Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator.

‘Yuan Shu has sent troops!’

This news was already within Liu Biao's expectations.

It was just that Yuan Shu sent troops earlier than Liu Biao had anticipated. The battle between Yi and Jing provinces had only been going on for a month, and the outcome was still unclear when Yuan Shu was already impatiently entering the fray.

“Such petty behavior, a skeleton in a tomb, nothing more.”

Liu Biao's tone could not conceal his contempt for Yuan Shu's actions.

It was only because Yuan Shu had an excellent background that he was able to control Runan Commandery, Pei State, and Chen State with almost no effort, relying on the prestige of the Yuan family. Otherwise, with his political skills, Liu Biao could have gradually regained control of Nanyang Commandery.

At this moment, in Liu Biao's view, the timing of Yuan Shu's dispatch of troops seemed too hasty, and the excuse he found was even more laughable, making it difficult to convince the people of the world.

However, unlike Liu Biao's calmness, Cai Mao in the military tent was drenched in sweat when he learned of this news, and he quickly said.

“Lord, with 250,000 troops coming in a mighty force, wouldn't it be better to quickly retreat and return to Xiangyang to defend it for the time being?”

“What's the panic?”

Liu Biao rebuked Cai Mao.

“Yuan Gonglu has been in control of Yu Province for less than a year, and even with the help of many aristocratic families, he certainly cannot organize more than 200,000 troops.”

“This so-called 250,000 is actually not even half that number, and these Yu Province soldiers must not have been trained much, their combat power is average.”

Liu Biao naturally knew the ability of his brother-in-law Cai Mao.

His ability to command troops was acceptable, his naval warfare could be considered outstanding, but in other aspects, he could not even be considered mediocre.

However, this was also the reason why Liu Biao was quite at ease with Cai Mao.

As long as he was still in Jing Province, Cai Mao would never be able to seize his power, but instead could be used by him to balance the various forces.

Some things that Liu Biao was inconvenient to do could also be done through the Cai family, with Cai Mao bearing the blame.

Being scolded by Liu Biao like this, Cai Mao gradually calmed down.

In fact, it was no wonder Cai Mao was flustered. For Cai Mao, the current Cai family and Liu Biao were completely tied together, suffering losses together and prospering together.

However, the Cai family's foundation was entirely in Jing Province. Once Liu Biao really had the heart to exchange Jing Province for Yi Province, then even if Liu Biao compensated them more after entering Yi Province, it would still not make up for the Cai family's losses.

“Furthermore, besides Qi'er and Wen聘 leading 20,000 troops to guard Xiangyang, Huang Zu has 10,000 troops stationed in Wancheng, and Liu Pan has 10,000 troops stationed in Xinye, all of which can serve as a barrier for Xiangyang.”

“Moreover, Wancheng and Xinye have been repaired many times in the past six months and are already strong cities. Huang Zu and Liu Pan also have the determination to defend the strong cities to the death, which is enough to delay Yuan Shu in Nanyang Commandery for a long time.”

(PS: Wancheng and Xinye are both in Nanyang Commandery, and the location of Wancheng is exactly in the middle of Xinye and Bowang Slope.

Judging from the geographical location and the wars that have taken place, Wancheng and Xinye are both important locations for Xiangyang to resist the northern front.

Historically, Zhang Xiu was able to station troops in Wancheng, which was actually allowed by Liu Biao, just like the role of Liu Bei seeking refuge in Jing Province, allowing Zhang Xiu to serve as a barrier for Xiangyang, resisting Cao Cao's offensive to the south to occupy Nanyang Commandery.)

Liu Biao spoke unhurriedly, and his calm attitude quickly stabilized the somewhat fluctuating morale in the military tent.

In terms of population alone, the population actually controlled by Liu Biao now may not really be much more than Yuan Shu, but Liu Biao's advantage lies in the fact that he has been managing Jingbei for quite some time.

Nanjun and Jiangxia Commandery have been managed by Liu Biao to the point where they are almost as solid as iron buckets.

In addition, Liu Biao had already begun planning for this battle early on, even at the cost of drawing out all the available troops from the four commanderies of Jingnan in advance.

