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

As dusk fell, Liu Dai arrived outside Guanjin City. After stating his identity and purpose, he was quickly led to Liu Bei.

"Liu Dai, an old friend from Xuchang, has come to pay his respects to General Liu Zuo on the orders of Minister Cao." Liu Dai straightened his clothes and bowed respectfully.

Not only did he adopt a very humble attitude, but he also mentioned in his words that he was an old acquaintance of Xu Du, trying to close the distance between them.

Liu Bei could see through this little trick at a glance, but he didn't expose it. He simply raised his hand in a gesture of support: "You're too kind, sir. Minister Cao has sent an old friend after his troops entered Anping. May I ask what advice he may have for me?"

Liu Dai rose and presented Cao Cao's letter: "Sikong once recalled the days when he and General Zuo fought together against Lü Bu and Yuan Shu. They were comrades-in-arms and worked together. Although we now each lead our own territories, Sikong still cherishes our old friendship. Sikong said that the conflict with General Zuo was due to a misunderstanding, which he deeply regrets. This letter fully expresses my feelings. I hope General will read it carefully."

With a single sentence, he downplayed the military conflict as a "misunderstanding," leaving Liu Bei's generals and officers indignant.

Liu Bei, however, remained unfazed. After glancing at the letter, he asked calmly, "Has Minister Cao investigated Xu Yang's military situation?"

Liu Dai was slightly taken aback: "What do you mean by that, General Zuo?"

Liu Bei immediately took a letter and handed it to Liu Dai, saying solemnly, "This is a letter from Sun Quan, who wants to form an alliance with me. However, I have an old friendship with Cao Sikong, which is not comparable to Sun Quan's. Therefore, I am showing this letter to you, sir, so that you can report it to Sikong. When two tigers fight, one will surely be injured. It is better for each of us to guard our own borders and not let others benefit."

Liu Dai glanced at the letter with skepticism, then his expression changed drastically: "Sun Quan wants to seize Xuzhou? How is that possible!"

Liu Bei smiled calmly: "Nothing is impossible. This isn't the first time Sun Quan has attacked Xuzhou. Back when Sun Ce was still alive, Sun Quan attacked Guangling once. Now that Sun Quan controls the counties of Jiangdong, and he's heard that Cao Cao has mobilized troops from Qing and Xu to contend with us, how could he not take the opportunity to march north to Xuzhou? If we can seize this opportunity to control the Jianghuai region, Sun Quan will be the next overlord!"

Seeing Liu Dai hesitate, Liu Bei raised his voice again: "Sir, do you not know that Sun Quan's elder brother, Sun Ce, is known as the 'Little Conqueror of Jiangdong'? Sun Quan, who inherited the legacy of his father and brother, will surely carry on their ambitions. How could he be a coward who only cares about Jiangdong? For your sake, I think you should go back and strongly advise him. If you lose Xuzhou, it will be too late to regret it!"

Looking at the letter "written by Sun Quan" in his hand, Liu Dai was even more undecided.

After examining it repeatedly, Liu Dai's fingers trembled slightly: "This matter is too shocking! General Zuo, is this letter truly from Sun Quan?"

Liu Bei spoke calmly, his eyes sharp: "If you don't believe me, sir, you can go and investigate the situation along the Huainan-Xiapi line yourself. Sun Quan's army is probably already showing signs of crossing the river to the north. Cao Cao is entangled with me in a corner of Ji Province and has neglected to look eastward, which gives him an opportunity to take advantage of the situation."

Liu Dai took a deep breath, suppressing the shock in his heart, and tried to steer the conversation back on track: "I will certainly report General Zuo's words to the Minister of Works in detail. However, the Minister of Works has summoned me here to discuss the misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding? What a misunderstanding!" Liu Bei's expression changed drastically, and he sneered, "Cao Cao's army is pressing in, wishing he could capture me alive. How could that be a misunderstanding? I had no choice but to raise an army to fight in order to protect my land and people. Now that you are here, I might as well speak frankly: I really do not want to fight Cao Cao, but if Cao Cao insists on pressing me and refuses to stop the war, I will have no choice but to fight him to the death. But if this stalemate continues, Xuzhou will have to be handed over to Sun Quan."

