The Three Kingdoms: Zhaolie, the strategist, and the rise of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 194: Guan Gong is made a marquis and shocks the three prefectures; Wen Chou’s army surrounds Cao and Liu

However, Liu Biao threatened to go north to aid Yuan Shao.

When these words were spoken, both civil and military officials were shocked.

What shocked everyone was not that they suspected Liu Biao of helping Yuan.

But Liu Biao wanted to help Yuan, but he also sent envoys to pay tribute to the court in Chen.

You must know that the Chen court repeatedly carried out the will of Cao Cao and Liu Bei.

The two concepts that were most disadvantageous to Yuan Shao in terms of public opinion were "righteous soldiers" and "orthodoxy".

Therefore, Hebei has always chosen to give the Chen court a cold shoulder, neither recognizing it nor openly opposing it.

But my cousin, since you want to form an alliance with the Yuan family, why do you still have to acknowledge the Chen court issue that Yuan Shao is most taboo about?

Isn't this a slap in the face?
"… Envoy."

Liu Xian, the deputy driver, stepped forward and said:
"Jingchu is a land that spans across states and counties, with 100,000 soldiers and enough grain to support the country for ten years. This is the capital of a hegemon."

"Henan and Hebei are now at a stalemate on the Yellow River, with no clear winner."

"As long as the lord leads his troops north, or helps the south or the north, he can influence the situation in the world."

"If you help Hebei, we can divide their land and occupy it, and share the land of Henan."

"If you help Henan and help Cao and Liu defeat Yuan, Cao and Liu will definitely regard you as your priority."

"My land of Jingchu will also be safe."

"If it is like this, we will be allied with Yuan Shao and pay tribute to the imperial court."

"I'm afraid both families will blame Jingchu for its inaction. How can the general remain neutral?"

"If we sit back and wait for the outcome, once the winner is determined, the victor will surely march south with his might."

"How can Jingzhou be left alone? I hope you will make a quick decision and not regret it later!"

From a strategic point of view, Liu Biao is more inclined to help Yuan Shao.

On the one hand, Yuan Shao had a good relationship with himself, and on the other hand, Yuan Shao was indeed stronger.

At the same time, if he helped Yuan Shao, he would be able to share the Henan territory with him.

If this idea is truly implemented, given the prosperity of Jingzhou, it may be able to achieve something.

However, Liu Biao was concerned about his status as a relative of the Han royal family. The Yuan family was rebellious, and Henan was a group of righteous soldiers. He, one of the "Eight Talents", was mixing with the rebels.

This really damages his reputation as a "good shepherd in troubled times".

Therefore, while Liu Biao formed an alliance with Yuan Shao, he also sent people to pay tribute to the court to show that he was loyal to the Han Dynasty.

But it is obvious that this kind of thinking is fine in normal times, but it will not work in troubled times.

His subordinates all tried to dissuade Liu Biao from doing so.

Liu Biao was furious when he saw this and shouted:

"How can you youngsters know my strategy?"

"I first made an alliance with Lord Yuan, and then sent envoys to the court of Chen to pay tribute."

"This is called not failing to pay tribute at home and not betraying the leader abroad. This is the doctrine of the mean!"

Everyone was silent and had no words to say.

However, Liu Biao had made up his mind and announced that he would form an alliance with Yuan in the entire Jingzhou.

However, Liu Biao did not cut off the annual tribute to the imperial court and still sent envoys to communicate with Henan.

At that time, there was a man from Linxiang in Changsha, whose surname was Huan, given name as Jie, and courtesy name as Boxu.

When he was young, he worked as a Gongcaoshi for the county governor, and later he was selected as a filial and honest official by Sun Jian.

When Sun Jian was killed by Liu Biao, Huan Jie risked his life to request to bring back Sun Jian's body. His heroic act made him famous throughout the world.

Huan Jie was talented and Liu Biao valued him, and at one point he wanted to marry his wife Lady Cai's sister to him.

However, Huan Jie refused to accept the offer on the grounds that his wife was still alive, and even resigned from his post and left Liu Biao on the grounds of illness.

Huan Jie disliked Liu Biao because he killed his sponsor Sun Jian.

So he returned to his hometown, Changsha.

Since Zhang Zhongjing resigned and returned to his hometown in Xuzhou, the prefect of Changsha had already changed.

The governor of Changsha at that time was Zhang Xian, a native of Nanyang, Jingzhou.

He served successively as the prefect of Lingling and Guiyang.

