Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

In terms of emotions, Liu Bei and Tao Qian were allies and good friends;

Logically speaking, as Xuzhou was an important passage for the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains, Liu Bei could not tolerate it being taken away by the princes of the Yuan faction.

Therefore, apart from the cause of Cao Song's death, the civil and military officials in the hall were more concerned with the issue of sending troops.

Different from Tao Qian's slow reaction.

When the news of Cao Song's death spread in Qingzhou and Cao's army showed unusual movements, the relevant information was quickly transmitted back to Shouchun, otherwise Liu Bei's letter would not have been delivered to Xuzhou so quickly.

And because of Li Ji's emphasis on sand table, sand table simulation was most popular under Liu Bei's rule.

Soon, everyone worked together to build a Xuzhou terrain sand table that was almost half the size of a hall.

Although the terrain may not be 100% consistent, it is modified based on the Han map in the Dongguan collection and the Xuzhou terrain secretly explored and drawn by the Mi Chamber of Commerce over the years, and is not much different from the current world.

Small flags representing the military strength were planted.

Now, according to the intelligence obtained by the Jinyisi.

The army led by Cao Cao was said to have 150,000 soldiers, but the actual strength was around 100,000, of which 50,000 were elite troops and the other 50,000 were Qingzhou soldiers trained by the young and strong men who were recruited from the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou.

In addition, Yuan Shao also ordered Zhu Ling to lead 10,000 elite soldiers and escort a large amount of money and grain to rescue Cao Cao, while Yuan Shu stationed 50,000 troops in Pei State to the west of Xuzhou.

At one time, the total number of troops that Xuzhou had to face in the north and west was as many as 160,000, and they were in a pincer attack.

According to the Jinyisi and Mi's Chamber of Commerce's infiltration of Xuzhou over the years, including a large number of Xuzhou troops who may not obey Tao Qian's orders, Xuzhou's available troops are approximately 120,000.

As small flags representing military forces were added to the Xuzhou sand table, the situation in Xuzhou became quite clear to everyone.

The situation in Xuzhou would not be optimistic if Liu Bei did not intervene and provide assistance.

At the same time that Yuan Shu stationed his troops in Pei State, he also officially withdrew his troops from Nanyang County and ceded Nanyang County to Lu Bu.

When Yuan Shu evacuated Nanyang County, he also took away all the money, grain and supplies from the granaries in the county governments of Nanyang County, and even took away nearly 100,000 young and strong people.

In addition, Yuan Shu had previously deliberately stationed troops in Nanyang, which attracted Liu Bei to deploy a lot of troops in the north of Jingzhou. This was undoubtedly an attempt to deliberately lure Guan Yu, who was stationed in Jingzhou, into Nanyang County, and then cause a conflict with Lu Bu.

For a time, the situation in all directions in the north of Jingyang States became tense.

At the same time, wars broke out in various parts of the Central Plains.

Yuan Shao, who had initially conquered Ji and Bing states, once again stationed his troops on the border of Youzhou, preparing to take advantage of the opportunity when Gongsun Zan was still seriously injured and his prestige was greatly damaged to forcibly capture Youzhou.

Due to Han Fu's voluntary surrender, Yuan Shao's total military strength did not decrease after the Battle of Jie Bridge. On the contrary, after incorporating Han Fu's generals and soldiers, the available military strength quickly expanded to as many as 100,000.

And as Yuan Shao gradually digests the territories of Ji and Bing states, this number will continue to rise.

But Yuan Shao couldn't wait any longer.

It is true that Ji and Bing states were not digested, but Youzhou, which lost nearly 50,000 cavalry, was also seriously damaged.

With Youzhou behind him, Yuan Shao was like a thorn in his side.

Even though Youzhou had fortified its walls and cleared the fields for hundreds of miles, Yuan Shao saw that the Central Plains was in chaos and no princes had the energy to worry about or harass the war on the north bank of the Yellow River, so he rekindled his determination to conquer Youzhou.

It was May, the best time to conquer Youzhou.

