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

Chapter 364 The Difference Between Liu Bei and Yuan Shao: A Hero's Decision-Making Skills (1st Update)
"Someone, quickly send this letter to Ye City."

If only Ma Chao and Liu Biao were responding, Xun Yu wouldn't have taken it seriously at all. But now that Xuzhou and Runan were responding, Xun Yu had no choice but to trust Cao Cao.

Especially Runan, it's too close to Xudu!
Even if Xuchang cannot be captured by force, it will inevitably cause the civil and military officials in Xuchang who are dissatisfied with Cao Cao to reconsider their plans.

Not all the civil and military officials in the imperial court were on Cao Cao's side. In order to win over the support of the aristocratic nobles, Cao Cao also gave up many positions.

In addition, after becoming a puppet, Liu Xie devoted all his energy to cultivating his confidants, and in recent years he has also won over many civil and military officials who opposed Cao Cao.

As the saying goes, when a wall falls, everyone pushes it down. Normally, these civil and military officials dared not resist Cao Cao's tyranny, but now that Cao Cao is in danger, some of them will surely jump out to support Liu Bei.

These civil and military officials might not support Liu Bei replacing Cao Cao, but they would certainly use Liu Bei as an external force to eliminate Cao Cao.

As for whether eliminating Cao Cao could stop Liu Bei's southern campaign, that's beyond the comprehension of such civil and military officials.

Or, in the eyes of these civil and military officials, Liu Bei neither had the prestige of a family with four generations of high-ranking officials like Yuan Shao, nor did he disregard the rules and use the emperor to command the other lords like Cao Cao. Therefore, Liu Bei could be easily eliminated with some political maneuvering.

In this chaotic world where everyone is vying for power and profit, long-term vision is not important; eliminating the most threatening enemies is the most important thing.

For example, when Wang Yun killed Dong Zhuo, although he succeeded, he did not consider how to bring Dong Zhuo's remaining forces under his command. As a result, Dong Zhuo's remaining forces rebelled, and Liu Xie's only chance to rebuild the country was also destroyed.

It should be noted that after the killing of Dong Zhuo and before the Li Jue and Guo Si Rebellion, Chang'an gathered a large number of economic, political and military talents, as well as renowned Confucian scholars and famous figures who enjoyed prestige in various prefectures and counties.

Among the civil officials were Wang Yun, Huang Wan, Shi Sunrui, Ma Ridi, Zhao Qian, Zhong Yao, Xun You, Yang Biao, and Zhou Zhong; among the military officials were Lü Bu, Zhang Liao, Huangfu Song, Xu Rong, and Hu Zhen.

This group of people were either from prominent families, renowned scholars, or brave warriors.

If we can bring Dong Zhuo's remaining forces under our control, we can also recruit more civil and military officials such as Jia Xu, Cai Yong, Li Jue, Zhang Ji, and Xu Huang.

If we can consolidate our power in Chang'an for three years, we can march east out of Hangu Pass like the mighty Qin Dynasty. Furthermore, with the emperor's righteousness and the imperial edict to punish the rebels, who in the world would dare to disobey?

That being said, if civil and military officials like Wang Yun had had enough vision and insight, the Han dynasty would not have fallen to its current state.

Xun Yu's urgent report was quickly delivered to Ye City.

Upon learning of the unexpected turn of events, Cao Cao, Xun You, Jia Xu, Guo Jia, and others were all astonished.

"How dare you, you old man, act like this!"

Cao Cao was so angry that he threw the urgent report in his hand to the ground.

Cao Cao had received news of Ma Chao and Liu Biao's response several days earlier, and just as Xun Yu had initially thought, Cao Cao did not take Ma Chao and Liu Biao seriously.

Even when Chen Deng raised an army in Xuzhou, Cao Cao only frowned, because Xuzhou was far away and posed no threat to Xuchang.

However, the sudden uprising of the Yuan family's former followers and students in Runan posed a real threat to Cao Cao's rear.

Cao Cao never expected that Yuan Shao, who had already gone into seclusion on the shores of Bohai, would still stab him in the back at this crucial moment.

If only the former officials and followers of the Yuan family in Runan had raised an army, Cao Cao would not have cared much. He could have easily quelled the rebellion by sending Man Chong to Runan.

However, a single move can have far-reaching consequences.

