Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator.

The Yuan army was now utterly devoid of fighting spirit. Exhausted and demoralized, they lacked even the will to resist, instinctively fleeing as directed.

This allowed Chen Dao's ambush troops to emerge and initiate a relentless pursuit, reaping a harvest of enemy heads.

However, just as Ji Ling led the routed soldiers westward, thinking they had finally shaken off Chen Dao's pursuit...

A drumbeat, sounding like a demonic echo, reverberated from ahead.

"Huang Zhong of Nanyang is here, awaiting you under the Marquis's command!"

In the dim night, Ji Ling couldn't discern the number of enemies emerging from the darkness.

But upon hearing Huang Zhong's name, the remaining resolve Ji Ling had mustered instantly dissipated.

Others might not have known, but Ji Ling understood he was no match for Huang Zhong. Forcing a breakthrough would likely result in Huang Zhong ambushing and killing him in the night.

"Retreat! Retreat!!! Retreat north!"

Ji Ling shouted again, leading the fleeing troops to turn north, desperately trying to shake off Huang Zhong's pursuit.

Another desperate escape ensued...

Run!

Run!!!

One ambush after another had completely disoriented Ji Ling, creating the illusion that countless ambushes were lurking everywhere.

Just when Ji Ling managed to shake off Huang Zhong again, a familiar drumbeat echoed from ahead.

"Zhou Tai is here!"

"Retreat!"

This time, Ji Ling, retaining a semblance of rationality, decided to do the opposite. Instead of blindly fleeing towards Pei, he turned east.

After countless Yuan soldiers were either killed by the pursuers or scattered, Ji Ling believed he was finally safe.

"Zhuge Liang of Langya, under the Marquis's command..."

"Retreat again!"

Ji Ling gritted his teeth and decided to risk everything, choosing to flee south, seemingly towards certain death.

At this point, Ji Ling felt utterly hopeless about breaking free.

But Ji Ling refused to believe that ambushes awaited him no matter where he fled!

South!

Surely, there would be none to the south...

The drums sounded once more.

"I am a descendant of Prince Jing of Zhongshan..."

However, before Liu Bei could beat the drums as Li Ji had instructed and enthusiastically announce his name, Ji Ling immediately turned tail and retreated east.

After countless ambushes and endless fleeing,

As Ji Ling shook off Liu Bei's pursuit, the sky began to show the first signs of dawn.

Taking advantage of this, Ji Ling glanced around and realized that only about nine hundred soldiers remained by his side.

From an army of ninety thousand, only nine hundred remained after a single night.

Less than one percent!

Ji Ling felt a sweetness in his throat, and a mouthful of blood surged forth, alarming the guards around him.

"Ji Ling has failed his lord... Ji Ling is incompetent, Ji Ling has failed his lord!!!"

Ji Ling cried out in anguish, and tears of blood streamed down his face.

At this point, Ji Ling couldn't even comprehend how the situation had deteriorated to this extent.

Six hours ago, he was leading a large army poised to conquer Pengcheng.

In less than six hours, an army of ninety thousand had vanished.

Just as Ji Ling was consumed by grief and indignation, a familiar drumbeat, all too familiar to him, sounded again.

An army appeared ahead, once again blocking Ji Ling's path.

Filled with despair, Ji Ling looked up and saw a flag bearing a large character "Li".

A chariot slowly emerged, with Li Ji standing on it. Gu Wei stood beside him, holding the Qinggang Sword, while Xu Chu vigilantly scanned the surroundings.

When the chariot stopped fifty paces from Ji Ling, the ten thousand infantrymen following behind also halted.

Then, Li Ji, standing on the chariot, bowed slightly to Ji Ling and said,

"Li Zikun of Longxi has been waiting for General Ji for a long time."

Ji Ling wiped the blood from his mouth, forcibly recovering from his weakened state. He gripped his three-pointed double-edged blade and stared directly at Li Ji, saying,

"Could it be that Marquis Guoshi has been pursuing me all night?"

"Not so."

Li Ji slowly replied, "After leading the army here, I have been waiting for General Ji for two hours."

Two hours...

Ji Ling felt his ears ringing from the answer.

It wasn't because the answer cleared up some of Ji Ling's doubts, but more importantly, it evoked a sense of despair and sorrow in Ji Ling's heart.

'With such an enemy, how can my lord's great cause succeed? How can the Yuan family's foundation be preserved?'

Ambush on all sides!

This is an ambush on all sides!!!

Ji Ling wasn't entirely ignorant of military strategy and had heard of the ambush on all sides.

However, the ambush that defeated Xiang Yu, the Overlord of Chu, was orchestrated by Han Xin and Zhang Liang together.

First, Han Xin won a minor victory against Xiang Yu on the frontal battlefield, and then he used the strategy of ambushing on all sides to completely dismantle the elite troops under Xiang Yu's command.

Finally, he forced Xiang Yu to flee with his remaining troops to the Wujiang River, where he committed suicide.

Ji Ling dared not compare himself to Xiang Yu.

But at this moment, the situation was eerily similar.

Seeing Ji Ling's despairing and bleak expression, Li Ji surveyed the less than nine hundred Yuan soldiers who had followed Ji Ling to this point. Most of them had incomplete armor, and some didn't even have weapons.

Moreover, the Yuan soldiers were so exhausted that they could barely stand, let alone counterattack or break through.

Although Li Ji knew the answer, he couldn't hide his admiration and said,

"General Ji is a hero of his time, a man of loyalty and righteousness. It would be a great loss for the Han Dynasty if he died here."

"Why not surrender to my lord, surrender to the Han Dynasty, and serve the Han in the future by subduing the barbarians?"

He used the name of righteousness to try to inspire Ji Ling to surrender.

"Hahaha!"

Ji Ling suddenly burst out laughing and said,

"Having failed due to my own incompetence and lost an army of one hundred thousand, Ji Ling is already a sinner deserving eternal damnation from my lord. How dare I harbor any thoughts of betraying him?"

After a pause, Ji Ling struggled to raise the three-pointed double-edged blade in his hand and pointed it directly at Li Ji, who was surrounded by thousands of soldiers and horses, saying,

"My only wish, Ji Ling's wish, is to take your life and remove the obstacle to my lord's hegemony!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Ji Ling immediately spurred his horse towards Li Ji.

However, the moment Ji Ling moved, a blade of light suddenly enveloped him from behind.

Normally, Ji Ling would have had some hope of dodging this sneak attack.

But Ji Ling was already at the end of his strength. His so-called charge was merely an attempt to die in battle to repay his lord's kindness. He simply didn't expect anyone to ambush him.

"Puchi!"

Ji Ling's head, with wide-open eyes, was instantly severed. Even in death, he did not close his eyes and could not see who had ambushed him.

Chang Xi, who had swung the blade, scrambled off his horse, picked up Ji Ling's head, and shouted,

"This man was disrespectful to the Marquis. Chang Xi has killed him and begs for surrender! Begs for surrender!!!"

Li Ji's face twitched slightly, and he said angrily,

"Those who repeatedly betray their masters do not deserve to surrender! Dismember him!"

(End of this chapter)