Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Qi State was, after all, different from Jinan State, which had suffered from disasters not many years prior. Moreover, as the former governing seat of Qing Province and its hinterland,

Qi State far surpassed Jinan State in terms of population density and defensive strength.

Furthermore, Wei Yan's troops were all infantry, and their marching speed was far inferior to that of the White Horse Volunteers.

To forcefully cross a commandery like the White Horse Volunteers, even with the guise of Cao Cao's army, it would be impossible to avoid being discovered by Linzi in advance.

Even intentionally bypassing some cities, the checkpoints along the official roads posed a significant challenge.

Therefore, Pang Tong came up with a clever idea.

… …

As another checkpoint appeared before them, a smile couldn't help but appear on the faces of Wei Yan and Pang Tong.

Forcibly breaking through such small checkpoints was not difficult, but the difficulty lay in the inevitable exposure once a forceful attack was launched.

However, after entering Qi State, this was already the third checkpoint Wei Yan had encountered, and it would be the last one before reaching Linzi.

"Wen Chang, this is the last checkpoint. Once we pass this, there will only be about fifty miles of flat land left to Linzi."

Pang Tong's tone couldn't help but contain a bit of excitement.

To traverse within enemy territory with over twenty thousand infantry soldiers without being truly exposed to this day was simply a miracle.

"To be so successful, Zhong Jian's contribution is indispensable! Once we successfully pass through this checkpoint, Tong will personally request credit for Zhong Jian from the Prime Minister."

Pang Tong turned to Chunyu Qiong, the former garrison commander of Zhuxu City, who was beside him.

Chunyu Qiong's face lit up with joy as he said with a smile.

"Although this guilty general is in Cao's camp, my heart has always been with Han. Only to protect the safety of the young lord was I forced to submit to the enemy. Now, receiving the great kindness of Wen Chang and Shiyuan, this guilty general has the opportunity to abandon darkness and turn to the light. I am grateful beyond words."

Upon hearing this, Pang Tong chuckled, his ugly face echoing Chunyu Qiong's words.

As the Han army, disguised as Cao Cao's troops, slowly approached the checkpoint, the Cao soldiers, numbering about two hundred, at this small checkpoint immediately became nervous.

Chunyu Qiong, riding a tall horse, naturally walked in the forefront, followed by Wei Yan and a group of personal guards, who were secretly monitoring and guarding against him.

Li Zan, the captain responsible for guarding this checkpoint, looked at this force coming from the direction of Beihai, revealing a hint of doubt and nervousness, and shouted from afar.

"Who is the general coming?"

Chunyu Qiong looked displeased and waved his hand backward, signaling the army to stop temporarily. Then, he led Wei Yan and a group of personal guards forward to the captain, Li Zan.

Li Zan's expression tightened slightly, maintaining a posture of cupping his hands in salute, unsure of Chunyu Qiong's intentions.

The next moment, Chunyu Qiong, riding his horse, walked up to Li Zan and lashed out at Li Zan three times with his horsewhip, causing Li Zan to tremble all over.

"You don't even recognize me, General Chunyu Qiong, the Commandant of the Army? You deserve to be beaten!"

Such arrogance caused resentment in Li Zan, who had been whipped three times, while also adding a bit of nervousness and guilt.

"Please forgive me, General."

General Chunyu Qiong, the Commandant of the Army, was quite famous in Qing Province.

Although Li Zan had never truly met Chunyu Qiong, he had heard of Chunyu Qiong's appearance. He carefully sized him up and found that he was indeed as rumored.

However, Chunyu Qiong didn't even look at Li Zan and ordered, "Hmph! Get out of the way and clear the road for this general."

This made Li Zan's expression very difficult as he said.

"Please show your military order document so that you may pass."

Almost as soon as Li Zan's words fell, another three whips lashed down, causing Li Zan to cry out in pain.

"A mere checkpoint captain dares to stop me? Could it be that Cao Ren has asked you to make things difficult for this general?"

The amount of information revealed in those words made Li Zan's scalp tingle.

Why bother a small fry like me with the infighting among the military generals?

After the whipping was over, even though Li Zan was wearing armor, there were several cuts and bloody wounds on his face.

Then, Chunyu Qiong flicked his horsewhip and asked.

"Is there anything else you need to see?"

"I've seen it all, I've seen it all…"

Li Zan didn't dare to look up again, fearing that he would be whipped a few more times.

Since Li Zan had already expressed his attitude, the other Cao soldiers who had watched Li Zan being whipped didn't dare to say anything. Under Li Zan's signal, they all made way and even subconsciously lowered their heads, not daring to look at Chunyu Qiong.

"Order the march to continue!"

Chunyu Qiong pretended to order Wei Yan, who then gestured towards the rear.

Immediately, the army advanced again, passing through this checkpoint.

After leaving the checkpoint, the arrogant look on Chunyu Qiong's face instantly disappeared, and he said flatteringly.

"General, Linzi is less than fifty miles ahead. Cao Ren has stored most of Qing Province's military supplies there. Once you occupy Linzi, General, you will have made a great contribution to the Han Dynasty. A meteoric rise and promotion will be within reach."

"Hmm."

Wei Yan replied indifferently, but he couldn't hide the excitement in his eyes. He turned to Pang Tong and asked.

"Shiyuan, how confident are you that Chunyu Qiong can deceive and open the gates of Linzi?"

"Not appropriate."

Pang Tong shook his head, recalling the information about Linzi, and said.

"The one stationed in Linzi is Cao's general Li Qian. It is said that this person governs the army strictly and has the air of a famous general, deeply trusted by Cao Ren. Zhong Jian has no military orders in hand, and he will definitely not allow Zhong Jian to bring a large army into the city."

Wei Yan nodded, also understanding that Chunyu Qiong could still use his status to suppress the garrison commanders of those small checkpoints, but Li Qian's position was no lower than Chunyu Qiong's, and he most likely would not be fooled.

Immediately, Wei Yan turned to Chunyu Qiong and asked, "How much do you know about this person, Li Qian?"

"I've had a few contacts, but not familiar."

After a pause, Chunyu Qiong racked his brains to recall and replied.

"Li Qian is the main garrison commander of Linzi, and the two deputy generals are also his clansmen, one named Li Zheng, and the other named Li Dian. There are eight thousand garrison troops. Uh, and, and there is a granary in the city…"

However, the more Wei Yan listened, the more he couldn't help but frown. Chunyu Qiong had said so much, but they were all superficial things. It was fine if he didn't know the real military deployment, but even the personalities and abilities of the three Li brothers were ambiguous.

"You're both garrison commanders of Qing Province, and that's all you know?" Wei Yan questioned.

Chunyu Qiong replied with an embarrassed face.

"General, you know, I have always been at odds with those people from the Cao clan, and Cao Ren has also suppressed me a lot. The number of contacts is also very few."

(End of this chapter)