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

Chapter 275 This is what you call frustrating

Most people are unable to see things from another person's perspective; they can only do things, not plan them.

Once you start planning something, you will only make choices based on your own will—and if you only make choices based on your own will, there is usually only one option.

Like Empress Dowager Dong or He Jin, they had many opportunities, but they could only see the one option right in front of them.

Even many modern people, even from God's perspective, only consider problems from their own point of view. They neither put themselves in others' shoes nor consider any other factors—not even objective factors such as time, place, and environment—but only their own desires.

This is not due to ignorance, but to selfishness.

In reality, there are many options for everything.

However, the number of options depends on how many perspectives one can consider when addressing a problem.

One must consider oneself, one's enemies, one's allies, and all other seemingly unrelated people and forces.

Some people can consider both sides, which requires twice the brainpower but also provides an additional option.

Someone who can consider both sides and their allies requires more than four times the mental effort. Someone with this level of ability is qualified to be a strategist and will have more options.

People like Jia Xu, who can consider issues from almost every different perspective, are extremely rare. It takes ten times more mental effort to achieve this, and there will be a great many options available.

People like Jia Xu seem to always be able to offer good ideas with effortless ease.

But in reality, it was because he put all his effort into thinking about the problem that he was able to solve it effortlessly.

However, being smart isn't enough to solve the problem.

Some people can consider most positions, but they themselves are caught up in the situation—they are one of the positions themselves, so even if there were originally multiple choices, now they can only choose one at most.

Just like Lu Zhi back then, he was caught up in the situation, and resigning from his post was actually the best choice at the time.

Even Jia Xu, when he was trapped in Luoyang and implicated by his master and unable to get help, had no other choice.

A shrewd strategist can immerse himself in the game, but he must first prepare his options from the outside, and not be forced to make a choice when he is trapped in the game.

Once forced to make a choice, it's the enemy setting the challenge.

At this point, even ten times the mental effort won't help, because the enemy might pose a life-or-death question.

This puts the enemy in a dilemma.

Xu You is a case in point now.

He could see Liu Bei's intentions, but his advice to Yuan Shao was a forced choice made because he was caught in the middle of the situation.

Yuan Shao faced a choice between interests, while Xu You faced a life-or-death situation; he did not want to die.

Killing Liu Bei and Liu Xie would certainly solve Yuan Shao's problem, but it would be a gamble with many long-term consequences.

In fact, Yuan Shao had many other options.

But all other options were disadvantageous to Xu You.

Because it was Xu You who arranged the assassination of Liu Xie, the assassination of Liu Yu which led to the death of Liu Bei's mother, and the roving bandits such as Li Yizi.

Xu You harbored grudges against both Liu Bei and Liu Xie—he appeared before Liu Bei wearing a mask because he felt guilty…

Qian Zhao threw the hand halberd at Xu You because she understood that Xu You was implicated.

Meanwhile, Xu You is now seriously injured, with a hand halberd stuck in his back, and is unable to move.

If Yuan Shao leaves quickly, the seriously injured Xu You will definitely not be able to escape; the carriage could easily shake him to death.

If Yuan Shao had abandoned his reputation to seek blood revenge, and the two sides had resorted to any means to kill each other, Xu You would most likely have been the first to die.

If Yuan Shao chooses to stall and find a temporary scapegoat—Xu You would be the most convincing scapegoat, since he's already seriously injured anyway…

In other words, as long as Liu Bei and Liu Xie were alive, Xu You would most likely not survive.

Because Xu You had considered these factors, he ruled out other options that would be more advantageous to Yuan Shao, and only gave him one option that was more advantageous to himself—to let Yuan Shao stay here and eliminate Liu Bei and Liu Xie.

Even if they couldn't kill Liu Bei, at least Yuan Shao wouldn't abandon him.

Once Yuan Shao made this choice, there was no turning back, and he had to protect Xu You.

Is it selfish?
Of course, Xu You was doing it to save his life.

Moreover, eliminating Liu Bei would indeed solve the problem.

