Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Xu Gong originally thought that with his status and reputation, these remote tribes would quickly submit to him, but he did not expect that they were so short-sighted.

This made Xu Gong feel extremely ashamed and he was filled with rage.

If Xu Gong had not understood that Liu Bei was very powerful in Jiangdong and that they had to join forces to defeat Liu Bei if they wanted to take Jiangdong, Xu Gong would have wanted to walk away on the spot and not associate with these villains.

However, at this moment, Zhou Xin took the initiative to stand up, slightly pressed his hands, and spoke.

"Please listen to me..."

After everyone gradually quieted down, Zhou Xin spoke slowly.

"Liu Bei, the governor of Wu County, is hypocritically benevolent and cruel. He took in refugees in the name of benevolence, but he forced them to work as laborers to dig the canal. How is his behavior any different from the tyrannical Qin Dynasty's forced conscription of farmers to build city walls?"

"I don't know how many refugees were buried in Wujun because of this, which only helped Liu Bei, the traitor, to achieve his false reputation of benevolence and righteousness!"

"Also, although he was the prefect of Wu County, Liu Bei secretly attacked Kuaiji County and even secretly kidnapped the prefect of Kuaiji County, Guo Yi, and then slaughtered people in Kuaiji County to eliminate dissidents."

"One hundred and twenty-three members of my Kuaiji Zhou clan died at the hands of Liu Bei. The people of Kuaiji only knew that Guo Yi was cruel and that he slaughtered pillars of the family, but they didn't know that the man behind the scenes was the hypocritical Liu Bei."

When Zhou Xin said this, his eyes turned red, tears flowed down his face, he hit his chest hard with his hands several times, and said loudly.

"What Liu Bei did was no different from a traitor to the country. Alas, how sad! How hateful!"

"Today we gather here to form an alliance. We have no selfish motives. We cannot ignore the voices of the people of Wu County and Kuaiji County. We cannot tolerate a despicable and cruel person like Liu Bei staying in Wu County to harm the loyal people!"

"So, the alliance was held in the name of attacking Wu, but in reality it was to attack Liu Bei and the traitors!"

Whether it was because what Zhou Xin said was so contagious that it aroused everyone's empathy, or it was to show righteousness.

For a moment, almost everyone in the tent started to cry, curse, or swear...

Perhaps it is not that no one knows that Liu Bei implemented benevolent policies in Wu County. After secretly controlling Kuaiji County, the lives of the lower-class people in Kuaiji County have also improved at a visible pace.

However, from the perspective of the aristocratic families, Liu Bei’s benevolent rule was actually a true tyranny!

The cornerstone of ruling the world should be the aristocratic families like them, not those low-level ants. Treating the ants well and squeezing the aristocratic families, what else can this be but tyranny?
Especially the emergence of improved paper and printing technology almost made the Yangzhou noble families panic...

Therefore, most of the noble families present might not be sure whether what Zhou Xin said was true or false, but almost all of them empathized with him!

If we do not attack Wu County today, the fate of other families in the future may be the same as that of the Zhou family of Kuaiji.

Only Xu Gong and Zuo Rong's expressions seemed out of place with the other Yangzhou families.

Xu Gong was not from a noble family in Yangzhou, and his goal was to control Yangzhou.

If Wujun is conquered successfully, Zhou Xin will become the lord of Jiangdong as the leader of the alliance. For Xu Gong, this is like driving away a jackal and gaining another tiger.

As for Zuo Rong, he knew very well that as a person of powerful family origin, he would not be taken seriously by the Jiangdong noble families and there was no possibility for him to become the leader of the alliance.

What Zuo Rong cared about was the wealth of Wu County. He just wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to make a fortune in Wu County, and then build a Buddhist temple under his rule to recruit believers...

It doesn’t matter if the world looks down on me!
The teaching of my Buddhism is that everyone is equal. When all the people in the world are my Buddhist believers, why can't we establish a Buddhist kingdom on earth with my Buddha as the master?
"Amitabha!"

Zuo Rong chanted the Buddha's name with a compassionate look on his face, which was considered as agreeing with Zhou Xin and showing his support for Zhou Xin's attitude.

However, after Zhou Xin aroused everyone's hatred of the enemy, he changed his tone and spoke.

"We are all seeking justice, not selfish desires, so I recommend Lord Xu of Yuzhang as the leader of the alliance to coordinate the four directions and attack Wujun."

This unexpected turn of words made Xu Gong, who had originally had a gloomy face, suddenly ecstatic, and he almost blurted out "seriously".

Fortunately, Xu Gong was also quite shrewd. He managed to suppress his joy and declined.

However, Zhou Xin, who was bent on revenge, knew very well that if he became the leader of the alliance, Xu Gong would definitely cause trouble and might even secretly collude with Wujun to cause mutual destruction between the allied forces and Wujun.

Therefore, for the sake of the overall situation, it is better to nominate Xu Gong as the leader of the alliance, so that the allied forces can be more united.

After Zhou Xin took the initiative to repeatedly recommend Xu Gong as the leader of the alliance and gave Xu Gong enough face, Xu Gong finally agreed to serve as the leader with an unwilling and ashamed look on his face.

Many Yangzhou noble families may not like Xu Gong, but since the four county governors all agreed, they had no way to object.

Immediately, Xu Gong climbed onto the high platform prepared in advance by Zhou Xin and performed a series of blood oath rituals in imitation of the Anti-Dong Alliance.

After the alliance ceremony was over, Xu Gong sat in the main seat and went back to the tent to discuss matters related to the attack on Wu County.

