Surviving as Guan Yu in the Three Kingdoms

As soon as he heard that Taishi Ci had arrived, Liu Bei immediately stood up and returned the greeting.

“I’m truly embarrassed that an officer like you has come to welcome a mere volunteer army leader like myself.”

Hearing those words, Taishi Ci shook his head.

“Although Lord Liu doesn’t hold an official position, aren’t you the hero who saved the Governor of Yu Province when he was in dire straits? Moreover, you’ve raised an army for the greater cause and come all the way here without asking for any reward, so it’s only right that we treat you with this much respect.”
“I don’t know how to respond when you speak so highly of me.”

Though he said that, Liu Bei must be inwardly jubilant.

Before raising the volunteer army, both Liu Bei and I were in such low positions that we could hardly even speak to military officers under a governor.

But now, after raising the volunteer army, to have someone as high-ranking as a governor send his subordinate officer to welcome us upon hearing of our arrival…

It must be treatment beyond anything he could have imagined even in his dreams when he was young.

“Governor Kong Rong of Qing Province is eagerly awaiting the arrival of General Liu and his troops. So let’s go to where the governor is as quickly as possible.”

Although we brought elite troops and sent a letter of recommendation to Kong Rong detailing our great military achievements at Mount Daxing…

Judging by how he’s hurrying us, the situation must be quite dire.

I’m not sure exactly how bad it is, but given that the administrative center of a province has fallen, the situation might be even worse than that of Liu Yan when he was cornered.

“We rushed here wanting to help the Governor of Qing Province as soon as possible, but right now our soldiers are finishing up relief efforts and repacking their belongings. I’d like to go together with the soldiers, could you wait a little?”

Only then did Taishi Ci look around and reply.

“The governor ordered me to bring General Liu as quickly as possible, so I was in such a hurry that I didn’t notice my surroundings. Even our Qing Province army is in such difficult circumstances that we couldn’t provide relief to the people, yet you’ve opened up your military rations to help the people like this.”
“We were just in a position to offer some help. It’s not really anything great.”

Looking around, you can see people who seem to have eaten nothing for anywhere from a few days to nearly a week.

If relief hadn’t come now, many of these people would surely have starved to death.

Hearing those words, Taishi Ci smiled.

“Although General Liu says you haven’t done anything great, thanks to you, countless people’s lives have been saved. As a military officer of Qing Province, I deeply thank you for your dedication.”

Many officials in this era are corrupt, so even if you provide relief, they might not scold you for doing unnecessary things…

But they would surely complain behind your back, saying you’re just going around winning people’s hearts by doing things that don’t need to be done.

After seeing only such rotten people, it’s deeply moving to see an upright person like Taishi Ci.

“Then I’ll have the soldiers who came with me help with the cleanup. Let’s go together after everything is organized.”

After finishing the relief efforts, our group and Taishi Ci headed straight for the nearby camp of the Governor of Qing Province.

**

The Governor of Qing Province welcomed us quite warmly as soon as he saw us.

“Oh, are you the heroes who helped Junlang, the Governor of Yu Province, to suppress Zhang Yan?”

Liu Bei answered on our behalf.

“Yes, that’s right. I am Liu Bei, the leader of these volunteer soldiers, and these two beside me are my brothers Zhang Fei and Guan Yu.”
“The letter of recommendation from Junlang says that your two brothers are also unparalleled brave generals, so I have high expectations.”

Hearing those words, Zhang Fei puffed out his chest.

His face was full of confident smiles.

“You may have heard from Taishi Gongcao, but I can’t express how grateful I am that heroes like you have come here.”

Regardless of the era, when important people start talking at length, it usually means the situation isn’t good.

Liu Bei must have noticed this too, as he tightly clenched his fists, though his expression didn’t change.

“There’s much I want to say, but we don’t have time now, so let’s go inside first. The other generals and imperial troops of Qing Province are waiting.”

Governor Kong Rong of Qing Province led us deeper into the camp.

There, armored warriors were gathered, talking with serious expressions.

“Magistrate of Jinan, so now we must cut off the enemy’s supplies. We need to make Hu Dang starve by preventing him from leaving Linzi City.”
“Lord Beihai, wouldn’t it be better to just seize the routes to Langya and Beihai to isolate Hu Dang?”
“Right now, we imperial troops are outnumbered by the rebels, so if we divide our forces or try to outflank them, we might be defeated instead. If we’re pushed back, all of Qing Province will fall into Hu Dang’s hands.”

