Tiger Guards

Chapter 338 Strategists
At night, Han Ji tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

Although facilitating and guiding Lü Bu's attack on Liu Biao could avenge him and also uphold the spirit of the people of Nanyang.

However, Lu Bu's entry into Nanyang felt somewhat like inviting a wolf into the house.

Back then, Lü Bu brought Dong Zhuo's head and was the first to seek refuge with Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu's supply of money and food was insufficient, so Lü Bu plundered on his own.

Only the prominent families of Nanyang could be plundered by Lü Bu.

How could one forget something so easily when only three years have passed?

At this moment, Han Ji's mind was filled with the four words "borrowing a path to conquer Guo" that Lü Bu had uttered. Even the slightly smug and proud expression on Lü Bu's face when he spoke was deeply imprinted in Han Ji's mind, vividly replaying itself.

He rolled over and sat up abruptly. The spring night was chilly, and perhaps it was the cold air that made Han Ji break out in a cold sweat.

Sitting on the couch, the maidservant who was supposed to be attending to him was also startled awake.

Han Ji glanced at the maid and comforted her, saying, "Go to sleep. You had a nightmare."

"Here."

The maidservant responded softly and curled up in the quilt. Han Ji also lay down again, pulled the quilt up, but couldn't fall asleep no matter what.

After the great fear, he was full of energy. The maid snuggled up to him, but Han Ji had no interest at all.

Seeing that she couldn't be helped up, the maid shrank back into the quilt.

Han Ji gazed at the flickering light of the fish oil lamp, reached into the blankets, and squinted as he analyzed the possibility of Lü Bu's feigned attack on Guo.

Before long, he suddenly felt enlightened and breathed a long sigh of relief.

The maid got up and blew out the oil lamp, helping Han Ji fall asleep.

On the other side, Yang Jun paced alone in the room, Lu Bu's acting skills were still lacking.

Lü Bu could have told the story of "borrowing a path to attack Guo," but his demeanor was wrong. He should have used a tone of worry, annoyance, contempt, or mockery, but Lü Bu's expression and the look in his eyes were full of smugness.

What are you so proud of?
Cao Cao and Yuan Shu used a pretext to attack Guo and destroy the State of Chen. What is there to be proud of?
Now things are in trouble, which will inevitably arouse the vigilance of Han Ji and Xun Yu.

Yang Jun frowned. There was bound to be war sometime in March or April this year.

Logically speaking, one should not wage war without sufficient food reserves.

But the reality was so dire that the only way to obtain food was through warfare. Even if they couldn't get food, they still had to deplete the enemy's and their own soldiers' strength.

Yang Jun paced back and forth. In autumn and winter, grain transported from Jingzhou passed through Nanyang, and Li Tong intercepted quite a bit of it.

Li Tong didn't have that much influence; the key is that he's from Nanyang.

Lou Gui used gold and jewelry to buy grain and smuggled it to Wancheng. Various families in Nanyang assisted in transporting the grain and naturally received a share of the profits.

The money to buy grain was obtained by sending people to dig up the ancestral graves of various families in Ru and Ying by Lü Bu; the rations for the officials and soldiers who dug up the graves were transported from Jingzhou.

People from Nanyang are just porters in this process; earning a little money for their hard work is nothing.

Even if Lü Bu knew the truth, he wouldn't care too much.

Anyway, Lu Bu was at the top, he had money reserves, food, and an army that he had trained, so what more could he ask for?
Those who suffered losses were the prominent Ru Ying clan buried in the earth; those who lost face were the Ru Ying scholars; and those who lost grain but gained security were the people of Jingzhou.

The people of Nanyang followed closely behind Lü Bu, and with money came increased grain reserves.

If Liu Biao refuses to continue supplying grain, wouldn't it be a perfect opportunity to punish and eliminate the already fattened people of Nanyang?

It's not that he's just a man from Nanyang; the biggest problem this year is that both Cao Cao and Yuan Shu will face food shortages.

Without food, the army will collapse, starve, and rebel, and the foundation of rule will crumble.

Therefore, there is a high probability that Cao Cao and Yuan Shu will launch a joint attack!
As for the King of Chen, he even declined the seal of the Grand General... Could it be that the King of Chen really did not want to govern or assist in the administration?
No, King Chen certainly wanted to achieve something, but the ministers, officials, and scholars were very resistant to him.

So King Chen simply returned the General's Seal to the court. How could King Chen, in this situation, be devoted to the Emperor and Lü Bu?
When Cao Cao and Yuan Shu joined forces to attack, Prince Chen would most likely remain neutral and indifferent, just as before.

At this time, internal changes occurred among the people of Nanyang and Ruying. How much cohesion could Lu Bu's newly formed army still have?
The world is vast, where could Lü Bu possibly go?

What should I do next?
Now is not the time to criticize Lü Bu for digging up graves. Without money to maintain the army, what can Lü Bu do?
Zhao Ji has a treasury; if he doesn't give it to you, who would dare to rob it?
As dawn broke, Yang Jun arrived at the General's residence immediately.

However, Lü Bu did not get up early. By the time he woke up and ate, it was already close to noon.

When he arrived at the side hall of the deliberation office, Yang Jun was fast asleep in the corner, wrapped in a cloak.

Lu Bu just smiled when he saw his appearance, assuming that this guy was just like him, having worked hard all night.

In environments with food shortages, generally only young and middle-aged men and women can survive.

