Brother, stop curling up! You're curling up like the founder of the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 246 Feigned Surrender and Self-Inflicted Injury: Liu Bei Turns the Tables (Seeking Subscriptions and Monthly Tickets)
Yuan Shao's central command tent.

Feng Ji offered a suggestion: "My lord, if we want to lure Liu Bei out with his troops, we can only use a feigned surrender."

Before Yuan Shao could speak, Xun Chen raised a question: "Liu Bei has always been a skilled and courageous general. Ordinary feigned surrender tactics probably won't fool him. If Liu Bei turns the tables on us, we'll be in danger."

Feng Ji, wanting to salvage his image as a resourceful strategist in front of Yuan Shao, smiled and said, "A simple feigned surrender will certainly not work, but if we add the self-inflicted injury ruse, Liu Bei will surely be tempted; even if Liu Bei is suspicious and will turn the tables on us, my lord can still devise a plan."

"Just like playing chess, the black and white sides calculate and speculate on each other's next move, and continue to prepare countermeasures. The two sides continue to devise strategies and repeatedly deduce the possible steps the other side might take to implement their plans. The previous plan may also be a trap for the next plan, used to draw out the opponent's weaknesses, until one side over-calculates and the other over-calculates, and the winner is determined."

Upon hearing Feng Ji's words, Yuan Shao immediately found them reasonable. He then said to Feng Ji, Guo Tu, Xun Chen, Xin Ping, and Xin Pi, "In that case, you five will divide into two groups and deduce the specific implementation of the feigned surrender plan and the possible steps Liu Bei might take in response."

"With my 100,000 troops here, if we cannot defeat Liu Bei, we will be ridiculed by the world. Therefore, in this battle, we must win and not lose!"

Yuan Shao's determination this time was firm; he was determined to defeat Liu Bei.

Therefore, strategically, Yuan Shao resolutely pursued proactive warfare rather than passive defense, thus avoiding infighting among his civil and military officials on strategic decision-making.

When it came to specific tactical deployments, Yuan Shao also displayed unprecedented decisiveness. Since the feigned surrender tactic was available, he decided to use it.

As for how to use it specifically, that will be left to everyone to deduce, so there is no need to worry that Feng Ji and others will refute each other due to differences in specific tactics.

Since leaving Dangyin City, Yuan Shao has become increasingly agitated, constantly thinking about how to defeat Liu Bei in this battle.

Having received permission, the five people quickly split into two groups.

Feng Ji and Xun Chen form one group, and Guo Tu, Xin Ping, and Xin Pi form another group.

The Xin brothers, Xin Ping and Xin Pi, were definitely going to be in a group. Feng Ji didn't want to be in a group with Guo Tu, so he chose Xun Chen instead.

Guo Tu had the same idea.

While seemingly simulating the feasibility of a feigned surrender, it was actually a contest between Feng Ji and Guo Tu.

Seeing Guo Tu's provocative gaze, Feng Ji secretly made up his mind that if he couldn't kill Guo Tu, Guo Tu would become even more arrogant.

Deep down, Feng Ji was convinced that Guo Tu was an inside man.

By working with Guo Tu to deduce the feigned surrender plan, Feng Ji could also infer Liu Bei's deployment based on Guo Tu's responses, thus increasing the feasibility of the plan.

However, Feng Ji was unaware that Guo Tu had no idea what Liu Bei's plans were.

Guo Tu consistently adhered to one core principle: to urge Yuan Shao to leave the city and fight Liu Bei.

To facilitate this core strategy, Guo Tu first used Lü Bu's feigned surrender to Yuan Shu to deceive Yuan Shao, asserting that Liu Bei was going to launch a full-scale attack on Hebei, thus persuading Yuan Shao to abandon his strategy of holding the fortified positions.

Later, when Yuan Shao wanted to raid the camp, he encouraged morale by saying "to not be defeated is to win".

After Han Meng's failed raid, he advised Yuan Shao to treat Han Meng and others well to reassure the army. He even came up with a theory of "ten victories and ten defeats" to praise Yuan Shao and restore morale.

After Liu Bei released the surrendered soldiers, it was Guo Tu who suggested that he divide his troops and leave the city, advancing step by step.

It seems that Guo Tu has presented Yuan Shao with a series of highly feasible strategies, but in reality, Guo Tu only wants to get Yuan Shao and Liu Bei to fight as soon as possible.

