Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Chapter 50: The Change at Bo Luojin

At this moment, Zhang Jiao, filled with shock and fear, had completely abandoned the idea of using these followers to resist Lu Zhi.

On the contrary, in Zhang Jiao's view, these demoralized followers would only slow him down and make it more likely that he would be surrounded by the Han army.

Therefore, with a ruthless heart, Zhang Jiao decided to use these followers as shields to delay the Han army, while he himself would escape first…

No, it should be said that he, as the Great Teacher, would personally open a path to survival for the followers at the Zhang River.

When the spies lurking within the Yellow Turbans sent back the message that Zhang Jiao had led five thousand Yellow Turban Warriors away from the main force and disappeared, Lu Zhi was so shocked that he unconsciously broke off several strands of his beard, and gnashed his teeth as he roared.

"That traitor is hateful! That traitor is shameful! That traitor deserves to die!!!"

Lu Zhi had never expected that Zhang Jiao would be so ruthless and shameless as to directly abandon the hundreds of thousands of followers he had bewitched.

It should be known that in order to control the time it would take for Zhang Jiao to lead the Guangzong Yellow Turbans to retreat to Bo Luojin, Lu Zhi had even deliberately slowed down the Han army's pursuit of the Guangzong Yellow Turbans to avoid putting too much pressure on Zhang Jiao.

In Lu Zhi's plan, he would spend a full half month gradually guiding the belief and public opinion within Guangzong City, and then, through feigned death, allow the belief and public opinion to force Zhang Jiao to leave the city.

Belief has always been something that is both terrifyingly resilient and ignorantly fragile.

The ignorance of belief would make them firmly believe in the "Heavenly Punishment Prophecy" that had been circulating for half a month, and when Lu Zhi reappeared, it would completely shatter their morale.

The resilience of belief would allow them to continue to follow in the footsteps of the Great Teacher towards the Zhang River, even amidst wandering and hunger, until their physical strength was completely exhausted and they became lambs to the slaughter.

The fragility of belief would completely disintegrate the fighting spirit of the Taiping Dao followers after Zhang Jiao was captured or killed.

Originally, in Lu Zhi's calculations, as long as a surprise force appeared at Bo Luojin to intercept the Guangzong Yellow Turbans without anyone knowing.

Then the Yellow Turban bandits, who had been chased all the way to Bo Luojin, even if there were hundreds of thousands of them, would not have much combat power left.

As long as Zhang Jiao, whose escape route was cut off, was captured or killed, then this would be a perfect battle, a battle sufficient to end the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

"Now that Zhang Jiao has abandoned the large number of slow-moving followers and is leading five thousand Yellow Turban Warriors lightly equipped, he will definitely arrive at Bo Luojin before the appointed hour of Xu."

"And Bo Luojin is already an important ferry for the Yellow Turbans to transport logistics and supplies. Once Zhang Jiao gains a foothold in Bo Luojin, all is lost!"

Lu Zhi frowned and muttered to himself, almost instantly understanding that Zhang Jiao's seemingly self-defeating move would give Zhang Jiao a chance to survive.

If Lu Zhi's self-restraint was not extremely high, perhaps Lu Zhi's inner feelings at this moment could be summarized in one sentence:

"He's really a master of stupid moves."

Any normal commander would never abandon hundreds of thousands of subordinates and retreat to the rear first when the situation was clearly not yet desperate.

At this moment, Lu Zhi could not help but feel a sense of棘手.

Even if he successfully swallowed the more than one hundred thousand Yellow Turban bandits in one fell swoop later, it would be meaningless if the most important Zhang Jiao escaped.

Lu Zhi pondered for a long time, various countermeasures constantly emerging in his mind, and even considered sending the three thousand Sanhe cavalry to bypass the one hundred thousand Yellow Turban bandits to chase Zhang Jiao by virtue of their high mobility.

In the end, Lu Zhi gave up this risky idea and sighed a long sigh.

"Alas, I hope Xuande can stop the demonic Zhang Jiao."

However, Lu Zhi did not have much hope in his heart!

Not to mention that Liu Bei himself only had six thousand soldiers whose combat power was roughly equivalent to that of county soldiers, and it was not certain that they would be a match for the five thousand Yellow Turban Warriors led by Zhang Jiao in a frontal battle.

Moreover, Liu Bei's unit needed to cross the entire Julu Commandery, and the losses would definitely be not small.

On the contrary, Lu Zhi was somewhat worried that he would harm Liu Bei, causing that surprise force to be buried in Julu Commandery instead.

… …

Hour of Xu.

The sky was already dark.

And it was also under the cover of night that Liu Bei led more than four thousand soldiers and arrived outside Bo Luojin.

Liu Bei looked at the Bo Luojin ferry, which was within reach, and asked Guan Yu, who was beside him.

"Where is Yide? Has he arrived yet?"

"There is no news from the Third Brother," Guan Yu replied.

Liu Bei heard this, hesitated slightly, distinguished the time, and said.

"We won't wait for Yide. The hour of Xu has arrived. Let's occupy Bo Luojin first as agreed, so as not to miss the opportunity."

After saying that, Liu Bei reached out to his waist with a solemn expression and slowly drew out his sword.

At this moment, Liu Bei, who seemed calm and composed, was also filled with tension in his heart!

This battle was not only related to Liu Bei's future, but also to the peace and direction of the entire world, which made Liu Bei's blood gradually boil.

