Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Chapter 8: Great Prosperity, Great Prosperity?

Lee Gi.

Seeing the final evaluation, Lee Gi felt his head fill with question marks. How did he suddenly achieve such an accomplishment?

Poisonous strategist?

Where am I poisonous?

Shouldn't we blame Liu Yan for being too useless?

He couldn't even manage to hold off the Yellow Turban rebels for a few more days, forcing them to reveal their weaknesses.

Lee Gi's heart was full of helplessness, understanding that even if his original intention wasn't to sacrifice most of the Zhuo County people to create an opportunity to defeat the Yellow Turban bandits in one blow,

the presence of Liu, Guan, and Zhang's volunteer army lurking outside the city made it almost an inevitable outcome.

After all, Lee Gi in the "Strategy Simulator"'s deduction state was in a state of absolute rationality. He wouldn't hesitate to use himself and Liu Bei as bait, let alone bury the people of Zhuo County, as long as it achieved the predetermined strategic goal.

With a nearly hundredfold difference in military strength, only by seizing the chaos created by the Yellow Turban bandits' burning, killing, and looting after breaking through the city could they have a chance to defeat the Yellow Turban main force before the rest of the Yellow Turban troops could come to their rescue.

Defeating a force a hundred times stronger with a weaker one!

Using two thousand men to defeat two hundred thousand Yellow Turban rebels in one fell swoop.

It's conceivable that even if the Yellow Turban rebels were a rabble in the true sense of the word, it would inevitably make Liu, Guan, Zhang, and Lee Gi famous, and even lead to Liu Bei being enfeoffed as a regional governor after the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

Lee Gi would not only directly go down in history with this strategy, but also be infamous for ten thousand years.

Lee Gi had already secretly abandoned this option.

Even if Lee Gi didn't care about so-called fame, the sacrifice of most of the Zhuo County people, who were flesh and blood to Lee Gi, was too heavy.

Moreover, this strategy would also become Lee Gi's swan song in Liu Bei's group, which was unacceptable to Lee Gi, who had great ambitions.

However, the result of this "Strategy Simulator" deduction also allowed Lee Gi to see the possibility of directly attacking the Yellow Turban rebels' headquarters to achieve victory.

If you want to win with a weak force against a strong one, especially when facing an enemy army as complex as the Yellow Turban rebels, this may be the best and only option.

With this thought in mind, just as Lee Gi was preparing to re-enter the "Strategy Simulator" to perform other option deductions, Lee Gi suddenly felt bursts of needle-like pain coming from his brain.

This made Lee Gi instinctively withdraw from the "Strategy Simulator" and let out a muffled groan.

Liu Bei saw Lee Gi's eyes go blank for a moment, and then his face suddenly turned pale. He hurriedly asked with concern.

"Zikun?!"

"Brother Xuande, I'm fine."

Lee Gi said, but his eyebrows furrowed slightly.

'Compared to the deduction limited to just myself, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, this time, because it directly involved 200,000 Yellow Turban rebels and the people of Zhuo County, the consumption has actually become so great?'

It's like even if you run the same program, the more data information that needs to be processed, the more computing power it will occupy and the more consumption it will generate.

Even though Lee Gi had been mentally prepared for this, he didn't expect that he would almost reach his mental limit after only performing one deduction.

Lee Gi didn't force a second deduction to avoid a situation where he would once again overdraw his mental strength and faint directly.

Moreover, Lee Gi would not over-rely on the "Strategy Simulator." He would mostly use the "Strategy Simulator" for trial and error to avoid any flaws in his thinking.

For example, using Zhuo County as bait to find an opportunity to behead the Yellow Turban rebels' headquarters was originally the most feasible choice among the strategies Lee Gi had prepared in the past few days.

Facts proved that this strategy could indeed help Liu, Guan, and Zhang defeat the Yellow Turban rebels, but the consequences were far more serious than Lee Gi's initial estimate.

And the thoughtful Liu Bei could see that Lee Gi's spirit was obviously much worse than before.

Therefore, even though Liu Bei was extremely anxious about the Yellow Turban rebels at this moment and eagerly wanted to get Lee Gi's guidance, he still comforted him softly.

"Zikun, since you are unwell, then you should rest first. I..."

Hearing this, Lee Gi felt a warmth in his heart, but he directly raised his hand to interrupt Liu Bei and said.

"Brother Xuande, I just simply deduced some situations; it's nothing serious."

Immediately, Lee Gi raised the candle with one hand and pulled Liu Bei to the Zhuo County map on the corner of the wall with the other, saying.

"The Yellow Turbans are powerful and cannot be confronted head-on. Only by attacking their weaknesses can we determine the outcome in one battle."

Liu Bei nodded, also understanding that his two thousand volunteer soldiers would probably be defeated in one blow if they collided head-on with the Yellow Turban rebels.

"I also know this. The number of Yellow Turban rebels, one hundred thousand, is truly alarming."

