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

Faced with Liu Bei's obvious provocation, Cao Chun could only secretly bury his doubts deep in his heart.

Even if he distrusted Zang Ba, he could not return to Nanpi at this moment, otherwise this decision to go or return would become a laughing stock in the future.

At that time, it would not be Cao Chun who suspected Zang Ba of having ulterior motives, but Cao Cao who would doubt Cao Chun's ability to shoulder the great responsibility.

"Liu Bei has exhausted his tricks!"

Cao Chun feigned disdain and showed the letter to Li Dian, Zhang Liao, and Xu Huang to demonstrate that he had no doubts about Zang Baxin.

Zhang Liao and Xu Huang, like Zang Ba, were surrendered generals. If Cao Chun suspected Zang Ba, he would be suspecting Zhang Liao and Xu Huang. Therefore, even if he had to pretend, he had to pretend to have absolute trust in Zang Ba.

Otherwise, Zhang Liao and Xu Huang would surely be dissatisfied: "We've both risked our lives so much, and you still doubt us? Do you expect us to follow Zhang He's example and defect to the enemy on the battlefield? We don't care, but how will you explain this to the Minister of Works, General?"

Zhang Liao and Zang Ba had both served under Lü Bu, only surrendering to Cao Cao after Lü Bu's defeat and capture. They felt this deeply and, being straightforward by nature, exclaimed upon receiving the letter: "General, you are wise! Liu Bei's plan is utterly crude! If Zang Ba truly harbored disloyal intentions, why would Liu Bei need to go to such lengths as writing this letter? Clearly, seeing our army surrounded, he intends to use this underhanded tactic to sow discord among our commanders! We must not fall for his treacherous scheme!"

Xu Huang echoed, "Wen Yuan's words are reasonable. Liu Bei has run out of water and is trapped on the mountaintop, like a turtle in a jar. This letter is nothing but a desperate struggle, an attempt to lure you, General, into sending troops back to rescue Nanpi so he can escape in the chaos. As for Zang Xiang, although he has a past friendship with Liu Bei, I have always heard that he is a man of integrity and trustworthiness, and is not the kind of person who would disregard matters of state for personal reasons. General, you can rest assured."

Compared to Zhang Liao and Xu Huang's defense of Zang Ba, Li Dian was more cautious: "What the two generals say is certainly reasonable, but we must be wary of Qian Zhao's urgent trip to Nanpi. This man is a sworn brother of Liu Bei, and his trip to Nanpi is certainly not ordinary. We must be vigilant to prevent Liu Bei from using him to secretly mobilize troops in Nanpi and take advantage of the situation to reinforce Lecheng."

Cao Chun felt somewhat relieved when he saw that Zhang Liao and Xu Huang both strongly testified to Zang Ba's innocence.

This was exactly the atmosphere Cao Chun wanted; he needed to keep the surrendered generals calm so that they would be willing to serve him.

He then made a decision and said loudly, "Good! Wen Yuan and Gong Ming are wise and righteous, and what they say is exactly what I think! Zang Ba is loyal and righteous, and is highly valued and relied upon by Sikong. How could he betray Sikong's kindness because of old friendships?"

With that, he decisively threw the letter into the brazier to show that he had no doubts.

He then turned to Li Dian, acknowledging Li Dian's concerns: "Mancheng's worries are indeed reasonable! Liu Bei has always been cunning, and there is a real possibility that he might secretly mobilize troops from Nanpi. Fortunately, I had this thought in mind when we returned, and I sent someone in advance to inform Lü Qian to be extra vigilant in Nanpi. If we besiege him here for a few days, Liu Bei's army will surely fall into disarray. Once we defeat Liu Bei, even if he secretly mobilizes troops from Nanpi to Lecheng, it will be of no use. Instead, it will give us the opportunity to seize both Lecheng and Nanpi!"

Speaking of this, Cao Chun was filled with confidence.

No matter how you look at it, Liu Bei is at a disadvantage in the current situation.

This time, Cao Chun was confident that he would no longer be led by the nose by Liu Bei, and with the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry at his disposal, he was also confident that he could defeat Liu Bei head-on.

Seemingly in response to Cao Chun's confidence, Liu Bei's subsequent actions were quite deceptive.

