Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Chen Gong and Xi Zhicai saw all this and it made them even more anxious.

What Chen Gong was anxious about was that he understood that Lu Bu must not be defeated. If Lu Bu was defeated, the crime of regicide would be hanged on Lu Bu's head. Not to mention three clans, I'm afraid even nine clans would have to be split upright by Liu Bei.

This is also the reason why Chen Gong, who still had gratitude towards Lu Bu, tried so hard to revitalize the situation in Zhao State and even put aside his personal grudges and did not oppose Lu Bu's marriage with Cao Cao.

As for Xi Zhicai, he was worried that Lu Bu would never recover from this defeat, which would have a serious impact on Cao Cao who was defending Guandu.

Faced with Li Ji's Northern Expedition, both Wei and Zhao were unable to resist on their own, and could only resist by uniting, so Xi Zhicai also did not want to see Lu Bu depressed.

"Fengxian, now is not the time to be depressed, we should reorganize the army as soon as possible..."

Faced with Chen Gong's repeated persuasion, Lu Bu, who was drinking in the big tent, showed impatience in his eyes and asked back.

"What about reorganizing the army? Gongtai, tell me, what can we do with the remnants of our army?"

This left Chen Gong speechless for a moment.

Before, the cavalry led by Lu Bu had an absolute advantage in manpower over the Han cavalry.

But after this disastrous defeat, the difference in strength between their forces and the Han cavalry was almost the same. In this case, Li Ji only needed to use cavalry against cavalry to hold Lu Bu back.

"Or do you want me to lead the army back to Hulao Pass?"

Lu Bu asked again, and Chen Gong still didn't know how to answer.

Retreating to Hulao Pass meant that Lu Bu gave up a large area of ​​territory outside Hulao Pass, leaving only the area around Luoyang.

This not only treated Cao Cao as a discarded pawn, but facing Li Ji's Northern Expedition, he could only sit and wait for death.

The most ideal result is to hold out for a few years, and the natural fortress of Hulao Pass will be breached sooner or later.

And Lu Bu was also accustomed to Chen Gong's silence and slowness. He waved his hand, signaling Chen Gong to retreat, and then spoke.

"Since you don't know what to do, just go out and let Gu Jing calm down for a while."

Chen Gong sighed softly and was about to turn around and leave when he suddenly heard an urgent call from outside the tent.

"Your Majesty, urgent news has arrived from Xingyang..."

Lu Bu's expression changed slightly. He threw the jar of wine in his hand and strode out of the tent.

When Lu Bu received the urgent message, his face turned ugly and he subconsciously handed it to Chen Gong.

Chen Gong took a quick glance and his expression changed drastically as well.

Li Ji personally led an army of 150,000 and headed straight for Xingyang...

It should be noted that the Xingyang defenders numbered no more than 10,000 and could not hold out for long.

Once Xingyang falls, the throat of Hulao Pass will be controlled.

Lu Bu, who was originally full of depression, now had a look of anger rising on his face.

"Li Zikun is simply going too far. I have already fled here, but he is still pressing me so hard?"

Chen Gong saw this and took the opportunity to persuade the king, "Your Majesty, you should rush to help Xingyang and not let it fall into the hands of the enemy."

"You don't need to say more. I know this too. What's more, I want to see why Li Ji is so rampant. Does he really think I am made of clay?"

Lu Bu gritted his teeth, uttered a word, and immediately ordered the army to reorganize and rush back to Xingyang. However, when Lu Bu rushed back to Xingyang.

To Lu Bu's surprise, Li Ji did not surround Xingyang with a large army. Instead, he set up camp directly outside Hulao Pass and blocked Hulao Pass.

While Lu Bu was very confused about this, he led his troops, whose morale was still quite low, into Xingyang for rest.

Just as Li Ji stockpiled a large amount of grain in Zhongmu County, in order to facilitate the transportation of grain and grass, Lu Bu also stockpiled a lot of money and grain in Xingyang, which was enough to support him for one or two months.

Because of this, Lu Bu, Chen Gong and Chen Qun who was left in Xingyang felt quite strange.

If Lu Bu is short of money and food, then cutting off the food supply route from Hulao Pass would be of some use.

But at the moment, the food and grass in Xingyang can last for a long time. Not only is it meaningless for Li Ji to block Hulao Pass directly, but the food route is always under the threat of Xingyang.

Xi Zhicai, Chen Qun and Chen Gong all agreed that there was a trick, and they all supported Lu Bu to focus on defending Xingyang for the time being and not to act rashly. This would allow the defeated soldiers to slowly recover their morale within the city of Xingyang.

Two days later, Gao Shun, who was stationed at Hulao Pass, sacrificed hundreds of elite soldiers from the Xianzhen Camp and, under the cover of night, barely protected a messenger and broke through the siege set up by Li Ji outside Hulao Pass and delivered a message to Xingyang.

Everyone, including Lu Bu, was struck by lightning.

This was actually a letter asking for help. The content of the letter mentioned that there were about 50,000 enemy troops approaching Luoyang from the direction of Hangu Pass, and asked Lu Bu to return to help as soon as possible, otherwise Luoyang might be lost.

Since Ma Teng, Han Sui and the remnants of Dong Zhuo's bandits west of Luoyang had all been defeated, they no longer posed any threat.

Therefore, Lu Bu focused on defending Hulao Pass, and only 5,000 defenders were left in Luoyang.

Once Luoyang was lost, it was almost as if the State of Zhao was destroyed.

Even if Lu Bu, who was isolated and helpless, still had tens of thousands of troops, he was nothing but a rootless duckweed.

"That's it, that's it..."

Chen Gong's eyes widened, but he completely understood Li Ji's plan, and he murmured.

"Li Zikun has been trying to trick us into leading our troops away from Xingyang from the beginning, so that we can't return to Luoyang in time to provide assistance."

"Now that Li Zikun has led his army to block Hulao Pass, it is not to cut off our food supply, but to further block our passage back to Luoyang for assistance."

"It's a trap! It's a trap! It's a trap..."

Xi Zhicai's originally sickly face turned even paler, and then suddenly flushed red, and a large mouthful of blood suddenly spurted out of his mouth...

At this moment, Xi Zhicai already understood that with Li Ji's plan of cutting off the source of the problem, both Lu Bu and the State of Zhao were finished.

Moreover, the chain reaction triggered by this would force Cao Cao's army, which is still at Guandu, to retreat.

However, everyone was in a panic at the moment, and no one had the leisure to pay attention to the vomiting blood of a foreign official like Xi Zhicai.

Xi Zhicai stood up shakily and staggered out, but no one cared about him either.

"This matter must be told to the king as soon as possible. The king must evacuate Guandu as soon as possible..."

Xi Zhicai had double images constantly appearing before his eyes. He tried hard to hold himself together and not fall down until he found his personal guards outside the door.

Facing the guards who came to support him in a panic, Xi Zhicai grabbed the guard's shoulders tightly, and as if he had a last burst of energy, he spoke urgently in a clear and loud voice.

"Don't worry about me. Send someone with my seal to tell the king that Luoyang is about to be lost. We should retreat to Jizhou as soon as possible without any hesitation." (End of this chapter)