Chapter Nine: Provocation

After Cao Cao’s departure, Cao Ren also prepared to withdraw the following day. He was completely unaware that Tao Qian had sent Liu Bei to investigate the situation in She County, so he took almost no precautions. This was not due to a lack of caution on Cao Ren’s part, but rather because fighting Tao Qian alongside Cao Cao had felt as effortless as disciplining a wayward child.

It was widely said that Danyang produced elite soldiers, and Tao Qian, a native of Danyang, trusted only his fellow townsmen, recruiting large numbers of Danyang troops under the command of his trusted general, Colonel Xu Dan. Yet at the battle of Pengcheng, despite their forces being evenly matched, Cao Cao utterly defeated Tao Qian, annihilating his main army. The so-called Danyang troops proved utterly incapable before Cao Cao’s Qingzhou soldiers. Such a resounding victory naturally led Cao Ren to scorn Tao Qian’s strength.

Moreover, before leaving, Cao Cao had remarked that, under normal circumstances, a sudden withdrawal without apparent reason would surely arouse Tao Qian’s suspicion of a trap. Thus, Cao Ren assumed Tao Qian would not dare pursue.

Therefore, as Cao Ren’s army exited Xiangben, heading north toward Lanling, his scouts suddenly returned in haste with alarming news: Tao Qian’s forces were in pursuit, less than ten miles behind the rear guard.

At that moment, Cao Ren was still overseeing the orderly retreat, commanding each unit to leave Xiangben’s north gate with deliberate calm and proceed in standard marching formation. This was a conventional arrangement: the vanguard cleared the way, the main force followed at a distance of several miles, and the rear guard covered the withdrawal.

Cao Ren had not anticipated Tao Qian’s pursuit, so the separation between the three columns was not great. Hearing the report of the enemy’s approach, he was momentarily taken aback, but as befit a future celebrated general of Wei, he quickly regained his composure.

After careful consideration, Cao Ren concluded that this was likely only a probing attack, not a full-scale assault. He issued orders: “Relay my command—the rear guard will become the vanguard and meet the enemy with me.”

“Yes, sir.”

The messenger sped off to deliver the order. Meanwhile, Cao Ren instructed the vanguard to continue forward, then led a portion of the central force along with the rear guard—totaling two thousand men—to cover the withdrawal.

He believed these troops sufficient to repel Tao Qian. Once the enemy confirmed that the retreat was genuine, he planned to set an ambush at Lanling, crush them, and thereby free Cao Cao from anxiety over Lü Bu.

With his orders given, Cao Ren and his personal guards moved to the rear, surveying the terrain. They found themselves at a small hamlet about ten miles northwest of Xiangben County. To the north, near Mount Niqiu, the land was hilly, with villages nestled at the foot of the slopes. The villagers had long since fled; those who remained had mostly been slain, and the place was now desolate.

To the south lay fields, streams, and woods—abandoned farmland with crisscrossing paths, bamboo groves casting their shadows, and ruined bridges over dwindling brooks.

After a careful survey, Cao Ren judged the ground to be deceptively open. Except for a small river, both the fields and villages on either side were passable. Holding the main road would be folly, as the enemy could simply outflank him.

His gaze fell upon a nearby forest, and an idea took shape. The terrain of Xuzhou was generally flat, with only modest hills near the Niqiu Mountains. The proximity to the town meant the surrounding hamlets were densely settled, making it difficult to set a true ambush.

Yet Cao Ren considered Tao Qian’s troops mere rabble. There was no need to risk a real engagement; a show of strength would suffice. In fact, if he fought too effectively, it might arouse suspicion. Thus, he resolved to stage a feint: he would hide some men and horses in the woods, and when the enemy approached, they would raise a great clamor, simulating an ambush.

Once Tao Qian’s troops were frightened off, his own forces would fall back to Lanling. After they left, Tao Qian’s men would surely investigate, discover the ruse, and believe that Cao Ren’s withdrawal was a panicked flight, prompting further pursuit. At that point, doubling back with a sudden assault would rout the enemy, discouraging them from harassing Cao Cao’s rear.

Satisfied with his plan, Cao Ren ordered five hundred men to conceal themselves in the distant woods, equipped with drums and horns to create a deafening uproar at the onset of battle.

The remaining fifteen hundred men formed ranks on the spot. There were no specialized shield-bearers or heavy infantry—just ordinary soldiers clad in coarse black uniforms, their long hair bound with cloth, lacking even basic armor, and all armed with long spears in the front ranks.

At this time, even Yuan Shao’s troops were short on armor, let alone Cao Cao’s. Owning armor was a luxury; in Cao Ren’s army, only he and some mid-ranking officers possessed it.

With the troops in formation, their bristling wall of spears presented an intimidating sight, difficult to assault without archers.

Did Liu Bei have archers? The answer was no. Both bows and armor were costly strategic materials. To put it bluntly, Liu Bei was destitute and had no archers at his disposal.

Thus, when he led his men in pursuit and saw the enemy arrayed like a porcupine, he was taken aback. The road was flanked by flat farmland and villages, the armies spreading out to face each other on the road, in the fields, and before the villages.

There was neither parley nor single combat; the two sides merely watched each other from a distance after meeting.

Not until Liu Bei, surveying the scene from a distant hillside and noting the apparent lack of defense on Cao Ren’s flanks, did he order Zhang Fei and Guan Yu to outflank from both wings.

Unbeknownst to him, this was exactly what Cao Ren wanted.

