Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator.

Inside the Yamen of Duchang City.

Cao Ren, the Governor of Qingzhou and General Who Pacifies the South, rarely invited the generals under his command to a banquet to celebrate the harvest.

To guard against Liu Bei in the south, Qingzhou was a bit barren, but due to large-scale land reclamation, after several years of governance, a large amount of grain was stored in the warehouse.

Besides the approaching winter, Cao Ren was also able to relax because he learned from a secret letter sent by Cao Cao about the Shouchun Rebellion, and the entire Han Dynasty was in chaos.

Although Cao Ren did not dare to take the opportunity to attack Xu Province, he had been carefully and nervously guarding the direction of Xu Province for many years. After feeling relieved, Cao Ren also planned to take the opportunity to rest.

However, the noise of the Cao generals drinking and feasting in the Yamen was interrupted by the hasty voice of Mao Jie, who suddenly barged in.

"Oh dear, the general is still feasting, something terrible has happened!"

A trace of displeasure appeared on Cao Ren's face, but he suppressed it and asked.

"What's the matter with such panic?"

Mao Jie said anxiously with a slight sweat on his forehead. "Liu Bei has issued an 'Exhortation to Restore the Han and Punish the Traitors', and has sent troops to the Northern Expedition!"

"What?!"

As soon as these words came out, the wine that the many Cao generals present had drunk almost instantly sobered up.

Cao Ren hurriedly got up and snatched the newspaper from Mao Jie's hand, opened it and quickly scanned it, his face also changed greatly.

The Three Kingdoms of Han, Wei and Zhao have been standing for some time, and the border between the two sides is tense, but no real conflict has ever broken out.

Everyone knows that the Great Han will send troops to the Northern Expedition sooner or later, but for Cao Wei, they do not want that day to come.

Cao Ren was stunned for a few breaths before he blurted out.

"Impossible! The Great King sent a secret letter saying that there was internal strife in Shouchun, and Liu and Li had broken up and were unable to help themselves. How could they suddenly send troops to the Northern Expedition?"

After a pause, Cao Ren questioned Mao Jie.

"Could this newspaper be forged? Where did Xiaoxian get it from?"

"General, this newspaper was sent back day and night by the secret agent sent to Xu Province. It has already spread throughout Xu Province, and countless people know about it. How could it be fake?" Mao Jie replied anxiously.

This also quickly dispelled Cao Ren's last bit of luck, and he understood that even if Liu Bei was crazy, he would not dare to spread false news to the people, otherwise it would damage the prestige of Liu Bei and the government.

At this moment, a gust of cool wind blew in from outside the door, and Cao Ren suddenly felt a chill on his back. He broke out in a cold sweat without realizing it, and there was no trace of drunkenness left.

"Regardless of whether it's true or false, we must strengthen our defenses."

Cao Ren said sternly. He was about to transfer troops to the border and remind the border guards to be vigilant when.

"Urgent report!"

A rather sharp voice interrupted Cao Ren.

When Cao Ren quickly rushed out, he saw a dusty messenger rushing over, raising a bamboo tube containing an urgent report and shouting.

"Han troops have invaded the border, claiming to have 100,000 troops, and have besieged the two cities of Chang'an and Anqiu. Please, General, rush to support them."

Cao Ren quickly took the bamboo tube, poured out the urgent report with the fire lacquer intact, opened it, and scanned it quickly, his face looking very ugly.

General Jianwu, Xu Sheng, led an army claiming to be 100,000 strong, and has besieged the two cities of Anqiu and Chang'an, which are close to the State of Langya.

The two cities of Anqiu and Chang'an are strong cities that Cao Ren has repaired more than a dozen times in the past few years, each hoarding 5,000 soldiers to guard against Xu Province.

It's not that Cao Ren didn't want to station more soldiers.

But Anqiu and Chang'an are small cities, and the number of soldiers they can accommodate is limited, and the grain tax that the local people can pay is also limited.

If more soldiers are stationed during peacetime, Cao Ren would have to continuously transport grain to Anqiu and Chang'an, which would be a huge loss.

Moreover, according to Cao Ren's arrangement, once there is any change in Xu Province, the soldiers scattered throughout Qingzhou will be mobilized at the same time.

Anqiu and Chang'an will block for a while, buying enough time for Cao Ren to mobilize his troops, and then deploy defenses along the Wen River line behind Anqiu and Chang'an, using the advantage of the river to further block the Han army.

Now, Anqiu and Chang'an have been besieged without any preparation, which has greatly reduced Cao Ren's arrangements.

What worries Cao Ren at the moment is not only how long Anqiu and Chang'an can hold out, but also that Xu Sheng's lead is only the vanguard of the Northern Expedition army.

The exhortation mentioned that the Prime Minister of the Great Han, Li Ji, personally led the Northern Expedition army. The real main force of the Northern Expedition is probably still behind, and Xu Sheng is only paving the way for the Prime Minister of the Great Han, Li Ji.

Immediately, Cao Ren, realizing the seriousness of the situation, did not dare to delay for a moment. While urgently ordering all parts of Qingzhou to strengthen their defenses, he quickly began to mobilize the troops from all parts of Qingzhou.

At the same time, Cao Ren did not hesitate to send people to Yecheng to ask for help, asking Cao Cao to quickly send troops to aid.

Even though Cao Ren had painstakingly managed Qingzhou for a period of time, and spared no effort to exploit the potential of Qingzhou by using the "military agricultural system", the total number of Qingzhou garrison troops that Cao Ren could mobilize was only about 150,000.

If the target of the Northern Expedition army was Qingzhou, then Cao Ren knew even more clearly that it would be extremely dangerous for him to resist.

......

While Cao Ren was hurriedly mobilizing troops from all over the place.

The army led by Xu Sheng had launched a continuous and fierce attack on Anqiu and Chang'an for nearly two days. Under the fierce attack of various pre-prepared siege equipment.

Even though the garrison troops arranged by Cao Ren in Anqiu and Chang'an were quite elite, the two cities of Anqiu and Chang'an were already crumbling, and nearly half of the garrison troops had been killed or injured.

Of course, the casualties of the Han army were not low either.

The cities of Anqiu and Chang'an are not big, but they are quite well repaired, and various city defense facilities and defense materials are well-equipped.

In terms of casualties, the casualties of the Han army are even greater than those of the garrison troops.

However, under Xu Sheng's order, the Han army's fierce attack not only did not slow down, but continued to intensify.

In terms of terrain, the north of Langya State is exactly adjacent to the North Sea State.

Precisely because of this, Anqiu and Chang'an are like a pair of front teeth blocking in front of Langya State.

Only by removing this pair of front teeth can the safety of the grain road be guaranteed when the subsequent Han army attacks the North Sea State.

Xu Sheng rode his horse back and forth between the two cities of Anqiu and Chang'an, confirming the situation of the siege, and said to the personal guard beside him.

"Immediately send someone to send a letter to the Prime Minister, tomorrow night, at the latest tomorrow night, this general will personally go into battle to attack the city, and will definitely capture the two cities of Anqiu and Chang'an, and attract the Cao army of Qingzhou to this direction."

......

When the military report sent back by Xu Sheng reached Li Ji's presence, Li Ji squinted his eyes and walked to the map hanging in the big tent and looked at it.

At this moment, the members of the staff group who were still staying around Li Ji were Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi.

Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi were also making judgments.

After a moment, Zhuge Liang said.

"Teacher, it's almost time to let General Zilong and General Wenchang set off."

"Wait a little longer."

Li Ji raised his hand and waved it, and replied in a deep voice.

(End of this chapter)