Then he replaced Zhang Zhongjing as the prefect of Changsha.

Because Zhang Xian loved his people like his own children and implemented many benevolent policies, he was deeply loved by the people in the Jianghuai area.

All the counties in southern Jing submitted to Zhang Xian but not to Liu Biao.

In addition, Zhang Xian had a stubborn and disobedient character, so Liu Biao despised him as a person and did not treat him with courtesy.

Zhang Xian also resented Liu Biao because of this.

Therefore, as time went by, Zhang Xian himself had the intention of establishing his own kingdom.

Liu Biao also knew that Zhang Xian had ill intentions, so he transferred him to several places in succession.

This transfer was intended to prevent Zhang Xian from gaining supporters and becoming a local separatist regime.

But what Liu Biao did not expect was that Zhang Xian actually won the hearts of the people in Lingling, Guiyang, Wuling and Changsha counties in just a few years of his term.

Moreover, under Zhang Xian's governance, the four counties in southern Jing actually enjoyed several years of bumper harvests, and the people all praised his virtue.

Liu Biao mainly used the four major families of Cai, Kuai, Pang and Huang to help him govern Jingzhou, but the four major families all controlled the wealthy Jingbei.

The control over Jingnan is not strong.

When Liu Biao announced that the entire Jingzhou supported Hebei, Zhang Xian suddenly realized that this might be a good opportunity to start an uprising.

While Liu Biao is concentrating on the war in the Central Plains, launching a rebellion in southern Jing will surely succeed!

However, Zhang Xian's strength was far weaker than Liu Biao's, and he was very hesitant about raising an army, so he summoned Huan Jie to discuss the matter.

"Liu Biao is just a name without substance. He occupies Jingchu but does not think about making progress."

"For several years, we have not achieved anything except living in a corner."

"Now the people of Jingnan all love and respect me. I have long wanted to replace Liu Biao."

"However, Liu Biao has a large number of troops. If we act rashly, it would be unwise."

"You are a wise man, please give me some advice."

Zhang Xian told Huan Jie without hesitation about his inner thoughts of rebellion.

Huan Jie disliked Liu Biao in the first place, and when he saw that Zhang Xian, who was in charge of the military, was planning to start an uprising in southern Jing, he wanted to steal Liu Biao's favor.

This is something he would be happy to see happen.

So he analyzed it for Zhang Xian in a serious and orderly manner:
"…My Lord, those who do things without taking righteousness as their basis will inevitably fail."

"So Duke Huan of Qi led the other princes to honor Zhou, and Duke Wen of Jin expelled Shudai and accepted the king."

"Now Yuan Shao is opposing this and making sense, and Liu Mu is following suit. Isn't this a path to disaster?"

Huan Jie did not have to choose the latter between Yuan Shao and Cao Liu, but because Liu Biao had already agreed to the former.

In order to oppose Liu Biao, he had to support the latter.

"If the lord wants to establish merit and uphold justice, to enjoy happiness and avoid disaster, we should not cooperate with him." Huan Jie vowed.

"...Then, where can we go?" Zhang Xian asked seriously.

Huan Jie stroked his beard and analyzed carefully:
"Although Henan is weak today, it has also risen up for justice."

"To save the imperial court from danger and punish the guilty according to the king's order, who dares not obey?"

"If we take up four counties and protect three rivers to wait for them to come, and I can act as their internal support, wouldn't that be a good idea?"

Zhang Xian was overjoyed when he heard this. He had always wanted to rebel against Liu Biao, but he just lacked the confidence at the last moment.

Now Huan Jie boosted Zhang Xian's confidence, so he stood up, took Huan Jie's hand, and said:
"Good! I will follow your advice."

After the discussion was finalized, Zhang Xian officially raised the banner of resistance against Liu Biao.

He mobilized all the people in Changsha and took over the three counties of Lingling, Guiyang and Wuling, and formally rebelled against Liu Biao.

For a time, Jingzhou was in chaos and the top officials in Xiangyang were all shocked.

Not stated.

……

Yanzhou, Dongjun.

But Cao Cao joined Guan Yu's troops and lifted the siege of Bai Ma.

All the people in Baima and Yan counties were relocated to prevent them from working as laborers and collecting grain for the Yuan family in the future.

During this period, Cao Cao specifically walked along the banks of the Yellow River to provoke the Yuan family.

He intended to force him to cross the river and fight with him. If Cao Cao fought on his own land, the pressure on manpower and food supply would be much less.

During the process of relocating people, there was a place that was too far away and Cao Cao could not move it.

