Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

The letter wasn't long, but it filled Yuan Shu with joy.

Within the letter, Yuan Yin not only revealed the movements of Li Ji's army that the Yuan family had scouted, but also indicated that the Yuan family, enduring humiliation, had secretly persuaded more than a dozen aristocratic families to raise a large amount of money and grain, which would soon be sent to Ruyang City.

Yuan Shu didn't doubt this.

On the contrary, Yuan Shu was well aware that, in a sense, this was the way for aristocratic families to survive, the reason why they could continue to exist through the changing dynasties.

If Li Ji had failed to capture Ruyang City for a long time and had to retreat temporarily, then some aristocratic families would inevitably choose to bet on Yuan Shu again.

Of course, Yuan Shu knew that Yuan Yin's mention of "enduring humiliation" in the letter was just a saying; delving into it would only invite ridicule.

"Hmph, I will let the world know that the Yuan family can only take another step forward in my, Yuan Gonglu's, hands."

Drinking honey water, Yuan Shu unconsciously regained his past arrogance.

Putting aside the fact that Li Ji had driven him from his administrative seat, Yuan Shu felt that this time he had directly forced Li Ji back on the battlefield, completely breaking the nightmare in his heart.

Li Ji? Nothing more than that.

If he could defeat Li Ji once, Yuan Shu felt that he could do it two, three, or four times.

And Yuan Shu also knew that, as was the style of the aristocratic families, since they wanted to bet on him again, the speed at which the promised money and grain were sent would definitely not be slow.

This was also what Yuan Shu urgently needed at the moment.

Even though Ruyang City had a lot of grain stored, money was already quite scarce.

Only with a large replenishment of money could Yuan Shu find a way to win over the young and strong men in the city who had originally been conscripted.

These young and strong men had experienced many days of brutal city defense battles, and as long as they could be properly won over and trained for a few months, they could barely be considered elite, greatly alleviating Yuan Shu's current shortage of troops.

Immediately, Yuan Shu, imagining how to arrange things next, did not forget to send people to clear the blocked South Gate in preparation for receiving the money, grain, and materials sent by Yuan Yin and a group of aristocratic families.

And Yuan Yin didn't make Yuan Shu wait long. Just two days later, a long line of people appeared outside Ruyang City.

The Yuan, Zhao, Xun, Wang, Chen, Yang, and other Yuzhou aristocratic families that Yuan Shu was familiar with were all among them.

Ascending the city tower, Yuan Shu saw Yuan Yin and a group of familiar aristocratic figures in front of the team transporting hundreds of carts, and most of them had smiles plastered on their faces from a distance.

"Open the city gate and let them in."

Yuan Shu raised his chin slightly, still holding honey water in one hand. After giving the order, he was already planning in his heart to use this batch of money and grain to win over the young and strong men in the city, and then use these troops to regain control of the entire territory of Yuzhou.

Taking advantage of the winter, he would mobilize the young and strong men forcibly conscripted from the remaining counties and fortify the city defenses on the south and east sides of Yuzhou, creating an impregnable line of defense…

… …

At this moment, around the aristocratic sons outside the city, whose faces were plastered with somewhat stiff smiles, were all strong men dressed as servants, lowering their heads.

Wei Yan and Zang Ba were among them, keeping their heads down while sizing up the movements on the city wall with the corners of their eyes, discussing in low voices.

"Yuan Shu hasn't made any moves. Could it be that he has seen through something?"

"No, I imagine it's because Yuan Shu is arrogant and considers himself above such things, so he doesn't have the idea of personally welcoming us out of the city."

"What a pity. If we could seize Yuan Shu by surprise, the matter would be accomplished."

"It doesn't matter. The Commander had already anticipated that Yuan Shu wouldn't welcome us. When the city gate is opened, Xuan Gao will control the city gate and wait for reinforcements, while I will kill my way into the city and quickly seize the Prefecture and granary to create chaos…"

Suddenly, Wei Yan's voice paused, his eyes fixed on the slowly opening city gate of Ruyang City.

From a crack, to being able to allow one person to enter, and finally to being opened more than halfway.

At this moment, Wei Yan and Zang Ba could hardly conceal the fiery look in their eyes, watching the city gate, which they had attacked for nearly a month without being able to break through, slowly open like this. It was no less than watching a stunning dancer actively open her legs.

From the wide-open city gate, Yue Jiu led a hundred people out with their heads held high, looking like they were preparing to conduct an inspection.

"General Yue."

As Yue Jiu walked up, Yuan Yin took the initiative to step forward and give a big salute.

No matter how arrogant Yue Jiu was, he wouldn't dare to be too rude to Yuan Yin in front of Yuan Shu.

Therefore, facing Yuan Yin's salute, Yue Jiu hurriedly cupped his hands and bowed in return.

But at the moment when Yue Jiu bowed, Wei Yan, who was standing next to Yuan Yin, suddenly burst out, drew the Pu Dao from his waist, and slashed at Yue Jiu's exposed neck.

Bowing, Yue Jiu was completely unaware of what had happened. He only felt a pain in his neck, and his vision suddenly spun.

This sudden change not only stunned the personal guards behind Yue Jiu, but even Yuan Shu on the city wall failed to react.

On the contrary, Yuan Yin and a group of aristocratic sons, who had been prepared for a long time, almost instinctively ran away to both sides.

"All soldiers, follow me and kill!"

With Wei Yan's roar, many elites disguised as servants drew their weapons from the carts that seemed to be transporting money and grain, and followed Wei Yan and Zang Ba towards the city gate.

And at the very rear of the team, a cart that had been covered was uncovered, revealing a war drum.

"Dong, dong, dong!"

The intense drumming not only cheered the soldiers, but also transmitted a signal to the distant offensive.

At the next moment after the drums sounded, at the end of the line of sight in the distance of Ruyang City, Zhang Fei took the lead and led tens of thousands of cavalry towards Ruyang City, and the earth seemed to tremble.

This scene frightened Yuan Shu out of his wits, and he hurriedly shouted.

"Quick! Close the city gate!!!"

Zang Ba might not be as fast as Hu Che'er, who could travel seven hundred miles a day on foot, but as a mountain bandit famous in Yanzhou and Xuzhou, foot combat was Zang Ba's strength.

At the moment when Wei Yan killed Yue Jiu, Zang Ba had already drawn his weapon and rushed towards the city gate.

Even though the Yuan army around the city gate noticed something was wrong and subconsciously wanted to close the city gate, Zang Ba stubbornly guarded the city gate with his own strength, angrily beheading more than ten soldiers, and delayed until Wei Yan and other generals came to support him.

Under the valiant fighting of the two generals Wei Yan and Zang Ba, the city gate, on which Yuan Shu had placed all his hopes, was completely lost in just over twenty breaths.

After initially opening the city gate, in order to hold back the remaining enemy troops in the city, and also to open a path for Zhang Fei to lead his cavalry into the city,

Zang Ba led five hundred soldiers to continue guarding the city gate, while Wei Yan led fifteen hundred unarmored soldiers to charge into the city.

All of this happened too fast…

Under the circumstances that Yuan Shu had not prepared in advance, the soldiers in the city were not even aware of what had happened, and Wei Yan led fifteen hundred soldiers to continuously and frantically charge and kill in the city.

(End of this chapter)