Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

At that time, attacking Yuzhou from Jing, Yang, and Xu provinces in three routes would leave Yuzhou with its military strength almost entirely depleted, like only having a few "undergarments" left. How could it withstand a simultaneous, fierce attack from three directions?

As soon as Li Ji said this, Liu Bei's breathing couldn't help but become heavier.

The title of overlord of Jing and Yang sounds impressive, but for the entire Han Dynasty, it could only be considered a partial and isolated existence.

If it weren't for Li Ji's governance and development, year after year settling refugees to replenish labor, and discovering gold and silver mines as well as high-yield grain seeds, reforming the military system internally, and recruiting talents externally,

Yangzhou would have struggled to even maintain its isolated existence, let alone expand outwards.

But if he were to take Yuzhou, and Tao Qian were to cede Xuzhou, then Liu Bei, truly controlling the lands of Jing, Yang, Yu, and Xu provinces, free from worries about Jiaozhou in the south, having an ally in Youzhou to the north, and secretly controlling Yizhou, would truly possess the foundation to unify the world.

At this moment, Liu Bei finally understood why Li Ji had rushed over to vehemently advocate returning to Pengcheng the moment he learned that Ji Ling had led troops into the Pengcheng State.

It seemed that Li Ji had seen the possibility of this great opportunity from the very beginning.

Perhaps Li Ji had already learned that Cao Cao had sent a letter to Yuan Shu, but he didn't deliberately obstruct or sow discord, possibly preparing for this situation to arise.

Li Ji and Cao Cao, in opposing positions, were working together under a tacit understanding to promote the emergence of this situation.

Cao Cao needed to use Yuan Shu's army to contain Liu Bei so that he could smoothly withdraw from the Xuzhou battlefield;

Li Ji, from beginning to end, regarded Yuan Shu's army as the real prey, deliberately revealing flaws to lure Yuan Shu's army into the trap.

As Li Ji put forward this strategy, the eyes of the civil and military officials in the tent also began to burn with fervor.

Cao Cao retreated too quickly, rapidly withdrawing even when he still had the strength to fight, which clearly failed to satisfy the generals' desire for military merit.

Now, Li Ji's proposal had the intention of turning the support battle into an annihilation battle, and even seizing Yuzhou in one fell swoop.

The vast Yuzhou, with a total of over ten thousand Yuzhou troops, offered too many opportunities to earn military merit.

Amidst the eager gazes, Zhuge Liang still maintained his usual calmness and asked.

"Teacher, wouldn't this be a bit too difficult? Lü Bu is fiercely fighting with General Guan in Nanyang County, and a large portion of Jingzhou's forces have already been tied down."

"Relying solely on the strength of Yangzhou to swallow Yuzhou in one gulp and… protect Xuzhou might be a bit risky."

When mentioning Xuzhou, Zhuge Liang didn't forget to carefully choose his words.

Perhaps Liu Bei was benevolent and hesitant about accepting Xuzhou, but Zhuge Liang was undoubtedly not a pedantic person.

Compared to Xuzhou still being governed by Tao Qian, Xuzhou belonging to Liu Bei was undoubtedly a great thing for the country and the people.

As for the other generals, most of them already regarded Xuzhou as Liu Bei's territory.

With things having developed to this point, even if Liu Bei decided not to accept Xuzhou, and Tao Qian intended to go back on his word and not cede Xuzhou, the generals under Liu Bei would undoubtedly not agree.

Therefore, even in Zhuge Liang's eyes, Xuzhou was already in Liu Bei's grasp.

But wanting to further swallow Yuzhou while Xuzhou was still unsettled was undoubtedly a bit risky in Zhuge Liang's view.

"If Yuzhou's forces were sufficient, it would indeed be a bit risky as Liang said, so the key lies in whether we can annihilate the ten thousand troops led by Ji Ling."

Li Ji changed his usual style of discussion, and continued to state in a decisive tone.

