Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Zhang Fei's expression first showed a moment of surprise, then revealed a hint of disdain.

Chen Dao had spoken so eloquently, Zhang Fei thought he would have some brilliant idea, but in the end, he couldn't think of any solution other than listening to Li Ji.

Zhang Fei could also make that choice, and he could do it much more skillfully than Chen Dao.

Li Ji, lost in thought during the discussion between Zhang Fei and Chen Dao, didn't even bother to listen.

Li Ji had always been wary of Cao Cao, using strategies and schemes with extreme caution, fearing that Cao Cao would find some flaw to turn the tables.

The reason he had been able to frequently take the initiative against Cao Cao this time was only because Cao Cao had been careless for a moment and Li Ji had buried almost all of his cavalry.

However, this single letter made Li Ji feel somewhat suspicious.

After a moment of contemplation, Li Ji began to question the scout who had returned the letter, asking about the details of intercepting it.

For important secret letters like this, to ensure delivery, they would certainly not send out just one copy, but rather send them in multiple forms.

Only one was intercepted, which meant that other letters must have been sent out.

However, Li Ji was more inclined to another guess…

Li Ji picked up the letter again and waved it, saying, "Could it be that Cao Cao deliberately sent this letter to me in this way?"

"What purpose would that serve?" Chen Dao asked.

"Perhaps he wants to make me feel a bit like I'm holding a rat for fear of breaking the vase, and I won't dare to push him too hard. Otherwise, if Cao Cao really desperately tries to prevent our army from supporting Pengcheng as the secret letter says, it will be a rather tricky problem," Li Ji replied.

Cao Cao's losses were indeed heavy, but he undoubtedly still had a few cards in his hand. The possibility of winning against Liu Bei was extremely low, but it wasn't impossible to delay Liu Bei.

And Liu Bei, who had entered Xu Province as a firefighter, really couldn't afford to delay, otherwise, if Yuan Shu captured Pengcheng, the situation in Xu Province would change drastically.

Moreover, given the current attitude of Tao Qian and the many civil and military officials of Xu Province, Liu Bei's peaceful takeover of Xu Province was just around the corner.

How Liu Bei repelled the siege of Cao Cao and Yuan Shu would greatly affect Liu Bei's prestige in Xu Province and his ability to successfully take over Xu Province.

After listening, Chen Dao summarized uncertainly.

"Are you saying that Cao Zei is probably already feeling timid and doesn't dare to confront our army head-on? So he's thinking of urging Yuan Shu to send troops while also trying to make our army hold back for fear of harming something, preserving his strength while trying to delay our army as much as possible?"

"There may be some truth to that, otherwise, it is said that Cao Cao's eldest son, Cao Ang, is still in Runan Commandery…"

After a pause, Li Ji deduced.

"Even if Cao Cao wanted to send out a secret letter, he could have agreed on some decryption method with Cao Ang in advance to encrypt the secret letter, and then have Cao Ang present it, instead of being so easily deciphered by others as it is now."

At this moment, in Li Ji's view, Cao Cao seemed to be playing his cards in the open, deliberately revealing the cards in his hand to Li Ji, and Cao Cao also knew that Li Ji had seen his cards.

This even gave Li Ji a temporary illusion, as if Cao Cao was holding a fruit knife and shouting at him, "Don't come here."

Correspondingly, Li Ji was holding a large machete.

However, this was indeed a kind of "overt scheme."

If the Cao army had indeed had its backbone broken, then the Xu Province army under Tao Qian was probably already reduced to slugs, and they were all remnants of defeated soldiers shrinking in Pengcheng and Xiapi.

Relying solely on the Xu Province army in Tao Qian's hands, it was really unlikely to stop Yuan Shu, which was also the bargaining chip that Cao Cao used to openly threaten Li Ji.

"Xu Province map."

Li Ji called out, and Gu Wei quickly found the Xu Province map and spread it out in front of Li Ji.

Li Ji pondered and deliberated over the Xu Province map for a while, then ordered.

"Continue to send more scouts to see what Cao Cao is up to? I don't really believe he would give up so easily."

Immediately, under Li Ji's order, troops were directly drawn from the cavalry led by Zhang Fei and scattered out as temporary scouts to monitor the Cao army.

If Cao Cao was willing to withdraw from Xu Province, it would undoubtedly be a great thing for Xu Province, which still had the threat of Yuan Shu, and it would also be beneficial to Liu Bei.

Preventing the outbreak of the plague and preserving Xu Province was Liu Bei's real interest.

Logically, Li Ji made a reasonable judgment based on the information;

But emotionally, Li Ji didn't think Cao Cao would be willing to give up so easily.

After all, trapped in a corner of Qing Province, once Xu Province was completely taken by Liu Bei, then Cao Cao, sandwiched between Yuan Shu and Liu Bei, would only become a "chessboard" for the two sides to play, with no chance of turning over.

Like a special region in the game of great powers.

Li Ji didn't think Cao Cao couldn't see this. A retreat in the Xu Province battlefield might be a lifetime for Cao Cao.

'Cao Mengde, what are you plotting?'

Li Ji thought silently.

Under the surveillance of a large number of scouts, even how many plumes of smoke rose from the Cao army in a day could be recorded clearly, and there was no possibility of escape.

However, for the next three days in a row, Cao Cao devoted himself to rest and reorganization, completely losing the intention to continue leading his troops to pursue Liu Bei.

What surprised Li Ji even more was that Liu Bei also sent back a letter.

Cao Hong, who had led 30,000 Cao troops to desperately resist Liu Bei, seemed to have learned of Cao Cao's disastrous defeat and withdrew from Liu Bei's marching route overnight.

Anxious to clear Yishui, Liu Bei did not pursue Cao Hong, but went straight to Yishui and hurriedly sent the news over.

And just half a day after Li Ji learned of this information, Cao Cao seemed to have accurately estimated the time Li Ji would receive the information.

The next morning, Cao Cao, who had rested for three days, pulled up camp and marched, deliberately avoiding the direction Li Ji was in, making it clear that he intended to detour back to Tan County.

Browsing through the reports sent back one after another by the scouts, they not only contained the information that Cao Cao's remaining troops were indeed just over 30,000, but also accurate marching directions.

If Cao Hong had not retreated, Li Ji would have tried to stop Cao Cao no matter what.

But with Cao Hong's retreat in front, Li Ji could only give up this idea, avoiding pursuing too deeply and instead falling into the ambush of Cao Cao and Cao Hong's two armies and capsizing in the gutter.

With Cao Hong's support, Li Ji's remaining 20,000 troops could not do anything to Cao Cao at all.

This made Li Ji watch Cao Cao lead his army away with some doubts and incomprehension, giving up the grain road again, and he couldn't help but feel a bit of emotion for the two unlucky eggs, Wei Yan and Pang Tong.

If Li Ji and Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Cao Hong continued to fight fiercely and restrain each other, Wei Yan and Pang Tong's surprise force might really be a brilliant move to change the situation.

However, with Cao Cao and Cao Hong successively taking the initiative to retreat, the surprise force led by Wei Yan and Pang Tong seemed like a joke.

Li Ji raised his hand and ordered.

"Send a fast horse to quickly send a message to Wei Yan and Pang Tong, and withdraw from Tan County as soon as possible to join the lord."

(End of this chapter)