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

From burning down his own camp to lure and kill Meng Da to launching a fierce attack on the four gates and fighting by lamplight at night, to the Dongzhou soldiers sneaking open the city gates, Guan Yu had completely outmaneuvered Xiahou Yuan in both strategy and battlefield command.

If any aspect failed to demonstrate Guan Yu's prestige, the situation where the Dongzhou soldiers secretly opened the city gates would not have occurred.

Even if we're from the same hometown, we still need to be able to survive.

"The situation is dire! General, retreat immediately!"

Faced with the fierce attack of Guan Yu's army, the guards on the left and right shouted urgently and forcibly pulled Xiahou Yuan to retreat towards the south gate.

Defending the city was already difficult, let alone fighting in the streets.

Even if Xiahou Yuan didn't want to admit defeat, he couldn't change the outcome.

He lost to Guan Yu in both strategy and command, so he couldn't very well go and fight Guan Yu one-on-one.
Admittedly, a surprise attack on the enemy's commander amidst a vast army could turn the tide of battle. However, even with Xiahou Yuan's martial prowess, he couldn't defeat Guan Yu when he had both eyes intact. Now, with one eye missing, his fighting ability is greatly reduced, making it even more impossible for him to contend with Guan Yu.

Left with no other choice, Xiahou Yuan had to lead his troops to retreat to the south gate.

The loss of Fangling City, after its capture, resulted in Xiahou Yuan suffering significant losses in grain and supplies.

If they hadn't captured Fangling City, Xiahou Yuan's provisions and supplies would have been in the main camp outside the city, enough to last him at least a month. After capturing Fangling City, the provisions and supplies entered the city, leaving Xiahou Yuan with no food to eat.

"Having lost Fangling City and so many supplies, I have failed Lord Cao!" Xiahou Yuan felt his life was shrouded in darkness.

Xiahou Yuan was already criticized for being captured alive and then released. Now, he has failed to complete the military tasks assigned by Cao Cao. Even if Cao Cao values ​​Xiahou Yuan highly, he might still let Xiahou Yuan go back to manage the government, just like the blind Xiahou Dun, who was not good at military affairs but was quite effective in government affairs.

Yu Jin glanced at the dejected Xiahou Yuan and whispered his advice: "Although we have lost Fangling, Cao Cao has already gained Xiangyang. We should not be discouraged by temporary setbacks. We should retreat to Zigui first and wait for Cao Cao's new orders. If we stay here, Guan Yu may come after us."

Xiahou Yuan was startled, fearing that Guan Yu would lead his troops to pursue them. He hurriedly ordered his troops to march towards Zigui overnight, fearing that if they were too late, Guan Yu would catch up with them again and capture them alive.

If Xiahou Yuan were captured alive twice in a row, even if Cao Cao had the face to exchange him for Xiahou Yuan, Xiahou Yuan would have no face to live any longer.

As Yu Jin had predicted, after Guan Yu captured Fangling City, he entrusted the pacification of the city's inhabitants to Kuai Qi and Guan Ping, and then personally led his troops to pursue Xiahou Yuan.

They pursued Xiahou Yuan's remaining troops for thirty li, chasing them into the mountains before leading their troops back.

Guan Yu did not pursue Xiahou Yuan relentlessly. Taking Fangling would have cut off the fastest route between Xiangyang and Zigui, thus achieving his strategic objective.

Cao Cao may have gained control of Jingzhou, but in reality, he was surrounded by crises.

Not only did Kuai Yue, Kuai Liang, and more than 100,000 others march north, but many counties in Nan Commandery also refused to submit. As long as Cao Cao showed signs of defeat, the counties in Nan Commandery would rebel against him in the same way they had surrendered to him.

Although Cao Cao had more than 10,000 troops in Xiangyang, his generals were scattered in various places.

For example, Cao Ren defended against Zhuge Liang at Yangping Pass, Xiahou Dun garrisoned land in Hanzhong, Jia Xu governed in Chengdu, Cao Hong also stayed in Chengdu, and Cao Chun went to Zigui and then to Jiangling.

Cao Cao only had five generals by his side: Xu Chu, Yue Jin, Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, and Li Dian, as well as the generals who originally belonged to Zhang Lu and Liu Zhang.

Cao Cao expanded his territory too quickly and couldn't digest it all. Although he had a large army and many generals, he had become like Yuan Shao in the past: many soldiers but unclear division of responsibilities, arrogant generals and inconsistent orders.

Cao Cao was betting that Sun Quan would restrain Liu Bei and prevent him from interfering in Jingzhou in time.

If he had a different opponent, Cao Cao might have succeeded.

