Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Chapter 44: No, Your Arrival is Just Right

“Why are you looking at me?”

Li Ji's rhetorical question left Zhang Fei somewhat dumbfounded.

Clearly, it was…

“Could it be that you're hoping Zikun will intercede for you?” Liu Bei said, frowning.

Zhang Fei, in a moment of urgency, instinctively wanted to explain. “Big brother, I…”

However, before Zhang Fei could finish, Li Ji interrupted.

“Brother Xuande, don't blame Yide. Although Yide's words were somewhat crude and unbearable, only such words could make Zhang Liang lose his composure and allow Yide to kill four bandits in one fell swoop.”

“Alas, Zikun, you always indulge Yide, but this is really too much of a collapse of propriety.” Liu Bei said with a slight frown.

“Brother Xuande, the so-called benevolence and righteousness do not mean forcing everyone in the world to be benevolent and righteous, but to tolerate the shortcomings of the world with benevolence and righteousness, is that not so?”

Li Ji patted Liu Bei on the shoulder and said leisurely as he walked with Liu Bei towards the direction of the main tent.

“Therefore, why should Brother Xuande use his own standards to demand Yide? Even if Yide's behavior is a collapse of propriety, that is Yide's crudeness and unbearableness, but crudeness and unbearableness are not punishable by death. Moreover, a gentleman is judged by his actions, not by his words. Yide is not necessarily not a gentleman.”

Liu Bei seemed to be lost in thought, muttering, “Zikun's views are always so direct to the essence, thought-provoking, allow me to think about it.”

Only Zhang Fei was left in place, blinking his ring-like eyes, watching Liu Bei and Li Ji walk into the main tent like good brothers.

?

Zhang Fei.

Wait, big brother, what do you mean Zikun indulges me? This was clearly taught to me by Zikun…

Moreover, why do I suddenly have a feeling that Mr. Zikun seems to be playing a new kind of cultivation game with big brother?

Why… why do I feel like big brother is about to become someone else's?

I am your third brother!

Thinking of this, Zhang Fei suddenly reacted, moved his feet, and quickly rushed towards the direction of the main tent, as if he was afraid that Li Ji would do something to his big brother in the main tent.

However, when Zhang Fei rushed into the main tent, he saw Liu Bei, who was originally talking happily with Li Ji, looking at Zhang Fei with some incomprehension and asked.

“Yide, what are you doing here?”

Zhang Fei's fierce face, which had just scared Xu He to death, now said somewhat aggrievedly.

“Is big brother blaming me for disturbing you?”

Li Ji smiled and waved at Zhang Fei, saying.

“No, Yide, your arrival is just right.”

Under Liu Bei and Li Ji's obvious differential treatment, Zhang Fei inexplicably felt that Li Ji was very good, and strode straight towards Li Ji.

Li Ji then handed a bamboo slip in his hand to Zhang Fei and said.

“Yide, this is the patrol route I arranged. You should arrange for five hundred cavalry to block the east side of Julu City according to the above route to prevent Zhang Liang from sending scouts to Guangzong to inform Zhang Jiao of the situation in Julu City.”

“In addition, Yide, don't forget to provoke under Julu City every hour during the day.”

Zhang Fei didn't know if it was to spite Liu Bei, but he bowed respectfully to Li Ji and responded.

“Yes, Mr. Zikun.”

Then, Zhang Fei didn't even look at Liu Bei, and strode towards the outside of the main tent.

However, after watching Zhang Fei walk away, Liu Bei and Li Ji looked at each other and let out a tacit burst of laughter.

“Zikun, how did I cooperate?” Liu Bei asked with a smile.

“Impeccable.” Li Ji replied.

Li Ji was obviously very familiar with the instructions for using Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.

In addition, Liu Bei specially cooperated with Li Ji, whether it was to repay Li Ji's maintenance or to prove his ability to Liu Bei, how could there be any need to worry that Zhang Fei would change the battle plan without authorization.

“In this way, Yide, who has been holding his breath for a while, I think even if Brother Xuande leaves this camp later, there is no need to worry that Yide will be negligent or secretly drink alcohol.” Li Ji said.

Liu Bei waved his hand and said.

“As for Yide, I'm not very worried. However, what Zikun said just now about the need for cavalry to intercept the scouts sent from Julu City to Guangzong is indeed a hidden danger.”

“Even if there are not many horses in the Yellow Turbans in Julu City, even if half of the cavalry is mobilized to intercept and search, it may not be possible to intercept all of them.”

“If the news of our appearance in Julu City is leaked to Zhang Jiao, I am afraid there will be changes!”

At the end, a bit of worry could not help but appear in Liu Bei's eyes.

In response, Li Ji said with a smile. “Brother Xuande, don't worry, the reason why I let Yide send cavalry to intercept is just to be more secure.”

Immediately, Li Ji spread out the map and explained to Liu Bei.

“The direction from Julu City to Guangzong, the Zhang River lies in the middle, which is a must-pass place. Among them, the two nearest crossings that can accommodate the passage of large armies, the one to the north is Boluojin, and the one to the south is Quzhou.”

“Although a scout can cross the river as long as he finds a fisherman along the Zhang River, even if no one obstructs him, it will take the scout until noon tomorrow at the earliest to reach Guangzong through the Zhang River.”

“And even if Zhang Jiao receives the information at noon tomorrow, is suspicious, and immediately sends a unit to cross the Zhang River to support Julu, or sends another scout back to Julu, the time will be completely too late.”