This is why, from God's perspective, even shrewd strategists can make seemingly unwise choices—because these choices are not based on the principle of best interests, but on self-preservation; survival is the first principle.

(Note: Similar situations will not be explained further.)
“At this moment, Liu Bei has less than a thousand cavalry, and they are all exhausted and unable to fight for long. Now is the best opportunity to defeat the enemy... If we wait for their reinforcements to catch up, it will be difficult to deal with them.”

Xu You said, "Quickly kill Liu Bei, take him away or eliminate Dong Zhuo, we cannot wait any longer..."

Xu You's mindset will certainly influence Yuan Shao.

Xu You's current state of near death is even more likely to influence Yuan Shao's decision.

Moreover, Xu You was right; now was the best opportunity to kill Liu Bei.

Seven thousand against one thousand, Liu Bei had just traveled dozens of miles, and neither he nor his horse had had a chance to rest.

Yuan Shao's troops, on the other hand, were well-rested and ready to fight.

"Elder brother, if we attack the crown prince in this way, wouldn't that be tantamount to treason? Wouldn't all our previous forbearance have been in vain?"

Chunyu Qiong, however, was somewhat worried.

"My lord, Liu Bei is deliberately trying to lure us into staying. We should do the opposite..."

Feng Ji was about to offer some advice, but after looking at the seriously injured Xu You, he kept quiet.

If they retreat now, Xu You will be left here and will surely die.

Yuan Shao frowned, unable to make a decision.

He doesn't know what the best choice is right now.

If only Liu Bei were to pursue them, Yuan Shao would not hesitate to attack.

But Liu Xie's banner was covering the opposite side...

The assassination of the crown prince in secret may be an unsolved case, but attacking him face to face is no longer an unsolved case. With seven thousand men under his command, it's hard to guarantee that there aren't a few traitors. Once he did this, there would be no way to deny it.

Even if Yuan Shao himself was willing to do it, would his subordinates be willing to do it?
Chunyu Qiong was clearly unwilling...

Defeating Liu Bei is possible, but even if Liu Bei is killed, will he have a good ending?
"My lord! The enemy has begun their attack!" Just as Yuan Shao was still hesitating, Liu Bei's forces began to advance slowly.

Logically speaking, a distance of three hundred paces between the two sides is the optimal charging distance for cavalry.

But Liu Bei's side did not charge forward; instead, they slowly advanced, their progress slow but resolute.

Yuan Shao had no time to think and had to make a quick decision.

"Zhongjian, send out troops...and defeat Liu Bei!"

As Liu Bei's troops gradually approached, but his own troops dared not fire arrows to intercept them, Yuan Shao could no longer contain himself and turned to look at Chunyu Qiong.

"Elder brother...this..."

Chunyu Qiong was clearly unhappy.

"If you are unwilling... then go to Chenggao to meet me!"

Yuan Shao gritted his teeth, drew his sword, and shouted: "All troops, form ranks and advance!"

Yuan Shao shouted with great enthusiasm, but his troops lacked morale, and neither Chunyu Qiong nor Wu Kuang's troops immediately went into battle.

Chunyu Qiong's troops had just withdrawn and were now hesitant to form ranks.

Wu Kuang's troops, however, were somewhat hesitant and clearly hadn't made up their minds yet.

Seeing that the ranks were loose, Yuan Shao had no choice but to come to the front lines himself, draw his sword, and lead the troops forward.

However, upon seeing Yuan Shao's troops emerge, Liu Bei began to retreat.

They retreated rather slowly, seemingly unwilling to engage Yuan Shao in direct combat.

But Yuan Shao glanced back and easily understood Liu Bei's intentions—Chunyu Qiong and Wu Kuang's troops hadn't moved much, and their ranks were somewhat disordered.

This turns the original strategy of waiting in comfort into an unexpected battle.

Liu Bei's troops continued to retreat.

It wasn't like flying a kite; rather, the whole thing slowly moved backward, just like when it moved forward slowly before, with absolutely no intention of causing harm.

"Stop!"

