Chapter 147: Upper, Middle, and Lower Strategies

It was on the afternoon of July 15 that Shen Chen learned of Liu Bei's disastrous defeat.

He was greatly shocked and immediately dispatched scouts to search for survivors.

Fortunately, Liu Bei still had a small band of elite troops left, and with the protection of Zhao Yun, Chen Dao, and others, he managed to retreat to Dingling.

Shen Chen personally went to Dingling to meet and reinforce them on July 16. Cao Hong's pursuing force pressed hard, and a fierce battle broke out in the vicinity of Dongbugeng.

After returning to Kunyang, Shen Chen's army replenished their military supplies, ensuring an ample supply of arrows. When the enemy and his forces met at Dongbugeng, Cao Hong's vanguard was driven back by archery fire from Shen Chen's troops, forcing them to halt their pursuit.

Thus, Liu Bei successfully returned to Kunyang. Over the next few days, large numbers of scouts were sent out to search for scattered troops.

The remnants were gradually found. The losses among the main force were actually concentrated among those former subordinates of the Runan Yuan clan; Liu Bei's core standing army only numbered about two to three thousand men, so his actual losses were not severe.

However, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Taishi Ci, and others were separated, which made Liu Bei extremely anxious.

By July 17, Zhang Fei, who commanded the cavalry forces, was the first to return. Shortly after, on July 20, Taishi Ci also arrived in Kunyang.

One of them commanded a cavalry unit with high mobility, shaking off the Cao army and heading straight for Kunyang.

The other, Taishi Ci, had broken through to the south. Directly to the south was Dingying, where there was no Cao army, and further west was Xiping County, where Li Tong had been heavily battered and dared only to garrison his position without venturing out. Therefore, both men successfully returned under Liu Bei's banner.

Only Guan Yu remained missing with no news, causing everyone to burn with anxiety.

Since Cao Hong was already garrisoned at Dingling and had split his forces to garrison the Xiangcheng area, while Li Tong maintained a small contingent in Xiping County to the south, Kunyang could be said to be surrounded on three sides.

If Guan Yu were to be intercepted by the Cao army on his way back to Kunyang at this juncture, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Therefore, after consulting with Liu Bei, Shen Chen decided to reorganize their forces slightly, combine their armies, and take the initiative to sally forth in order to pin down Cao Hong's forces.

From the beginning of this year until now, the 10,000 men of Shen Chen's Huangmen Pavilion army and Gan Ning's army had suffered nearly fifty percent casualties.

When launching the second expedition to Xuchang, Shen Chen still had 6,500 men. Shen Zhen led 1,000 men as the garrison commander of Kunyang, Lou Fa led 1,500 men northward to stage a feint attack, and Shen Chen led 4,000 men straight to Dingying to attack Man Chong.

After joining forces with Liu Bei in Dingying, the two men combined their strengths to slay Man Chong, immediately turned east to drive back Li Tong, and then split their forces to advance northward, encountering Ren Jun's Diannong army in the vicinity of Baliqiao.

When the battle concluded and they returned to Kunyang to tally the losses, excluding the battle that pursued Cao Cao, this was the most fierce and bitter battle Shen Chen had fought.

Nearly a thousand men were lost: the Huangmen Pavilion soldiers lost three hundred, leaving 1,600, while Gan Ning's army lost nearly seven hundred. Therefore, when combining the forces of Shen Zhen and Lou Fa, the total troop strength now stood at around 5,400 men.

Among them, a portion consisted of wounded and disabled soldiers, meaning the actual force available for combat was roughly 5,000 men.

Shen Chen left 1,000 men to garrison Kunyang. Combining forces with the four thousand-odd scattered soldiers that Liu Bei had gathered back, a force of over 8,000 men approached the direction of Dingying, intending to pin down Cao Hong's main force and prevent him from surrounding and annihilating Liu Bei's shattered army.

However, unexpectedly, no sooner had the grand army marched out of the city than galloping horses suddenly raced from the direction of Wuyang to the south. They turned out to be several scouts, who informed Liu Bei that Guan Yu was heading from the south toward Kunyang.

Upon hearing the news, everyone hurried forth to welcome him.

Heading all the way south to the Li River—not the Li River in Hunan, but the Li River in Runan. This river originated from Mount Heng in Yexian, known in later generations as Mount Liming in Fangcheng County, and flowed eastward into the Ru River. South of this river lay Wuyang, and crossing the Wu River further led to Xiping.

Liu Bei, Shen Chen, and the others looked out from Litong outside the walls of Wuyang City, and saw a massive procession of troops advancing imposingly along the southern official highway. At the head of the procession rode a man wearing a dust-stained green robe, journeying through wind and dust on horseback.

