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

Chapter 292 A Scholar's Eloquent Words
On the other side, Liu Bei captured Ao Cang.

Zhang Chao was quite capable; despite the three-pronged attack from Liu Bei, Xu Huang, and Xu Rong, he managed to hold off the enemy in the grain storage area of ​​Ao Cang for half a day.

At night, Zhang Chao lit a small fire in a corner of the city's granary to attract the attention of Liu Bei's troops. He then jumped off the city wall on the other side of the granary and escaped to Chenliu by taking a canal boat from the Junyi Canal.

The troops and food supplies in Aocang City were naturally abandoned.

With food so precious, Liu Bei and Xu Huang were busy putting out fires and had no time to search for Zhang Chao's whereabouts at night.

Fortunately, there were water sources all around Aocang, so more than 90% of the grain was saved, and only two granaries were burned.

Just after capturing Aocang, they received news from scouts in the middle of the night that most of the Guandong coalition forces in Xingyang had moved towards Hulao Pass, and that some troops were advancing towards Aocang, which seemed to be Cao Cao's troops.

Seeing that Liu Bei and Xu Huang were exhausted from fighting for a long time, Xu Rong volunteered to send troops to intercept Cao Cao.

Liu Bei and Xu Huang temporarily stayed at Ao Cang to accept the surrender of the remaining soldiers, and would support Xu Rong after they had recovered their strength.

Cao Cao did indeed do his utmost to rescue Zhang Chao.

Just as they were about to send out troops, Bao Xin returned to Xingyang.

Upon learning of the current situation, Bao Xin advised Cao Cao to remain in Xingyang to preserve his strength and observe the situation.

But Cao Cao felt that he had to keep his word. He had promised to rescue Zhang Chao, so he had to go. He couldn't just take the oath he made as a fart.

Cao Cao then ordered Bao Xin to defend Xingyang while he led his army north.

By the time we reached the banks of the Bian River, it was already dark. We could see the fire burning in the Aocang Canal in the distance, and even vaguely see people drawing water to put out the fire.

Cao Cao did not know Zhang Chao's condition, but since someone was putting out the fire, it meant that the gates of Ao Cang were not closed. If things were done quickly, they might be able to rush into the city.

Cao Cao then ordered his troops to cross the river overnight and march at a rapid pace.

Unfortunately, Cao Cao was ambushed by Xu Rong while crossing the river.

Xu Rong had a small force, but they were all elite troops of the Central Army, and he launched a surprise attack in the dead of night while the enemy was crossing the river.

Cao Cao's troops were unaware of the enemy's numbers in the darkness, and having just incorporated two thousand remnants of his army, they were unfamiliar with each other, leading to chaos throughout the army.

Xiahou Dun was lucky; with Dian Wei clearing the way for him, he wasn't trapped.

However, Cao Cao's warhorse was shot dead, and he was surrounded on the riverbank.

Fortunately, Cao Cao also had many good brothers.

Cao Hong gave his warhorse to Cao Cao, saying, "The world can do without me, but not without my brother," urging Cao Cao to quickly ride away to break through the encirclement.

Subsequently, Cao Hong fought desperately by the river, covering Cao Cao's retreat. Only after Cao Cao rode far away did Cao Hong jump into the Bian River and swim away to safety.

After defeating Cao Cao, Xu Rong pursued him southward in victory, heading straight for Xingyang.

When Bao Xin learned of Cao Cao's crushing defeat, he went to meet him, but his army was thrown into disarray by the defeated troops. He then abandoned Xingyang and retreated to Chenliu with Cao Cao.

The next day, Cao Cao regrouped his remaining troops, but only one thousand of the original five thousand remained. Most of his men had deserted, and only Xiahou Dun's troops were able to maintain their organization.

Cao Hong did come back alive; being a good swimmer can indeed save your life in critical moments.

Soon after, Guan Yu led his troops and together with Xu Rong occupied the undefended city of Xingyang.

……

Two days later.

The allied forces lost their supplies at Aocang and were unable to quickly break through Hulao Pass. Upon hearing of Cao Cao's crushing defeat and the loss of Xingyang, they lost all will to fight and retreated with their armies.

Meanwhile, Zhang Yan's troops had already crossed the Yellow River. The farcical Guandong Allied Army lost its foundation and dispersed, retreating to various counties in Yanzhou.

