Xiao Liang, What Do You Think?

It was not just Cao Cao who could hardly believe it. Xun Yu, Cheng Yu, Chen Qun, and the other civil and military officials were equally incredulous!

Their army had only just been mobilized and sent into Xuzhou. The second army had not even finished mobilizing yet, and they had not so much as clashed with Liu Bei in close combat—yet Mount Tai Commandery on their side had already fallen?

And it had fallen without making the slightest sound!

Yes, Mount Tai Commandery had always been left to its own devices. It had many mountains and little flat land, poor grain production, plenty of bandits, and inconvenient transportation...

But no matter how many shortcomings Mount Tai Commandery had, it was still Mount Tai Commandery of Yanzhou, not Liu Bei's Mount Tai Commandery!

What was more, although Mount Tai Commandery had many disadvantages, it had one crucial advantage: it was a strategic location. Whoever truly occupied it would gain the strategic initiative.

To the north of Mount Tai Commandery lay Licheng and Linzi in Qingzhou, both within reach of attack.

To the south lay Kaiyang, the seat of Langya Commandery in Xuzhou, also within reach of attack.

To the west, one could follow the Wen River to attack Sheqiu, Gang County, Zhang County, and Dongping in Yanzhou. Along this route, Jibei State, Dongping State, and Jiyin Commandery all lay within the line of attack.

Most importantly, this was where Juye Marsh was located, Yanzhou's primary grain-producing region. Since ancient times, it had been home to the people of the Central Plains Region. It was the Yan Emperor's old homeland; the tale of Jingwei filling the sea took place here, and the Yellow Emperor's battle against Chi You had also taken place here. After Chi You was slain, his body was buried