"There won't be one hundred thousand..."

Lee Gi shook his head and said. "The Yellow Turban rebels in Yide's information may be as high as one hundred thousand, but by the time they reach the vicinity of Zhuo County, in my opinion, about half will remain."

Lee Gi said this with considerable certainty.

Perhaps, the information Zhang Fei passed on only described that old, weak, women, and children were dropping out of the Yellow Turban rebels' ranks along the way, but it was difficult for others to be sure of the specific dropout rate of the Yellow Turban rebels.

However, Lee Gi had already come to this conclusion from the deduction of the "Strategy Simulator" just now.

"Fifty thousand?"

Liu Bei was a little surprised at how Lee Gi calculated this number, but out of blind confidence in his amazing deduction ability that had been verified to anticipate enemies from a thousand miles away, Liu Bei chose to believe Lee Gi's statement without any burden.

"Still, even if it's fifty thousand, that's still a considerable number."

Liu Bei murmured.

It's like when an ant faces an elephant, it doesn't make much difference whether the elephant is a baby elephant or an adult elephant.

"Indeed, even if there are only fifty thousand left, that is still something we cannot fight head-on."

Lee Gi narrowed his eyes and said.

"However, one thing we can be sure of is that we cannot let the Yellow Turban bandits reach the vicinity of Zhuo County. Otherwise, with the population of Zhuo County, the number of fifty thousand will quickly swell to one hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, or even more."

"Therefore, the decisive battle... must be outside Zhuo County, and we must defend against the enemy outside Zhuo County at all costs!"

Lee Gi said decisively, which made Liu Bei hesitate and suggest somewhat insecurely.

"Zikun, if that's the case, then we will become an isolated army. According to my idea, it would be better for me to lead two thousand people out of the city to find a place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack to build a camp, forming a mutual support with Zhuo County."

It must be said that Liu Bei's proposal can be regarded as prudent.

There are still ten thousand county soldiers in Zhuo County. Ideally, Liu Bei would lead two thousand volunteer soldiers to build a camp outside the city to form a mutual support with Zhuo County.

In this way, they can threaten the Yellow Turban rebels and prevent them from attacking one side with all their strength, and they need to be constantly wary of the other side attacking from the side.

With the Yellow Turban rebels' terrible logistics situation, they will inevitably be defeated as long as they enter a protracted war.

However, Lee Gi shook his head and asked.

"Brother Xuande, we cannot place our hopes on Prefect Liu Yan. I'm afraid he has no intention of leaving the city. In that case, even if we are stationed outside the city to build a camp, how is it different from being an isolated army?"

In theory, Liu Bei's suggestion is feasible, but you have to consider who the teammate who supports each other is?

With Prefect Liu Yan as a teammate, any support is nonsense and will only allow the Yellow Turban rebels to seize Liu, Guan, and Zhang's chicken feet, leading to eternal doom.

This made Liu Bei's expression a little hesitant.

In the final analysis, the Yellow Turban rebels' alarming number caused Liu Bei great psychological pressure, which made Liu Bei unwilling to give up the city's advantages and the ten thousand county soldiers who might become reinforcements.

Normally, an ordinary person would feel timid when facing ten Han men, let alone now that Liu Bei needs to lead the volunteer army to actively fight against dozens of times the enemy.

Seeing this, Lee Gi added fuel to the fire again.

"Brother Xuande, if Prefect Liu Yan doesn't clear the fields in advance, even if you and Prefect Liu Yan can support each other, what if the Yellow Turban rebels don't choose to attack the city and the camp strongly, but instead leave a part to confront the city and the camp, while the rest plunder the area around Zhuo County?"

As soon as this was said, Liu Bei's eyes first froze, and then he realized the seriousness of the problem.

The Yellow Turban rebels are different from ordinary armies. Ordinary armies mostly plunder the surrounding area for money and food, but the Yellow Turban rebels will absorb a large number of people to enrich themselves.

In this way, the so-called "confrontation" only gives the Yellow Turban rebels ample opportunity to strengthen themselves.

Even if they win against the Yellow Turban rebels in the end, the entire area around Zhuo County will probably be empty.

Choosing between improving his own risk and the safety of the elders and villagers of Zhuo County, Liu Bei made a decision almost after hesitating for a moment, and said with a firm gaze.

"Zikun is right. This battle is not only to defeat the enemy, but also to protect the people. Therefore, we must block the Yellow Turban rebels outside Zhuo County at all costs."

Lee Gi then pointed to an area on the map where Daxing Mountain and Juma River meet in the southern part of Zhuo County, saying.

"Now the Yellow Turban rebels have probably reached the vicinity of Fanyang, but after that, it is a plain with almost no danger to defend. Only the northern part near Zhuo County has a place where Daxing Mountain and the lower reaches of the Juma River meet, which can be used to take advantage of the terrain."

Liu Bei narrowed his eyes and looked closely at the map on the wall by candlelight.