However, Cao Cao's opponent was Zhuge Liang, who was also a wise man after the fact.

What Cao Cao didn't know was that Zhuge Liang's Longzhong Plan was based on the premise of the two provinces of Jing and Yi.

From the Longzhong Plan to the end of the Northern Expeditions, Zhuge Liang used almost every conceivable strategy for the Northern Expeditions. Therefore, he could predict Cao Cao's current thoughts and actions. Guan Yu's capture of Fangling was just the beginning; the real focus was on Zhuge Liang's army entering Nanyang.

Xiangyang was a cage, a cage that trapped Cao Cao.

Cao Cao's attack on Jingzhou also gave Liu Bei a legitimate opportunity to take over Jingzhou.

When Liu Biao was alive, Liu Bei still had to consider the kinship ties and the civil and military officials like Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong who had served in Jingzhou in the past. Now that Liu Biao has passed away, and because of Cao Cao and Cai Mao, Liu Bei should take back Jingzhou in terms of both sentiment and reason!

In just over ten days, Zhuge Liang's army had already arrived in Nan Commandery.

Zhang Fei was the first to arrive. After learning that Guan Yu had captured Fangling, Zhang Fei immediately led his troops to Nanxiang City. Subsequently, Zhuge Liang led Huang Zhong to arrive and then took the opportunity to enter Wancheng.

This gradually led to a situation where Xiangyang was surrounded by three routes: Fangling, Nanxiang, and Wancheng.

After instructing Liu Qi to defend Wancheng against Sun Quan's advance from Xudu, Zhuge Liang did not hesitate for a moment and ordered three armies to march towards Xiangyang.

With the help of more than 100,000 people who fled Xiangyang, Zhuge Liang no longer needed to conscript laborers, as the people who fled Xiangyang volunteered to help.

If we can help Zhuge Liang capture Xiangyang, the property and assets of these more than 100,000 people can be recovered. No one wants to be a refugee, especially the wealthy people.

The most enthusiastic were the brothers Kuai Yue and Kuai Liang.

Both brothers had established their businesses in Jingzhou, so they were naturally unwilling to hand it over to Cao Cao. In addition, Kuai Qi was Zhuge Liang's elder brother-in-law, and the two families also had a marriage alliance.

Zhuge Liang's three armies numbered only over 20,000, but with the cheers and encouragement of the people of Jingzhou, they seemed to have the imposing presence of a hundred thousand troops surrounding Xiangyang.

This turn of events was something Cao Cao had not anticipated.

Cao Cao did not expect Zhuge Liang to arrive so quickly. Less than a month after capturing Xiangyang, Zhuge Liang had already seized Fancheng, which was on the opposite bank of Xiangyang.

Cai Mao was also caught off guard.

He thought that by helping Cao Cao capture Xiangyang, he could rest easy from then on.

Unexpectedly, more than 100,000 civilians fled first, and then Zhuge Liang's army approached the opposite bank.

Although the natural barrier of the Han River and the fortifications of Xiangyang City could hold off Zhuge Liang, if Zhuge Liang could not be defeated, Xiangyang City would eventually become an isolated city.

If Zhuge Liang couldn't conquer Xiangyang, could he not conquer the cities behind it?

"It seems that Zhuge Liang has long harbored ambitions to seize Jingzhou. He's been waiting for things to go wrong in Jingzhou so he can be the one to suffer the consequences," Cao Cao said with a grim expression.

Speed ​​and surprise are paramount in warfare; this was Cao Cao's style of military strategy.

However, this style is also extremely easy to counter. Once the opponent becomes familiar with the routine and suppresses Cao Cao with conventional forces, Cao Cao will have to bear the risk of being isolated and deep in enemy territory.

Cao Cao had two options: either abandon Xiangyang and retreat to strategic locations like Zigui, Yiling, and Jiangling, consolidating his forces to control Yizhou and western Jingzhou, or hold Xiangyang and wait for Zhuge Liang to bypass Xiangyang and retake the cities in his rear that had not yet submitted to him.

However, neither retreating troops nor holding Xiangyang was a decision that could be made lightly.

Retreating troops is tantamount to abandoning Cai Mao. Given the relationship between Zhuge Liang's father-in-law and Cai Mao, if Cai Mao were to defect to Zhuge Liang again, Zhuge Liang would certainly not refuse.

At that time, Zhuge Liang gained Jingzhou effortlessly, and also won the support of the Cai and Kuai families of Jingzhou. Cao Cao not only failed in his efforts but also benefited Zhuge Liang.

Cao Cao could not tolerate such an outcome! (End of Chapter)