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

Chapter 80 Ignoring Liu Bei's Advice, Wen Chou Was Abused by Cao Cao as Soon as He Crossed the River (2 Updates)
South bank of Yanjin.

Yan Liang and Wen Chou led their infantry and cavalry across the river.

Looking at the boundless plains, Wen Chou was filled with heroic spirit: "Liu Bei, Guo Tu, and Chunyu Qiong are all cowards. I have five thousand valiant cavalry galloping across the open and flat Yan Jin road. How can the mere Cao traitor stop me?"

Yan Liang also laughed loudly: "If it weren't for Guo Tu and Chunyu Qiong harming me, how could I have suffered such humiliation at Baima? My virtuous brother, you can lead the cavalry first, and I will lead the infantry behind. I will definitely capture Cao Cao alive and avenge this humiliation."

No wonder Yan Liang and Wen Chou were arrogant. Five thousand cavalrymen galloped across the plains and roads, and it would not be an exaggeration to call them a flood or a beast. With infantry supporting them from behind, Yan Liang and Wen Chou could not figure out how to defeat them!
Southern part of Yanjin.

There is a place called Nanban, where Cao Cao stationed his troops.

This location offers a strategic advantage for concealing troops, making it difficult for enemy scouts to discover the camp's location.

After defeating Yan Liang, Cao Cao believed that Baima was not suitable for defense, so he took the initiative to abandon the stronghold at Baima and transferred his troops and supplies to Guandu.

However, Cao Cao was unwilling to directly cede the area between Guandu and the Yellow River to Yuan Shao.

Cao Cao then adopted Xun You's advice and decided to defeat Yuan Shao again before returning to Guandu. He withdrew Yu Jin and his troops from the south bank of Yanjin and set up a new camp in Nanban. At the same time, he conspicuously sent his men and supplies westward along the river, fearing that no one would find out.

It was as if he was beckoning to Yuan Shao: You—come here!

Tian Feng's assessment of Cao Cao as "skilled in military tactics and unpredictable" is reasonable. When it comes to military tactics, ten Yuan Shaos are not as good as one Cao Cao.

Da da da--

The scouts reined in their horses and returned.

"Report! Enemy cavalry is heading towards the supply train, there may be five or six hundred of them."

Hear the news.

Cao Cao was not worried but pleased: "After waiting for many days, Guo Tu and Chunyu Qiong have finally agreed to cross the river. Let's investigate again!"

After a while.

The scout reined in his horse and returned.

"Report! The enemy cavalry is increasing in number, and their infantry is countless."

The two reports from the scouts were enough for Cao Cao to conclude that it was not the small force of Guo Tu and Chunyu Qiong that had arrived, but the main force.

Cao Cao sneered.

We've been luring the enemy for days, all for this day.

Cao Cao climbed the ramparts and looked out. Seeing the enemy cavalry approaching like the wind, he ordered, "No need to scout any further! Pass on my order to dismount and release the horses, and lead the enemy troops to attack."

However, this move puzzled the generals.

As Yuan's army was about to arrive, Cao Cao not only did not order his troops to return to camp and defend, but instead ordered his cavalry to dismount and release their horses.
Outnumbered and outgunned, even if the enemy is successfully lured into a trap, how can we possibly defeat thousands of enemy cavalry on a flat plain?

Faced with the generals' confusion, Cao Cao smiled without saying a word, then raised his eyes to signal Xun You.

The generals then looked at Xun You.

Because Xun You was an extremely low-key person, although he often made strategic plans, very few people knew the specific strategies he offered.

As is well known, Guo Jia is the military advisor.

The chief strategist, Guo Jia, is the first person that comes to mind when a strategist offers a brilliant plan.

If Cao Cao hadn't acknowledged Xun You's contributions after defeating Yan Liang at Baima, all the generals would have mistakenly believed that Guo Jia was the one who devised the strategies for Cao Cao.

He noticed that all the generals were looking at him.

Xun You's expression remained calm and composed, and his tone was as indifferent as if he were recounting something trivial: "Use stillness to control movement, and seize victory from chaos. Since we are luring the enemy, why should we return to camp?"

The generals remained silent.

What difference does it make whether Xun You said it or not?
However, Xun You was a man of few words, and no matter how the generals questioned him, he remained silent. The generals could only keep their doubts to themselves and diligently carry out Cao Cao's military orders.

Not long after.

