Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 213 The Dilemma of a Prodigy
After Zhang Fei and Sun Jian stormed into the rebel ranks, Cao Cao discovered that the rebels were in disarray, so he quickly led his troops to attack from the rear.

Although the rebel army was numerous, it was first attacked by Sun Jian, then trampled by Zhang Fei's cavalry, and was retreating when Cao Cao blocked its rear. Its formation was in chaos and it was completely routed.

Yuan Shu was originally behind Zhang Fei, but upon hearing that the rebel army was in chaos, he feared he would miss out on military merits and hastily marched to try and seize some opportunities.

However, Zhang Fei led his cavalry in an indiscriminate charge. Zhang Fei's main force consisted of four hundred armored cavalry, followed by six hundred light cavalry. Once the more than a thousand cavalrymen started charging, they were unstoppable. Even if there were friendly forces in front, they would still be crushed.

The result... of course, was a tragedy.

Sun Jian had long known that Tao Qiu Hong's troops were not strong and were no different from farmers, so when he saw the rebels leave the city, he seized the opportunity to launch a surprise attack to prevent the rebels from hiding in the city.

Sun Jian's troops were all elite, but few in number, only a few hundred.

A surprise attack in the field would allow Sun Jian to achieve the greatest results; if it turned into a siege, it would be difficult for him to make significant contributions.

When Zhang Fei saw Sun Jian's surprise attack, he immediately charged forward, originally intending to take the opportunity to bully Sun Jian. Although Liu Bei, considering the overall situation, did not hold Sun Jian's attack against him against his own will, Zhang Fei was not as magnanimous as Liu Bei.

But Zhang Fei wasn't the kind of person who would deliberately resort to underhanded tactics. His plan was to charge straight in with his cavalry. If Sun Jian was unlucky enough to get in his way, he would crush him along with Sun Jian. If Sun Jian avoided him, then so be it.

Especially when he saw that the rebel army was poorly organized and clearly consisted of untrained rabble, Zhang Fei no longer had any concerns.

However, Sun Jian admired Zhang Fei's cavalry for their ferocity and, eager to claim credit, charged forward alongside them. This was precisely the only way to avoid the sharp edge of the charging cavalry. With everyone charging in the same direction, they actually became well-coordinated allies.

After the charging cavalry cut into the enemy ranks, they were to keep moving forward and penetrate the enemy formation. After charging out from the other side, Cao Cao's troops were unfortunately also crushed by Zhang Fei.

Zhang Fei led the charge at the very front. He had actually seen Cao Cao's troops attacking the rebels, but he couldn't stop. For a cavalryman to stop in the enemy's ranks would be suicide.

The rebels blocked Cao Cao's troops' line of sight, and Cao Cao really didn't expect a large number of cavalry to suddenly rush over, which was almost equivalent to being ambushed.

The Cao family's troops were newly recruited greenhorns with little combat experience and slow reaction time, so this resulted in significant losses.

Zhang Fei was carrying Liu Bei's military flag. Cao Cao knew that this was friendly fire, but after seeing the overwhelming force of Zhang Fei's cavalry, Cao Cao realized that once they started charging, they would likely be unstoppable. He could only order his own troops to avoid them as much as possible.

However, the new recruits' response speed was truly disappointing. Many of Cao Cao's soldiers turned and fled when they saw the iron cavalry coming towards them, and many others scattered and tried to escape. As a result, Cao Cao's troops were thrown into chaos.

Then Zhang Fei turned around and charged back again—the main rebel force had been cut in two and was in chaos, but it had not completely collapsed yet, so it was time to turn back and cut them in one more time.

Furthermore, if Zhang Fei hadn't turned back and charged again after scattering Cao Cao's troops, the rebels might have escaped.

At this moment, Yuan Shu, eager to claim credit, had just rushed to the west side of the battlefield. Unfortunately, this charge back turned and cut down Yuan Shu's troops as well...

On the contrary, Sun Jian's troops charged alongside Zhang Fei's cavalry, appearing to be a coordinated infantry-tank attack. Since his troops were all elite, most of them were unharmed.

—This is often the case on the battlefield. Sun Jian was brave and made what seemed to be the most dangerous decision, but he ended up suffering the least losses.

