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

It's night, the moon and stars are sparse.

Xiahou Yuan personally led his elite vanguard, men gagged and horses hoofed, stealthily making their way to the outside of Liu Bei's camp.

Gazing at the sparse firelight and indistinct figures within the camp, Xiahou Yuan's lips curled into a cold smile and murderous intent: "Liu Bei! Tonight I will capture you alive."

The striker unleashed a powerful burst of energy, smashing open the goal!

However, the expected resistance did not materialize.

Although there were drums and horns inside the camp, Liu Bei's troops were nowhere to be seen. Only a few soldiers were beating drums and shouting behind the camp gate. When they saw Xiahou Yuan's troops charging towards them, they ran away amidst the commotion.

The entire camp, brightly lit by firelight, was filled with empty tents!
"An empty camp?!" Xiahou Yuan reined in his horse and stopped abruptly, his pupils shrinking sharply: "We've fallen into a trap! Retreat immediately!"

If an enemy camp is found to be empty during a raid, it is highly likely that the enemy has an ambush outside. Xiahou Yuan dared not be negligent and quickly led his troops to retreat.

However, the expected ambush did not appear.

"No ambush?"

Xiahou Yuan's mind went blank for a moment, then a look of shame and annoyance arose in his eyes. He hurriedly sent men back into the camp to search again, and also sent out scouts to investigate the whereabouts of Liu Bei's troops.

Time passed in dead silence, and scouts began to report back one after another.

"Report! There are no Liu Bei troops inside the camp!"

"Report! No enemy supplies found in the camp!"

"Report! There is no trace of Liu Bei's troops outside the camp!"

"Report!"

Listening to the reports from the scouts, Xiahou Yuan became even more suspicious: Could it be that Liu Bei knew he was no match for him and fled under cover of night?

Hesitant.

A scout rode up on horseback and reported: "Report! A large number of fresh wheel tracks and hoofprints have been discovered in the northwest direction! I followed the tracks and vaguely saw firelight winding through the forest, and the noise of carts and horses. I suspect that the enemy army has moved their camp under the cover of night!"

"Move the village?"

Xiahou Yuan was even more puzzled, not understanding why Liu Bei would go to such lengths.

At this time, Xu Huang, who was following behind, also rode up to find Xiahou Yuan and inquired about the reason. He learned that Liu Bei had moved his camp, and Xu Huang was also surprised and uncertain.

After a moment of contemplation, Xu Huang speculated, "I observe that the location Liu Bei chose to establish his camp is flat and without any natural defenses, which is not a good place to set up a camp. Perhaps he just wants to inform the garrison in Lecheng that reinforcements have arrived, rather than actually intending to establish a camp here to confront us. Today's deliberate challenge and invitation to a battle tomorrow may be an attempt to take advantage of our rest and recuperation tonight to move to a more suitable location to set up a camp."

Xiahou Yuan shared the same thought, and his anger flared: "Liu Bei, that scoundrel, is indeed treacherous. If we wait until he moves to a strategic location and establishes a firm camp, he will surely come back to mock us. We must pursue him quickly and capture Liu Bei alive tonight!"

Xu Huang did not refute Xiahou Yuan's decision to pursue, but cautiously suggested: "Pursuing the enemy at night makes it easy to ambush them. Since Liu Bei is making a show of force in his camp, he must have also left ambushes in case our army pursues us. We can also notify Man Cheng to lead troops to provide support, so as not to fail at the last minute."

This time, Xu Huang learned his lesson and focused his advice not on making Xiahou Yuan cautious, but on the fact that it would be a pity if Li Dian was not informed and all efforts were in vain.

Xiahou Yuan was not angered, and instead sent someone back to his camp to request Li Dian to lead troops to provide support.

Subsequently, Xiahou Yuan and Xu Huang each led their troops in a frantic pursuit to the northwest.

Xiahou Yuan was still in front, followed by Xu Huang, echoing each other from beginning to end.

The several miles passed in the blink of an eye.

Xiahou Yuan led his troops in first, but found that the mountain path in the forest was getting narrower and narrower, and the slopes on both sides were steep and the forest was dense, so Xiahou Yuan couldn't help but become suspicious.

The more times someone falls into an ambush, the more suspicious they become.

"Stop!"

Xiahou Yuan stopped the troops and then carefully observed his surroundings under the moonlight.