Just as Liu Bei was about to draw out his sword, and even the words to order the attack on Bo Luojin were about to reach his throat, a hand pressed on Liu Bei's waist, forcibly holding down Liu Bei's hilt.

This sudden change made Liu Bei subconsciously want to shout "Bold."

However, when Liu Bei turned his head and saw that the one holding him down was Li Ji, he forcibly suppressed those two words, and a smile appeared on his tense face, and he asked.

"Zikun, what do you advise?"

"Something's not right."

Li Ji narrowed his eyes and looked at the direction of Bo Luojin and said.

When Liu Bei and Guan Yu heard this, their expressions were both condensed, and they also looked towards the direction of Bo Luojin.

It was just because of the distance problem, and the fact that Bo Luojin was originally a ferry, with three-person-high round wood railings on the outside, and a large number of houses and warehouses on the inside, that it was impossible to see any problems with the naked eye alone.

Liu Bei looked for a long time, and asked incomprehensibly. "What's wrong?"

"Could it be… there's an ambush?" Guan Yu also guessed.

Li Ji nodded and pointed towards the position of the river surface outside Bo Luojin, and said. "Brother Xuande, Yunchang, please look at the number of ferries on the river surface."

Liu Bei, who had never really traveled through a ferry in his life, scanned for a while, still did not understand his meaning, and asked.

"Zikun, what's the problem with this? If there are many ferries, doesn't it just mean that Bo Luojin has not started to transport Yellow Turbans across the Zhang River on a large scale?"

Li Ji frowned and said.

"There are too many, so many that they completely block the river surface around Bo Luojin. This number is too abnormal, it's like…"

After a slight pause, Li Ji's tone was full of solemnity as he said.

"It's like all the ferries that should have been on the east side of the Zhang River have been concentrated in Bo Luojin! That is to say, there is likely to be a batch of Yellow Turban bandits from the east side of the Zhang River in Bo Luojin."

As soon as these words came out, Liu Bei and Guan Yu both realized the seriousness of the problem.

Li Ji's brain was running rapidly, and his mouth quickly uttered all kinds of existing possibilities.

"Or it's just a coincidence that the Yellow Turbans gathered in Bo Luojin, or the scheme on the side of the Central Lang General was leaked and an ambush was set up, or the Guangzong Yellow Turbans retreated to Bo Luojin earlier than planned…"

Without a doubt, at this moment, Li Ji felt at a loss and even a trace of panic for this unexpected change.

However, just at this time.

The palm that Li Ji had placed on Liu Bei's waist was suddenly held, and responding to Li Ji was Liu Bei's still bright gaze in the dark night.

"Brother Xuande…"

"Zikun."

Liu Bei patted Li Ji's palm and said with a smile.

"You have already done very well. You have already done things that I dare not imagine, and I will take over next."

Immediately, Liu Bei slowly drew out the two swords from his waist and held them in his hands, and said firmly.

"Things have come to this, how can there be room for retreat? Advance and live, retreat and all previous efforts will be wasted. Even if it is not for our wealth and glory, but for the peace of the common people of the world, I should also fight with all my might."

"Whether there is an ambush in Bo Luojin or not…"

"Break it!!!"

When he said the last words, Liu Bei shouted loudly, raised the sword in his hand high, and then took the lead and went towards the direction of Bo Luojin.

"Kill!!!"

Like a thunderclap on the ground…

The more than four thousand soldiers, who had already been waiting for the opportunity, followed Liu Bei's "Liu" flag and torches raised high in the dark night, and all killed towards Bo Luojin.

Forceful attack!

When Li Ji was doubtful and instinctively weighing the gains and losses, Liu Bei followed his beliefs and made a decisive decision to fight to the death.

What made Li Ji slightly relieved was that when Liu Bei led his army to forcefully attack Bo Luojin, there were no traps or arrows, but a commotion obviously occurred in Bo Luojin.

And the gate of Bo Luojin was just a wooden door, and there were not many sundries blocking it behind the door.

Therefore, as Guan Yu rose from the horse's back, the Green Dragon Crescent Blade in his hand slammed into the wooden door with the force of splitting Huashan Mountain.

"Boom!"

In the shocked eyes of many soldiers, the wooden door was actually directly divided into two from the middle.

"The general is brave!"

In an instant, the already high morale was shaken again, following Liu Bei and Guan Yu and rushing into Bo Luojin.

It was just blocked by the outer round wood railings, Li Ji could only hear the shouts of killing suddenly sounded in large areas in Bo Luojin, but he could not see the specific situation at all.

Li Ji's eyebrows were tightly twisted, looking at the ten personal guards who were still carefully protecting him behind him, his eyes constantly scanning the surrounding terrain of Bo Luojin.

Suddenly, Li Ji noticed a watchtower located near the already captured main gate of Bo Luojin, pointed towards that place, and said.

"I want to go there to observe the battlefield. Please divide five people to explore the road ahead to confirm safety, and the remaining five people will protect me on my left and right."

Li Ji never joked about his own life.

If this were the "Strategy Simulator," Li Ji would have ample opportunities for trial and error, but in reality, life undoubtedly comes only once.

It was precisely because he had personally witnessed lives being easily extinguished in war that Li Ji understood the fragility of life even more.

Apart from some top-tier fierce generals whose courage, combined with armor protecting their vital points, could ensure their safety to a considerable extent in the melee, ordinary soldiers were always in danger of losing their lives.

Li Ji... certainly didn't want to take an arrow to the knee, or suddenly have a big "brain hole" opened up!