Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator.

Chapter 7: Poisonous Strategist???

"We can win."

That calm voice rang out, and Liu Bei subconsciously raised his head to look at Li Ji in front of him.

Under the faint candlelight, Li Ji's eyes shone brightly, as if he had already foreseen the future.

The million Yellow Turbans sweeping across the Han Dynasty seemed to be nothing more than fragile clay chickens and pottery dogs in Li Ji's eyes.

Liu Bei was slightly stunned and asked curiously, "Why are you so sure, Zikun?"

Even with Liu Bei's resilient spirit, facing the Yellow Turban rebels that even Liu Yan avoided, his heart was filled with apprehension and hesitation about the unknown.

Liu Bei had even learned from Liu Yan that even the supreme Han Dynasty Emperor was alarmed and frightened by the immense momentum of the million Yellow Turbans.

While doing his best to defend Sili, the Emperor even went so far as to lift the ban on political opponents, luring in many to prevent them from siding with the Yellow Turbans.

You must know that Emperor Liu Hong of the Han Dynasty had previously launched the "Second Disaster of the Party Confinement" in order to seize power and consolidate his position, resulting in the execution of as many as six or seven hundred officials and scholars, with countless others fleeing into exile.

Therefore, the Han Dynasty Emperor lifting the ban on political opponents was almost equivalent to slapping himself in the face.

Although not as overt as a "Declaration of Guilt," the loss of prestige and power was even greater.

This shows the extent to which the Han Dynasty Emperor had been forced.

"Firstly, you, Brother Xuande, have a heart to save the people and the world, and you also have Yun Chang and Yide assisting you with one heart and one mind, so you will surely achieve something;"

"Secondly, although the Yellow Turban Rebellion has a great momentum, it actually lacks logistics and good generals.

Relying on the sheer number of people, they can defeat the enemy in one blow, but once they are caught in a stalemate, they will be full of flaws and will undoubtedly be defeated."

"Thirdly, and most importantly..."

Li Ji paused slightly as he said this, looking at Liu Bei with a burning gaze.

Seeing this, Liu Bei bowed and said sincerely, "Please teach me, Zikun."

Li Ji slowly replied, "The Yellow Turbans have lost their foundation.

Even if the Yellow Turbans defeat the imperial army, attack Sili, and even capture the capital Luoyang, they will inevitably collapse and be defeated."

Liu Bei pondered for a moment, still puzzled. "Why?"

"The Yellow Turbans were originally established by Zhang Jiao by using religion to deceive the ignorant masses.

On the surface, Zhang Jiao is the spiritual symbol and core pillar of the entire Yellow Turbans, but from beginning to end, the core of the Yellow Turbans has always been one thing, and that is... the people..."

Li Ji said quietly.

"Now, the Yellow Turbans are constantly absorbing people to strengthen themselves in this plundering way, but in fact, they are completely abandoning their foundation."

"Brother Xuande, I hope you will remember one thing, power... is always from the bottom up, and power abandoned by the lower levels is just a castle in the air."

"Therefore, the Yellow Turbans will inevitably be defeated, even if they eventually sweep across the entire thirteen states of the Han Dynasty.

The difference lies only in the time and process."

Liu Bei opened his eyes wide, his gaze dull as if lost in thought.

Li Ji looked at the bamboo slips in his hand and couldn't help but sigh.

The Yellow Turban Rebellion was a failure, and in the end, they didn't even attack Sili.

They never touched the foot of the royal city, and the dignitaries in Sili never had the opportunity to see those rebellious Yellow Turban bandits with their own eyes.

But more than a thousand years later, the rebel army led by King Chuang successfully captured the capital and killed countless dignitaries like chickens.

However, the rebel army that captured the capital still failed.

The fundamental reason was that the dragon-slaying youth eventually became an evil dragon, abandoning the people as their foundation.

Only a little external force and change were enough to disintegrate the entire rebel army.

On the contrary, more than three hundred years after the death of King Chuang, another rebel army that was always integrated with the people successfully started a business and created an unprecedented foundation.

Therefore, in Li Ji's view, the failure of the Yellow Turbans and King Chuang essentially could not escape the fact that they had abandoned their basic foundation.

When the Yellow Turban rebels began to plunder the people to strengthen themselves, they were already doomed to failure, and they completely turned from the Yellow Turban rebels into Yellow Turban bandits, and defeat was only a matter of time.

After a long time, Liu Bei's somewhat scattered eyes gradually regained their light, and he said.

"Thank you for your guidance, Zikun.

I will definitely not forget my original intention, be based on benevolence, establish myself with virtue, and never change until death!"

"In that case, has Brother Xuande regained his confidence?" Li Ji asked with a smile.

"We will win.

Even if I die in this battle, there will be more Li Xuande, Chen Xuande, and Zhao Xuande to defeat the Yellow Turbans," Liu Bei replied loudly.

