Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

After returning to the side hall, Liu Bei looked at the military report in his hand over and over again.

After a long while, Liu Bei slowly spoke with a solemn expression.

"There's no mention of support, so does that mean Zikun is confident he can simultaneously quell the Wuhuan rebellion and conquer Yingzhou?"

However, Liu Bei was still a little uneasy.

Immediately, Liu Bei ordered Xiahou Bo, who was standing beside him.

"Jichang, when the next batch of grain and grass is transported to Youzhou, you will send a hundred-man team of Embroidered Uniform Guards to accompany them to Youzhou, and you must find out the current situation in Youzhou as soon as possible."

"Yes, Lord."

Xiahou Bo responded, then asked with some confusion.

"Lord, didn't Mr. Zikun say before leaving Wujun that internal matters could be asked of Zhang Zhao? Then why would Zhang Zhao, who is deeply trusted by Mr. Zikun, attack him so fiercely, and why doesn't the Lord seem to be adopting Zhang Zhao's suggestion?"

"Is this an internal matter?"

Liu Bei asked rhetorically, immediately rendering Xiahou Bo speechless.

Internal matters usually refer to political affairs, while external matters usually refer to military affairs.

Obviously, the related issues regarding the "Wuhuan Rebellion" belonged to external affairs.

"Then did Mr. Zikun leave any instructions on who to consult for external matters?" Xiahou Bo asked again.

Liu Bei tapped the military report in his hand on the table and said.

"Naturally, you ask Zikun. Could it be that I should ask you, Xiahou Jichang?"

These words made Xiahou Bo smile sheepishly.

While Zhao Yun could be considered to have a basic understanding of military strategy, Xiahou Bo, who had spent the first half of his life as a wandering knight, knew absolutely nothing about military strategy.

Even though Liu Bei and Li Ji valued the loyal Xiahou Bo and had tried to cultivate him in various ways, both overtly and covertly,

Xiahou Bo had no talent for military strategy or political affairs, but he was very skilled at lurking, escaping, and assassinating.

Therefore, after being told off by Liu Bei like this, Xiahou Bo not only didn't feel dissatisfied, but instead looked embarrassed and didn't dare to face Liu Bei.

And Liu Bei, who didn't have one or two confidants by his side, could only say to Xiahou Bo.

"Isn't the attitude expressed by Zikun quite clear? Otherwise, Zikun wouldn't have sent this military report back to Wujun."

"It's just that as soon as Mr. Zikun left Wujun, those aristocratic families couldn't wait to start fighting for power and profit…"

After a pause, Xiahou Bo couldn't help but confirm again. "Lord, are you really not going to pay attention to it?"

"Supervise them, but don't do anything unnecessary," Liu Bei shook his head and replied.

"But now they are collectively attacking Mr. Zikun, this…"

Xiahou Bo didn't continue speaking, because even though Xiahou Bo didn't have many political cells, he also understood that as the person in charge of the Embroidered Uniform Division, he should completely stand on Liu Bei's side and not appear to be too biased towards Li Ji.

Liu Bei thought for a moment and said, "Don't worry, Jichang, this was Zikun's instruction before leaving Wujun, and Zikun had already anticipated this situation."

"Ah?" Xiahou Bo was greatly surprised.

"Factions are inevitable."

Liu Bei slowly said, "Wherever there are people, there will be selfishness, and naturally, factions will form. This can never be avoided."

"Before, it was purely Zikun's presence that suppressed all the other thoughts of the officials in the government office, so whether or not they had selfish motives, they had to lean towards Zikun if they wanted to gain a foothold in Wujun."

"But Zikun's departure undoubtedly gave the local aristocratic families of Wujun a little bit of breathing room. And they naturally wouldn't let go of this only opportunity, and they firmly began to band together."

After listening, Xiahou Bo only felt… how complicated.

Clearly, Xiahou Bo would look through almost all of the Embroidered Uniform Division's intelligence before sending it to Liu Bei and Li Ji to prevent any major errors from occurring.

However, Xiahou Bo couldn't see the complex connections and problems that existed within it at all.

And Liu Bei, looking at Xiahou Bo's expression that seemed to be listening in a fog, couldn't help but recall Li Ji's evaluation of Xiahou Bo.

【Does the Lord think Jichang… is not suitable? Why? Clearly, the most suitable person is Jichang without a doubt, precisely because Jichang's mind is empty, he won't produce too many unnecessary thoughts and ideas.】

It was just that Xiahou Bo felt Liu Bei's gaze, which seemed to contain some complexity, and subconsciously wanted to prove himself. After thinking hard, he asked.

"Lord, but if that's the case, wouldn't Mr. Zikun be creating enemies for himself?"

"Enemies lurking in the dark are much more troublesome than enemies in the open, and…"

Speaking of this, Liu Bei smiled and continued, saying.

"In my opinion, Zikun clearly wants them to consciously band together, so that he can use them."

Xiahou Bo gritted his teeth and answered stubbornly. "I see."

Liu Bei naturally didn't believe that Xiahou Bo really understood, but he didn't expose Xiahou Bo. Feeling somewhat worried about Li Ji, he sighed and looked at the pile of political affairs beside the table.

Only after Li Ji temporarily left Wujun did Liu Bei further realize just how capable Li Ji was.

Even though Li Ji had left Liu Bei enough political "strategies" to use for two or three years, when Liu Bei personally took charge of those various matters in place of Li Ji, he still had the feeling that he needed to have more brains to be able to handle it.

