On March 23, Cao Jun officially launched an offensive. The army marched eastward, crossed the Surabaya River and went north to take Liangcheng County.
Liangcheng County is the southern gateway to Shan County. If you break through this city, you will have a smooth road to Shan County to the north.
Tao Qian only sent two to three thousand men to guard this place, and the main force huddled in Yan City.
But no one expected that the main force of Cao's army did not go north, but went south to Xiapi, slaughtering all the places such as Chuli, Xiaqiu, and Juling near Huainan.
On March 26, a few days after the news of Cao's army's attack on Liangcheng reached Zhuanyangju, Deng Hong summoned Shen Chen to meet again in the atrium. The grandfather and grandson sat on their knees opposite each other. He said in a deep voice: "Ah In the morning, Cao Cao is besieging Liangcheng."
Shen Chen nodded and said, "It's expected."
Deng Hong frowned and said: "But Ah Chen, you clearly said that Cao Cao would break down the Pipi first and ignore the East China Sea. At this time, he has already rushed to the East China Sea."
Shen Chen smiled and said: "Uncle, this is Cao Cao's bluffing plan. He wants to massacre Xuzhou, and his troops will inevitably be scattered. If Tao Gongzu is smarter and leads his troops to attack, he will definitely defeat Cao Cao's army. So Cao Cao must build a large army." The illusion of suppressing the situation is actually a massacre of Xiapi."
"is that so?"
Deng Hong originally called Shen Chen to tell him that your judgment was wrong. Cao Cao only wanted to attack Yan County to avenge his father and would not endanger the villagers like them.
But Shen Chen's words seemed to make sense. He was confused for a moment and couldn't express his original words of instruction.
Shen Chen said sternly: "That's it. After some time, my uncle will know."
"Well, okay, let's wait a little longer."
Deng Hong couldn't think of a reason to refute, so he had to agree. Time will prove everything anyway.
After Shen Chen returned, he immediately deceived his parents and brothers, saying that Cao Cao had already attacked, threatened to massacre Xuzhou, and had killed tens of thousands of people, so that they could pack up their belongings as soon as possible and prepare to flee.
Although his parents and brothers were reluctant to give up the family property, Shen Chen would never act without aim, so he packed up the property with tears and prepared to run away.
Soon March 28th came, and Cao Cao's army was still besieging Liangcheng.
But several tribesmen selected by Deng Hong who were proficient in riding skills came back and reported news to Deng Hong that almost made him suffocate - Cao Jun massacred Qilu County, and tens of thousands of people were killed!
It was afternoon, approaching early summer, and the weather in Xuzhou was gradually getting hotter. The sun was gathering in the atrium of the Deng family residence. Deng Hong felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, with cold sweat breaking out all over his body.
Cao Cao is really massacring the city!
"Is the news true?" He even asked twice in disbelief.
The clansman reported back: "Uncle Liu, I saw with my own eyes that the place of Zhuli has become a scorched earth, a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, with chickens and dogs covering dozens of miles around. We were frightened and fled back in panic, fearing that we would be discovered by Cao's army. "
"It's over, it's over."
Deng Hong sat down on the table and muttered to himself, which was already a mess. Then he suddenly remembered something, his eyes lit up and he said: "Quickly, go and call Ah Chen."
By the time Shen Chen arrived, Deng Hong had already recovered from the shocking news.
When he saw Shen Chen coming over, he immediately said excitedly: "Ah Chen, your guess is right, Cao Cao massacred Qili!"
Shen Chen's body froze slightly, and after a moment he said dimly: "I hope my speculation is false, but it's a pity that there are so many innocent people."
"Now how to do?"
Deng Hong asked.
Shen Chen said bitterly: "There is no other way, just run away. If the whole family moves south, there is still a way to survive."
Deng Hong said: "Can't Xuzhou be defended?"
"If before Cao Cao massacred Xuzhou, he might have allowed a hero to be the shepherd of Xuzhou, but after Cao Cao massacred Xuzhou, Xuzhou would have been in chaos and could not be defended!"
