Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Even though the Yizhou army had launched frequent night attacks over the past month, the Jingzhou army had also set up various ambushes to counterattack, and it is true that both sides had suffered casualties.

But this will undoubtedly lead to a long and protracted war of attrition.

Given Jingzhou's current situation, it is actually quite unfavorable for Jingzhou.

Seeing that no one spoke, Kuai Yue could only speak with gritted teeth.

"My lord, the Yizhou army has not launched a frontal attack, but has been harassing and attacking at night. There are only two reasons for this."

"First, Liu Yizhou's prestige has declined to a very serious level. As people's minds have changed, the generals of the Yizhou army chose to pretend to obey and secretly disobey in order to preserve their integrity as much as possible, so they tried their best to avoid direct attacks;"

"The second reason is that we underestimated Liu Yizhou..."

Liu Biao heard this and felt something was wrong recently, so he asked hurriedly. "Please tell me about it."

Kuai Yue had no choice but to bow and elaborate on his guess.

"Perhaps we have all been tricked by Liu Yizhou. Liu Yizhou did not want to fight us head-on from the beginning, and he did not lose his mind because of the disappearance of his beloved son."

"Liu Yizhou did not hesitate to send a large number of troops out of Sichuan to invade the border. His purpose was probably to delay the military strength of Jingzhou, and then expose the weakness of the rest of Jingzhou, and then attract Yuan Gonglu and Liu Xuande to attack together."

"Liu Xuande may have seen through Liu Yizhou's evil plan and did not want to become a sharp weapon in Liu Yizhou's hands to murder his fellow clansmen, so he sent an envoy to show his goodwill to the lord and to make it clear that he would never invade Jingzhou in order to relieve the pressure on the lord."

As soon as these words were spoken, all the civil and military officials in the military tent fell into deep thought.

Kuai Yue's inference is well-founded and fully explains the current predicament facing Jingzhou.

Liu Biao wanted to take over the main force of the Yizhou army and open the gate of Yizhou;

However, the Yizhou army just kept harassing and attacking at night, and never launched a head-on attack against the Jingzhou army. With such a fighting style, it would be difficult to determine the winner even after a year or two, let alone one or two months.

On the contrary, Jingzhou is likely to be dragged down.

No matter how securely Nanyang County and Xiangyang were deployed, they might not be able to withstand the prolonged assault by Yuan Shu's army.

'dilemma?!'

Liu Biao felt cold sweat breaking out and immediately realized that his situation was much more critical than he had imagined.

The seriously ill Liu Yan did not seem to have completely lost his mind. Instead, he gradually put Jingzhou into a dilemma.

In other words, there was no invasion from Yangzhou, otherwise the Yizhou army would only need to drag on for two or three months before the entire Jingzhou would be completely divided up.

Liu Biao frowned, and then asked, "Yidu, do you have a good plan to teach me how to solve this dilemma?"

Kuai Yue thought for a moment and answered carefully.

"I'm afraid the main purpose of Liu Yizhou's move is to force his lord to give up Liu Zhang, who is nowhere to be found. As long as Liu Zhang returns to Yizhou, the Yizhou army will retreat! Once the Yizhou army retreats, Yuan Gonglu will no longer be a threat."

Where is Liu Zhang?
Naturally it was in Liu Biao's hands.

However, only a handful of confidants in Jingzhou knew about this matter, and many generals in the military camp were not aware of it.

Once this matter was leaked, Liu Biao would inevitably be infamous, so Kuai Yue could only express his opinion implicitly.

However, before Liu Biao, who was sitting in the main seat, could say anything, Cai Mao jumped up first.

Because he was the one who attacked Liu Zhang.

Cai Mao was afraid that Liu Biao would directly put the blame on him in order to distance himself from the matter, and then cut off his head to persuade the Yizhou army to withdraw. "How dare you! Are you trying to disrupt the morale of the army? Not to mention that the attack on Liu Zhang might be an excuse made up by Yizhou. Even if we put aside this non-existent fact, why do you think that just handing over one person will make the Yizhou army withdraw?"

"The weaker we are now, the more we will embolden the enemy and make them think that Jingzhou is already weak."

"What is needed in this situation is a strong counterattack, not spineless surrender!"

Cai Mao's aggressiveness was undoubtedly far greater than that of Kuai Yue, which metaphorically made Kuai Yue so angry that he was almost fuming.

In Kuai Yue's opinion, this is undoubtedly the simplest way to resolve the current dilemma.

Liu Yan was dying, and what he needed was stability within Yizhou. As long as Liu Zhang returned to Yizhou, the seriously ill Liu Yan would definitely not take the risk of continuing to attack and dream of dividing Jingzhou with Yuan Gonglu.

"Cai Degui, you are just trying to create chaos in the world and are trying to put the lord in danger..."

"Humph, I, Cai Mao, am dedicated to the public and loyal to my lord. I am indeed unlike someone who only cares about protecting himself!"

"If we talk about selfishness..."

For a moment, Cai Mao and Kuai Yue started to curse each other on the spot, which made Liu Biao very upset.

Seeing that the Yizhou army was unable to resolve the issue, Cai Mao and Kuai Yue, who were from local aristocratic families, undoubtedly wanted to retreat, wanting to preserve their strength so as not to drag down their families.

However, there were also conflicts between Cai Mao and Kuai Yue.

Cai Mao hoped to withdraw his troops and return to Xiangyang to hold the city, while Kuai Yue hoped to persuade Liu Biao to return Liu Zhang to Yizhou.

"enough!"

Liu Biao slammed the table and shouted angrily, causing Cai Mao and Kuai Yue to quickly shut their mouths.

Liu Biao looked around and knew clearly what most of the civil and military officials in the military tent were thinking.

However, these local aristocratic family factions could retreat, but Liu Biao could not.

If he retreated at this moment, it would not only mean that Liu Biao had completely lost the chance to capture Jingzhou, but it would also mean that Liu Biao's prestige would be severely damaged, and he would be controlled by the Jingzhou families in the future.

Liu Biao had to wonder if this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

"The Imperial Seal is in my hands, the destiny is in my hands, why should I... retreat!"

Liu Biao gradually became fierce in his heart, and his originally wavering thoughts became completely firm again. He suddenly drew out the sword at his waist and cut off a corner of the table, and shouted.

"Whoever dares to talk about peace talks and withdrawal of troops will be treated like this."

In an instant, everyone in the military tent was shocked, and the military morale, which had begun to disperse, quickly gathered again.

Immediately, Liu Biao, holding a sword in one hand, spoke with a sharpness and determination rarely seen before.

"All you need to think about is how to defeat the Yizhou army. As long as we defeat the Yizhou army, the current predicament of Jingzhou will no longer exist, and we will even gain Yizhou."

However, it is not difficult for Liu Biao to raise the question, but it is extremely difficult to solve it.

Due to the terrain, it was naturally very difficult for the Yizhou army to break through the defense line from Zigui to Yiling.

But the same is true in reverse.

The Yizhou army was timid and only knew how to send small groups of troops to harass and attack at night. It was extremely difficult for the Jingzhou army to find the main force of the Yizhou army for a decisive battle. (End of this chapter)