Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

The course of the Xuzhou war was truly beyond Lü Bu's expectations.

When Lü Bu flipped open another stack of documents and saw that Cao Cao had launched a sneak attack on Ji Province from the north, had already taken Nanpi, and was beginning to rapidly occupy the southern part of Ji Province, he subconsciously rubbed his brow, feeling that in the half-year he had been holed up in Nanyang, the situation in other places had undergone such magnificent changes.

Seeing this, Chen Gong asked softly, "奉先, do you have any thoughts?"

"Heroes rise together, what a chaotic world!"

Lü Bu suddenly stood up, violently threw the wine cup in front of him aside, and said sternly, "Everyone is striving to be first, how can I, Lü Bu, lag behind, indulging in fine wine and drowning my sorrows all day long?"

"公台, there is no need to say more, from today onwards, I will abstain from alcohol!"

Although Lü Bu had said these words to Chen Gong several times, Chen Gong was still quite gratified and said, "If 奉先 is willing to invigorate himself, then he will have great accomplishments."

After a pause, Chen Gong continued, "It's just that does 奉先 have any plans for what to do next?"

"Humph! That red-faced thief has hindered me for half a year, while others are constantly attacking cities and seizing territory. I should find a way to break through Wancheng and quickly take all of Nanyang."

Lü Bu said loudly, exuding a stern and domineering aura, and was about to order his attendants to bring his halberd when Chen Gong couldn't help but sigh…

This made Lü Bu frown slightly and ask, "公台, why are you sighing?"

Chen Gong said with a somewhat bitter expression, "It is a good thing that 奉先 has lofty ambitions, but Guan Yunchang has managed Wancheng so firmly that it is impossible to attack it by force. Continuing to waste time in Wancheng will only waste opportunities in vain."

Lü Bu said in a deep voice, "公台, if you have something to say, just say it directly, why bother going around in circles here?"

Chen Gong cleared his throat and said solemnly, "奉先, our army's taking of Nanyang was originally due to the threat and enticement of the Two袁s, which forced us to temporarily abandon Yan Province and take Wancheng, but now the situation in the world has changed so much."

"Yuan Shao is threatened by You Province in the north, and Cao Cao is attacking Bohai Commandery in the south, he is already struggling to take care of himself;"

"Yuan Shu's military strength has been greatly weakened, and Marquis Guoshi is leading an army of 200,000 to attack Yu Province, it is even more impossible for him to have the strength to stop us from taking Yan Province."

"Therefore, 奉先 should quickly withdraw his troops, no longer entangling with Guan Yunchang in this place, and instead advance north to take Yan Province, otherwise, once Marquis Guoshi occupies Yu Province, it will be as difficult as ascending to heaven to take Yan Province again."

There was one more sentence that Chen Gong didn't say.

That was that the strategy Chen Gong had originally made for Lü Bu was to accumulate strength, go east out of Hulao Pass, and sweep across the Central Plains.

As a result, his own development speed was far slower than Liu Bei's, so that now Liu Bei was almost showing a hegemonic posture, while Lü Bu was still shrinking in the Sili region, Aba Aba.

If he didn't quickly take Yan Province, once Liu Bei digested Yu and Xu provinces, who in the entire Central Plains would be a match for him?

At that time, Lü Bu would probably only be able to shrink in the Sili region, relying on Hulao Pass to eke out a living.

When that time came, what Chen Gong would have to think about was how to persuade Lü Bu through Lü Lingqi to make Liu Xie voluntarily abdicate the throne, which would be more practical.

Lü Bu might not see as far ahead as Chen Gong, but he had long since stopped wanting to continue fighting Guan Yu to the death in Wancheng.

That red-faced thief Guan Yu was nothing more than that. In terms of martial prowess, Lü Bu was confident that he could defeat him, but the group of axemen under Guan Yu's command were simply shameless in defending the city.

Good armor could block many blades, spears, and arrows, but it was impossible to block an axe.

Being hit by a knife and being hit by an axe while wearing armor were completely different things.

Now that Chen Gong proposed to turn around and attack Yan Province, it could be said that it hit Lü Bu's sweet spot.

Previously, when Yuan Shu proposed to give Nanyang Commandery to Lü Bu, what Lü Bu thought was that I wanted Nanyang Commandery, and I also wanted Yan Province. First take Nanyang, then seize Yan Province, and sweep across the Central Plains.

It was only after a series of analyses and dissuasions from Chen Gong and Chen Qun that Lü Bu understood that taking Yan Province was far from as simple as he had imagined, and he was likely to be besieged by multiple parties and fall into a difficult situation.

"Humph! This general has long said that he wanted to take Yan Province, but it was you literati who were preventing this general with your rambling. Now that we've gone around in circles, haven't we returned to the starting point?"

Lü Bu said proudly, so angry that Chen Gong almost turned red, but he didn't know how to refute.

In the end, Chen Gong couldn't help but sarcastically say, "The Great General's calculations are unparalleled, and his martial prowess is unparalleled."

"Hahahaha, how does my strategic planning compare to that of Li Zikun?" Lü Bu asked with a loud laugh.

Chen Gong replied expressionlessly, "Not far apart."

In a good mood, Lü Bu asked further, "So, it's only a little bit different?"

At this moment, Chen Gong looked at Lü Bu's joyful expression and almost couldn't help but ask, "奉先, are you serious when you ask that?".

Chen Gong smiled awkwardly, not daring to praise Lü Bu any further, for fear that Lü Bu would take it seriously.

And Lü Bu, after receiving Chen Gong's support, no longer hesitated and immediately began to order the withdrawal of troops.

However, in order to prevent Guan Yu from taking the opportunity to seize more of Nanyang Commandery's area, Lü Bu specially left Zhang Xiu in Nanyang Commandery, leading 20,000 soldiers to guard against Guan Yu.

Lü Bu's withdrawal was seen by Guan Yu, but he had no intention of pursuing.

On the one hand, Lü Bu's ability to command troops was extremely strong, and even his withdrawal seemed orderly and did not reveal any flaws.

On the other hand, the situation in Jing Province was actually not good either.

Liu Biao's momentary carelessness almost buried eighty or ninety percent of the Jing Province army, and the barbarian rebellion in the Four Commanderies of Jingnan at the beginning of the year also caused considerable damage and burden to Jing Province.

Internally, Jing Province had not yet truly recovered.

Now, the main force led by Guan Yu to guard Wancheng was still the elite troops brought from Yang Province, and most of the remaining Jing Province soldiers were recruits.

Of course, after half a year of defending the city, a considerable part of the Jing Province soldiers had also been tempered and could be used.

But Guan Yu also knew that his main task was to defend Jing Province, and he should not act rashly, let alone take risks.

"Humph, I will allow you to retreat today, but one day Guan will definitely ask for a good lesson again."

Guan Yu stroked his long beard, his danfeng eyes slightly widened as he watched Lü Bu lead his army away, and then ordered his attendants, "Quickly send a secret letter to inform the Lord and the Commander that Lü Bu has withdrawn his troops."

…

Soon, a secret letter from Wancheng was sent to Li Ji's hands.

Lü Bu had withdrawn his troops!

This was within Li Ji's expectations.

With the situation in the world changing so much, it was natural that Lü Bu could not continue to fight Guan Yu to the end.

With the Yu River continuously transporting money, grain, weapons, and equipment to Wancheng, the possibility of Lü Bu forcibly taking Wancheng was minimal.

Even Li Ji could completely guess that Chen Gong would definitely realize that this was the last chance and would strongly persuade Lü Bu to take advantage of the opportunity to seize Yan Province, rather than supporting Yuan Shu. (End of this chapter)