After two rounds of attacks, the rebels had completely collapsed, and several groups of people went their separate ways to pursue and kill the fleeing soldiers. The battle was coming to an end.

Tao Qiuhong had the ability to bewitch people and was very eloquent, but he was indeed incapable of leading an army. Although the rebel army numbered in the tens of thousands, it was not a fighting force at all.

When He Miao and Guan Yu arrived in Xingyang, the rebel army had already collapsed and was scattering in all directions. He Miao's own troops didn't even have time to make a move... Fortunately, He Miao didn't try to steal credit with Yuan Shu, otherwise the consequences would have been hard to predict.

Tao Qiuhong led a small number of rebel troops into Xingyang City, but all their supplies were left outside the city, making it only a matter of time before the city fell.

At this moment, Cao Cao and Yuan Shu were devastated after taking stock of their losses—they had suffered heavy losses, with not only hundreds of casualties but also several hundred deserters.

The cavalry charge itself did not kill too many people; only those who blocked the cavalry's path were directly killed. However, the chaos caused by the cavalry charge resulted in more casualties and routs.

Cao Cao's men were all peasant soldiers from farming families, and their courage was inherently limited. They had not undergone long-term training, so it was quite an achievement for Cao Cao that they did not completely collapse.

Although Yuan Shu commanded the Northern Army's Changshui Camp, the current Changshui Camp was not the original elite of the Northern Army, but rather Yuan's family troops, which were not much better than Cao Cao's.

Cao Cao was quite magnanimous. After learning that the cavalry was led by Zhang Fei, he did not cause trouble for Zhang Fei. Instead, he went to He Miao and said, "Lord He, Tao Qiu Hong must be feeling very uneasy in Xingyang right now. I would like to go to Xingyang and persuade him to surrender so as to avoid bloodshed."

He Miao was naturally happy to agree, but Yuan Shu was not: "Such traitors should be killed. Why should Mengde spare the lives of traitors?"

Yuan Shu's opposition stemmed from the fact that he hadn't gained any credit...

Not only did he fail to achieve anything, but he was also accidentally injured in the face by Zhang Fei, and Yuan Shu is now very angry.

Cao Cao didn't cause trouble for Zhang Fei, so Yuan Shu didn't have the nerve to pursue the losses. But the rebel army had already collapsed, and now the only credit was for Tao Qiu Hong in Xingyang City. They couldn't let Cao Cao steal all the credit.

"Only a living Tao Qiuhong can identify the other traitors! If he's dead, wouldn't the other traitors go unpunished?"

Cao Cao countered with a question to Yuan Shu.

Yuan Shu thought for a moment and said nothing, but planned to go with Cao Cao: "Since that's the case, I will go with Mengde to persuade him to surrender, so that I won't be left with nothing to do."

For He Miao, seizing credit was a good thing, so he also sent several envoys to Xingyang with Cao Cao and Yuan Shu to persuade them to surrender.

Guan Yu had no intention of getting involved in the matter any further. After learning that Zhang Fei's cavalry charge had accidentally injured many friendly troops, he immediately set off with Zhang Fei to Qingzhou, refusing any credit for the mission.

……

When Cao Cao and Yuan Shu went together to persuade the enemy to surrender, things were bound to go wrong.

Cao Cao's original intention was not to persuade Tao Qiuhong to surrender, but to use Tao Qiuhong for other purposes.

Yuan Shu wasn't thinking about surrendering; he wanted to kill Tao Qiu Hong...

It would have been easy to persuade Tao Qiuhong to surrender the city. After all, the main army was already at the city gates, and the main force of the rebels hadn't even lasted a day. If Tao Qiuhong stayed in the city and resisted stubbornly, he would surely die, and his entire clan would perish.

On the contrary, if one surrenders and becomes a tainted witness, even if one is ultimately sentenced to death, at least one can save one's family and avoid the extermination of one's entire clan.

But as soon as Cao Cao and Yuan Shu entered the city and saw Tao Qiu Hong, Yuan Shu killed Tao Qiu Hong without even giving him a chance to speak...

They also took care of the envoy sent by He Miao.

As a result, the rebels in the city rioted and nearly killed the two men in the city.