Looking around, the terrain from Fanyang to Zhuo County is mostly plain.

If the Yellow Turban rebels are allowed to spread out at will, the difference in the number of people by dozens of times means that even a single spit can drown Liu Bei's two thousand people.

Only the area where Daxing Mountain and Juma River meet has rugged terrain, which can greatly limit the number advantage of the Yellow Turban rebels.

And according to Lee Gi's predicted marching route of the Yellow Turban rebels, Daxing Mountain is also an area that the Yellow Turban rebels cannot bypass.

"It's a pity that Mount Daxing isn't exactly a strategic location that's easy to defend and hard to attack. Otherwise, setting up a camp there might have forcibly kept the Yellow Turban rebels away from Zhuo County."

Liu Bei sighed with some helplessness.

Li Ji said, "Brother Xuande, it's not that I'm unwilling to use honorable methods, but the disparity between our forces is so great that we can only win by taking risks."

"In the end, I am too weak. Otherwise, why would we need Zikun to do this?" Liu Bei said with some guilt.

"I, Li Ji, only want to do my part for the people of Zhuo County. Brother Xuande and I are people who share the same path and walk together."

Li Ji took the initiative to comfort Liu Bei, his eyes still fixed on Mount Daxing on the map, and he said in a low voice.

"Daxing, Daxing, this name is not bad. Let this place be the beginning of our rise."

Even without the 'Strategy Simulator,' Li Ji knew that after giving up the option of using the city as bait, Mount Daxing was undoubtedly the last barrier to protect the people of Zhuo County.

Once the Yellow Turban rebels crossed Mount Daxing, the vast plains would allow them to plunder the entire Zhuo County at will, and their astonishing numbers would be difficult for a mere two thousand volunteer soldiers to resist.

With Liu Bei's mind made up, he hurriedly left Li Ji's room and went to find Guan Yu to discuss the matter of organizing the army.

The next day, early in the morning.

Liu Bei and Guan Yu got up and began to make final preparations for the army and gather supplies.

Because Liu Bei and Guan Yu were also leading troops for the first time, and lacking experience, it was not until the afternoon that they barely completed the organization of the army.

Just as Liu Bei was preparing to lead his troops to set off, information about the appearance of Yellow Turban bandits from Fanyang began to reach Zhuo County.

In particular, some wealthy families and merchants with relatively wide information channels knew that the Yellow Turban bandits were coming fiercely, seemingly heading straight for Zhuo County, the seat of Zhuo Commandery.

Perhaps the common people were still completely unaware, but the wealthy families and merchants of Zhuo County were already showing signs of panic.

When Liu Bei led the volunteer army to prepare to leave the city, what he saw was an endless stream of carts constantly heading out of the city, even blocking the city gate.

Escape!

Obviously, these wealthy families and merchants did not hesitate to start fleeing.

This was also due to the Yellow Turbans' formidable reputation. Wherever they passed, they absorbed all the people, and almost all the local tyrants, landlords, officials, and merchants were killed.

How could this not make the wealthy families and merchants panic and fear, and start fleeing frantically at the mere mention of the Yellow Turban bandits? This also made the Prefect of Zhuo Commandery, Liu Yan, who was standing on the city gate of Zhuo County, feel extremely distressed.

Originally, Liu Yan deliberately blocked the specific news of the Yellow Turban rebels in an attempt to tie all the local tyrants and landlords of Zhuo County together and try to use their power to defend the city.

However, he did not expect that after the Yellow Turban rebels arrived in Fanyang, some news still reached Zhuo County, which led to the crazy escape of the already frightened local tyrants and landlords.

Zou Jing, the Commandant standing next to Liu Yan, the Prefect of Zhuo Commandery, noticed Liu Yan's expression and suggested in a low voice.

"My Lord, should we close the city gate in advance?"

"No."

Liu Yan waved his hand and said.

"The name of the Yellow Turbans is so ferocious. Now they are single-mindedly fleeing. If I order the city gate to be closed now, it will only confirm that the Yellow Turbans are coming fiercely, causing even greater chaos, and even leading to rebellion in order to leave the city."

Perhaps Liu Yan was completely ignorant of military affairs, but as a Han Dynasty clansman who had risen to the position of Prefect, Liu Yan had a considerable understanding of politics and human nature.

These wealthy families and landlords would fear the Yellow Turbans, but they would not fear the Prefect.

After all, the Yellow Turbans were directly overturning the table, while the Prefect needed to follow the rules.

Hearing this, Zou Jing could only helplessly watch the carts below constantly squeezing towards the city gate.

Suddenly, Zou Jing saw a large group of figures at the end of the line. He narrowed his eyes and pointed towards them, saying.

"Wait, my Lord, look over there…"

Liu Yan looked in the direction Zou Jing was pointing and saw Liu Bei leading two thousand volunteer soldiers, his face immediately darkening.