Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator.

Nowadays, the cotton that has gradually blossomed up and down on Yingzhou Island is the best solution for soldiers to resist the severe winter.

But, it's too late!

It has only been two or three years since cotton was sent to Yingzhou for planting.

However, Zuo Rong did not disappoint Li Ji. When it comes to preaching, Zuo Rong is definitely a professional.

Otherwise, Zuo Rong would not have been able to deceive one Buddhist believer after another into building Buddhist temples in an era when Buddhism was not prevalent.

Now, the Eastern Ying Buddhist teachings preached by Zuo Rong have completely spread throughout Yingzhou, with countless believers.

Even in the latest news about Yingzhou that Li Ji has learned, countless Japanese people are voluntarily requesting to hollow out Mount Fuji to build a large Buddha statue to honor our Buddha.

Zuo Rong also had no resistance to this and secretly asked Li Ji for permission.

After all, Zuo Rong may be considered to have a high status in Yingzhou, but in reality, every move is monitored and controlled by the Han army stationed in Yingzhou, and he is closely protected when he goes in and out.

Zuo Rong also understood how Li Ji had forcefully subdued the entire Eastern Ying back then, and he did not dare to have the idea of leading millions of Japanese Buddhist soldiers to counterattack the Central Plains. Instead, he obediently cooperated with Li Ji in preaching.

However, when Li Ji learned that Zuo Rong was encouraging believers to hollow out Mount Fuji to build a large Buddha statue, he couldn't help but feel dizzy.

Mount Fuji is an active volcano.

Moreover, according to what Zuo Rong said, they were planning to hollow out Mount Fuji to build a hundred-meter-tall Buddha statue, even taller than the Leshan Giant Buddha in Li Ji's memory, so that the entire Yingzhou could be illuminated by the light of our Buddha.

Without a doubt, this is a huge project, and once completed, it will be a great merit.

Li Ji is not sure whether the light of the Buddha will shine on Yingzhou.

However, it is certain that when the volcano erupts, it will definitely take a large number of believers directly to the Western Paradise.

Therefore, Li Ji immediately replied and rejected Zuo Rong's idea.

However, Li Ji is kind... …

The kind Li Ji also didn't want to interfere with the Japanese people's freedom of belief, but he politely refused on the grounds that the Japanese people had not accumulated enough merit.

When the Japanese people have accumulated enough merit through mining and cotton picking, Li Ji will approve Zuo Rong to use a large number of Japanese believers to build a large Buddha statue on Mount Fuji.

Zuo Rong doesn't understand anything about volcano geology, and he doesn't understand what consequences hollowing out Mount Fuji will cause.

Zuo Rong only knows that Mount Fuji is the sacred mountain of Yingzhou. Building a large Buddha statue there with his own face will be a great thing that will be passed down for generations and will definitely be comparable to Sakyamuni.

Li Ji's saying about accumulating merit is also naturally interpreted by Zuo Rong as a test for himself, requiring Zuo Rong to make enough contributions to the Han Dynasty before being allowed to build the large Buddha statue.

But even if Zuo Rong is motivated by this tempting prospect, planting cotton also needs to follow the basic logic of plant growth.

These two or three years are basically the stage where cotton is widely promoted in Yingzhou. One pure white cotton flower after another, carrying the Japanese people's prayers for washing away their sins, grows everywhere in Yingzhou.

However, there is still some distance to go before Li Ji wants to harvest a large amount of cotton continuously every year, and it also takes a process to make cotton into various warm clothes.

At least, the Battle of Yu Province cannot wait for the support of cotton.

When Li Ji recovered from the affairs of Yingzhou, after discussions among the civil and military officials, they also came to a conclusion.

"Teacher, if you want to speed up the attack, the only way to do it now is to divide the troops. The army should be divided into three or four groups, taking turns attacking the cities along the way."

Pang Tong stood up and said.

"Now Yuan Shu is conscripting young and strong men in Yu Province on a large scale, but he is more than enough to defend the city, but he is unable to counterattack."

"Moreover, it may be somewhat useful for some young and strong men who have not been trained in military formations to defend the city. If they dare to go out of the city to fight, it would be a good thing instead."

"However, I think that with the teacher's illustrious reputation, Yuan Shu, who has long been frightened, will definitely not dare to have the idea of fighting the teacher in the field. Therefore, even if the troops are divided, the risk is extremely low."

Not all cities are as tall and deep as Xiapi City, Shouchun City, and Pengcheng City. The main function of most cities is to defend against bandits and wild animals outside the city.

Even if those small cities have conscripted many young and strong men to assist in defense, attacking the city with an army of 100,000 is like using a cannon to kill a mosquito.

Therefore, the method proposed by Pang Tong is undoubtedly a good strategy.

When attacking some small cities, due to the limited area that the army can deploy, the difference between 20,000 and 100,000 is not that big.

Now that Yuan Shu only has the power to resist but not the ability to counterattack, it is feasible to divide the troops and attack the cities separately.

It's just... …

"It's still too slow!"

Li Ji shook his head and said.

"Even if the troops are divided to attack the city, taking down one city a day will still delay a lot of time."

"In this way, the closer we get to the hinterland of Yu Province, the more young and strong men Yuan Shu can conscript, and the more stubborn the resistance we will face later."

"More importantly, if Yuan Shu continues to conscript like this, all the young and strong men in Yu Province will either escape or be forcibly conscripted, which will be extremely damaging to the entire Yu Province."

As Li Ji's voice fell, Zhuge Liang suddenly thought of something, stood up abruptly, and said. "Teacher, could it be that you want to go deep alone? No, the risk of doing so would be too great."

"Liang'er is indeed perceptive."

Li Ji smiled, and then ordered Gu Wei, who was waiting outside the door, to bring in the map of Yu Province, and then pointed to the map and said.

"Our army is now in Xiang County, Pei State, while Yuan Shu's administrative office is in Ruyang."

On the map of Yu Province, it is like an elephant raising its nose upwards. The nose is located on the northeast side and borders Yanzhou and Xu Province. Xiang County, Pei State, where Li Ji is now located, is roughly located in the elephant's mouth.

Yuan Shu's administrative office, Ruyang, is located on the abdomen near the hind legs, more than 500 miles away from Xiang County, Pei State, and even close to 600 miles.

"Even if the troops are divided to attack the city at this distance, it will probably take two months to capture each city one by one."

Li Ji said with a slightly helpless tone.

This is undoubtedly the first "hard battle" that Li Ji has faced so far.

This "hard battle" refers to the need to capture and occupy a state little by little, rather than the skillful way of controlling Jing and Yang provinces as before.

Of course, in the eyes of others, this is already a considerable speed.

In history, Liu Bei's attack on Yi Province was quite smooth from beginning to end, but it also took three years.

Sun Ce unified Jiangdong, and it took a full five years before and after.

It was precisely because of this that Chen Gong was so surprised and shocked by Li Ji's swift annexation of Jing and Yang provinces that he messed up his strategy.

Cao Cao's mentality was unbalanced when Tao Qian offered Xu Province to Liu Bei with both hands.

And Yuan Shu is determined to resist Li Ji at the cost of exhausting the power of Yu Province. Even if Li Ji severely damaged the Yu Province soldiers in advance, it is definitely a bone that needs to be gnawed slowly with patience.