"The total force that Yuzhou, controlled by Yuan Shu, can mobilize is about 120,000 to 130,000. As long as we completely annihilate the 100,000 troops led by Ji Ling."

"How can Yuan Shu defend Yuzhou with only twenty to thirty thousand troops left?"

"Even if Yuan Shu realizes something is wrong and constantly conscripts young and strong civilians into the army, it will only be a futile struggle."

Zhuge Liang opened his mouth and asked.

"What about Lü Bu? If Lü Bu enters Yuzhou, whether he further allies with Yuan Shu, or wants to be a fisherman who profits, it may cause unpredictable changes in the situation."

"If Yuzhou cannot be taken for a long time, and Xuzhou in the rear suffers from instigation and chaos, it is likely to fall into a predicament where it is difficult to take care of both ends."

Li Ji was not annoyed by Zhuge Liang's question. Instead, he felt gratified and turned to look at Xu Shu, Pang Tong, and Sima Yi, asking.

"The original intention of setting up the think tank was to find omissions and fill gaps. What Liang pointed out is undoubtedly an important issue. Do you have any supplements?"

Immediately, Pang Tong almost instantly stood up and said.

"Because Cao Cao betrayed Yuan Shu, the opportunity that the teacher said does exist, but there is one point that is indeed an unavoidable problem—annihilating the 100,000 Yuan troops led by Ji Ling."

"The map of Pengcheng State that the lord possesses is quite detailed, and it clearly shows that over 90% of the area surrounding Pengcheng is also plains."

"With such terrain, defeating 100,000 Yuan troops is easy, but annihilating 100,000 Yuan troops is difficult."

"Even if more than half of the Yuan troops escape and return to Yuzhou, allowing Yuan Shu to have seventy to eighty thousand available troops to defend the city, it would be enough for Yuan Shu to calmly resist the attack and constantly prolong the war."

Xu Shu also stood up and saluted, adding.

"As time goes on, it will undoubtedly be greatly detrimental to our army. It is very likely that instability will occur in Xuzhou, which has not yet been stabilized, and Yuan Shu may also wait for support from lords such as Yuan Shao and Lü Bu."

Now Liu Bei is very rich, spanning across Jing and Yang provinces, but he is far from having the strength to push the world horizontally.

Once it develops into a war of attrition, it is very likely that the advantages accumulated by Liu Bei over the years will be worn away.

Money and food are fine, but what is important is the population and labor.

Compared to the Central Plains, the biggest disadvantage of Jing and Yang provinces has always been that the population density is far less than that of the Central Plains.

War is fought with money and food, but also with population.

Wheat is harvested once a year, but it takes more than ten or twenty years for a young man to grow up.

This is a very realistic problem.

This is also the reason why the scale of wars during the late Han Dynasty to the Jin Dynasty in Li Ji's memory almost continuously shrunk at a rate visible to the naked eye.

In the final analysis, it is because the population is gone, and the young men are all gone.

Li Ji nodded slightly, and his gaze then finally fell on Sima Yi.

Sima Yi quickly stood up, unconsciously revealing a somewhat sinister smile, and then subconsciously restrained it, saying.

"I support the teacher."

"That's it?" Li Ji raised an eyebrow and asked.

Sima Yi shook his head repeatedly and replied.

"The teacher's plan is flawless. Since he has proposed such a strategy, he must already have a plan in mind. What the three classmates said just now is indeed where the difficulties lie, but they are not easily overlooked difficulties. The teacher must already have a strategy."

Compared to the relatively pure thoughts of Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, and Xu Shu, Sima Yi undoubtedly focused more on people's hearts and politics.

Not to say that Sima Yi didn't think that what Zhuge Liang and others proposed were unsolvable problems.

Even if there was a dead end, wouldn't the four members of the think tank refuting Li Ji be slapping the teacher's face?

Therefore, whether Sima Yi felt in agreement or opposition, he had to express his support.