Three Kingdoms: I, Yuan Shu, Loyal Officials of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 64 Next time Sun Ce comes to feign surrender, we can turn the tables on him!

Yuan Shu captured Yangdi to save the city's inhabitants. Because Xi Zhicai had previously implemented a scorched-earth policy, they decided to use Yangdi, Xuxian, Yangcheng, and Xuanyuan Pass as a line to resist Yuan Shu's advance.

Therefore, Yangdi City stockpiled a large amount of grain and supplies plundered from the fourteen counties of Yingchuan in preparation for a long-term defense. This is also the reason why Xi Zhicai burned Yangdi before leaving.

However, Yuan Shu almost chased after Le Jin, not giving Cao Cao's army much time to prepare. Upon arrival, he immediately put out the fire and rescued people.

Therefore, although much of the grain and supplies were burned, a lot of food and supplies were still salvaged, relieving the urgent need for food supplies that Xi Zhicai had previously planned to deplete.

After stabilizing the lives of the people in Yangdi City, Yuan Shu followed Jiang Gan's plan and assigned 30,000 troops to his general Ji Ling, ordering him to subdue the states of Pei, Liang, and Chen in Yuzhou, which were currently defenseless.

He himself led the remaining 70,000 troops to continue the advance, aiming for Xuchang.

When Yuan Shu once again marched on Xuchang, Xi Zhicai and Yue Jin were once again forced into a desperate defense.

Le Jin saw that the three thousand remnants of his army that he had brought back from Yangdi, plus the five thousand garrison troops of Xu County, were all in low spirits.

Even some of the county garrison troops, upon hearing rumors from the defeated soldiers of Yangdi about the cannibalistic ghosts of Yuan's army, were terrified.

With such high morale, they faced Yuan's army, which had captured fifteen cities in a row and was led by the unparalleled generals Lei Bu and Chen Lan, and whose momentum was unstoppable as they attacked the cities all night long.

Le Jin was in utter distress. He really wanted to know how Xiahou Yuanrang had managed to hold out for so many days.
When he actually led his troops into battle, Le Jincai deeply felt the suffocating dominance that Lei Bu and Chen Lan, as "commanders," exerted over him in terms of troop deployment.

He was confident in his abilities and quite skilled in commanding troops, but the enemy's "commander" had the air of being able to command tens of thousands of troops at will, making full use of Yuan's superior troop strength, which made him exhausted and mentally drained.

Finally, just like Xiahou Dun before him, he stood hesitantly in front of Xi Zhicai's door.

"Wenqian, now that you're here, why don't you come in?"

Le Jin slowly entered the room, which was dimly lit, with only the flickering candlelight illuminating a gaunt and terrifying face.

Xi Zhicai had become so thin he was barely recognizable, yet he was still hunched over his desk writing something. Le Jin could only vaguely make out map markers for places like Yingchuan, Henan, and Luoyang, as well as the words, "My lord should take this seriously and not worry about it."

He was writing his memorial intently, and before he knew it, a great deal of time had passed. The bowls and chopsticks were piled up on the corner of the table, and the food had long since gone cold.

"The strategist should eat first and take care of his health."

Before Yue Jin could finish speaking, Xi Zhicai interrupted him.

“I know your purpose. Yuan’s army is so fierce that we are afraid we will not be able to hold out until the imperial edict is delivered to Liu Bei. Before he can transfer his troops to Yuan Shu, Xu County will have already been lost.”

Le Jin seemed to still have doubts about this matter: "Even if there is an imperial edict, would Liu Bei really obey it?"

"All the feudal lords in the world can disregard the emperor's edicts and recklessly forge them, but Liu Bei alone will not do so."

Moreover, a few days ago, Gongda wrote a letter saying that Lü Bu had seized Xuzhou, and he was now leading his army to join forces with Xun Yu. They had already defeated Liu Bei several times and recovered the entire territory of Lu.

Liu Bei is now stuck with nowhere to go forward or backward. He has no foundation to build and is leading tens of thousands of troops while his resources dwindle. He is likely facing an imminent dead end.

