Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Even with Li Ji's good temper, he couldn't help but curse "pig teammates" in his mind.

The situation was overwhelmingly advantageous, a time to break through in one fell swoop, yet Yuan Shao actually intended to hold back this momentum?

Previously, Guan Yu had beheaded Hua Xiong and left his corpse for the three thousand Xiliang iron cavalry to take back to Sishui Pass. This was Li Ji's prior instruction, intending to severely demoralize the Sishui Pass garrison with Hua Xiong's death.

If they waited until tomorrow to attack Sishui Pass, not to mention whether Dong Zhuo in Luoyang would take advantage of his cavalry superiority and send a new commander and reinforcements overnight to garrison Sishui Pass.

Even giving the Sishui Pass soldiers a night to recover would inevitably lead to a significant rebound in their originally declining morale.

In that case, wouldn't Hua Xiong have died in vain?

Even Liu Bei, who prided himself on understanding warfare, was quite clear about this reasoning, and many other lords present who were well-versed in military strategy also reacted.

Gongsun Zan took the lead to speak, his tone faintly carrying a hint of contempt.

"Alliance Leader, throughout history, the use of troops has always been about striking while the iron is hot, then waning, and finally exhausting. Now that General Guan has killed Hua Xiong in battle, it is the moment to take advantage of the momentum and attack Sishui Pass. Why hesitate?"

How could Yuan Shao not perceive the contempt in Gongsun Zan's tone? This caused Yuan Shao's brow to furrow secretly, but he remained silent.

Upon careful consideration, Yuan Shao wasn't unaware that attacking the city while taking advantage of the momentum would be greatly beneficial.

However, in Yuan Shao's view, most of the credit would then go to Liu Bei and Guan Yu. How could Yuan Shao be willing to do the work for others?

Cao Cao, who deeply understood Yuan Shao's nature, keenly sensed Yuan Shao's thoughts and spoke to ease the atmosphere, saying.

"Benchu, stability is certainly important, but assisting the Han Dynasty values speed. Such a good opportunity should not be missed. Moreover, delay will lead to changes. If we miss this opportunity, I fear we will be resented by the world."

This sentence finally moved Yuan Shao.

Faced with the choice between attacking the city to benefit Liu Bei and being blamed for delays, Yuan Shao chose the former.

This also allowed Li Ji, who noticed the change in Yuan Shao's expression, to secretly breathe a sigh of relief, sighing that Cao Cao understood Yuan Shao better. Otherwise, if soft tactics didn't work, Li Ji would have had to force Yuan Shao to charge forward.

Immediately, Yuan Shao, having made up his mind, drew his sword and immediately ordered the various units to organize an attack on Sishui Pass. Perhaps to regain his reputation, Yuan Shao took the initiative to send his elite troops to the front line for the first wave of the attack.

Meanwhile, inside Sishui Pass, the undisguised return of Hua Xiong's headless corpse had already caused a wave of panic.

Especially upon hearing that Hua Xiong had been beheaded in one strike by a red-faced man from the Allied Forces, morale plummeted even further.

In addition, with Hua Xiong's death, there was no one in Sishui Pass who could truly command and coordinate the various forces.

Therefore, in less than half a day.

Sishui Pass, regarded as one of the world's most formidable passes and a barrier to Sili, was forcibly captured by the Allied Forces.

The newly built camp was directly dismantled by the Allied Forces, and then more than 200,000 Allied troops chose to spend the night inside the pass.

However, to Liu Bei and Li Ji's dismay, they should have quickly dispatched surprise troops to Hulao Pass further back, attempting to seize the pass with a clever plan while Hulao Pass might not have reacted yet.

As long as Hulao Pass fell, the road to Luoyang would be smooth and unobstructed.

However, after entering the city, the first thing Yuan Shao did was to hold a celebration banquet, not only for the lords but also rewarding all the soldiers with wine and meat to celebrate.

To avoid incurring the hatred of the Allied Forces, even if Liu Bei wanted to persuade him, it was already inconvenient to speak, lest he chill the hearts of the three armies.

… …

Meanwhile, in the Xiangguo Mansion in Luoyang City.

This mansion was built by the former General-in-Chief He Jin at the cost of countless wealth. Pavilions, towers, carved railings, jade, and small bridges with flowing water were extremely luxurious.

Just maintaining the daily operation of the mansion required more than three hundred servants and maids.

However, as a roar echoed from the main hall of the mansion, all the maids and servants in the entire mansion were frightened, fearing being dragged down and chopped alive to vent anger.

At this moment, on the ground in the main hall lay a headless corpse, and the corpse was still tightly gripping a long-handled broadsword, which was Hua Xiong.

Dong Zhuo, who had just angrily kicked over the table and roared, now asked breathlessly.

"Who killed Hua Xiong?"

"It is said to be a red-faced, long-bearded man who calls himself Guan Yu," the confidant who had buried his head and knelt on the ground to return Hua Xiong's body replied in a tearful and frightened voice.

"Guan Yu?!"

This name was somewhat unfamiliar to the generals present.

Only Dong Zhuo vaguely remembered that during the Battle of Julu, Liu Bei reportedly had two sworn brothers, one of whom was a red-faced, long-bearded Guan Yu.

"Audacious! Audacious!!!"

Dong Zhuo laughed in extreme anger, his face full of fat trembling, revealing a ferocious and tyrannical look, saying.

"Killing my beloved general and seizing my pass, truly audacious, truly a Han Dynasty relative, Liu Xuande."

At this moment, Dong Zhuo had already decided to enter the palace again tonight and vent his anger towards the Han Dynasty relatives on the concubines and princesses in the palace.

