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

In chaotic times of war and conflict, the law of the jungle prevails.

In the past, Yuan Shao was strong and Cao Cao was weak, and the initiative in the war between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao was in Yuan Shao's hands; now, Cao Cao is strong and Liu Bei is weak, and the initiative in the war between Cao Cao and Liu Bei is in Cao Cao's hands.

Although Liu Bei had few options, he was not afraid to go to war with Cao Cao. As both armies began to deploy their troops, Changshan, Zhongshan, Bohai, and Hejian became the main battlefields for the two sides.

Cao Cao went to great lengths to deal with Liu Bei.

First, he spent nearly a year conducting more than twenty small-scale battles to identify the weaknesses in Liu Bei's defenses. Then, he mobilized the main generals and elite troops, except for the necessary garrison troops, to launch the Northern Expedition.

Unlike Yuan Shao's southern expedition against Cao Cao, which took half a year to make promises before slowly taking action, Cao Cao's northern expedition this time was as swift and ruthless as ever, with all five armies reaching their designated positions at top speed!
The core principle is "speed is of the essence in war." As long as you are fast enough, you can seize the initiative and prevent Liu Bei from having a chance to counterattack in advance.

The main reason Cao Cao was able to defeat Yuan Shao at Guandu was that Yuan Shao acted slowly and missed the opportunity: his 100,000-strong army should have marched straight to Xuchang and was unstoppable, but instead gave Cao Cao half a year to build fortifications at Guandu.

Yuan Shao of the past was neither fast nor ruthless enough; Cao Cao of today is not only faster than Yuan Shao, but also more ruthless.

By deliberately choosing February, before the Spring and Autumn Period, for his northern expedition, and employing the old tactic of "obtaining supplies from the enemy," Cao Cao had clearly made up his mind.
Even if the Northern Expedition cannot be completely successful, we should still cause famine in Liu Bei's territory and severely damage Liu Bei's foundation. This is exactly the same strategy that Cao Cao used when he attacked Xuzhou.

First, use superior forces to defeat Tao Qian's main force outside the city, trapping Tao Qian in Tancheng and holding out for his life. Then, carry out massacres, looting, and destruction outside the city, turning the once prosperous Xuzhou into a devastated place. Even if Liu Bei were to become the governor of Xuzhou by chance, he would only have a broken Xuzhou and would not be able to pose a threat to Cao Cao.

Knowing Cao Cao's sinister intentions, Zhuge Liang advised temporarily setting aside stabilizing the region and pacifying the Hu people, and strongly advocated urgently sending Tian Yu and Tian Chou south to minimize the damage Cao Cao caused to Liu Bei's territory.

Currently, in terms of troop deployment, Liu Bei is clearly at a disadvantage, especially in Bohai and Hejian. Before the reinforcements from Tian Yu and Tian Chou arrive south, Cao Cao's army has an absolute numerical advantage.

Upon hearing Zhuge Liang's suggestion, Liu Bei pondered for only a moment before entrusting the sword and seal to Zhuge Liang once more, saying, "Currently, Yun Chang, Yi De, and Zi Long are all absent, and in Bohai and Hejian, only Han Sheng and Zi Jing are capable generals. Although Yuan Zhi, Yuan Hao, and Gong Yu are resourceful and intelligent, they lack the courage to contend with Cao Cao's generals in battle. Once the Wuhuan cavalry arrives at Zhuo County, I will personally lead troops to rescue Bohai and Hejian. Therefore, this time, the strategist will be responsible for coordinating the war."

In terms of overall situation, Liu Bei's vision was also quite good. The current situation was critical, and it was necessary to coordinate all the military and civilian resources of the nine commanderies and three kingdoms in order to possibly resist Cao Cao's spring northern expedition.

In addition, there was a shortage of generals to command troops in the Bohai and Hejian regions, and Liu Bei needed to personally take charge as a general. Therefore, appointing Zhuge Liang to take charge of the sword and seal was the best choice.

If Cao Cao were here, he would surely mock him, saying, "How could Xuande show weakness?" But Liu Bei knew his own limitations. He knew that only Zhuge Liang could currently coordinate the military and civilian resources of the nine commanderies and three kingdoms.
"I will obey my lord's command!"

In times of emergency, expediency is necessary, and Zhuge Liang was quick to step up.