Wen Chou's army arrived.

Glancing at the baggage train and panicked laborers on the road, and then looking ahead and to the left and right, Wen Chou couldn't help but sneer: "Liu Bei and his men are truly cowards. There's not a single Cao soldier on this south bank, let alone an ambush. They must have fled in panic upon hearing of my arrival." His lieutenant, with sharp eyes, pointed to the scattered warhorses to the right and exclaimed excitedly, "General, look! Hundreds of horses! They must be the ones Cao soldiers didn't have time to take!"

Horses have always been a scarce resource, and the value of capturing hundreds of horses far surpasses the rewards obtained from beheading generals and seizing flags.

Wen Chou, envious, ordered, "The warhorses are mine; the rest of the supplies are yours to take."

The deputy general was overjoyed and relayed the order, which was met with cheers from all the officers and soldiers.

The soldiers were already exhausted after crossing the river overnight.

They hadn't had a long rest before they started chasing Cao Cao's supply train again, and there were countless complaints in the army.

Therefore, when they heard Wen Chou give the order to take the baggage, all the generals and officers perked up.

First come, first served; slow to act, no served.

During the period of warlordism, the troops of various generals and officers were generally self-sufficient in their daily lives.

If all you do is wait for your superiors to hand out military pay and supplies, you won't even get to make any contributions on the battlefield; your troops will all desert you before you even get to the front lines.

Therefore.

Learning how to plunder enemy supplies on the battlefield for one's own use is an essential lesson for every commanding officer.

At this moment, Wen Chou and his generals were unaware that the hundreds of scattered horses and the baggage train on the road were all bait deliberately laid by Cao Cao.

Gazing at the enemy cavalry plundering the supplies, and recognizing Wen Chou's banner that had stolen the horse, Cao Cao couldn't help but sneer: "I intended to ambush and kill two vicious dogs, but unexpectedly, a stupid donkey has come. Wen Chou is just a commoner, brave and strong but ignorant of military strategy. Yuan Shao actually appointed him as a general. How laughable!"

Seeing that Wen Chou had only led a few hundred cavalrymen to seize the horses, and the rest of the troops had all rushed to plunder the supplies, the generals finally understood Cao Cao's deeper meaning and were all extremely excited.

As the art of war says: "If I concentrate my forces into one, and the enemy divides into ten, then I can attack one of them with ten, thus making myself numerous while the enemy is few."

Cao Cao used the terrain of Nanban as a base to hide his troops there, and used horses and supplies as bait to successfully disperse Wen Chou's thousands of cavalry.

On the battlefield, it is easy to divide troops, but difficult to gather them together.

Once the enemy seizes the opportunity to launch a surprise attack during the gap between dividing and gathering their forces, even Han Xin would be severely injured.

Cao Cao seized the opportunity and ordered his generals to mount their horses: "Are you willing to fight to the death?"

Cao Cao's generals were already brave and skilled in battle, so how could they not dare to fight to the death against Wen Chou, who had an equal number of troops?
"I am willing to behead Wen Chou!"

Zhang Liao took the lead in the attack, displaying extraordinary bravery.

"Wen Yuan beat me to it!"

Xu Huang followed closely behind, eager to steal the credit from Zhang Liao.

The remaining generals were all unwilling to fall behind.

The scattered horses suddenly transformed into valiant cavalry, startling Wen Chou so much that his eyes seemed to pop out of their sockets.

"That traitor Cao actually dared to set an ambush!"

The more triumphant Wen Chou was just moments before, the more terrified he became now.

But Wen Chou had no time to think. In the blink of an eye, he turned his horse and ran away.

Although Wen Chou was brave, he was not reckless.

Wen Chou knew all too well how Yan Liang was beaten by Cao Cao's group of fierce generals at Baima!
Cao Cao's disdain for Wen Chou as merely a commoner was not an intentional attempt to belittle him; any man with courage and strategy, even with only twenty riders, could have displayed an invincible aura.

[Zhang Fei of Changban: That's right, I'm talking about myself!]

A general is the courage of his soldiers.

If the commander has fled, how can the soldiers still have the will to fight?
Wen Chou's cavalry, who had been plundering the supplies, were terrified when they learned that Wen Chou had fled.

Those who reacted quickly followed Wen Chou and fled; those who reacted slowly surrendered immediately; and those who panicked charged into their own cavalry like headless flies.

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(End of this chapter)