The Youzhou Army escorted the emperor's carriage and the officials' wagons north. After using an S-Tier item, Marching Stratagems, they picked up speed.
An hour later, a Cao Army force approached the south bank of the Yellow River from the east. Its commander flew a banner marked "Li," and his deputy's bore "Le." They were Li Dian and Le Jin, two of Cao Cao's generals.
At the Mengjin ferry on the south bank, Le Jin frowned at the Sili Army's unfinished camp. "Could the Sili Army have been routed? Why is their camp in such a sorry state?"
Li Dian studied it carefully. "There isn't nearly enough material here to build a camp. I suspect this is Zhong Yao's ploy to lure the enemy into overconfidence, making the Youzhou troops think they have nothing to fear behind them and cross the river with their entire army."
Le Jin perked up. "Then the battlefield must be on the north bank. We should cross at once and join the fight!"
The two generals led their five thousand Cao Army troops across the Yellow River.
But when they reached the north bank, all they found was a battlefield strewn with corpses. The Youzhou Army was nowhere in sight.
Li Dian rode up to higher ground and spotted a banner bearing the character "Zhong" nearby. Beneath it, someone was gathering the scattered troops.
As the two sides drew close, Li Dian called out, "Is that Governor Zhong?"
An officer among the defeated troops hurried over to answer. The two sides soon met.
Li Dian and Le Jin asked Zhong Yao, "Where did the enemy go?"
"Toward Bingzhou," Zhong Yao said. "They were moving so fast that you won't catch them. Had you arrived an hour earlier, you could have joined the battle."
"We marched