Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Liu Bei's words expressed his envy and regret, as well as a bit of disappointment.

Compared with Li Xiang's filial act of delivering meals to his father late at night, Adou was sleeping soundly at home at this time.

Li Ji asked as he smiled and invited Liu Bei to sit down.

"My lord, have you had your meal yet?"

"I wanted to share it with Zikun."

Liu Bei answered and placed the food box in front of him and opened it.

The food box that Liu Bei personally delivered to Li Ji was naturally not empty. Instead, it was filled with delicious dishes.

But Li Ji couldn't eat at the moment, so he had no choice but to apologize to Liu Bei and remind him.

"My Lord, most of the other clerks and officials in the palace have not eaten yet."

Liu Bei replied in a gentle voice. "Don't worry, Zikun. I have already given instructions. Meals will be delivered to them. You don't have to keep busy all the time. Take a rest."

"Yes, my lord."

Upon hearing this, Li Ji was not in a hurry to return to the meeting room. While the hungry Liu Bei was preparing a meal, he made a pot of fragrant tea for him.

After Liu Bei had eaten his fill like a whirlwind, he took a sip of tea and immediately felt refreshed.

Immediately, Liu Bei put the food box aside, hesitated for a moment, and said.

"Bei decided to hastily dispatch his troops in a moment of anger. Why didn't Zikun stop him?"

"If Ji had spoken out against it at that time, would the lord have listened to him?" Li Ji asked.

Liu Bei hesitated for a while, then answered seriously, "Even if I cannot accept it at the moment, I will reconsider it carefully."

"If Keji speaks out against the Lord, there will be a lot of people responding. Where will the Lord's dignity be?"

Li Ji shook his head and continued.

"Furthermore, Cao's massacre is a rage against the gods and the people. If no one stops him, how many more people in Xuzhou will die under his butcher knife? How many people will follow his example in this chaotic world?"

"Therefore, my lord, whether it is for the sake of the moment or because no one dares to behave like this again in the troubled times, you should send troops. You should send troops."

"More importantly, what the lord is doing is right. No matter how difficult or dangerous the path is, as a minister, I should follow and support you. How can I question it?"

After hearing this, Liu Bei couldn't help but answer with a somewhat ashamed look on his face.

"I was just angry at the time, but I didn't think as much as Zikun did. Afterwards, I was hesitant. Now after hearing what Zikun said, I am no longer confused."

"It is my duty as a minister."

Li Ji responded, and then briefly reported to Liu Bei the progress of preparations for the army's expedition.

Liu Bei obviously didn't worry about this at all. These matters were personally presided over and prepared by Li Ji, so Liu Bei was naturally very relieved.

However, when he learned that all preparations for the army's expedition could be completed by tomorrow morning, Liu Bei was still surprised by the amazing efficiency.

"Zikun, could it be that you had anticipated this and therefore had already been preparing for it early on?" Liu Bei asked.

"Since we know that the situation in Xuzhou is unpredictable, the lord may need to send troops to help at any time, so we have made some plans in advance."

After Li Ji explained, he remembered something and reported.

"My Lord, I have promised some students that they will be allowed to study with the army during the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains. So I intend to establish a 'staff group' to let them serve as advisors and assist in decision-making. How do you do it?"

Liu Bei was not surprised that Li Ji would occasionally come up with some new things or positions. He casually learned a few words and confirmed that these were just empty positions, which meant that Li Ji could make his own decisions. With Liu Bei's permission, Li Ji immediately sent four guards to inform Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Sima Yi, and Xu Shu, asking them to prepare to go with the army after dawn.

Although these four men are young and have little experience, general education can only provide them with limited help, and it would be better for them to experience the war early on.

What's more, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Gan Luo was sent as an envoy to the State of Zhao at the age of twelve, where he made great contributions and was appointed as a senior minister.

In this age of precocious maturity, children can no longer be treated completely as children after they are around twelve years old.

In fact, when Zhuge Liang and others heard that there seemed to be a large-scale troop movement in Shouchun, they could no longer hold back their excitement. They did not go to sleep even in the middle of the night, for fear that Li Ji would forget the agreement they had made.

When the personal guards brought the news of Li Ji, even a calm man like Zhuge Liang could not help showing joy on his face.

After finally making it to dawn, Zhuge Liang and his three companions, escorted by their personal guards, arrived at the military camp outside Shouchun City, just as Liu Bei was summoning the entire army to swear an oath and appoint officers.

This expedition was a bit hasty, and besides, it was necessary to retain enough forces to defend the capital city of Shouchun and deter Yuan Shu.

Therefore, although the two states of Jing and Yang were gradually digested, the military household system allowed Liu Bei to mobilize more troops than other princes, but the troops prepared to be left in Shouchun were as many as 50,000.

Therefore, Liu Bei led 90,000 available infantry and 10,000 cavalry to Xuzhou, with a total of 100,000 troops heading north to Xuzhou.

Zhang Fei was the vanguard, and his generals included Huang Zhong, Wei Yan, Sun Ce, Xu Chu, Zhou Tai, Chen Dao, Tian Yu and others.

He also appointed the Grand Commander Li Ji as his military advisor and chief of staff, and formed a staff group consisting of Zhou Yu, Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Sima Yi, and Xu Shu, and relied on them as his think tank.

This lineup is nothing short of luxurious.

If such a lineup had been formed six or seven years later, even the civil and military forces under the command of the other princes combined might have been able to fight.

This was also the time when Li Ji was able to mobilize the maximum number of troops for Liu Bei in a hurry to protect Liu Bei all the way to Xuzhou to fight the enemy.

In particular, Li Ji was worried that no one except himself could persuade Liu Bei, who was furious and might insist on his own way.

Li Ji also personally served as the military advisor, and the word "caution" was emphasized.

After Liu Bei's oath, the morale of the army, even though it was a hastily assembled army, rose visibly.

"set off!"

Liu Bei drew his sword and pointed it, announcing.

Zhang Fei, serving as the vanguard, led the troops to clear the way, followed by the central army and the rear army, which began to march towards Xuzhou in an orderly manner.

Because Jiujiang County, where Shouchun is located, is adjacent to Xia Pi State in Xuzhou.

Therefore, the initial marching route was to start from Shouchun, enter the southern part of Xia Pi State in the east, then turn north and head straight to Xia Pi City, and then act according to the situation.

……

And in Xuzhou.

Faced with Cao Cao's willingness to massacre the city in order to force Xuzhou to fight, Tao Qian had to make enough gestures no matter what in order to maintain the foundation of his rule over Xuzhou.

Therefore, Tao Qian had to personally lead the Danyang soldiers and the elite troops of Xuzhou to fight a field battle with Cao Cao.

The battle lasted for most of the day. Tao Qian was defeated and had to completely abandon his seat of Tan County and Donghai County and flee south to Xia Pi City.

Faced with a series of defeats, Tao Qian had few soldiers left.

Apart from the 20,000 troops in Pengcheng, Tao Qian could only take the initiative to transfer the remaining troops in Xuzhou to Xia Pi, and barely gathered more than 30,000 available combat soldiers, intending to continue to defend Xia Pi.

Just as the whole of Xuzhou seemed to be shrouded in a haze of despair and Tao Qian was still hesitating whether to ask Liu Bei for support, Liu Bei led an army of 100,000 and officially entered Xuzhou. (End of this chapter)