Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

At that time, the three states of Jing, Yang and Xu would attack Yuzhou from three directions. Yuzhou, which had suffered almost all its military losses and was left with only a few pieces of "underwear", how could it withstand the attack from three directions at the same time?
As soon as Li Ji said this, Liu Bei's breathing became heavy.

The title of Overlord of Jingyang sounds good, but for the entire Han Dynasty, it can only be regarded as a small corner.

If it were not for Li Ji's governance and development, the country would not have been able to settle refugees over the years to supplement the labor force, find gold and silver mines and high-yield grain varieties outside, reform the military system internally, and recruit talents from outside.

It was quite difficult for Yangzhou to even remain in a corner, let alone expand outward.

But if he took Yuzhou and Tao Qian gave up Xuzhou, then Liu Bei would have truly annexed the four states of Jing, Yang, Yu and Xu. He would no longer be threatened by Jiaozhou in the south, and would have Youzhou as an ally in the north and would secretly control Yizhou. He would then truly have the foundation to unify the world.

At this moment, Liu Bei finally understood why Li Ji personally rushed over and strongly advocated returning to Pengcheng as soon as he learned that Ji Ling led his troops into Pengcheng State.

I'm afraid Li Ji saw the possibility of this great opportunity from the very beginning.

Even when Li Ji learned early on that Cao Cao had sent a message to Yuan Shu, he did not deliberately obstruct the rift, perhaps he was prepared for this situation.

Li Ji and Cao Cao, who were in hostile positions, worked together to promote the emergence of this situation with an invisible tacit understanding.

Cao Cao needs to rely on Yuan Shu's army to contain Liu Bei, and then he can successfully leave the battlefield in Xuzhou;
Li Ji also regarded Yuan Shu's army as the real prey from the beginning to the end, and deliberately exposed his flaws to lure Yuan Shu's army into the game.

After Li Ji proposed this strategy, the eyes of the civil and military officials in the tent became burning.

Cao Cao retreated too quickly, even when he still had the strength to fight. This obviously failed to satisfy the desire of many generals for military merit.

Now Li Ji's proposal seems to be intended to turn the support war into an annihilation war, and even to swallow up Yuzhou.

Yuzhou is such a big province, with a total Yuzhou army of more than 100,000 people, there are too many opportunities to gain military merit.

But amidst the eager gazes, Zhuge Liang remained calm as always and asked.

"Teacher, isn't this a bit too much of a stretch? Lu Bu is fighting with General Guan in Nanyang County, and most of Jingzhou's troops have been tied up."

"It may be a bit risky to want to swallow up Yuzhou and... defend Xuzhou in one go with only the power of Yangzhou."

When mentioning Xuzhou, Zhuge Liang did not forget to carefully consider his choice of words.

Perhaps Liu Bei was kind and had some reservations and hesitation about accepting Xuzhou, but Zhuge Liang was undoubtedly not a pedantic person.

In contrast, Xuzhou was still governed by Tao Qian, and it was a good thing for both the country and the people that Xuzhou belonged to Liu Bei.

As for the other generals, most of them had already regarded Xuzhou as Liu Bei's territory.

Things had developed to this point. Even if Liu Bei was determined not to take Xuzhou and Tao Qian was willing to go back on his word and give up Xuzhou, there was no doubt that the generals and soldiers under Liu Bei would not agree.

Therefore, even in Zhuge Liang's eyes, Xuzhou was already in Liu Bei's pocket.

However, Zhuge Liang believed that it was undoubtedly risky to further swallow up Yuzhou when Xuzhou was still unsettled.

"If Yuzhou has sufficient troops, it will indeed be a bit risky as Liang'er said, so the key lies in whether we can destroy the 100,000-strong army led by Ji Ling."

Li Ji changed his previous negotiation style and continued his statement in a decisive tone.

"Yuan Shu's Yu Province can mobilize a total of about 120,000 to 130,000 troops. As long as we completely destroy the 100,000 troops led by Ji Ling."

"How should Yuan Shu defend Yuzhou with only 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers left?"

"Even if Yuan Shu realized that things were not going well and continued to forcibly conscript young and strong civilians to fight, it would only be a last-ditch effort."

Zhuge Liang asked.

"What about Lu Bu? If Lu Bu enters Yuzhou, whether he further forms an alliance with Yuan Shu or tries to take advantage of the situation, the situation may change unexpectedly." "By then, Yuzhou will not be taken, and Xuzhou in the rear will be provoked into chaos. It is very likely that Lu Bu will be caught in a dilemma of being unable to take care of both ends."

Li Ji was not angry at Zhuge Liang's question. Instead, he felt relieved. He turned to look at Xu Shu, Pang Tong and Sima Yi and asked.

"My original intention in establishing the advisory committee was to fill in the gaps. Liang'er's point is undoubtedly an important issue. Do you have anything to add?"

Immediately, Pang Tong stood up almost instantly and said.

"Since Cao Cao betrayed Yuan Shu, the opportunity you mentioned does exist. However, there is one problem that cannot be avoided no matter what - destroying the 100,000 Yuan troops led by Ji Ling."

"The map of Pengcheng State that the lord has is quite detailed, and it is clearly visible that more than 90% of the area around Pengcheng is plains."

"With such terrain, it is easy to defeat Yuan's army of 100,000, but difficult to destroy it."

"Even if more than half of Yuan's troops escape and retreat back to Yuzhou, Yuan Shu will still have 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers available to defend the city, which is enough for Yuan Shu to calmly resist the attack and prolong the war."

Xu Shu also stood up and saluted, then added.

"If this continues for a long time, it will undoubtedly be very disadvantageous to our army. It is likely to cause changes in the unstable Xuzhou, and it may also allow Yuan Shu to seek support from Yuan Shao, Lu Bu and other princes."

Liu Bei is now very rich, straddling the two states of Jing and Yang, but he is far from having the strength to dominate the world.

Once it develops into a war of attrition, it is likely that the advantages Liu Bei has accumulated over the years will be completely worn away.

Money and food are fine, what's important is population and labor.

Compared with the Central Plains, the biggest disadvantage of Jingyang Province is that its population density is far less than that of the Central Plains.

Wars are fought for money and food, but also for population.

Wheat is harvested once a year, but it takes more than ten or twenty years for a young man to grow up.

This is a very real problem.

This is also the reason why the scale of war in Li Ji's memory, from the end of the Han Dynasty to the Three Kingdoms period, was shrinking at a speed almost visible to the naked eye.

In the final analysis, the population was wiped out, including the young and strong people.

Li Ji nodded slightly, and his gaze finally fell on Sima Yi.

Sima Yi quickly stood up, unconsciously revealing a somewhat sinister smile, then subconsciously restrained it and said.

“I support the teacher.”

"No more?" Li Ji raised his eyebrows and asked.

Sima Yi shook his head repeatedly and replied.

"Teacher, you have a plan. Since you proposed such a strategy, I believe you have it all planned out. What the three students just said is indeed a difficult problem, but it is not a problem that can be easily ignored. The teacher must have a strategy."

Compared with the relatively pure minds of Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong and Xu Shu, Sima Yi undoubtedly paid more attention to human hearts and politics.

Not to mention that Sima Yi did not think that the problems raised by Zhuge Liang and others were not unsolvable problems.

Even if there really is a deadlock, if all four members of the staff refuted Li Ji, wouldn't that be a slap in the face of the teacher?
Therefore, Sima Yi consciously agreed or opposed it, and he had to show his support. (End of this chapter)