Zhuge Liang Plots Strategy – 208 A.D.
Jin Xuan 28. Wu Ling Strategy
Jin Xuan looks to be in a terrible situation on the surface. He starts off in 28. Wu Ling, with Gong Zhi as his only officer (a mediocre Civil Officer but a classic since Destiny of an Emperor). But he is in a strong position. You can search to find Liu Ba, Han Song, and Deng Yi, some washed-up Liu Biao loyalists. They will have some value building up Wu Ling and enabling you to do some spying.
Immediately after getting another officer, spy on 42. Yong An. Jiang Wan is disloyal to Liu Zhang, and if you can get him to join while he is Governor that is a huge boon. Yong An has some talent including a general Zhang Yi. What’s more, if you can do that fast enough you can then Spy on 43. Jiang Zhou to recruit Yan Yan, another disloyal Liu Zhang Officer. If you did it fast enough he will either be Governor or still have the 8000+ soldiers. All things considered, you’d have a formidable group in Yong An that could push Liu Zhang (including Civil Officers to build up Yong An).
Meanwhile in Wu Ling you can have a separate mission; surviving. The problem is Jin Xuan can’t flee to Yong An under the above scenario, because of Liu Bei in Jiang Ling and Yiling being unoccupied (so you can’t just move across it with Jin Xuan at Wu Ling). If Sun Quan and Liu Bei start feuding over 27 Jiang Ling, feel free to try to win Yiling from them so that you can move between Yong An + Wu Ling.
Anyway, you can Spy on Chang Sha and recruit Wei Yan, Huang Zhong, Chen Shi and Liu Pan. Han Xuan isn’t the most likable ruler so most of those characters has 70 loyalty (easy to recruit). Huang Zhong and Wei Yan should allow you to dominate this area, though I would actually focus on Liu Du first because of Chang Sha’s tenuous position (near Sun Quan and Liu Bei). So I like to leave Chang Sha and Han Xuan for someone else to occupy first while working on Ling Ling and Gui Yang. By the time you get to Zhao Fan, both of his allies may be dead (Chen Ying and Bao Long die naturally early). Nan Hai is a wasteland so just seal off the south and put your troops in Chang Sha and Wu Ling.
The problem is, by the time you build up enough to take up the lower part, Cao Cao may have engulfed Sun Quan (he basically had by 212 when I was making a move). Sun Quan was captured, Sun Lang survived him and then died himself, and then it was Sun Kuang’s turn. He was in Chai Sang and weakened from Cao Cao attacks so it was an opportune time for Huang Zhong + friends at Chang Sha to take Chi Bi and then Chai Sang.
28. Wu Ling Recruits:
Liu Ba (208)
Han Song (208)
Deng Yi (208)