The rebels were indeed not very strong in combat, but seeing Tao Qiuhong killed, they thought they were doomed and became determined to die.

Cao Cao and Yuan Shu's troops fought desperately in an extremely arduous street battle within the city.

These kinds of street battles are always the most brutal. The Cao and Yuan families had already entered the city and could not retreat, while the rebels had nowhere to escape.

The battle raged from morning till evening, resulting in heavy casualties for both sides, but they managed to wipe out the rebels within the city—if they hadn't been unable to escape, all three sides would have suffered a crushing defeat...

This is a forced fight to the bitter end.

The rebels were almost all killed in battle, and Cao Cao had only 500 men left standing, while Yuan Shu's side was in a similar state.

"Yuan Gonglu! You don't need to go to such lengths to steal credit! What benefit do you get from this? With your background, getting a high-ranking official position is as easy as turning your hand. What use is this credit to you?!"

Cao Cao flew into a rage and nearly drew his sword to kill someone.

"If Tao Qiuhong doesn't die, our sect will also be implicated..."

Yuan Shu and Cao Cao were old friends, so it was not appropriate to discuss this matter in front of He Miao's people. However, when facing Cao Cao alone, he no longer hid his intentions: "If we do not kill him, I don't know how many friends will be punished... Can't Mengde see whose scheme this is?"

Cao Cao could certainly tell that this matter was definitely related to Yuan Shao.

At the same time, Wang Fen and Zhang Miao had a very good relationship. The two were both among the "Eight Chefs" and were equally famous.

Zhang Miao and Yuan Shao were staunch supporters, and Zhang Miao had always worked tirelessly for the partisans. Cao Cao would not believe that Zhang Miao had nothing to do with this matter.

Cao Cao and Zhang Miao were also good friends, and he knew that Yuan Shu was right. However, Cao Cao had other uses for Tao Qiu Hong's life!
Cao Cao had no time to bother Yuan Shu; he quickly rode after Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who had already left Xingyang...

……

Two days later, Cao Cao caught up with Zhang Fei in Chenliu.

When Zhang Fei saw Cao Cao chasing after him in a dusty and weary state, he thought Cao Cao had come to cause trouble.

But Cao Cao spoke first: "Yide, I would like to ask, how did you train such a charging cavalry? This is quite different from the Youzhou cavalry..."

Cao Cao had previously commissioned Zhang Fei to make screens, making him a regular customer, and Zhang Fei harbored no ill will towards Cao Cao at this time. Furthermore, since Cao Cao had just caused Zhang Fei significant losses, and since Cao Cao wasn't there to collect a debt, Zhang Fei was willing to exchange military leadership tips.

But Zhang Fei still knew he couldn't reveal military secrets, and he genuinely didn't know how cavalrymen were trained... He only knew how he trained himself to charge with lances.

Training troops was always Guan Yu and Liu Bei's job, while Zhang Fei's main job was to be the mess hall commander. It wasn't until Zhao Yun joined that Zhang Fei began to lead troops independently.

So Zhang Fei pretended to be stupid and said, "Isn't this how cavalry have always been? I'm ignorant and incompetent, and I only know that armored soldiers can charge into battle. So... if armored soldiers ride horses, wouldn't they be able to charge even faster?"

Cao Cao hadn't really expected to get an answer; he was just making conversation. The two chatted for a while, and after a while, Cao Cao finally brought up the important matter.

“Yide, since this cavalry cannot be stopped once it is deployed, I will not hold it against you for breaking our formation in the chaos the other day… But I need to ask you for a favor.”

Zhang Fei originally intended to disperse Sun Jian's troops, but ended up causing trouble for Cao Cao. He did feel a little guilty: "It's alright, as long as I can do it, I will definitely help."

“My brother Xiahou Miaocai is currently imprisoned in Qingzhou. Since Yide is going to Qingzhou, please save my brother’s life.”

Cao Cao mentioned Xiahou Yuan.

"Xiahou Miaocai? Imprisoned? Why was he imprisoned? Could it be for treason?"

Zhang Fei pressed further, "What crime is he guilty of that neither your Cao family nor the Xiahou family could save him?"

Zhang Fei knew the gravity of the situation; even Cao Cao had to ask for help, so Xiahou Yuan's crime must be serious, possibly a huge problem.

