Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

In Li Ji's eyes, Qingzhou at this moment was like a dead end.

To take Qingzhou, we must do it quickly.

More haste, less speed.

The army led by Xu Sheng advanced into Qingzhou and besieged the two cities of Anqiu and Chang'an, which would inevitably make Cao Ren subconsciously mobilize a large number of troops to gather in Beihai Kingdom for defense.

As the number of Beihai Kingdom’s garrisons increases, the number of garrisons in other prefectures and counties in Qingzhou will naturally be reduced.

"If my guess is correct, Cao Ren already knows about the Northern Expedition Manifesto, and also knows that Anqiu and Chang'an are trapped..."

Li Ji murmured.

"The military orders Cao Ren sent to various prefectures and counties in Qingzhou to mobilize troops took at least one day and at most two days to be delivered. It also took half a day to a day for each place to organize the troops. It also took a day to travel to leave the counties where they were stationed."

"If Zilong and Wenchang, who have been gathering their troops at the border, set out now, they might run into some of the troops."

"Wait a little longer, wait another half day before setting off. I want to let those soldiers know of the attack in the rear as soon as they leave the garrisoned counties, so that they will be caught in a dilemma and exhausted."

Sima Yi said with admiration on his face.

"Great advice, teacher."

Upon hearing this, Li Ji glanced at Sima Yi and continued speaking.

"In order to buy more time, Cao Ren will also send cavalry to Anqiu and Chang'an overnight, both to boost the morale of the Anqiu and Chang'an defenders and to investigate the size of Xu Sheng's forces."

"Send someone to pass a message to Xu Sheng, and let him take care of it and find a way to swallow up that group of cavalry."

Sima Yi, who was observing the emperor's expression, didn't know why he seemed to be flattering the horse but hit the horse's leg, so he quickly responded with a serious face.

"According to the intelligence gathered by the Jinyi Division, Cao Cao obtained a large number of fine horses from the Bingzhou horse farm for cavalry training, and selected the best from them to establish an elite cavalry unit called the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, with a number of about 8,000."

"In order to consolidate the defense line of Qingzhou, Cao Cao dispatched about 3,000 Tiger and Leopard Cavalry to Qingzhou, led by Cao Xiu, who was praised by Cao Cao as a 'thousand-mile horse'."

"If the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry are dispatched, General Jianwu does not have enough cavalry, and it will be difficult to stop them. Why not ask General Zilong to send a troop to help General Jianwu?"

After hearing this, Li Ji lowered his head and thought about Sima Yi's proposal.

Cao Cao had long envied the elite troops of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry, and the White Horse Volunteers. Therefore, after obtaining the horse-breeding land in Bingzhou, Cao Cao tried every means to collect war horses and train cavalry.

To this end, Cao Cao did not hesitate to open up large-scale trade in Bingzhou, exchanging salt, iron and other goods for many good horses from the Xianbei.

The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry was undoubtedly an elite cavalry trained by Cao Cao.

If they could seize the opportunity to wipe out the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, it would undoubtedly be a heavy blow to Cao Wei.

After thinking for a moment, Li Ji asked.

"What do Kong Ming think?"

"In my humble opinion, it is not necessary," Zhuge Liang replied.

"Why?" Li Ji asked.

"Teacher, if your plan is completed, Qingzhou will be like a cage. There will be no reinforcements, and they will be short of food and clothing. We can slowly destroy them in the winter. No matter how elite the 3,000 Tiger and Leopard Cavalry are, they can be easily destroyed by then."

Zhuge Liang bowed in response, then spoke.

"Even if we ask General Wei to send some of his White Horse Volunteers, if there are too few, they will not be able to stop the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. If there are too many, it will seriously affect the strength of the troops led by General Wei."

"In this case, it is better not to divide them. This will be more conducive to General Zilong's surprise attack on Dongchaojin."

Li Ji nodded accordingly. The roundabout attitudes of Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi were precisely due to their different styles of doing things.

As their advantage gradually became apparent, Zhuge Liang preferred to play it safe, while Sima Yi was unwilling to miss any opportunity.

Li Ji thought for a moment and said, "There is no need to divide the troops. We cannot afford to lose Dongchaojin."

