Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Despite the words, Xu You would naturally not rush headlong into crossing the river without a plan.

Especially with many beacon towers set up on the opposite bank for surveillance, how to cross the river became a rather delicate matter.

Anyone with a slight knowledge of military tactics knows how dangerous it is to be attacked while only halfway across the river.

Moreover, Kuaiji Commandery did not have a navy to speak of; the fishing boats collected in advance around the Qiantang River were not enough to transport the 20,000-strong army across the river in one go.

The ships available in Kuaiji Commandery for crossing the river could only transport a maximum of 5,000 people at a time.

How to gain a firm foothold after crossing the river with these 5,000 people and allow the subsequent army to cross safely became, in Xu You's eyes, the key to this battle.

Once all 20,000 troops of Kuaiji Commandery successfully crossed the river, the small city of Qiantang would be no obstacle and could be taken with a snap of the fingers.

Furthermore, in Xu You's judgment, Li Ji dared to be so arrogant as to transfer most of his forces to Fuchun Mountain because he was confident he could prevent the vanguard of Kuaiji Commandery from crossing the river.

After all, given the limited number of ships in Kuaiji Commandery, the number of troops that could be transported at one time was quite limited.

Originally, Guo Yi's plan was to quietly cross the river under the cover of a dark night, hoping to catch the enemy off guard.

However, in Xu You's eyes, this was extremely foolish, and he couldn't help but mock Guo Yi as a reckless idiot.

'Could it be that he thinks those beacon towers along the river are just for decoration?'

Xu You could easily guess that Li Zikun must have set up a defensive military strategy based on the beacon towers; as soon as any beacon tower signaled an alarm, nearby soldiers would quickly rush to the corresponding location to prevent the enemy from landing.

If the troops of Kuaiji Commandery had no place to land and deploy, then even with an army of 20,000, they would be completely helpless against Wu Commandery.

After Xu You explained the difficulties to Guo Yi as thoroughly as possible, Guo Yi finally understood the thorny issue and, after pondering for a long time, asked.

"Mr. Ziyuan, do you have a brilliant plan?"

Xu You, who was already prepared, stroked his small beard and said with a calm confidence, "Of course. I only need to use a small trick to make those beacon towers along the river seem like nothing."

Immediately, Guo Yi, who was quite perceptive in this regard, once again offered a small box of gifts. Xu You pretended to be reserved before accepting it and then said.

"This matter is easy. The mystery of military strategy lies in the combination of illusion and reality, yin and yang, which allows one to be invincible."

"To crack Li Zikun's beacon towers, your Lordship only needs to send an army of a thousand men to cross the river upstream under the cover of night, creating a large-scale feint to attract all the nearby troops of Wu Commandery."

"Then, when the feint upstream takes effect, when the time is right, your Lordship can order the remaining ships to fully transport soldiers to cross the river downstream, turning reality into illusion."

"By then, even if the downstream beacon towers signal an alarm, with a large number of Wu Commandery troops drawn upstream, how can they promptly resist our army's crossing? Once the vanguard gains a firm foothold in front, the remaining troops can continuously cross the river, and the matter will be settled."

Guo Yi praised upon hearing this.

"Excellent plan! In this way, once my army crosses the river, we can settle everything in one battle. Who knows, tomorrow morning, your Lordship and I might already be drinking and celebrating our victory in Qiantang County."

"Then I will congratulate your Lordship in advance."

Xu You cupped his hands and said, a sense of gloom inexplicably dissipating from his heart.

Being used as a pawn by Li Zikun in the sand table deduction in Julu City made Xu You, who was originally proud and arrogant, vomit three mouthfuls of blood in anger, leaving behind the infamous nickname "Xu Three Pecks," forcing Xu You to hurriedly escape Julu and return home to study military strategy behind closed doors.

Afterward, just as Xu You was regaining his confidence, believing that he had undergone a transformation in military strategy, he went to Wu Commandery to seek revenge on Li Ji and prove himself.

Then, he encountered the emergence of "Four Crossings of the Chishui River," and then...…

Thinking of this, the gloom in Xu You's eyes unconsciously spread again.

Xu You stayed in Wu County for a long time, not to enroll in the "Rende Academy," but to perfectly crack the "Four Crossings of the Chishui River," thoroughly embarrassing Li Zikun and making Li Zikun invite him into his mansion as an honored guest.

However, Xu You pondered day and night for several months, but in the end, he could only achieve a similar level as Guo Tu, but he spent hundreds of gold in less than a few months.

This made Xu You deeply confused. Am I really inferior to Li Zikun by far?

'Li Zikun, I will make you prostrate before me. I will make you understand that mere armchair strategizing proves nothing. I will let you know that my military strategy is superior to yours, and I will prove to the world that you will be my defeated general…'

At this moment, Xu You watched Guo Yi, according to what he said, begin to mobilize troops and prepare for the night crossing, and a burst of excitement and pleasure uncontrollably rose in his heart.

Especially when he thought of Guo Yi's promise to temporarily hand Li Zikun over to him for him to humiliate as he pleased, Xu You even felt that it was more enjoyable and anticipated than getting ten thousand gold.

'Li Zikun, you better hope you don't fall into my hands…'

In Xu You's eyes, Guo Yi was a rather incompetent brute, but he was undoubtedly quite good at execution.

