The imperial carriage moved ahead, and Emperor Liu Xie of Han stood atop it, gazing into the distance at the battle. He asked Fu Wan beside him, "What does my father-in-law think of this battle?"
Fu Wan remained silent for a long while before saying:
"This old minister is not looking at this battle, but at the results of this entire day."
"Within five hours, Yuan Zhengbei led his troops in escorting Your majesty's carriage and the families of the court officials through three hundred li of battle, breaking three cities and six forts in succession, and slaying fifteen generals! Even Sun Wu of ancient times could have done no better."
"Is that so? But every enemy force he encountered seemed to have only one or two thousand men. At most, this battle had three thousand. With twenty thousand against a few thousand, victory should come easily, shouldn't it?" Liu Xie said.
Fu Wan pondered for a while before replying, "Please forgive this minister's dullness, Your majesty. In this minister's view, the Cao bandit forces in Yuzhou and Sili Province are not few in number. If the enemy could gather their forces, with several generals leading over ten thousand troops in a joint attack, then no matter how formidable General Yuan was, he could not withstand them. But that is precisely where General Yuan's brilliance lies."
Liu Xie asked curiously, "What is so brilliant about it?"
Fu Wan said, "Yuzhou and Sili Province are both Cao bandit territory. The Youzhou Army is surrounded by enemies here, and could easily fall into an enemy encirclement. Yet General Yuan possesses an incredible power of Insight. Time and again, he avoids areas where enemy forces are concentrated, relying on his army's speed to pass through without giving the enemy any chance to gather