Liu Bei reorganized his troops, incorporated the remnants of the enemy forces, and returned to Hulao Pass.

However, after Liu Bei returned to Hulao Pass, he was unable to find out where Yuan Shao had gone.

A few days later, Zhang Yan sent word that some of the Black Mountain troops had discovered Yuan Shao's whereabouts, and that Yuan Shao and Chunyu Qiong had crossed the river to Black Mountain at the same time that Zhang Yan crossed the river southward!

Zhang Yan was certainly aware that there might be Yuan Shao's accomplices in the Black Mountain army.

To avoid losing his base, Zhang Yan had no choice but to hurry back to pursue and kill Yuan Shao.

After Zhang Yan left, Zhang Miao, Cao Cao, Bao Xin, and others abandoned Chenliu. Cao Cao followed Bao Xin to Jibei, while Zhang Miao went to Dongjun.

The Kwantung Army dispersed just like that.

They hadn't won a single battle in all of them...

Lü Bu's fame spread throughout Yanzhou as the allied forces dispersed.

At the same time, the infamy of Liu Bei and Dong Zhuo also spread.

It is said that Liu Bei held the emperor hostage, coerced the court, persecuted loyal officials, obstructed filial piety, and plundered villagers, making him cruel and inhumane... Furthermore, he claimed to be a member of the imperial clan, implying he harbored ambitions to usurp the throne...

It is said that Dong Zhuo kidnapped the Empress Dowager, eliminated dissidents, installed his own cronies, colluded with Liu Bei, acted perversely, and wreaked havoc in the palace... In short, he was more harmful than any previous imperial relatives...

The "wise men of Guandong" claimed that they had "all done their utmost to be loyal," saying: "The two traitors, Liu and Dong, are powerful, and the court has been coerced by them. For the sake of the emperor's safety, we have no choice but to retreat and lie low. The two traitors, Liu and Dong, intend to use their military might to ravage all directions. We hope that all people of ambition in the world will unite and work together, discern right from wrong, and not be misled by Liu and Dong..."

The scholars of Yanzhou were far more adept at spreading rumors than at waging war...

Especially since they hadn't won a single battle after forming the coalition, and had been defeated by Lü Bu with only two or three thousand troops, they had to spread this rumor, otherwise they would lose face and be charged with treason.

Thus, Lü Bu became known as "an unparalleled warrior who could not be directly confronted," and his fame rivaled that of Xiang Yu in his prime.

Liu Bei became a traitor who held the emperor hostage and persecuted loyal officials.

Dong Zhuo was naturally a tyrannical mafia-like figure who wreaked havoc on the court.

On their way back to various places, the Kwantung Allied Forces looted many county towns in order to obtain military supplies. They falsely claimed that the looting was done by Liu Bei's troops, and even cited the example of Liu Bei driving refugees to plunder Lihu in his early years as evidence...

Rumors are not really about whether they are true or false.

It depends on whether most people are willing to believe it—any rumor is based on "the public's willingness to spread it," rather than on truth and logic.

In any case, whichever side you're on, that side has to defend itself.

Most of the gentry preferred to portray Liu Bei and Dong Zhuo as monsters who ate children, and they would smear them with any kind of slander they could find.

After all, most of the gentry had little connection with Liu Bei and Dong Zhuo. If they were allowed to control the government, they would at least lose their prospects of becoming officials.

Especially those who are already serving as state or county officials, or who were about to become high-ranking officials in their respective regions—everyone knows that if Liu Bei were to take power, they would most likely have to revert to being commoners.

As for the truth...

Only a very small number of scholars who possess both moral integrity and logical thinking, as well as impoverished scholars who already have little future prospects, and ordinary people who cannot voice their opinions, care about the truth.

The scholars of Yanzhou were a complete mess when it came to fighting, but their verbal skills far surpassed those of keyboard warriors. Rumors quickly began to spread, since the public's access to information was largely controlled by these scholars.

Liu Bei's proclamation against Yuan Shao, Yuan Shao's proclamation against Liu Bei, the proclamation from the Guandong gentry against "Liu and Dong bringing disaster to the country," and various rumors circulating in different places were all intertwined.

Good and evil are hard to distinguish, loyalty and treachery are hard to differentiate, and right and wrong are hard to define. If you were to ask the scholars of the Central Plains who the traitors are, I'm afraid everyone would give a different answer.

(End of this chapter)