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

The military situation is urgent. Since we must seize Lecheng while Liu Bei's army is exhausted, we must act quickly.

Every moment of delay allows Liu Bei's military strength to recover.

To avoid Liu Bei discovering his intentions, Cao Chun instructed Xiahou Yuan to deliberately confront Liu Bei and loudly accuse Zhang Fei of betraying Xiahou Yuan's niece, demanding that Zhang Fei personally apologize to him.

Meanwhile, Cao Chun secretly instructed Zhang Liao to select strong and brave warriors, have them drink and don armor, and prepare to scale the city walls.

This little trick did not fool the experienced Liu Bei. Cao Chun's sudden appearance at the city gates must have been for a purpose, and he couldn't have come just to chat.

Therefore, while Liu Bei was engaging in a verbal battle with Xiahou Yuan, he secretly ordered Tian Feng to mobilize elite troops to defend the city.

It wasn't until Zhang Liao led the armored warriors out that Xiahou Yuan finally dropped his pretense, laughing and mocking, "Big-eared thief, you've fallen for my trap! Today I'll make you abandon the city and flee!"

Liu Bei immediately recognized Zhang Liao among the armored warriors. After a sigh, he exclaimed, "Wen Yuan, how have you been?"

Zhang Liao remained silent. They were about to attack the city, and if he continued to reminisce with Liu Bei, it would only dampen the morale of his siege warriors.

Seeing that Zhang Liao did not answer, Liu Bei changed the subject and suddenly accused Xiahou Yuan: "Back when Zhang Liao served under the General, you, Xiahou Yuan, were just a street ruffian who relied on your clan's power to bully the good. I never imagined that after Cao Cao stole the Han dynasty's foundation, you, this filthy scoundrel, would become a commanding general, while a peerless talent like Zhang Liao would have to be the first to charge into battle. Cao Cao appoints people based on nepotism like this; how can he have the face to claim that he only appoints people based on talent?"

Those who are considered "connected" are most afraid of being criticized for it, and often believe that their achievements are the result of their own hard work, and that their birth into the Xiahou clan is merely adding to their success.

Therefore, after Liu Bei pointed out the root of the problem, Xiahou Yuan was both anxious and angry, and shouted: "My family has been monkeys for generations, how can I not become a general? Big-eared thief, if you are afraid, then surrender the city as soon as possible. Out of our past relationship, I will personally escort you to see the Minister of Works."

Liu Bei laughed loudly, "A despicable scoundrel who took the blame for Cao Cao's crimes and went to jail for him, a descendant of a loyal minister of Emperor Gaozu, yet he betrayed the Han Dynasty and dared to presume to call himself a nobleman from a family of dukes and marquises. If Xiahou Ying knew he had a descendant like you, he would be deeply ashamed!"

Xiahou Yuan, having suffered a setback in the verbal battle, retreated in anger. When he reached Zhang Liao's side, he said viciously, "Wen Yuan, this battle depends on you. If you can capture Liu Bei, you must hand him over to me. I want to personally humiliate him."

Zhang Liao remained silent, offering no reply to Xiahou Yuan, only staring coldly at the city wall.

In truth, Zhang Liao was also moved by Liu Bei's criticism of Xiahou Yuan.

Looking back, Zhang Liao was a young official in Yanmen County. At the age of nineteen, he became an aide to Ding Yuan, the governor of Bingzhou. Soon after, he entered Luoyang and became a direct subordinate of General He Jin. He was young and ambitious, and his career was full of glory.

Afterwards, due to the political upheaval, He Jin was defeated and killed, and Zhang Liao joined Dong Zhuo with his troops. After Dong Zhuo was defeated and killed, Zhang Liao joined Lü Bu with his troops and was promoted to Cavalry Commandant. After Lü Bu became the Governor of Xu Province, Zhang Liao became the Chancellor of Lu State. He was twenty-eight years old at the time.

With this resume, even ten Xiahou Yuans wouldn't be enough to compare.

However, after Lü Bu's defeat and death and Zhang Liao's forced surrender, although Cao Cao appointed him as a General of the Household and granted him the title of Marquis of Guannei, Cao Cao never actually regarded Zhang Liao as a true confidant.

He merely admired Zhang Liao's martial prowess and wanted to use him to charge into battle.