"It wasn't a serious crime... Two years ago, I was convicted in Jinan, and Miao Cai hijacked the prison van to save me. The people of Jinan hate me, which is why I couldn't save him..."

Cao Cao spoke casually, and his expression seemed quite sincere.

Actually, this is not so easy to handle.

If it were that simple, how come Cao Cao hadn't been able to rescue the person for over a year...?

Xiahou Yuan and Xiahou Dun were cousins, but their families were quite different.

Xiahou Dun's family was relatively wealthy, roughly equivalent to Liu Yuanqi of Zhuojun; while Xiahou Yuan was somewhat like Liu Bei in his early days, with few servants.

During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Yanzhou and Yuzhou were in great chaos. Xiahou Yuan's home was looted by the Yellow Turbans. At this time, Xiahou Yuan and his younger brother had just had children. Xiahou Yuan's younger brother fought desperately, but both he and his wife died at the hands of the Yellow Turbans.

The Xiahou family was unable to provide assistance for the time being due to the chaos of war and blocked roads.

Cao Cao had just stepped down as Cavalry Commandant when he learned that the Xiahou family had been robbed. He immediately led his clansmen to their rescue, but Xiahou Yuan was already being pursued by the Yellow Turbans.

The Yellow Turban army suffered heavy losses at Xiahou Yuan's home and kept pursuing him. Xiahou Yuan fled with his family, abandoning all his possessions and food.

While fleeing, the carriage got stuck, with both babies inside, and the family servants were also shot dead by the pursuers.

In the heat of the moment, with pursuers only a dozen steps behind, Xiahou Yuan didn't have time to save both children. He grabbed his deceased brother's orphaned daughter and fled, abandoning his own young son.

Xiahou Yuan already had two sons at the time, while his younger brother only had an orphaned daughter. Xiahou Yuan did not want his deceased brother to be without an heir.

Cao Cao promptly came to Xiahou Yuan's aid, provided him with financial assistance, and led his men to defeat the pursuing Yellow Turban rebels.

After that, Cao Cao was appointed as the Chancellor of Jinan, and Xiahou Yuan followed Cao Cao to Jinan.

Cao Cao caused a lot of trouble in Jinan, offended countless gentry, and was falsely accused and retaliated against. He was to be taken to the capital in a prison cart by the Court of Justice to be punished.

In order to save Cao Cao, Xiahou Yuan hijacked the prison cart in Jinan.

But this prison break attempt failed.

The gentry of Jinan harbored deep hatred for Cao Cao and kept a close eye on him.

The robbery of the Imperial Censor's carriage was a separate case. Xiahou Yuan did not go to the capital with Cao Cao, but was convicted of treason and imprisoned in Jinan Prison.

Xiahou Yuan thought that since he was going to die anyway, he might as well take the blame for Cao Cao's crimes as well. So Xiahou Yuan confessed to harming the gentry and took all the blame for the castration of scholars. He insisted that this was a personal grudge and said that the so-called Yellow Turbans who had previously robbed the Xiahou family were instigated by the gentry of Jinan.

Xiahou Yuan originally only wanted to take the blame, but he actually guessed right. Those Yellow Turbans were indeed instigated by the aristocratic families!

It's just uncertain whether it's related to people from Jinan.

After Cao Cao was taken to Luoyang, Cui Lie, the then Minister of Justice, was in a dilemma, not wanting to offend the Qingzhou gentry or the Cao family.

Upon hearing from the escorts that there was a man named Xiahou Yuan in Jinan who claimed to have a personal grudge, they immediately seized the opportunity to settle the case as a personal grudge and pinned the crime on Xiahou Yuan.

In addition, Cao Song spent money to manipulate the situation, so Cao Cao did not commit any real crime, but only lost his official position.

Just after Cao Cao was taken away from Jinan, the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out again in Qingzhou. Qingzhou was no longer under the control of the imperial court, and the Court of Justice could not take Xiahou Yuan away. Xiahou Yuan was thus imprisoned in Jinan and unable to escape.

After losing his official position, Cao Cao made friends with wandering knights everywhere (and incidentally found women), and squandered his fortune to recruit soldiers, all in order to rescue Xiahou Yuan.

