Old Cao was in a truly wretched state.

"Kill!"

Cutting through Jiangxia Commandery, Cao Xin led his army into Yiyang of Yang Province, only to be intercepted midway by Yuan Shu’s forces. Yuan Shu’s subordinate, Chen Lan, lay in ambush with three thousand men near Liao County.

Fortunately, the scouts discovered Chen Lan’s trap in advance and relayed the information to Cao Xin.

Cao Xin deftly maneuvered his troops to avoid direct conflict, luring Chen Lan’s forces forward before executing a sudden counterattack. With a thunderous charge, he shattered Chen Lan’s ranks, capturing the commander himself along with over a thousand Yuan soldiers.

"Captain Chen, will you surrender?"

Cao Xin sat tall upon his steed, an iron lance pressing against Chen Lan’s shoulder—a clear message that refusal meant death.

"General Cao, I submit!" Chen Lan, feeling the weight of the iron, dared not hesitate. He prostrated himself immediately, bowing his head in surrender.

Though ranked among the top ten commanders under Yuan Shu, Chen Lan had not lasted even three exchanges against this formidable general. If not now, when would surrender be wise?

"Haha, Captain Chen, rise!"

Cao Xin dismounted and helped Chen Lan to his feet, returning his horse and instructing him to command the remaining surrendered Yuan troops.

After securing the battlefield, Cao Xin pressed forward with his cavalry and the new captives, questioning Chen Lan about the situation in Huainan along the way.

"Captain Chen, do you know where the main force of the Cao army is stationed?"

Cao Xin produced a rough map of Yang Province.

"General, according to my information, five days ago, Yuan forces recovered Hefei and Shouchun. The Cao army has withdrawn north of the Huai River. There may yet be scattered Cao troops in Huainan, but their exact positions are unknown to me," Chen Lan replied cautiously.

"Any word of the Prime Minister?"

"No definite news, only rumors—some say the Prime Minister was captured by Lü Bu, others that he has retreated to Chen Commandery in Huaibei. It is said he is gathering troops for vengeance, or perhaps he still lingers in Huainan, whereabouts uncertain. That is why Yuan Gonglu has dispatched men everywhere to search for him."

Cao Xin rubbed his chin, troubled by the uncertainty; without clear intelligence, the next move remained unclear.

"General, if you trust me, I can send men back to Huainan Commandery to gather information," Chen Lan offered, hands clasped in salute.

Cao Xin laughed heartily, scrutinizing Chen Lan. "Captain Chen, do you wish to return to Huainan?"

Chen Lan hesitated only a moment, then replied gravely, "General, I have heard of your illustrious name—three thousand defeating thirty thousand, six thousand routing fifty thousand—truly the foremost general under heaven. I have long admired you and wish nothing more than to follow you. That you have accepted me today is my honor, and I swear never to betray you."

"Haha, Captain Chen, you flatter me."

Cao Xin gripped his arm warmly. "Sending others is too slow. I would ask you to go personally to Huainan. If you return with concrete news, I shall recommend you to the Prime Minister himself."

"Oh?" Chen Lan looked surprised, his eyes shifting. "General, are you not afraid I might not return?"

"Haha, a wise bird chooses a good tree. Yuan Gonglu is finished, to follow him is a dead end. The Prime Minister, however, is mustering forces and conquering all before him; in time, he will unite the realm. Captain Chen, you are a man of discernment—do I need to teach you which path to choose?" Cao Xin laughed.

Chen Lan dismounted and bowed deeply. "Rest assured, General, I will not fail your trust."

"Haha, brother Chen, I entrust you with this important task because I believe in you," Cao Xin replied, helping him up and sending him with over a thousand surrendered troops back to Huainan.

"Sixth Brother, this Chen Lan doesn’t seem very trustworthy. Do you think he’ll return?" Cao Chun rode up to ask.

"Does it matter?" Cao Xin swung onto his horse with a smile.

"Haha, it doesn’t matter—the Yuan troops are even weaker than those from Jingzhou. If we meet them again, one charge will settle it," Cao Chun grinned.

"Don’t be careless. Remember, even the Prime Minister was defeated by them."

"Well, Sixth Brother, I sometimes think the Prime Minister isn’t as good at war as you. He has tens of thousands of elite troops and countless strategists, yet still suffers defeat at the hands of Yuan’s army—I just don’t get it," Cao Chun muttered.

Cao Xin laughed. "Yuan Jian, how are our supplies?"

"General, enough food and fodder for five days," Liao Hua reported.

"That’ll do. If not, we’ll borrow more."

Once Chen Lan departed, Cao Xin took his eight hundred riders onward. In less than a day, they entered Lujiang Commandery, now less than two hundred li from Shouchun.