A brilliant young man who could lead troops into the general's mansion at the age of nineteen is now thirty-five years old and still has to rely on desperate battles and being the first to charge to get promoted. On the other hand, Xiahou Yuan has repeatedly suffered defeats but is still able to lead troops as the main general.

Only Zhang Liao himself knew the frustration and helplessness he felt.

"Dare to fight! Attack the city!"

The brief military order represented Zhang Liao's determination.

Such was reality, and Zhang Liao could only submit to his fate and not fight against it. Seeing Zhang Liao silently attacking the city, Liu Bei sighed inwardly. If he hadn't been in dire straits himself in the past, Liu Bei would have wanted to recruit Zhang Liao into his ranks.

Now that they are enemies, and Zhang Liao is unwilling to talk about the past, Liu Bei can only strengthen his army and hold firm.

"Pass on my military order: though the enemy's troops are numerous, I stand with you all. I swear I will not retreat from the city walls until Cao Cao's army is driven back," Liu Bei declared boldly.

After the military order was issued, the morale on the city wall soared even higher.

Husband fights with courage.

Even though Liu Bei held a high position and great power, he was willing to risk his life. How could the people on the city walls who had received favors from Liu Bei be willing to risk their lives?
War was imminent. One side wanted to be the first to scale the walls, while the other wanted to defend the city. Both sides' soldiers unleashed fierce fighting power.

Hundreds of armored warriors followed Zhang Liao as he charged towards the walls of Lecheng, while Cao Cao's army behind him used arrows to suppress the archers on the city walls, creating an opportunity for Zhang Liao to scale the walls.

The archers on the city wall carefully dodged Cao Cao's arrows, and threw stones or shot arrows from the crenellations. The arrows and stones collided, hindering Zhang Liao and his men from scaling the city wall.

Every now and then, fierce warriors would seize the opportunity to climb the city wall, but they would be either killed or repelled by the guards on the wall. From 9 am to 1 pm, Zhang Liao launched several fierce attacks. Although he failed to capture the city wall, the guards on the wall were clearly exhausted.

If this trend continues, and Liu Bei doesn't have any other backup plans, it's only a matter of time before the city falls.

"The enemy's offensive is fierce, and holding out is not the best strategy." Liu Bei closely observed the battle situation and, after realizing the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy and his own forces, decisively summoned Qian Zhao: "Zijing, quickly gather the elite cavalry in the city and go out from the north gate, carrying my banner, to Nanpi. Within three days, exchange Hansheng for Lecheng."

Qian Zhao readily accepted the order: "Rest assured, my lord, I will certainly not fail in my mission."

Without further ado, Qian Zhao immediately organized the city's elite cavalry. After resting for nearly six hours, the soldiers and their horses had recovered most of their strength.

Subsequently, the north gate opened, and a cavalry force of over a thousand men, bearing Liu Bei's banner, headed straight towards Nanpi.

The scouts of Cao's army who had gathered the information hurriedly informed Cao Chun, who was immediately suspicious: "Liu Bei abandoned the city and fled?"

Immediately afterwards, Cao Chun denied this guess: "No! Liu Bei intends to take advantage of our main force being in Lecheng and launch a surprise attack on the Nanpi stronghold with light cavalry. Liu Bei's fierce general Huang Zhong is in Nanpi, and Zang Ba is also an old acquaintance of Liu Bei. If anything changes, Lü Qian may not be able to stop him!"

Cao Chun did not trust Zang Ba.

Or, to put it another way, neither Cao Cao nor the Xiahou clan trusted generals from outside the Cao family.

Especially after Chen Gong instigated the rebellion of the generals in Yanzhou, Cao Cao and the Xiahou and Cao clans held deep suspicions about the generals from outside the Cao family. In addition, during the Battle of Guandu, many generals from outside the Cao family were secretly sending surrender letters to Yuan Shao, which made the generals from outside the Cao family have extremely low credibility in Cao Cao's camp.

Xiahou Yuan's defeat was also influenced by the rebellion of Yuan's former soldiers in his camp.

Furthermore, Zang Ba formed his own faction in Langya, and most of the time he obeyed orders but not summons. Even Zang Ba's sons and the fathers, brothers and relatives of his generals were not sent to Xudu as hostages.

If Zang Ba truly wanted to help Liu Bei, he wouldn't have any reservations whatsoever.

Therefore, Cao Chun subconsciously began to doubt Zang Ba's attitude. (End of Chapter)