Without Li Ji, Liu Bei inexplicably had the illusion of walking on thin ice, fearing that any random decision would lead to the collapse of the current good situation in Wujun.

The words "walking on thin ice" quite aptly described Liu Bei's current state.

Therefore, Liu Bei had hardly listened to the nonsense spoken by the many officials of the local aristocratic families in the main hall earlier. The only suggestion that Liu Bei was truly tempted by was the suggestion to "summon Li Ji back to Wujun."

Apart from Liu Bei receiving intelligence about the "Wuhuan Rebellion" at this moment, this news had also spread to almost all the prefectures and counties of the Great Han.

The imperial court naturally knew about it.

Faced with Liu Yu's letters of "seeking help," neither the emperor nor the officials of the court could do anything but pretend not to see them.

It wasn't that the imperial court didn't want to save them, but that the current imperial court was already powerless to save them.

The Rebellion of the Western Qiang had been protracted for a long time, but it had not been completely quelled, which was not only about to completely empty the national treasury, but also the losses of the Sili troops were particularly severe.

Before the Rebellion of the Western Qiang was quelled, the imperial court could no longer care about the Wuhuan people of Youzhou.

Therefore, apart from only being able to issue an edict to Liu Yu that he could "act expediently to resist the Wuhuan," Emperor Liu Hong essentially provided no substantial support at all.

It could be said that the nearly collapsing and dilapidated Great Han was currently being supported by the last bit of its foundation.

… …

It was under this situation that Gongsun Zan led an army of 20,000, circled around outside the Great Wall, and returned to the northern part of Yuyang County.

The first Wuhuan settlement had already appeared before Gongsun Zan's eyes.

Because these Wuhuan had settled on the borders of the Great Han for more than a hundred years and were deeply influenced by Han culture, they no longer lived in simple tents in the borderlands, but instead had built houses one after another.

This made the coldness in Gongsun Zan's eyes even greater. With a wave of his hand towards the front, the 7,000 elite soldiers who were originally directly under Gongsun Zan quietly surrounded the settlement under the cover of the night.

The next moment, accompanied by a passionate bugle sound.

Faced with this Wuhuan settlement that only had low walls to defend against wolves, the 7,000 elite cavalry almost swept in like a destructive force.

The young and strong men of this Wuhuan settlement had long gone south to plunder, and almost all those left in the settlement were the old, weak, women, and children. How could they resist the elite Han cavalry?

The shouts of killing and screams only lasted for about a quarter of an hour before they completely stopped.

Then, Gongsun Zan sent a thousand cavalry to spread out around the area to act as scouts, to prevent any fish from escaping the net who were not in the settlement and only returned at night from being killed as well.

As for the remaining cavalry who had been running around for four or five days, they were placed by Gongsun Zan in the settlement to serve as a temporary military camp.

Moreover, these Wuhuan settlements had no shortage of livestock such as cattle, sheep, and horses. Gongsun Zan even ordered the large-scale slaughter of cattle and sheep to alleviate the nearly exhausted military rations.

When the cavalry marched, and they were required to have sufficient mobility, it was naturally impossible to carry much baggage and supplies.

Gongsun Zan and his party only carried enough dry food for seven days.

Gongsun Zan's orderly and skilled arrangements made Zhao Yun, who was following Gongsun Zan, feel that he had benefited a lot.

The only thing that made Zhao Yun couldn't help but frown slightly was the bodies of the old, weak, women, and children that could be seen everywhere in the settlement.

Moreover, Gongsun Zan not only didn't order the collection of the corpses, but instead ordered those infantrymen riding war horses to cut off the heads of each corpse to build Jingguan.

Zhao Yun found it difficult to accept this in his heart, but he also knew that Gongsun Zan was deliberately arousing the anger and hatred of the Wuhuan people, so as to make the Wuhuan people chase after them relentlessly.

'It's harmful to heavenly harmony…'

Zhao Yun sighed secretly, until he was awakened by a series of cries.

Gongsun Zan, who was standing beside Zhao Yun, was also startled by this series of cries.

Immediately, Gongsun Zan, wearing a white armor, led Zhao Yun and strode towards the direction where the cries were coming from. He saw more than twenty children under the age of six surrounded by the Han army.

"What happened?" Gongsun Zan asked with a frown.

The head of a squad, looking at Gongsun Zan's displeased expression, braced himself and stepped forward to report.

"General, these children were all found hiding in the cellar, and all of them seem to be under the age of six. According to the rules of the Hu people's tribal warfare, children below the wheel are not killed, so…"

Gongsun Zan was immediately furious, kicked the squad leader to the ground with one foot, and shouted angrily.

"What a joke, when did the Han people need to abide by the rules of the Hu people? Even if they are not killed if they are below the wheel, my rules require them to be below the wheel that is knocked to the ground."

Zhao Yun, looking at those young, innocent faces clad in foreign garb, couldn't help but feel a pang of pity and stepped forward to dissuade him.

"General Gongsun, those children might not even remember anything. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to spare them."

Gongsun Zan abruptly turned his head to look at Zhao Yun, his face contorted with rage, but he forcefully suppressed it and said with a sneer.

"Zilong, how do you think the Wuhuan learned to hide their children in cellars to escape the ravages of war?"

In an instant, Zhao Yun realized something and felt a chill run down his spine. (End of Chapter)