Immediately, Dong Zhuo thought of Hua Xiong, who had followed him left and right for many years, charging into battle, and his eyes couldn't help but fill with tears.

"Good man, good man, we just started preparing to enjoy wealth and glory, but you have taken the first step, it's such a pity…"

Dong Zhuo sighed and said.

"Find the best woodcarver in Luoyang to carve a sandalwood head for Hua Xiong, bury him with all kinds of items at the specifications of a king, and choose a married princess to be buried with him. Hua Xiong liked married women, so it can be considered fulfilling his wish."

"Hua Xiong didn't get to enjoy himself while alive, he should enjoy himself after death, so that Hua Xiong won't have fought for me all his life and end up with nothing."

After a pause, Dong Zhuo's eyes turned, and he looked at the confidant kneeling next to Hua Xiong's corpse, saying.

"Bury this person as well. What is the principle of a subject living when the master dies? I hate this kind of disloyal and unrighteous person the most. When Hua Xiong was defeated, you should have charged to avenge Hua Xiong, but instead, you specially protected the corpse to return. Do you still want to receive a reward?"

Finally, Dong Zhuo seemed to have lost all his thoughts and waved his hand casually, saying.

"Bury them, bury all of Hua Xiong's personal guards, so that Hua Xiong won't be lonely underground."

"Yes."

Niu Fu stepped forward, cupped his hands to accept the order, and then waved to signal the personal soldiers guarding the door to take away the confidant, who was already weak in the legs from fright, and Hua Xiong's corpse.

After Hua Xiong's corpse was carried away, Dong Zhuo then asked.

"Now that Sishui Pass has been broken, Hulao Pass is the only thing left to stop the Guandong lords. What should we do next?"

Although Dong Zhuo seemed to be asking a group of confidants, in reality, his gaze was almost entirely focused on Li Ru.

Li Ru pondered slightly and said.

"Prime Minister, although Hua Xiong was defeated hastily, it has bought us some time."

"Now, a large number of officials and aristocratic families in Luoyang who may be related to the Guandong lords have been purged, and countless money and grain have been seized, which is enough to support us in fighting the Allied Forces for two or three years without worrying about money and grain."

"Li Jue and Guo Si have each led 50,000 Xiliang iron cavalry to the Sanfu area to resist Liu Yan, Liu Biao, and Ma Teng. Li Jue and Guo Si are good at fighting. Relying on the terrain and the elite of the Xiliang iron cavalry, it should not be difficult to resist Liu Yan and the like."

"At present, although Luoyang only has Hulao Pass to defend, Hangu Pass and Hulao Pass are known as the most formidable passes. In the past, the Qin State could rely on Hangu Pass to resist the Six Kingdoms Alliance for fifteen years, and then defeat them one by one."

"Now, Prime Minister, you may as well hold Hulao Pass firmly, so that the Allied Forces will disintegrate, and finally devour the world."

After saying this, even Li Ru's originally pale complexion showed a few flushes of excitement.

After learning that the Allied Forces had jointly attacked Dong Zhuo, Dong Zhuo became angry and broke the pot, directly killing Liu Bian and Yuan Kui, etc.

Li Ru also gave up the idea of ​​gaining the support of the world's aristocratic families for Dong Zhuo through gentle means. Instead, he simply followed Dong Zhuo and did even more absolutely, almost slaughtering all the officials and aristocratic families in Luoyang who were related to the Guandong aristocratic families.

It's just that Luoyang has been almost completely blocked during this period, so the news has not been spread at all.

Otherwise, the Allied lords would find that it was not just Yuan Shao's blood relatives who died, but most of the relatives of the Guandong lords were involved.

Under such a quick knife, Li Ru felt that the entire court was much cleaner and purer.

Moreover, under the circumstances that Dong Zhuo needs to shrink back to Sili and Sanfu in the future, and Liu Yu personally issued a statement denying Liu Xie's legitimacy, Li Ru also does not think that the court needs too many officials to govern the Han.

Therefore, even though he killed most of the officials in the court, Li Ru felt that the court was running much smoother, and the money and grain problems for Dong Zhuo's stalemate with the Allied Forces in the future were completely solved.

According to Li Ru's judgment, in the future, he only needs to guard Hulao Pass carefully, wait for the Guandong lords to be in chaos, and then free his hands to first pacify Ma Teng and Han Sui in Liangzhou, and then attack Yizhou to take all the old land of Qin.

Finally, waiting for an opportunity to leave Hulao Pass and sweep the world can restore the great cause of the Qin King sweeping the six kingdoms.

Thinking of the end, Li Ru felt that his palms were trembling slightly with excitement. The heavy and tired spirit caused by the accumulation of a large number of official duties during this period seemed to become much clearer at this moment.

Dong Zhuo pondered slightly, and then made a decision, saying.

"Tomorrow, in addition to Niu Fu leading 10,000 Xiliang iron cavalry to stay in Luoyang, the entire army will follow me to Hulao Pass to fight the Guandong lords to the death."

"Yes!"

Immediately, a group of civil and military officials in the hall responded with cupped hands.

Li Ru looked at Dong Zhuo, his eyes shining with renewed fervor, feeling as though the unyielding warrior Dong Zhongying from the Western Liang had returned.

Although he had been tempted and沉沦by the wine, women, wealth, and ambition of Luoyang for a while, after enjoying it all, the man ultimately hadn't forgotten his heroic aspirations; he had returned after all.

‘He who conquers the world will be none other than Dong Zhongying.’

Li Ru's face was flushed with excitement, his eyes revealing unwavering determination.

(End of Chapter)