Lu Bu controlled the grain supplies, so he naturally had no shortage of beautiful maids to serve him. Yang Jun woke up in the afternoon, and was now starving; he had basically been woken up by hunger.

There was no time to eat anything, so he paid a private visit to Lü Bu in the hall.

The two climbed onto the arrow platform inside the yamen (government office), and Yang Jun then ordered the ladder to be removed.

The guards hesitated and looked up at Lü Bu. Lü Bu was also curious and waved his hand with a smile: "I want to see what Ji Cai wants to say. You should listen to him."

"Here."

The guards moved the ladder away and saw Lü Bu glance at them as they walked away. He looked at Yang Jun and saw that Yang Jun was also observing the departing guards. He asked, "Ji Cai specially invited me here. What do you want to talk about?"

Yang Jun solemnly cupped his hands, his expression composed: "In my opinion, the General's plan has already been leaked. It is not advisable to send an envoy to summon Liu Jingsheng to court. The envoy will take half a month to travel back and forth; first, we summon him, and then we reprimand him in person. In this way, a month will be wasted. What we will gain is nothing more than Liu Jingsheng actively preparing for war, while our army will have a month's worth of grain reserves for no reason."

Lu Bu frowned upon hearing this: "What is there to talk about regarding the plan that Ji Cai mentioned?"

"I entrust my life to you, General, and wish to follow you in achieving great things. Why should you treat me as an outsider?"

Yang Jun simply sat down on the ground and looked up at Lü Bu: "Even someone like me can guess that the General intends to use a pretext to attack Guo. Do you think Xun Yu, Han Ji, Huan Jie, and the likes can't guess it? They just guessed it but pretended not to know, wanting to turn the tables on him."

Lu Bu's smile slowly faded, and his good mood vanished: "Ji Cai..."

For a moment, Lü Bu really didn't know what to say.

If things had gone according to his original plan, the two messengers would have made their round trip in just over a month.

He did this not to establish any righteous cause of attacking Liu Biao, nor to seek a legitimate reason for his campaign.

This was simply a way to avoid the rainy season in early spring, and to launch military operations in March or April.

At this time, the roads are clear, the temperature is just right, and the vegetation in the wild is lush, which is conducive to the rest and recuperation of livestock.

Yang Jun remained kneeling and said to Lü Bu, "A month or so is enough time for Cao Cao, Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao and their ilk to form alliances. When you, General, march south, they will seize the opportunity to strike, and you will find yourself in a dilemma. Not only you, General, but also Prince Chen and General Zhang will be in danger."

Lu Bu remained silent, gazing at the street scenery outside the shogunate's office.

Yang Jun added, "Perhaps we won't even have to wait for the Yuan-Cao alliance; within ten days, a change will occur in Xuchang."

Lu Bu turned to look at Yang Jun: "What will happen if Ji Cai's guess is wrong?"

“The general did not heed my advice, and was defeated and killed. I have nowhere to go.”

Yang Jun sighed, "Waiting to die is not as good as fighting. If I'm wrong, General, please behead me."

"Ji Cai, there's no need for that."

Lu Bu reached out and helped Yang Jun up. Just then, the evening drum sounded.

Upon hearing the drumbeats, Lü Bu squinted and said, "Perhaps Ji Cai is right. I was too arrogant and acted too hastily."

Yang Junsong breathed a sigh of relief and praised, "In terms of strategy for dealing with the enemy, I am far inferior to the General. Since the General is already on guard, I have nothing to worry about."

Lu Bu raised his hand to rest on the railing of the arrow tower, gazing at the direction of several military camps within the city, his eyes narrowed: "I really didn't expect that I would be surrounded by such wolves and tigers. If it weren't for Ji Cai, I would be dead."

Faced with Lü Bu's感慨 (expression/remarks), Yang Jun did not respond, but simply bowed even lower.

Immediately, Lü Bu took out a token and handed it to Yang Jun: "After Ji Cai leaves the headquarters, give this to the former commander Gao Shun. Tell him to wait for an opportunity to act and to be extra vigilant in the coming days."

"Here."

Yang Jun agreed and stepped forward with both hands to receive the newly made pure gold token.

After thinking for a moment, Lü Bu felt that Yang Jun no longer needed to do anything else, so he said, "Let's leave it at that. If they refuse to move, I will find an opportunity to annihilate them. If we launch an attack soon, I will take the opportunity to attack Liu Biao. As for Cao Cao and Yuan Shu, I will leave a detachment to repel and resist them."

At least, the city of Xuchang will no longer be easily taken away by Cao Cao and Yuan Shu.

When attacking a city, with a garrison and sufficient food supplies, no one can break through its defenses.

Unless, like Zhao Ji, they built earthen mounds outside the city and pushed across.

Even when building earthen mounds, Zhao Ji achieved an absolute advantage in the Battle of Huguan. He completed the construction of the earthen mounds without any interference in the field. Then, he used the superiority of bows and crossbows to suppress the defenders, making it difficult for them to raise their heads and exert their defensive advantages.

Even if Cao Cao and Yuan Shu besieged Xuchang, they could not achieve an absolute advantage in open field battles.

Lu Bu pondered, silently categorizing Dong Cheng, Tian Yu, Liu Hui, Chen Yu, and others as part of the enemy forces.

If he gets the chance, he will definitely carry out a crackdown and eliminate this potential threat.

In terms of ruthlessness, he is far more ruthless than Zhao Ji.

(End of this chapter)