Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

"It's almost time. When the time comes, we will join hands with the heroes of the world to achieve great things and defeat the thief Dong!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei, who was dressed in military uniform, could not help but stand up on the chariot and look into the distance, hoping to see where the allied forces were gathering.

However, unlike Liu Bei's expectation of arriving at the meeting place, Li Ji put away the map in his hand, but his eyes could not help but glance at the army behind the chariot.

This chariot with a large banner bearing the character "Liu" was guarded on both sides by three thousand sword-wielding and axe-wielding soldiers led by Guan Yu. In the back, there were a full ten thousand elite infantrymen marching in formation with sharp eyes and murderous intent.

In addition, on the left and right sides of the army, Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei each led 3,000 cavalrymen, marching slowly to provide flank cover or attack at any time.

Among them, the one that Li Ji was relatively unfamiliar with was the sword-and-axe army led by Guan Yu.

This was Guan Yu's personal army, which was formed during the period when he was stationed in Yizhou. A large number of able-bodied soldiers were selected from among the Han, Shanyue, and Yi peoples, and were trained over a period of two or three years based on the experience of fighting the Shanyue in Fuchun Mountain.

In one hand he held a special rattan shield woven by the Yi people of Yizhou. This shield was light and tough, and was very effective in resisting attacks from sharp weapons. However, it was relatively weak in defending against blunt objects and was particularly afraid of fire.

In addition to the Yi rattan shield, these sword and axe soldiers also carry an iron axe and a broadsword for close-range chopping, and three small stone axes for medium-range throwing.

Li Ji was still unsure about the effectiveness of the sword-and-axe army trained by Guan Yu on the plain battlefield.

However, if the battle is fought in mountainous terrain, or in street fighting in a city where it is difficult to form a battle formation, the lethality of the sword and axe barbarian army must be extraordinary.

While Xiahou Bo needs to stay in Wujun to maintain the operation of the Jinyi Division, this group of sword-and-axe barbarians now serves as the personal guards of Liu Bei and Li Ji.

"This army is truly magnificent..."

'Except for Dong Zhuo, there is probably no other prince in the world with so many elite soldiers! '

Just as Li Ji was sighing sincerely in his heart, Liu Bei suddenly spoke with some concern.

"Zikun, do you think that with only 20,000 soldiers and horses, wouldn't the manpower be a little insufficient?"

Li Ji couldn't help but turn his head and look at Liu Bei in surprise.

Twenty thousand... not enough?
My lord, when did you develop a fear of insufficient troops?
Compared with the original storyline where Liu Bei was a commander without troops but came to the alliance with only two brothers, 20,000... is that enough?

Furthermore, these are 20,000 elite troops. Even if they face 40,000 county soldiers in a head-on field battle, they can defeat them in a very short time.

But Li Ji's slightly strange look made Liu Bei touch his face in confusion and asked.

"Zikun, what's the problem?"

"My lord, this time we are going to form an alliance to fight against Dong Zhuo. Twenty thousand troops are enough." Li Ji replied.

Liu Bei hesitated for a moment, then slowly spoke out his thoughts.

"I just felt that the Han Dynasty was about to fall, and a traitor like Dong Zhuo appeared in the world. He was called the prime minister, but his ambition was to become the emperor! If he was not attacked with thunder and lightning, as the Han Dynasty's majesty was declining, I don't know how many people would dare to claim to be kings and emperors in the future."

"Therefore, what Bei actually wanted was to mobilize 50,000 troops under his command to go north to fight against Dong, instead of just bringing 20,000 people."

When he said the last words, Liu Bei looked towards Li Ji with a bit more eagerness, as if he hoped to get Li Ji's approval and consent.

In response to this, Li Ji's gentle and elegant expression couldn't help but twitch slightly.

"Even though I, Li, am the boss now, my lord cannot be so rich and powerful..."

After completing the military reform under Liu Bei's rule, the first sign of success was that the number of troops that could be mobilized increased almost instantly.

The number of military households represents the number of troops that Liu Bei can mobilize at any time.

After nearly five years of resettlement of refugees in Wujun and Kuaiji counties, the population of the two counties has exceeded three million, a number close to the population of the entire Yangzhou before the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

(PS: Before the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Yangzhou had a population of one million households, or about four million people.

In history, after more than ten years of war, in the Battle of Red Cliffs, the Eastern Wu, which only occupied Yangzhou, was able to send out 50,000 troops to fight against Cao. This was under the premise that the Eastern Wu still left a considerable force to guard the border and guard against the southern barbarians in the mountains.

所以个人认为，这个时代治下人口与兵力的比例一般在30：1到50:1之间是比较合理的，到了乱世极端的情况下，这个比例甚至能达到15:1的程度。）
Therefore, even if a certain amount of troops were left behind to guard the border, it would be no problem for Liu Bei to easily mobilize more than 50,000 troops.

However, not to mention that Li Ji left a large number of troops in Wujun for other purposes, what was more important was that if Liu Bei led 50,000 elite troops out to wander around in just one county.

I am afraid that the ambitious princes from Guandong will immediately regard Liu Bei as the threat second only to Dong Zhuo at this alliance.

