Magnificent and imposing!
High-spirited and brimming with confidence!
At this moment, Yuan Shao had already been forced into a desperate situation. Yet this predicament did not crush him outright. Instead, after receiving decades of elite education from the great clans and wielding immense influence throughout the Han, Yuan Shao performed beyond his usual level. In an extremely short span of time, he found the sole flaw in Wang Xuan's arrangement, then delivered a passionate speech that left everyone present stirred and invigorated.
Indeed, what were we afraid of?
Liu Bei looked powerful and seemed to have seized our weakness in one stroke, flourishing across Youzhou, Bingzhou, and Jizhou as though he had driven us into a desperate situation. But in truth, his already limited forces had been greatly scattered as a result.
Those places had been occupied by Liu Bei, but did occupying them necessarily mean they would be useful?
Clearly not!
On the contrary, during this great war, these occupied territories would not only fail to help Liu Bei; they would instead greatly disperse his already limited forces.
"Occupying" them did not mean much. To make those places truly submit to Liu Bei and serve him, far too much time would be needed. This great war would not give Liu Bei that opportunity.
The great clans in those occupied regions would do everything they could to delay matters.
Therefore, for Yuan Shao's side, the most important thing now was to defeat Liu Bei's forty-thousand-strong main army head-on.
Once Liu Bei was defeated, Guan Yu, Taishi Ci, Gongsun Zan, and Zhang Ji would all melt away as swiftly as snow beneath the spring sun, becoming further nourishment for their side. At that point, Yuan Shao could truly be called the greatest warlord under heaven.
Thinking of this, everyone once again