The Three Kingdoms: Hindsight is 20/20, and the Three Revivals of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 175 While Liu Bei watched the tigers fight, Cao Cao launched a surprise attack on Cangting Ferry (5th update)
After discerning Cao Cao's military intentions, Guo Jia resolutely advised: "Since Your Majesty intends to wage war, you should act swiftly rather than slowly."

Guo Jia was very good at understanding Cao Cao's thoughts.

As a close advisor, one cannot simply refute the lord's decisions.

Like Tian Feng and Ju Shou, they constantly challenged their lord. If they encountered a magnanimous lord who was both outwardly lenient and inwardly suspicious, their strategies would at most be rejected. However, if they encountered a magnanimous lord who was outwardly lenient but inwardly suspicious, they would be regarded as enemies.

Guo Jia's approach was to offer practical and feasible solutions to improve the ruler's decisions when the ruler was about to make a decision, thus helping the ruler to identify and address any shortcomings.

Upon hearing this, Cao Cao asked with a smile, "Fengxiao, aren't you worried that my hasty military campaign will exhaust the soldiers and cause them to run out of food?"

Guo Jia replied with a smile, “Warfare is based on deception. Yuan Shao will surely judge it by common sense, thinking that if our lord hastily mobilizes his troops, his soldiers will be exhausted and his supplies will be insufficient, thus his defenses will be lax. At this time, if our lord drives his troops to advance swiftly and seize supplies from the enemy, he can descend like a divine army, cross the river and seize the fort, and reach the north bank of the Yellow River! The art of war says: speed is of the essence! This is exactly the case.”

Cao Cao was very experienced in continuous and rapid battles.

When they attacked Xuzhou in the past, they retreated in February and returned in April, catching Tao Qian off guard. In the end, Tao Qian died of depression and could only do a good deed by giving the ravaged Xuzhou to Liu Bei on his deathbed.

Cao Cao was well-versed in Sun Tzu's Art of War and was accustomed to taking supplies from the enemy. When fighting, he would often only carry enough supplies for one-way trips. If he ran out of money and food, he would either dig up graves for gold or massacre villages to steal food.

To counter such ruthless tactics, Cao Cao would have little chance of finding an opponent unless he responded with overwhelming force or an even more daring surprise attack.

With Guo Jia's approval, Cao Cao became even more triumphant: "I regard Yuan Shao as nothing more than a clay chicken or a tile dog! This battle will completely end Yuan Shao's ambition to march south!"

Looking at the map hanging there, Cao Cao recalled his discussion with Yuan Shao on the banks of the Yellow River after his failed campaign against Dong Zhuo.

Yuan Shao stroked his beard and said arrogantly, "I hold the Yellow River in the south, block the Yan and Dai tribes in the north, and combine the Rong and Di tribes. I will head south to contend for the world."

Cao Cao retorted, "If we employ the wisdom and strength of the entire world and govern it with the Way, there is nothing we cannot achieve."

And in fact.

Yuan Shao did indeed achieve his goal of "controlling the Yellow River in the south, blocking the Yan and Dai tribes in the north, and annexing the Rong and Di tribes," but his grand dream of "contending for the world by moving south" was shattered by Cao Cao with "the wisdom and strength of the world" and the moral principle of "holding the emperor hostage to command the princes."

When Cao Cao saw that Liu Bei had become famous in Hebei, he only sighed, "Liu Xuande has entered Hebei, like a bird soaring into the blue sky or a fish entering the sea. Yuan Shao is no match for Xuande at all." This is the reason.

Admittedly, occupying the rich lands of Hebei does indeed provide an advantage for contending for power in the south.

However, neither Yuan Shao, who was unable to "entrust the wisdom and intelligence of the world," nor Liu Bei, who was capable of "entrusting the wisdom and intelligence of the world," possessed the moral authority of a legitimate emperor.

Although Liu Bei had the imperial edict in the belt to attack Cao Cao, Cao Cao could also use the imperial edict to denounce Liu Bei as a traitor, defame the edict as a forged edict, and further use the pretext that Liu Bei was a member of the Han imperial family and would follow the example of Emperor Guangwu to break with Emperor Gengshi after seizing power to form a temporary united front with Liu Xie.

If Cao Cao wanted to convict Liu Bei, he could come up with countless reasons.

Cao Cao was even more convinced that his own strategists (Xunzi, Jia Yi, Cheng Yi, Guo Jing, Dong Zhuo, Liu Bei, etc.) far surpassed the talents and wisdom gathered by Liu Bei.

At present, Cao Cao's primary enemy is still Yuan Shao, who has a deep foundation.

Only by completely defeating Yuan Shao, a general who inherited the legacy of four generations of high-ranking officials, will the protégés and former subordinates of the Yuan family switch allegiance.

