Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Meanwhile, on the other side, Li Ji was simply tidying up the battlefield at the original Wuhuan camp.

Li Ji learned that the cavalry led by Gongsun Zan had ultimately failed to arrive at the designated location in time, and Zhao Yun had led a small elite force to intercept the retreating Wuhuan army.

After sending someone to quickly return to Ji City to report the battle results to Liu Yu, and asking Liu Yu to quickly send additional people to assist in continuing to clean up the battlefield;

Li Ji also selected about fifteen thousand Han soldiers who still had good combat strength from among the exhausted Han army, and then chased after the Wuhuan army.

However, while the Han army led by Li Ji was still on its way, they received a battle report sent by Gongsun Zan.

After Li Ji carefully read the contents of the battle report, his expression couldn't help but become a bit strange, but he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief in his heart.

Taking the head of an enemy general from an army of thousands as easily as taking something out of a bag.

Is this the terror of the fierce generals of this era?

It's really unreasonable!

Although Li Ji knew quite a bit about Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun, these three peerless fierce generals, he still couldn't help but sigh secretly when he learned of this battle result.

Especially the martial power displayed by Zhao Yun now, almost to the point of breaking conventional cognition.

Even though Li Ji knew that the main reason Zhao Yun broke through the enemy lines and beheaded generals in an army of thousands in the battle report was that the thirty thousand Wuhuan were actually a defeated army, with quite poor formation, equipment, and morale.

If facing disciplined infantry in formation, Zhao Yun's solo charge would only require a dozen large shields to restrict space and hook the horse's legs to capture Zhao Yun alive, which wouldn't be difficult.

However, this still couldn't hide the brilliance of a peerless fierce general and the miracle that could be created by beheading generals and seizing flags in desperate situations.

'However, it is indeed necessary to strengthen the protective forces around me, maybe an unknown ruthless person will pop out of some corner?'

Li Ji thought secretly, suddenly feeling that even with a large number of personal guards protecting him, he didn't have that foolproof sense of security.

Immediately, Li Ji ordered the entire army to speed up their march and arrived at the battlefield that Gongsun Zan had initially cleaned up.

The most eye-catching thing was the approximately thirty thousand Wuhuan prisoners who had been separated.

"Zikun!"

Looking at Li Ji, who was wearing armor and showing a bit of heroism, Gongsun Zan took the initiative to greet Li Ji, and even personally helped Li Ji down from the chariot.

After this battle, after three months, the situation in Youzhou had undergone earth-shattering changes, and even captured or killed eighty thousand Wuhuan troops within Han territory in one fell swoop.

How could this not make Gongsun Zan admire him greatly?

"Brother Bogui, I am also very happy to see you return safely from beyond the Great Wall," Li Ji said with a smile to Gongsun Zan.

"With Zikun's brilliant strategy, even if I were to ride across the Great Wall, I would feel like walking on flat ground. What danger is there to speak of?"

After a pause, Gongsun Zan said with great emotion. "I have fought with the Hu dogs for many years, but I have never fought such a happy battle."

To this, Li Ji only smiled and didn't answer, instead nodding towards Zhao Yun, who came forward to salute.

It must be said that compared to before going beyond the Great Wall, Zhao Yun's appearance and temperament clearly had a bit more of the feeling of weathering the storm.

However, Li Ji was also very curious about how Zhao Yun managed to force the surrender of more than thirty thousand Wuhuan troops with two thousand White Horse Volunteers.

However, now was clearly not the time to ask about these details.

Li Ji looked at the distant Wuhuan prisoners with their heads drooping and asked about the relevant situation.

At this moment, Gongsun Zan had already tallied up the specific numbers.

Four hundred and eighty-nine White Horse Volunteers led by Zhao Yun died in battle, almost everyone was injured.

The Wuhuan, on the other hand, had four thousand six hundred and sixteen deaths, the injured were not counted, the main casualties came from the White Horse Volunteers' multiple cavalry archery, followed by the casualties caused by Zhao Yun leading the White Horse Volunteers in multiple charges.

And the Wuhuan who surrendered and were captured numbered as high as thirty thousand and thirty-three.

"Zikun, in my opinion, instead of imprisoning these Wuhuan people and wasting food, it would be better to execute them on the spot, which can also prevent Liu Yu from being soft-hearted for a while and releasing all these Wuhuan people back, letting the tiger return to the mountain and causing future troubles," Gongsun Zan directly suggested.

"Allow me to think for a while."

Li Ji said slowly, and he had not expected to be able to force the surrender of about thirty thousand Wuhuan troops.

Killing them was simple and satisfying, but Li Ji couldn't help but feel that it was a bit of a waste.

However, if the Wuhuan people were to redeem the prisoners, the Wuhuan people probably wouldn't be able to come up with anything good.

Furthermore, the existence of the Wuhuan itself had a role in checking and balancing the Xianbei for the Han, so as not to allow the Xianbei to become the sole dominant force on the grasslands and eventually become a major threat.

Or rather, the Xianbei had now become a hidden danger for the Han.

Compared to the Xianbei, the Western Qiang, Wuhuan, and Xiongnu all seemed quite insignificant.

And ten years ago, the Han army fought against the Xianbei in Bing Province and was defeated, losing nearly half of Bing Province to the Xianbei, which has not yet returned to the hands of the Han to this day.

That is, after the death of the last Xianbei leader, Tanshihuai, the successor Helian was unable to subdue the various tribes of the Xianbei, causing the Xianbei to internally split into three groups fighting for power.

