Though Liu Bei was worried by Qin Tian's proposal, he still acted according to the plan!
He immediately led his troops toward Lü County.
After another two days of travel, they finally reached the outskirts of Lü County and set up camp.
Before the camp had even been fully built, Liu Bei summoned Qin Tian into his tent and asked:
"Strategist, though our army has camped here, we have lost the enemy's trail!"
"Now that the enemy's whereabouts are unknown, how should we proceed?"
In ancient times, gathering military intelligence was not something one could do merely by wishing for it!
Starting from one's own army, it might be possible to scout several dozen li in every direction. If enemy troops were found, one could even keep tracking them.
But one could not pursue forever. If the pursuit went too far, intelligence could no longer be relayed in time.
Moreover, scouts might be discovered and killed by the enemy.
Thus, once they went beyond a certain range, the scouts had to be recalled.
Otherwise, the scouts themselves would be in danger.
Every one of these scouts was extremely important. Lose one, and there was one less.
They were now in precisely such a situation. They only knew that Lu Bu's army was marching west, but had no idea where it had gone.
Meanwhile, they were burdened with grain and baggage, and had to travel along the main roads.
For the enemy to learn of their movements, they only needed to scout along those roads.
This was what Chen Gong meant by the enemy being in the light while they remained in the shadows.
At such a time, the fog of war had fully descended, putting a commander's ability to adapt to the test.
That was why Liu Bei sought counsel