While the air inside Ye City was thick with panic and desperation, the state prefecture of Pingyuan presented a picture of calculated, razor-sharp focus.
The grand strategic chessboard had shifted. The massive troop movements within Qingzhou were an open book; no matter how tight security was, such scale could never be entirely hidden from Han Fu's scouts. Conversely, Zhang Xin's own intelligence network was flawless. The moment Han Fu abandoned his initial plan of hoarding all his forces inside the massive walls of Ye City and chose instead to distribute them across tactical buffer zones, the reports landed directly on Zhang Xin's desk.
Faced with a fluid enemy disposition, Zhang Xin immediately gathered his inner circle of generals and strategists to dismantle Han Fu's new arrangements.
The Paper War: Winning the Hearts of Jizhou
Military might was only one half of Zhang Xin's equation; the other was absolute mastery over public narrative. Before a single blade was drawn, Qingzhou's formidable ideological apparatus was kicked into high gear.
The Pingyuan State Prefecture issued a sweeping, official proclamation, dispatching riders and silver-tongued civil officials to every township and crossroad to plaster the manifestos where the public gathered.
┌────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ THE TEN CRIMES OF YUAN & HAN │ ├────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ 1. Treason against the Emperor │ │ 2. Unprovoked surprise attack on │ │ the sovereign territory of Qingzhou │ │ ... │ │ 10. Total exploitation of the gentry │ └────────────────────────────────────────┘
The manifesto, drafted by the unmatched literary master Chen Lin, was a masterclass in political warfare. Written with a furious, righteous eloquence, it listed ten heinous crimes committed by Yuan Shao, Han Fu, and their lackeys. While some charges were cleverly embellished or contextually warped by Zhang Xin's directives, the core accusation—the unprovoked, bloody surprise attack on Qingzhou the previous year—was an undeniable historical truth.
Chen Lin's brushwork cut like a razor. Upon reading it, the populace of Qingzhou was whipped into a frenzy of patriotic outrage, viewing the Yuan-Han alliance as a den of irredeemable villains who deserved nothing less than complete eradication.
This rage burned hottest near Pingyuan. For other commanderies, the previous year's invasion had meant a loss of livestock, grain, or copper. But Pingyuan had been the anvil. The territory had endured months of grueling, pitched sieges, and countless commoners had seen their homes turned to ash and their relatives butchered by the coalition's mercenary forces.
With old wounds violently reopened by the proclamation, the mobilization capability of Qingzhou shattered all previous records.
Streamlined Logistics: High-ranking administrators like Hua Xin and Guo Yuan found themselves overwhelmed not by a shortage of laborers, but by a massive surplus.
Spontaneous Support: When official recruitment stations closed after filling their quotas, local populations refused to go home. Entire villages spontaneously organized logistics trains.
The People's Grain: Communes pooled their private reserves, donating five dou (approx. 35 liters) or a full shi (approx. 60 kilograms) of grain per household, sending mountain-sized convoys of fodder and food straight to the military depots.
When Zhang Xin rode out and saw the endless lines of peasants dragging their private food reserves to his camps, he was deeply moved by their devotion. He immediately issued a strict counter-order to Hua Xin:
"We are the army of the people. We do not plunder, nor do we accept charity from those we swear to protect. Every kernel of corn and stalk of fodder must be purchased from the commoners at full market price."
Yet, when the camp quartermasters tried to hand over the copper coins, the peasants did something extraordinary. They dropped their carts, turned on their heels, and ran away into the hills without looking back, leaving only their grain behind.
Helpless against such fierce loyalty, Zhang Xin could only instruct his administrative staff to meticulously log every donor's name and village, decreeing that the silver would be delivered directly to their doorsteps by state couriers the moment the campaign concluded.
The Blade and the Olive Branch
Having solidified his home front, the second half of Chen Lin's manifesto turned its focus entirely toward the civilian population of Jizhou, applying a calculated psychological pincer movement.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ THE CHOICE FOR THE PEOPLE OF JIZHOU │ ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ SURRENDER EARLY: │ │ Complete amnesty, immediate protection, zero executions. │ ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ STUBBORN RESISTANCE: │ │ Total extermination of the ancestral lineage. │ │ NO PARDONS GRANTED ONCE THE SIEGE IS ENGAGED. │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
This stark contrast was designed to shatter the defensive resolve of Han Fu's domain. It forced every magistrate, captain, and peasant in Jizhou to confront a terrifying question: Are you truly willing to let your entire bloodline burn just to preserve Han Fu's titles?
