Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

About fifty li away from Tan County, Liu Bei's army was stationed.

Liu Bei had shed his usual gentle demeanor, appearing as he did during the campaign against the Yellow Turbans, clad in bright yellow armor and riding a fine yellow horse.

Of course, it wasn't that Liu Bei couldn't find a thousand-li horse through his connections.

It was simply that whenever Liu Bei found a thousand-li horse, he would always find ways to give it to his subordinates, lest a treasure be wasted on someone who didn't appreciate it.

Liu Bei had never been a stingy man, nor would he indulge in personal enjoyment.

However, it had been seven or eight years since Liu Bei had truly been on the battlefield, and he inevitably had a somewhat prosperous physique, but he possessed a greater sense of authority than before.

At this moment, Li Ji was also riding a docile white horse alongside Liu Bei, wearing soft armor underneath a pure white, gold-trimmed cloak, and fanning himself with a folding fan.

The gentle breeze stirred a few strands of Li Ji's black hair that fell on his shoulders, making him appear exceptionally refined.

Centered around Liu Bei and Li Ji, a hundred thousand troops advanced slowly in formation.

In the distance, at the edge of Li Ji's vision, Cao Cao's army was also slowly advancing, exuding its own momentum.

This was not unexpected for Li Ji, as the best way to train soldiers was undoubtedly on the battlefield.

Cao Cao's repeated conquests of Xu Province had undoubtedly thoroughly trained his troops.

Sometimes, just surviving one battle could be considered a veteran, let alone with Cao Cao's repeated victories, the morale of his troops was naturally high.

However, unlike Li Ji's scrutinizing gaze, Liu Bei's expression visibly darkened.

Li Ji naturally wouldn't hide the details of the city massacre and the plague speculation from Liu Bei.

Once the plague truly broke out on a large scale, the currently chaotic Xu Province would not be able to handle it. Li Ji also needed Liu Bei to transfer a large number of herbs, physicians, and corresponding epidemic prevention materials from Yang Province in advance as a precaution.

Furthermore, Li Ji also wanted to persuade Liu Bei to stay in Xia Pi City and not enter Donghai Commandery.

Once the plague broke out, Xia Pi City, located downstream of the Yi River, would inevitably be affected, but the banks of the Yi River in Donghai Commandery would be the first to bear the brunt.

Therefore, if Liu Bei stayed in Xia Pi City and Li Ji led the army into Donghai Commandery, and failed to prevent the plague from appearing, he could send a fast horse to inform Liu Bei to evacuate.

The result was obvious. Not only did Liu Bei not avoid or fear it, but he was also furious and tried to persuade Li Ji himself not to enter Donghai Commandery, leaving Li Ji feeling helpless.

Liu Bei often listened to Li Ji in many things, but he also had his own insistence in many other things.

That night in the camp outside Xia Pi City, Liu Bei and Li Ji had a rare argument, the intensity of which was unprecedented. In the end, Liu Bei even wanted to use force against Li Ji, forcibly sending Li Ji to a safe place.

At this moment, Liu Bei, with a somber face, revealed deep worry in his tone and asked.

"Zikun, do you think Cao Cao's army might already be infected with the plague? Is that why Cao Ze is taking the initiative to fight, in order to spread the plague to our army?"

Whether it was a calculated scheme or a conspiracy.

With Zikun sharing his worries, Liu Bei was quite confident.

But regarding the existence of the "plague," Liu Bei had a natural fear.

"Lord, rest assured, Cao Mengde is not the kind of person who would sacrifice himself to benefit the Yuan family."

Li Ji comforted him gently.

Cao Cao's current army was all Cao Cao had.

Once it was exhausted, it would not be easy for the already barren Qing Province to rebuild an army of one hundred thousand.

Therefore, in Li Ji's view, it was true that Cao Cao intentionally created the plague, but he would never dare to let Cao Cao's army also be infected with the plague to perish together with Liu Bei.

Sun Jian, Gongsun Zan, and even Yuan Shu might make such a choice when forced into a corner, but Cao Cao was clearly not.

During the brief exchange between Liu Bei and Li Ji, the two armies, heading towards each other, were ordered to halt when they were two li apart, facing each other from a distance.

This ancient battlefield of Xu Province once again welcomed the confrontation of two armies.

The banners of Liu and Cao were constantly fluttering in the strong wind, and a solemn atmosphere continued to spread across the battlefield.

Soon after, Liu Bei and Li Ji moved from the central army to the front army.

Cao Cao, wearing black armor, appeared in Cao Cao's army and said aloud.

"Xuande, Zikun, long time no see, are you both well?"

Li Ji did not reply, but Liu Bei said in a deep voice.

"Very well!"

Liu Bei's feelings towards Cao Cao were also somewhat complicated.

At their first meeting in Julu, Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Sun Jian, and Dong Zhuo had even drunk and become friends at a celebration banquet organized by Lu Zhi and others.

Among them, Dong Zhuo was already a high-ranking official, serving as both a commandery administrator and a governor. Backed by the Yuan family, his status was much higher than Liu Bei and others, so there were inevitably fewer topics to discuss.

But at that time, Liu Bei, Cao Cao, and Sun Jian had a very pleasant conversation. Even though Cao Cao later shamelessly tried to win over Li Ji, which made Liu Bei very unhappy, their personal relationship was still passable.

Especially after Zhang Fei married Lady Xiahou as his wife, Liu Bei and Cao Cao could even barely be considered relatives.

However, what Liu Bei never expected was that of the four people who first met in Julu.

Dong Zhuo harmed the country and the people, causing chaos in the court, and was beheaded at Hulao Pass;

Sun Jian was greedy for a moment, secretly hiding the Imperial Seal, and was shot through with arrows in Xiangyang City.

Today's Cao Cao has also changed his past behavior as a loyal minister, slaughtering innocent people on a large scale, which is shocking and inhuman.

Seeing Cao Cao again, Liu Bei could no longer help but question him.

"Cao Mengde, why do you harm the people and massacre cities? Tao Gongzu has a feud with you, but how are the hundreds of thousands of people in Xu Province innocent?"

Cao Cao heard this and replied.

"Since Tao Qian, the old thief, sent someone to intercept and kill my father, no one in the entire Xu Province is innocent."

Liu Bei angrily scolded.

"You have a father, then do the hundreds of thousands of people in Xu Province not have parents, children? Not to mention that the death of the old Grand Commandant Cao Song has not been determined to be Tao Gongzu's doing, even if it was done by Tao Gongzu, how can you implicate the innocent like this."

How could Cao Cao not know that he could not stand on the moral high ground, but in order to force Tao Qian to leave the city, to alleviate the pressure on money and food, and to create a plague.

The city… had to be massacred!

Those who achieve great things do not stick to trivial matters.

I would rather betray the people of the world than let the people of the world betray me…

Cao Cao's narrow eyes did not show even a trace of wavering. These were just some sacrifices that needed to be made for the great cause.

However, even though Cao Cao's heart did not have a trace of fluctuation, his tone revealed a bit of excitement and said.

"Liu Xuande, you have not experienced the pain firsthand, so how can you know my hatred? Empty words, if I were to kill Li Zikun, Guan Yunchang, and Zhang Yide cleanly, would you be able to calmly wait?"

These words caused Liu Bei's tone to stagnate, and even inexplicably gave birth to a bit of fear in his heart.

Liu Bei has no parents above, and although he has children below, the closest people he cares about are undoubtedly Li Ji, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei.

If any of the three of them had an accident, just thinking about this, Liu Bei would subconsciously feel suffocated.

(End of this chapter)