The numbers the light screen had mentioned earlier were not very intuitive and hard to get your head around.
But now, laid out one by one, the reality was crystal clear: Three rebellions in a single year!
One right smack in Cao Cao's own backyard, and the other two blown up purely by brutal forced labor drafts!
Cao Cao, oh Cao Cao... Liu Bei sighed heavy. Just how cruel were your taxes and conscription anyway?
This realization only solidified his dream. That is the good result if tyrants like Cao Cao and Sun Quan succeed in conquering the world? What good thing is left for the common people?
[Lightscreen]
[Year 218 AD, 23rd year of Jian'an, Hou Yin's rebellion is the most heartbreaking "what if" of all.
First, Hou Yin's location was perfect. Right behind Fancheng, it was a place Cao Ren had to send troops to rescue.
Hou Yin's move was basically the equivalent of Liu Bei marrying Sun Shangxiang, a fire in the backyard. Cao Ren and Pang De had to rush back and besiege Wancheng.
But there were two major problems. First, it was winter. Water levels were low so ships could not move, and Guan Yu had no way to advance.
Second, the whole front was stuck dead even. Or more exactly, Liu Bei was still blocked tight by Xiahou Yuan at Yangping Pass.]
The generals glanced back at the map. Wancheng had no high walls or natural barriers, but its position was everything.
Guan Yu stroked his long beard and nodded. "Knowing how Cao Cao works, all that building work at Fancheng must have dragged nearly every man from Wan into forced labor. That is exactly why Hou Yin rose up."
That name stuck right in Guan Yu's mind. The screen had mentioned him over and over, and he felt nothing but real respect. Hou Yin was the commander guarding Wancheng. He could have just followed orders and served Cao Cao easy, but he chose to stand up even when he knew he was outmatched, all to protect his people. A truly good man. He deserved respect!
Liu Bei tried to line up the timeline. "Yangping Pass is a natural fortress tucked between mountains and rivers. Breaking through there... wait, was that not next year? Right, 219 AD?"
"First month of 219 AD!" Huang Zhong cut in fast. He remembered that date perfectly.
Zhang Fei pouted and looked away.
'Yeah yeah, whatever. I will carve my name into stone riding my own horse anyway. Not jealous. Not even a little bit.'
As for the light screen's comparison to Liu Bei's marriage, Liu Bei's lips twitched, and he could only mutter two words:
"Your father!!!!"
[Lightscreen]
[Cao Cao's decision to hold his troops back that year was purely for deterrence. First, he knew Yangping Pass was hard to break, having learned that the hard way himself.
When he beat Zhang Lu, getting Yangping Pass was pure dumb luck. Now that steady old Xiahou Yuan was guarding it, Cao Cao never thought Liu Bei stood a chance.
Second, Guan Yu's forces around Xiangyang and Fancheng were getting stronger every day. Even Cao Cao did not trust that Cao Ren could hold them back alone.
And like we all know what happened next, this is exactly why the Battle of Dingjun Mountain is still talked about to this day:
Liu Bei pulled off a brilliant flanking move, and a seventy-year-old veteran general cut down the enemy's top commander. It sounds like something no storyteller would dare make up, but it really happened.
With their leader dead, Yangping Pass was not safe anymore. Cao Cao had no choice but to drop his standoff and rush every spare soldier he had to Hanzhong.]
Liu Bei's grin grew wider. Oh, so Cao Cao only took Yangping Pass back then because he got lucky!
"What a waste! If Cao Cao had not sent those reinforcements, Big Brother would have smashed right through Yangping Pass head first! Taking a fortress that tough straight on would have fired up every soldier we have!" Zhang Fei jumped in, ever ready to pitch in praise.
To be fair, he was not entirely wrong. In an era where siege engines were practically primitive, breaching a mighty fortress head-on was a rare feat.
"Cao Cao is indeed cunning," Guan Yu commented flatly. "Holding a massive army in reserve without striking is the ultimate deterrent. It threatens both Hanzhong and Jingzhou-Xiangyang, forcing both sides to tie their hands."
Fortunately, the veteran general broke the enemy, forcing Cao Cao's hand.
[Lightscreen]
[And that is exactly why Hou Yin's story feels like such a waste. If only he had waited to rise up at the same time as Guan Yu, or even just held on until Xiahou Yuan was dead...
He could have been the final nail that sealed Cao Wei's doom. But Cao Ren saw the danger just as clear. He threw every single soldier he had at Wancheng, plus all of Pang De's men coming to back him up.