Shen Chen shook his head.
After traveling through time and truly coming to this world, he gained more insights into the situation in Xuzhou.
In ancient times, wars relied on logistics and political ability. Tao Qian's governance skills were average. He was incompetent and incompetent when he was in office, and chaos was already evident.
Not only was there little food and grass storage, but even the prefects and county magistrates across Xuzhou basically refused to obey his orders.
Xue Li, the Prime Minister of Pengcheng, did not get along with Tao Qian and was persecuted by Tao Qian and resigned from office.
Xiapi Prime Minister Zuo Rong enriched his own pockets and withheld all the grain and grass tax revenue from the three counties of Pengcheng, Xiapi and Guangling for the promotion of Buddhism. When Cao Cao attacked, he fled to Guangling.
Zhao Yu, the prefect of Guangling, was a loyal man and often wrote letters to advise, but Tao Qian listened and ignored him. In the end, he was killed by Zuo Rong, who fled south to Guangling.
Xiao Jian, the Prime Minister of Langya, stayed in a corner, and Zang Ba, the Cavalry Commander, occupied Kaiyang and became a prince, but they did not obey Tao Qian's orders.
It can be said that the only area Tao Qian can actually control as Xuzhou Mu is the East China Sea Kingdom.
The population of Donghai Kingdom during the period of Emperor He was still 700,000. After the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the population dropped significantly. Tao Qian recruited troops to fight against Cao Cao. The army of more than 20,000 was almost completely lost in Pengcheng.
So now Tao Qian only has about four to five thousand Danyang soldiers and Cao Bao's troops, a total of less than ten thousand people.
Donghai Kingdom has a small population and not much food and grass. In addition, the powerful Xuzhou families have their own thoughts and people are not unified. It is impossible to fight against Cao Cao.
Some people in later generations said that Tao Qian was a benevolent and righteous gentleman who gave up the position of Xuzhou pastoralist to Liu Bei for the sake of the people of Xuzhou.
But in fact, Xuzhou is in a mess now, and it is already broken from the root.
To solve this mess, we must spend at least two years governing Pengcheng and Xiapi, then attack Guangling to eliminate Zuo Rong, and then conquer Zang Ba and Xiao Jian.
But Cao Cao would not give him this time at all, so when Liu Bei was in Xuzhou, his troops hardly exceeded 10,000, and Yuan Shu and Lu Bu disrupted the situation in Xuzhou, making him exhausted.
It can be said that even if Cao Cao himself came to Xuzhou to be the Xuzhou Shepherd, it would be difficult to get ahead.
In summary, Xuzhou had two shortcomings before Cao Cao massacred Xuzhou.
One is that four of the five counties in Xuzhou did not obey the command of Xuzhou Mu, and their strength was seriously dispersed and could not be unified.
Second, Tao Qian was old and incompetent, which led to serious internal chaos and the inability to achieve political clarity.
After Cao Cao massacred Xuzhou, the third drawback emerged. After the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the total population of Xuzhou was less than 2 million. Cao Cao alone killed hundreds of thousands of people, which caused many people from the south of Xuzhou to migrate to Yangzhou. , the population dropped sharply again.
Coupled with famine, natural disasters, plague and other factors, by the time Liu Bei occupied Xuzhou, the total population of Xuzhou was less than one million, and this number may be even lower, because Xuzhou's powerful people also hid a large number of people, resulting in a serious reduction in Dingkou.
In addition, Yuan Shu harassed him many times and Lu Bu stabbed him in the back. Liu Bei's troops at that time were less than 10,000 and his strength was very weak.
And most of them were Danyang soldiers left by Tao Qian and Cao Bao's troops. These people did not obey Liu Bei, and Liu Bei was in a difficult situation.
Therefore, under such internal and external troubles, let alone Liu Bei's own planning level, even if his ancestors Liu Xiu or Liu Bang came over, he would be beaten to the ground.
After hearing Shen Chen's judgment, Deng Hong hesitated for a while, gritted his teeth and said: "Achen, let's go, follow me to the clan meeting."