After his attempt to sow discord between Zang Ba failed, Liu Bei secretly sent a letter to Zhang Liao and Xu Huang, recounting past events and mentioning their friendship with Guan Yu, hoping that they would remember their past kindness and not push him too far.

Cao Chun was even more certain that Liu Bei had run out of tricks. Not only did he not make things difficult for Liu Bei's envoy, but he also prepared wine and food for him and promised that anyone who was willing to surrender would be pardoned and that anyone who could capture Liu Bei alive would be rewarded with a thousand pieces of gold.

After the messenger returned, Zhao Du and Huo Nu, powerful figures under Liu Bei's command in Zhuojun, secretly sent messengers on Liu Bei's orders, claiming that "words are not enough" and requesting Cao Chun to provide a written document.

Cao Chun also prepared food and wine to entertain the envoys of Zhao Du and Huo Nu, and presented them with a letter of promise.

As the siege dragged on, and with Cao Chun employing psychological warfare tactics, more and more soldiers secretly descended the mountain due to water shortages. Cao Chun became even more certain of his judgment, treating each descending soldier well and then releasing them back onto the mountain, waiting for an opportunity to respond when Liu Bei's army became demoralized.

It is human nature to seek advantage and avoid harm, and all of this seems to be normal.

However, what Cao Chun didn't know was that the initial messenger, as well as the messengers from Zhao Du and Huo Nu, and the soldiers who subsequently came down the mountain, were all disguised as Liu Bei's White Feather Soldiers.

The purpose was also to reveal to Cao Chun the "false impression" of the army's morale being in disarray on the mountain, thereby making Cao Chun arrogant and complacent.

After two days, Liu Bei appeared to be on the verge of defeat, but in reality he was preparing to launch another attack, while Cao Chun, thinking he had outmaneuvered Liu Bei, became complacent.

Meanwhile, Xiahou Yuan, who was at the main camp, felt relieved after discovering that Cao Chun's siege of the mountain was successful. His frustration at being thwarted by Liu Bei for days also improved.

In a moment of high spirits, Xiahou Yuan had another sudden whim and personally led several hundred soldiers to repair the antlers of the main camp in order to prevent the garrison in Lecheng City from using the same trick to raid the camp again.

Although some of his close confidants advised Xiahou Yuan not to do things personally, Xiahou Yuan believed that if a general cannot share weal and woe with his soldiers, how can he expect them to be willing to serve him?

Xiahou Yuan's idea was correct, but he was just unlucky. Just as Xiahou Yuan was repairing the deer antlers, a cavalry force suddenly attacked from the direction of Nanpi.

The leader was none other than Huang Zhong, who had been summoned back to the capital!

Having discovered that a group of Cao soldiers were repairing their deer antlers, Huang Zhong decided to strike first, defeat this group of Cao soldiers, and then go to join Liu Bei.

Effectively killing Cao Cao's soldiers would weaken Cao Cao's military strength and boost the morale of his own side, which was a win-win situation. Huang Zhong would naturally not miss this opportunity.

As the old saying goes, when you're down on your luck, you can choke on a sip of water. When Xiahou Yuan saw Huang Zhong coming, he was instantly dumbfounded: Why did you have to come now? I was repairing the deer antlers and you came.

"General, flee at once!"

The guards on either side called out urgently.

The soldiers repairing the deer antlers could hardly form an effective fighting force, let alone withstand Huang Zhong's cavalry's indiscriminate shooting. Apart from fleeing, Xiahou Yuan had no chance of fighting Huang Zhong!

The only fortunate thing was that Huang Zhong obviously didn't expect that among the hundreds of Cao soldiers repairing the deer antlers, there was a big fish like Xiahou Yuan.

The fact that a general personally went to repair the deer antlers is something that even someone with the wisdom of Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong could not have predicted. The only explanation for such an opportunity is metaphysics.

Furthermore, Huang Zhong did not recognize Xiahou Yuan, so he simply led his troops indiscriminately to kill, without specifically pursuing and killing Xiahou Yuan as he had done with the Wuhuan leader Afugan in the Black Mountain campaign.

He regarded everyone as just an ordinary Cao soldier repairing deer antlers.

So Huang Zhong didn't care who the opponent was, and just casually shot an arrow, hitting Xiahou Yuan in the right eye. (End of this chapter)