When Liu Biao learns that both Xuzhou and Runan have raised troops, will he turn his initial bluster into a real attack?

When Liu Biao launches a substantial offensive, will it intensify the rebellion within Yu Province? Will it provoke the already restless anti-Cao forces in the Xu Du court to take desperate measures?
Seeing that there is a chance to succeed, will Chen Deng of Xuzhou attack Zang Ba of Langya? Will Zang Ba betray them in the face of battle? If Zang Ba betrays them, how can Cheng Yu of Qingzhou withstand the combined attack of Zang Ba, Gongsun Du, and Chen Deng?

In an instant, Cao Cao foresaw the possible course of the battle. If the opponent were Yuan Shao, given Yuan Shao's character of "being cautious about great things but reckless for small gains," and the infighting among his civil and military officials, Cao Cao could take the opportunity to defeat them one by one.

Just like in the early stages of the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao was even able to send his troops to Xuzhou and then return to confront Yuan Shao.

But now the opponent is Liu Bei, a military figure who is just as adventurous as Cao Cao. Perhaps Liu Bei's initial intention was only to seize Wei Commandery and other places, but now that Cao Cao's rear is in turmoil, Liu Bei may not be willing to only take Wei Commandery and other places.

And indeed, that is the case.

When Liu Bei received Ma Chao's secret letter that he had already captured Tongguan and that Yuan Shao had sent Chen Yu to Runan to rally the troops in response to Xuande, his mind was no longer limited to Wei Commandery and other places.

After Chen Deng dispatched a large number of messengers through Qingzhou to deliver intelligence about the uprising to Liu Bei, Liu Bei became even more determined to turn the local conflict with Cao Cao into a full-scale confrontation.

"Yuanzhi, quickly send a message to the military advisor, requesting additional laborers, provisions, and troops. I will tie down Cao Cao's main force. Please, military advisor, devise a way to break through Qingzhou and join forces with Yuanlong in Xuzhou."

The series of good news made Liu Bei unable to hide his excitement.

A rare opportunity!

Such an opportunity will absolutely never come again!

If we fail to seize this opportunity to compress Cao Cao's strategic defenses, Cao Cao will surely defeat Runan, Xuzhou, and Ma Chao in the west one by one once he has freed up his forces. Liu Biao in Jingzhou will also withdraw his troops if he sees that the situation is not good.

At that time, if Liu Bei wanted to launch another southern expedition, he would have to rely entirely on his existing military and civilian resources.

Even if there were still anti-Cao forces, they would have reservations and be unwilling to respond to Liu Bei after seeing the massacres that Cao Cao had inflicted on Runan, Xuzhou and other places.

Whether or not Cao Cao can be suppressed and the momentum seized will depend on this battle.

However, changing strategic objectives at the last minute also puts enormous pressure on logistics, requiring a reassessment and reconfiguration of laborers, provisions, and troops.

Seeing the urgent report sent back by Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang was also extremely troubled.

Although I recall that during the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao sent Liu Bei to Runan to contact Yuan's former protégés and officials, Zhuge Liang's main intention in advising Liu Bei to launch a southern expedition this time was to seize Wei Commandery and other places to prevent Cao Cao from launching spring offensives every year.

Unexpectedly, Yuan Shao secretly sent Chen Yu to Runan, and even more unexpectedly, Chen Deng also raised an army in response and captured Xiapi!
This has seriously disrupted Zhuge Liang's plans.

However, the situation in war is ever-changing, and things cannot always go as expected.

For example, during the Battle of Guandu, neither Cao Cao nor Yuan Shao expected Xu You to suddenly betray them.

Those who are good at planning also need to be good at making decisions.

For example, Cao Cao's decision to trust Xu You despite opposition ultimately led to his victory in the Battle of Guandu.

After calming his mind, Zhuge Liang couldn't help but recall the Battle of Hanzhong, when Liu Bei was fighting a very tough battle on the front lines and wrote to Zhuge Liang to send reinforcements.

In order to test the attitude of the local scholars in Yizhou towards the Battle of Hanzhong, Zhuge Liang asked Yang Hong for his opinion.

Yang Hong believed that Hanzhong was the throat of Yizhou, and without Hanzhong there would be no Western Shu. Men should fight and women should transport supplies; there should be no hesitation.

The current war is similar to the Battle of Hanzhong, and Zhuge Liang cannot afford to hesitate.

(End of this chapter)