Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

After the generals finished speaking, Jia Xu, who had also rushed to the tent, asked,

"I wonder how the Governor plans to break the city?"

Li Ji asked with some curiosity. "Could it be that Wenhe has a good plan to offer?"

Jia Xu replied, "I observe that Ruyang is also a large dam away from the north..."

Before Jia Xu could finish speaking, Li Ji couldn't help but glare at the old fox who was deliberately causing trouble, and had to add a sentence to cover for him.

"There is plenty of water in Ruyang City. Even if the water source is cut off, it can last for a long time. It's useless, useless."

Li Ji understood Jia Xu's true intention. It was nothing more than using water to flood Ruyang.

No matter how strong the city defense is, it will be reduced to nothing in the torrential flood.

Even though the people around Ruyang City had already fled, the people affected by flooding the city would be limited to those in the city.

However, Liu Bei had just issued a condemnation of Cao Cao for digging up the Yellow River. If he used the water strategy again, even if it only affected a limited number of people, wouldn't it become a joke?

Li Ji would rather not take Ruyang for a while than choose to use the water strategy. Otherwise, even if he won a great victory at the tactical level, he would lose a lot at the strategic level.

"So, is the Governor preparing to attack by force?"

Jia Xu asked with some curiosity.

Jia Xu also saw the situation in Ruyang City.

With Yuan Shu blocking all the city gates and forcing the troops in the city to fight to the death, Ruyang City could be said to be as solid as a rock.

In this case, besides the water strategy, Jia Xu really couldn't think of any other clever way to take Ruyang City.

"Continuing to attack by force is not without hope of breaking through, but with the changing situation, I have a plan that can capture Ruyang," Li Ji replied.

"I wonder what the Governor's wonderful plan is?" Wei Yan asked curiously.

"That is naturally to let Yuan Shu take the initiative to invite us into the city," Li Ji said with a smile.

As soon as these words came out, everyone in the tent was a little stunned and didn't understand.

"Governor, Yuan Shu's determination to fight to the death is particularly firm. The possibility of surrender... is very slim," Wei Yan reminded in a low voice.

"It's not about forcing Yuan Gonglu to surrender, but about letting him open the city gate on his own..."

Immediately, Li Ji said with a smile.

"Yuan Gonglu is trapped in Ruyang City, blocking the inside and outside. Even if we have twice the strength of the enemy, it is quite difficult to attack the city, but Yuan Gonglu is also completely unaware of the changes in the situation outside the city."

"He doesn't know that the Yellow Turbans are sweeping through Yu Province, and he doesn't know that Yuan Shao died violently, and the Yuan family is destined to decline."

"Therefore, we can pretend that the attack has been fruitless for a long time, and that we have to withdraw our troops due to the imminent snowfall. Then, let the Yu Province aristocratic families pretend to have returned from their wandering ways and continue to support Yuan Shu, sending a large amount of money, food, and materials to Ruyang City. Yuan Shu will definitely not be suspicious."

As Li Ji's voice fell, Jia Xu unconsciously twirled his beard and immediately judged that this plan... was feasible.

Knowing or not knowing some things will produce completely different judgments.

Under the circumstances that Yuan Shu did not know that Yuan Shao was dead and that the Yu Province Yellow Turbans had forced the Yu Province aristocratic families to a dead end, what he could see was the success of his desperate defense of Ruyang, successfully forcing Li Ji back.

Once Li Ji retreated, he, Yuan Shu, would still be the master of Yu Province. It would be normal for the Yu Province aristocratic families, like grass on the wall, to turn to him again and lick his boots.

Therefore, it was highly unlikely that Yuan Shu would still choose to block the gate and refuse to accept the money, food, and materials sent by many Yu Province aristocratic families.

The other generals in the tent were also people who had experienced many battles. Perhaps they were not very clear about the possibility of opening the city gate with such a trick, but they understood that as long as they could open one city gate.

If Li Ji's elite troops fought a street battle with the Ruyang City defenders and could not completely suppress them in more than two hours, then someone must have been negligent.

In addition, with Li Ji's prestige to make decisions with a single word, no one would object without sufficient reason.

After gaining the support of the generals, Li Ji continued to arrange.

"Therefore, in the next three days, the generals' offensive will gradually slow down, and then the army will retreat all the way south. During the retreat, they can appear more depressed and embarrassed to confuse Yuan Shu."

"When our army pretends to retreat, we will then have the Yu Province aristocratic families open the blocked city gate and break through Ruyang in one fell swoop."

After the military conference ended, Li Ji returned to the central army tent in the Southern Camp and quickly met with the representatives of the Yu Province aristocratic families who were already anxious, proposing that they open the city gate with a trick.

As soon as these words came out, hesitation appeared on the faces of these representatives of the Yu Province aristocratic families.

Sharing the title of Yu Province aristocratic families with the Yuan family, these representatives of the Yu Province aristocratic families mostly knew the Yuan family. Many of them had been treated as honored guests by Yuan Shu and had even served under Yuan Shu.

"Is this move a little unjust?"

Someone muttered in a low voice, which resonated with many people.

The aristocratic family group may only talk about interests, but the individuals who are part of the aristocratic family often have a fairly high level of morality.

Under the general trend, they had to turn to Liu Bei to exchange for the continuation and development of the aristocratic family, which was nothing.

The Runan Yuan family, as Yuan Shu's main family, was among the first to kneel and submit.

However, opening the Ruyang city gate inevitably had a tendency to stab the old master in the back, which was something that a considerable number of aristocratic family members who valued loyalty rejected.

Li Ji was not annoyed by this. Instead, he sighed louder than anyone else and said,

"This move is indeed unkind and unjust. Ji is also worried that he will be reprimanded by the lord afterwards for doing so."

"But if we don't use such a clever plan, we can only continue to besiege and attack Ruyang by force. I don't know when we will be able to break through Ruyang, and when we will be able to withdraw our troops to suppress the Yu Province Yellow Turbans."

"I am also thinking of the hard requests of you all, and I have also heard that the accumulation of several generations of aristocratic families and powerful people who are the pillars of our great Han have been tragically destroyed by the Yellow Turbans. That's why I don't hesitate to bear the infamy and come up with this bad plan."

"Since you are also opposed to it, this plan... let's not use it."

After speaking, Li Ji got up and respectfully cupped his hands to the representatives of the aristocratic families on the left and right, and said,

"Military affairs are heavy, you can continue to rest and drink tea in the tent. Please forgive Ji for not being able to accompany you for long."

For a time, watching Li Ji walk out of the tent, all the representatives of the aristocratic families present were panicked without exception.

There were still about half a month before the snowfall. This was the time for Li Ji to continue attacking Ruyang. For a while, Li Ji could still afford to delay.

Even if he couldn't capture Ruyang before winter, at worst, when spring came next year, he could do it again, two, three, four times.

As long as a discerning person could see, the Yuan family was destined to decline, especially with Yuan Shao's sudden death. Yuan Shu didn't even have an external aid who could relieve the siege. Sooner or later, he would be destroyed by Liu Bei.

It was simply a matter of sooner or later.

But once it was delayed until after the spring of next year, the entire Yu Province aristocratic family would be completely ruined by the Yellow Turbans.

This year they could still sit here, but it was unknown whether their respective families would still be around next year.

The next moment, Yuan Yin got up and said anxiously.

"Lord Marquis, please stay. I am willing to go and open the city gate..."