Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

As night fell, scouts from both sides engaged in rare chases and skirmishes along the outskirts of the camps.

The Han army's reaction, as if determined to clear out the surrounding Cao army scouts, only deepened Cao Xiu's suspicions.

Seeing the heavy casualties among his own scouts, Cao Xiu simply dispatched a thousand-man team of Leopard Cavalry to monitor the Han army's every move.

That night, at the beginning of Chou Shi (1-3 AM).

Just as Cao Xiu had fallen asleep, an urgent report from the Leopard Cavalry jolted him awake.

The Han army had retreated!

Indeed, as Cao Xiu had expected, the Han army had taken advantage of the night to hastily retreat, without even taking down their camp.

"Which direction did the Han army retreat towards?"

"Towards the southeast."

"Monitor them closely. If any small groups of soldiers detach from the main Han force, keep a close eye on them, especially. We can't let the big fish get away."

Cao Xiu's face was filled with excitement.

Wei Yan and Pang Tong were both Li Ji's close confidants. If they could be successfully captured, not to mention their own extraordinary political value, more importantly, they could reveal a great deal of Li Ji's arrangements for the Northern Expedition.

Therefore, the retreating main force of the Han army had to be closely watched, and the small groups of soldiers secretly detaching were even more of a prize that Cao Xiu was unwilling to let go of.

Immediately, Cao Xiu sent another team of Leopard Cavalry into the abandoned Han army camp to further investigate the situation, while hastily summoning the generals in the city for another meeting.

Once the generals had gathered, the intelligence gathered from the Han army camp was also relayed to Cao Xiu.

There were quite a few flags and military equipment left in the camp. The counted traces of stoves were also much fewer than normal. More importantly, a place suspected of slaughtering warhorses was discovered.

"General Cao, this is an opportunity that must not be missed. Now that the Han army's food supply is about to run out, they are fleeing in a panic. We must not let the tiger return to the mountain. We should quickly dispatch troops to pursue and kill them along the way, to build merit for Great Wei and severely挫伤挫伤 the Han army's Northern Expedition."

"I only need five thousand soldiers, and I will surely defeat the Han army..."

"We should use a great victory to intimidate Li Zikun, and let him know the might of our Great Wei!"

Just as the generals were vying to volunteer for battle, Li Dian, who was frowning and silent, seemed particularly out of place among the crowd, which happened to be noticed by Cao Xiu.

"Man Cheng, why do you look so worried?" Cao Xiu asked.

After hesitating slightly, Li Dian cupped his hands and saluted, replying.

"Reporting to the General, the matter is progressing too smoothly, which makes me feel that there may be a trick involved."

Upon hearing this, Cao Xiu's face could not help but reveal a few hints of displeasure, and he sarcastically said.

"Man Cheng, has your courage been shattered by the enemy army, or are you simply too timid?"

Now that he had spoken, Li Dian did not back down and said bluntly.

"The Han army has always been full of tricks. Even if they have run out of food, how could they leave behind so many traces? This seems more like a show of weakness, to lure us out."

"In that case, if you were the main general of the Han army who was about to run out of food, what would you do?" Cao Xiu retorted.

Upon hearing this, Li Dian opened his mouth to answer, but the words reached his lips and then stopped.

In order to retreat safely, the Han army had already used various means. If it were Li Dian, it would be difficult to think of any other methods.

The only thing Li Dian could do better was perhaps to cover up the traces of food shortage in the camp a little more.

But in a situation where food supplies were about to run out and morale was low, it was already quite remarkable for the main general to ensure that there were no large-scale spontaneous collapses of soldiers. How could one demand more details?

Li Dian did not speak again. Instead, Cao Xiu revealed a few hints of disappointment. Considering Li Qian's private relationship with the Great King, he did not continue to pursue and ridicule him, but instead persuaded him.

"Man Cheng, the art of war abhors armchair strategists the most, and one should not be timid and unwilling to advance based solely on momentary intuition. In the future, Man Cheng still needs to practice more."

"Furthermore, this general has not failed to consider the possibility that this is a Han army trick, but now the number of Han troops is probably only a little over twenty thousand, which is comparable to our army's strength. There is no place to set up an ambush along the way to the southeast. What is there to worry about?"

"The General's teachings are correct." Li Dian cupped his hands in agreement.

Cao Xiu nodded slightly, then continued.

"Since Man Cheng feels that the Han army is up to something, then Man Cheng will lead three thousand soldiers to continue guarding the city of Linzi, to ensure that the rear is not lost..."

After a pause, Cao Xiu suddenly stood up and looked around at the generals, saying loudly.

"The rest of the generals, follow me on the expedition, and crush the Han army!"

"Crush the Han army!!!"

The generals responded thunderously and went down to muster their troops for battle.

Just as the sky was slightly bright, Cao Xiu left one thousand elite soldiers and two thousand young men to guard the city for Li Dian. The garrison in Linzi City could be said to have been dispatched in full force, heading mightily towards the southeast.

With the Leopard Cavalry acting as scouts, constantly biting at the Han army, Cao Xiu, who was quite cautious, did not even urge the army to march quickly, so as not to excessively exhaust the army's strength.

Instead, Cao Xiu planned to continue chasing the Han army from afar, forcing the Han army's morale and physical strength to further decline...

And the Han army also seemed to be aware of the existence of pursuers, and along the way, they were chased in a disheveled manner, constantly abandoning their armor and helmets, desperately rushing forward.

This chase and escape lasted for nearly four hours.

That large and不堪不堪 Han army was finally caught up by Cao Xiu and blocked on the banks of the Zishui River, which had open terrain.

The number of Han troops was around twenty thousand, and the number of Cao troops was even slightly greater, including more than five thousand elite Tiger and Leopard Cavalry.

The two armies maintained a semblance of confrontation, but the morale of the two sides was vastly different.

Although the Cao army, which had been pursuing for a day, was also quite tired, compared to the extremely disheveled state of the Han army, they were much better off.

At this moment, Cao Xiu, who was like a cat catching a mouse, had chased this Han army all the way and blocked them on the banks of the Zishui River. He slowly rode out from the central army and said with a condescending look.

"Surrender, and you will not be killed! Do not surrender, and you will all be beheaded!"

"Bah!"

Wei Yan, who showed up without showing any weakness, replied remotely.

"I am Wei Yan, General Fenwu of the Great Han. Not to mention you, a mere child, even if the false king Cao Cao were here, what qualifications would he have to make me, Wei Yan, surrender?"

"How dare you!"

Cao Xiu's face was slightly angry, and he shouted. "Since you will not surrender, then you shall all be buried here, and sending your heads to Li Zikun will not make much of a difference either."

Wei Yan sneered and asked loudly.

"You little brat, don't tell me you think you have victory in your grasp?"

Cao Xiu was slightly startled, and his gaze swept over the Han soldiers not far away, then he sarcastically said indifferently.

"Oh? Are you perhaps going to imitate Xiang Yu and break the cauldrons and sink the boats, and turn defeat into victory?"

As soon as this was said, quite a few of Cao's generals burst into laughter.

The premise of breaking the cauldrons and sinking the boats is that the soldiers must first be well-fed.

But the Han army in front of them, one by one, was so tired and hungry that they could hardly stand steady, and they did not have the possibility of breaking the cauldrons and sinking the boats at all.