He originally intended to surrender to Wei, so why did he end up restoring Han?

Yuan Shu's navy can be considered the premier navy of the late Eastern Han Dynasty, with over 25,000 soldiers and hundreds of warships. It held absolute dominance in the densely populated waterways of the lower Yangtze River and Guangling County. Yuan Shu's army relied on the navy for personnel transportation and supplies, which is why Yuan Shu's army always attacked along the rivers.

The only saving grace is that, due to limited supplies, the navy has only deployed warships and a small number of fighting ships to transport provisions, with most of them concentrated in Wu Jing's forces in the south.

If we can find a way to eliminate the Ji Ling tribe's navy, everything will be alright.

Lu Wan may not be good at much else, but he's confident he can get into the top three in theoretical discussions. He gestured with his finger and continued:

"If we can eliminate Ji Ling's navy, then the entire Guangling will be revitalized. You see, in order to achieve speed in war, Yuan Shu did not conscript laborers to transport grain, but could only rely on water transport. If we eliminate the navy, then Ji Ling will have to rely on soldiers to transport grain by land."

This would result in significant losses, continuously depleting Yuan's army's reserves. At the same time, our navy could also demonstrate its capabilities by feigning a naval advance down the canal to ambush Wu Jing and Sun Ben. Ji Ling would then send a letter to warn Wu Jing to be on high alert. Unaware of our true strength, Wu Jing would slow his march and proceed with extreme caution.

At this time, our army will take advantage of the dark and windy night to go upstream along the Huai River, carrying Yuan Shu's banners along the way, and launch a surprise attack on Xuyi, completely cutting off Ji Ling's retreat and causing them to collapse without a fight. Wu Jing's troops will then be unable to hold on and will have no choice but to retreat.

Before Wu Jing withdraws his troops, our army will first send a force to Sheyang. If Sheyang has already fallen to Wu Jing, then we will turn back and ambush him on the way. If Sheyang has not fallen, we will immediately garrison there, cutting off the waterway so that even if Wu Jing tries to escape, he will have to leave behind his ships and supplies.

The room was completely silent.

Liu Bei and the other two were now only shocked. Liu Bei was only thinking about defeating Yuan Shu, but Lu Wan planned to wipe out Yuan Shu's army of more than 20,000 men in one fell swoop.

Upon careful consideration, all three felt that this was a golden opportunity. If this move were made, Yuan Shu would be lucky to survive, let alone declare himself emperor.

Liu Bei then began asking about tactical details: "We did manage to capture some of Yuan Shu's army's flags and uniforms, so that's not a problem. But Wen Yuan, what if Ji Ling launches a desperate attack on Huaiyin?"

"It would be better to leave some troops in the city, lest Ji Ling resort to desperate measures." Guan Yu also agreed with Lu Wan's plan and began to fill in any gaps.

"Please give me three thousand soldiers, my lord, and I will fight for you." Chen Deng also began to examine himself.

Guan Yu wasn't planning to compete with Chen Deng for this mission. Wouldn't leading the charge against Xuyi be more rewarding? Besides, Guan Yu didn't trust his elder brother to go on such a dangerous mission.

In Lu Wan's plan, this mission really could only be undertaken by Guan Yu, because the entire journey depended on luck, and if problems arose, serious action would have to be taken. Liu Bei was still somewhat inferior to Guan Yu in terms of personal martial prowess and on-the-spot command. Therefore, Guan Yu was placed in the main offensive position.

Lu Wan naturally wanted to go with Guan Yu. Firstly, since he was the one who devised the plan, his absence would allow for contingencies in the execution or unforeseen circumstances. Secondly, Guan Yu was currently the safest person on the Xuzhou battlefield.

Seeing the three men's excited expressions, Liu Bei suddenly realized that he was the only one with nothing to do.

"Wen Yuan, what should I do?"

"Your Excellency has important matters to attend to. When we attack the water fortress tonight, please first launch a night raid on Ji Ling's camp to draw our attention. After we advance upstream, Your Excellency should continuously harass Ji Ling and send troops to support Sheyang County."

Lu Wan had plugged the last obvious loophole in the plan, and now it all depended on how well it was executed. However, he quickly put aside his anxiety.

According to the Records of Heroes, historically, Liu Bei first retreated to fight Lü Bu but failed, then turned to attack Guangling but failed again, ultimately suffering a complete defeat. In retrospect, no matter how this plan was executed, the outcome couldn't have been worse than this.

With her burdens lifted, Lu Wan breathed a sigh of relief; she was finally about to begin making significant changes to history.

Liu Bei, unaware of Lu Wan's thoughts, simply slammed his hand on the table: "Alright, proceed according to this plan!"

Unfortunately, a complex plan cannot be accomplished by a few people just thinking about it; there are countless loopholes and shortcomings that need to be addressed one by one.

