Good grief. Old Master Tian Feng has taken a liking to me. He wants me to go to the front and remonstrate with Yuan Shao!
Bai Xiaowen saw what Tian Feng meant and hurriedly added, "I'm not afraid for my own safety. If I could persuade my father, I'd go to the front at Guandu at once. Even if he punished me, I'd gladly bear it if it meant winning the war. But my father has never favored me. I fear my words carry little weight, and going there would do no good."
Tian Feng declared, "Even so, you must fulfill your duty as a subject. As his son, you must be all the more willing to risk your life to counsel him."
Coming from anyone else, those words would have rankled. But Tian Feng had himself risked his life to remonstrate.
Bai Xiaowen was prepared. "You're right, Master Tian. I will go to the front and counsel my father. But I believe there's something else I can do in this war."
"You seem to have a plan already," Tian Feng said, watching him.
"I do. Meet their main force with ours, and answer their surprise moves with our own!" Bai Xiaowen drew a breath. "The Cao Army has concentrated its entire main force at Guandu, leaving its rear exposed. If we select crack troops while the armies are locked in fierce battle, then send light cavalry on a forced march to seize Xudu, victory will be ours."
Light cavalry traveled with minimal baggage. A forced march meant covering two days' distance in one.
Xudu was the seat of Cao Cao's power. Emperor Xian of Han, Liu Xie, was held there. It was the heart of Cao Cao's domain.
In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Xu You proposed this very