My game can make money starting from the Three Kingdoms period.

The prolonged fighting meant that even spring planting could not be guaranteed in Jingzhou.

Of course, this cannot be guaranteed for Liu Bei's group.

Qingming Festival 218

Lu Congtian received two words of instruction from his ancestor: "Live."

These two simple words convey a lot of information.

Lu Congtian knew that he would face great danger this year.

It is certain that the time that the gentleman is waiting for, the time for his counterattack as a chess piece, will come.

Actually, that's not the case; Lu Xiao was no longer able to predict how the situation would develop.

He could only settle for second best and save Lu Congtian's life.

After giving this instruction, Lu Xiao took off his helmet.

"Am I destined to die young again in this life?"

Aside from relaying information, Lu Xiao had no influence over the game's progress.

How the game will unfold from here depends on Lu Congtian's fate and his own decisions.

Lu Xiao was very nervous.

He had never been so nervous playing a game.

This year is destined to be the most crucial year.

Whether the situation in the Three Kingdoms will change, and whether Lu Congtian can survive to continue the game, is all up to fate.

Put the helmet back on.

A very cautious, slight acceleration.

As the stalemate dragged on, the depletion of supplies became Guan Yu's biggest problem.

At this point, Liu Bei's group was like a frog being boiled in lukewarm water.

Although Liu Bei killed the general Xiahou Yuan in the Hanzhong battlefield, with Cao Cao personally taking over, Liu Bei could only hold his ground and remain in a stalemate with Cao Cao.

Once Liu Bei withdraws his troops, Cao Cao will inevitably launch a counterattack.

Meanwhile, to the east, Lü Meng had already entered Shu and begun attacking cities and seizing territory, like a dull knife slowly but effectively cutting into Liu Bei's flesh.

Guan Yu's troops were now completely isolated and helpless.

If news spreads that large areas of Shu have been plundered, it will severely damage the morale of the soldiers in Jingzhou, and they will surely desert.

At that point, it will truly be too late to reverse the situation.

At this point, Guan Yu had no choice but to withdraw his troops back to Xiangfan.

Let them be besieged; it's better than sitting and waiting to die while we're defending the outside.

In Guan Yu's tent, he gathered generals such as Zhuge Liang, Lu Congtian, Wen Pin, Guan Ping, and Meng Da.

Of the talented generals in Jingzhou today, only a handful remain.

Pan Jun and Fu Shiren surrendered to Wu, and Zhao Lei was killed in battle. The traitorous general Mi Fang was beheaded by Lu Congtian.

Guan Yu did not ask for a plan, but instead looked at Wen Ping first.

"Zhongye (Wenping's courtesy name) is determined to defend the country for the people. However, Yu is destitute and his troops are exhausted, so he cannot serve Zhongye. Now, Zhongye can leave and find another wise ruler to protect the people."

It is unclear whether Guan Yu released Wen Ping out of a sense of righteousness, to prevent Wen Ping from betraying him or because Wen Ping had come to him but was in dire straits.

Wen Ping rose, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and said resolutely, "General Guan, there's no need for further words. I will not leave. Cao Cao declared himself king, and Sun Quan betrayed us; both are treacherous villains who bring ruin to the country and its people, and everyone has the right to kill them. Although the current situation is unfavorable, how could I possibly turn my back at this time?"

Cao Cao was powerful; though he did not have the title of emperor, he had the power of one. How could someone who received the Han's salary possibly respect and control the emperor to command the other lords?

As for Sun Quan, needless to say, after his defection to Cao Cao and his surprise attack on his ally by crossing the Yangtze River in disguise, which hero in the world would still be willing to serve Eastern Wu?

Wenping knew that making this choice would lead to his death, but he was even more unwilling to live with a stigma.

Moved by Wen Ping's sincerity, Guan Yu said, "Jade can be broken but its whiteness cannot be altered; bamboo can be burned but its integrity cannot be destroyed. Though my body perishes, my name will be recorded in history!"

An atmosphere of fearlessness and willingness to die filled the camp.

Guan Yu looked at Zhuge Liang, "Kongming, do you have a way to break this deadlock?"

Zhuge Liang's brows were furrowed and his expression was gloomy. "Now our army has only about 10,000 soldiers left who have fled. Unless a miracle occurs and divine soldiers descend from the sky, our army can only hold out and wait for reinforcements."