After Feng Ji was scolded today, Guo Tu originally wanted to use a feigned surrender and a self-inflicted injury scheme, but instead, he used Han Meng and others, as well as the more than two thousand prisoners who were released.

Unexpectedly, Feng Ji returned to the camp and then hurriedly came back. Upon his return, he immediately offered a plan to feign surrender and a self-inflicted injury, which thwarted Guo Tu's plan.

However, Guo Tu was happy that Feng Ji was willing to accelerate the decisive battle between Yuan Shao and Liu Bei.

In order to counter Feng Ji's feigned surrender and self-inflicted injury schemes, Guo Tu also used every trick in the book to target Feng Ji's plans.

Because Guo Tu also wanted to use the feigned surrender and self-inflicted injury strategy, he had already considered Liu Bei's possible countermeasures, and thus he was able to handle the game with ease when playing against Feng Ji.

However, this performance only strengthened Feng Ji's suspicion that "Guo Tu was Liu Bei's inside man," otherwise how could Guo Tu be so familiar with Liu Bei's responses?

The two sides fought for two hours before a result was finally achieved, and Xun Chen, Xin Ping, and Xin Pi became spectators who couldn't get a word in edgewise.

The result of the competition was that Feng Ji had the upper hand!

This greatly surprised Guo Tu.

Guo Tu's surprise was feigned!

After all, Guo Tu was only playing chess with Feng Ji based on the existing intelligence and imagination, and did not really know all of Liu Bei's true strength.

For example, Guo Tu knew that Liu Bei had a highly effective White Feather Army, but he did not know that Liu Bei also had a heavily armored Trapped Camp.

Feng Ji, Xun Chen, Xin Ping, and Xin Pi also did not know.

The Trapped Camp only appeared once on the battlefield of Puyang, and it was at the same time as Liu Bei's White Feather Army, so it's normal that there were gaps in the intelligence.

Guo Tu's performance for Feng Ji could also give Yuan Shao more confidence to fight Liu Bei.

"Hmph!" Guo Tu snorted and turned to Yuan Shao, saying, "My lord, I had already thought of using the feigned surrender and the self-inflicted injury ruse. Moreover, Chunyu Qiong has more than two thousand prisoners who were released by Liu Bei, making it easier to gain Liu Bei's trust."

Seeing that Guo Tu was no match for him, he started smashing the chessboard as a last resort. Feng Ji was furious: "How could Liu Bei believe those two thousand surrendered soldiers? If Liu Bei could release them, he certainly wouldn't believe them."

"On the other hand, Xianyu Fu and others were former subordinates of Liu Yu, and Liu Bei's proclamation also intended to recruit Xianyu Fu and others to surrender. Only by having Xianyu Fu and others carry out a feigned surrender and a self-inflicted injury ruse could they deceive Liu Bei. The deduction just now has also proven my guess!"

Guo Tu, however, disagreed, saying, "What if Xianyu Fu really surrenders to Liu Bei? Wouldn't you have lost everything from the start? My lord, let me carry out the feigned surrender and the self-inflicted injury ruse instead!"

Seeing that Guo Tu was about to steal the credit from him, Feng Ji angrily cursed, "Guo Tu, you are trying to harm our lord! You haven't returned for three years. Who knows if you have defected to Liu Bei? If you have defected to Liu Bei, wouldn't you be sending our lord to his death?"

Guo Tu's expression changed drastically, and he retorted without any mercy: "You, Feng Ji! You've been suspicious of me ever since I came back, and you're still suspicious of me now; if it weren't for me, Guo Tu, boosting the morale of the three armies, how would you have had the opportunity to come up with the feigned surrender and self-inflicted injury scheme? You're just a freeloader, and instead of thanking me, you're slandering me. What are you up to?"

"I was wondering why Tian Feng, whom I have no grudge against, would accuse me of slander and sophistry in front of the lord, and falsely accuse me of trying to harm the lord. It must be you, Feng Ji, who are stirring up trouble behind the scenes. You clearly want to harm me but are afraid of being punished by the lord, so you have Tian Feng anger the lord!"

"If you, a man who stabs his lord in the back, were to carry out a feigned surrender or a self-inflicted injury ruse, the soldiers of all the camps would probably be so afraid of being harmed by you that they would surrender to Liu Bei! You are the one who wants to harm our lord!"

