524 Sima Yi’s Struggle 1 (1/2)

Early June, 201 AD.

Traveled from You Province of Sima Clan, Sima Yi, Sima Lang, Sima Fu, 50,000 policemen, and 100,000 mercenaries arrived at Xu Province, where Cao Cao used to reside.

Sima Lang was Sima Yi's elder brother while Sima Fu was Sima Yi's younger brother These three brothers were the only ones who had the influence in Ji and Beiping Commandery. They secretly trained 100,000 men and disguised them as mercenaries to keep the royal clan in check by the order of Sima Fang.

The Sima household had this privilege since Tong had authorized them to do so since the beginning of their services, compensating for Tong's past offense of killing Sima Xin.

However, this army became Sima Yi's assets after Sima Fang's passing, which threatened Dong Bai and her authority.

.

As ordered Sima Yi lead his family and his clansmen to occupy Cao Cao's headquarters, so they could secure a major agriculture region for the next harvest season in July. Then, the vanguard troops in Lujiang wouldn't have to worry about their provision.

But when Sima Yi found out that the cities' treasuries left them with nothing, he could only grumble and ask Dong Bai to send him more supplies.

Sima Yi: \”Cao Cao left nothing in Xu. I need gold and a provision to maintain the territory. Please send supplies to my province.\”

Even though Sima Yi swore allegiance to Lilim, he didn't flee along with Cao Cao to regroup with Sun Ce. He knew that he would be targeted after the war, but he had his agendas for staying within Dong Bai's ranks.

After all, he still wanted Sun Ce dead. He couldn't stand working together with his father's murderer.

Moreover, he didn't have to fight against Tong's wives head-on even though he was Lilim's subordinate. From Sima Yi's perspective, Lilim hadn't given him any reward, so there was no need to fight for her at the moment. He could as well resume his duty as Tong's retainer and persuade Dong Bai to leave him alone.

Dong Bai: \”The Silver Axe will head there along with supplies. Hand over your soldiers and province authority to them, and they will handle the rest. After you pass the authority over, join me on the frontline since I need there.\”

\”…\”

Sima Yi wasn't satisfied with Dong Bai's order as she just asked him to strip his power to her underlings.

'Am I the next target after Te Langpu? Are they suspecting me? Well, shit. Don't blame me if I have to use this method. I still want to live.'

.

.

.

Three armies from Ye stopped at Qiao Commandery, which located southwest of Xiapi.

Xu Huang led his Silver Axe Legion here as ordered by Dong Bai. As for the other two armies, they were the newly formed troops, the Wu Legion, and the Red Tiger Legion.

As for the Red Tiger Legion, named to honor Sun Jian, Huang Gai became the grand commander. Lu Meng was his strategist, and the old veteran Han Dang worked with Huang Gai as his aide as usual.

The latter two armies were established after Sun Quan and Wu Guotai had agreed to submit to Diaochan and gave their immortal oath. From now on, they worked directly for the grand demoness.

Each army consisted of 50,000 mixed infantry and cavalry. All units also had reserve troops of 20,000 men to guard their army provision.

As such, 210,000 soldiers got into a position to guard against Sima Yi's 150,000 men in Xiapi. The rest depended on Sima Yi's action if he wanted to cooperate with Dong Bai in this campaign.

In the case if Sima Yi tried something stupid, Xu Huang, Sun Quan, and Huang Gai would attack Xiapi and destroy Sima Yi's entire clan.

.

.

.

= Meanwhile =

Xu Huang: \”I refuse! The Han Dynasty has already restored! There's no need for another civil war!\”

Xu Huang: \”Surrender now, and I'll persuade her majesty to spare your life!\”

Cheng Yu: \”We're not trying to rebel or anything. We've just sent our army south to Jianye and searched for Sun Ce's whereabouts. Why are you so agitated? A good general like you shouldn't point your sword against your former lord.\”

Xu Huang: \”Stop the charade, Senior Cheng. We've worked together in the last life, and I know Cao Mende's personality! Your escape is nothing but a tactical retreat before a counterattack against the royal family forces. That's Mengde's favorite strategy in war!\”

Cheng Yu: \”Your accusation is baseless, General Xu. Please don't be so hostile. Mengde also wants peace, so he is working hard to prove himself. We need all the forces in Jiangdong, so we can search the region thoroughly.\”

Sitting in his resting tent, Xu Huang was debating against Cheng Yu using the private chat messenger.

Cheng Yu attempted to freeze Xu Huang's military activities while Xu Huang convinced Cheng Yu, trying to make the latter surrender.

Unfortunately, things did not go well for both sides.