Simultaneously, Zhang Xin selected a massive cohort of highly intelligent, local-born veterans from his ranks. Disguised as travelling merchants, refugees, and common peddlers, these operatives covertly infiltrated the borders of Jizhou.
Their objective was social subversion. They frequented teahouses, taverns, and farming hamlets, quietly spreading tales of the iron discipline of Zhang Xin's forces. They constantly emphasized a crucial cultural detail: Zhang Xin was a native son of the northern soil, whereas Yuan Shao and Han Fu were arrogant, foreign gentry lords from the south who viewed Jizhou as nothing more than a private treasury to be drained.
Whenever these disguised soldiers met Jizhou villagers, they would play upon shared regional bonds, their eyes brimming with carefully manufactured or genuine tears as they spoke of how Zhang Xin's administration treated commoners like family. They shared eyewitness accounts of how the people of Qingzhou had willingly sprinted to the front lines to supply the army, and how Zhang Xin had strictly decreed that any soldier who stole so much as a single needle or thread from a peasant would be summarily executed on the spot.
Long before the vanguard legions of Pingyuan even crossed the border, Zhang Xin's reputation as a benevolent, peerless protector had already taken deep root in the soil of Jizhou, quietly rotting Han Fu's domestic authority from within.
The War Room and the Sandbox
Back in the primary hall of the Pingyuan state prefecture, the atmosphere was entirely focused on concrete tactics. At the center of the chamber sat a massive, newly constructed tactical sandbox.
[JULU COUNTY] │ [QINGYUAN COUNTY] ──────┴────── [WEI COUNTY] (Yan Liang / Wen Chou) (Zhao Fu / Cheng Huan) │ │ └───────────────┬──────────────┘ │ [YE CITY]
Scout reports detailing Han Fu's scorched-earth strategy and forward defensive lines were updated on the table in real-time. Zhang Xin stood over the display, a long wooden pointing pole balanced in his hand, surrounded by a ring of elite commanders whose eyes burned with anticipation.
The generals were mesmerized by the sandbox. To men accustomed to flat, confusing ink drawings on silk sheets, this three-dimensional model—where rugged mountain ranges, deep river valleys, and fortified walls were physically sculpted—was a revelation. It laid bare the tactical anatomy of the entire theater of war.
Such a creation required immense manpower, surveying records, and time. Fortunately, the terrain of Jizhou was an expansive plain; the scouts only needed to accurately plot the courses of rivers and the exact grid coordinates of the city walls. Had they been fighting in a mountainous labyrinth like Bingzhou, constructing such an accurate model would have been an impossibility.
"Han Fu's decision to split his forces has presented us with a textbook opportunity to isolate and destroy his armies sequentially," Guan Yu spoke first. He stepped toward the edge of the sandbox, his hand coming down firmly on the marker representing Qingyuan.
"Lord," Guan Yu continued, his deep voice vibrating through the room, "should our army abandon the previous plan of multi-pronged sweeps? Instead, we should concentrate our main iron fist to obliterate the garrison at Qingyuan first, before pivoting immediately to crush Wei County. Once these two forward anchors are smashed..." Guan Yu swept his hand smoothly down the model, stopping directly atop the miniature walls of Ye City, "...our united legions can converge to execute a total siege on Han Fu's capital!"
For reasons he couldn't quite explain, the moment Guan Yu had heard the names of Yan Liang and Wen Chou, an intense, almost primal martial urge had flared within his chest, filling him with a powerful desire to ride north and personally crush the Qingyuan garrison.
Guan Yu's aggressive proposal instantly won the vocal backing of several frontline commanders. Yue Jin, Zhu Ling, and Zuo Bao stepped forward, their faces illuminated by the prospect of a direct, decisive clash of arms.
"General Guan's plan is tactically aggressive, but the logistical reality is treacherous," Zhang Liao countered calmly, stepping forward to point at the vast distance on the board. "The march from Pingyuan to Ye City exceeds five hundred li (approx. 250 kilometers). If we bypass the outlying territories as General Guan suggests, our supply lines will stretch out like a fragile thread."
Zhang Liao looked around the room, his expression deadly serious. "If we do not systematically pacify the surrounding counties first, what is to stop Han Fu from utilizing his numerical superiority to launch hidden columns from our flanks, severing our grain trails? Let us not forget our intelligence: to counter us, the enemy has already enacted a brutal scorched-earth policy across Qinghe, Wei, Julu, and Anping."
