Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator.

Li Ji raised an eyebrow, looking at Wei Yan, who had a submissive expression. Almost subconsciously, a thought popped into his mind:

This young man is quite the braggart.

Even though Cao Cao had just experienced a major defeat, counting the troops under Cao Hong and Xun Yu, Cao Cao still had nearly 70,000 troops as he began his retreat to Qingzhou.

Even if Li Ji were to lead 20,000 soldiers to directly confront Cao Cao as he was now, he knew that his chances of winning were slim. At most, he could only hold back Cao Cao's army for a while.

This was also why Li Ji, after weighing the pros and cons, strongly advised Liu Bei to abandon the pursuit of Cao Cao.

Even a cornered rabbit will bite, let alone the ambitious Cao Cao, who still had nearly 70,000 battle-ready soldiers under his command?

Although Li Ji was temporarily puzzled by Cao Cao's withdrawal from the Xuzhou battlefield, not understanding whether Cao Cao had other plans or simply wanted to preserve his strength and bide his time, Li Ji never confused the priorities in terms of strategic objectives.

Cao Cao was a major threat, that was true, but Xuzhou, as an important foothold for seizing the Central Plains, was what Li Ji was determined to obtain.

And it had to be Xuzhou preserved as much as possible, not a completely devastated Xuzhou that Li Ji had to find ways to revitalize.

In the grand scheme of things, every second counted.

Li Ji had no intention of prolonging the unification of the world to ten or twenty years, nor did he want to spend several more years on governing Xuzhou.

Therefore, Cao Cao's voluntary withdrawal from Xuzhou was undoubtedly beneficial in every way strategically.

As a result, Wei Yan's mouth was either about rejecting or swallowing, and his tone was incredibly arrogant.

Wei Yan was undoubtedly a promising talent, but did Wei Yan have the strength to reject or swallow?

Undoubtedly, he did not.

Li Ji retorted, asking, "If rejecting fails and Cao Cao drives straight in, directly attacking our base, what should we do?"

Wei Yan blurted out a sentence.

"I am willing to guarantee it with my head…"

The next moment, a writing brush hit Wei Yan's forehead, forcibly interrupting the remaining words.

Li Ji was so angry that he laughed, saying.

"How much is your head worth that you can guarantee such a major event?"

Sometimes, it's not that subordinates lack ability that's worrying, but that they lack ability and still have ideas.

Or perhaps Wei Yan was at the impetuous age of seeking credit, so how was this statement any different from Ma Su?

Ma Su made a clever decision when defending Jieting, resulting in a temporary tactical mistake that subsequently affected the overall strategic failure.

If Wei Yan were sent to guard against Cao Cao's retreating troops.

Suddenly, Wei Yan came up with a confident bad idea, deciding to gamble on it, it was very likely that Cao Cao would see through it and take advantage of it, swallowing Wei Yan's partial army in one fell swoop.

At that time, the impact on the overall strategy would also be fatal.

Previously, after Wei Yan and Pang Tong rushed back to join Liu Bei, Pang Tong had quietly sent a secret letter to Li Ji, which recorded Wei Yan's words of seeking credit in detail.

It was precisely because Li Ji realized that Wei Yan seemed to be a bit eager for quick success that he summoned him to the tent at this moment to test him.

Unexpectedly, Wei Yan was indeed like that.

Feeling Li Ji's gaze, Wei Yan was covered in sweat, but he could only bite the bullet and ask, "This subordinate doesn't understand where I said something wrong that made the Marquis unhappy."

Li Ji narrowed his eyes and stared at Wei Yan for a few breaths, making Wei Yan feel extremely flustered, before slowly opening his mouth and saying.

"I wouldn't dare to bet my head to the Lord to guarantee a temporary victory, and I don't have the confidence to reject or swallow Cao Cao's army with 20,000 soldiers…"

After a pause, Li Ji looked at Wei Yan, who was completely frozen, and said.

"Or should I abdicate the position of commander-in-chief as soon as possible and yield to someone more capable? How about recommending Wen Chang to take on this important task?"

At this moment, Wei Yan's forehead was dripping with sweat, and he subconsciously raised his hand to wipe it away, saying somewhat stammeringly.

"Marquis… Marquis is joking…"

"It was clearly Wen Chang who joked first."

Li Ji said with a fake smile, making Wei Yan feel even more uneasy.

Only after more than ten breaths did Li Ji finally sigh slightly, saying.

"One must know that wealth and honor are sought in danger, and also lost in danger. The chances of seeking are one in ten, and the chances of losing are nine in ten."

"Throughout history, those who are good at using strange and dangerous schemes are all cautious and careful people, or they are forced to use danger and strangeness. Does Wen Chang know why?"

Wei Yan took the opportunity to wipe his sweat and quickly replied, "This subordinate doesn't know, please enlighten me, Marquis."

"Because those who often use strange and dangerous schemes and are arrogant and careless have not yet had their wings fully grown, and history will naturally not leave a name for such losers."

Li Ji replied calmly.

People only see the benefits of strange and dangerous schemes, but most of them only see the benefits.

There is a term in later generations called "survivorship bias."

History books often only record successful cases of using strangeness and danger and the miracles they created, but they never record how many people have fallen on this gamble.

It's not a complete denial of using danger, but a general should "consider defeat before considering victory." The way of using soldiers is like this, and the way of survival is also like this.

What's more, the general trend often affects the whole body with one move. Once Wei Yan's gamble fails, it is very likely to directly or indirectly lead to the collapse of the great situation.

Therefore, Li Ji's tone at this moment was quite stern, shouting.

"The soldiers who follow you are not your gambling capital for promotion, and the great cause of supporting the Han Dynasty should not be your stepping stone to advancement."

"Don't say you don't have the ability to reject or swallow, even if you do, what benefit is there to the overall situation of Xuzhou?"

Being asked by Li Ji like this, Wei Yan couldn't help but panic and didn't know how to answer.

However, Wei Yan didn't know how to answer, but Li Ji shouted again, pressing.

"Speak! What is the benefit?"

Wei Yan was not a fool. On the contrary, Wei Yan was a very smart person, with a keenness in military affairs that was difficult for ordinary people to match.

It's just that Wei Yan had never been in a high position before, and he had never considered issues from a strategic perspective.

Therefore, after being awakened by Li Ji, Wei Yan also realized that Cao Cao's willingness to withdraw from Xuzhou on his own was obviously beneficial to Liu Bei's control of Xuzhou in terms of the Xuzhou battle situation.

On the contrary, once the partial army general guarding against Cao Cao's retreat makes his own decisions, or even is careless and defeated.

Then Cao Cao, even if he didn't originally have the idea of ​​making a sudden counterattack, would send such an opportunity to Cao Cao, and then make the Xuzhou situation complex and worsen again.

And even if Wei Yan really rejected and even defeated Cao Cao's army, wanting to take advantage of the situation to control Qingzhou would be beyond his reach when the Xuzhou war was unsettled. Apart from losing troops, it would be of no benefit.

Wei Yan replied shamefully, "No… no benefit."

Li Ji continued to stare at Wei Yan for a moment, making Wei Yan feel mountain-like pressure.

Finally, Li Ji spoke again.

"Since this is the case, does Wen Chang still have any objections to the matter of the partial army commander?"

Wei Yan was slightly startled, understanding that his thoughts had long been seen through by the Marquis, and he quickly shook his head, replying.

"This subordinate knows that my talents are not enough to match the position, and I dare not have the slightest objection."

(End of this chapter)