"Even if Cao Ren sent the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, Xu Wenxiang is definitely not a mediocre general, and he has Tian Yuanhao as his military advisor. I believe that with advance preparation, it will be enough to give the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry a hard time."

The White Horse Volunteers led by Zhao Yun, who were hiding in the border and ready to go, needed to go deep into the enemy's rear and take Dongchaojin directly.

Fifteen thousand is a large number, but it is after all a light cavalry attack, lacking in offensive weapons and logistical supplies. Success or failure depends entirely on the on-the-spot decision-making of Zhao Yun and Guo Jia.

Once Dongchaojin is heavily defended and cannot be captured for a while, the 15,000 White Horse Volunteers will be caught in a dilemma.

Therefore, leaving more troops for Zhao Yun would also give Zhao Yun more confidence.

In the following time, Li Ji stayed in the central military tent, reading the military reports and intelligence gathered from all parties.

It was not until late at night that Li Ji sent messengers to where Zhao Yun and Wei Yan were.

By the time the messenger arrived at where Zhao Yun and Wei Yan were, it was almost dawn.

Zhao Yun and Wei Yan also knew that the opportunity to fight would be fleeting, so they did not dare to slack off in the slightest and kept waiting for Li Ji's military orders.

Even when taking a short nap at night, he would always wear armor.

After Li Ji's military order was delivered, Zhao Yun set out almost immediately, leading a large number of cavalry to penetrate into Taishan County and head straight for Jinan State.

Zhao Yun’s mission was to capture Dongchaojin within seven days from receiving the military order.

If Dongchaojin is not captured within seven days, Cao Cao, who is far away in Jizhou, will learn of the Northern Expedition and will certainly send reinforcements to Qingzhou quickly.

As the main ferry crossing from Jizhou across the Yellow River to Qingzhou, the defense capability of Dongchaojin will inevitably be greatly improved. It will not be so easy to capture Dongchaojin by surprise attack.

Unlike Zhao Yun's swiftness, Wei Yan hurriedly called Pang Tong to discuss after receiving the military order and spoke.

"Shi Yuan, in my opinion, we should postpone the dispatch of troops for a few more days."

After hearing this, Pang Tong understood Wei Yan's meaning almost instantly and said.

"Wen Chang plans to wait until most of the troops in Qi are transferred out before sending troops to Beihai State and attacking Linzi from the east?"

Linzi is located right in the middle of Dongchaojin and Duchang City, which is why Cao Ren stored a large amount of grain and fodder there.

However, due to the obstruction of Mount Tai, Wei Yan, who was stationed in Pi Township in the northwest corner of Langya State, had only two feasible routes to attack Linzi: the east-west route.

The western route was to follow Zhao Yun, cross Taishan County and reach the southern part of Jinan State, then detour back to the east to attack Linzi;
On the eastern front, they would first enter the Beihai Kingdom, bypass the mountain range, and then turn back west to attack Linzi.

The route on the western front is long, but it is safer because Zhao Yun's cavalry leads the way and attracts the enemy's attention.

The route on the eastern line is much shorter, but it requires attacking Beihai Kingdom from the flank on its own, and then finding an opportunity to turn back west to attack Linzi.

Pang Tong frowned slightly and said, "But according to the Prime Minister, I'm afraid he would rather let Wen Chang go to the west, which is much more appropriate."

Wei Yan pulled Pang Tong to the map with many markings on it and said.

"The western route is safe, but it takes too long. It will take at least half a month to get to the southern foot of Mount Tai."

"And to ensure the safety of the grain route, we need to capture several key points in Taishan County along the way to ensure the smooth flow of grain."

After a pause, Wei Yan continued in a low voice.

"In this case, it will probably take one or two months to capture Linzi, and the pressure on the food supply in the rear is also extremely great, which is not conducive to the Northern Expedition."

"On the contrary, if we choose the eastern route, the route will be much shorter. Even if we need to capture several Beihai County cities by ourselves, Cao's army will only think that our army is a feint attack on the flank of the main force and will not take it seriously."

"After further confirming that Qi's territory is empty, we can return and launch a surprise attack on Linzi. There will be great potential." (End of this chapter)