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

Whether it was persuading Xu Huang with reason and emotion, luring him to find Xiahou Yuan, or decisively abandoning the spoils and releasing the prisoners "out of consideration for Xu Huang," both were decisions made by Guan Yu after careful consideration.

Zhuge Liang once advised: A general should not be greedy for merit, but should prioritize caution.

Zhuge Liang also analyzed the defeat at Jingzhou:
If Guan Yu had not been greedy for merit and recklessly marched north after flooding the seven armies, but instead returned to Jiangling in time to reorganize the 30,000 prisoners, Cao Cao would not have been forced to form an alliance with Sun Quan. If Guan Yu had not been overconfident in the strong defenses of Jiangling and Gong'an, but instead quickly returned to deploy defenses after Xu Huang secretly reported that Sun Quan was attacking Jingzhou, Jiangling would not have been easily captured by Lü Meng.

Throughout history, generals have often become arrogant and complacent after local victories, underestimating the wisdom and prudence of their opponents, which has led to irreversible defeats.

Admittedly, given Guan Yu's command abilities and Yan Liang and Wen Chou's martial prowess, defeating Xu Huang was entirely reasonable.

However, the terrain of this valley is unique, with only the entrance wide enough for a large army to pass through. If Cao Ren were to seize the valley entrance after defeating Xu Huang, Guan Yu would have no choice but to follow in Xiahou Yuan's footsteps and abandon his horse to climb the mountain and escape.

After briefly explaining the situation to Yan Liang and Wen Chou, Guan Yu did not delay any longer and ordered the local gentry and their soldiers on both sides to quickly withdraw from the valley.

Shortly after they withdrew from the valley, Cao Ren, who had heard the news, also arrived. Seeing the corpses strewn across the valley, Cao Ren was shocked. Upon learning that Xiahou Yuan had abandoned his horse and climbed the mountain, Cao Ren hurriedly sent people to search for Xiahou Yuan.

An hour later, Xiahou Yuan was brought back, only to find his armor tattered, his hair and beard disheveled, and his expression dejected.

Cao Ren strode forward, his voice urgent and filled with shock: "Wonderful talent! You had a thousand elite light cavalry, and even with rolling logs and boulders blocking your retreat, how could you suffer such a crushing defeat? Is Guan Yu truly that powerful?!"

Like Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren, while wary of Guan Yu's martial prowess, also despised Guan Yu's leadership, considering him merely a reckless brute who had never studied military strategy.

Now, however, Cao Ren was shocked to see Xiahou Yuan defeated. Even after learning some details from the released Cao soldiers, Cao Ren still found it hard to believe.

Xiahou Yuan's eyes were still bloodshot, and his voice was hoarse and indignant. After telling Cao Ren the details of the battle, Xiahou Yuan sighed again: "Guan Yu is not what he used to be! His tactics are unpredictable and treacherous. If it weren't for Gongming's desperate rescue, I would have died in the valley today!"

Cao Ren asked in surprise, "Has Guan Yu's military tactics really advanced to this level?"

Xiahou Yuan nodded dejectedly.

Although he was reluctant to admit it, the fact that he had failed left Xiahou Yuan with no excuses to cover up his defeat. Moreover, in front of Cao Ren, a general from the same clan, Xiahou Yuan had no reason to invite ridicule.

Seeing Xiahou Yuan suffer such a defeat, Cao Ren was even more astonished.

After a moment of contemplation, Cao Ren glanced at Xu Huang not far away and lowered his voice: "I learned from your soldiers that Guan Yu called Xu Huang 'elder brother' and they chatted privately for a long time. Do you know why?"

Xiahou Yuan replied, "When Gongming found me, he had already told me the whole story. He said that Guan Yu had clearly stated that he deliberately let me go because he was afraid that capturing or killing me would provoke your wrath."

Mentioning this matter, Xiahou Yuan felt even more ashamed and angry. He thought he had found a glimmer of hope in a desperate situation, but he never expected that this glimmer of hope was deliberately left by Guan Yu.

At first, Xiahou Yuan did not believe what Xu Huang said, but after seeing the map in Xu Huang's hand, he had no choice but to believe it, and thus a sense of frustration arose.

Upon hearing this, Cao Ren's astonishment deepened: "Guan Yu... he actually understands the general trend of the world?!"

