Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

At this moment, in Li Ji's eyes, Qingzhou was like a game in its end stages.

To take Qingzhou, it had to be done swiftly.

But haste often makes waste.

Xu Sheng's army, advancing into Qingzhou, besieged Anqiu and Chang'an. This would inevitably cause Cao Ren to instinctively mobilize a large force to defend the Beihai State.

The more troops defending Beihai State, the fewer would be available to defend the other prefectures of Qingzhou.

"If I'm not mistaken, Cao Ren already knows about the Northern Expedition proclamation and the siege of Anqiu and Chang'an…"

Li Ji muttered to himself.

"The military orders Cao Ren sends to various Qingzhou prefectures to gather troops will take one to two days to arrive. Each location will need half a day to a day to prepare their armies, and another day to travel from their garrisoned counties."

"If Zixiong and Wen Chang, who are already at the border preparing to move, set out now, they might encounter some of these troops."

"Let's wait a little longer, half a day more. I want those troops to learn of an attack on their rear just as they leave their garrisoned counties, leaving them in a dilemma, running back and forth in exhaustion."

Sima Yi said with admiration, "Your strategies are brilliant, Teacher."

Li Ji glanced at Sima Yi, then continued, "To buy even more time, Cao Ren will certainly send cavalry galloping day and night to Anqiu and Chang'an, both to boost the morale of the defenders and to assess the size of Xu Sheng's force."

"Send word to Xu Sheng to handle it as he sees fit, and find a way to swallow that cavalry force whole."

Sima Yi, sensing he had perhaps miscalculated with his flattery, quickly adopted a serious tone and said, "According to intelligence gathered by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Cao Cao has obtained a large number of fine horses through the Bingzhou horse farms for cavalry training. From these, he selected the best to establish an elite cavalry force called the 'Tiger and Leopard Cavalry,' numbering approximately eight thousand."

"To reinforce the Qingzhou defense line, Cao Cao has transferred about three thousand of these Tiger and Leopard Cavalry to Qingzhou, under the command of Cao Xiu, whom Cao Cao praises as a 'Thousand-Li Colt.'"

"If the arriving force is the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, General Jianwu doesn't have enough cavalry to stop them. Perhaps we should ask General Zilong to detach a force to assist General Jianwu?"

Li Ji listened and lowered his head, considering Sima Yi's suggestion.

Cao Cao had long envied the elite Xiliang Iron Cavalry, Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry, and White Horse Volunteers. Therefore, after obtaining the horse-breeding grounds of Bingzhou, he tried every possible means to collect warhorses and train cavalry.

To this end, Cao Cao opened extensive trade in Bingzhou, exchanging salt, iron, and other goods for many fine horses from the Xianbei.

The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry was undoubtedly an elite cavalry force cultivated by Cao Cao.

If they could seize that Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, it would undoubtedly be a severe blow to Cao Wei.

After pondering for a moment, Li Ji asked, "What do you think, Kongming?"

"In my humble opinion, it's unnecessary," Zhuge Liang replied.

"Why?" Li Ji asked.

"Once the grand strategy you've laid out, Teacher, is complete, Qingzhou will be like a cage, without reinforcements, and with a shortage of food and supplies. We can slowly plan its destruction during the winter. Even if the three thousand Tiger and Leopard Cavalry are elite, they can be easily destroyed by then."

Zhuge Liang cupped his hands and said, "Moreover, even if we ask General Wei to detach a portion of the White Horse Volunteers, that small number wouldn't be enough to stop the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, and a larger force would severely affect the strength of General Wei's main force."

"Since that's the case, it's better not to divide them, as it will better facilitate General Zilong's surprise attack on Dongchao Ford."

Li Ji then nodded. Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi's roundabout approaches were due to their different styles of doing things.

When the advantage gradually became apparent, Zhuge Liang preferred to seek stability, while Sima Yi was unwilling to let go of any opportunity.

After some deliberation, Li Ji said, "There's no need to divide the troops. Taking Dongchao Ford is of utmost importance."

