Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

For the common soldiers, the choice wasn't difficult!

Large numbers of Allied soldiers, delayed at the city gates and without command, almost stampeded to remove their armor and discard their weapons before cautiously walking out.

The Wu County army, blocking the city gates on all sides, sent a small team of about five hundred men closer to the gates, directly blocking the front to confirm that every soldier surrendering had removed their armor and discarded their weapons.

This was also the reason why Jia Xu dispatched heavy troops to surround the city gates on all sides, in order to force the Anti-Wu Alliance army to surrender.

Of course, Jia Xu's initial plan hadn't anticipated that the "military household system" could actually gather an army of fifty thousand with considerable combat power in just a few days, so Jia Xu's initial idea was to directly set fire to all four city gates to seal them off.

In this way, the Anti-Wu Alliance army in Yangxian City would be like a cooked duck that couldn't fly away.

However, with fifty thousand military household soldiers as his confidence, Jia Xu wasn't afraid that the exhausted Anti-Wu Alliance army could stir up any trouble. He simply followed Li Ji's instructions and tried to capture as many of the Anti-Wu Alliance army alive as possible.

The fire burned straight until dawn.

It wasn't until nearly dawn that the surrendering Anti-Wu Alliance army was initially dealt with properly.

To Jia Xu's surprise, Xu Sheng, who was commanding the army for the first time, showed considerable leadership ability, commanding the fifty thousand troops in an orderly manner.

With the overall situation settled, Jia Xu simply took the opportunity to take a nap and catch up on some sleep.

When Jia Xu woke up, Xu Sheng had just sent over the preliminary register of prisoners.

"General Xu, you've worked hard," Jia Xu said with a kind expression.

Accustomed to silence, Xu Sheng didn't say much, but instead bowed to Jia Xu.

Although Jia Xu had declared internally that this plan was a clever scheme left by Li Ji, Xu Sheng also knew that Jia Xu had played a very important role in it, showing abilities that were completely different from the rumors of him being a mediocre loafer.

This also earned Xu Sheng's respect for Jia Xu, and he dared not underestimate this Chief Clerk Jia, who was relied upon and trusted by Mr. Zikun.

Jia Xu opened the register…

Naturally, it was impossible to register the names of those prisoners. What was registered was only the number of prisoners who surrendered from each city gate, which were then compiled.

Ninety-six thousand and some…

This was the preliminary number of prisoners counted.

As far as Jia Xu knew, the actual strength of the Anti-Wu Alliance army when they set out from Liyang was close to one hundred and forty thousand.

After experiencing the continuous ambushes and harassment of the Shanyue people, Gan Ning's hundred-cavalry raid on the camp that caused a "camp riot", and last night's night attack on the city, Jia Xu judged that the Anti-Wu Alliance army should still have about one hundred and thirty thousand people.

Now, only ninety-six thousand and some were captured…

The difference naturally couldn't be that they had escaped. Most of them should have been cooked.

"Yangxian City should be full of the aroma of roasted meat right now, right?"

Jia Xu unconsciously said a joke that was neither too big nor too small, causing even the usually calm Xu Sheng's expression to twitch, and he didn't think it was a joke at all.

Perhaps in wartime, Xu Sheng wouldn't have the slightest hesitation when facing the enemy.

But as someone from the bottom himself, Xu Sheng also knew that most of the Anti-Wu Alliance soldiers were also helpless, so after the great victory, Xu Sheng instead felt a bit of pity and sympathy.

Jia Xu also realized that he had misspoke, accidentally saying what was on his mind.

Fortunately, there was no one else around, and only Xu Sheng heard these words. Otherwise, if these words were spread out, Jia Xu felt that it would damage his gentlemanly image quite a bit.

Immediately, Jia Xu sighed while flipping through the register, which specially recorded the names of the "big fish", and made amends.

"Alas, please ask General Xu to arrange for people to enter the city as soon as the fire subsides to collect the corpses, and bury them as soon as possible, lest there be any problems such as plagues."

Xu Sheng's expression became serious upon hearing this, and he quickly agreed.

