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

For a moment, Cao Chun was in a dilemma.

Seeing that Zhang Liao's offensive was gaining the upper hand, Liu Bei's decision to send cavalry out of the city to attack Nanpi also proved that the city could not be held. At this time, if troops were to be divided to pursue, Zhang Liao's strong attack might be in vain.

However, if Cao Cao does not pursue Liu Bei, and if something unexpected happens in Nanpi that allows Liu Bei to win another battle, then Cao Cao's spring offensive will be a complete failure.

Moreover, Cao Chun came to Lecheng specifically to help Liu Bei, and now that Liu Bei has gone to Nanpi, there's no point in Cao Chun staying in Lecheng any longer.

Seeing Cao Chun's predicament, Xiahou Yuan suggested, "Why don't I stay here and continue attacking Lecheng, while Zihe goes to pursue Liu Bei, and I'll replace Xu Huang with you?"

Zhang Liao is currently launching a strong attack on Lecheng, and he certainly cannot retreat at this time. Cao Chun needs to return to Nanpi to continue fighting Liu Bei, and he also needs the assistance of a fierce general. Xu Huang is the best choice.

At this moment, Li Dian suddenly asked, "Right now we only see Liu Bei's banners but not Liu Bei himself. What if Liu Bei is just bluffing and deliberately sending another general to Nanpi under the banners? If we then divide our forces and go to Nanpi, wouldn't that give Liu Bei an opportunity to take advantage of us? In my opinion, it would be better to concentrate our forces to capture Lecheng first, and then return to Nanpi."

Cao Chun shook his head: "Even if we concentrate our forces, Lecheng will not be taken in a day. If Liu Bei goes to the more fortified city of Nanpi and takes the opportunity to break through my Nanpi stronghold, I will have no way back. Even if Liu Bei is just bluffing, I can first eliminate his cavalry outside the city, and when I return to Lecheng, my army's morale will be even higher."

Although Li Dian's advice was very reasonable, Cao Chun dared not gamble. If it really was Liu Bei who went, and the Nanpi stronghold was lost as a result, then Cao Chun would have to flee in panic to the grove like Xiahou Yuan.

Ultimately, Cao Chun was not cunning enough. If it had been Cao Cao, he would have been able to see through Liu Bei's intentions.

However, Cao Cao could not always be present where Liu Bei was. As the Minister of Works, Cao Cao had many things to consider and could not act like a general, moving from east to west as Liu Bei did.

Being able to sit in Ye City and oversee five armies to attack Liu Bei was already the limit of what Cao Cao could do at that time.

After all, Liu Bei's Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun were all tied down in Changshan, Zhongshan, and Shangdang and could not make any moves. This was equivalent to holding back Liu Bei's arms so that Xiahou Yuan and Cao Chun could attack Liu Bei with peace of mind. They even cautiously assigned five generals, Li Dian, Xu Huang, Zhang Liao, Zang Ba, and Lü Qian, to assist Xiahou Yuan and Cao Chun.

If this still cannot defeat Liu Bei, it cannot be blamed on Cao Cao's poor deployment, but only on Xiahou Yuan and Cao Chun's poor military tactics.

Seeing that Cao Chun had declined the suggestion, Li Dian hesitated and stopped speaking.

Cao Chun's reply was already very polite. Li Dian, a defeated general who lost his camp, was not qualified to teach Cao Chun how to use troops.

Subsequently, Cao Chun selected three thousand Tiger and Leopard Cavalry and the remaining infantry and cavalry, and together with Xu Huang, they hurriedly pursued Qian Zhao in the direction he had fled.

The battle at Lecheng was then handed over to Xiahou Yuan.

"As expected, General Cao has divided his troops. My lord is wise." Tian Feng's tone was slightly excited.

First, he used a series of entrapment tactics to defeat Xiahou Yuan in one battle; now he is making a show of force to trick Cao Cao's generals into sending troops to Nanpi.

Liu Bei's accurate assessment of the battle situation impressed Tian Feng even more.

Liu Bei's lips curled slightly.

Twenty years of campaigns in the south and north, during which he suffered more defeats than victories, allowed Liu Bei to accumulate a wealth of practical experience. These experiences, combined with his daily exchanges with Zhuge Liang, led to more precise post-battle summaries, which further enhanced Liu Bei's ability to command troops.