Cao Cao has come to Xingyang for two reasons: the matter of the Western Garden Commandant and the rescue of Xiahou Yuan. The rebels in Xingyang were Qingzhou people brought by Tao Qiuhong. Cao Cao originally intended to capture more Qingzhou people, preferably Tao Qiuhong, to exchange for Xiahou Yuan.

Now that Tao Qiuhong has been killed by Yuan Shu, there is no way to replace him. So Cao Cao plans to first appoint Xiyuan Colonel, and then request to lead the army to quell the rebellion in Qingzhou.

Now that Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's troops are here, Cao Cao naturally needs to find a strong ally.

However, Cao Cao was worried that if Guan Yu and Zhang Fei went into Qingzhou first and fought too fiercely, it might lead to Xiahou Yuan's death, so he entrusted the rescue to Zhang Fei.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Fei felt that Xiahou Yuan was a man of honor and righteousness, so he agreed.

After entrusting the matter to Zhang Fei, Cao Cao turned and left, surprisingly not bothering to entangle Guan Yu.

Xiahou Dun knew that Cao Cao had always been thinking about Guan Yu, but Cao Cao did not go through the proper process of abducting Guan Yu this time. So he asked Cao Cao, "Why doesn't my elder brother hold a banquet to recruit Guan Yu?"

“I am now a commoner, while Yun Chang is already Liu Bei’s Commander of the Central Army. Liu Bei has already gone on a mission to Qingzhou. I imagine Yun Chang will soon be promoted to Commandant… Not to mention that Yun Chang would certainly not want to be recruited at this time, even if he were to be employed, wouldn’t that be ruining his future?”

Cao Cao patted Xiahou Dun on the shoulder: "Yuanrang, you should go back home now and take all the iron materials you have to forge armor and horse armor. Liu Bei's armored cavalry is really powerful. We should also train iron cavalry!"

Xiahou Dun nodded and asked again, "Elder brother, we have lost nearly half of our troops, and now we have less than two thousand men left. I'm afraid that's not enough for you to become the Commandant of the Western Garden..."

Saying it's less than two thousand is an exaggeration; Cao Cao actually only has five hundred soldiers left to use.

“We can recruit some peasant soldiers to make up the numbers… These peasant soldiers are useless, so it doesn’t matter if we send them all to the court. As long as they get official positions, we can go and recruit Danyang soldiers again… and train them into iron cavalry!”

Cao Cao seemed very dissatisfied with the quality of the soldiers he had recruited.

"Is my elder brother still going to Qingzhou?"

Xiahou Dun asked, "Why not ask Liu Bei to help Miao Cai out of his predicament?"

"It's not just about going to Qingzhou... I need to command troops and fight in the field to make my military power useful. In these chaotic times, I, Cao Mengde, should be a hero of this chaotic world, lest I become a treacherous villain in the court!"

Cao Cao seemed to hold a grudge against Xu Zijiang's comments.

……

On the other hand, after Liu Bei returned to Youzhou, Yue Yin was indeed happy to be appointed as an advisor.

Qian Zhao volunteered to be Yue Yin's attendant and accompany his teacher to Luoyang. Qian Zhao was certainly trustworthy as a bodyguard, and Liu Bei, fearing a shortage of manpower, allowed Qian Zhao to take two hundred elite soldiers as attendants—no more than that, as it would exceed the prescribed limit.

Tian Yu and Xianyu Fu decided to stay in Lulongse, as the mint was operating at full capacity and they both felt it couldn't be stopped.

To prevent any trouble in Youzhou, Liu Bei went to Zong Yuan, not only giving him a large sum of money but also asking him to issue a general's order in his capacity as Protector of the Wuhuan: a reward of 100 million each for the heads of Zhang Chun, Zhang Ju, and Qiu Liju.

Jian Yong remains the highest-ranking person under Liu Bei, and has now become a Prefectural Attendant.

Zhao Lin, the acting magistrate of Ji County, had previously resigned from his post and was now a commoner. He was then appointed by Jian Yong as the chief clerk.

Jian Yong actually admired Zhao Lin's attitude of handling matters according to the law, so he appointed him as a judge.

(End of this chapter)