"They have deliberately trampled every green wheat seedling outside their walls and confiscated every single kernel of grain stored by the common folk. When our vanguard enters those sectors, we will find zero local forage. Worse, to maintain our honor and prevent a humanitarian catastrophe, we will be forced to share our own military rations with the starving populace. If our supply lines are compromised under those conditions, our morale will collapse within a week, and the entire campaign will spiral into disaster."
Xu Rong, Yu Jin, and the youthful Zhao Yun nodded in deep agreement with Zhang Liao's sobering assessment. Their forces were elite but numerically inferior to the massive host Han Fu had conscripted. If they had to maintain a grueling siege against a metropolis like Ye City while simultaneously detaching thousands of frontline troops to guard a five-hundred-li supply line, their operational strength would be spread dangerously thin.
"If Han Fu dares to leave his walls to strike our supply lines, it would be a blessing from Heaven!" Guan Yu scoffed, stroked his long, magnificent beard, and narrowed his phoenix eyes. "A rabble of conscripts led by mediocre officers are nothing more than merchants selling their own heads for a meager profit. If they remain holed up inside the turtle shell of Ye City, taking the city would indeed cost us blood. But if they dare to venture out into the open plains? We will ensure their bones bleach beneath the sun."
Turning back to the head of the table, Guan Yu clasped his hands in a formal salute to Zhang Xin. "Lord, this general is fully prepared to lead his personal division to personally oversee and secure the integrity of our supply routes!"
"Yunchang, steady your fervor," Zhang Xin said with a calm wave of his hand, defusing the rising heat in the room. He then turned his gaze toward the corner of the table where his chief strategist sat silently. "Gongda, what does your mind see?"
The Mind of Xun You
Xun You nodded slowly, a faint, appreciative smile playing on his lips as he looked at the three-dimensional terrain. "Han Fu's defensive layout is indeed quite clever. Yielding the entire expanse of Qinghe County without a fight may appear to be an act of cowardice, but in truth, he is throwing a massive, toxic burden straight into our lap."
Xun You leaned over the sandbox, tracing the perimeter of the abandoned county.
"The populace of Qinghe has been thoroughly plundered by their own governors; the fields are barren, and the roads are already choked with thousands of starving refugees. If our army marches into Qinghe, we will be instantly trapped by a massive humanitarian crisis. We cannot advance while surrounded by thousands of dying citizens. Yet, if we ignore them to press our military advantage, we will utterly destroy the Lord's carefully cultivated reputation for benevolence, playing directly into Han Fu's hands and potentially inciting a bloody popular uprising from our rear."
The room grew quiet. Even Guan Yu fell silent, listening intently to the strategist's breakdown.
"Then, in your estimation, what is the enemy's true operational intent?" Zhang Xin inquired, his eyes gleaming.
"Yan Liang and Wen Chou are holding Qingyuan with the explicit intent of using that massive zone of starving refugees as a living shield, keeping our main army locked out of the Wei Commandery," Xun You explained with fluid precision. "Meanwhile, Zhao Fu and Cheng Huan are dug into Wei County because they fear our army might negotiate passage through Sun Jian's territory in Dong Commandery to launch a sudden, amphibious strike on Ye City from the south."
Xun You gestured to both locations simultaneously. "Thus, Han Fu has created a double trap. If we attempt to force our way through Qinghe, we are bogged down by refugees. If we attempt a flanking maneuver through Dong Commandery to strike Wei County, Yan Liang and Wen Chou can instantly pour out from Qingyuan to hit our exposed flank, pinning us in a deadly two-front vice. It is designed to make any advance agonizing..."
Zhang Xin stared deeply at the sandbox, his mind processing Xun You's words. He caught the subtle, knowing smirk on his strategist's face, and a sudden spark of absolute clarity struck him.
"Gongda, you mean to say..."
Seeing the expression on his master's face, Xun You knew they were perfectly aligned. He chuckled softly. "Since the Lord has already deduced the counter-move, why don't we have the attendants bring forth brushes and paper? Let us both write down our solutions in secret and see if our minds run along the exact same path."
"You still possess a fondness for these scholarly games," Zhang Xin laughed heartily. He immediately signaled his attendants, who quickly brought forward two sheets of refined paper, inkstones, and brushes.
With practiced, swift strokes, both men dipped their brushes and wrote a single, definitive phrase on their respective sheets.
Stepping forward simultaneously, they turned the papers toward the assembled generals. The room gasped slightly as they looked back and forth between the two sheets. Written in identical, bold black ink on both papers were the exact same two characters:
┌────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ [ 詐 降 ] │ ├────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ FEIGNED SURRENDER │ └────────────────────────────────────────┘