🔥 Story 15 : Cao Cao's Escape

🔥 Story 15 : Cao Cao's Escape

This is a story about Cao Cao's clever escape.

Cao Cao was overjoyed, saying, "Heaven is giving me Puyang!" Cao Cao led his army to the walls of Puyang and indeed saw many flags flying on the city walls. In the corner of the west gate, there was a white flag with the character "义" (righteousness) written on it. He was even more convinced that his plan had succeeded.

Cao Cao rushed into the city on horseback. However, when he reached the vicinity of the prefectural government office, he suddenly realized that there was no one there. He immediately realized he had been tricked and hurriedly turned his horse around, shouting, "Retreat!"

Just then, cannons suddenly roared from the prefectural government office, and all four city gates simultaneously burst into flames, the fire reaching the sky. Drums and gongs sounded loudly, and ambushers rushed out, their shouts deafening, like surging waves.

At that time, Cao Cao was fleeing, while the valiant Lü Bu searched for him throughout the city. Cao Cao found himself in a very dangerous predicament, as enemies surrounded him from all sides, wanting to capture or kill him. He tried to escape through the south gate, but was blocked. He turned to the north gate, only to find himself face-to-face with Lü Bu on horseback, wielding a long halberd, in the firelight!

In this dire situation, Cao Cao quickly covered his face with his hands and charged forward on horseback, managing to slip through! Lü Bu caught up from behind, lightly tapping Cao Cao's armor with his halberd, then shouted, "Where is Cao Cao?"

Cao Cao, quick-witted, immediately pointed ahead and shouted, "That man riding a yellow horse ahead is Cao Cao!" Lü Bu believed him and immediately spurred his horse forward, killing the innocent rider. Using this opportunity, Cao Cao successfully escaped danger, cleverly fleeing like a cicada shedding its shell.

1. Why did the wealthy Tian family become an important player?

2. Why didn't they successfully burn Cao Cao?

3. How could this trap to burn Cao Cao be made better?

4. How would Cao Cao confirm this?

1. Why did the wealthy Tian family become an important player?

During periods of dynastic change, political evolution, and dramatic shifts in military power—such as the Qin-Han Contention, the late Eastern Han Dynasty before the Three Kingdoms period, the late Sui Dynasty, the late Tang Dynasty, the late Yuan Dynasty, and the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China—warlord eras, coupled with influential figures in the contemporary economy or politics, meant they needed to choose sides due to their significant influence. This choice could involve: investing in both sides, siding with whoever wins, double agents, feigning friendship with one side while actually siding with another, or feigning friendship with one family while actually siding with another.

2. Why didn't they successfully burn Cao Cao?

A successful plan has the right overall direction. However, the execution is crucial. Luring Cao Cao into the city, then what? What specific place should he be lured to? What method should be used? How can he be prevented from wandering off from the designated spot? The details are not well-defined.

There are also no plans in place, such as: what if Cao Cao becomes alert? Or what if he realizes something is wrong halfway through his journey? Or what if he splits into hundreds of small groups to escape?

3. How can this trap of setting fire to Cao Cao be improved?

Divide the city geographically into x-axis and y-axis zones. Each zone should have a more detailed task allocation for burning Cao Cao and ambushing him; the plan should be more flexible. First, bind one of Cao Cao's surrendered soldiers and train them as double agents. Then, the city's layout could be deliberately designed so that what appears to be an escape route is actually a dead end.

4. How to confirm if it's Cao Cao himself?

Sometimes you need to gather more information. But sometimes there's a vast amount of information, and the truth is hidden in a sea of ​​information, which is sometimes impossible to resolve. In the story, Cao Cao ran to the city's administrative center, only to discover it was a trap. He should have noticed something amiss after walking a few streets. If there were 30 streets, after walking ten, wouldn't he have sensed something strange? Why wasn't anyone there to make contact? He should have realized it sooner.