Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Liu Bei's words expressed envy and regret, and also contained a bit of disappointment.

Compared to Li Ji's filial act of delivering meals to his father late at night, A Dou was sound asleep at home at this time.

Li Ji smiled and invited Liu Bei to sit down, and asked.

"Has Lord already eaten?"

"I wanted to eat with Zikun."

Liu Bei replied, and also placed the food box in front of him and opened it.

The food box that Liu Bei personally brought to Li Ji would naturally not be empty, but full of dishes with appealing color, aroma, and taste.

However, Li Ji couldn't eat it at the moment, so he had to apologize to Liu Bei and reminded him.

"Lord, many of the other civil officials in the mansion have not eaten either."

Liu Bei replied softly, "Zikun, rest assured, I have already instructed them to send food to them. Zikun doesn't have to be busy all the time, take a rest."

"Yes, Lord."

Li Ji heard this and did not rush back to the council hall. While Liu Bei, who was starving, was eating, he brewed a pot of fragrant tea for Liu Bei.

After Liu Bei had eaten his fill like a whirlwind, he took a sip of the tea and felt refreshed.

Immediately, Liu Bei put the food box aside, hesitated for a moment, and said.

"I decided to send troops out rashly due to a moment of anger. Why didn't Zikun stop me?"

"If I had objected at that time, would Lord have listened?" Li Ji asked.

Liu Bei hesitated for a while, then replied seriously, "Even if I couldn't accept it immediately, I would re-evaluate it carefully."

"But if I object to Lord, it will surely cause a cloud of responders. Where should Lord's majesty be placed?"

Li Ji shook his head, and then continued.

"Furthermore, Cao's bandit is carrying out a city-wide massacre, which is outrageous and condemned by both humans and gods. If no one stops him, how many more people in Xu Province will die under his butcher's knife, and how many imitators will there be in this chaotic world?"

"Therefore, whether it is for the moment or to prevent anyone in this chaotic world from daring to do such a thing again, Lord should send troops, and must send troops."

"More importantly, what Lord is doing is right. Whether this path is difficult and dangerous, a minister should follow and support it, how can he question it?"

After hearing this, Liu Bei replied with some shame, "I was only agitated at the time, but I didn't consider as much as Zikun. Afterwards, I was hesitant. Now that I hear Zikun's words, I have no more confusion."

"It is a minister's duty."

Li Ji replied, and then briefly reported to Liu Bei on the progress of the preparations for the army's expedition.

Liu Bei obviously didn't worry about this at all. With Li Ji personally in charge of the preparations, Liu Bei was naturally most assured.

However, upon learning that the preparations for the army's expedition could be completed by early morning tomorrow, Liu Bei was still surprised by the amazing efficiency.

"Zikun, could it be that you had anticipated this, so you had already started preparing?" Liu Bei asked.

"Knowing that the war in Xu Province is volatile, and Lord may need to send troops to support at any time, I made some preparations early."

Li Ji explained, and then, remembering something, reported.

"Lord, I previously promised some students that they would be allowed to follow the army to learn during the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains. Therefore, I intend to establish a 'Staff Group' to let them advise the army and assist in decision-making. I wonder what you think?"

Liu Bei was not surprised that Li Ji would occasionally come up with new things or positions. After casually understanding a few things and confirming that these were just nominal positions, he indicated that Li Ji could decide for himself.

Having obtained Liu Bei's permission, Li Ji immediately sent four personal guards to notify Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Sima Yi, and Xu Shu, asking them to prepare immediately for the expedition with the army after dawn.

Although these four were young and inexperienced, general education could only help them so much, and it was better to experience war early.

Moreover, during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, Gan Luo was sent to Zhao State at the age of twelve and made great achievements, and was appointed as Shang Qing.

In this era of general precociousness, people around the age of twelve could often not be completely regarded as children.

In fact, Zhuge Liang and others had long been unable to restrain themselves after hearing about the troop movements in Shouchun. Even late at night, they did not fall asleep, fearing that Li Ji would forget the previous agreement.

When the guards brought Li Ji's message, even Zhuge Liang, who was usually calm, couldn't help but show joy.

After finally making it to dawn, when Zhuge Liang and the other three arrived at the military camp outside Shouchun City under the escort of the guards, it happened to coincide with Liu Bei summoning the entire army to take an oath and appoint generals.

This expedition was somewhat hasty, and it was also necessary to leave enough strength to guard the governing office, Shouchun City, and deter Yuan Shu.

Therefore, although the two states of Jing and Yang had gradually been digested, and the military household system allowed Liu Bei to use more troops than the other lords, because there were as many as 50,000 troops to be stationed on the Shouchun line.

Therefore, Liu Bei led 90,000 available infantry soldiers and 10,000 cavalry soldiers to Xu Province, a total of 100,000 troops, to march north to Xu Province.

Zhang Fei was the vanguard, and the generals accompanying the army included Huang Zhong, Wei Yan, Sun Ce, Xu Chu, Zhou Tai, Chen Dao, and Tian Yu.

Li Ji, the Grand Commander, was appointed as the military advisor and chief of staff, and the five people, Zhou Yu, Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Sima Yi, and Xu Shu, formed a staff group, relying on them as a think tank.

This lineup can be described as luxurious.

If this lineup were formed six or seven years later, even the civil and military officials under the other lords might not have the power to fight.

And this was the lineup that Li Ji could draw up to the greatest extent for Liu Bei in a hurry, in order to protect Liu Bei all the way into Xu Province to punish the bandits.

In particular, Li Ji was worried that no one but himself could persuade Liu Bei, who might act willfully in his anger.

Li Ji also personally served as the military advisor to accompany the army, highlighting the word "caution."

Under Liu Bei's oath, even the army gathered in a hurry showed a visible rise in morale.

"Depart!"

Liu Bei pointed his sword and announced.

Zhang Fei, who was the vanguard, took the lead in leading the army to clear the way, followed by the central army and the rear army in an orderly manner, marching towards Xu Province.

Since Jiujiang County, where Shouchun is located, is adjacent to Xiapi State in Xu Province.

Therefore, the initial marching route was to start from Shouchun, enter the southern part of Xiapi State to the east, and then turn north straight to Xiapi City, and then act according to the situation.

… …

And within Xu Province.

Faced with Cao Cao's threat of massacre to force Xu Province to fight, Tao Qian had to make enough gestures in order to maintain the basis of his rule over Xu Province.

Therefore, Tao Qian had no choice but to personally lead the Danyang soldiers and Xu Province elites in a field battle with Cao Cao.

This battle lasted for most of the day. Tao Qian was defeated and had to completely abandon the governing office, Tan County, and Donghai County, and flee south to Xiapi City.

Faced with the continuous defeats, Tao Qian did not have many available troops in his hands.

In addition to the 20,000 soldiers in Pengcheng, Tao Qian could only take the initiative to transfer the remaining troops in Xu Province to Xiapi, barely gathering more than 30,000 available soldiers, intending to continue to defend Xiapi.

Just as the entire Xu Province seemed to be shrouded in a layer of despair, and Tao Qian was still hesitating whether to ask Liu Bei for support, Liu Bei led 100,000 troops and officially stepped into the territory of Xu Province.

(End of this chapter)