Now, soldiers and money and food from the four counties of Yangzhou are gathering in Liyang in an endless stream. It will take at least three to five days to complete all the preparations.

At the time when Xu Gong summarized the total number of troops that were about to arrive in Liyang from all parties, he came up with a number as high as more than 136,000.

Even with Xu Gong's cunning, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but twitch.

"Yuan Shao is the leader of the alliance in the north, and I am also the leader of the alliance in the south. What's the difference?" "When I lead my army to pacify Wujun and Kuaijijun, I will become the master of Jiangdong. Then, relying on the prestige of the Xu family in Runan, I may be able to take over Yuzhou in a lightning speed."

"When the two states of Yang and Yu are united, what will the Yuan family be worth?"

At this moment, Xu Gong, who was sitting on the main seat, felt very proud and confident, as if hegemony was already within his reach.

However, Xu Gong was able to be sent to Yuzhang County by the Xu family with high hopes. Although he might have obvious flaws in his character, he obviously had some abilities.

After suppressing the excitement in his heart, Xu Gong, who was sitting in the main seat, still had the bearing of coordinating all directions. He firmly grasped the posture of a leader and asked everyone in the tent.

"The day of the Eastern Expedition is approaching. Do you have any good strategies to defeat the enemy?"

Zhou Xin, who had been prepared for this for a long time, immediately stood up and asked his confidant to copy the defense map on a huge cloth and hang it in the tent, then spoke.

"Leader, Liu Bei has been unpopular for a long time, and there are countless people in Wujun who want to rebel against him. This is the defense map sent by a loyal and good man in Wujun at the risk of his life."

"According to the content of this defense map, I sent a large number of trusted people to explore Wu County. They were like entering an empty place, and easily penetrated into the heart of Wu County. I also verified the patrol time of the soldiers many times, and they were all correct."

When these words were spoken, although many people had already heard about the Wujun defense map, many people were ecstatic when they heard Zhou Xin publicly confirm that the contents of the defense map were correct.

Xu Gong did the same, he looked carefully at the contents of the defense map, the more he read, the happier he became, and said.

"According to the defense map, Wu County is tight on the outside but loose on the inside, and the actual available troops are only over 18,000. If that is the case, with the order of this leader, nearly 140,000 troops will march eastward, and Wu County will be flattened in an instant, right?"

Nearly 140,000 VS less than 20,000.

How to lose?
For a moment, Xu Gong couldn't even think of the reason for his loss.

Especially now that the "favorable time, favorable place and favorable people" are not in Wujun, but in the allied forces against Wu, it is impossible for them to lose!

Zhou Xin nodded and replied.

"It is true that Wujun has the available military force at the moment, but we are now in Liyang for a meeting, and the momentum is huge. Even if the officials of Wujun are slow, I think they will receive some news in a day or two."

"By then, Wu County will certainly quickly concentrate its forces in the direction of Yangxian, and will recruit as many local young and strong men as possible. In addition, Kuaiji County also has about 10,000 troops."

"Therefore, according to my estimation, after our army is fully prepared, Wujun should be able to concentrate about 30,000 troops in Yangxian with all its efforts."

According to the map, Liyang and Yangxian are located in the upper and lower reaches of the Lishui River respectively, less than 100 miles apart.

Even if the infantry marched quickly, it would only take three to five days to travel the distance.

If the navy sails downstream from the Lishui River, it can reach Yangxian in one day.

After hearing this, Xu Gong thought for a while and then spoke.

"I wonder how many ships there are in Liyang now? Why not take advantage of Wujun's unpreparedness and gather all the ships to attack Yangxian. Once Yangxian is taken, Taihu Lake will be our army's back garden, and Wujun will no longer have any strategic points to defend."

I have to say, this is undoubtedly a good idea.

This surprised Zhou Xin, who had originally looked down on Xu Gong.

However, Zhou Xin shook his head and pointed in the direction of Yang Xian on the defense map and spoke.

"Although this plan is brilliant, it is not feasible."

"It is true that the national scholar Li Zikun is blind and aids the tyrant, but his ability is quite extraordinary. He may have realized early on that if Taihu Lake is lost, the northern part of Wu County will fall."

"Therefore, the defense map clearly marked that an iron chain was set up across the river at the narrow part of the lower reaches of Lishui to prevent foreign enemies from attacking Yangxian by surprise."

"I once secretly sent a confidant to investigate, and he also confirmed that there were many soldiers patrolling the corresponding places, and there were mechanical lifting iron chains arranged in the river."

Suddenly, there was a burst of discussion in the tent.

Some were surprised at Li Ji's foresight, while others were thankful that they had the defense map in hand and thus avoided defeat...

If they had not known this in advance, they would have hastily sent ships downstream to attack Yangxian, but they would have been blocked by iron chains in the river.

If the Wujun defenders react quickly, they will likely use fire attacks to cause heavy damage to the surprise attacking ships.

This is also the reason why, after mastering the defense map, many noble families who were originally afraid of Liu Bei and Li Ji became more confident in conquering Wujun.

The allied forces have a clear view of all Wujun’s arrangements, so how could they lose?
Although Zhou Xin refuted his proposal for a surprise attack, Xu Gong did not get angry and simply went along with it.

"In this case, why not do the opposite? Our army should immediately create more momentum to intimidate Wujun, forcing Wujun to concentrate its forces in Yangxian. Then our army will abandon Yangxian and attack Qu'a or Wucheng instead. How about that?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xin suddenly felt that his evaluation of Xu Gong seemed a bit arbitrary.

There was something in Xu Gong's stomach, but it was really just a little bit... (End of this chapter)