Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Outside Hulao Pass.

After Zhao Yun and the others retreated, a trace of worry appeared on Liu Bei's face as he said in a low voice to Li Ji.

"Lu Bu truly deserves the name 'Lu Bu among men, Red Hare among horses.' Even if Yun Chang and Yi De join forces to capture him now, it will be extremely difficult."

"Moreover, Lu Bu is wary of Zi Long, and relying on the Red Hare horse, it is difficult to form an encirclement against him."

Of course, the main reason ultimately lies with the Red Hare horse.

In a foot battle, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei could definitely beat Lu Bu to death with their combined strength, but in a mounted battle, the enhancement brought by a peerless steed is unimaginable.

Even with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's tacit cooperation, it is still difficult to continuously encircle Lu Bu with the Red Hare horse; it is more like a relay battle.

Therefore, Liu Bei gradually understood that surrounding Lu Bu and restricting the Red Hare's movements was the correct way to defeat him.

Unfortunately, Lu Bu maintained a 100% vigilance against Zhao Yun, who posed the greatest threat.

When Zhao Yun went to challenge Zhang Xiu earlier, Lu Bu had already developed the intention to retreat; otherwise, how could Lu Bu have been able to block Zhang Xiu's attack at the right time while fighting Guan Yu and Zhang Fei with all his might?

And after witnessing Lu Bu's battle again, even among the Guandong lords who despised Lu Bu's character, they had to admit that Lu Bu's title of "Unparalleled in the World" was well-deserved.

This was precisely what Liu Bei was worried about…

Originally, Liu Bei thought that since there had been no news of Lu Bu for many days, Li Ji's scheme of sowing discord had completely succeeded, and Lu Bu had been completely frozen or cremated by Dong Zhuo. He did not expect Lu Bu to reappear unscathed.

This was undoubtedly extremely bad news for the allied forces, adding another mountain to climb in order to capture Hulao Pass.

With Lu Bu guarding Hulao Pass, even if the allied generals intended to personally lead troops to attack the city, they would have to consider whether they would have a chance to retreat after going up.

However, Liu Bei was more worried about Li Ji's state of mind, and his eyes were fixed on Li Ji, fearing that Li Ji would suffer any setbacks.

After all, Li Ji was a true prodigy who had become famous at a young age. Since leaving his thatched cottage, his predictions had always been accurate, and his calculations had never failed.

Now, his planned scheme of sowing discord seemed to have stumbled on Lu Bu, which surprised Liu Bei. He did not expect Lu Bu to be a man of both wisdom and courage, able to see through Li Ji's plan.

"Zi Kun, but you don't need to feel any pressure. Next time, find a good opportunity, and Lu Bu will definitely underestimate Bei. Bei will personally lure him, and then Bei, together with my two brothers, may be able to encircle and kill Lu Bu."

As he said this, Liu Bei did not forget to reach out and pat the male and female swords at his waist to signal to Li Ji.

Li Ji was slightly startled when he heard this, and then he realized that Liu Bei was subtly comforting him, actively providing him with a way to solve Lu Bu.

And this idea was indeed somewhat feasible. With Lu Bu's arrogance, he probably regarded everyone in the allied forces except Zhao, Guan, and Zhang as mere weeds.

As long as Liu Bei, as the deputy leader, acted as bait, perhaps he could really get Lu Bu to take the bait and then stage a battle of the three heroes against Lu Bu?

Thinking of this, Li Ji couldn't help but chuckle and explain.

"If the situation reaches the point where the lord is forced to personally go into battle, then it would be Ji's dereliction of duty. Moreover, the lord is probably misunderstanding something…"

After a pause, Li Ji explained in a low voice.

"The previous series of actions were just planting seeds. Now, we only need to create an opportunity for them to bloom, and perhaps the lord will be able to appreciate a beautiful flower blooming on Hulao Pass today."

Liu Bei couldn't help but look surprised when he heard this.

After all, since the last time he set up an ambush for Lu Bu and deliberately gave Lu Bu a chance to escape, Li Ji had not made any arrangements or measures related to the scheme of sowing discord.

Immediately, Li Ji cupped his hands and asked, "Lord, can you allow Ji to go forward and talk to the traitor Dong?"

Liu Bei hesitated for a moment and replied, "Since Zi Kun is willing, then let Zi Long escort you forward, and please be very careful."

Li Ji could only reluctantly agree when he heard this.

Of course, this reluctance was more for Zhao Yun…

In Li Ji's eyes, Zhao Yun had gradually become an excellent cavalry general.

Perhaps Zhao Yun did not yet have the ability to command large-scale troops, but Zhao Yun's talent in commanding cavalry within ten thousand men was now top-notch.

However, perhaps Liu Bei was too worried about Li Ji's safety, and there were not many people he could trust to ensure Li Ji's safety.

Therefore, Liu Bei almost habitually tied Zhao Yun to Li Ji's side, fearing that Li Ji would encounter any unexpected situations.

'It seems that I have to find a guard who can replace Zi Long and reassure the lord…'

Li Ji secretly thought about this, and two suitable candidates immediately appeared in his mind.

Dian Wei!

Xu Chu!

Of course, it was not that Li Ji intentionally targeted Boss Cao and tried his best to plunder Boss Cao's original team.

It was really that, in terms of talent quality, Liu Bei and Cao Cao in the original trajectory were among the best in the entire era.