Liu Bei then summoned Sun Qian and Jian Yong to help him identify and address any shortcomings. The group discussed the matter until dusk.

--------

One day later, at Yuan Jun's camp

Looking at the sizzling, oily roasted meat on the stone slab, Ji Ling happily drank another glass of wine.

Although he had allowed the reinforcements into the city without firing a single arrow, he did so on purpose. Rather than spreading his forces and slowly conquering city by city, he preferred to let Liu Bei concentrate all his forces in one place and achieve a decisive victory in one battle, thus saving Liu Bei some trouble.

The venison, wrapped in caul fat, began to emit an enticing aroma, and the servants began to sprinkle expensive spices on it and place other meats on top.

Ji Ling felt that life was getting better and better. After he dealt with Liu Bei, his lord would become emperor, and he would be satisfied with being appointed as one of the Four Generals.

Imagining a bright future, Ji Ling felt his blood boiling, as if the entire tent was ablaze. He staggered out of the tent, as if countless soldiers were surrounding him and cheering him on. The clamor seemed to dispel the night and bring light back.

"General! Liu Bei has launched a surprise attack on us under cover of night!"

Ah? So it wasn't a hallucination after all?!

Ji Ling broke out in a cold sweat, and the slight dizziness brought on by the alcohol instantly left his mind.

"Don't panic! Don't panic! Everyone stay in your own tent!" Vice General Liang Gang had already begun to maintain order, while the other vice general, Le Jiu, was nowhere to be seen.

"What's going on? Why didn't the night watchman report it?" Ji Ling shouted at Liang Gang, her voice trembling slightly.

"General, the garrison commander of the water fortress sent someone to request reinforcements, saying that Liu Bei's army was launching a surprise attack on the water fortress and that their attack was too fierce to withstand. So General Yue led some of the soldiers on night watch to support the water fortress."

Ji Ling's eyes widened: "Why wasn't such important military intelligence reported?"

"General, at that time..." Liang Gang's voice gradually faded. Ji Ling slapped his forehead and remembered that he was busy writing a letter urging Wu Jing to speed up the march. He just waved his hand and let Le do whatever he wanted.

"Quickly, order Yue to return immediately! Liu Bei's target is the main camp!" Now that things have come to this, Ji Ling can only desperately try to salvage the situation and minimize casualties.

Ordinary troops are incapable of night raids; forcibly sending them out will only lead to desertion and desertion. Le leads relatively elite troops; only such troops can be brought out to fight at night and will not collapse on their own due to minor incidents.

Liu Bei's Youzhou cavalry was also such an elite force. These veterans, who had followed Liu Bei since the suppression of the Yellow Turbans, either kept shooting arrows at the soldiers or knocking away the torches with their spears. The outer camp had fallen into chaos, and the soldiers were scattering and fleeing.

The Youzhou cavalrymen continued to drive their routed troops to attack the central camp, and the defeated Yuan army soldiers lost their lives in the battles.

However, most of the soldiers were simply routed, and cavalry could be sent to regroup them the next day at dawn.

Time passed second by second, and Yuan Shu's soldiers, who had initially been in a panic, began to come to their senses and, led by their respective squad leaders, began to counterattack.

Ji Ling's intelligence began to return, and he realized that now was the perfect opportunity to annihilate Liu Bei's elite troops. He immediately ordered Yue Jiu to speed up his return to prepare to surround Liu Bei, and at the same time ordered the already dressed troops to launch a proactive attack on Liu Bei, intending to keep Liu Bei tied down here.

Ji Ling was happy, but the garrison commander on the water fortress started cursing.

Because when Liu Bei's army first launched its attack, he requested reinforcements out of a sense of duty, and soon General Yue arrived with his men to provide support. So far, things are proceeding normally.

However, with Ji Ling's military order stating, "The main camp was attacked at night; Liu Bei's army's attack on the water fortress was a feint," General Jiang was recalled, and troubles began to pile up one after another.

What seemed like a joke to them suddenly turned into a frenzied attack by Liu Bei's army. Then, Liu Bei's small navy, which had been absent for many days, also came out to join the fray. Yuan Shu's naval camp defenders were caught off guard and were forced to retreat repeatedly, unable to continue their defense.

The warships in the harbor were all burned to the ground by Liu Bei's navy. The garrison commander was so angry that he stomped his feet but there was nothing he could do. Now most of the more than 3,000 men in the camp had gone to resist. If they could hold the water camp, they could keep their heads. As for the lost warships, they were not a big deal. They could just have some more sent from the rear later.

Little did they know, Liu Bei's army's target was the ships inside the naval camp.

After discussion, Lu Wan's plan underwent several revisions. For example, Sun Qian suggested attacking the naval stronghold first, then the main camp of Yuan's army, to make the enemy believe that Liu Bei's true objective was to seize the main camp. This would cause them to overlook the importance of the naval stronghold and create an opportunity to burn the ships later.