At this time, we will have almost no troops stationed here. We will take the kingdoms of Pei, Chen, and Liang, which have been seized by Yuan Shu, and hand them over to him. He will then become the governor of Yu Province. How could he not come?
If he comes, how could Yuan Shu sit idly by and watch the fat meat in his mouth be taken by others, and Liu Bei get the benefit?
With Yuzhou like bait placed here, Liu Bei, currently lacking a base of operations, will inevitably try to take it. Yuan Shu has long considered Yuzhou as his own, so how could he possibly give it up? Thus, with two tigers vying for food, one will surely be injured, and we can simply sit back and watch.

Once Liu Bei lifts the siege, Gongda and Wenruo will be able to free up their troops.

"At that time, we can send troops to relieve the siege of Xu County, and we can also recuperate and wait for Liu Bei and Yuan Shu to fight each other, until they are both exhausted, before we can march south and reclaim the lost territory." He was focused on writing the document, a coldness appearing on his withered face.

"The previous defeat at Yangdi was entirely my fault!"
I never expected that the person behind Yuan Shu would have laid out plans a year in advance, creating the illusion that Sun Ce and Zhou Yu wanted to establish themselves independently, and that Lei Bu and Chen Lan had long harbored ulterior motives.

But he is not an immortal, and there is absolutely no way he could have foreseen today's events. He must have been prepared for any eventuality and deliberately created this illusion to deceive us.

He was certain that any strategist who plotted against Yuan Shu would not let go of the opportunity to seize power from Sun Ce and to discover the ulterior motives of Lei and Chen. In doing so, they would fall into his trap and regret it too late.

In reality, Sun Ce, Zhou Yu, Lei, Chen, and others would have been completely loyal to Yuan Shu and would have had no chance of rebelling.

Otherwise, if he wasn't a true confidant, wouldn't he be afraid that Sun Ce and the others would take the charade too seriously, causing the plan to backfire and result in a counterproductive outcome?

Therefore, it seems that the information we thought was genuine from Jiang Gan was actually a deliberate fabrication.

Conversely, the widely circulated news that we previously thought was false—that Lei Bu and Chen Lan were Yuan Shu's trusted generals and that Sun Ce was his beloved son whom he treated as his own—must be true.

I have already reminded my lord in my letter, and Wenqian should also be constantly vigilant about this matter, lest he repeat my mistake and fall into their trap, and be wary of their feigned surrender.”

Xi Zhicai's words already implied that he was making arrangements for his final affairs. How could Le Jin not be moved? His tiger-like eyes filled with tears, and he solemnly nodded.

"Rest assured, strategist. If Yuan's army is vicious and dares to use such a treacherous scheme again, I will surely warn our lord and persuade him to turn the tables on us. I will swear to avenge this humiliation for you."

"I was just saying this in case of emergency; I'm afraid I won't see if the other side will give me this chance to win back the game."

Xi Zhicai sighed helplessly before bringing up the current situation.

"If one plan fails, another will be devised. I already have a plan to deal with the Yuan army's rapid offensive."

"I hope the strategist can instruct me."

"Let him become emperor!"

The sickly scholar slowly raised his eyes, a strange smile appearing on his lips.

"Most of the intelligence Jiang Gan brought back from that mission was false, but there was one thing he was right about."

Regardless of whether Yuan Shu's strategist was Fengxiao or someone else, he was not in Yuan's camp.

No one can completely hide themselves without revealing the slightest clue, unless they don't exist in Yuan's camp at all.

Since that's the case, he and Yuan Shu can only rely on correspondence, and the biggest drawback of correspondence is that it is delayed!
Considering his previous schemes, such as arranging for Sun Ce and others to set up a fake operation a year in advance, why was that?
Because he could not make decisions for Yuan Shu on the spot, he could only set up such general traps in advance in case of unforeseen circumstances.

Even if it wasn't me who attacked Yuan Shu, but other strategists, as long as they wanted to create chaos within Yuan Shu's ranks, they would inevitably have contacted Sun Ce, Lei, Chen, and others, thus falling into their trap and suffering a crushing defeat.

Therefore, it may not be that he was good at anticipating the enemy's moves and making plans in advance, but rather that because he was in constant correspondence, he could not make decisions on the spot, so he had to anticipate the enemy's moves and make plans in advance!

And this is precisely our opportunity.

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(End of this chapter)