That is Juancheng where Cheng Yu is.

At this time, there were only 700 defenders in Juancheng, and Cao Cao was afraid that Cheng Yu could not hold on.

So they planned to give him an additional 2,000 soldiers to help him defend Juancheng.

Unexpectedly, Cheng Yu rejected Cao Cao's good intention to send more troops, and instead wrote back:
"Yuan Shao had an army of 100,000 men, and he thought he was invincible, looking down on the world."

"Now that they see that I have few soldiers, they will not attack me easily."

"If you increase the number of troops in Yu, you must attack wherever he passes, and you will surely win."

"…This disciple has damaged both of their power."

"Yu only led 700 soldiers to defend Juancheng. Yuan will not be able to take it. I hope you will have no doubts!"

Cheng Yu refused Cao Cao's kindness in sending more troops, and the reason was very simple.

Yuan Shao is conceited and will not attack with his small number of troops.

The large number of soldiers became a threat, so Yuan Shao had to come in person to eliminate the threat.

So don't worry.

Juancheng is located in the southeast of Bai Ma, which is the rear of Yuan’s army pursuing Cao Cao.

When Yuan Shao deployed his troops, he was definitely targeting Cao Cao's main force.

Instead of marching eastward, it would have ended up attacking Xuzhou.

Therefore, Cheng Yu’s threat lies in the fact that he can strike out at any time, cut off Yuan Shao’s retreat, and disgust Yuan Shao.

But if Cheng Yu only had 700 men, he would no longer be a threat.

The large number of soldiers is actually a hidden danger that Yuan Shao must eliminate.

As Cheng Yu expected, Yuan Shao did not lead his troops eastward, but instead concentrated his main forces to pursue Cao Cao's troops with all his might.

While Cao Cao was impressed by Cheng Yu's wisdom, he also successfully moved the people of Bai Ma to Guandu with Guan Yu.

At that time, Liu Bei also led his troops to Guandu.

It turned out that as early as when Li Yi settled Jinan County, he wrote a letter in advance to inform Liu Bei in Xia Pi.

The battle of Qingzhou has been decided. My lord, please send troops westward as soon as possible to join forces with Cao Cao to resist Yuan's army.

After receiving Li Yi's letter, Liu Bei was pleasantly surprised, but he immediately led 20,000 troops and marched straight to Guandu.

At Guandu, he successfully met Cao Cao and Guan Yu, who had migrated from the Yellow River.

The armies of Cao and Liu officially joined together. Han Song arrived at this point in time when he was on a diplomatic mission to Henan.

Therefore, before going to Xuzhou, he met the two monarchs.

At the same time, Cao and Liu comforted Han Song and urged Han Song to speak well of Liu Biao and bring Liu Biao into the anti-Yuan alliance.

After meeting the two fierce men who were as powerful as tigers, Han Song decided that Yuan Shao was no match for Henan, so he happily followed Cao and Liu to pay homage to the emperor.

Cao Cao and Liu Bei secretly instructed Han Song to be the Shizhong and the prefect of Lingling.

After receiving the order, Han Song returned to Jingzhou.

At this time, Cao and Liu's armies were stationed at Guandu, and the two men returned to the court because it was not far away.

Firstly, it can calm people's hearts, and secondly, it can show the achievements of subordinates and indirectly boost morale.

The person who has made the greatest contribution to the war so far is, of course:
Guan Yu killed Yan Liang, a general of Yuan army, in battle and dealt a heavy blow to the morale of Yuan army.

In March, he pacified Qingzhou, first dispatched Gao Lan and then drove away Zhang He, thus cutting off one arm of the Yuan family, Li Yi.

At this time, Guan Yu was still guarding the Guandu front line and was not in the court.

After resolving the war in Qingzhou, Li Yi did not rest. He led more than 10,000 people and rushed to the Guandu battlefield.

It hasn’t arrived yet.

However, the work has already been done before the person arrives.

Meritorious officials must be rewarded, and treacherous officials must be punished.

Liu Bei formally wrote to the court, requesting Emperor Liu Xie to grant Guan Yu the title of Marquis of Han Shou Ting to honor his achievements.

Although there are many ways to pronounce Han Shou Ting Hou, the most accepted pronunciation by scholars is "Han Shou Ting/Hou."

Han Shou Ting Hou belongs to the first level of Ting Hou among the marquises, and is the highest title that can be conferred on meritorious officials of different surnames.