Arriving at Lujiang, Cao Xin raised the banner of General Wei Lu, bearing the character 'Cao.'

Along the way, he gathered scattered Cao soldiers—over three hundred in two days—and gleaned much news of the Prime Minister, though every lead proved a dead end.

Cao Xin could only keep searching, spreading word everywhere that General Wei Lu, Cao Xin, had arrived in Huainan.

"Report! General, five li ahead a Cao contingent is being pursued by Yuan troops!"

Near Liu’an, a scout arrived with news—Yuan forces were chasing a group of Cao soldiers flying the 'Cao' standard.

Cao Xin’s heart leaped—could it be the eldest lord? He roared, brandished his great iron lance, and charged forward at the head of his cavalry.

Indeed, a Cao officer was being hunted: it was Cao Xiu, Military Assistant and eldest son of Cao Bin, the second brother, famed as the Cao clan’s thousand-li horse.

"Wenlie! Where is the Prime Minister?" Cao Xin asked after dispersing the enemy.

"Sixth Uncle, I do not know. Half a month ago, our army suffered a flood, then surprise attacks from Lü Bu and Yuan’s forces. I’ve been separated from the Prime Minister ever since. I searched for days in Huainan and Lujiang but found no trace. Yesterday, I heard you had arrived and came to join you, only to be attacked by Liu Xun’s men. If not for your timely arrival, I fear I would have perished," Cao Xiu said, still shaken. His original three hundred men had been whittled down to less than thirty, each wounded.

"Haha, Wenlie, how did you manage to lose so badly?" Cao Chun laughed. "Over thirty thousand elite troops—how did you suffer such a rout?"

"Uncle Chun, I don’t know myself," Cao Xiu replied with a wry smile. He recounted the defeat.

After Yuan Shu retreated from Chen, the Prime Minister wanted to press into Huainan and crush the rebel. Xun You and Guo Jia advised against it, citing the rainy season and logistical difficulties, urging him to wait a year.

At first he agreed, but when the weather suddenly cleared, he took it as a sign from heaven—fate decreed Yuan Shu’s destruction.

Xun You and Guo Jia could not object further. The Prime Minister left Xun You in Chen to oversee supplies, then set out with his civil and military officers and thirty-five thousand men, allying with Lü Bu and Liu Bei to strike Huainan.

The campaign went smoothly—they took Shouchun in two days, forcing Yuan Shu to flee to Lujiang.

At this point, Guo Jia urged a retreat, arguing that the army’s advance was too rapid, the line overextended, and that Jingzhou’s forces besieging Xinye demanded urgent relief.

The Prime Minister initially agreed, but just as he was about to withdraw, news arrived of Cao Xin’s victory over fifty thousand Jingzhou troops at Xinye.

Delighted, the Prime Minister declared it a heavenly mandate, and pressed on to attack Hefei and other counties, conquering Huainan within half a month.

Just as he debated whether to attack Lujiang or Danyang next, the Huai and Fei rivers flooded, washing away the camps and scattering thousands.

Forced to retreat, the Prime Minister’s rear was then ambushed by Lü Bu’s three thousand cavalry—Cao’s army broke and scattered.

"I, too, lost contact with the Prime Minister in that chaos. I searched for days in vain," Cao Xiu sighed.

"No matter, we’ll keep looking," Cao Xin said, clapping his shoulder in comfort.

As the saying goes, evil men live long—Cao Cao had often been chased on the battlefield, many times nearly killed, yet always turned disaster aside, a master of escape. Such a man would not perish in so small a calamity.

Cao Xin and his party, with Cao Xiu and thirty battered horsemen, pressed on. Reaching Hefei, they encountered the Lujiang Administrator Liu Xun with five thousand troops. After fierce fighting, Cao Xin slew Liu Xun in battle, shattered his army, and took over four thousand prisoners.

Learning that the county seat was undefended, Cao Xin and his companions resolved to occupy Hefei, raising the Cao banners. This would both attract scattered Cao soldiers and draw the attention of Yuan’s forces.

Cao Xin drove the surrendered troops to storm Hefei, capturing the city within the hour.

Though not a high-walled city, Hefei lay within a hundred li of Shouchun, commanding both land and water routes, with ample provisions.

With a foothold secured, he hung the Cao banners high, sent out parties to gather scattered soldiers, and dispatched scouts in all directions to search for Cao Cao and the remnants of the army.

On the third day of garrisoning Hefei, a junior officer arrived breathlessly, reporting that the Prime Minister was on his way to Hefei with his men, but had been intercepted and was now beset by three thousand Yuan troops at the western marshes of the Fei River, with only two or three hundred men at his side.

The situation was dire. Without a word, Cao Xin gathered Cao Chun, Cao Xiu, and a hundred Langya cavalry, and raced toward the western marshes of the Fei River.