The Three Kingdoms began with island farming

Chapter 565 Ready to make a move
Far behind Yuan Shu's army, the coalition forces of the four kings were slowly following Yuan Shu's marching route.

After receiving Cao Cao's letter, Zhang Liao led 10,000 elite cavalry and arrived at the vicinity of Shule in just half a month in advance, where he joined forces with the four kings.

In this way, the coalition forces were officially formed, with a total of 90,000 soldiers and horses.

Li Ru wantonly squandered the spiritual jade pendant left to them by Tian Ze. His talent directly enveloped the entire 90,000 soldiers and horses, making the occasional Northern Hun scouts he encountered simply ignore him.

Yuan Shu basically wiped out all the tribes along the way, and also sent a large number of cavalry to drive away the scouts of the Northern Huns.

Yuan Shu also arranged a lot of baggage troops to travel back and forth in the rear, and with the coalition forces' deliberate cover-up, nothing unusual was discovered.

At this moment, the civil and military officials under Yuan Shao and Cao Cao had to once again take the existence of Lu Bu and Gongsun Zan seriously, and raised their status to a higher level.

Although the two men have relatively few civil and military officers under their command, such as Yan Xing and the six strong generals, who are not very impressive, they are too good at fighting.

There are also three capable people: Li Ru, Fa Zheng and Han Sui.

Not to mention Li Ru alone, there are only a handful of people under Yuan Shao and Cao Cao who can match him.

However, Zhang Liao's arrival also brought Cao Cao a close friend whom he had been thinking about day and night, Xi Zhicai.

After recuperation, Xi Zhicai finally recovered his health, but his talent was slightly weakened.

Although Tian Ze saved Xi Zhicai's life, his extraordinary talent in the law of causality was also restricted a lot. Otherwise, the backlash would be something Tian Ze could not afford to compensate for.

"It's so boring." Ma Chao, who was at the end of the army, said a little irritably.

"Wenyuan, we are the elite troops. Why should we be the rear guard? Isn't this bullying?"

Looking at the anxious Ma Chao and Zhang Xiu who was also eager to try, Zhang Liao couldn't help but sigh.

Although he didn't send many troops this time, Tian Ze made sure that he had no shortage of both civil and military forces.

Sima Yi was the military advisor, and four generals, Ma Chao, Pang De, Zhang Xiu and Liao Hua, followed the army.

The other three are mature in character, but Ma Chao and Zhang Xiu, these two young boys, are extremely warlike.

Asking for battle all the time really gave him a headache.

However, thinking about Tian Ze's instructions before he left, Zhang Liao could only patiently explain again: "Meng Qi, calm down."

"The Northern Huns are not that strong. The main purpose of this battle is to integrate the civil and military forces under the four kings, rather than simply winning. We are just assisting and cannot disrupt the overall situation."

"Besides, as the rear troops, we seem to have an easy job, but in fact we shoulder a heavy responsibility."

"If the Northern Huns are difficult to deal with, we will naturally have the opportunity to take action. Even if the situation is going well, we can take advantage of the situation to pursue them. Don't worry about not having a battle to fight."

Ma Chao felt a little unhappy after hearing this, but he also knew that what Zhang Liao said made sense. He just muttered, "I came all the way here, but I didn't even have a chance to fight a tough battle. Sigh..."

Zhang Liao shook his head helplessly and looked towards Sima Yi, hoping that this precocious military advisor could help persuade him.

Sima Yi saw this and said slowly: "The Northern Xiongnu are already struggling to survive. What's the point of bullying such a weak group?"

"In the future, we will have to deal with Kushan and Parthia, which will be a tough battle. Are we qualified to fight a battle like this which is not that difficult?"

Upon hearing this, Ma Chao and Zhang Xiu thought about it for a moment, nodded thoughtfully, but still felt a little unwilling.

"What's more, if the Northern Huns are too weak, we can just take advantage of the situation and kill them after the four-nation coalition forces defeat them. There is no need to fight against such a weakling."

"But if the Northern Huns hide their strength and the four-nation coalition falls into a disadvantage, and we try to turn the tide, then..."

Ma Chao's eyes lit up when he heard this. "Military Advisor, I understand!"

Sima Yi had a teachable expression on his face: "The best steel should be used on the blade, and the one who can turn the tide of the battle at the critical moment and do what others cannot do, is a hero."

Seeing that Sima Yi had fooled the two impetuous young men with just a few words, Zhang Liao finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Your Majesty was truly wise in sending Sima Yi here this time.

Sima Yi smiled faintly.

He came here with great ambitions.

During the time he cooperated with Zhuge Liang in the Northeast Plain, Sima Yi felt deeply frustrated and truly recognized a fact.

When it comes to domestic affairs, he is not as good as Zhuge Liang.

The subsequent battle between Lu Xun and him also made him feel deeply threatened in military terms.

Although his overall ability was not inferior to those two, Sima Yi was unwilling to lag behind. Compared with the two, he had greater ambitions and wanted to reach a high position instead of following Zhuge Liang's footsteps.

Tian Ze once evaluated the three of them.

Zhuge Liang is described as "the perfect executor of idealism."

Lu Xun was evaluated as "a top commander with brilliant tactics."

The evaluation of Sima Yi is "the ultimate realist who is proficient in survival, planning and subversion in troubled times."

Sima Yi's greatest advantage lies not in domestic affairs and warfare, but in his systematic control over politics, military affairs, powerful families, and the trends of the times, as well as his tolerance for any means necessary to achieve his goals.

The overly stable situation of the Great Qi was not suitable for Sima Yi.

Therefore, when Tian Ze asked Sima Yi for his opinion, Sima Yi chose to follow Zhang Liao to the Western Regions without hesitation.

Because this is the environment where he can best display his abilities, strengths and ambitions.

The more chaotic the situation became and the more complicated the circumstances became, the more excited Sima Yi became.

The existence of Tian Ze and the clear rewards and punishments meant that many civil and military officials did not have to worry about their own safety. Instead, they were more worried about having no place to display their abilities.

Even Guo Jia and Xun You wanted to join the war. After all, the war in the Central Plains was too boring and would be over soon.

But unfortunately, their identities are destined to not be touched lightly.

On the contrary, young people like Sima Yi and Lu Xun may have the opportunity to come out and gain some experience.

With the support of Da Qi, Sima Yi didn't have to worry about the matter getting out of hand. He was only worried that it wouldn't be big enough.

Zhang Liao seemed to sense the eagerness in Sima Yi's eyes. He couldn't suppress his ambition to stir up trouble.

After all, Sima Yi is still young and has not yet reached the level of forbearance he would have in middle age, so he cannot hide it from the meticulous Zhang Liao.

"Zhongda, after this battle, how do you think we should deal with ourselves?" Zhang Liao asked.

Hearing this probing remark, Sima Yi smiled calmly: "Your Majesty said before he left that we are only assisting the reinforcements of the four countries and just need to cooperate well."

"We don't have many troops, the Western Regions have not yet been completely brought under the control of the Great Qi, and the railway has not yet been completed. The timing is not right. It will be the time for us to officially debut after the Kushan Empire is destroyed."

(End of this chapter)