Chapter 20: Lü Bu Flees

  But then Xu Chu and Lü Bu clashed, Xu Chu gradually fell into a disadvantage! Cao Cao watched from behind with a heart full of fear, Xu Chu was after all Cao Cao's beloved general! Seeing Xu Chu at a disadvantage, Cao Cao immediately said to the surrounding generals: "Lü Bu is invincible in the world, indeed no one can defeat him. You all quickly assist in the battle and help Zhang Kang win against Lü Bu!" After finishing speaking, Cao Cao sent Dian Wei to assist Xu Chu, Dian Wei and Xu Chu attacked Lü Bu together; Lü Bu was not affected at all, his halberd danced like the wind and he did not fall into a disadvantage! At this time, Cao Cao waved his hand, on the left were Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan, on the right were Li Dian and Yue Jin, six generals attacked Lü Bu together. Lü Bu was no match for them now, one halberd could not withstand the attack of six generals, as the saying goes "a good tiger can't withstand a pack of wolves", let alone people? However, they also couldn't stop Wen Hou Lü Bu! Lü Bu took his halberd in his right hand and swept horizontally towards Dian Wei, Xu Chu, Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Li Dian, and Yue Jin! This move was called "Sweeping a Thousand Armies"! As the saying goes, "sweeping a thousand armies like rolling up a mat", this phrase used on the invincible general Wen Hou Lü Bu was not excessive at all! Lü Bu struck with all his might, knocking Li Dian's large knife out of his hand! The other generals were also shaken, their arms numb and sore! Lü Bu took advantage of the situation to turn his horse around and return to the city.

  Unfortunately, Lü Bu encountered a traitor. Tian Xi, who was on the city wall, saw Lü Bu return defeated and hastily ordered the lifting of the drawbridge to prevent him from entering the city. Lü Bu shouted loudly: "Open the gate! Open it quickly! Don't you recognize your master?" Tian Xi laughed loudly and said: "I have long surrendered to General Cao. Every member of the three families is a slave who can be killed at will! What face do you have to shout wildly in front of me? Shoot him dead with arrows!" The many soldiers on the city wall only knew to listen to their master, immediately drew their bows and shot arrows at Lü Bu. Lü Bu wielded his halberd, deflecting the arrows left and right while cursing loudly. However, Cao's army arrived at this time! Lü Bu had no choice but to lead his troops to flee to Dingtao. Cheng Yu saw Lü Bu return defeated and thought that Cao would not spare Lü Bu's family, and he himself could not protect them either. He hastily opened the east gate, protected Lü Bu's family as they escaped from the city, and joined forces with Lü Bu to flee to Dingtao.

  Cao Cao, since he was in a precarious situation at Bomaoyang, forgave Tian's past mistakes. Then he rewarded the three armies' generals and soldiers! At this time, Cao Cao's strategist Xun Yu stepped forward to advise Cao Cao: "Lü Bu is a fierce tiger, today he is weak and cannot be tolerated. He should be killed or captured in one move! If you let him return to the mountain, he will eventually become your greatest heartache! Moreover, Lü Bu is brave and unmatched, now that the generals are scattered, it's an opportunity given by heaven! Please make a decision!" Cao Cao listened to Xun Yu's words, as if waking up from a dream! He immediately ordered Xun Yu and others to leave 20,000 troops to guard Bomaoyang, while he himself led the army to rush to Dingtao, preparing to annihilate Lü Bu in one move.

  At this time, Lü Bu and Zhang Miao, Zhang Chao will gather together, also six or seven hundred thousand soldiers and horses are all in the city to defend and not go out, want to wait until Cao's grain is exhausted before fighting again. Cao's army arrived at Dingtao City, saw Lü Bu and others did not fight for several days, under the helpless situation had to lead the army to retreat forty miles to set up camp and make other plans.

  At this time, the grain and wheat in Jizhou were ripe, and heaven had solved Cao's food crisis. Cao saw this and immediately ordered the soldiers to cut the wheat for food. At this time, a fine work reported to Lü Bu in Dingtao City, and Lü Bu was shocked when he heard it. He hastily led his army to come and try to stop Cao's army from cutting the wheat. Lü Bu led his army near Cao's camp, saw that the left side had a dense forest, feared there were ambushes, and retreated. Cao knew that Lü Bu's army had retreated, so he laughed loudly and said to his generals: "Lü Bu suspects that there are ambushes in the forest, we can plant more flags in the forest to make him suspicious. The west side of the camp has a long dike with no water, we can hide our elite soldiers there. Tomorrow Lü Bu will come to burn the forest, and our army will cut off his rear, and we can capture Lü Bu alive!" So he left only 50 drummers in the camp to beat the drums; and made the villagers who were captured shout inside the camp. The elite soldiers hid on the dike. It is said that Lü Bu returned to report to Cheng Yu about what happened today. Cheng Yu listened, stroked his beard, narrowed his eyes, and thought for a long time before saying: "Cao is a cunning man with many tricks up his sleeve, he knows how to use troops! We must not underestimate him. If we let Cao seize the opportunity, we will regret it later!" Lü Bu heard this and walked back and forth, saying: "This won't work, that won't work! Today I see that tomorrow I can use fire attack, break through the ambushes, and raid Cao's camp! We must win a great victory!" Cheng Yu advised Lü Bu to calm down and wait for the opportunity. Lü Bu didn't listen, so he left Cheng Yu and Hao Meng to guard Dingtao City. The next day, Lü Bu led his army of tens of thousands to come and raid Cao's camp!

