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

The memory of being nearly wiped out by Guan Yu in the north of Wei Commandery and having to climb the mountain to escape has always lingered in Xiahou Yuan's mind. When he still had both eyes, he was afraid of Guan Yu. Now that he has lost his right eye, he is naturally even more afraid of Guan Yu.

Only an arrogant man like Meng Da, who had been in Xichuan for too long and was unaware of the heroes of the world, would dare to show off his clumsy plan of luring the enemy in front of Guan Yu. When he saw that Xiahou Yuan and Yu Jin were unwilling to leave the city, Meng Da was surprised, but also felt a bit depressed and contemptuous.

What frustrated Xiahou Yuan was that he didn't accept the "good plan," and what was contemptible was that Xiahou Yuan and Yu Jin acted like mice before a cat when they saw Guan Yu.

Xiahou Yuan and Yu Jin refused to fight, and Guan Yu's eyebrows furrowed slightly. He only brought five hundred swordsmen to take Fangling City. Guan Yu's original intention was to deliberately show weakness and lure the enemy out of the city. He did not expect that Cao Cao's generals in the city were so cautious that even Guan Yu with only five hundred men did not dare to confront them head-on.

Seeing that it was getting dark, Guan Yu ordered his swordsmen to set up camp below the city.

It was already arrogant enough that 500 men came to challenge them, but no one expected that these 500 men would set up camp under the city walls. Not to mention Meng Da, even some of Xiahou Yuan and Yu Jin's officers and soldiers were not convinced.

"General, Guan Yu is too arrogant. I humbly request permission to leave the city and raid his camp."

"General, our army is at its strongest; how can we allow Guan Yu to humiliate us?"

"General, I request permission to fight. Even if I cannot capture or kill Guan Yu, I can still blunt his morale!"

"General, we have five thousand soldiers. If Guan Yu blocks the city gate with only five hundred men, wouldn't we become a laughing stock?"

"."

One after another, voices clamoring for battle echoed in Xiahou Yuan and Yu Jin's ears.

Being humiliated by Guan Yu so close to the face—if this had been Xiahou Yuan in the past, he would have already drawn his sword and left the city.

However, considering Guan Yu's exceptional wisdom and courage, as well as his almost undisguised provocation today, Xiahou Yuan became even more cautious. He rebuked his men, "This is Guan Yu's provocation tactic; do not fall for it! No one is allowed to leave the city without my order!"

Although the officers and soldiers were dissatisfied, they dared not disobey Xiahou Yuan's military orders.

However, as night fell, Guan Yu's camp below the city suddenly caught fire, and shouts of battle could be heard.

Xiahou Yuan was shocked upon hearing the news: "Who has disobeyed my military orders and dared to leave the city to raid the camp without authorization?"

Yu Jin also came to the city wall upon hearing the news. Seeing the flames rising below, he was puzzled and said, "Quickly gather all the generals and see who has left the city without permission."

Subconsciously, both of them turned their suspicions toward the generals who had volunteered for the battle.

Strangely, none of the generals were missing, and even Meng Da, whom he had always despised, was in the city.

"If it's not our troops, could it be the troops that you brought from Xiangyang, my lord?" Xiahou Yuan frowned and guessed.

Yu Jin cautiously replied, "We can't see clearly in the dark. If Guan Yu is pretending to be attacked, we'll fall into his trap if we leave the city."

Seeing his opportunity, Meng Da volunteered, "This humble general requests permission to lead two thousand men out of the city to intercept them!"

Seeing that Xiahou Yuan and Yu Jin were still hesitating, Meng Da volunteered again, his tone even more provocative: "There are five thousand soldiers in the city. Even if I fall into Guan Yu's ambush, it won't delay the defense of the city. But if we don't send troops and Guan Yu escapes, wouldn't we be ridiculed?"

The other officers and soldiers also chimed in with their agreement.

With 5,000 men defending the city, what is there to fear from 500?
Moreover, Guan Yu, who was below the city, was clearly being raided!

Seeing the high morale of the troops, and knowing that Meng Da's words were indeed to the point: if five thousand men don't even have the courage to split up and go out of the city to find out what's going on, won't they become a laughing stock in the army?
Xiahou Yuan was worried about Meng Da leading troops out of the city alone, so he said, "Guan Yu only has five hundred soldiers. I will give you a thousand soldiers to scout out the situation, and I will send another thousand soldiers to support you later."