Moreover, while Guo Yi was wildly plundering in Kuaiji Commandery, he still knew the importance of military power and firmly grasped the military power of Kuaiji Commandery. Even the soldiers' salaries in Kuaiji Commandery were never lacking.

Therefore, Guo Yi was quite popular among the soldiers in Kuaiji Commandery, which is why, even though Guo Yi often caused public resentment and even occasional rebellions, they were easily suppressed by Guo Yi.

As night fell, Guo Yi had already made arrangements early according to Xu You's advice, ordering Guo Cai, a trusted subordinate from the same hometown, to lead more than a thousand people and prepare the necessary items to create a feint to cross the Qiantang River upstream, ready to attract the attention of the Wu Commandery troops.

In order to ensure the best possible distraction effect, Guo Cai did not wait until Chou time, when people were most tired, to cross the river. Instead, he began crossing the river at Zi time.

In order to appear flawless, Guo Cai, who had been repeatedly instructed by Xu You, did not deliberately make any noise at the beginning. Instead, he cautiously approached the opposite bank.

However, before Guo Cai could lead the boats to reach the opposite bank, a beacon tower clearly noticed the boats crossing the river under the cover of night.

In an instant, beacon smoke rose, and horns sounded everywhere, making the shore on the Wu Commandery side seem to be in a commotion.

Upon seeing this, Guo Cai immediately ordered his soldiers to light more torches, beat the war drums more, and put on a posture of wanting to forcibly cross and land.

Moreover, Guo Cai was not just putting on a show. According to Xu You's instructions, he led his soldiers to try to actually approach the shore and land.

"Kill!!"

However, the Wu Commandery soldiers on the opposite bank seemed to have been prepared for a long time, and immediately a few scattered arrows landed in front, followed by Wu Commandery soldiers clearly beginning to gather and form ranks in the direction Guo Cai was preparing to land.

'Such a fast reaction!'

Guo Cai couldn't help but be surprised when he saw this scene.

It should be known that Guo Cai led his troops to attempt to cross the river and land at Zi time. Originally, Guo Cai thought that he would need to actually land on the opposite bank and then pretend to be killed and retreat.

He did not expect that the Wu Commandery soldiers would react so quickly.

Although the soldiers lined up in front of him in this short moment were only a few dozen, it was clear that more soldiers were gathering here from the shore.

"Mr. Xu You is truly talented. If we forcibly cross the river, I am afraid that we will have no chance to gain a foothold on the shore and will be forced back to the river by Wu Commandery."

"And Li Zikun of Wu Commandery is not just a person with a false reputation. His soldiers react so quickly, which shows his strict military discipline and the subtlety of his use of troops."

Guo Cai praised, his heart even more convinced of Xu You, knowing that this scene was completely within Xu You's expectations.

Immediately, Guo Cai was not discouraged that he had no chance to land. He knew that his main purpose was to attract the Wu Commandery soldiers.

Therefore, Guo Cai ordered his soldiers to shoot arrows in unison and sent out several Mengchong ships carrying soldiers to take advantage of the situation and rush towards the shore, posing as if they wanted to forcibly land despite the rain of arrows.

However, the Wu Commandery side also seemed to have been prepared for a long time, and they continued to block the approach of the Mengchong ships with a rain of arrows.

With the continuous support of the Wu Commandery soldiers, the two sides quickly fell into a stalemate, stubbornly resisting and not giving the Kuaiji Commandery soldiers a chance to land.

Guo Cai ordered his soldiers to continue waving flags and shouting, creating a great momentum, and constantly pretending to want to forcibly land, his eyes looking at the overlapping figures of the Wu Commandery soldiers on the shore.

After roughly estimating that, after an hour of stalemate, more than two thousand Wu Commandery soldiers had gathered here, and more Wu Commandery soldiers were constantly rushing from nearby.

This made Guo Cai secretly rejoice, knowing that Xu You's plan had been successful, and that most of the Wu Commandery troops guarding near Qiantang County had been attracted.

… …

At the same time.

In the downstream area of the Qiantang River, Guo Yi and Xu You estimated the time and waited quietly for the opportunity.

Xu You, who had been closing his eyes and resting as if nothing mattered, suddenly flicked his sleeves and said.

"Your Lordship, it's time to set off!"

"Good!"

Upon hearing this, Guo Yi did not hesitate at all, and even personally led the most elite part of his personal soldiers to board the river-crossing ships, leading nearly four thousand soldiers to slowly head towards the opposite bank under the cover of night.

At this moment, Guo Yi's eyes were fixed on the movement on the opposite bank, and his heart was undoubtedly quite nervous.

As a distant relative of the Ten Attendants, Guo Yi's ambition was far more than satisfying the position of a mere remote commandery administrator.

Guo Yi wanted to serve as the administrator of a prosperous place, or even the newly restored position of governor of a state.

However, the wealth that Guo Yi, as the current governor, amasses is largely funneled to the Ten Attendants. Where would he find enough surplus funds to strive for a better position?

Therefore, Guo Yi needs sufficient wealth—wealth sufficient to satisfy the Emperor and the Ten Attendants. Only then can Guo be transferred to a more prosperous region to serve as governor, instead of being stuck in a barren, godforsaken land south of the Yangtze River.