Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

"Who would have thought that Brother Jingsheng would also possess such ingenious schemes, actually finding a small path from who knows where to launch a surprise attack on Wuxian, cutting off our supply lines and retreat route. Truly, it is worthy of endless praise."

As Liu Yan said this, a hint of lingering fear flashed in his eyes.

Fortunately, from the very beginning, when Liu Yan dispatched those fifty thousand Yi Province soldiers to attack Jing Province, he had already regarded them as sacrifices, intending to lure Liu Biao into a trap.

If Liu Yan had truly led a large army to forcefully attack Jing Province and had his supply lines and retreat route cut off in such a manner, it would have likely resulted in a major defeat.

However, Liu Biao's unconventional surprise attack tactics, in terms of the outcome, did not truly affect the strategic direction set by Liu Yan.

On the contrary, it caused Liu Biao to suffer heavy losses in Yi Province's military strength, making him firmly believe that the "seriously ill" Liu Yan could no longer spare any troops to hinder Liu Biao's advance into Shu.

At that moment, Cai Mao of the vanguard and Wei Yan of the rearguard respectively sent their personal guards to report the situation to Liu Biao.

Giant rocks had fallen from the sky, blocking the road!

The already narrow mountain valley passage was almost completely blocked by the giant rocks, making it nearly impossible to enter or exit.

And to clear away the giant rocks would take at least an hour.

Understanding the current predicament, a look of despair couldn't help but appear on Liu Biao's face.

An hour?

Countless ambushers were perched high above on the mountain cliffs, looking down upon the Jing Province army. Where would they find an hour?

Moreover, even without the rocks blocking the road, it would still take at least half a day for nearly a hundred thousand Jing Province soldiers to completely pass through such a narrow plank road.

Immediately, Liu Biao scanned the countless Jing Province soldiers around him, clearly seeing the panic and fear in their eyes as they faced the ambush.

In such terrain, even if the Jing Province soldiers drew their bows and nocked their arrows, they might not be able to hit the ambushers on the mountain cliffs.

Conversely, the ambushers positioned high above had many ways to inflict casualties on the Jing Province army below.

And Liu Yan waited patiently, watching Liu Biao listen to the reports from the vanguard and rearguard before speaking in a gentler tone.

"Brother Jingsheng, things have come to this. Surrender."

"You and I are both members of the Han imperial clan, originally one family. Now that defeat is inevitable, why not surrender and avoid needlessly sacrificing your lives?"

This was precisely Liu Yan's purpose in speaking at such length.

This nearly hundred thousand Jing Province army was already trapped, their life or death entirely at Liu Yan's discretion.

If Liu Biao and this hundred thousand Jing Province soldiers were willing to surrender, then Liu Yan could instantly seize control of the entire Jing Province.

However, Liu Biao, gradually recovering from despair, looked up at Liu Yan on the mountain cliff and suddenly burst into laughter.

"Liu Yan, don't think I don't know what you're plotting! You not only want these troops, but also the territory of Jing Province, and what you want even more is the Imperial Seal, isn't it?"

Liu Yan did not answer but continued to stare at Liu Biao.

After Liu Yan learned that the Imperial Seal had fallen into Liu Biao's hands, he completely changed his strategic goals, abandoning any thought of attacking the lands of the Three Assistants from Hanzhong, and instead wishing day and night to swallow Jing Province.

Advancing north from Hanzhong, even if he painstakingly defeated the remnants of the traitor Dong Zhuo entrenched in the Three Assistants, he would still have to face the Peerless Marquis Lü Bu, who occupied Sili and held the moral high ground.

The difficulty was so high that even the ambitious Liu Yan felt despair.

In comparison, advancing south into Jing Province was less difficult, and more importantly, Liu Yan wanted the Imperial Seal in Liu Biao's hands!

However, a direct attack on Jing Province, not to mention that Yi Province had no justification for attacking Jing Province, Jing Province could also rely on its strategic terrain to firmly defend its borders, making it difficult for the Yi Province army to advance an inch.

Moreover, Liu Yan knew that if he attacked the Three Assistants, Liu Bei might be an ally, but if Liu Yan wanted to take Jing Province, Liu Bei would definitely not stand idly by.

At that time, facing the combined forces of Jing and Yang provinces, Liu Yan knew that he had no chance of taking Jing Province.

Therefore, Liu Yan painstakingly orchestrated this grand scheme to deceive the heavens, feigning illness, even killing his beloved concubine, offending Zhang Lu, whom he relied upon to guard his borders, and deceiving everyone, including Liu Zhang.

Because Liu Yan knew that since Liu Biao had secretly seized the Imperial Seal without returning it to the imperial court, he must have harbored ambitions he shouldn't have.

How could he claim to be emperor with only Jing Province?

And Liu Biao's best choice to expand his territory was undoubtedly Yi Province, so he could try to induce the unsuspecting Liu Biao to lead a large army into Yi Province.

Once inside Yi Province, with its treacherous terrain, coupled with Liu Biao's unfamiliarity with the terrain, there were plenty of suitable locations to set up ambushes.

Now, Liu Yan had single-handedly created the current situation, using words to attack his heart, hoping to force Liu Biao to surrender, hand over Jing Province, and offer up the Imperial Seal.

At this moment, Liu Biao, who had awakened from his dream, obviously knew what Liu Yan wanted.

But Liu Biao was even clearer that once he surrendered, these nearly hundred thousand Jing Province soldiers might be spared, and perhaps, to gain a good reputation, Liu Yan might only imprison Liu Qi, leaving him alive.

But he, Liu Biao, would definitely not have a chance to live.

Perhaps on the night Liu Yan entered Xiangyang, he, Liu Biao, would die in some accident.

This outcome... how could Liu Biao, who had just been dreaming of becoming emperor, willingly submit and await his execution?

The next moment, Liu Biao drew his sword and shouted.

"The Imperial Seal has been hidden by me in a secret place, a secret known only to me..."

"Liu Yan, kill me!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Yan couldn't help but reveal an angry expression, momentarily unable to discern whether Liu Biao was bluffing or had truly hidden the Imperial Seal.

Immediately, before Liu Yan could speak again, Liu Biao shouted loudly.

"All troops, listen to my orders! Each unit break out on its own. Whoever can return to Jing Province will be rewarded with a hundred gold!"

"Whoever surrenders, as long as I, Liu Jingsheng, return to Jing Province, I will never do anything unrighteous, and I will turn your entire clan into dust."

Liu Biao not only shouted this himself, but also directly ordered his personal guards to repeat it three times, constantly echoing within the valley, causing countless Jing Province soldiers to change their expressions drastically.

Immediately afterward, Liu Biao took a deep look at Liu Yan on the mountain cliff and directly led his personal guards to break out along the plank road towards the rear.

Watching this scene, Liu Yan, standing on the mountain cliff above, felt his chest rise and fall, then his expression turned cold, and he ordered.

"Release the arrows!"

In an instant, the Yi Province army, who had been preparing for a long time on the mountain cliffs, not only released countless arrows but also pushed down a large number of logs and boulders used for defending cities, smashing them towards the Jing Province soldiers below.

They even threw down fire oil and directly ignited large areas with flaming arrows.

For a time, countless screams echoed in the narrow plank road in this valley.

Moreover, the wider parts of this plank road could only barely allow five people to walk side by side, and some of the narrower parts could only accommodate two people side by side.

Facing the ambush by the Yi Province army, countless Jing Province soldiers had no means to retaliate and could only flee in disarray, trampling each other in search of a safe place to hide.