After a great war, there is also a great epidemic.

The important reason for this is the improper disposal of corpses.

Yangxian is located next to the Lishui River, and the Lishui River leads directly to Taihu Lake. If a plague were to occur and pollute Taihu Lake, it could very likely cause the plague to spread throughout the northern part of Wu County in an instant.

Immediately, considering this point, Xu Sheng went down to personally arrange for people to clean up the battlefield.

Jia Xu continued to flip through the register, finally stopping and smiling as he looked at the name of Zhou Xin, the Prefect of Danyang.

Immediately, under the protection of his personal guards, Jia Xu headed towards the place where the prisoners were temporarily held, and this place happened to be the camp that had been abandoned halfway by the Anti-Wu Alliance army, which was undoubtedly a kind of mockery.

When Jia Xu arrived at the area where the prisoners were temporarily held, the environment didn't seem too chaotic.

After all, most of the prisoners were already exhausted and fell asleep, so naturally they didn't have the energy to make trouble.

However, when Jia Xu entered the place specially set up for the "big fish", it seemed quite lively.

"I am the former Grand Herald. What qualifications do you have to imprison me?"

"My Wang family is a noble family for generations, and there are still descendants serving as officials in the court…"

"I am from the Zhu family of Yuzhang…"

…

Listening to those voices that didn't seem to understand their situation, Jia Xu couldn't help but reveal a sneer, and secretly praised Li Ji's method of luring the snake out of its hole, which would indeed save a lot of trouble in the future.

The so-called aristocratic families, in addition to occupying a large amount of land, often had a large number of clansmen serving as officials in various places, and it was not uncommon for them to be officials as high as the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers.

Without sufficient reason, wanting to openly deal with an aristocratic family would be a matter that would affect the whole body.

Unfortunately, the so-called "Anti-Wu Alliance army" completely destroyed the layers of protective shields that originally surrounded the aristocratic families, completely handing the hilt of the knife to Wu County.

The two sides were already in a state of hostility, and it was the Jiangdong aristocratic families who took the initiative to attack.

Therefore, even if Wu County uprooted all the relevant aristocratic families, the other aristocratic families could not find any fault in righteousness, and could only weakly denounce this act as too cruel from the perspective of similar human rights.

Soon, Jia Xu was led to the place where Zhou Xin was held.

Compared to his former imposing appearance, Zhou Xin's hands and feet were now tightly bound and he was sitting on the ground, his hair disheveled, his expression dull, and only the clothes on his body could barely prove his identity. He no longer had the slightest bit of his past demeanor.

However, after carefully observing him, Jia Xu nodded and said.

"That's right, it is indeed Zhou Xin himself, not someone else pretending. This has relieved me of a worry."

Zhou Xin, who had a dull expression, had a hint of radiance in his eyes when he heard this. He looked up at Jia Xu, but his eyes were full of unfamiliarity, and he asked.

"Do you know me?"

Jia Xu replied with a smile.

"Prefect Zhou is truly a noble person who forgets things easily. Yesterday, I sent an envoy to discuss the details of today's peace talks with Prefect Zhou. Although Prefect Zhou has a bit of deception in war, I, as a trustworthy gentleman, will naturally not break my promise and will naturally come to see Prefect Zhou."

Zhou Xin thought for a moment, and immediately realized that the person in front of him was Jia Xu.

It's just, what kind of trustworthiness is this?

Zhou Xin didn't even know that he had fallen into the other party's trap from the beginning, and then step by step walked towards death.

Originally, Zhou Xin, who was heartbroken last night, thought that it would be fine to be buried in the sea of fire, but his personal guards forcibly escorted Zhou Xin out of the city, and in the end, he became a prisoner.

"Kill me or slice me, it's up to you."

Zhou Xin snorted coldly, closed his eyes slightly, and made an attitude of not wanting to pay attention to Jia Xu anymore.

However, Jia Xu was not angry, but instead asked with a smile.

"May I ask, how many people are there in Prefect Zhou's family?"

"Chief Clerk Jia, what do you mean by this?"

Being asked this way also aroused some of Zhou Xin's doubts.