"Even if Cao Ren sends the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, Xu Wenxiang is no ordinary general, and with Tian Yuanhao as his strategist, I believe that with prior preparation, they will be able to give that Tiger and Leopard Cavalry a hard time."

The White Horse Volunteers led by Zhao Yun, hidden at the border and preparing to move, needed to penetrate deep behind enemy lines to take Dongchao Ford directly.

Fifteen thousand was not a small number, but after all, it was a light cavalry raid, lacking siege weapons and logistical support. Success or failure depended entirely on Zhao Yun and Guo Jia's on-the-spot decisions.

If Dongchao Ford was heavily defended and could not be captured quickly, these fifteen thousand White Horse Volunteers might find themselves in a dilemma.

Therefore, leaving Zhao Yun with more troops would give him a greater chance of success.

And for the following time, Li Ji remained in the central military tent, reviewing the military reports and intelligence gathered from all sides.

It wasn't until late at night that Li Ji sent messengers to Zhao Yun and Wei Yan.

By the time the messengers reached Zhao Yun and Wei Yan, it was nearly dawn.

Zhao Yun and Wei Yan knew that the opportunity was fleeting and did not dare to be negligent, waiting for Li Ji's military order.

Even if they rested briefly at night, they never took off their armor.

After Li Ji's military order arrived, Zhao Yun set off almost immediately, leading the main force of cavalry to penetrate into Taishan Commandery, heading straight for Jinan State.

To capture Dongchao Ford within seven days of receiving the military order was Zhao Yun's mission.

If they failed to capture Dongchao Ford within seven days, Cao Cao, far away in Jizhou, would learn of the Northern Expedition and would quickly send reinforcements to Qingzhou.

As the main crossing point across the Yellow River from Jizhou to Qingzhou, the defense of Dongchao Ford would inevitably be greatly strengthened, and it would no longer be so easy to launch a surprise attack and capture it.

Unlike Zhao Yun's emphasis on speed, Wei Yan, after receiving the military order, hurriedly summoned Pang Tong for discussion, saying, "Shiyuan, in my opinion, the deployment of troops should be delayed for a few days."

Pang Tong understood Wei Yan's meaning almost instantly and said, "Wen Chang is planning to wait until most of the troops within Qi State have been transferred before deploying troops into Beihai State and attacking Linzi from the east?"

Linzi's location was exactly halfway between Dongchao Ford and Duchang City, and for this reason, Cao Ren had stockpiled a large amount of grain and supplies there.

However, due to the obstruction of the Taishan Mountains, Wei Yan, who was garrisoned in Pixiang in the northwest corner of Langya State, only had two possible routes to attack Linzi: east and west.

The western route would be to follow Zhao Yun, cross Taishan Commandery all the way to the southern part of Jinan State, and then detour back east to attack Linzi.

The eastern route would be to first enter Beihai State, bypass the mountain obstruction in the same way, and then return west to attack Linzi.

The western route was longer, but it was safer because Zhao Yun's cavalry would lead the way and attract the enemy's attention.

The eastern route was much shorter, but it required them to attack Beihai State from the flanks and then find an opportunity to return west to attack Linzi.

Pang Tong frowned slightly and said, "But according to the Prime Minister's intention, I'm afraid he would prefer Wen Chang to take the western route, which would be much more appropriate."

Wei Yan pulled Pang Tong to a map with many markings and said, "The western route is stable, but it takes too long. It will take at least half a month, or as long as a month, to go around the southern foot of Taishan."

"And to ensure the safety of the grain route, we also need to capture several key points in Taishan Commandery to ensure the smooth flow of the grain route."

After a pause, Wei Yan continued in a low voice, "In this way, it would probably take one to two months to capture Linzi, and the pressure on the rear grain route would be enormous, which would be detrimental to the Northern Expedition."

"On the contrary, if we choose the eastern route, the route will be much shorter. Even if we need to capture several Beihai commandery cities ourselves, the Cao army will only think that our army is a feint attack on the flank of the main force and will certainly not pay attention to it."

"After further confirming that the territory of Qi is empty, we can return to launch a surprise attack on Linzi, which has great potential."

(End of this chapter)