  Lü Bu led his army to the vicinity of Cao's camp! Seeing flags in the distance, he drove his troops forward and set fire on all sides, but there was no one. He wanted to take Cao's camp by surprise, but suddenly heard a loud drumbeat from within the camp. Lü Bu was shocked, and just as he was hesitating, a group of soldiers emerged from behind the camp. Lü Bu galloped over, but was met with cannon fire and ambushes: Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Xu Chu, Dian Wei, Li Dian, and Yue Jin led their troops in a fierce charge. Lü Bu realized he was outnumbered and fled in disarray. His general Cao Xing was shot dead by Yue Jin. Two-thirds of Lü Bu's army were lost, and the defeated soldiers reported back to Cheng Yu that Lü Bu had suffered a crushing defeat. Cheng Yu listened to this news with regret for some time before saying: "Now that Wen Chou has been defeated, I fear that defending an empty city will be difficult. We should leave quickly, or else Cao's army will break in and we will all perish!" He then took Lü Bu's family and a thousand soldiers and abandoned Dingtao to search for Lü Bu. Cao's victorious army swept into the city like a hot knife through butter. Zhang Chao killed himself, while Zhang Miao defected to Yuan Shu. The entire region of Shandong was now under Cao's control. With the people pacified and the city repaired, Cao's military power had reached new heights! In the central plains, he gradually gained an upper hand over Yuan Shao. This was also when Cao's ambition began to expand rapidly. It was at this time that Cao decided not to assist the Han dynasty but instead prepare to seize its throne!

  But after Cao Cao defeated Lü Bu at Dingtao City, Lü Bu gathered his remaining troops by the sea and all his generals came to meet him, wanting to fight against Cao Cao again. Cheng Yu saw this and once more advised Lü Bu: "Now Cao Cao's military strength is greater than before, our army cannot compete with him for now, otherwise it would be self-inflicted defeat. For now, we should first find a place to settle down and then plan to rise again! At that time, we can fight against Cao Cao again, it won't be too late. Ah, as the saying goes: 'As long as there is a green mountain, you don't have to worry about firewood!' We cannot regret our whole life because of a temporary dispute!" Lü Bu listened and walked back and forth alone, feeling that Cheng Yu's words were reasonable. After thinking for a moment, he said to Cheng Yu: "Now, I want to surrender to Yuan Shao again and then wait for an opportunity to move. What do you think, Military Advisor?" Cheng Yu nodded and said: "Ah, now we can first send someone to Ji Province to gather information about Yuan Shao's situation, and then go. We cannot take risks in person! I reckon that Yuan Shao may not be able to tolerate Ah, Warmth!" Lü Bu listened to Cheng Yu's words and nodded, following his suggestion to send someone to Ji Province to gather information about Yuan Shao, to see if he could tolerate himself, and if not, then make other plans.

  And so, Yuan Shao in Ji Province was strong and powerful, with the momentum of being the number one vassal under heaven! He had many civil and military officials under him. On this day, when he heard that Cao Cao and Lü Bu were facing off at Dingtao, preparing for a decisive battle, Xun You, one of Yuan Shao's chief advisors, spoke to him saying: "My lord, now Cao Cao and Lü Bu are facing off at Dingtao! My lord, Lü Bu is a wolf-like man: if he gets Yan Province, he will surely plot against Ji Province. It would be better to assist Cao Cao in attacking him, and eliminate Lü Bu! Only then can we have no worries." Xun You was Yuan Shao's most loyal minister at the time.

  In the "Records of the Three Kingdoms", in the biography of Yuan Shao, there is a record of Xun You that I think is very fair: Xun You, styled Zhengnan, was a man from Wei Commandery. In his youth, he was loyal and heroic, with an unyielding sense of justice. Because of his uprightness, he did not get along with Han Fu, but later when Yuan Shao became the Governor of Ji Province, he entrusted him with important tasks, making him the Administrator of the Central Secretariat and the Director of the Headquarters. Xun You was skilled in using troops and quite good at fighting, having assisted Yuan Shao's army to defeat Taizu several times.

  From this record, it can be seen that at this time, Yuan Shao's worry about Lü Bu exceeded Cao Cao's, but he didn't know that in the end, it was Cao Cao, whom he had underestimated, who defeated Yuan Shao in the Battle of Guandu and unified the Central Plains! If only he had known earlier, why not help Lü Bu to destroy Cao Cao?

