Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator.

How could Li Ji not understand Zhuge Liang's meaning?

From all aspects of deduction, Tao Qian did not have the courage, let alone the reason to dare to attack Liu Bei, is one thing.

But the world never lacks accidents...

The complexity of the human heart cannot be explained in a few words.

Perhaps Tao Qian completely couldn't think straight and was single-mindedly prepared to perish together with Liu Bei; that wasn't impossible either.

However, Li Ji was naturally prepared and explained with a chuckle.

"Liang'er is overthinking. Before leaving, I instructed the lord: if Tao Gongzu doesn't allow the cavalry to escort him into the city, then let Youping, who is always protecting him closely, pretend to firmly object, and then use this as an excuse to stay outside the city."

"And even if he enters the city, Youping will protect him closely at all times, and he must not drink alcohol. The cavalry stationed in the city must also remain vigilant at all times."

If Tao Qian didn't allow the cavalry guarding Liu Bei to enter the city when Liu Bei personally came to Xiapi City to express his willingness to enter the city, his heart would be punishable.

Whether it was pure stupidity or pure malice, it was punishable.

Liu Bei treated Tao Qian with sincerity, and he should have received sincerity in return.

But if Tao Qian wanted to play tricks, Li Ji naturally had tricks prepared for him.

After receiving Li Ji's explanation, Zhuge Liang pondered slightly and felt that there was no risk.

The key was that as long as Liu Bei was willing to listen to Li Ji's instructions and didn't insist on entering the city alone, there would be no risk.

Immediately, Li Ji got up and walked to the sand table placed in the camp, looking down at the materialized situation in Xuzhou.

According to the scouts' reports, there should be more than 80,000 Cao army troops in Donghai County, north of Xiapi State. In addition, there was also a 10,000-strong elite force led by Zhu Ling, sent by Yuan Shao.

On the west side of Xuzhou, Yuan Shu's posture of pointing his sword at Xuzhou was already quite obvious. The troops and supplies from various counties in Yuzhou were constantly concentrating in Pei State.

However, compared to Liu Bei's speed of dispatching troops, even if Yuan Shu stationed 50,000 troops in Pei State in advance, it would still take some time to prepare all the matters for dispatching troops.

It would take seven or eight days at the earliest, and ten days or half a month at the latest, to truly dispatch troops.

In contrast, the army led by Li Ji was still five days away from Xiapi City.

"The lord has persuaded Tao Qian, and the internal troubles have been quelled. What do you think about taking advantage of a time difference?"

"Attack Cao Cao first, then defend against Yuan Shu."

Li Ji pointed to the sand table, waved his sleeves, and put forward his own point of view.

"Teacher wants to take advantage of the fact that Yuan's army has not yet truly attacked Pengcheng, and combine the forces of Xuzhou to pacify the Cao bandits in one fell swoop?" Pang Tong asked.

"The Cao bandits are leading a large army and are entrenched in Donghai County, watching. They are not far from Xiapi City. In terms of marching time... it's still possible," Xu Shu analyzed.

Sima Yi shook his head and retorted.

"I'm afraid that Cao Cao is afraid of the majesty of the Imperial Uncle and the teacher, and will turn from attack to defense, refusing to fight, and single-mindedly contain our army's forces, giving Yuan Shu the opportunity to capture Pengcheng. It will be troublesome to retreat back to Xiapi City to aid Pengcheng at that time."

This was undoubtedly the main dilemma facing Xuzhou.

After repeated defeats, Pengcheng and Xiapi could no longer be lost.

Moreover, the Cao army's morale was high, and the Xuzhou army's morale was scattered. At the same time, the strength of the Yuan and Cao families was far greater than that of Liu and Tao, and they could launch attacks on Xiapi City and Pengcheng separately.

Defending was too passive;

Attacking was too risky.

Zhuge Liang also expressed his position, rarely supporting Sima Yi, saying.

"Teacher, Sima Yi is right. The alliance between Yuan and Cao will not last long. It is better to use a defensive posture and strike when they reveal their flaws."

"If the main force marches into Donghai County to attack the Cao bandits and cannot win quickly, once Pengcheng is captured by Yuan Shu, only Xiapi City will remain. Even if we defend it with all our strength, I am afraid that the predicament of Xiang Yu being trapped in Gaixia will reappear."

Li Ji nodded slightly, not annoyed that Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi held opposing views.

For Li Ji, it was one thing to put these disciples into the think tank and give them a platform to learn and develop, but it was also to hope that they could fill in the gaps.

Even Li Ji, who was cautious, would occasionally use the "Strategy Simulator" to check for omissions, but he also knew that the essence of the "Strategy Simulator" was just to perform deduction and judgment in an absolutely rational state based on Li Ji's ability.

For Li Ji, who was now tending towards maturity, the role of the "Strategy Simulator" had gradually become smaller.

Sometimes, it was not as effective as the insights brought by Zhuge Liang and others from some unique or novel perspectives.

Finally, Li Ji turned his attention to Zhou Yu, who was usually quite low-key...

Compared with these youth versions of the teenagers, Zhou Yu, who was half a circle older, had an attitude of not speaking if he could since joining the think tank.

Li Ji also knew the reason, that was because Zhou Yu had a sense of pride, thinking that he was not just a strategist who only knew how to make suggestions, and he did not really put these youth versions of the teenagers in the same position as himself.

"Gongjin, tell me what you think," Li Ji said.

Zhou Yu heard this, got up and saluted, showing his handsome and heroic appearance, and replied.

"In my opinion, we should not choose to shrink back and defend ourselves based on the predicament of Xiang Yu being trapped in Gaixia."

"Although the enemy's forces have the advantage in the battle situation, there are two reasons why Marquis is unwilling to adopt a defensive posture."

"First: The lord has just entered Xuzhou and initially grasped the military power of the Xuzhou army. In addition, the morale of the Xuzhou army is low. Under such circumstances, how can we boost morale if we continue to defend to the death? If the morale is insufficient, what is the use of the Xuzhou army?"

"Therefore, whether it is for the overall situation or for the military strength, Marquis must choose to take the initiative to attack, so as to change the decline of the Xuzhou army."

Li Ji nodded secretly after hearing this.

In terms of talent, Zhuge Liang and others were naturally not below Zhou Yu.

But this was the difference between the youth version and the adult version. Experience, vision, thinking habits, etc., allowed Zhou Yu to quickly judge more key points.

"Second: If we defend Pengcheng and Xiapi, once the Cao army enters Xiapi, they will repeat their old tricks and choose to massacre the city again, which will be even more difficult at that time."

"If we leave it alone, it will greatly damage the lord's reputation, and it will also make the lord's prestige in Xuzhou vanish in an instant;"

"It would be unwise to go out of the city to fight, as we would fall into the trap of the Cao bandits who are bound to be prepared."

"Therefore, in the case that Tao Qian is willing to cooperate, taking the initiative to attack may also have various concerns, but Marquis will inevitably make such a choice."

Li Ji stroked his palms and smiled lightly, while the four little ones in the think tank were either thoughtful or slightly unconvinced.

"Gongjin is right. Given the current situation, we should take the initiative to send troops..."

After a pause, Li Ji's expression sank slightly. He turned around and walked to his desk, angrily throwing some intelligence documents on it to the ground, and said.

"What is recorded on it is the tragic situation of the Cao army's massacre in Donghai County reported by the scouts. Hundreds of thousands of people died, and their actions are appalling. To this day, the Yi River is still cut off."

"Is there no one in the Han Dynasty? How can we allow such treacherous villains to carry out such evil deeds with impunity?" (End of this chapter)