Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

‘It seems the battle situation in Donghai Commandery is also not optimistic. They can only spare 20,000 troops from Marquis Guoshi to come and support…’

This thought subconsciously surfaced in Zang Ba’s mind.

Previously, after Liu Bei led his troops into Xiapi State, he did not stop or enter Xiapi City, but continued north in a mighty force to attack Cao Cao. This was common knowledge in Xuzhou.

However, with the people of Donghai Commandery centered on Tan County either dead or fleeing, and without Cao Cao or Liu Bei actively publicizing the situation, almost no information about the specific battle situation in Donghai Commandery was leaked.

Zang Ba could only judge the overall trend of the Xuzhou battlefield based on the strength of the troops led by Li Ji.

But now it was 90,000 against 20,000. Even if the commander was the famous Marquis Guoshi, Li Ji, Zang Ba didn't have much confidence. He almost subconsciously said to Sun Guan and the others behind him.

“Quick, organize the brothers who still have fighting strength and prepare to leave the city at any time to meet Marquis Guoshi…”

As he spoke, Zang Ba's voice couldn't help but weaken.

With Pengcheng almost completely breached, how could Zang Ba be the only one injured?

Including Sun Guan and other generals, only a few of the Taishan bandits, from top to bottom, were not injured.

Zang Ba looked around and saw that almost everyone was injured, and their expressions were exhausted.

Sun Guan braced himself and stepped forward, saying, “General, I'm afraid there aren't many brothers left who still have the strength to fight.”

Hearing this, Zang Ba hesitated for a moment, but then turned into a firm explanation.

“If Marquis Guoshi hadn't arrived in time, Pengcheng would have been captured by Yuan Jun. You and I would probably have been reduced to dust along with Pengcheng.”

“Now, although Marquis Guoshi has temporarily resolved the crisis in Pengcheng, he is also blocked outside the city by Yuan Jun.”

“If we want to defend Pengcheng next, the reinforcements led by Marquis Guoshi are crucial. Even if there must be some sacrifice, we must find a way to meet Marquis Guoshi and bring him into the city.”

“As long as Marquis Guoshi leads his troops into Pengcheng, Ji Ling will no longer be able to do anything to Pengcheng.”

Zang Ba was also a decisive person, knowing that if he wanted to achieve great things, he must not be timid and shrink back. Now that he had decided to lean towards Liu Bei, he could not hesitate, otherwise he would be doomed to fail.

Defending Pengcheng was an attitude, and meeting Li Ji was even more of an attitude.

If the attitude was in place, then even if Pengcheng was lost in the end, Liu Bei, who was based on benevolence and virtue, would definitely appreciate this sentiment.

Sun Guan and the others were also infected by Zang Ba's attitude, and quickly selected a group of Taishan bandits who still had fighting strength to reorganize their troops and prepare to rush out of the city to meet Li Ji.

What Zang Ba didn't know was that the one who felt great pressure outside the city now was not Li Ji, who had few soldiers, but Ji Ling, who had an army of 90,000.

The strength and weakness of the two armies were by no means as great as they appeared on the surface.

Li Ji had few soldiers, but the 20,000 troops had been resting and recuperating for a long time;

Ji Ling had many soldiers, but the army had been continuously attacking Pengcheng for most of the day, and its morale, physical strength, and military morale had all dropped to a certain level.

More importantly, the two armies had just formed a battle formation, and time had reached dusk. The setting sun sprinkled blood-like light on the earth, and sprinkled it in the battle formations of the two armies.

There was less than half an hour left before dark.

Within half an hour, even if Ji Ling relied on his numerical advantage, he would have no confidence in defeating Li Ji.

But if it dragged on to night battles, Ji Ling couldn't help but feel guilty when he thought of Li Ji's undefeated reputation.

He was afraid…

He was afraid that Li Zikun would once again deliberately show weakness to the enemy like in the previous Battle of Jingxiang, luring himself in like fishing, and then taking the opportunity to give himself a fatal blow with a killing move.

For example, Li Zikun deliberately dragged on until nightfall, and with an order, ambushes would emerge from all directions.

Ji Ling looked at Li Ji's chariot from afar, and his forehead couldn't help but start to sweat, imagining one defeat after another.

Being timid before the battle undoubtedly reflected Ji Ling's current psychology, making Ji Ling feel caught in a dilemma.

Li Ji also had some guesses about Ji Ling's psychological state.

Standing on the chariot, Li Ji looked in the direction of Ji Ling, and Li Ji judged that Ji Ling had developed a cowardly mentality of wanting to retreat.

Li Ji had already anticipated this, and deliberately revealing his banner was to make Ji Ling fearful and relieve the siege of Pengcheng.

Of course, all of this seemed to be psychological warfare, but in fact, even if Ji Ling developed any rebellious and extreme psychology, he would still not be able to escape the circle that Li Ji had drawn for Ji Ling.

Whether Ji Ling fought or not, advanced or not, the results would all lead to the same direction.

The only slight variable was Chang Xi's betrayal, which made Pengcheng encounter a crisis of falling earlier than Li Ji had imagined, forcing Li Ji to send troops to relieve Pengcheng ahead of schedule.

It was precisely because of this that the scene of the two armies facing off, which Li Ji originally did not expect to happen, now appeared outside Pengcheng.

In Li Ji's initial plan, he would appear when Ji Ling was preparing to withdraw his troops after a fruitless day of attacking, in order to put pressure on the exhausted Yuan Jun.

However, with only less than half an hour left before sunset, even if Ji Ling had the determination to fight, he would not be able to do anything to Li Ji.

Immediately, Li Ji waved his hand, and the chariot moved forward to the front army, so that more Yuan Jun and Ji Ling could clearly see where he was.

In a way that the left and right guards repeated loudly, Li Ji said.

“I am Longxi Li Zikun, is there anyone who can come forward to talk?”

A man needs a name, and a tree needs a shadow.

Just as everyone knows the name of Lu Bu, the name of Li Ji is now also known to everyone.

The Yuan Jun almost visibly showed some commotion and noisy voices, apparently because some soldiers subconsciously spoke out regardless of military discipline.

This forced Ji Ling, who originally didn't want to come forward to talk, to show up and say loudly.

“So it is Marquis Guoshi in person.”

“It's just that Marquis Guoshi has always been wise and resourceful in the past. Why are you leading a few soldiers here to fight against the odds and seek your own death? Considering your past achievements, quickly retreat, and I will spare you from death.”

Li Ji couldn't help but smile. He didn't expect that this warrior, Ji Ling, would have some eloquence in stabilizing the morale of the army, directly pointing out the difference in strength between the two armies to reassure the people.

However, Li Ji was not afraid that Ji Ling would not talk. On the contrary, if Ji Ling pretended to be deaf and mute, Li Ji would not be able to use his silver tongue.

Immediately, Li Ji said loudly.

“The number of soldiers is not important, but the quality is. And in my opinion, more than 80% of the soldiers under General Ji's command are recruits who have been recruited for less than a year, right?”

“General Ji is also a kind person. How can he bear to let these recruits go to the battlefield in a hurry and lose their lives in vain?”

As soon as these words came out, the faces of all the Yuan Jun, including Ji Ling, sank subconsciously.

More than 80% of Ji Ling's subordinates were recruits who had been recruited for less than a year. This was a fact.

But this was undoubtedly a gallows humor, especially a gallows humor that was particularly ironic when spoken by Li Ji.

What was the reason?

Wasn't it the Battle of Jingxiang a year ago that almost buried most of the available forces in Yuan Shu's hands? (End of this chapter)