Zhuge Liang's willingness to let Liu Bei lead troops to rescue Lecheng and Nanpi first also reflects his trust in Liu Bei's ability to command troops.

Otherwise, given Zhuge Liang's cautious nature, he would have replaced Liu Bei to rescue Lecheng and Nanpi, leaving Liu Bei to wait patiently for the Wuhuan cavalry to arrive in Zhuoxian. "Although the enemy has divided their forces, their offensive is still fierce. Let's hold out for another half day, and tonight we'll give the enemy outside the city a surprise." His calm words revealed complete confidence in his control of the battle.

As Cao Chun said, even if they concentrated their forces, Lecheng would not be taken in a day. Moreover, Cao Chun also sent troops to pursue Liu Bei's scattered cavalry, which greatly reduced the momentum of Cao's troops attacking Lecheng.

As dusk fell, Zhang Liao's all-day offensive came to a temporary halt, and the intense fatigue left Zhang Liao and his elite warriors exhausted.

In order to be well-rested for the next day's offensive, Zhang Liao led his warriors to remove their armor and go to sleep after dinner, leaving all other matters to Xiahou Yuan and Li Dian.

Since Cao Chun had divided his troops and left, Xiahou Yuan and Li Dian did not dare to be careless. They agreed that one of them would be on duty for the first half of the night and the other for the second half, so as to prevent the city's garrison from taking the opportunity to raid the camp.

Although the city's defenders were exhausted from fighting all day, this wasn't the first time the city's troops had raided the camp. Although they were repelled by Li Dian the first time, they directly seized the camp the second time.

Therefore, when Li Dian suggested carefully guarding the camp to prevent a raid, Xiahou Yuan did not object.

However, despite their caution, Xiahou Yuan and Li Dian still couldn't defend against Liu Bei's unpredictable and dangerous tactics, which were on par with Cao Cao's.

When Liu Bei's banner appeared in front of the camp gate, Xiahou Yuan and Li Dian were both astonished.

"That big-eared scoundrel has actually returned? No, that's not right! Liu Bei is still in the city? That big-eared scoundrel thinks I'm Yan Liang!" Xiahou Yuan subconsciously thought of Cao Cao's strategy of dividing his troops to defeat Yan Liang at Baima, and was both shocked and furious.

At present, Zhang Liao and other elite soldiers are exhausted from the siege and are sleeping without their armor. They cannot be put into battle for a short time. Cao Chun has also taken away the elite troops except for Zhang Liao's troops. Most of the remaining troops are those who were defeated and scattered by Liu Bei.

In other words, Liu Bei's strategy of dividing his forces once again gave him a local advantage over Xiahou Yuan, allowing him to defeat the weaker party with the stronger one!
"I am Liu Bei, the Left General! Xiahou Yuan, do you dare to fight me to the death?" Liu Bei once again spurred his horse forward, sword in hand, his two swords flashing as if he were in an empty field.

Having been repeatedly outmaneuvered and tricked by Liu Bei, Xiahou Yuan was filled with rage. Unable to contain his anger any longer, he drew his sword and charged at Liu Bei, determined to kill him.

"Big-eared thief, fight me!" Xiahou Yuan swung his sword and slashed, his face contorted with rage.

Liu Bei laughed heartily: "Excellent! This time you won't escape again."

Xiahou Yuan's defeated soldiers were already demoralized, and Zhang Liao's elite troops were caught off guard. In a short time, Cao Cao's army was forced into a series of defeats.

Just when it seemed that the same mistake was about to be repeated, another army suddenly charged in. Judging from their banners, it was Xu Huang.

"Why has Gongming come to this?" Li Dian was greatly surprised upon seeing this.

Xu Huang said urgently, "General Cao tossed and turned all night, worried that Liu Bei might raid the camp again if he was in the city. So he ordered me to lead the troops back and lie in ambush ten miles away to observe the situation. And it turned out to be true!"

Although Cao Chun was a bit slow to react, he still sensed something was wrong after the troops were dispatched.

Since Cao Chun was also unsure, he adopted a compromise: if Xiahou Yuan's camp was raided, it proved that Liu Bei was in the city; if the camp was not raided, it proved that he was not in the city.

Fortunately, this caution saved Xiahou Yuan from having to flee in panic tonight. (End of Chapter)