Li Yi, who was previously named Marquis of Tan, was a county marquis among the marquises, and the title could be inherited in the late Han Dynasty.

Although many people think it should be read as "Han Shou/Ting Hou."

The reason is that Hanshou is a county, which was named based on the place name.

But Hanshou County is in Jingzhou, which is Liu Biao's territory.

usually,
At the end of the Han Dynasty, meritorious officials of different surnames were granted the title of nobility, either in their hometown or in the place where they were stationed and led troops for a long time.

Guan Yu was not from Jingzhou and Cao Cao did not control Jingzhou, so it was naturally impossible for him to be granted Hanshou County.

So "Hanshouting" actually has the same name as "Hanshou County", and there are many such names.

Because "Hanshou" is a nice name, as the Han dynasty will last forever.

If you want, you can name any street Hanshou.

Liu Bei submitted a petition to recommend Guan Yu as Marquis of Han Shou Ting in order to seek good fortune.

The Han emperor immediately agreed and conferred a title on Guan Yu.

Speaking of Li Yi's rewards, since he had already been granted the title of county marquis, that was basically the limit of his titles.

Even though Cao Cao later called himself Duke of Wei, that was because he wanted to challenge the authority of the Han Dynasty. In fact, there was no dukedom system in the Han Dynasty.

Therefore, Li Yi could not be promoted any higher in title.

For this reason, he could only increase Li Yi's fief by 500 households and recommend Li Yi as the governor of Qingzhou. Cao Cao did not care about the increase in fief as it was Liu Bei's own territory.

But he also appointed Li Yi as the governor of Qingzhou, which was equivalent to Liu Bei directly asking for the "claim" of Qingzhou.

Although most of Qingzhou's territory was indeed under Liu Bei's control, Cao Cao secretly thought that he had made greater contributions on the front battlefield.

Liu Bei was only trying to gain benefits for his subordinates, so how could he fall behind?

He then petitioned the emperor to appoint Xiahou Yuan as governor of Bingzhou.

Although Cao Cao has not yet controlled Bingzhou, he wants to get the claim first.

The two had no disagreement on the issue of dividing Yuan Shao's Bing and Qing states.

In other words, there is no conflict of interest between the two in this matter.

You take yours, I take mine, and no one is bothering anyone else.

As for the biggest piece of cake, both Cao Cao and Liu Bei chose to avoid talking about it.

Because the interests involved are too great, the two companies are now cooperating in a war.

If they really dare to discuss this issue, the two families will immediately start fighting and there will be no need to fight a war.

After receiving the rewards, Cao Cao and Liu Bei each happily bid farewell to the emperor.

They immediately rushed to the Guandu front together.

Guandu was also the battlefield chosen by Xuzhou and Yanzhou for the decisive battle.

It is both a strategic consideration and an inevitable historical choice.

Why was Guandu the chosen location?

the first,

Because Hebei was strong and Henan was weak, Cao and Liu had no choice but to let Yuan Shao in to fight.

Although doing so would be tantamount to giving up the natural barrier of the Yellow River.

But there are a large number of ferry crossings along the Yellow River. If we want to defend the river, we have to divide our troops to block it.

What Henan lacks most is people, and what Hebei lacks least is also people.

Using the weak to attack the strong is not in line with the way of using troops.

second,

After all, the Yellow River front is still too far away and the logistical costs are too high.

Retreating to Guandu would help shorten the food route and lengthen Yuan Shao's food route.

third,

Although the natural barrier of the Yellow River is gone, there are still densely packed water systems such as the Pu River, Ji River, Yingou River, Honggou River, etc. after the Yellow River.

Therefore, if Yuan Shao wanted to advance, he would have to cross many rivers, and logistical supply would become very difficult.

At the same time, he also had to consider that the Xuzhou army might attack from the east and cut off his retreat.

So at the end of the Battle of Guandu, you will find that not only Cao Cao was short of food, but Yuan Shao was also short of food.

Of course, Yuan Shao was short of food mainly because his supply lines were too long. After being burned by Cao Cao, he was unable to recover.

Because it is impossible for Jizhou’s food to be directly airdropped to you.

At the same time, Guandu has a very good geographical location.

On the left is Putian Lake, and on the right is Zhongmu Lake.

The surrounding area was dotted with swamps and ponds, making it impossible for pedestrians, war horses, and boats to pass through.

Therefore, Yuan Shao’s strategy was to destroy Cao Cao first. To destroy Cao Cao, he had to take over Xu County, where his capital was located. To pass Xu County, he had to pass Guandu.