"What is the current size of the volunteer army that Brother Xuande has formed?" Li Ji asked.

"There are two thousand brave men, with complete weapons.

In addition, Zhang Shiping, a merchant from Zhongshan, has donated fifty horses and a hundred loads of grain.

After one or two days of preparation, we will have the strength to fight," Liu Bei replied.

Hearing this, Li Ji began to make basic judgments in his heart...

Complete weapons mean no armor;

A hundred loads of grain means no more grain;

The strength to fight means that they will collapse on their own if they fight a little too much in battle.

However, this is also normal.

Even though the folk customs of Youzhou are simple and sturdy, this is just a hastily formed volunteer army.

Reality is not a game.

With a click of the mouse, consuming grain and money will immediately yield standard soldiers calculated by the unit.

Normally speaking, it takes nearly a year to train a group of soldiers who obey orders and stop at prohibitions.

If they are truly strong soldiers and elite soldiers, then it cannot even be accumulated by simple time.

Commanding generals, the number of battles, combat experience, etc. are all important factors.

Of course, the Yellow Turbans are even worse.

Nearly 80% of the old, weak, women, and children are almost unarmed, and most of the young and strong people who have been plundered are just agricultural tools.

Only the real Yellow Turban headquarters have weapons, and according to the information gathered by Zhang Fei, there are almost no armors to be found among the nearly 100,000 Yellow Turbans.

This is also normal.

Although the people are not strictly prohibited from possessing ironware, ordinary people naturally do not have the ability to independently make weapons, and almost all ironware is just agricultural tools.

And the Yellow Turban bandits are just a bunch of poor people, so naturally they cannot be so arrogant as to distribute weapons to as many people as they plunder.

As for armor, privately possessing armor is a capital crime that results in the confiscation of property and the extermination of the family, so there are even fewer armors privately possessed by the people.

However, Li Ji did not underestimate the Yellow Turbans in the slightest.

When the number is large enough, even stones can kill people.

If Li Ji were the commander of this group of Yellow Turbans, he would always keep the entire Yellow Turbans in a semi-starved state, and every time he conquered a place, he would reward them with a full meal.

In addition, he would constantly brainwash them with religion, calling it the conquest of disobedient lands by the decree of God, further deceiving themselves.

With this multiple whippings on the body and mind, it may not be possible to forge a group of fanatical soldiers targeting the weaknesses of human nature.

And as long as they are fanatical enough, the old, weak, women, and children can also kill people!

In a sense, in Li Ji's view, the way the Yellow Turban Army is from top to bottom is too immature, not firm enough, not thorough enough, and does not have the true potential of its own special model to be tapped.

'Wait, I'm not the military advisor of the Yellow Turban bandits, what am I doing with this assumption?'

Li Ji gently rubbed his eyebrows, suddenly came back to his senses, and turned to think about how to solve the Yellow Turbans in front of him.

Similarly, Liu Bei was also thinking about this question at the moment.

Prefect Liu Yan, who was determined to defend Zhuo County to the death, would not provide Liu Bei with any reinforcements.

All Liu Bei could rely on was the two thousand newly recruited volunteer soldiers.

"Two thousand against a hundred thousand."

Liu Bei, who had never really set foot on the battlefield, couldn't help but frown completely when he thought of this staggering difference in numbers.

Although in Li Ji's mouth, the hundred thousand Yellow Turbans seemed to be nothing more than fragile clay chickens and pottery dogs that could be easily destroyed, the fifty-fold difference in numbers meant that even if the hundred thousand Yellow Turbans stood still and allowed themselves to be slaughtered, they probably wouldn't be able to kill them all even if their weapons were blunted.

Finally, Liu Bei, who had been thinking hard for a long time without any good ideas, asked.

"Zikun, how can we resist a hundred thousand?"

Recalling the information passed back by Zhang Fei, Li Ji vaguely had several directions in his mind, but he didn't have much confidence in any of them.

Immediately, Li Ji felt his spirit, which had almost completely recovered after five days of recuperation, and once again immersed his consciousness in the "Strategy Simulator."

[In a series of accidents, you finally managed to temporarily travel with Liu Bei as you wished.

However, based on various considerations, you are no longer in a hurry to immediately join Liu Bei, but what you need to do now is to prove your ability, and also to try to change Liu Bei's original life trajectory, and then you can achieve your ideals and ambitions through Liu Bei.

Your top priority is to help Liu Bei face the 100,000 Yellow Turbans who will arrive in Zhuo County in five days. Your choices are: 1. Confront head-on; 2. Set up traps; 3. Seek opportunities to attack.]

Li Ji sensed the three different options and found that there were more detailed strategy choices behind the different ideas.

Setting up traps is also divided into water attacks, fire attacks, falling rocks, etc.

As for the branch choices generated by seeking opportunities to attack, there are even more, such as: night attack, fatigue attack, sneak attack from behind when the Yellow Turban bandits attack the city of Zhuo County.

