Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Inside the government office of Duchang City.

Cao Ren, the governor of Qingzhou and general of Dingnan, rarely invited his generals to a banquet to celebrate the harvest.

In order to guard against Liu Bei in the south, although Qingzhou was a bit poor, due to the large-scale military farming and several years of governance, a large amount of grain was stored.

The reason why Cao Ren was so relaxed was not only because winter was approaching, but also because he learned about the Shouchun Rebellion from a secret letter sent by Cao Cao. The entire Han Dynasty was in chaos.

Although Cao Ren did not dare to take the opportunity to attack Xuzhou, he had been carefully guarding the direction of Xuzhou for many years. After he felt relieved, Cao Ren also planned to take the opportunity to rest.

However, the noise of Cao's generals toasting each other in the government office was interrupted by the hurried voice of Mao Jie who suddenly broke in.

"Oh my! The general is still at the banquet! This is terrible!"

A hint of displeasure appeared on Cao Ren's face, but he suppressed it and asked.

"Why are you so alarmed?"

Mao Jie said hurriedly, sweat on his forehead. "Liu Bei has issued a copy of the 'Revitalize Han and Defeat the Bandits' and has raised troops to march north!"

"what?!"

As soon as these words were spoken, many of Cao's generals present sobered up almost instantly.

Cao Ren hurriedly stood up and snatched the newspaper from Mao Jie's hand, opened it and took a quick glance, his expression also changed drastically.

The Three Kingdoms of Han, Wei and Zhao had been in existence for some time. Although the border situation was tense between the two sides, no real conflict had ever broken out.

Everyone knows that the Han Dynasty will send troops to the north sooner or later, but Cao Wei does not want that day to come.

After Cao Ren was stunned for several breaths, he almost blurted out the answer.

"Impossible! The king sent a secret letter saying that Shouchun was in turmoil, Liu and Li were split, and they were too busy to take care of themselves. How could he suddenly send troops to the north?"

After a pause, Cao Ren questioned Mao Jie.

"Is this newspaper a forgery? Where did Xiaoxian get it from?"

"General, this newspaper was sent back day and night by spies sent to Xuzhou. It has already spread throughout Xuzhou, and countless people know about it. How could it be false?" Mao Jie replied hurriedly.

This also quickly eliminated Cao Ren's remaining hope, and he realized that even if Liu Bei was crazy, he would not dare to spread false information to the people, otherwise it would damage the prestige of Liu Bei and the government.

At this moment, a cool breeze blew in from outside the door, and Cao Renfang suddenly felt a wet and cool sensation on his back. He broke out in a cold sweat without realizing it, and there was no sign of drunkenness at all.

"Whether it's true or not, we must strengthen our defenses."

Cao Ren spoke sternly as he was about to dispatch troops to the border to remind the border guards to be vigilant.

"Urgent report!"

A rather sharp voice interrupted Cao Ren.

When Cao Ren rushed out quickly, he saw a dusty messenger rushing towards him, holding up a bamboo tube containing an urgent report and speaking urgently.

"The Han army has invaded our borders, claiming to have 100,000 soldiers and horses, and has besieged the cities of Chang'an and Anqiu. Please rush to their aid, General."

Cao Ren quickly took the bamboo tube, poured out the urgent report with intact sealing wax from it, opened it, and read it quickly, his face looking very ugly.

General Jianwu Xu Sheng led an army of 100,000 and invaded the country. He had already besieged the two cities of Anqiu and Chang'an, which were close to the Langya State.

The two cities of Anqiu and Chang'an are fortified cities that Cao Ren has repaired more than ten times in the past few years. They each house 5,000 soldiers to guard Xuzhou.

It’s not that Cao Ren doesn’t want to station more troops.

But Anqiu and Chang'an were small cities that could accommodate a limited number of troops, and the grain taxes that the local people could pay were also limited. If more troops were stationed before the war, Cao Ren would have to continue to transport grain to Anqiu and Chang'an, which would also be a huge loss.

Moreover, according to the arrangement made by Cao Ren, if there is any movement in Xuzhou, the troops scattered throughout Qingzhou will be mobilized at the same time.

Use Anqiu and Chang'an to block the Han army temporarily, buy enough time for Cao Ren to mobilize troops, and then deploy defenses along the Wenshui line behind Anqiu and Chang'an, using the advantages of rivers to further block the Han army.

Now, Anqiu and Chang'an were besieged without any preparation, which greatly reduced the effectiveness of Cao Ren's arrangements.

What Cao Ren was worried about at the moment was not only how long Anqiu and Chang'an could hold out, but he was also worried that the army led by Xu Sheng was merely the vanguard of the Northern Expedition.

The manifesto mentioned that the Northern Expedition Army was led by Li Ji, the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty. The real main force of the Northern Expedition was probably still behind, and Xu Sheng was merely paving the way for Li Ji, the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty.

Immediately, realizing the seriousness of the situation, Cao Ren did not dare to delay for a moment. He ordered all parts of Qingzhou to strengthen their defenses and quickly began to mobilize troops from all parts of Qingzhou.

At the same time, Cao Ren sent people to Yecheng without hesitation to ask for help, asking Cao Cao to send troops to help as soon as possible.

Even though Cao Ren worked hard to manage Qingzhou for a period of time and did not hesitate to use the "military farming system" to exploit Qingzhou's potential in an almost militaristic way, the total number of Qingzhou defenders that Cao Ren could mobilize was only about 150,000.

If the Northern Expedition Army's target was Qingzhou, Cao Ren would know that it would be extremely dangerous for him to resist.

……

At the same time Cao Ren was hurriedly mobilizing troops from all over the place.

The army led by Xu Sheng has launched a fierce attack on Anqiu and Chang'an that lasted nearly two days, under the fierce attack of various pre-made siege equipment.

Even though the garrisons Cao Ren arranged in Anqiu and Chang'an were quite elite, the two cities were already crumbling, and nearly half of the garrisons were killed or wounded.

Of course, the Han army also suffered heavy casualties.

The cities of Anqiu and Chang'an are not large, but they are well maintained, with all kinds of city defense facilities and supplies.

In terms of casualties, the Han army suffered more than the defenders.

However, under Xu Sheng's command, the Han army's offensive not only did not slow down, but instead continued to intensify.

Judging from the topography, Langya State borders Beihai State to the north.

For this reason, Anqiu and Chang'an were like a pair of front teeth blocking the Langya Kingdom.

Only by pulling out this pair of front teeth can the safety of the food route be guaranteed when the Han army invades the Beihai Kingdom.

Xu Sheng rode his horse between the two cities of Anqiu and Chang'an. While confirming the situation of the siege, he spoke to the guards beside him.

"Immediately send someone to tell the Prime Minister that tomorrow night, at the latest, I will personally attack the city and will definitely capture Anqiu and Chang'an, and draw the Cao army of Qingzhou to this direction."

……

When the military report sent back by Xu Sheng reached Li Ji, Li Ji squinted his eyes and walked to the map hanging in the big tent to look at it.

At this moment, the only two members of the staff who remained with Li Ji were Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi.

Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi were also making their own judgments.

After a moment, Zhuge Liang spoke.

"Teacher, it's almost time for General Zilong and General Wenchang to set off."

"hold on."

Li Ji raised his hand and waved, answering in a deep voice. (End of this chapter)