Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator.

Sun Ce's heartfelt praise didn't bring Zhou Yu as much joy as one might expect.

Sun Ce, with his somewhat carefree personality, clearly didn't notice the subtle changes in Zhou Yu's expression, and instead, he excitedly studied the map, calculating the marching plan himself.

"If Gongjin's plan succeeds, Qingzhou can be gradually蚕食 (cannibalized), and Cao贼 (Cao's banditry) will be weakened, trapping him in Ji Province to fight Yuan Shao to the death. A brilliant plan! Truly a brilliant plan!"

Sun Ce became more and more satisfied as he looked at the map, and then he decisively spoke.

"I ask Gongjin to help me prepare the army as soon as possible, and I will immediately send a fast horse to deliver a letter to our lord, requesting him to mobilize the fleet to send grain to Dongchao Ford."

"Yes."

Zhou Yu replied with a serious expression.

Sun Ce had been in the army since he was young, following Li Ji from a young age and participating in the battles of You Province and Ying Province.

Although Sun Ce had no talent for planning and scheming, he had learned a lot from Li Ji in terms of commanding and dispatching troops.

Dispatching twenty thousand soldiers was as easy as using his own arms for Sun Ce, who was now around twenty years old.

However, Sun Ce didn't like dealing with miscellaneous military affairs, and he usually handed them over to Zhou Yu to arrange.

In just two days, Zhou Yu, who had been preparing early, had arranged everything for detouring around Mount Tai.

Immediately, Sun Ce led the army, making a great show of attacking Qi in the north, and then set up camp on the edge of the border area between Mount Tai and Qi.

While leaving trusted aides to create fake cooking smoke to confuse Qingzhou scouts, Sun Ce led the army to Mount Tai under the cover of night and began a forced march to Jinan.

At the same time, the military plan reported by Sun Ce was also sent to Xu Shu.

Xu Shu didn't dare to delay and quickly presented it to Liu Bei for review.

"A good plan!"

After reviewing it, Liu Bei praised Zhou Yu's wisdom and couldn't help but smile at Xu Shu.

"This Zhou Gongjin, anyone with eyes can see that he has a sense of pride in his heart, unwilling to be steadily suppressed by Zikun, and he wants to prove himself."

"When he was recruited into the staff, he didn't say a word every day. Now that he's out on an expedition with his sworn brother, he's sparing no effort to devise strategies for Bofu."

Xu Shu was about the same age as Zhou Yu. He had privately exchanged knowledge with Zhou Yu several times and admired Zhou Yu's talent and ability. He also knew the pride hidden beneath Zhou Yu's seemingly humble and refined exterior, and said.

"Geniuses all have pride, which is not surprising."

"In my opinion, Yuanzhi's ability is comparable to Gongjin's, but Yuanzhi started learning later and has less accumulation, but Yuanzhi is not proud on weekdays."

Liu Bei shook his head and said.

The implication was that Zhou Yu's ability was extraordinary, but his temperament was slightly inferior, even compared to Xu Shu.

As for Li Ji…

Liu Bei never took the initiative to compare Li Ji with others. In Liu Bei's heart, Zikun was unique and incomparable.

In terms of vision, ability, temperament, ambition, and so on, in Liu Bei's view, Zikun was almost perfect.

Except for one shortcoming, which was that Zikun didn't like having children, which Liu Bei thought was very bad.

"Shu is a mediocre person. Thanks to the lord's attention and the teachings of Lord Guoshi, I am what I am today. How dare I be proud?"

Xu Shu didn't mention Zhou Yu again, but replied with a ashamed expression.

Liu Bei was secretly very satisfied with Xu Shu's temperament.

As Liu Bei's personal chief clerk, Xu Shu's official position was not eye-catching, but the actual power and status he controlled were quite high.

As someone who had just come of age, Xu Shu was not blinded by power, nor did he use his position to help Liu Bei handle various affairs for personal gain. His selflessness and dedication were what Liu Bei was most satisfied with in Xu Shu.

Immediately, Liu Bei stopped discussing this issue and pointed to the secret letter in his hand, asking.

"Gongjin's plan, Yuanzhi, do you think there are any loopholes?"

After Xu Shu thought seriously for a while, he replied. "If I were to replace Xun Yu in Qingzhou, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to stop it."

On the one hand, Xun Yu didn't have enough troops to leave the city to stop Sun Ce, and on the other hand, the barren Qingzhou couldn't develop a navy, so it was impossible to prevent the Yangzhou navy from transporting grain to Dongchao Ford.

If he were in their position, Xu Shu felt that what he could do was to shrink his forces and defend Qingzhou to avoid unnecessary losses, and wait for the outcome of the Jizhou battlefield before making a decision.

Having obtained Xu Shu's answer, Liu Bei no longer hesitated, wrote out a military order, stamped it with his seal, and ordered Xu Shu to quickly arrange for the Yangzhou navy to send grain to Dongchao Ford in early October as Zhou Yu requested to meet with Sun Ce.

Immediately, Liu Bei subconsciously inquired about the latest battle report from Yuzhou regarding Li Ji.

"There is no news yet," Xu Shu replied.

"No news is the best news."

Liu Bei was not worried about this at all.

In Liu Bei's heart, Li Ji had always been calculating and resourceful. Since there was no bad news, it meant that the battle situation was within Li Ji's expectations.

Moreover, after Li Ji led his army to replenish food and grass at 濄 River, he marched straight into the enemy's rear towards Ying River, so it was inevitable that he would temporarily lose contact with the outside world.

"However, according to the time estimate, Zikun should be arriving at Ying River soon."

"Yuanzhi, sort out some of the recent important documents and send them to Ying River with the navy. Zikun might need to read them in his spare time."

Liu Bei habitually added.

"Yes, my lord."

Xu Shu replied and bowed to retreat to sort things out.

What are important documents? Naturally, they are important dispatches concerning all aspects of Liu Bei's rule and the latest changes of various princes.

Although Liu Bei felt that he had handled everything without any problems with Xu Shu's assistance, he still subconsciously sent a copy of these things to Li Ji.

It wasn't that he suspected or worried about any problems, but purely because Liu Bei felt that if Li Ji read and checked it, he would feel particularly confident and have a more secure feeling.

And just as Liu Bei had predicted, Li Ji led his army on a forced march all the way from 濄 River, spending nearly eight days, and finally arrived at the Xiang County section of Ying River.

Seemingly, the risk of going deep into the enemy's territory was extremely high, but in fact, the entire Yuzhou had neither enough troops to compete with Li Ji's army, and Li Ji knew all the terrain advantages of Yuzhou, so there was no possibility of getting lost and wasting time.

The timing was also within Li Ji's observation.

Favorable timing, geographical advantages, and popular support were all occupied by Li Ji, so where did the risk come from?

Regardless of how panicked and terrified Yuan Shu would be when Li Ji arrived at the Xiang County section of Ying River, which was only about a hundred miles away from Ruyang, Li Ji calmly set up camp on the banks of Ying River.

(End of this chapter)