Cao Cao, who held the emperor's hand, had a greater advantage in recruiting Yuan's former subordinates.

Even if the massacre of surrendered soldiers would provoke fierce resistance from the Hebei gentry, south of the Yellow River, especially in Jingzhou and Yangzhou, among the three powerful figures—Cao Cao, who could destroy Yuan Shao and control the emperor; the aging Liu Biao; and the young Sun Quan—the choice for discerning individuals would not be difficult. In Cao Cao's eyes, Liu Bei was still merely a tiger yet to fully mature, and Cao Cao was confident that after destroying Yuan Shao, he could nip Liu Bei in the bud before he truly gained power.

Cao Cao had strong execution skills.

After discussing with Guo Jia, Cao Cao issued a military order to Xiahou Yuan of Yanzhou, instructing him to lie low and await Cao Cao's arrival.

During this period, Shen Pei and Feng Ji carried out the plan to wear down Cao Cao. Shen Pei was responsible for attacking the left and Feng Ji was responsible for attacking the right, which indeed annoyed Xiahou Yuan to no end.

Xiahou Yuan repeatedly requested troops from Cao Cao, but Cao Cao refused each time, instead allowing Xiahou Yuan to be toyed with by Shen Pei and Feng Ji in Yanzhou.

Besides trying to lull Shen Pei and Feng Ji into complacency, it was also to determine whether Liu Bei would send troops to Dongwuyang.

If Liu Bei were to send troops, Cao Cao would absolutely not engage in battle with him at that time.

Once the spies confirmed that Liu Bei was using the pretext of military farming in Changshan Kingdom to distract himself from the war in Dongwuyang, Cao Cao's last worry disappeared.

By patiently waiting for the arrogant troops to become complacent, and by launching a surprise attack, Cao Cao was confident of victory.

In the third month of the sixth year of Jian'an (200 AD).

Cao Cao secretly summoned brave warriors from all directions to Yanzhou and gathered troops in Dong'e City, south of Cangtingjin.

Besides Xiahou Yuan, who was already in Dong'e City, other valiant generals such as Xiahou Dun, Cao Hong, Zhang Liao, Li Dian, Yue Jin, Zhang He, Xu Huang, Yu Jin, Gao Lan, and Xu Chu also secretly arrived in Dong'e City from various strategic locations.

Because Cao Cao used a strategy of consolidating scattered forces, and all the generals led their troops into the city at night, the scouts on the north bank could not detect Cao Cao's secret troop movements.

On the other hand, the situation of the Yuan army stationed at Cangtingjin on the north bank was thoroughly investigated by Xu You, who had entered Dong'e City ahead of time.

"The one stationed at Cangting Ferry is Gao Fan, the Prefect of Wei Commandery under Yuan Shao. He was originally a retainer of Shen Pei, but I never expected him to become the Prefect of Wei Commandery." Xu You deeply hated Shen Pei. As long as it was related to Shen Pei, Xu You wished he could skin him alive to vent his hatred.

After Cao Cao handed over Shen Pei's two sons to Xu You, Xu You devoted himself to Cao Cao and spent the last few months helping Cao Cao gather intelligence on the defenses of the north.

"How is Gao Fan as a commander?" Cao Cao asked in a deep voice. The surprise attack on Cangting Ferry could only succeed and could not fail. If they could not even cross the Yellow River, there was no point in talking about fighting Yuan Shao in Dongwuyang.

Xu You sneered: "Arrogant fools are nothing to worry about. I have already sent men to investigate carefully. Gao Fan's soldiers are not fully equipped; they are only relying on the natural barrier of the Yellow River. As long as we take the initiative to attack, we can definitely defeat Gao Fan. Tonight, Mengde, you can order your generals to cross the Yellow River and take Gao Fan's head as a congratulatory gift for Yuan Shao! I want to see what Yuan Shao can accomplish without me, Xu Ziyuan, relying solely on that good-for-nothing Shen Pei!"

Seeing the undisguised hatred in Xu You's eyes, Cao Cao understood. He then looked at the generals below, his eyes suddenly sharpening, and demanded, "Who dares to cross the Yellow River with me?"

The words fell.

Xiahou Yuan, Xiahou Dun, Cao Hong, Zhang Liao, Li Dian, Yue Jin, Zhang He, Xu Huang, Yu Jin, Gao Lan, Xu Chu and other valiant generals stepped forward, their roars like thunder: "This humble general is willing to go!"

Hearing the fearless shouts of his generals, Cao Cao laughed loudly: "Good! Issue my order: the army shall eat its fill, and after nightfall, we shall cross the river by leaping across the waves! We shall seize Cangting Ferry! Tonight, I will see the great banner raised on the north bank of the Yellow River!"

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(End of this chapter)