Yuan Shao gritted his teeth and ordered his personal guards to wave their command flags, halting the army's formation.

But with this pause, Liu Bei's side also stopped...

Then Zhang Fei charged out of the formation and led three hundred cavalrymen in a mounted archery exercise.

Liu Bei's cavalry still had poor archery skills... They didn't cause much damage, but they were quite annoying.

Yuan Shao commanded his cavalry to intercept Zhang Fei.

Seeing Yuan Shao's cavalry move out from the flank, Zhao Yun led four hundred armored cavalry out to meet them head-on. In just one exchange, he killed Yuan Shao's cavalry commander He Mao.

Yuan Shao's cavalry numbered about seven hundred, but they were no match for the armored cavalry; they fell in droves as soon as they made contact.

However, Liu Bei now only had two or three hundred men left.

Yuan Shao once again led his troops forward in a charge, with thousands of soldiers rushing toward Liu Bei beneath the banner.

But Liu Bei turned his horse around, took his guards, and fled...

The banner is still standing, but it has been stuck in the ground.

Liu Xie's banner was also stuck in the ground.

Liu Bei and his guards ran incredibly fast.

Yuan Shao trembled all over, raised his sword and cursed, "Liu Bei! You little thief! Didn't you want revenge? Come on!"

Liu Bei certainly wouldn't go into battle; Liu Xie was truly in his arms...

Liu Xie's flags and ceremonial guards were not fakes, but genuine. Yuan Shao also saw Liu Xie riding on the same horse as Liu Bei.

However, Yuan Shao's cavalry was intercepted by Zhao Yun, and even though Liu Bei's horses had not recovered from their losses, it was impossible for the infantry to catch up with Liu Bei in a short distance.

Yuan Shao saw that Liu Bei had once again run three hundred paces away and then stopped...

Zhang Fei stopped harassing them and instead charged out of Yuan Shao's somewhat chaotic army formation, which had been disrupted by his pursuit of Liu Bei, retreating from the edge of the battlefield towards Liu Bei's direction.

Zhao Yun, on the other side, also led his armored cavalry to bypass them. Yuan Shao's cavalry on the flank were somewhat afraid and dared not pursue Zhao Yun.

The battlefield became somewhat chaotic, but Liu Bei's troops' intention was clear: to stall for time.

Warhorses are indeed tired, but they don't need to maintain high-intensity exercise all the time, and this is not guerrilla warfare.

If Yuan Shao retreats, then follow him slowly, with cavalry taking turns to harass him.

If Yuan Shao advances, then intercept his cavalry and retreat slowly, but only to a distance of three hundred paces... As long as you remain outside the enemy's firing range and are not killed in a short time, that will be fine.

They didn't engage in direct combat, nor did they seek to inflict casualties; their sole aim was to make it difficult for Yuan Shao to escape.

Zhao Yun didn't actually intend to inflict casualties; he was simply trying to stop Yuan Shao's cavalry.

If Yuan Shao no longer wanted to fight and wanted to retreat quickly, he would at least have to leave behind the corpses of his clansmen and leave some troops to cover his retreat.

But if Yuan Shao really didn't fight and instead abandoned the corpses and fled quickly, Liu Bei would have the advantage of cavalry...

Once Guan Yu's reinforcements arrive and his warhorses have rested, they will launch a full-scale pursuit.

Yuan Shao was able to think of these things.

But it was precisely because he could think of it that he was conflicted—he had superior forces, yet he couldn't make a decision, which was incredibly frustrating.

But what frustrated him even more was yet to come.

Dong Zhuo's vanguard light cavalry scouts arrived here; there was only one team, five cavalrymen—truly just scouts.

But the arrival of scouts means that Dong Zhuo's main force will arrive soon.

Liu Bei was completely relieved.

The area was open, and Yuan Shao spotted Dong Zhuo's scout cavalry. The Liangzhou cavalry's attire was quite noticeable in daylight.

Yuan Shao glared at Liu Bei with hatred and ordered the entire army to retreat.

(End of this chapter)