It was none other than Guan Yu.

"Elder Brother! Third Brother!"

Still a li away, Guan Yu waved his arms and shouted loudly.

Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, and the others quickly stepped forward, only to see a vast sea of people behind Guan Yu, dragging their families along with a following of four to five thousand people.

"Second Brother!"

"Second Brother!"

Liu Bei and Zhang Fei sprang down from their horses and stepped forward to embrace Guan Yu tightly.

All three of them burst into hearty laughter.

Such joy of reunion was something they had experienced countless times from Xuzhou until now.

Every time their forces were scattered by Lü Bu, Yuan Shu, or Cao Cao, followed by a hard-fought and difficult reunion, their bonds of brotherhood had never changed.

When everyone had finished laughing heartily and once again celebrated the joy of their reunion, Liu Bei looked back with astonishment and asked, "Second Brother, what is the meaning of this?"

"General."

Before Guan Yu could speak, two robust and powerful men beside him stepped forward, cupped their fists, and knelt on one knee, saying, "Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao pay their respects to the General."

"Rise quickly, two righteous gentlemen."

Liu Bei hastily stepped forward to support them. He had always treated scholars and men of talent with courtesy; leaving aside those who brought followers to join him, even commoners and the impoverished could freely enter and exit his residence. He was a man who remained very close to the lower strata of society.

Guan Yu introduced, "Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao were originally remnants of the Yellow Turbans, who established a stronghold around Woniu Mountain in Xiping. After I broke out of the army's encirclement and headed east to Xihua, intending to come to Kunyang to find the Eldest Brother, Cao's army was everywhere, so I could only head south first to the Yang'an area. When I was heading north to Kunyang a few days ago, I ran into them."

Zhou Cang said, "This humble person has long admired General Guan's mighty reputation. After the General was forced by circumstances to submit to Cao Cao for the sake of the two noble sister-in-laws, and subsequently slew Yan Liang to repay Cao Cao's kindness before resolutely heading south to find the General—such righteousness fills us with deep admiration. Therefore, we have come to pledge our allegiance, and we sincerely hope the General will take us in."

These two men belonged to the fish that slipped through the net during Shen Chen's previous campaign to pacify the Yellow Turbans of Runan and Nanyang.

Their stronghold was located southwest of Xiping County, within the outlying ranges of the Dabie Mountains southwest of Zhumadian in later generations. Therefore, when Cao Cao attacked the Runan Yellow Turbans, the conflict did not reach them, and naturally they were not invited or pursued toward Nanyang.

After the battle of Xiqiang, Guan Yu broke through the encirclement and fled east, reaching Xihua County. Initially, he wanted to head west to Kunyang, but Cao's army was everywhere around Kunyang, and Cao Hong was pressing the pursuit closely. With no other choice, he had to choose to head south, detouring around the Dabie Mountain area toward Kunyang, which ultimately led him to Woniu Mountain.

Upon learning that the newcomer was Guan Yu, the two men were filled with deep admiration. Although there had been no crossing of five passes and slaying of six generals, the story of Guan Yu bidding farewell to Cao Cao for the sake of his sworn brothers, casting aside wealth and glory to resolutely return to Liu Bei's camp, had long since spread throughout the Jianghu rivers-and-lakes.

Therefore, they immediately expressed their willingness to lead the four to five thousand people of their stronghold to follow Guan Yu. When passing through Xiping, Li Tong and Zhao俨 had been heavily battered, and even upon seeing them, they dared not dispatch troops in pursuit.

Of course.

The so-called four to five thousand people consisted mostly of the elderly, the weak, women, and children. Able-bodied men were pathetically scarce, numbering just over a thousand, and their combat effectiveness was extremely limited.

Even so, for Liu Bei—who was urgently lacking in troop strength—this was still a massive reinforcement.

Therefore, upon hearing that people had come to pledge their allegiance, Liu Bei said with great joy, "As long as you are willing to come and jointly resist the Cao bandits and restore the Han Dynasty, how could there be any reason to refuse? The two of you shall first serve in my second brother's camp and follow Yunzhang to establish meritorious deeds."

"Many thanks, General."

The two men bowed in gratitude.

With Guan Yu now welcomed back, the group immediately set off to return to Kunyang.

Upon entering the city, Shen Chen immediately arranged personnel to settle the Yellow Turban remnants brought by Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao, while simultaneously helping Liu Bei reorganize his soldiers.

He had Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao send all the elderly, weak, women, and children to Yexian in the rear, promising to send men to escort them to Xinyang in due course.