Zizhi Tongjian writes: First month of spring, Cao Ren massacred Wancheng, beheaded Hou Yin, then returned to guard Fancheng.
Cao Ren knew this was the make-or-break moment. To wipe out any trouble behind him, he ordered that slaughter cold and fast.
It is just a shame that Hou Yin could not take that one final step to change history.]
"Massacred them all? This Cao dog is so ruthless!" Ma Liang went pale, and hot anger burned through him right after.
He had even visited Wancheng in his childhood. As a fellow citizen of Jingzhou-Xiangyang, Wan's customs were no different from his hometown. They were practically half-hometowns. What crime did this city commit?!
"Just because they refused forced labor, they had to be massacred?!" Ma Liang's voice trembled with grief and fury.
Jiang Wan patted his back softly to calm him down.
Ma Liang lifted his head, blinking hard to hold back tears. "My lord, I beg you, please save the people of Wancheng!"
"I swear I will, Jichang!" Liu Bei promised, deadly serious.
"Cao Cao, you bastard, you son of a turtle! Kill every last person in a whole city? Is that even something a human could do?" Zhang Fei cursed.
"Cao Cao and every one of his lot are cut from the same rotten cloth!" Zhang Fei roared. "Fighting fair and square on the field makes you a hero. But cutting down folks who do not even hold a weapon? What kind of hero is that?!"
[Lightscreen]
[As we discussed during the Hanzhong Campaign, once Cao Cao arrived in Hanzhong, he pulled his usual old trick: forcing every last person to pack up and leave their homes.
This was, again, the old saying: you must plan for defeat before planning for victory. To Cao Cao, Liu Bei getting Hanzhong was unacceptable. But Liu Bei getting Hanzhong and its population was completely unacceptable!
Comparing the two options, he figured he might as well just steal the people first!
So, in March, Cao Cao marched his army into Hanzhong. By May, he had made a lightning-fast retreat, evacuating the Hanzhong population with him.]
Even though they already knew how it went, seeing it written down like this still made Liu Bei grind his teeth mad. He had never fully realized before. Cao Cao's whole plan was just to drag people away to work his farms as slaves!
"That slave-driving thief!" Liu Bei was so angry he drew his sword, hacked a chunk right off the table edge, and stomped his foot. "When we beat Cao Cao, I will chain him up and put him to work in one of those very fields before I have him put to death! Only then will the wronged folk of Jingzhou rest easy!"
No one could stomach Cao Cao's habit of forced relocation.
Zhuge Liang frowned deeply.
"Relocating and forcing common people out of their homes, killing ordinary folks as he pleases, working them to the death forever. He calls them his people, but he treats them worse than beasts!"
Guan Yu looked around and suddenly realized Lei Xu was not present. He could not help but feel a slight regret.
If Lei Xu were here to see this, he might feel a bit better. At least compared to Cao Cao, the Jianghuai refugees currently in Gong'an had found a decent sanctuary.
But... looking up at the screen, even Gong'an was marked clear as day on that map.
Was Gong'an really such a safe place after all?
[Lightscreen]
[Retreating from Hanzhong was a strategic move to seize the initiative in the Jingzhou-Xiangyang campaign. Cao Cao got back to Chang'an and never let his guard down for a second.
On one hand, Liu Bei had not withdrawn his troops yet, so defenses had to be maintained.
On the other hand, Guan Yu was already riding right up to his face!
The Records of the Three Kingdoms states: In the 24th year of Jian'an, the Emperor was in Chang'an and ordered Cao Ren to campaign against Guan Yu at Fancheng.
Historical records are usually very precise about locations. But based on the bias of the historian principle, you have to read between the lines.
Cao Ren was already garrisoned in Fancheng. So why would the text say he was ordered to campaign against Guan Yu at Fancheng? There is only one answer: The moment Cao Cao's main force left for Hanzhong, Guan Yu marched right up to his doorstep!
And he used his navy to lock down the Han River, cutting off Xiangyang and striking straight at Fancheng!]
"That must be around May!" Huang Zhong called out again, his memory of those dates spot on.
"May..." Zhang Fei's eyes went wide as he caught on. "The dry season is over! No wonder Second Brother is about to turn everything upside down!"
The map made it plain as day. Xiangyang and Fancheng sat right across the Han River from each other. And those little boat marks showing Guan Yu's navy? They sailed up and down the water totally unstopped.
"Now that we rule the river, we have to hit Fancheng hard!" Guan Yu's mind was sharp as a blade. "Once Fancheng falls, Xiangyang will give up without even a fight!"