Before the armies even clashed, the forest to the south—half a mile away—suddenly erupted in banners, thunderous drums, and shouts of battle.

“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!”

“Kill them!”

“Charge!”

Such a commotion struck terror into every soldier under Liu Bei’s command.

Liu Bei’s own military acumen was mediocre; in this situation, he could not calmly deduce whether it was a bluff, and so, just as Cao Ren anticipated, he believed there was a real ambush and hastily sounded the retreat.

He had barely begun to withdraw when Colonel Xu Dan arrived with the Danyang soldiers and encountered him. Xu Dan asked, “Governor Liu, what’s the situation?”

Liu Bei replied, “The enemy has set an ambush. I fear we are walking into a trap and dare not pursue further.”

Xu Dan jeered, “Since you have come to aid Xuzhou, how can you be so timid? Retreating before battle—do you not fear the ridicule of the world?”

“You!”

Zhang Fei roared, “Then you go!”

Xu Dan retorted coldly, “With the Governor ahead, how dare I overstep my place?”

Stung, Liu Bei snapped, “The sages say a gentleman is steadfast in righteousness. Since I took up Tao Gong’s cause to pursue Cao Cao, I will not shrink from battle. General Xu, remain close behind and be ready to support when the time comes.”

With that, he spurred his horse, ordering his troops to resume the pursuit.

Watching him retreat, Xu Dan sneered. Since Tao Qian’s loss of Zang Ba and Sun Guan, he and Cao Bao had become the principal military authorities in Xuzhou.

Cao Bao came from the prestigious Cao clan of Xuzhou, a family of scholars rather than soldiers, so Tao Qian relied more heavily on Xu Dan for military matters.

Yet after Liu Bei’s arrival, Tao Qian seemed bewitched by him, trusting him wholeheartedly, summoning him daily to councils, and handing over control of four thousand Danyang soldiers, severely diminishing Xu Dan’s own authority.

It appeared Tao Qian intended to make Liu Bei the supreme military commander of Xuzhou—a grave threat to Xu Dan and Cao Bao, and naturally a source of deep resentment.

Historically, Xuzhou’s civil and military factions had clear attitudes toward Liu Bei: the civil officials, led by Mi Zhu and Chen Deng, welcomed him; the military, led by Cao Bao and Xu Dan, resisted him. When Lü Bu invaded Xuzhou, both men immediately betrayed Liu Bei and welcomed Lü Bu, proving the point.

Thus, if a few words could provoke Liu Bei into recklessly pursuing Cao Cao’s army, removing him with a borrowed blade, Xu Dan was only too happy to try.

Yet, by a twist of fate, Liu Bei did what Xu Dan never expected—he actually succeeded in defeating Cao Ren.

After scaring off Liu Bei, Cao Ren, believing his plan a success, gathered his troops and withdrew, hoping to rejoin his main force. But Liu Bei’s forces suddenly attacked, and caught off guard, Cao Ren’s men suffered a heavy defeat.

Realizing there had been no ambush, even Liu Bei—with all his limited military skill—understood that the enemy’s earlier display had been a bluff. Overjoyed, he ordered a relentless pursuit, reaping substantial gains.

Meanwhile, Shen Chen had long since returned to his village.

Mount Niqiu was not far from Huangmen Pavilion; it took only a day on foot or half a day by horse. They had set out on the morning of the third day of the fifth month, reaching the area of Zeng Mountain by afternoon.

But as Cao Cao’s army had not yet withdrawn, they dared not return home, staying instead with a group of displaced refugees, crossing the river to wait north of She County.

Among these refugees were members of the Zhuge Xuan family.

Only on the tenth day of the fifth month, when news of Cao Cao’s official retreat arrived, did they finally return home.

With Cao Cao’s withdrawal and Liu Bei’s defeat of Cao Ren, word quickly spread throughout the northern Niqiu mountains, and villagers hiding in the area began to return one after another.

They discovered that those who had stubbornly refused to flee had been massacred. Fortunately, this was only a small minority; most had survived.

Shen Chen’s uncle immediately sent someone to report the news.

They had hidden in the northern mountains for over a month, living off dwindling supplies. Upon learning of Cao Cao’s departure, they wept with joy and hastily packed up to return home.

By the third day, most of the villagers of Xiangben County had returned.

Originally, the county had a population of thirty to forty thousand. After Cao Cao’s passage, only about twenty or thirty percent had perished. Though mourning for the dead, compared to the tens of thousands slaughtered in other counties of Xiapi, they counted themselves fortunate.

Because it was Shen Chen who had urged everyone to flee, his reputation grew rapidly. The saying of the prodigy became well known in every hamlet and neighboring county.

Once the villagers of Huangmen Pavilion were safely home, Shen Chen began to consult with the elders of the Deng and Shen clans about new plans.

First, to prepare for a collective migration southward—Xuzhou would soon become a quagmire of war, and they must not be trapped there.

Second, to purchase weapons and equipment and organize a private militia. The entire realm was now in chaos, all order lost. With hundreds of families from Huangmen Pavilion fleeing south, young and old alike, they would surely fall prey to bandits and soldiers along the way. They needed armed protection.

Therefore, he warned the clan elders to sell all land and property for whatever could be had—grain, weapons, horses, vehicles, and other supplies.

Thanks to Shen Chen’s leadership in helping his people avoid the slaughter, the village elders placed utmost trust in him, and all began acting according to his guidance.