However, it was too late. From the dense forest on both sides, Liu Bei's ambush troops suddenly emerged, followed by the chilling sound of bowstrings whistling in unison!
"Boohoo, boomboo-!"

A dense rain of arrows pierced the moonlit night, and in an instant, screams and neighing of horses filled the air.

"There was an ambush after all!" Xiahou Yuan remained calm and shouted, "Raise your shields! Form ranks! Anyone who breaks ranks will be executed!"

Although Cao's troops were ambushed and suffered heavy casualties, they did not completely collapse under Xiahou Yuan's calm command. The shield soldiers, who received the order, quickly set up their shields, layer upon layer, to form a shield wall.

"Tuk Tuk Tuk!"

The dense barrage of arrows struck the wooden shields, the dull thuds echoing through the air, interspersed with the screams of those struck and the pained neighs of warhorses.

The chaos was temporarily contained outside the shield wall.

However, Liu Bei's carefully chosen ambush location proved to be of the greatest effect. The narrow mountain path restricted the mobility of Cao Cao's cavalry and compressed the space for the formation to unfold, making it impossible for the shield formation to protect the soldiers in all directions.

More arrows rained down from the woods on both sides of the hillside. By day they were calling Xiahou Yuan brothers, but tonight they were directly and ruthlessly attacking him.

"Archers, load your arrows! Fire upwards! Suppress the flanks!"

Seeing the ferocity of Liu Bei's arrows, Xiahou Yuan's eyes flashed with malice, and he decisively ordered a counterattack.

The archers in the formation braved the rain of arrows, risking their lives to half-raise their bodies and take turns hurling arrows at the shadowy areas on the hillsides on both sides.

Although the positions of Liu Bei's archers were not visible in the darkness, the arrow barrage did not require aiming, and the counter-arrows briefly suppressed some of the archers on higher ground, giving the shield formation a chance to breathe.

After the fourth volley of arrows, shouts of battle erupted from the dense forest on both sides.

Illuminated by the firelight, Liu Bei's infantry surged forward, their high vantage point giving them an unstoppable momentum.

"Spears forward! Archers, retreat!"

With the military order issued, the most brutal close combat began.

The clash of metal was deafening, and blood and flesh flew everywhere.

Although Xiahou Yuan did not panic this time, he lacked the advantage of terrain and had fewer troops than Liu Bei, so he gradually fell into a disadvantageous position.

"Don't panic! Take turns providing cover and retreat! Quickly rendezvous with Xu Huang!"

In the critical moment, Xiahou Yuan also demonstrated his decisiveness and bravery in the face of danger.

With the personal guards as the vanguard, they fought fiercely against the enemy soldiers who rushed at them, while guiding the troops to retreat along the way they had come from.

The hillside was steep and muddy, the forest was deep and the road was narrow. Every step Cao's army took to retreat was accompanied by new casualties, while Liu Bei's army pressed forward step by step, holding on tightly, wanting to completely overwhelm Xiahou Yuan's troops.

"It's a pity that Yunchang and Yide are not here, otherwise we would definitely capture Xiahou Yuan alive today, so that Yide would be spared the pain of longing." On the hillside, looking at Xiahou Yuan's troops who were fighting and retreating, Liu Bei felt a little regretful.

There were too many guards protecting Xiahou Yuan. Although Yang Qun, Ding Li, and others were able to advance step by step, they could not break through Xiahou Yuan's guards with their bravery.

With the addition of Xu Huang's rear guard and the widening of the road as they pursued, Liu Bei's advantages in troop strength and terrain gradually disappeared.

However, Liu Bei did not order the retreat to be sounded, but continued the pursuit.

Liu Bei was not greedy for merit and unwilling to fight, but was waiting for Tian Feng and Qian Zhao of Lecheng. Before making a plan, Liu Bei sent someone to the city of Lecheng to shoot arrows at the city walls, sending the plan to lure the enemy tonight.

The defending troops and reinforcements were already in a pincer movement, so Liu Bei naturally couldn't let the defending troops do nothing.

Just after Liu Bei successfully ambushed Xiahou Yuan, a fire suddenly broke out in Liu Bei's original camp. It was the troops that Liu Bei had left in the camp to make a show of force that set the camp ablaze.

The fire was a message.

On the city wall.

Upon seeing the sudden burst of flames at Liu Bei's camp, both Tian Feng and Qian Zhao's expressions tightened. (End of Chapter)