Just from hearing this conversation, we can roughly understand how chaotic the situation in Qing Province is.

I don’t know who Hu Dang is, but he must have completely taken control of at least three commanderies: Jinan, where we are now, Langya, and Beihai.

And it means we’re greatly outnumbered compared to them.

Taishi Ci came in to explain to us who didn’t fully understand the situation.

“Hu Dang was originally the Magistrate of Jinan. But about half a year ago, he suddenly invited the Prefects of Langya and Chengyang to a banquet, pretending to host them, and then killed them, taking control of Langya and Chengyang commanderies.”

In the Three Kingdoms, inviting someone to a banquet and then killing them with a sword appears almost as frequently as eating rice, so did they start this rebellion in the same way again?

“Then he gathered all his troops, took control of Beihai, and now he’s an traitor eyeing Donglai Commandery and Jinan State.”

In the Three Kingdoms, it was simply described as the ‘Battle of Qingzhou City,’ and it seemed like nothing much when it showed Guan Yu and Zhang Fei beating drums and the city gates opening easily.

But it was a much more serious problem on a larger scale than I thought.

“The problem seems more serious than we thought.”

Liu Bei also sighed after hearing my words.

“I’m not sure how we can help.”

As everyone was worried, the man who was just called Lord Beihai approached us and spoke.

“So, you’re the volunteer soldiers who’ve come a long way to lend a hand in suppressing the rebellion in Qing Province?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Who among you is Liu Bei…?”

Although Liu Bei currently holds no official position, it wouldn’t be a big problem for someone holding the position of Beihai State, equivalent to a prefect, to call him by name.

However, separately from that, we’ve come to save you who are in crisis, so would it hurt to call him “General” even as empty words, like the Governor of Qing Province did?

To put it bluntly, calling him “General Liu” isn’t much different from calling someone “Mr. Liu” in Korea.

Regardless, Liu Bei answered confidently.

“I am Liu Xuande, leading the volunteer soldiers I’ve brought this time, Lord Beihai.”
“Oh, I see. I am Kong Rong, Lord of Beihai. I’m a direct descendant of Confucius.”
“It’s an honor to meet Lord Beihai, such a distinguished scholar.”

At those words, Kong Rong showed a proud attitude and returned to his seat.

Then Governor Kong Rong of Qing Province offered Liu Bei an empty seat at the end, and the strategy meeting began in earnest.

“First, we need to recapture Linzi City, where the administrative center of Qing Province is located, and behead Hu Dang.”

For such a sudden rebellion, we don’t need to wipe out all the remnants; if we can just capture the leader and the central stronghold, we can easily uproot them.

This is because when the central figure disappears, these guys tend to scatter in disarray.

“However, Hu Dang has already secured enough provisions and water to hold out in the city for a year, so if we besiege it, our supplies will run out first. Therefore, we must first recapture Langya and Beihai. Only after securing supplies there can we properly besiege the city.”

We often forget the importance of supplies because we mainly see scenes in war novels where strategists and generals fight and win wars in an instant.

However, people need to eat to survive even when sitting still at home, and soldiers doing hard labor in the army will die quickly if they can’t drink water or eat.

If meal supplies aren’t available, they’ll all die before even fighting, so securing supplies is crucial.

“So, the Beihai Lord and I will set out to recapture Langya, while the Jinan Magistrate will remain here to protect Jinan and prevent Hu Dang from leaving the city recklessly. General Liu, act as a guerrilla force and cut off supplies entering Linzi City as much as possible.”

It’s quite a wise decision.

Just looking at it now, the volunteer soldiers Liu Bei brought are much better equipped and much more powerful compared to the imperial army, so it would be difficult to fight in coordination.

Therefore, it would be much more efficient to fight separately.

Also, cutting off supplies as a guerrilla force would be a significant achievement, so if we do well in this opportunity, Liu Bei might obtain a proper official position faster than in the original history.

“General Liu probably doesn’t know the geography of this area well, so let’s see… Taishi Gongcao?”

At those words, Taishi Ci stepped forward.

“Lead 200 soldiers under your command to assist General Liu.”

It’s said to be assistance, but in reality, it’s like ordering Taishi Ci, an official, to supervise us, but that’s not bad.

We can use this opportunity to win Taishi Ci over to our side completely.

“Then everyone, prepare diligently to carry out your assigned tasks.”