"Isn't there any other way?"

Zhuge Liang shook his head, "There is no other way but to defend to the death."

Guan Yu froze, and it took him a long time to recover. "I wonder how long our army's supplies can last?"

"At most, we can hold out until winter." No one knows whether Zhuge Liang's words were true or false.

Lu Congtian calculated that it had been less than half a year.

Six months is enough time for far too many things to happen.

Guan Yu looked at Wen Ping again, "Zhongye, there is still a chance to leave."

"General Guan! Arrange the garrison duties!" Wen Pin refused Guan Yu's request.

Guan Yu took a deep breath and made arrangements: "Zhongye will be the general in charge of the Xiangfan navy, and Tian will be the captain of Xiangyang, guarding the city gates together with Tanzhi (Guan Ping's courtesy name). Kongming will pacify the people in the city and coordinate all matters in the rear."

Guan Yu had reached a point where he had no one left to rely on.

Even Zhuge Liang had tasks assigned to him.

Guan Yu was originally reluctant to promote Lu Congtian.

However, Zhuge Liang had privately vouched for Lu Congtian, saying that he could be entrusted with important responsibilities.

Otherwise, Guan Yu would never have entrusted such an important task as defending the city to someone who had divorced his wife and abandoned his children.

"promise!"

They all obeyed.

They went about their own business.

Two months later

The battle situation was still as unpredictable as ever, with Cao Cao being the first to take the initiative to make changes.

At this point, Cao Cao had already taken the initiative to withdraw his troops from Hanzhong!

They were the first to break the deadlock.

If one studies it carefully, one can understand Cao Cao's intention in withdrawing his troops.

Cao Cao saw that Lü Meng had captured many cities in Ba County, Yizhou, in just two months.

If Cao Cao continued to contain Liu Bei in Hanzhong, he would be working for Sun Quan.

How can this be allowed?

In addition, the Cao Wei group was plagued by internal troubles.

Cao Cao then accepted his advisors' suggestion to use the "chicken rib" as a password to relocate the people of Hanzhong and withdraw his troops, allowing Liu Bei and Lü Meng to fight each other so he could reap the benefits.

But this withdrawal was like not withdrawing at all. Cao Cao occupied the western city of Mianshui, preventing Liu Bei from supporting Jingzhou from Mianshui. Instead, he forced Liu Bei to take a long detour via the Yangtze River to provide support, leaving him exhausted.

It is July

The weather is hot and dry.

That night

Lu Congtian secretly boarded the boat and kowtowed towards the city wall. Although he could not see it, Lu Congtian knew that his mentor must be watching him from over there.

'Hoo hoo~'

The high platform inside the city is already on fire.

The sounds of panic could still be heard.

"Set off!"

In the city

Guan Yu tossed and turned, unable to sleep; this had been his norm these days.

Suddenly, war drums thundered, and gongs sounded as a warning.

The soldiers shouted, "Fire!"

Guan Yu grabbed his long sword and rushed towards the city wall.

"What happened?"

Seeing that Wen Ping had already directed his troops to extinguish the fire and fill the gaps in the defenses, he was furious. "That Lu Congtian set fire to the military camp, damaged the south gate, and took his soldiers and valuables to join Lu Xun!"

"What?!"

Guan Yu was heartbroken, realizing that Lu Congtian was unreliable.

In addition to defecting to the enemy, they also damaged the city gates. At this time, Xiangyang was like a useless back that could not be plugged!

"General! I'll go and capture his family and kill them..."

Guan Yu took a deep breath and raised his hand to stop him, "Leaving aside the matter of abandoning him, it is Lu Congtian who made the mistake, how can we take our anger out on his family?"

Guan Yu then seized another soldier and ordered, "Go and summon Kongming."

With the city gates destroyed and Lu Congtian defecting to the enemy, Lu Xun would certainly not let go of this golden opportunity to attack Xiangyang.

With Cao Ren and Yu Jin leading tens of thousands of troops above, and Lu Xun leading over ten thousand naval troops from Jiangdong behind, and with a traitor within his own ranks who took away soldiers and damaged the city gates, Guan Yu was left with only a dead end.

Guan Yu would not surrender; he would rather burn his boats and fight to the death.