Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator.

Wei Yan's mouth moved, and he almost blurted out the word "waste".

This Chunyu Qiong, apart from a bit of martial prowess, was truly good for nothing, and his spine was soft.

Wei Yan frowned and pondered for a while, then asked.

"How about letting Chunyu Qiong lead only a small team of soldiers into the city to lower Li Qian's guard, and then take the opportunity to have Chunyu Qiong cooperate from the inside to open the city gate?"

"That's still not appropriate. It's too dangerous. Once Zhongjian is exposed, he will face a deadly disaster," Pang Tong rejected.

Wei Yan was slightly stunned, and then suddenly understood Pang Tong's implication.

It wasn't that he was worried about Chunyu Qiong's life or death, but that he simply didn't trust Chunyu Qiong.

If Chunyu Qiong returned to Linzi and defected again, setting up an ambush in the city in advance to lure the Han army into the city, they would fall into a trap.

Although Wei Yan felt that Chunyu Qiong didn't have the guts, he had to admit that Pang Tong's concerns had to be guarded against.

Wei Yan thought for a while again, and then said.

"In that case, it seems that the best way is to take advantage of Linzi's unpreparedness and launch a surprise attack on Linzi at night, trying to seize Linzi in one fell swoop."

"Let me think about it."

Pang Tong said, lowering his head to ponder.

Now that they were about to arrive at Linzi City, only one step away from success, it could be called a miracle.

But the problem was how to quickly break through Linzi, which was a difficult problem.

If they had taken the western route, advancing steadily into Qi, then even if they slowly forced their way in, it would only result in a larger consumption of food and supplies.

But now they were taking the risky eastern route, and logistics could not be continuously supplied.

This forced them to take Linzi quickly, otherwise, it would be quite a hidden danger for this partial army.

Regarding the intelligence of the defending generals of Linzi, Pang Tong knew a little more, and even before the trip, Li Ji secretly told Pang Tong to pay more attention.

Li Qian, Li Zheng, and Li Dian could be called the three heroes of the Shanyang Li family, and their abilities were quite good.

Especially Li Dian, Li Ji praised him as a rare Confucian general of Cao Wei.

However, Linzi was ultimately an important place for storing grain, so even if it was located in the hinterland of Qingzhou, Cao Ren would naturally not be so negligent as to arrange a trusted general to guard it, which was also reasonable.

The distance of fifty miles could be crossed by Wei Yan's army in just over a day.

The scouts sent to the forefront had already found Linzi.

However, the news brought back by the scouts made Wei Yan's face quite ugly.

The four gates of Linzi were tightly closed, and it was a posture of being ready for battle.

Wei Yan stared at Chunyu Qiong with a man-eating look and questioned him. "Could it be that you secretly informed the Cao army at the pass when you were talking to them?"

Chunyu Qiong quickly explained. "General, please be aware that I would never do that. My heart is with the Han Dynasty, so how could I inform the Cao army?"

"Then why is Linzi like this?" Wei Yan questioned.

"This, this, this, I don't know either..."

"Wen Chang, don't be angry. It's not necessarily Zhongjian's fault. I'm afraid we underestimated Cao Ren," Pang Tong said.

"What do you mean?" Wei Yan asked.

Wei Yan's face was full of unwillingness, saying. "Was it still a little slow?"

However, this was already the fastest speed for infantry marching. Wei Yan had rushed as fast as he could on this journey of more than two hundred miles, but in the end, he was still a little late.

If Linzi was unprepared, then the success rate of a surprise attack on Linzi would be greatly increased.

Now that Linzi was prepared, even if Wei Yan had 26,000 soldiers, three times that of Linzi.

However, it should be noted that this was the hinterland of Qingzhou, and it would not take Cao Ren much time to send troops to rescue, and perhaps a large net had already been wrapped around Wei Yan.

While thinking, Pang Tong, who had already judged the situation clearly, couldn't help but frown slightly.

This was a case of one move affecting the whole body.

If they had taken the western route, it would have been slow, but at that time, the Qingzhou defenders would have been transferred by Cao Ren to Beihai County to resist the teacher, so even if they knew that Linzi was attacked, it would be difficult to transfer troops to rescue them in time.

But taking the eastern route was fast, but at this time, it was not difficult for Cao Ren to transfer troops to Linzi.

As for the options of fighting or retreating, Wei Yan made a decision almost instantly.

Fight!

"Since that's the case, then the only way is to attack by force, and let the Cao Wei dogs know the sharpness of our Han army."

Wei Yan said in a deep voice.

Wei Yan would never accept retreating.

If taking tricks didn't work, then he would come hard.

Linzi was already in front of him, so what if they were prepared? Then he would attack by force.

Wei Yan was unwilling to give up, and Pang Tong was also unwilling to give up, nodding in agreement.

"That's the only way."

No matter what, they had to fight and test the waters before making a decision. How could they retreat in despair just because the other party was prepared?

After testing the waters, it would not be too late to make other plans.

If Cao Ren really did not hesitate to mobilize heavy troops to surround them, then what would it matter? It would be as if they were reducing the pressure on the teacher's side.

In an instant, Pang Tong also focused on the overall situation of Qingzhou, and clearly understood the current situation.

Being deep in enemy territory was indeed unfavorable.

But the momentum of the Northern Expedition was so vast, how could Cao Ren try to reverse the offensive and defensive situation with his own strength?

Even if Linzi was prepared, Cao Ren would transfer troops from the surrounding areas to support them, but it should still be Linzi who was nervous.

Even if they couldn't take Linzi by force for a while, it would force Cao Ren to fight on two fronts, making the already insufficient troops even more stretched.

Moreover, the food and supplies brought by Wei Yan's army were enough for nearly a month, and although a long-term confrontation might be insufficient, there was no need to worry about the food and supplies problem in the short term.

Immediately, Wei Yan chose a place eight miles away from Linzi, which was easy to defend and difficult to attack, to set up camp, preparing to let the army, which had been rushing for days, rest for a while before proceeding.

All of this was also detected from afar by the Cao army scouts sent out from Linzi City, who quickly brought the intelligence back.

Seeing the existence of the Han army actually discovered in the intelligence sent back by the scouts.

Li Qian, the defending general of Linzi City, couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

The messenger sent by Cao Ren was only three hours earlier than Wei Yan, but if he had been a little later, it might have been a catastrophe for Linzi City.

"Father, the Han army, disguised as the Cao army, also rushed here for days, in order to attack Linzi by surprise. They must be exhausted. Why not take advantage of their unstable footing and attack before their camp is completed? Perhaps we can win a battle and make them return in defeat."

Li Zheng suggested.

"No..."

Li Dian, who was full of refined scholar's air, looking more like a Confucian scholar than a general, quickly spoke out against it.

(End of this chapter)