Liu Bei calculated according to the ideas Li Ji said, and the big stone in his heart fell, and he said.

“I didn't expect Zikun to have already considered these variables, it is indeed my overthinking…”

After a pause, Liu Bei couldn't help but ask strangely.

“Since this is the case, then why did Zikun make Yide send cavalry to intercept the scouts?”

Li Ji said. “This is for the consideration of the Northern General Zhonglang, to prevent any scouts from escaping the news, which would affect the plans of the Northern General Zhonglang.”

Speaking of this, a trace of worry could not help but appear in Li Ji's eyes, which were shining with calmness and confidence.

Although Li Ji had a very high evaluation of Lu Zhi in his heart, and thought that Lu Zhi would definitely have a way to drive the Yellow Turbans of Guangzong to the Zhang River, the variables of every move in the war were very many.

And because Li Ji knew very little about the Yellow Turbans of Guangzong and the Han army led by Lu Zhi, Li Ji could not start even if he wanted to use the “Strategy Simulator” to deduce it.

And in order to avoid the leakage of the most important battle plan, neither Lu Zhi nor Li Ji informed each other of their specific battle plans.

On the one hand, the battle plan is not immutable, and the specifics in writing may not be enough to fill one or two bamboo slips.

On the other hand, it is: “Speech leads to defeat, and secrets lead to success.”

Xiahou Bo's every trip across Julu County to deliver bamboo slips was not without risk.

Even if Xiahou Bo's loyalty was to fight to the end and not betray secrets, if the bamboo slips with the specific plan written on Xiahou Bo's body were obtained by the Yellow Turbans, that would be a real big trouble.

This is also why, except for the first time when it was necessary to risk revealing his identity, the words written in the bamboo slips that Xiahou Bo brought each time were extremely simple, making it incomprehensible to others.

Therefore, Li Ji only successfully deduced the strategy of arriving at Boluojin in time on the fifth day of May and not being pursued by the Yellow Turbans of Julu City with the “Strategy Simulator.”

But as for the subsequent variables, he can only adapt to the situation.

And Li Ji deliberately ordered Zhang Fei to send cavalry to intercept the scouts that would not have any impact on his plan, which was to reduce the variables after arriving at Boluojin.

Liu Bei, who had completely reacted, said.

“I hope that Master Lu can also smoothly drive the Yellow Turbans of Guangzong to the Zhang River, so as to completely pacify the Yellow Turban Rebellion and return a clear and peaceful world to the Han Dynasty.”

A clear and peaceful world?

That was only the beginning of the collapse of the Han Dynasty.

However, Li Ji did not correct the still young Liu Bei at this moment, and the sooner he put down the Yellow Turban Rebellion, such a large-scale uprising that had already crazily swept and looted the people, the more people he could save.

You must know that the sentence “White bones are exposed in the wilderness, and there is no crowing of chickens for thousands of miles” came from 197 AD.

In other words, what that sentence describes is the chaos from the end of the Yellow Turban Rebellion to Yuan Shu's proclaiming himself emperor!

Although the “Yellow Turban Uprising” substantially failed completely in 184 AD, what it left to the Han Dynasty was two decades of countless bandits and disasters spread across the eight prefectures.

The number of Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou was still as high as one million in 192 AD; in the same year, even the remaining Yellow Turban party Guan Hai dared to gather Yellow Turban thieves to besiege Beihai County; among them, the Black Mountain Yellow Turban Army was completely disbanded until 205 AD.

Of course, Liu Bei obviously has not realized this at this time, and even holds the idea that after pacifying the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the emperor has now lifted the Party Prohibition, and will definitely stay away from the relatives and eunuchs in the future, diligently govern the people, and reproduce a clear and peaceful world.

… …

At the same time.

In the government office in Julu City, a group of Yellow Turban generals led by Zhang Liang all had solemn and gloomy faces.

Not only because of Zhang Fei's amazing martial prowess in killing four people in a row, but more importantly, as they continued to send scouts to investigate the surroundings, Zhang Liang and others also discovered the camps stationed ten miles away on the north and south sides of Julu City.

Based on flags, cooking smoke, and other judgments, both camps were stationed with more than five thousand Han troops.

In the eyes of Zhang Liang and others, these two camps were undoubtedly to prevent the Julu Yellow Turbans from escaping, so they were like nails扎 (zhā - to prick; to pierce; to stab; to plunge into; to root; to station (troops); to reside; to stick out; to sprout; measure word for injections) on the north and south sides.

As for why there were no camps set up on the east and west sides, Zhang Liang thought about it carefully and understood.

To the west, not only is there the mountainous Changshan State, but also the Taihang Mountains lying across the land, making it difficult to cross; to the east, there is the Guangzong line, even if they flee there, they will probably run into the real main force of the Han army.

For a time, the discovery of these two camps seemed to further confirm the news that Zhang Fei had inadvertently leaked.

The Yellow Turbans along the Guangzong line had already collapsed. While the main force of the Han army was mopping up the remnants of the Yellow Turbans in Guangzong, Lu Zhi had dispatched his disciples to lead troops to Julu City in advance to prevent the Yellow Turbans in Julu from escaping.

“Brother, brother…”

Sitting in the main seat, Zhang Liang stared blankly ahead, murmuring to himself.

As for the Yellow Turban generals below, they had unknowingly descended into chaos, arguing about how to deal with the situation next.