Youbeiping is more than 700 li from Zhuoxian. Even if the Wuhuan cavalry marched at full speed, it would take them ten days to reach Zhuoxian, including the time it would take to mobilize troops.

To prevent unforeseen events from occurring in Bohai and Hejian before the Wuhuan cavalry arrived, Zhuge Liang, after issuing the troop deployment orders, also sent proclamations to various counties in Zhuojun to recruit volunteer soldiers.

Although Liu Bei appeared to have few soldiers, he could still recruit troops from the people in times of crisis. In particular, Zhuojun had tens of thousands of gentry and civilians from Xuzhou. These gentry and civilians shared a common destiny with Liu Bei, and when they saw the Left General's office issue a proclamation to recruit volunteers, thousands of young men immediately signed up.

Furthermore, Liu Bei was from Zhuojun, and the Liu family of Zhuo County, as well as other families that had become close to the Liu family of Zhuo County in recent years, did not hide their relationship. Ambitious members of the clans also volunteered their young men to respond.

Then Zhao Du and Huo Nu, both from Gu'an, each gathered five hundred men and volunteered to enter Zhuo County to serve Liu Bei.

What moved Zhuge Liang was that Zheng Xuan, at the age of seventy-seven, despite his illness, personally wrote a letter to his disciples, instructing them to help Liu Bei. The letter listed the names of more than a hundred disciples, almost all of whom were from Hejian and Bohai, and were either from powerful families or were well-known figures in their respective counties.

Cai Yong's daughter, Cai Wenji, also wrote a tearful account, lamenting that if it weren't for Liu Bei's rescue, she feared she would have been forever humiliated by the barbarians; moreover, Liu Bei treated her as a national hero and hired her as a teacher at the official school. With this heartfelt plea, she tearfully begged her father's elders and friends to lend a helping hand.

Lu Zhi's son, Lu Yu, also wrote a letter earnestly requesting assistance from Lu Zhi's old friends and students throughout Hebei.

Those scholars who had received Liu Bei's kindness in opening his library to them wrote letters to their hometowns. Among them were sons of noble families and even bandits who sought knowledge under assumed names.

The struggle between Cao Cao and Liu Bei was not only a military contest, but also a contest for popular support.

Zhuge Liang first selected a thousand men from the righteous army, gave them a secret plan, and sent them to Hejian, Bohai, and Pingyuan, Le'an, Qi, Beihai, Donglai in Qingzhou, and even Xuzhou. The task of these thousand men was not to fight on the battlefield, but to distribute proclamations and spread the news in the various prefectures and kingdoms.

Subsequently, Liu Bei selected three thousand able-bodied men to lead the first group to the vicinity of Nanpi to observe the situation. These three thousand men were almost all from Zhuojun or from the gentry and commoners who had moved to Zhuojun, including more than a hundred members of the Liu family from Zhuo County.

Liu Bei did not hesitate and selected key members of the White Feather Army, such as Chen Dao, Yang Qun, and Ding Li, members of the imperial clan Liu Deran and Liu He, and powerful figures from Zhuojun, such as Zhao Du and Huo Nu, to serve as generals. He led 3,000 soldiers to Nanpi.

While Liu Bei was rushing to Nanpi, Lü Qian once again led his troops to the city of Nanpi, where Huang Zhong was stationed.

Two thousand soldiers arrayed themselves, and Lü Qian swaggered around the city walls, saying, "Old man Huang Zhong, stop being a coward. Now that Le Cheng's troops are no longer there to help you, are you just going to cower in the city?"

He then ordered his soldiers to curse for half an hour, using every single vulgar word they used, and they thoroughly insulted Huang Zhong and all the major officials of Nanpi City.

Seeing the arrogant and conceited Lü Qian, many of the officers on the city wall were indignant, and even Xu Xun, the governor of Bohai, couldn't help but want to go out and fight Lü Qian to see who was better.

In contrast, Huang Zhong remained calm and composed, even sending people to inquire about Lü Qian's well-being from time to time, asking questions such as, "Are you tired? There's good wine on the city wall, would you like to have a couple of sips to soothe your throat?" or "I see that you have an extraordinary physique and are a good candidate for learning archery. Would you like to become my student? My archery skills are comparable to those of Yang Youji."

This composure and calmness both surprised and puzzled Lü Qian. (End of Chapter)