Feng Ji was furious: "Guo Tu, do you dare let me monitor your every move from now on?"

Guo Tu was even more unconvinced and said, "Why wouldn't I dare! My lord, I request to return to Dangyin City first. My lord can send a trusted confidant to imprison me, so as to prevent Feng Ji from falsely accusing me of secretly informing Liu Bei. But if we win this battle, I must share half of the credit with Feng Ji!"

Feng Ji, now caught up in the moment, said, "My lord, I agree with Guo Tu's suggestion. Let's take Guo Tu back to Dangyin City and imprison him first. If we win this battle, I'll give him half the credit!"

Seeing Feng Ji and Guo Tu arguing more and more fiercely, even escalating to the point of a bet, Yuan Shao grew increasingly irritated and rebuked them, saying, "Stop arguing! I have my own plans! You two are my trusted right-hand men; what kind of behavior is it to fight over this?"

Feng Ji sneered and remained silent. Guo Tu also turned his head away and remained silent.

Yuan Shao rubbed his aching forehead, pondered for a long time, and said, "Xun Chen and Guo Tu, you two return to Dangyin City immediately. I will have Meng Dai temporarily assume the position of supervisor of the vanguard. But this is a one-time thing!"

Although Yuan Shao did not finish his sentence, it was clearly directed at Feng Ji. He was warning Feng Ji that if Guo Tu proved his innocence, he should not contend with Guo Tu any further.

Feng Ji was overjoyed and looked at Guo Tu provocatively.

However, what Feng Ji didn't know was that Guo Tu deliberately used Feng Ji's accusations to escape to Dangyin City.

If we stay here and accidentally die in the chaos of battle, that would be truly terrible.

Guo Tu still wanted to live and return to Luoyang to become a minister, and did not want to die here.

To avoid any unforeseen complications, Feng Ji urged Guo Tu to leave as soon as possible. Even with Xun Chen present, Feng Ji still assigned a group of trusted confidants to monitor Guo Tu, preventing him from having any opportunity to tip him off.

If it weren't for Xun Chen, Feng Ji would have wanted to kill Guo Tu to eliminate any future trouble.

In Feng Ji's eyes, Guo Tu was undoubtedly Liu Bei's inside man; there was no other possibility.

[That fool Feng Ji really thinks he can win against His Majesty with his feigned surrender and self-inflicted injury, and he even rushed me to leave and sent his trusted men to monitor me.]

[Haha! If Yuan Shao hadn't died this time, I could have continued to enjoy wealth and honor under his command. Feng Ji is truly my benefactor!]

Feng Ji was unaware of Guo Tu's thoughts, only feeling that without Guo Tu, he, Feng Ji, had regained the prestige and aura of being Yuan Shao's sole strategist.

Immediately.

At Feng Ji's suggestion, Yuan Shao summoned all his generals, including Xianyu Fu.

Xianyu Fu, under Feng Ji's arrangement, deliberately contradicted Yuan Shao and even questioned Liu Yu's death, which angered Yuan Shao, who ordered his warriors to beat Xianyu Fu with eighty strokes of the cane outside the gate.

Although the fight wasn't over, Xianyu Fu was badly injured, with his skin torn and flesh ripped open.

Unlike Zhou Yu and Huang Gai, where one party was willing to hit and the other was willing to be hit, Feng Ji was ruthless, and Xianyu Fu could only endure it.

If it weren't for the fact that he had to return to Ye City to surrender with Liu He, Xianyu Fu could have directly raised an army in rebellion.

The first step was to defeat Xianyu Fu, and the second step was to get Tian Chou to send a letter of surrender.

Feng Ji was not afraid that Tian Chou's feigned surrender would turn into a genuine one.

Feng Ji has mastered the art of instigation to perfection.

Feng Ji had no intention of letting Xianyu Fu, Tian Chou, and other former subordinates of Liu Yu live. Just as he had instigated Qu Yi to kill Han Fu in the past, Feng Ji also killed Qu Yi.

Therefore, regardless of whether Tian Chou's surrender was feigned or genuine, Feng Ji would kill Tian Chou on charges of treason.

Especially Xianyu Fu, he absolutely cannot be kept!
Firstly, it would create personal grudges by having Xianyu Fu carry out a self-inflicted injury scheme; secondly, having Xianyu Fu alive would cause Liu He to harbor inappropriate thoughts.