Therefore, after Yuan Shao sent Zhu Ling to lead 10,000 elite troops to support Cao Cao, he also mobilized a large number of troops from Ji and Bing states to the north, ready to cross the border and attack Youzhou at any time.

At this moment, from a strategic perspective, this is undoubtedly a strategic offensive launched by the princes of the Yuan faction against the princes who are close to Liu Bei. This is to make Liu Bei unable to fight the Northern Expedition, and also to force Liu Bei to divert his attention to try to keep his allies such as Liu Yu, Gongsun Zan, and Tao Qian, otherwise Liu Bei would lose his left arm and right arm in an instant.

As pieces of information reached Shouchun, Liu Bei became visibly angry.

Especially when Cao Cao was advancing with unstoppable force, continuously attacking cities and strongholds from the north of Langya State.

Tao Qian's response strategies were also reported back to Shouchun.

It was confirmed that Tao Qian ordered Cao Bao to lead 60,000 troops to defend the Kaiyang and Jiqiu lines to block Cao Cao's passage to continue his southward advance.

Zang Ba led 20,000 troops to station in Pengcheng State to guard against Yuan Shu.

Seeing this arrangement, Liu Bei frowned and spoke.

"Has Tao Gongzu become senile? Even though I don't know much about military affairs, I know that Langya is a plain with no strong cities or strategic locations. How can we defend it?"

"We should mobilize the troops in Xuzhou to retreat to Tan County, or even abandon Tan County and retreat to Xiapi with all our strength, and hold on to the strong city."

After a pause, Liu Bei seemed a little less confident after he finished speaking and subconsciously looked at Li Ji.

Feeling Liu Bei's gaze, Li Ji nodded quietly, affirming Liu Bei's point of view, allowing Liu Bei to quickly regain his confidence.

Xuzhou is indeed easy to attack but difficult to defend.

More than 80% of the area is flat terrain.

Therefore, if one wants to defend Xuzhou, the best strategy is to defend strong cities such as Xia Pi, Pengcheng, and Guangling and rely on the defense of strong cities.

The walls of some small towns were low. Under the attack of Cao Cao's mighty army of 100,000, the advantage of the city walls was almost nothing. Simply defending them would only be a waste of manpower.

Li Ji took over Liu Bei's words and added.

"My lord, you are right. Kaiyang and Jiqiu should not be defended. We should abandon Langya State and Donghai County and retreat to Xiapi and Pengcheng."

"In addition, we should send a general to lead troops outside to try to harass the food supply of Cao's army on its expedition to the south."

"In less than three months, Cao's army, which has come from afar, will run out of food and supplies, and their logistics will be overwhelmed. Naturally, they will have no choice but to retreat."

Liu Bei nodded in agreement and said, "Zi Kun made a suggestion. I will write to Tao Gongzu later and hope that Tao Gongzu can use it..."

After a pause, Liu Bei frowned and spoke.

"It's just that Bei sent three letters in a row, almost explicitly saying that Tao Gongzu could ask Shouchun for help, but there has been no reply yet. Could it be that Tao Gongzu has completely lost control of Xuzhou?"

"This foolish deployment of the army was not made by Tao Gongzu, but was done by Cao Bao, who secretly took control of the military power?"

Li Ji had some guesses about this in his mind. Basically, Tao Gongzu was judging others by his own standards and was afraid that Liu Bei would take the opportunity to seize Xuzhou.

However, in this era when communication depended entirely on letters, if one party did not read the letter and did not reply, Liu Bei would not be able to guess Tao Qian’s situation in a short period of time.

Even though the Jinyisi and the Mi Chamber of Commerce have infiltrated Xuzhou like a sieve, the transmission of intelligence still takes time.

Therefore, after Li Ji watched Liu Bei send another letter involving military strategies to Xuzhou, he could only offer his consolation.

"My lord, don't worry. Cao Cao has not yet penetrated Langya State. General Cao Bao may be able to stop Cao's army and protect the peace of Xuzhou." (End of this chapter)