Shocked, Cao Renfu calmly replied, "We must quickly report this matter back to the Minister of Works to assist him in making a decision."

Xiahou Yuan felt ashamed again and turned his head, saying, "I am ashamed to face Sikong. Please let Gongming return." Cao Ren then set up camp at the valley entrance, wrote down in detail Xiahou Yuan's defeat and danger on bamboo slips, and sent Xu Huang to bring him back to Ye City.

Xu Huang did not rest, and returned to Ye City without stopping, presenting the document to Cao Cao.

Before meeting Xu Huang, Cao Cao was troubled by the intelligence that Cao Ren had previously provided. His carefully crafted Tiger and Leopard Cavalry had suffered a setback in its first battle, which made Cao Cao feel frustrated.

Although the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry was still in its early stages and its armor was incomplete, it was far from meeting Cao Cao's standards. However, the fact that they could not defeat the White Horse Cavalry despite being outnumbered made Cao Cao feel a bitter taste in his mouth.

What troubled Cao Cao even more was that Zhao Yun, who should have been stationed in Shangdang, had appeared in Julu. Judging from his rescue of Ju Shou by the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry today, it was not a hasty arrival, but rather as if he had secretly gone into hiding beforehand.

At this moment, upon learning that Xiahou Yuan had been defeated by Guan Yu, Cao Cao felt a headache coming on and couldn't help but rub his forehead.

After closing his eyes to regulate his breathing, Cao Cao immediately ordered his men: "Quickly find out the battle situation of Xiahou Dun's troops. If there is any report, report it immediately."

The successive defeats of Cao Chun and Xiahou Yuan made Cao Cao worried about Xiahou Dun, who was pursuing Yuan Tan.

To Cao Cao's relief, Xiahou Dun sent him good news: Yuan Tan had set up an ambush on the way, intending to ambush Xiahou Dun, but Xiahou Dun's deputy general Zhang Liao led dozens of brave warriors to break through Yuan Tan's ranks and reach his banner. Yuan Tan fled in fear, and his troops suffered a great defeat.

"Thinking about it this way, Liu Bei is neither willing to fight me to the death, nor does he want Yuan Tan to become too powerful. What do you think, Fengxiao?" Cao Cao made his judgment and then turned to Guo Jia, who was standing in the tent, to confirm his guess.

Guo Jia nodded in agreement, saying, "What Sikong said is absolutely right. Now that the interception has failed, my lord should make a decision. We should quickly send more troops to attack Qingzhou."

Guo Jia was getting impatient after his repeated attempts to offer advice failed. Since entering Hebei, although he was still able to understand the situation, he was unable to gain the upper hand for Cao Cao in dealing with it.

Compared to Xun Yu, Xun You, Cheng Yu, and others who each had their own main job and also served as strategists, Guo Jia was a full-time strategist. Cao Chun and Xiahou Yuan suffered defeats one after another, which were related to their own wisdom, courage, and leadership, but the main reason was that their plans were flawed and failed to allow the generals to seize the initiative.

Guo Jia felt guilty and uneasy because his poor planning caused Cao Cao to lose the initiative.

The situation in Hebei has suddenly changed drastically, and a slight misstep could lead to total defeat. Guo Jia has no choice but to adopt a cautious strategy.

It would be pointless to continue fighting Liu Bei to the bitter end. The urgent task now is to take advantage of Xiahou Dun and Zhang Liao's defeat of Yuan Tan and send reinforcements to attack Qingzhou.

Cao Cao should seize as many cities, passes, forts, and strategic resources as possible north of the Yellow River, and swiftly destroy Yuan Tan. Only after Cao Cao has control of all the land, money, and people he has gained can he then contend with Liu Bei with wisdom and courage, ensuring that there is no mishap.

"Fengxiao's words are very good!"

Cao Cao was also a decisive man. Victory and defeat are common occurrences in war. One cannot have both fish and bear's paw. Now that he had suffered a loss in one place and gained an advantage in another, he naturally could not be discouraged by the loss and let the opportunity to gain an advantage be lost again.

His eyes instantly sharpened like an eagle's, without the slightest hesitation!
"Order Cao Ren to immediately lead his troops eastward to join forces with Xiahou Dun's troops and march straight to Pingyuan!"

"Order Zang Ba again to seize Beihai Commandery immediately! There must be no delay!" (End of Chapter)