Subsequently, Wuyang and Yexian were each garrisoned with some of Liu Bei's second-line troops, while his main force and Liu Bei's elite soldiers—numbering a total of over 7,000 men—garrisoned Kunyang.

It was not until late July that these messy affairs were finally sorted out and settled.

Because supplies in the rear were abundant, the Huangmen Pavilion continued to transport food and provisions northward to the Yexian and Kunyang areas in an uninterrupted stream. Therefore, even with more than 10,000 additional mouths to feed, there was not too much pressure.

While regular grain and staple foods posed no problem, meat was extremely scarce.

Shen Chen ordered the officers and men to go hunting in the nearby mountains every day, while also having Deng Mao, the magistrate of Xinyang County in the rear, help procure a batch of pork. Whether it was cured fresh pork or strips of cured bacon, it barely maintained the meat supply for the main combat troops.

By early August, all kinds of miscellaneous matters had more or less been handled. Shen Chen finally had some leisure time to discuss affairs of state with Liu Bei.

On this particular day, Liu Bei was handling some military affairs in the Kunyang County Government Office.

Although he was a guest general heading an independent contingent, his titles were quite numerous.

Imperial Uncle of the Great Han, General of the Left, Governor of Yuzhou, and Marquis of Yicheng Pavilion.

Pulling out any single title from this list was superior to Shen Chen's title of Central General appointed by Liu Biao.

More importantly, Shen Chen's Central General title was appointed by a mere provincial governor, Liu Biao, and carried little legal validity.

Whereas Liu Bei's titles were all bestowed by Liu Xie, the legitimate Son of Heaven, carrying extremely high political significance.

Why was it that later, when he went to Yuan Shao, Yuan Shao personally welcomed him two hundred li away; and when he went to Liu Biao, Liu Biao also personally welcomed him ten li away?

It had nothing to do with a reputation for benevolence; it was entirely brought about by these titles.

To a certain extent, before Liu Bei went to Xuchang, he was a nobody.

After going to Xuchang, Liu Xie gilded him thoroughly, and loaded down with a cluster of titles decreed by the emperor, his status instantly became extraordinary.

Therefore, although he was a guest general and Shen Chen had no direct subordinate relationship with him, Shen Chen still insisted on taking Liu Bei as the primary leader.

Inside the main hall of the county office, Liu Bei was quite troubled at the moment.

Recently, although they had gathered quite a few scattered soldiers, plus the troops of Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao, they barely had over 6,000 men.

However, the majority of these were scattered soldiers from the former Yuan clan.

When Cao Hong attacked back then, quite a few of the Yuan clan's former subordinates died, fled, or surrendered, plunging everything into chaos.

Liu Bei's main force numbered around 3,000 men, and another 3,000 men were willing to follow him, so when the main camp prepared to head east, it had 6,000 men.

Yet after the main camp was shattered, he had less than 3,000 men left by his side. Then, those leaders of the former Yuan clan who originally did not wish to come were killed, and along the way Liu Bei gathered some of these remaining soldiers.

These soldiers themselves possessed low combat effectiveness, and being clan troops of the former Yuan faction, their loyalty was also extremely poor; they were merely forced to attach themselves to Liu Bei at present.

Therefore, among his current force of over 6,000 men, those of any genuine utility were probably only about 2,000 elite soldiers.

The remaining 4,000-odd men, including the 1,000 troops brought by Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao, likely did not possess particularly high combat effectiveness or military morale.

Consequently, Liu Bei was currently extremely worried.

Even with Shen Chen's army added, they barely numbered 10,000, half of whom were a rabble. To accomplish Yuan Shao's commission and raid Xuchang—how could that be an easy task?

Just as he was deep in sorrow, Chen Dao entered and reported, "Lord, General Shen requests an audience."

"Hurry, invite him in!"

Liu Bei immediately stood up and walked toward the outside of the hall.

Years of drifting and wandering had taught him that his own strategic intellect was insufficient, and he urgently needed someone who could point the way for him.

Back then, Shen Chen had once offered him suggestions, but unfortunately, he had been shackled on all sides in Xuzhou. Before he could follow Shen Chen's advice and deal with the regional separatist forces in Xuzhou one by one, he was battered in turn by Yuan Shu and Lü Bu, leaving him in a pitiful state.

Now that Shen Chen had finally arrived by his side, he naturally hoped to receive his guidance.

Shen Chen was not wearing a military uniform today, but instead wore an ordinary scholar's long robe. Without a guan cap to bind his hair, he tied it up with a cloth band instead, wearing a scholar's sword at his waist as he slowly walked into the hall, cupped his hands, and said, "Lord Xuande."