Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Chapter 737: Aid from Yangzhou

During the days Zhou Yu was trapped in the hills, Sun Ce initially focused on how to quickly plug the gap.

However, repeated attempts yielded no results.

Even when Sun Ce and Taishi Ci worked together to push large rocks weighing over a hundred pounds into the breach, they were immediately washed away by the torrent.

This forced Sun Ce to accept that such a large gap could not be sealed by the hundred-odd men he had with him.

Moreover, Cheng Yu had left only a small amount of grain in the camp, and with Sun Ce and his hundred-odd cavalry eating and feeding their horses, they couldn't hold out for more than a few days.

In the end, after discussing it with Taishi Ci and Huang Gai, Sun Ce decided to continue east along the Yellow River levee towards Dongchao Ford.

This was the retreat that Cheng Yu had originally prepared for himself.

Even if Jinan was turned into a swamp, Dongchao Ford was located on high ground along the levee, and with a small number of ferries available, Cheng Yu could use them to leave Jinan by sailing downstream on the Yellow River.

Therefore, with Cheng Yu and some Cao army prisoners leading the way, Sun Ce spent about two days finding Dongchao Ford.

However, no matter how empty Qingzhou's forces were, Dongchao Ford, as an important crossing point connecting Qingzhou and Jizhou, still had over a thousand soldiers stationed there.

In contrast, Sun Ce had only one hundred and fifty-three cavalrymen under his command, a significant disparity in strength.

Therefore, after discussing it with Taishi Ci and Huang Gai, Sun Ce decided to launch a night raid on Dongchao Ford.

This was a brilliant plan unanimously agreed upon by Sun Ce, Taishi Ci, and Huang Gai.

…

When Cheng Pu led three thousand elite troops, barely managing to travel on more than one hundred and eighty ships to the vicinity of Dongchao Ford, ready for a desperate battle to seize it,

The scouts sent to investigate Dongchao Ford brought back an unbelievable message to Cheng Pu.

When Cheng Pu hurriedly arrived outside Dongchao Ford in person, and saw the flag planted on Dongchao Ford, he was almost rendered speechless.

The "Cao" flag originally planted on Dongchao Ford was now covered with a large "Liu" character written in brush.

It was impossible for anyone within the Cao army to be so bold and reckless as to do such a thing.

Then the answer seemed self-evident…

Cheng Pu patted the scout on the shoulder and ordered:

"Go forward and identify yourself, and see if it is our lord who has occupied Dongchao Ford."

"Me?" The scout was taken aback.

Cheng Pu retorted, "You don't want this great opportunity to earn merit?"

The scout looked hesitant, and the words of greeting that rushed to his throat could only be swallowed back.

Going forward alone to identify himself, if Dongchao Ford was still controlled by the Cao army, that would be deadly.

However, the scout did not dare to object, and could only get up and walk cautiously towards Dongchao Ford.

Fortunately, the situation at Dongchao Ford did not exceed Cheng Pu's expectations, and it was indeed Sun Ce who had occupied Dongchao Ford.

After seeing Sun Ce in person, Cheng Pu finally breathed a sigh of relief, and after saluting, he asked:

"Did our lord actually capture Dongchao Ford?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Ce replied, unable to hide his pride, "I have my own brilliant plan, breaking it is not difficult."

After a pause, Sun Ce asked Cheng Pu about the situation of the main army.

Cheng Pu answered truthfully, and upon learning that Zhou Yu's high fever had not subsided, his face changed slightly, and his eyebrows furrowed involuntarily.

However, now that they were in Jinan, even if Sun Ce managed to send Zhou Yu back to Wu Commandery for treatment through Dongchao Ford, Zhou Yu would probably not be able to withstand the turbulence of the sea.

"Alas…"

Sun Ce suppressed his worries and then discussed serious matters with Cheng Pu.

The fleet transporting grain had already arrived near Dongchao Ford three days ago.

However, Dongchao Ford had not fallen into their hands as Zhou Yu had predicted, causing the grain transport fleet to be unable to dock.

Therefore, after Sun Ce took advantage of the night to launch a surprise attack on Dongchao Ford, relying on his own and Taishi Ci's amazing bravery to break through the Cao army and seize Dongchao Ford,

The grain transport fleet had already successfully docked at Dongchao Ford, and then transported a lot of grain in advance to be stored in Dongchao Ford.

At this point, the most critical issue of grain and provisions for the 20,000-strong army was resolved.

This allowed Cheng Pu's tense heart to relax.

Next, whether it was transporting the grain back to the hill or sending soldiers to Dongchao Ford little by little by boat was not difficult.

Moreover, as long as they held on for a few more days, Yangzhou would have enough capacity to mobilize a large number of ships to Dongchao Ford to meet them and take the army out of Qingzhou.

Therefore, after Sun Ce and the others discussed it, they decided to send the army to Dongchao Ford little by little by boat, so as not to continue being trapped in the hills.

However, Sun Ce and the others discussed the most serious issue of the Yellow River breach for a long time, but still could not find a solution.

What worried Sun Ce was that, based on the estimated time, the Yellow River water was probably already pouring into Langya.

Even though Langya was sparsely populated now, once the Yellow River flooded like this, it would not be easy to manage and restore the cultivated land.

The most serious consequence would be that the Cao army would allow the Yellow River breach to exist until the dry season before filling it.

In such a long period of time, it would probably be enough for the Yellow River water to flow south from Langya and pour into Xiapi, submerging more than half of Xuzhou.

"We can only wait for Gongjin to be in better condition, and then see if Gongjin has any good strategies…"

After a pause, Sun Ce couldn't help but look in the direction of Yuzhou in the south, and muttered, "Or perhaps, the teacher might already be trying to solve this matter."

Even Sun Ce knew that Li Ji, who was thousands of miles away, probably only just learned about the Yellow River breach.

Distant water cannot quench immediate thirst.

Even if Li Ji had a good strategy to solve it, and immediately ordered Yangzhou to respond, it would probably be impossible to avoid the result of Xuzhou suffering from the flood.

However, just as Sun Ce had sent the army to Dongchao Ford boat by boat,

Unexpectedly, another larger fleet arrived at Dongchao Ford.

Just as Sun Ce was welcoming the fleet with some surprise, it was Gu Yong who rushed down from the fleet first.

"Ugh!"

When Gu Yong stepped on solid ground again, he couldn't care about his image and vomited violently.

Moreover, Gu Yong was vomiting while facing away from Sun Ce and the others, and seemed to be constantly cursing some enemy.

That resentment… soared into the sky.

When Gu Yong had vomited almost enough, his face was pale, and he stood up with unsteady steps, Sun Ce suppressed his laughter and greeted him, saying.

"Yuantan, have some warm water."

"Thank you, Bofu."

Gu Yong thanked him, pursed his lips, and said.

"In fact, I have been on the sea for a long time, and going back and forth to Yizhou is not a problem."

"It's just that this time I was sailing day and night in a hurry, and the wind and waves were quite big, so I was a little out of shape, please forgive me."

Sun Ce nodded seriously in agreement, then awkwardly changed the subject and asked.

"Why did Yuantan come here with the fleet?"

Gu Yong asked with a hint of resentment in his tone.

"Let me ask a question, has the Yellow River breached its banks? Zikun is really inexplicable, suddenly ordered me to come and assist Bofu in sealing the Yellow River breach as soon as possible."