He originally intended to surrender to Wei, so why did he end up restoring Han?

Chapter 81 Liu Bei's Army with Insufficient Troops

Just like now, if soldiers are mobilized in large numbers but don't accomplish anything, they won't receive any rewards. At this point, the soldiers will start to wonder: "If I had stayed home, I could have done this or that, and earned so much more." This kind of "opportunity cost" will make the soldiers feel even more unbalanced, believing that fighting for Liu Bei is a completely unprofitable business.

At the same time, soldiers will also develop doubts about the decision-making level, thinking: "Are these commanders really capable of leading? Why did they call us here but not assign us any tasks?" Over time, rank-and-file soldiers will become apathetic or resistant to the orders of the decision-making level, which is a very serious consequence.

However, this situation is based on the premise that no merit has actually been gained. Currently, the Central Army Group has only earned fewer military merits, not none at all. When it comes to the final rewards, the amount given will only be slightly less compared to the other two groups. The soldiers will not complain too much; at most, they will say that they did not gain much benefit from this expedition.

However, Lu Wan still wanted to share his thoughts: "Yide's question is very good. In my opinion, it won't reduce the soldiers' morale. Because we're just ceasing our attacks, these soldiers will still be stationed here."

"During their stay, the army should find ways to reclaim wasteland and take on some of the grain production tasks. We don't expect them to be self-sufficient; we'll be satisfied as long as we can reduce the burden on the people in the rear. Consequently, if the soldiers have something to do, they won't have any idle thoughts."

"Ah, this—" Zhang Fei was speechless and could only shut up.

Both Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were defeated in the debate. Zhang Liao was now the last hope among the three, and since he was recruited by Guan Yu, even if he felt that the facts were indeed as Lu Guan said, that this was the limit of Liu Bei's army's current expansion, he could only speak on Guan Yu's side: "Previously, our army's strategic strongholds in Jiujiang Commandery were only Zhongli, Yicheng, and Yinling. The defensive pressure was simply too great. If we could capture a few more cities, our army would have much more room to maneuver. In addition, our army is now strong and full of vigor, so we should take this opportunity to expand our strategic depth."

Lu Wan glanced at Zhang Liao after hearing his reasoning; it was indeed quite remarkable that someone of this era could have such strategic depth thinking.

"Wen Yuan, I believe that our army has occupied too much territory, so we should stop the attack. Yun Chang, do you remember when our lord specially transferred you back to Xiapi to train the army? If Sun Ce hadn't suddenly cut his losses, our army would be focusing on recruiting and training soldiers now."

After speaking to Guan Yu, Lu Wan turned to Zhang Liao and added, "Currently, our army has a total strength of about 40,000 men, which is barely enough to defend our original territories. This expedition has captured at least eighteen cities, further weakening our already limited forces. Therefore, in my opinion, our army is not at its strongest now, but at its weakest."

It has been half a year since Lu Wan joined Liu Bei's camp, and in that time Liu Bei's territory has almost doubled in size.

Logically, Liu Bei should be experiencing indigestion by now. The reason he hasn't collapsed is because he has troops stationed in the newly occupied territories, the powerful families of Xuzhou have been providing administrative talent to help Liu Bei fill vacancies in lower-level officials, and Lu Wan's economic development and implementation of land reclamation have created a large number of jobs.

If any one of these three factors were missing, Liu Bei's territory would be in complete chaos. Compared to Xuzhou, Gotham would be considered to have a relatively simple and honest populace. Then, warlords, including Sun Ce, might not target Liu Xun or other warlords, but instead try their luck in Xuzhou.

"Given the current situation, our army needs at least 60,000 men to ensure that Xuzhou can cope even if Cao Cao or Yuan Shao launch a surprise attack. If we include the southern part of Pei State and the occupied area of ​​Jiujiang, then this number will expand to 70,000 to 80,000 men."

Seeing that the three of them were nodding in agreement with the data, Lu Wan continued on this basis: "The requirements for the army to be used for offensive operations in the future are even higher. It must be an elite force that combines mobility and the ability to attack fortified positions."

"If we shift our focus to Liu Xun, the challenge will be capturing Shouchun, this fortified city. It has a moat, waterways, and its walls, expanded by Yuan Shu, are high and strong; it would be impossible to take it without at least 30,000 men!"

"If we want to cross the river and attack Sun Ce, the difficulty lies in Sun Ce's own strong command ability, his elite land forces, and the large number of veteran generals left to him by his father, Sun Jian. In my opinion, we need at least 40,000 to 50,000 elite troops, plus a powerful navy to escort them, transport supplies, and control the river, in order to have a chance of victory."

"As for dealing with Cao Cao and Yuan Shao—we can only do as the Marquis of Huaiyin said: the more the better. Cao Cao is a hero of our time. He managed to establish himself in the Central Plains despite being surrounded by enemies. If we want to fight him, our army must be extremely strong in both quantity and quality, which means we need more than 50,000 multi-service combined forces."

"Think about it, everyone. Just to take over some of the cities that Sun Ce has voluntarily withdrawn from, our army can only muster 30,000 men. Is such a force really enough to guarantee a successful siege?"

Lu Wan stopped and looked at the expressions of the others, all of whom seemed to be deep in thought. All three were top-tier commanders in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and by shifting their focus from a purely military perspective to a holistic view, many previously unclear and tangled issues became crystal clear.

The three men were now completely convinced. Looking at Xuzhou now, it really had become like the dilapidated house it was in before Liu Bei arrived, leaking air everywhere. It's just that these problems had been masked by Liu Bei's several great victories, making them difficult to see.

Upon closer reflection, it becomes clear that these victories were achieved through clever maneuvers. Ji Ling's army was wiped out because his supply depot was attacked, resulting in insufficient food supplies and pursuit by Liu Bei during the retreat.

Zang Ba was even more outrageous; he never intended to fight Liu Bei at all, and spent the entire time evaluating his good brother Chang Xi. As soon as Liu Bei's city fell, Zang Ba immediately and smoothly joined the Xuzhou family.

They only managed to enter Huainan because Sun Ce was retreating. Every victory of Liu Bei's army was achieved through opportunism, and such victories will only become less and less frequent in the future. As time goes on, it will become more and more a contest of pure hard power.

Zhang Fei said with regret, "So, are we just going back to farming like this?"

>