,000 soldiers who could go out of the city to fight were lost, the situation in Qingzhou would only become more difficult.

Xun Yu explained calmly.

"General Zixiao, rest assured. Yu is not going to do anything like fighting a rock with an egg. Instead, I want to ask General Zixiao to move the army to Zouping to guard against Sun Ce."

When Cao Ren heard this, he felt relieved.

Although Zouping City is a small city, it is located on a high ground, on the western border of Jinan State, and backed by Le'an County.

If the purpose was to prevent Sun Ce from capturing Dongchaojin and then attacking Le'an County and Qi State, Zouping City was indeed a very strategic location.

Therefore, after a little thought, Cao Ren calmly accepted the order. However, when Cao Ren left Xun Mansion, some doubts inexplicably arose in his heart.

Since Xun Wenruo had already decided to abandon Dongchaojin and delay time, even if he stationed troops in Zouping City, it would be somewhat redundant. It would be better for him to retreat to Le'an County or a city in Qi State that was easier to defend.

What Cao Ren didn't know was that after he left, Xun Yu also wrote a secret letter and gave it to his confidant, who then sent it to the direction of Jinan overnight.

The person who received this secret letter is... Cheng Yu.

Under Cao Cao's command, Xun Yu and Cheng Yu had almost no private contact except for official business.

Except for a few people, no one knew that Xun Yu and Cheng Yu had a close personal relationship in their early years. Even Cheng Yu's joining Cao Cao's camp was also due to Xun Yu's secret recommendation and promotion.

Even Cheng Yu suggested to Cao Cao to attack Xuzhou...

And when Cheng Yu opened the secret letter, only one word was reflected in his eyes - "flood"!
Cheng Yu burned the secret letter expressionlessly, having already made up his mind.

Unlike Xun Yu, who came from a prominent family, Cheng Yu came from a truly humble family.

Moreover, during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the magistrate of Dong'e County abandoned the people and fled. It was Cheng Yu who stepped forward and used a strategy to defeat the Yellow Turbans and save Dong'e County.

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However, after the war, Cheng Yu, who came from a humble background and had no connections, did not receive any rewards, and was even criticized by the people of Dong'a County for some reasons.

From then on, Cheng Yu understood that birth and status were everything.

As a man of humble origin, Cheng Yu knew that if he wanted to hold a high position under Cao Cao, he had to be a lone minister and be willing to dirty his hands.

Cheng Yu watched the secret letter turn into ashes bit by bit, then he stood up and walked out of the tent.

Suddenly, a lot of noisy sounds came into Cheng Yu's mind, and what he saw... were all the fellow villagers recruited by Cheng Yu from Dong'e County.

Looking at his fellow countrymen who were working hard, Cheng Yu couldn't help but smile.

As the saying goes, if one does not return to his hometown when he is rich and powerful, it is like wearing fine clothes at night.

Cheng Yu at least held a high position in Qingzhou and was undoubtedly the pride of the entire Dong'e County.

For ordinary people in the countryside, the highest-ranking official they may ever see in their lifetime is the county magistrate.

Even though Cao Cao had a very bad reputation in the eyes of all the princes and families, and countless people in Xuzhou hated him so much that they wanted to eat his flesh and drink his blood, ordinary people far away in Dong'a, Yanzhou were obviously not aware of this.

All they knew was that Cheng Yu's current status was much higher than that of the county magistrate, and even the county magistrate was not qualified to meet Cheng Yu.

Cheng Yu did not even need to return to Dong'a County in person. He only needed to send his trusted confidants back to his hometown, and countless villagers who had once criticized and condemned Cheng Yu took the initiative to establish relations with him.

This also made it easy for Cheng Yu to bring thousands of young and strong villagers from his hometown to dig the river embankment here.

Cheng Yu laughed and laughed, with viciousness and pleasure in his eyes as he muttered.

"Stupid, ignorant, ugly..."

In the eyes of these villagers, they followed Cheng Yu to seek wealth and fame. The work of digging the river embankment was a little hard, but there was a reward of meat every day, which was enough to make these Dong'a villagers loyal to Cheng Yu.

Unfortunately, what these Dong'a villagers don't know is that Cheng Yu never intended to let these villagers leave alive from the beginning.

Breaking the dike of the Yellow River will surely lead to eternal infamy and be despised by countless people.

Cheng Yu may not care about his reputation, but he also understands that he cannot bear this reputation, otherwise Cao Cao would probably take his head to appease the world's anger.

Therefore, in Cheng Yu's eyes, the fate of these young and strong men from Dong'a who participated in the dam breach was already determined.

The funny thing is that these Dong'e young men didn't even realize that their constant digging was destroying the Yellow River embankment bit by bit, and they firmly believed what Cheng Yu said about reinforcing the embankment. (End of this chapter)