[After some thought, you chose the most stable option: seek opportunities to attack, and because of Zhang Fei's investigation, you know that the essence of the 100,000 Yellow Turbans is mostly just a rabble, as long as you directly attack the weak points, you may be able to win the battle.

Therefore, under your persuasion, Liu Bei led two thousand volunteer soldiers to quietly leave the city two days before the Yellow Turbans arrived in Zhuo County, and then, with the advantage of knowing the terrain well, first went north, confusing the Yellow Turban spies lurking in Zhuo County, and then quietly circled back to hide in the valley about twenty miles outside the city of Zhuo County.]

Because you chose a hidden location to avoid the Yellow Turban route, and your two thousand men were inconspicuous, you successfully concealed yourselves from the Yellow Turban bandits, and unbelievably ambushed them from behind.

After the Yellow Turbans arrived in Zhuo County, they frantically looted the surrounding area for three days and three nights, and their numbers quickly swelled from the original fifty thousand to over two hundred thousand.

Subsequently, the Yellow Turban leaders were no longer satisfied with the gradually depleted surroundings of Zhuo County, and instead set their sights on the wealthy city of Zhuo County itself.

A brutal siege began!

Relying on their absolute numerical advantage, and also to expend some of the elderly, weak, women, and children, the Yellow Turban leaders drove a large number of their followers to besiege Zhuo County from all sides, and then began the siege with extremely crude siege equipment.

Whether old people or women and children, under the threats of the Yellow Turban bandits acting as supervisors, they had no choice but to fall one after another beneath the walls of Zhuo County.

The siege lasted for two days. Relying on a numerical advantage twenty times greater than the garrison of Zhuo County, the Yellow Turbans forcibly paved a road to break through the city with corpses.

Just as the city gates of Zhuo County were breached, and more than half of the Yellow Turban bandits and their followers poured into the city, you awaited the most desired opportunity. Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, already filled with rage, led two thousand righteous soldiers straight towards the headquarters of the Yellow Turban leaders.

The accumulated anger allowed Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, who were almost all from Zhuo County, and their two thousand righteous soldiers to explode with astonishing combat power, almost unstoppable as they charged directly towards the Yellow Turban leaders' headquarters.

With more than half of the hundred thousand Yellow Turbans already inside Zhuo County, the remaining half outside the city were in disarray and lacked any order.

Therefore, the Yellow Turbans, numbering dozens of times more than the righteous army led by Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, failed to provide any effective resistance, ultimately allowing the three to successfully charge into the Yellow Turban leaders' headquarters and successfully kill the leaders in battle.

Instantly, the Yellow Turbans were thrown into chaos!

Witnessing this scene, the Yellow Turbans began to flee in all directions, but more than half of those who had entered Zhuo County had already fallen into a frenzy, constantly burning, killing, looting, and raping within the city.

Although Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei also urgently entered the city to quell the chaos, the disparity in military strength caused by the near-total casualties of the Zhuo County garrison made it impossible to quell the aftermath in a short time.

This chaos lasted for two full days before the entire city of Zhuo County regained basic order, but not only was the area outside the city almost completely deserted, but most of the buildings in the city were also burned to the ground, and nearly half of the city's population died in the chaos.

Even the Prefect, Liu Yan, was killed by the Yellow Turban bandits.

The righteous army led by Liu Bei also suffered heavy losses in the subsequent suppression of the aftermath, and was unable to gather Yellow Turban prisoners, resulting in extremely heavy losses.

For the remaining half year, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei had to travel around Zhuo Commandery to wipe out the remaining Yellow Turban forces.

However, this completely deviated from your planned strategy of pacifying the Yellow Turbans in Zhuo Commandery and then heading south to Ji Province.

In the end, as the Yellow Turban Rebellion throughout the land gradually subsided, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei all received rewards from the imperial court for their meritorious service in resisting the Yellow Turbans in Zhuo County.

Among them, due to the devastation caused by the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the entire Zhuo Commandery was almost completely deserted, and no Prefect was willing to take over this mess. The imperial court directly appointed Liu Bei as the Prefect of Zhuo Commandery.

However, because your successful strategy came at the cost of using countless fellow villagers of Zhuo County as bait, it caused you to gradually drift apart from Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, who valued their fellow villagers. Although Liu Bei respected you throughout his life, he rarely sought your advice, believing that you were too unscrupulous in your pursuit of success, and that it was offensive to Heaven.

Assessment: With one scheme, Liu Bei was able to defeat an enemy dozens of times stronger, which made your name known among the lords. However, because you were too ruthless and did not hesitate to sacrifice the lives of your fellow villagers to achieve your goals, you were given the title of 'Poisonous Advisor' by the world, even surpassing Jia Xu.

However, due to the conflict between your ideals and those of your lord, Liu Bei, you ultimately failed to fully display your talents in this era, which is a great regret for many later generations of scam artists who admire your infamous reputation.