Feng Ji actually hoped that Tian Chou was indeed secretly colluding with Liu Bei, so that Feng Ji would be more confident in defeating Liu Bei.

Liu Bei's camp.

Tian Chou arrived as ordered.

Upon seeing that it was Tian Chou who had come instead of Tian Yu, and that he had brought not Feng Ji's head but a letter of feigned surrender, Liu Bei couldn't help but scrutinize Tian Chou.

"How could a mere letter of surrender and a ruse possibly deceive me?" Liu Bei bluntly pointed out, staring coldly at Tian Chou.

While secretly surprised, Tian Chou also felt a surge of admiration and said, "As Your Majesty said, it was indeed a feigned surrender and a ruse." Tian Yu returned and said, "Your Majesty wants Feng Ji's head within a day, but we really cannot do that."

“Just then, Feng Ji was also looking for a good strategy, so I offered him the plan of feigning surrender. After that, Yuan Shao summoned us to the main tent for a meeting. Xianyu Fu then cooperated with Feng Ji and asked to publicly confront Yuan Shao and question the death of Liu Yu. As a result, Xianyu Fu was flogged by Yuan Shao.”

Tian Chou recounted the whole story truthfully.

Seeing that Tian Chou had directly admitted to the feigned surrender and the ruse, Liu Bei couldn't help but smile: "You've really put your mind to this. Go back and tell Xianyu Fu that I will attack Yuan Shao's vanguard at dawn tonight. You can also truthfully inform Feng Ji of this news."

Tian Chou was shocked: "So fast?"

Liu Bei's smile remained unchanged: "Since you said you would send Feng Ji's head within a day, then it can only be one day. If you dare not assassinate him, I will go and get it myself. Consider this feigned surrender and self-inflicted injury as your plan to obtain Feng Ji's head."

Tian Chou hesitated: "But we are not ready yet. Not all the soldiers in the army are willing to rise up against Yuan Shao."

Liu Bei scoffed: "You don't need to prepare anything. Just follow Feng Ji's orders. If Feng Ji has any doubts, tell him this as well. Don't worry, as long as you don't try to fight one-on-one, you'll be safe."

Tian Chou felt a chill run down his spine.

Although he knew that Liu Bei had his own winning strategy, Tian Chou couldn't help but feel fear towards Liu Bei when he heard that Liu Bei didn't even need an inside agent.

If it were someone else, upon hearing that it was a feigned surrender, a self-inflicted injury, and that someone had betrayed them, they would surely have gone along with the plan.

Liu Bei, however, disregarded this and even allowed Xianyu Fu and others to follow Feng Ji's orders, showing no intention of having Xianyu Fu and others cooperate in attacking Yuan Shao.

Despite his many doubts, Tian Chou dared not ask any more questions and could only quietly return to inform Xianyu Fu and the others of Liu Bei's intentions.

Xianyu Fu frowned: "Liu Bei doesn't trust us!"

Tian Yu said, “It’s normal for Liu Bei not to trust us. After all, we changed the agreement on our own. Not only did we fail to deliver Feng Ji’s head, but we also used a feigned surrender and a self-inflicted injury ruse. Liu Bei would also suspect that we were really feigning surrender.”

Tian Chou also said, "Guorang's words make sense. Since Liu Bei won't let us cooperate, we can take this opportunity to gain Feng Ji's trust."

After the discussion was settled, Tian Chou came to find Feng Ji again and told him the truth about Liu Bei's attack on Yuan Shao's vanguard at dawn that night.

"Didn't Liu Bei suspect anything?" Feng Ji scrutinized Tian Chou sharply, as if trying to see right through him.

Without hesitation, Tian Chou said, "On the surface, there was no suspicion, but when I said I wasn't ready and wanted Liu Bei to give me a few days, Liu Bei said I didn't need to prepare and just told me to follow the instructions of the supervising officer. That's really strange."

"Hmph!" Feng Ji's suspicions eased, and he said, "What's so strange about that? Liu Bei is skilled in military strategy, so why would he really believe in a feigned surrender? I never thought Liu Bei would fall for a feigned surrender."

Then his eyes sharpened: "As long as Liu Bei is willing to leave the camp, he will surely be defeated!"

(End of this chapter)