The reduction of two thousand soldiers to one thousand displeased Meng Da, who said, "General, Guan Yu is a warrior of unparalleled bravery. One thousand against five hundred, I am no match for him, nor can I hold him back. Since we are going to send troops, how can we not go all out?"

Yu Jin also whispered, "It is not advisable to divide our forces too much at this time. Let Meng Da lead his two thousand troops there, and I will lead another thousand troops to provide support. General Xiahou will stay on the city wall to observe the situation."

After a moment's thought, Xiahou Yuan ordered, "In that case, Meng Da will lead two thousand troops out of the city, and General Yu will lead one thousand troops to follow and provide support. If Guan Yu is found lying in ambush, do not linger in battle; return to the city immediately." Meng Da was overjoyed.

Meng Da was indeed not confident that a thousand men could fight five hundred; but he was confident that two thousand men could capture Guan Yu alive.

As the city gates opened, Meng Da led his troops straight to Guan Yu's camp, shouting arrogantly, "General Meng Da is here! Guan Yu, you dog, come and meet your death!"

However, as soon as Cao Cao's troops stormed in, the fighting in Guan Yu's camp instantly reversed. The two sides, who were fighting to the death, immediately shook hands and made peace, uniting against the common enemy.

Yu Jin guessed correctly; Guan Yu was indeed feigning a raid on his camp.

Whether they were guarding the camp or attacking it, they were all Guan Yu's swordsmen in disguise, and their intention was very direct: to lure Cao Cao's troops out of Fangling City to raid the camp.

First, five hundred men challenged and humiliated them face-to-face. Then, they burned down their own camp to create the illusion of a raid. Originally, Guan Yu was thinking that if Cao Cao's soldiers in the city still didn't fall for it, he would have Guan Ping challenge and lure the enemy the next day.

At this moment, Meng Da led his troops to attack, which was exactly what Guan Yu wanted.

Before capturing a city, demoralizing the soldiers inside is a very orthodox military tactic. In addition to using conventional forces, using unorthodox methods to lure the soldiers out of the city is a combination of conventional and unorthodox tactics.

Guan Yu used a little trick, and Meng Da couldn't wait to step on Guan Yu to make a name for himself.

After realizing he had fallen into a trap, Meng Da did not panic. It wasn't that Meng Da was a brilliant strategist; it was simply that Meng Da was confident that with two thousand against five hundred, the advantage was in his hands.

However, Meng Da was unaware that Guan Yu dared to challenge him with five hundred swordsmen because he was certain that those five hundred swordsmen could fight ten against one.

These swordsmen were all handpicked and trained by Guan Yu, making them easy to command.

Guan Yu was already very brave, and with five hundred fierce and powerful soldiers at his command, fighting in a fair environment where neither side had the advantage of terrain, Meng Da's two thousand men were no different from chickens and dogs in Guan Yu's eyes.

In just a short while, Meng Da was unable to withstand the attack.

When fighting Guan Ping, the forces were at least evenly matched; but when fighting Guan Yu, the forces were outnumbered.

The fact that two thousand men were suppressed by five hundred men made Meng Da feel extremely humiliated.

In normal military operations, Meng Da should have withdrawn his troops back to the city when he realized he had fallen into a trap. However, Meng Da was overconfident in his superior numbers and tried to suppress Guan Yu, but he was utterly defeated. Considering that he would be ridiculed by Xiahou Yuan and Yu Jin if he returned to the city, Meng Da was even more unwilling to retreat.

Guan Yu didn't tolerate such "stubborn" people.

The magnificent red-maned horse neighed, and Guan Yu, sword in hand, spurred his horse straight towards Meng Da's banner. No one could withstand him in his path, and he fought his way directly to Meng Da's banner.

Before Meng Da could even shout, Guan Yu slashed him down with his sword.

The re-enactment of his bravery in slaying generals amidst a vast army left Meng Da utterly astonished.

General Meng, is he dead?

"I thought that Guan Yu's solo killing of Tadun amidst a vast army was just a legend, but I never imagined that Guan Yu was truly so brave?"

"How could we possibly be enemies of such a fierce general?"

"."

In their shock, only one thought remained in the minds of Meng Da and his Dongzhou soldiers: escape! (End of Chapter)