  Yuan Shao highly approved of Shen Pei's suggestion and immediately ordered Yan Liang to lead 50,000 troops to assist Cao Cao in eliminating Lü Bu. The scout who had been spying on them learned of this news and hastily reported back to Lü Bu. Lü Bu was shocked and disheartened by the news and immediately went to consult with Cheng Yu. Cheng Yu said, "Now our only option is to come up with a new plan! I've heard that Tao Qian has passed away and his son Tao Shang is now in charge of Xu Province, preparing for war against Cao Cao. We can go to him for help. I'm sure Tao Shang will be afraid of Cao Cao's military might and won't have any capable generals in Xu Province who can put up a good fight! If we go there, Tao Shang will definitely accept us! Later on, we can come up with a better plan!" Lü Bu nodded his head reluctantly after hearing Cheng Yu's words and said, "For now, I'll follow the military advisor's advice." Cheng Yu saw that Lü Bu was willing to listen and told him that they should immediately prepare to leave for Xu Province under the cover of night, fearing that Yuan Shao and Cao Cao would attack them from both sides and it would be too late to escape. Lü Bu also agreed with Cheng Yu's suggestion.

  Here is the translation:

  Day and night, Lü Bu and Cheng Yu led their troops to Xu State. After several days, someone reported this to Tao Qian, the governor of Xu State. Tao Qian gathered his civil and military officials to discuss the matter. He said: "Lü Bu is a brave warrior of our time, we should go out to welcome him. With Lü Bu here, Cao Cao will not dare to have any ideas about attacking Xu State!" Chen Deng strongly advised against it, saying: "Lü Bu is a treacherous and cruel man, he first followed Ding Jianyang and then killed him to surrender to Dong Zhuo! Later, he killed Dong Zhuo and surrendered to Yuan Shao. He is a deceitful person who has repeatedly changed sides! Now we absolutely cannot accept Lü Bu; if we do not stop him, he will surely harm people, and our lord will regret it later!" Tao Qian thought for a moment and said: "In the past, was it not Lü Bu who attacked and took over Yan Province, how can I resolve this crisis in my province? Moreover, now that Cao Cao has no more worries in the rear, he will surely come to attack Xu State again. Who can stop the momentum of his army? Furthermore, Lü Bu is now desperate and has surrendered to me, what other intentions could he have?" Tao Qian's younger brother, Tao Ying, also disagreed with accepting Lü Bu, but seeing that his older brother had already made up his mind, and considering that among the military leaders in Xu State, there was not a single one who could match Cao Cao's army... Thinking of this, Tao Qian said: "My heart is too soft. Although so, we must also be prepared. As the saying goes, 'do not have a mind to harm others, but do not lack a mind to defend against them'!" Tao Qian nodded in agreement. The military leaders in Xu State did not dare to speak out, after all, they really had no ability to fight against Cao Cao's army! Chen Deng saw that he could not stop his lord Tao Qian and could only go to consult with his father Chen Gui and good friend Sun Qian about how to guard against Lü Bu. After all, Chen Deng himself knew that in the Xu State army, there was no one who could match Cao Cao's military prowess!

  Here is the translation:

  Tao Qian, upon learning that Lü Bu had entered Xuzhou, personally led his civil and military officials, along with a large army of 50,000 men, out of the city for thirty miles to welcome Lü Bu. Why did he still bring soldiers? It's simple! Tao Qian was also afraid that Lü Bu would kill him!

  Tao Qian and Lü Bu rode into Xuzhou City together. They arrived at the government office, where they exchanged greetings and sat down. Tao Qian took the main seat, while Lü Bu sat beside him.

  Lü Bu burst out laughing and said: "After I killed Dong Zhuo with Wang Zishi, I suffered a setback at the hands of Li Jue and Guo Si. I wandered around the eastern provinces, but many of the local lords couldn't tolerate me. Recently, when I heard that Cao Cao had invaded Xuzhou, I was furious! I thought to myself, 'How could Tao Qian, a benevolent and righteous man, do such a despicable thing?' So I launched a surprise attack on Yan Province to divide his forces; but unexpectedly, I fell into a trap and suffered defeat. Now that I've surrendered to you, let's work together to achieve great things! What are your thoughts?"

  Tao Qian listened and replied: "My father, Tao Qian, has recently passed away, and there is no one to govern Xuzhou. That's why I'm temporarily in charge of the province. Now that you've arrived, we don't have to worry about Cao Cao anymore! You can rest here for now! In the future, let's be like brothers! I was thinking of letting you station your troops in Xiaopei City to rest and tend to your horses. What do you think?"

  Lü Bu laughed heartily again! He was truly overjoyed! He hadn't expected that as soon as he arrived in Xuzhou, Tao Qian would offer him a city! This Tao Qian was too generous! He was much better than Yuan Shao and the others!

  However, at this moment, Cheng Yu's eyes sparkled with a hint of something. What was he thinking? To be continued...