Guandu is the inevitable choice for Cao and Liu!

After Cao Cao and Liu Bei arrived at Guandu, they each returned to their camps to report the good news.

Liu Bei saw Guan Yu and held his hand with joy, praising him:

"...Brother! You've suffered."

Guan Yu bowed and said:

"I am grateful for your kindness, brother. I have been thinking about repaying you. Now is the time to show my bravery."

Liu Bei was overjoyed and informed the court that he had submitted a petition to request the title of Marquis of Han Shou Ting for Guan Yu.

Guan Yu thanked him again.

Suddenly someone reported that Sikong Cao wanted to see him.

Liu Bei said:

"…This must be something going on at the front line."

He then led Guan Yu, Xun You, Liu Ye and other civil and military officials to the camp to meet Cao Cao.

"...Xuan De arrived just in time."

When Liu Bei arrived, Cao Cao had already started arguing with his generals.

"I wonder what Lord Cao wants me to do?"

Cao Cao got straight to the point:
"Just now, Cao received an urgent military report that Yuan Shao sent General Wen Chou to march to Yanjinkou."

Liu Bei was surprised and asked:
"Since we have already retreated to Guandu, what's the harm in giving the Yellow River front to Yuan Shao?"

Cao Cao said:
"Xuan De doesn't know that the people of Yanjin haven't had time to move away yet."

Well……

Hearing this, Liu Bei's brows suddenly frowned.

"It would be a bad thing if the people of Yanjin were captured by Yuan's army."

"That's right, so Cao is considering marching to Yanjin, picking up the people first, and then retreating to Guandu."

Cao Cao cared about the people of Yanjin because he was afraid that they would become slaves for Yuan Shao.

Liu Bei also had this concern, so he asked:

"When does Cao Gong plan to go?"

"There is no time to lose. Go now."

After saying this, Cao Cao glanced at Guan Yu behind Liu Bei and added:
"I beg you to borrow the Marquis of Han Shou Ting for your service!"

Cao Cao deliberately mentioned Guan Yu’s newly conferred title. For him, with Liu Bei’s arrival, Guan Yu’s probation period was over.

That won’t work, he hasn’t enjoyed it yet.

Therefore, I plan to use it for a while longer while the alliance is fighting.

Liu Bei glanced at Guan Yu behind him. Although Guan Yu said nothing, his eyes showed that he was eager to fight.

Liu Bei said:

"In this case, how about I go with Lord Cao to rescue the people of Yanjin?"

Cao Cao said happily:

"If Xuande goes with us, we will surely win this battle!"

Suddenly, he saw a general standing behind Liu Bei, holding a big sword, looking very majestic, and his demeanor was not inferior to Guan Yu beside him.

Then he raised his whip and asked:
"Xuan De, who is standing behind you?"

Liu Bei looked back and said:

"This is Zhang Liao, Zhang Wenyuan from Yanmen."

Cao Cao frowned and asked again:

"... Could it be Zhang Wenyuan who is under Lu Bu's command?"

Liu Bei replied, "That's right."

Ok……

Cao Cao remained silent, but his heart was filled with pain.

It’s not that I don’t have good generals under my command, it’s just that other people’s generals are better.

Especially the things that you can’t get are more exciting.

It is really uncomfortable to have something that is so far away and so close at hand, but not yours.

"...Liu Bei has so many brave generals under his command."

Cao Cao felt uncomfortable for a while, then he and Liu Bei each led a few brave generals, mounted their horses, left the camp, and rushed to Yanjin.

In order to save time, Cao and Liu each only brought a few hundred light cavalry.

Because they were not going there to fight, but to relocate people, so they would buy as much time as possible.

If Yuan Shao came with a large army, he would not be able to march quickly. By the time he arrived, Cao and Liu would have already left with the common people.

If Wen Chou was in the front, the number of his troops would definitely not be too large if they wanted to catch up, at least they would not be out of the control of Cao and Liu.

Soon, more than a thousand riders headed straight for Yanjin Ferry.

The light cavalry moved fast, and Cao Cao quickly brought the people out.

So the people, bringing their old and young, their families and all their belongings, followed the Henan Army south.

The Henan Army issued an order that the rear army would become the front army, and the front army would become the rear army.

Let the food and fodder go first, and the troops follow behind.

Food and fodder are the most important, so they should be placed in front to avoid being looted by the enemy.

After the army had marched for about half an hour, Liu Bei whipped his horse and rode side by side with Cao Cao, saying:
"There are many people in Yanjin. If we continue to do this, Yuan's army will surely catch up with us."