In the current world, it was common for the victor to value or pity the loser and take special care of the loser's family.

Heroes cherish heroes, and heroes value heroes!

This made Zhou Xin feel a little goodwill towards the kind-hearted Jia Xu in front of him, and he felt that the traitor Liu Bei was a hypocritical villain, and that there were also loyal and trustworthy people under his command. It was a pity that they were hidden gems!

Immediately, Zhou Xin said with a straight face.

"If you are preparing to take care of my family for me, you and I are meeting for the first time, and there is no friendship, so there is no need to do so. Furthermore, my Zhou family of Kuaiji only has me left."

Jia Xu's smile became even more intense when he heard this, and he replied.

"It is true that you and I are meeting for the first time, but I have admired Prefect Zhou for a long time. I even specially asked someone to draw a portrait of you and browsed it several times. I also know that Prefect Zhou is one of the only two remaining members of the Zhou family of Kuaiji…"

"However, there may be some omissions in the intelligence, so I specially asked again. Now that there are no more clansmen in the Zhou family of Kuaiji, then the Zhou family can finally be neat and tidy, and there will no longer be any future troubles. I can rest easy."

Jia Xu naturally knew how many people there were in the Zhou family.

It's just that all aristocratic families have the tradition of supporting outstanding clansmen to study abroad. On the one hand, it is to increase their knowledge and learn knowledge, and on the other hand, it is to make connections.

Therefore, Jia Xu could only first deal with the Zhou clansmen who remained in Kuaiji, and as for the fish that slipped through the net, they were registered.

However, intelligence is intelligence, and it is inevitable that Zhou Xin may have some illegitimate children or illegitimate children outside. In order to avoid being retaliated against by enemies after a hundred years, Jia Xu naturally had to personally confirm it to be completely at ease.

Cutting the grass and removing the roots, this is the excellent tradition that Jia Xu adheres to.

Zhou Xin was not stupid. After being stunned for a moment, his eyes almost instantly turned red, and he kept struggling in the direction of Jia Xu, roaring with滔天hatred.

"It's you! You did it?!"

Jia Xu's expression remained unchanged, still as amiable as ever. He stroked his beard and said softly.

“Alas, I, this old man, am also unwilling to act in this manner. It's only because the Zhou family oppresses the villages and harms the people, and also obstructs the Lord's path, that I have no choice but to do this. I hope Prefect Zhou will understand and not blame me.”

At this moment, Zhou Xin was roaring and struggling…

Unfortunately, bound tightly, he was like a stray dog waiting to be slaughtered, unable to get close to Jia Xu, let alone harm him.

Filled with grief, indignation, helplessness, and despair, Zhou Xin could only roar.

“You will never have a good end! Even if you defeat the allied forces today, what then? The Jiangdong aristocratic families will remember this hatred, and sooner or later they will tear you apart!”

Jia Xu shook his head and said.

“It seems that you have never considered the Wu Commandery navy? That's right, Prefect Zhou believes that attacking Wu Commandery from land this time, coupled with the few thousand sailors of the Wu Commandery navy on the surface, will hardly pose a threat to your 140,000-strong army.”

“Unfortunately, what Prefect Zhou doesn't know is that our Wu Commandery navy also mobilized overnight last night, and is now probably arriving in various commanderies to control the government offices and aristocratic families.”

Flanking and stealing the base…

This could be considered Jia Xu's favorite tactic.

And the current scene, is it not a replica of Jia Xu's previous cleansing of the Wu Commandery aristocratic families?

The military strength of the four commanderies of Lujiang, Jiujiang, Danyang, and Yuzhang are completely empty, and there are few young and strong servants and retainers within the aristocratic families to defend them. Only a detachment of troops needs to be sent to sweep through the four regions.

This news was undoubtedly a thunderbolt to Zhou Xin.

Zhou Xin never expected that Wu Commandery would still have such remaining strength, and he was even more aware of how empty the rear of the four commanderies was.

With almost no one from the Wu-attacking allied forces escaping, the four commanderies simply had no power to resist. (End of this chapter)