At the end of June in the seventh year of the Jian'an Era, Cao Cao's eldest son, Cao Ang, led an army and was trapped in Wan City. Unable to break out, he suffered a crushing defeat and perished in the rout.
In this battle, Cao's forty-thousand-strong army was utterly wiped out. Great generals Cao Ren, Li Dian, Lü Qian, and Cao Xiu died one after another; strategists Xun You and Zhu Ling were captured; countless others were killed or wounded.
This battle also cost the combined forces of Qin Tian and Guan Yu more than ten thousand soldiers, with innumerable wounded. They needed time to rest and recover.
At the same time, faraway Liu Bei in Hanzhong also entered a temporary period of recuperation, because the ownership of Hanzhong still needed to be settled.
Before this battle, Liu Bei had marched into Hanzhong under the pretext of helping Liu Zhang attack Zhang Lu.
Yet after Hanzhong was taken, Pang Tong, Liu Ye, and the others advised that they could not withdraw their troops.
Even Fa Zheng, whom Liu Zhang had sent over, advised Liu Bei to strike Wu Yi while the momentum was with them and seize control of all Hanzhong.
After all, Hanzhong was now a crucial strategic point, the key to entering both Guanzhong and Yi Province. Whoever controlled this place held the initiative.
However, Liu Bei did not agree. This was not a matter of reputation or the lack thereof; he simply could not accept turning his spear around.
In his view, Liu Zhang had treated him with the utmost benevolence and righteousness. He could not repay goodwill with enmity; that went against his principles as a man.
Thus, after discussion among them all, they decided to station their troops temporarily at Nanzheng and first send