Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

"Teacher, why are Bo Fu and Gong Jin in such a perilous situation?" Pang Tong blurted out, pressing for an answer.

At that moment, Li Ji gradually regained his composure. He frowned slightly but didn't answer Pang Tong. Instead, he leaned over his desk and quickly wrote an order. He sealed it with his official stamp and handed it to Gu Wei, who was standing beside him, saying urgently.

"Send this via express delivery to the Lord in Xia Pi."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present felt a tightening in their hearts.

Express delivery.

This was enough to indicate the seriousness and urgency of the situation.

Gu Wei didn't dare to delay. He responded promptly and took the order to make the necessary arrangements.

Watching Gu Wei's hurried departure, Li Ji sighed and murmured.

"I hope it's not too late."

"Could it be that the situation in Qing Province has become so dangerous?" Zhuge Liang asked, also quite surprised.

"It's on the verge of collapse."

Li Ji said, his voice grave. "Xun Yu's contingency plan isn't military force, but a scheme to use water and fire to annihilate the army led by Bo Fu."

Upon hearing this, Zhuge Liang looked even more puzzled.

With Zhuge Liang's extensive knowledge and strong memory, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he had the specific terrain of the entire Eastern Han Dynasty in his mind. At the very least, he had a considerable understanding of the terrain of Qing Province and Yu Province, which were currently in contact with their side.

"Teacher, Qing Province is mostly plains. There may be large rivers within its borders, but with Zhou Gongjin's abilities, how could he easily fall for a water and fire scheme?" Zhuge Liang asked.

"Gongjin might be wary of ambushes and water/fire schemes in the mountains, rivers, and streams he passes through, but…"

Li Ji paused slightly, sighing as he continued. "If Xun Yu plans to breach the dikes of the Yellow River, what use is caution?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present changed color. Even Jia Xu unconsciously tore off a strand of his beard.

"How dare Xun Yu?"

"Moreover, breaching the Yellow River is a poisonous scheme that harms the enemy by eight hundred while damaging oneself by a thousand. Even if it annihilates the army led by General Bo Fu, a good portion of Qing Province might be submerged by the surging river water."

"Teacher, could it be that you're overthinking this?"

Pang Tong almost instinctively retorted repeatedly.

No matter how one looked at it, breaching the Yellow River was too unbelievable, not even within the realm of consideration for ordinary people.

Once the Yellow River breached, not to mention Qing Province, even Xu Province might be affected and submerged by the surging Yellow River water, with the number of affected people easily reaching several million.

"I also hope that Xun Yu wouldn't do such a heaven-defying and resentful thing…"

Li Ji lowered his eyes slightly, answering in a low voice with a hint of hope.

But regardless of Li Ji's own judgment or the deduction through the "Strategy Simulator," breaching the Yellow River would be Xun Yu's only contingency plan.

For Li Ji, the only good news was that the Yellow River's flood season had already passed and it was entering its dry season, so the water level wouldn't be too high.

Moreover, Qing Province was ultimately Cao Cao's territory, and Xun Yu certainly didn't want to completely destroy Qing Province.

If Xun Yu controlled it well, then the scope of the impact might only be limited to Jinan, which was Li Ji's judgment.

Qing Province was currently vast and sparsely populated. If Xun Yu had prepared in advance, he must have secretly relocated most of the people and able-bodied men in Jinan under the guise of recruiting young men and the land reclamation program.

In this way, Xun Yu would be sacrificing Jinan's inability to resume cultivation for the next few years and a certain number of affected people in exchange for using the Yellow River's water to annihilate Sun Ce's forces.

'But is it really still in time?'

Li Ji's brows furrowed even more tightly.

The secret rational calculation had already given Li Ji the answer, making him understand that it was probably too late to send the secret letter to Sun Ce's hands.

… …

At the same time.

In the Qing Province's administrative center, the changing situation outside seemed to have not affected Xun Yu, who was stationed in Qing Province, in the slightest.

Even after the news that Sun Ce led his army straight into Jinan, with his target pointing directly at Dongchao Ferry spread, all levels of officials and generals in Qing Province began to appear panicked.

Xun Yu still didn't show any panic or tension. Even his daily work schedule didn't change at all.

At this moment, countless pairs of eyes in Qing Province were watching Xun Yu, waiting for Xun Yu to make some effective decisions in response to Sun Ce's advance.

However, Xun Yu was very clear that Qing Province no longer had any soldiers.

In order to fight for a glimmer of hope, Cao Cao had taken almost all of Qing Province's available soldiers to Ji Province. Now, the city defenders were all temporarily conscripted youths.

Xun Yu was very clear that sending those youths to stop Sun Ce was just like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

However, Xun Yu had long been prepared for the predicament Qing Province was currently facing.

However, the development of the situation was also somewhat beyond Xun Yu's expectations.

Xun Yu, who had returned to his residence after work, stared at the ink-like night outside the window and fell into a long period of hesitation.

Was it really worth breaching the Yellow River to deal with Sun Ce's forces?

"Why? Why isn't it you, Li Zikun, who came to Qing Province? Otherwise, you would be able to eliminate a major enemy for the Lord who will sweep the world."

Xun Yu's always refined face couldn't help but show a bit of ferocity at this moment.

Cao Cao would listen to Cheng Yu's plan to attack Xu Province, which was within Xun Yu's expectations;

Liu Bei wouldn't sit idly by and watch Xu Province fall into Cao Cao's hands, and would then send troops to aid Xu Province, which was also within Xun Yu's expectations;

Cao Cao would be defeated by Marquis Guoshi Li Ji, and fall into a hopeless situation in seizing Xu Province, which was also within Xun Yu's expectations;

Moreover, the impact of these changes on the overall situation of the world was also within Xun Yu's expectations.

The only thing that Xun Yu didn't expect was that within a short period of a few days, the elite troops of Yu Province led by Ji Ling were completely annihilated, and even Li Ji would persuade Liu Bei to fully devour Yu Province while Xu Province was still unstable.

This small change caused the situation to reach a point where Xun Yu was somewhat in a dilemma.

Within Xun Yu's original expectations, Ji Ling should have understood that there was no hope of seizing Xu Province and retreated to Pei, temporarily forming a confrontational situation with Liu Bei.

In this way, Marquis Guoshi Li Ji, in order to ensure that he could timely grasp and influence the battle situation in Ji Province, would personally lead troops to be stationed in Langya, waiting for an opportunity to send troops to seize Qing Province.

As long as Li Ji entered Qing Province, he would inevitably realize the importance of Dongchao Ferry, and then choose to attack Dongchao Ferry to cut off Cao Cao's connection with Qing Province.

However, Li Ji had gone to lead troops to devour Yu Province, and instead, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu, two small pawns in Xun Yu's eyes, had become restraints on Qing Province.

In order to eliminate this great enemy of Li Ji, Xun Yu would naturally not hesitate to flood Jinan.

If Li Ji died, it would be like cutting off the arms of Liu Bei, who was about to become a hegemon. His power would inevitably become turbulent and unstable, revealing various flaws, and even collapsing and disintegrating would not be impossible.

However, simply destroying Sun Ce and Zhou Yu would have a fairly limited impact on Liu Bei.

But Zhou Yu's plan was too sharp, directly pointing to the key point of Qing Province, making Xun Yu have no choice but to breach the Yellow River.

(End of this chapter)