Cao Cao asked:
"Does Xuande mean to abandon the people?"

"No!"

Liu Bei's brows straightened and he said loudly, "Now the people have come to me, how can I bear to abandon them?"

"I think we might as well abandon the materials and speed up the march. After we return to Guandu, we won't bother with it anymore."

When Cao Cao heard this, he looked unhappy.

I secretly thought that Liu Bei was just a kid weaving mats and selling shoes, and had only been an official in Xuzhou for a few years, yet he was even more arrogant than me.

How rich is Xuzhou that they dare let you say you want to throw away supplies?

Perhaps it was because Cao Cao had suffered the disaster of Yanzhou before and was afraid of poverty, so he was reluctant to leave behind even a bag of grain from the common people.

"no!"

"These thousands of civilians are just thousands of mouths to feed. If we ask them to give up their supplies, won't they be supported by my army?"

Cao Cao flatly rejected Liu Bei's suggestion.

Liu Bei said sternly:
"A few thousand people is not too few, but it is not too many either."

"After we reach Guandu, we will resettle the people. We will only have to feed a few thousand people. What is there to be afraid of?"

Thanks to Li Yi's crazy wealth-making in recent years, Xuzhou has accumulated nearly one million hu of grain from Jingzhou alone.

Liu Bei really didn't care about the supply of thousands of people.

But Cao Cao was reluctant to leave. "Guan Du is not far from here, we will arrive soon, so please bear with it for a while."

Liu Bei asked, "What should we do if the enemy pursues us?"

Cao Cao replied, "Let's wait until the enemy arrives, and then we'll deal with it!"

So the two of them dragged on like this all the way, escorting the food and supplies along the river.

Suddenly, shouts were heard from the rear army and there was a commotion.

Liu Bei immediately ordered people to investigate, and after a while, they reported back:

"Wen Chou, the general of Hebei, has brought his troops to our rear. Our rear army is in chaos. What shall we do?"

Cao Cao thought to himself, it came so quickly!
At this time, Liu Bei also rushed over and said to Cao Cao:
"There is a dirt slope in the southwest corner. You can go up the slope to take shelter and defend yourself from the enemy."

Such was Liu Bei's character that he would question Cao Cao's decisions during arguments.

But when he proved that his decision was correct, he would not blame Cao Cao for not listening to him, nor would he show off his judgment at the time.

Instead, the first thing he thought about was how to repel the enemy in front of him.

Cao Cao immediately followed his advice and ordered his soldiers and horses to go up the hill. Everyone took off their clothes and armor and rested for a while.

Liu Bei's troops also climbed the slope and tied up their horses to rest.

After asking around, I found out that this was Nanbi in Yanjin.

Standing on a high place, you can see the enemy troops coming from afar clearly.

There were still few people at this time, so it was hard to see clearly.

Liu Bei simply stopped beside his horse and looked out. Cao Cao came over and asked:
"Did Xuande see how many people came?"

Liu Bei shook his head. "It's too far to see clearly. If Ziyu were here, he would be able to see clearly."

Liu Bei thought of Li Yi's magical weapon that could see thousands of miles away. If it were here, he would be able to judge the situation in time.

After a while, a messenger came to report that about five or six hundred cavalrymen had gathered at Nanbei.

Upon hearing this, many generals volunteered:
"The Yuan army is small now, so we might as well take the initiative to attack."

"Once there are too many of them, it will be hard to deal with them."

However, faced with officers at all levels who requested to fight, both Liu Bei and Cao Cao opposed going down at this time.

"The enemy's number is unknown now, so we must not act rashly!"

Although there were only a few hundred cavalry gathered at Nanpi, it was impossible to annihilate them in an instant.

If they cannot be annihilated in the first place, and once the reinforcements from the rear arrive, the offense and defense will be switched immediately, Cao and Liu will be surrounded.

Cao Cao and Liu Bei remained calm and waited quietly for the opportunity to fight.

Half an incense stick of time later, the sentry came to report that there were more and more cavalrymen on the pond.

The generals who had previously requested to fight suddenly fell silent.

I didn't expect the boomerang to come so quickly. The five or six hundred cavalrymen just now were not even meant to lure the enemy.

It's just simply walking fast.

Not long after, people reported that the number of people at the pond was increasing and it was difficult to tell how many there were.

Looking up, the cavalry had reached their limit, and what remained were countless infantry.

……

(End of this chapter)