"I've also heard that Sikong has driven Gongsun Du from Liaodong out of Donglai. Do you think Gongsun Du will also ally with me like Sun Quan and attack Qingzhou? Right now, Sikong Cao's troops from Qing and Xu have all been defeated by me, many soldiers have deserted, and the rest are demoralized. How can a bunch of remnants resist Sun Quan and Gongsun Du?"

"If Cao Sikong loses Qing and Xu, I can form an alliance with Sun Quan and Gongsun Du to attack and defend. Cao Sikong can hold the emperor hostage to command the feudal lords, and the feudal lords can also follow the example of the Suanzao Alliance to cleanse the court of corrupt officials."

These words left Liu Dai speechless with shock.

Subconsciously empathizing with Liu Bei's words, Liu Dai felt a chill run down his spine. A moment later, Liu Bei drafted a reply and sent it back to Cao Cao.

The letter not only mentioned Gongsun Du and Sun Quan, but also Liu Biao, Ma Teng, Han Sui, and others, and even touched upon the possibility that unruly forces within Cao Cao's territory would take the opportunity to cause trouble.

Such actions were all intended to make Cao Cao back down.

Such an explanation might fool Liu Dai, but it wouldn't fool Cao Cao.

After reading Liu Bei's reply and listening to Liu Dai's excited "advice," Cao Cao grew impatient.

If it weren't for Liu Dai's special status and the fact that he would be entrusted with important matters in the future, Cao Cao would have wanted to have Liu Dai removed from his post.

After patiently listening to Liu Dai's "advice," Cao Cao remained noncommittal and simply told Liu Dai to go and rest.

He then handed Liu Bei's reply to Guo Jia, saying, "Liu Bei still has the leisure to deceive Liu Dai, and even wrote such persuasive lyrics about the pros and cons for me. He is really fearless."

During Liu Dai's travels, Guo Jia was also busy organizing the intelligence sent back by scouts and spies. What worried Guo Jia the most were the proclamations and messages that appeared in the counties of Bohai.

Liu Bei's network of connections was far deeper and wider than Guo Jia had anticipated.

In particular, the families of Zheng Xuan, Lu Zhi, and Cai Yong had considerable influence among the powerful clans in various counties, and Liu Bei's publicly displayed collection of over ten thousand volumes of books also attracted many scholars and powerful figures to support him.

If Cao Cao had achieved a military victory, he could have suppressed these voices. However, now that both of Cao Cao's armies have been defeated by Liu Bei, it is no longer possible for him to suppress these voices.

Guo Jia then revealed his suspicions about Liu Bei's complacency, adding, "If my lord does not wish to retreat, the only way is to provoke Liu Bei into a battle."

Cao Cao understood the underlying reasoning. Unless he could quickly defeat Liu Bei, those powerful and cowardly clans would only become more arrogant. This was why Cao Cao wanted to personally lead his troops into Anping.

"In that case, I will personally go to Guanjin to provoke Liu Bei into battle!" Cao Cao then immediately mustered his troops, joining forces with the four thousand men under Cao Chun, Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, and Li Dian, as well as the six thousand men under Yu Jin, Xu Chu, Shi Huan, Zhu Ling, Lu Zhao, Cai Yang, Feng Kai, and Yin Shu, forming a massive army of ten thousand, which marched towards Guanjin.

Although Liu Bei only had three thousand soldiers at Guanjin, he did not abandon Guanjin and retreat to Nanpi when Cao Cao's army attacked. Instead, he took the initiative to send an envoy, saying, "Since the Minister of Works is unwilling to withdraw his troops, then let us set up our battle formation and fight it out right here at Guanjin! Although I only have three thousand men, each of them can be worth ten men."

This boldness in actively seeking battle left Cao Cao's generals all bewildered and uncertain: how could Liu Bei, outnumbered, possibly abandon the advantage of a city?

Cao Cao, however, saw through the scheme and sneered, "Although Guan Jin only has three thousand men, it doesn't mean Liu Bei only has three thousand. Zhuge Liang has yet to appear, so Liu Bei must be relying on Zhuge Liang's reinforcements. In that case, I will fight Liu Bei!" (End of Chapter)