Therefore, when deciding how many troops to bring, one needs to consider not only the issue of fighting Dong Zhuo, but also the reaction within the Allied forces.

And now Liu Bei brought up the matter again because he understood the convenience of transporting troops by sea, and it would still be in time to mobilize the army from Wujun again.

"My lord, have you heard that the tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind?"

Li Ji reminded him in a low voice. Liu Bei, who was still immersed in the emotion and excitement of the heroes from all over the world gathering together to fight against the traitors, paused for a moment. With the silent understanding between him and Li Ji, Liu Bei instantly understood what Li Ji meant.

"Zikun is saying that if the number and elite troops led by Bei overwhelm the other princes, the other princes will probably ignore the thief Dong and try to harm Yu Bei first?"

"My lord, troubled times have arrived."

Li Ji sighed leisurely, reminding Liu Bei to change his mindset in time.

This is not only possible, but inevitable that one will assassinate one's own people first!
Sun Jian in the original trajectory did not change his mindset in time, thinking that the Han laws were still in place, so that Yuan Shu in the rear cut off his military supplies and almost wiped out his entire army.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Li Ji spoke in a gentle voice.

"My lord, those who are waiting for you at the meeting place ahead are not all like-minded and only want to revive the Han Dynasty!"

"Among them, there are definitely Dong the thief and his ilk. It's just that they don't have the opportunities and military strength that Dong the thief has, so they formed an alliance here, hoping to gain fame and benefits by defeating Dong."

At this moment, the expectation that had originally appeared on Liu Bei's face had completely disappeared. After thinking for a while, he bowed to Li Ji.

"Fortunately, Zikun reminded me. Otherwise, I would have been careless and harmed by others without knowing it."

Li Ji answered modestly. "It is the duty of a subject to assist the lord, and I dare not claim credit for it."

Immediately, Liu Bei did not continue speaking, but sat down with a slightly frowned brow, slowly adjusting his mentality.

The troubled times... have arrived!
The decline of the Han Dynasty was inevitable.

"How to revive the Han Dynasty is what we should consider and do now..."

There was only a hint of confusion in Liu Bei's eyes, but it was replaced by complete determination.

After a long time, Liu Bei asked in a low voice.

"In that case, Zikun, what do you think we should do after arriving at the Suanzao Alliance?"

Li Ji smiled and spoke.

"Nothing else. The most important thing is to mobilize the forces of all the princes to fight against Dong. Secondly, although the lord may not stand out in the crowd, he should also make friends with the princes from all directions and let his name be known to them."

"I am somewhat worried that I may not be able to gain the respect of the other princes." Liu Bei said with some concern.

This made Li Ji unable to tell whether Liu Bei was being humble or pretending. Besides being a relative of the Han royal family, Liu Bei was also a prefect of a county with 20,000 elite soldiers under his command. His reputation for benevolence and virtue had been spread throughout the Central Plains for four or five years.

This is different from the original story, in which Liu Bei was just a commoner and a down-and-out relative of the Han royal family.

At this moment, Liu Bei, a relative of the Han Dynasty who held a large army and was well-known for his benevolence, did not despise the other small princes, which was already considered to be respectful to the wise. He no longer needed to worry about being looked down upon by the other princes.

However, when Li Ji looked at Liu Bei, who was still not yet thirty years old, he suddenly reacted.

After all, Liu Bei was still just a mat weaver and shoe seller five or six years ago. Even though he had been a county governor for five or six years, he was still just living in a corner. He had no chance to meet with the princes, nor did he really come into contact with the top families of the time.

But it was just the position of county governor, which was not very impressive in the entire Han Dynasty.

Therefore, it was normal for Liu Bei to have some doubts in his heart.

To put it simply, Liu Bei has been quietly working in a corner for five or six years and has never moved out to participate in any top-level talks. He has no idea what level he is in the world now and cannot figure out his own status for the time being.

However, Li Ji saw it very clearly. If it was during the reign of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, Liu Hong, unless Liu Bei was preparing to rebel, no matter how well-trained his troops were and how much food he had, he would only be a small county governor who could be manipulated by anyone.

But now that troubled times have arrived, the money, food and military forces under one's rule are the symbols of status. Even if Liu Bei is just a county governor, he is enough to dominate the world.

Li Ji pondered for a while and felt that instead of explaining it directly to Liu Bei, it would be better to let Liu Bei experience for himself how high his status was surrounded by 20,000 elite soldiers.

"My lord, rest assured. I will accompany you at all times during this meeting. You only need to communicate with the princes according to your ideas."

Suddenly, Liu Bei felt a sense of confidence in his heart.

With Li Ji by his side to protect him, the situation would naturally be very different.

Liu Bei may have doubts about his status, reputation and charm, but he was full of confidence in Li Ji.

"If that's the case, then I have nothing to worry about. If there are any mistakes by then, please Zikun remind me in time so that I can check for omissions and fill in the gaps." Liu Bei said.

Li Ji smiled gently and nodded, then pointed towards the faintly visible black spot in front of him and said.

"My Lord, we have arrived at the meeting place of Suanzao." (End of this chapter)