Therefore, even if Liu Biao left 40,000 elite troops to rely on strong cities to resist Yuan Shu, and deployed 50,000 troops on the Zigui and Yiling line for defense, he still had nearly 50,000 elite troops in his hands waiting for an opportunity.

It can be said that Liu Biao had already emptied the entire available family fortune of Jing Province for this battle, scraping together nearly 150,000 troops at almost any cost.

For this reason, Liu Biao had even made plans to abandon Jiangxia Commandery to satisfy Liu Bei's intentions.

However, Liu Bei's previous change in attitude made Liu Biao feel greatly puzzled, and he felt a sense of unease in his heart, always feeling that something might have gone wrong.

Liu Biao would never believe that Liu Bei was truly an ignorant and kind person who did not know how to adapt, and moreover, if Liu Bei wanted to support the Han Dynasty and revitalize the Great Han, it was even more impossible for him to give up the fight for territory.

Therefore, when he learned that Yuan Shu was leading troops to invade, Liu Biao not only did not panic, but instead felt a sense of stability.

At least, Yuan Shu's actions were still within expectations and there were no mistakes.

If even Yuan Shu's actions were completely different from what was expected, Liu Biao would really have to carefully consider retreating and returning to Xiangyang.

Immediately, Liu Biao could not help but bring up the old matter again and asked Kuai Yue, the military advisor in the military tent whom he relied on for his wisdom.

“Yidu, have you figured out any thoughts on Liu Xuande's sudden actions?”

Kuai Yue replied with a bitter face. “Please forgive me, Lord, I have thought about it for a long time, but I still can't figure out the reason.”

The style of this era still placed great emphasis on promises. Once a promise was broken, the damage to one's personal prestige would be enormous.

What's more, Liu Bei was a vassal whose reputation for benevolence was well-known. Kuai Yue also did not think that Liu Bei would risk the infamy of harming a fellow clansman and launching a surprise attack on Jing Province.

With the reputation and potential that Liu Bei had shown, Jing Province might not be worth the price of Liu Bei breaking his promise.

“Forget it, forget it…”

Liu Biao waved his hand and stopped thinking about this matter, saying.

“The only places where Yang Province and Jing Province border are the four commanderies of Jingnan and Jiangxia Commandery. Even if Liu Xuande really doesn't care about face, what harm is there in temporarily giving him Jiangxia Commandery and the four commanderies of Jingnan?”

For Liu Biao, as long as he could occupy Yi Province while ensuring the safety of Xiangyang, then any other losses would be acceptable.

At that time, with Yi Province supporting him from behind, it would be easy to regain control of Jing Province with Xiangyang as a stepping stone.

Immediately, Liu Biao said.

“Everyone, Liu Xuande and Yuan Gonglu are not enough to worry about for the time being. Right now, we should focus on defeating the Yi Province army first.”

After a pause, Liu Biao glanced around at the people in the military tent and said.

“Now, our army has been fighting with the Yi Province army for more than a month, with casualties on both sides, but we still can't quite figure out the truth about the Yi Province army. Does anyone have a brilliant plan to defeat the enemy?”

As soon as these words came out, most of the people in the military tent showed a look of contemplation, but they did not dare to answer easily.

In the past month or so, the battle situation… seemed strange.

Since the Yi Province army came out of Sichuan, they mostly rested during the day, and at night they constantly sent small groups of soldiers to harass and raid, some even going around to attack or impersonate grain transport teams, trying to trick their way into opening the gates of Zigui.

They came aggressively, but they never launched a strong attack. Instead, all kinds of despicable tactics emerged one after another.

As a result, after fighting for more than a month, there were many corpses produced by both sides, but the actual number of troops lost was about the same.

The Jing Province side lost about 5,000, and the Yi Province side lost slightly more. Kuai Yue estimated the number to be around 6,000 to 7,000.

Because of this, even though Liu Biao sent out many scouts to repeatedly verify the strength of the Yi Province army, he was still unable to figure out the truth.

Moreover, Liu Biao's original plan was to wear down the morale of the Yi Province army through steadfast defense, then lure the enemy deep, set up an ambush to severely damage or even annihilate the Yi Province army, and take the opportunity to break open the gates of Yi Province.

However, the Yi Province army's almost fishing-style of fighting was completely different from what Liu Biao had expected, making Liu Biao very headache.

(End of this chapter)