Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

When the last group of soldiers, ordered to come and gather at Pi Pavilion, arrived, Li Ji didn't linger in the rear any longer. He immediately raised the banner of the Northern Expedition and marched north.

As soon as this army of 120,000 moved and entered Qingzhou, passing through Anqiu, they were immediately discovered by Cao Wei's scouts.

The traces of an army of 120,000 could not be easily concealed, and besides, Li Ji never intended to engage in meaningless concealment.

The art of war has always been about combining the unorthodox with the orthodox.

If Zhao Yun, Sun Ce, and Wei Yan led the unorthodox forces, then Li Ji and Xu Sheng were the main force. The battle for Qingzhou was also meant to be seen by the world.

Therefore, when the scouts under his command also detected the presence of Cao Wei's scouts, Zhuge Liang, upon receiving the news, asked Li Ji for instructions on whether to scatter more cavalry scouts around to eliminate Cao Wei's scouts as much as possible and prevent the army's movements from being leaked.

Li Ji, sitting in his chariot as he used to, waved his hand and said loudly.

"Let those Cao Wei scouts investigate, let them take the information back to Yu Jin, back to Cao Ren, back to Cao Cao, let them all know that I, Li Zikun, am personally leading the Northern Expeditionary Army into Qingzhou to attack the false regime, let them be frightened and uneasy, and respond hastily."

"Also, the world must know that the momentum of the Northern Expedition is unstoppable, and the Great Han will surely be reunited."

Li Ji, who was usually gentle and refined, looked intently at the beautiful rivers and mountains of this Qilu land that he was marching through, with a rare hint of heroism on his face.

"Yes."

After Zhuge Liang responded and went to make the arrangements, and returned to the chariot, intending to seize every second to continue dealing with military affairs.

Li Ji, standing on the chariot, said with a sense of emotion.

"Kongming, sometimes life is interesting and coincidental."

Zhuge Liang looked up at Li Ji in confusion, listening quietly amidst the inevitably noisy marching sounds.

"Thirteen years ago, this Marquis met the Great King in Zhuo County, with only two thousand soldiers and only Guan Yu and Zhang Fei as generals. We have fought all the way from the south to the north until now. The number of troops deployed to annex Qingzhou alone is close to three hundred thousand, and there are countless virtuous ministers and fierce generals."

"Moreover, thirteen years ago, we went through the chaotic times from north to south, but now we are reorganizing the country from south to north..."

Li Ji's voice paused, and Zhuge Liang did not interrupt.

Only after a few breaths, Li Ji put his hands on the edge of the chariot, and leaned forward slightly, saying.

"When we return to Zhuo County, the world will be reunited. That day is not far away, and I don't know if the thatched cottage where we lived back then still exists."

Zhuge Liang thought for a while and said. "If the Prime Minister intends, he can send a letter to Youzhou and send someone in advance to repair the cottage."

Li Ji replied after some consideration. "If that day comes, I will repair it myself."

Zhuge Liang said. "If the teacher does not abandon me, this disciple is willing to assist from the side and serve a little."

Li Ji couldn't help but chuckle softly and said. "Hahaha, then I will grant Kongming a place..."

When Cao Ren received the urgent report from the scouts that Li Ji was personally leading a large army to launch a Northern Expedition to Qingzhou, what he felt was not Li Ji's heroism in quickly taking Qingzhou and reorganizing the country, but an indescribable sense of oppression.

Since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, various warlords have emerged, and virtuous ministers and fierce generals have competed to appear and make a name for themselves.

In these thirteen states of the Great Han, perhaps Lu Bu was an unparalleled fierce general that many generals could hardly surpass.

However, the peak that convinced countless people was ultimately the Prime Minister and Grand Commander of the Great Han, Li Ji, the Marquis of the state who wore the Prime Minister's seal, held the sword, and controlled the soldiers and horses of the Great Han.

Even though Cao Ren had some psychological preparation for Li Ji's personal expedition to Qingzhou, when he actually received the news, he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

Cao Ren looked at the urgent report, which estimated that Li Ji's army was about 120,000 strong, plus the troops led by Xu Sheng, that would be a full 200,000 troops.

And based on the national strength of the Great Han, even with Lu Bu containing them from the side, this force would certainly not be the limit of the Great Han.

This made Cao Ren feel hesitant and shaken in his heart even before he truly faced that peak.

Cao Ren looked at the urgent report for a long time. Cao Ren, who had a good understanding of himself, couldn't even find where his advantages lay.

The Beihai defense line, which had taken a lot of time to prepare to resist the south, had been largely abandoned as the front line was pushed to Chunyu City in just a few days.

However, Cao Ren knew even more clearly that the Great King had entrusted the Qingzhou of Wei to his hands, so it must not be lost.

Cao Ren was the Cao of Cao Wei, and the glory of the Cao family today all originated from Cao Wei.

"Come, help this general put on his armor..."

But just as Cao Ren was preparing to go and muster his troops for battle, a message sent by the messenger made Cao Ren feel surprised.

Xucheng City was broken!

The Han army that broke the city was not the three to five thousand imaginary soldiers that the garrison general of Zhuxu City had previously detected, but a full 30,000, and the 30,000 Han troops went straight to the direction of Qi after breaking the city.

"Bang!"

"The mediocre general Chunyu Qiong has harmed me!!"

Cao Ren's morale, which had just been raised, stagnated, and a monstrous anger surged out.

The garrison general stationed in Zhuxu City was none other than Chunyu Qiong, a surrendered general of the Yuan family.

Apart from his good martial arts, Chunyu Qiong really didn't have much else that Cao Ren could appreciate. He was also addicted to alcohol and lazy.

It was just that, given that the surrendered generals of the Yuan family now formed a faction in Cao Wei, Chunyu Qiong was sent to Qingzhou to serve as one of the generals, and Cao Ren couldn't just leave him unused, lest the surrendered generals of the Yuan family faction create any criticism.

Sending Chunyu Qiong to Zhuxu City was one of the defense lines against the south, but it was far less important than Anqiu and Chang'an on the front.

Moreover, because it was adjacent to Qi, it could be reinforced with troops from Qi at any time in terms of deployment, which was considered a relatively safe place that was not prone to problems.

Previously, Chunyu Qiong had sent three military reports in succession. The first one urgently stated that Han troops had appeared, the second stated that he had seen through the reality of the Han troops, and the third stated that he would find an opportunity to defeat the enemy and make meritorious service in the near future.

These three military reports were all written quite beautifully, and the content was well-reasoned.

Cao Ren, who did not have clairvoyance, could only confirm the state of Zhuxu City from the military reports and believed that Chunyu Qiong's judgment was correct. It did seem like Li Ji's scheme of imaginary soldiers was intended to force him to divide his troops.

Based on these judgments, Cao Ren was quite relieved about Zhuxu City and focused his energy on Xu Sheng's unit.

But what Cao Ren never expected was that Zhuxu City, which he originally thought would not have any problems, had actually fallen.

"So, Chunyu Qiong must have been tricked by the Han army's deceitful plan. Thirty thousand Han troops disguised themselves as thousands of imaginary soldiers, in order to make this general and Zhuxu City lower their guard?"

"But why go to such great lengths?"

Cao Ren, who was unable to figure it out for a while, quickly walked to the terrain map on the side. After a few breaths, his pupils shrank, and sweat broke out on his forehead again involuntarily.

(End of this chapter)