Trying his best to recall information about Dian Wei and Xu Chu, Li Ji was preparing to let the Brocade-Clad Guards try to find their traces in their hometowns.

Of course, after gradually integrating into this era, Li Ji also knew that in this chaotic era, the difficulty of accurately finding someone was quite high.

As Li Ji approached Hulao Pass to a certain distance under Zhao Yun's escort, he cupped his hands towards Hulao Pass from afar and said.

"I am Li Zikun from Longxi. I wonder if there is anyone on the pass who can talk."

A few breaths after Li Ji's voice fell, Dong Zhuo moved his body and leaned to the edge of the city tower, looking at the figure below, and said with a rare hearty voice.

"So it is the national scholar in person. It has been five or six years since we parted in Julu."

"Thank you, Prime Minister Dong, for still remembering me, a junior scholar…"

After a pause, Li Ji's tone changed and he said loudly.

"However, I have come here not to reminisce with Prime Minister Dong, but to tell Prime Minister Dong something."

Dong Zhuo frowned slightly and said, "National scholar, please speak freely."

"Now, Prime Minister Dong has the troops of three prefectures, occupies the majestic pass of Sili but has abandoned his integrity as a subject, arbitrarily deposes and establishes emperors, excavates imperial tombs, humiliates imperial concubines, even kills the Empress Dowager, monopolizes the court's power, and even allows bandit soldiers to plunder the people…"

As Li Ji spoke with righteousness, his small mouth was almost as if it had been smeared with honey, and he sharply recounted all the things that Dong Zhuo had done to anger the heavens and the people.

Previously, Dong Zhuo controlled the court with his military power, and even if the officials had anger in their hearts, how many dared to speak out, let alone scold Dong Zhuo to his face like this?

In particular, Li Ji's description of what Dong Zhuo had done was almost devoid of any subjective criticism, and all were objective statements.

It was not that Li Ji did not want to add fuel to the fire, but that listing all the evil deeds Dong Zhuo had done after entering the capital was already shocking enough, each of which was almost challenging the moral bottom line of contemporary Han people.

Due to the obstruction of information flow, let alone the lower-level soldiers of the allied forces.

Even the lords did not fully understand what Dong Zhuo had specifically done, and most only knew that Dong Zhuo arbitrarily deposed and established emperors, wanted to imitate Wang Mang to control the government, and acted violently.

At this moment, in front of the two armies, Li Ji almost recited like a treasure all the things Dong Zhuo had done after entering the capital, and even vividly described the evil deeds committed by the Xiliang iron cavalry.

It should be known that there were not a few Qiang people among the Xiliang iron cavalry, and under the indulgence of evil thoughts, the violent acts committed against the Han people were even unimaginable to others.

Words may not be swords, but the truth must be a sharp knife!

Even Dong Zhuo, at this moment, suddenly looked back and realized what step he had reached, and Li Ru's already pale face became even more pale.

Li Ru knew very well that with Li Ji's reputation and influence, coupled with the irrefutable facts.

If the alliance of the Guandong lords was previously formed due to various reasons and interests, then the hostility towards Dong Zhuo was mostly limited to the lords, aristocratic families, and Han imperial clansmen.

But after Li Ji's summary and propaganda, it would inevitably make Dong Zhuo completely despised by the people of the world and completely reduced to a thief that everyone shouted to kill.

Just like Cao Cao's multiple massacres of cities in the original trajectory, which frightened countless people to abandon their fields and flee south.

This kind of influence is invisible, but it is huge!

"Since you and I once had a chance encounter, I cannot bear to see you end up being abandoned by both humans and gods. Why not turn back from your wrong path, bind your hands, return the government to the eldest son of the late emperor, and then commit suicide to return to heaven, so as not to teach the allied forces to break through Hulao Pass…"

"Your mother and wife will be slaughtered, your race will be wiped out, your head will be hung and your navel burned, your stench will last for ten thousand generations, your flesh and blood will be ashes, and the people will applaud with joy!"

Speaking of the last, if the previous were still persuasion, the latter was undoubtedly a naked threat.

It was mentioned that once the allied forces broke through the pass and captured Dong Zhuo, it would not only be Dong Zhuo who would be subjected to the old crime of being lit up with sky lanterns, but even the entire family would be wiped out.

Moreover, after Li Ji finished speaking, this rhetoric, which Li Ji secretly did not know how many times he had added and deleted, undoubtedly aroused the anger in the simple emotions of countless Han people in the allied forces.

Perhaps, what Dong Zhuo did to the Han Dynasty and the court was only to give the allied forces righteousness.

However, the vivid depiction of Dong Zhuo allowing the Xiliang iron cavalry to continuously plunder the people of Sili was even more likely to arouse the anger in the simple emotions of countless lower-level soldiers.

"Bind your hands and surrender quickly!"

First, the soldiers under Liu Bei's command shouted in unison, and then it quickly spread, and almost large swaths of neat voices rang out in the allied forces.

Perhaps a large number of soldiers remained to guard the camp, but at this moment, the allied soldiers gathered below Hulao Pass also numbered nearly one hundred thousand.

"Bind your hands and surrender quickly!"

The power formed by the convergence of one hundred thousand voices, how magnificent it was!

It even shook Hulao Pass, which seemed to be trembling faintly. A large number of Hulao Pass soldiers were frightened and felt as if they would be crushed to death by the terrifying sound wave at any moment.

(End of this chapter)