Otherwise, I am afraid that when the Western Qiang attacked the Three Auxiliary Areas, it would not only be the Wuhuan looting Youzhou, but the Xianbei would also go south on a large scale, triggering a full-scale fight between the Han and the Hu.

However, this does not mean that the Xianbei, who are temporarily in internal strife, have no threat.

On the contrary, Li Ji needs to consider that he cannot break the internal balance of the Xianbei for the time being, otherwise, if a certain group within the Xianbei grows stronger as a result and unifies internally, then it will be a fatal threat to the gradually decaying Han.

At that time, the Xianbei may not have to wait until the "Five Hu Uprising" of the original trajectory to become the main force of the southern invasion, and will now go south to seize the land of the Central Plains.

(PS: The Xianbei during the Tanshihuai period were very fierce, with a territory of more than 14,000 li from east to west and 7,000 li from north to south, copying the edge of the south, rejecting the Dingling in the north, rejecting Fuyu in the east, attacking Wusun in the west, occupying more than 90% of the territory of the Xiongnu at its peak.)

In Li Ji's eyes, looking around the Han Dynasty today, the biggest potential threat is the Xianbei tribe.

However, now is far from the time to solve this hidden danger of the Xianbei, instead, Li Ji needs to carefully avoid interfering with the internal situation of the Xianbei.

The Wuhuan are a link that faintly checks and balances the Xianbei.

After thinking for a long time, Li Ji breathed a sigh of relief and said. "Brother Bogui, these Wuhuan prisoners should still be taken back to Ji City and imprisoned for the time being."

Gongsun Zan heard the words and asked with some doubts.

"Zikun, do you intend to let the Wuhuan redeem the prisoners? If so, there is no need. How many war horses does Zikun need? I will lead the White Horse Volunteers to each Wuhuan settlement to take them."

? ? ?

Li Ji.

At this moment, Li Ji felt whether he had opened some switch for Gongsun Zan, allowing Gongsun Zan to awaken some "plunder" skill.

Li Ji guessed right. After experiencing a pleasant sweep beyond the Great Wall this time, Gongsun Zan did feel that his horizons had been broadened a lot.

It turns out that it is not only the Hu who can plunder the Han, why can't the Han plunder the Hu?

The thief can go there, so can I!

In Gongsun Zan's eyes at this moment, those Wuhuan settlements are like leeks, how can they be cut!

Li Ji intends to explain to Gongsun Zan that this move is tantamount to killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. The Wuhuan people should be killed, but from the overall advantages and disadvantages of the Han people, the Wuhuan can completely break their spines, but this broken-spined dog must still be left at the door to monitor the evil neighbor of the Xianbei.

But thinking of Gongsun Zan's unyielding and resolute character, he probably wouldn't agree with it, instead, he might feel that he should take the opportunity to slaughter the Wuhuan tribe, absorb all the Wuhuan's materials and war horses, and expand the army to prepare for a war with the Xianbei.

Therefore, Li Ji thought about it, changed his tone, and said.

"Brother Bogui, you must know that Tadun is still leading an army of 80,000 Wuhuan, and Yuyang County, Youbeiping County, and Liaoxi County are still in the hands of Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun."

"If these 30,000 Wuhuan prisoners are all beheaded, maybe in addition to arousing the fear of the Wuhuan, it will instead make them have the heart to break the cauldron and sink the boat, and with the help of Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun, maybe the war will continue for a long time and the three fallen counties cannot be recovered."

As soon as these words came out, Gongsun Zan's brows furrowed unconsciously, and he suddenly realized that the situation seemed far less optimistic than he had imagined.

And if he wants to recover the three fallen counties later, Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun will definitely do their best to arrive, and Tadun still has 80,000 Wuhuan young men in his hands.

After careful comparison, even with the help of the Wu County troops led by Li Ji, the troops on Youzhou's side are still at an absolute disadvantage.

And Li Ji paused slightly, and then said.

"Now, the cavalry led by Brother Bogui has traveled thousands of miles beyond the Great Wall, and the Youzhou infantry has also experienced a bloody battle in the rain, all of which can be called exhausted troops."

"It is unwise to defeat the army that is determined to fight to the death with the exhausted army."

"Therefore, I want to use these 30,000 Wuhuan prisoners to do the 'subduing the enemy without fighting' thing, let Tadun solve Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun, and recover the three fallen counties as soon as possible, restore the people's livelihood, and..."

Li Ji couldn't help but sigh and said.

"Brother Bogui didn't say that there are Han slaves in almost every Wuhuan settlement? Even if Brother Bogui rescued a part, there are still more Han people trapped in other Wuhuan settlements."

"Exchanging prisoners for slaves is not one of the good strategies to rescue those Han people."

Gongsun Zan's reason has obviously been persuaded by Li Ji, and he believes that the analysis and decisions made by Li Ji have no problems, but Gongsun Zan's sensibility makes him completely reluctant to let go of these 30,000 Wuhuan prisoners.

Therefore, Gongsun Zan pondered for a long time, gritted his teeth, and retorted.

"Zikun, if we allow these Wuhuan people to return, how can we guarantee that they won't invade Han territory again next year? If that happens, it will be our fault."

"Hahaha, that's not quite right..."

Li Ji couldn't help but laugh, pointing his finger at the Wuhuan people not far away, and said.

"After this battle, how could these barbarians still dare to look directly at the Han people, or at the White Horse Army?" (End of Chapter)