In early February, spring was warm and flowers were blooming. At this time, seven or eight days had passed since Cao Cao's army occupied Wancheng.
Cao Cao's main force was on the west bank of the Huishui River north of Wancheng, and he sent Cao Ren and Lejin to attack Chaoyang, Huyang and other places to cut off Liu Biao's reinforcements.
Cao Ren was not eager to take revenge from the beginning. Instead, he sent a large number of cavalry to investigate and then inquired about the local situation.
After Zhang Xiu surrendered, he naturally knew all about it and revealed all of Liu Biao's peripheral troops deployed at the southernmost tip of Nanyang.
Historically, Liu Biao certainly did not deploy troops in Nanyang, but there were not many troops on the front line, and they were basically concentrated to the west of the Dabie Mountains.
That is to say, Biyang, Pingshi, and Wuyin in the northeast of Huyang became Tanghe County, Biyang County, and Sheqi County in later generations.
When Cao Cao conquered Nanyang for the second time, he conquered these places and finally reached Huyang County, the forefront city where Liu Biao's main force was deployed, and captured the defender Deng Ji alive.
Behind Huyang, there are three cities, Caiyang, Fancheng, and Dengxian, which serve as the outer barriers of Xiangyang. Liu Biao can be said to have deployed heavy troops to guard them here.
Therefore, Cao Cao never reached this area during his three expeditions to Nanyang. The furthest he reached was Huyang, and he was still wary of Liu Biao's strength.
However, although it was impossible to attack Liu Biao's main force directly, it was still necessary to intercept the opponent's reinforcements halfway, so Cao Cao also sent out Cao Ren and Le Jin to prepare for a battle with Liu Biao.
This time he came to Nanyang firstly to solve his worries and get rid of Zhang Xiu. Secondly, he brought Nanyang into his sphere of influence to prevent Liu Biao from attacking his rear.
Therefore, he was prepared for a conflict with Liu Biao from the beginning. Otherwise, he would not have mobilized all his troops and deployed heavy troops in Runan to support him.
After a few days of investigation, Cao Ren got the news that the current Huyang guard was a little-known man named Gan Ning, with about four to five thousand people under his command. Huangmenting, where the two Deng and Shen families lived, was located in Huyang.
Yangbei.
After learning about this, he rushed to Xinye without stopping.
Xinye County Magistrate Deng Mao had abandoned his official position and fled. After Zhang Xiu surrendered, almost all the county magistrates around Wancheng who were attached to Zhang Xiu surrendered to Cao Cao. Only Deng Mao ran back to his clan and hid.
By February 2nd, Cao Jun's cavalry scouts had appeared at Huangmen Pavilion and outside Huyang to survey the terrain and direction.
Since Deng Mao took away all the county's official documents, maps, and archives when he ran away, Cao Ren had to conduct on-the-spot investigation and ran outside several times with the scout cavalry to survey the terrain.
Early in the morning on the fourth day, after Cao Ren returned from investigating the enemy's situation in Tangzi Township, southwest of Huyang, he immediately summoned several generals under his command for a meeting.
At this moment, several of his generals, Cao Yong, Chun Yudao, Zhai Yuan and others, gathered together.
At the Xinye County Government House, Cao Ren sat cross-legged on the porch. He placed several porcelain cups and bowls from the county government on the wooden board. When Cao Yong and the others came over, they saw him folding his arms and lowering his head in thought.
"Brother, what are you looking at?"
Cao Yong asked.
He can be regarded as a relative of the Cao family, but he belongs to a side branch and has a low status. However, he joined when Cao Ren organized the rangers in his hometown to bring trouble to the countryside. He has relatively senior qualifications, so now he is the first general under Cao Ren and serves as the Army Sima.
When Cao Ren saw them coming, he said, "I'm thinking about how to attack Huyang. Come here."
The three of them approached.
Cao Ren pointed to a porcelain bowl and said, "This is Xinye."
Then he pointed to a porcelain cup in the south of Xinye: "This is Huyang."
Then he pointed to a porcelain pot on the east side of the two porcelain pots and said, "This is Huangmen Pavilion."
The location of Huangmen Pavilion is very interesting. It is directly east of Xinye County and directly north of Huyang County.
So if it is connected with Xinye Huyang, it will form a triangle relationship.
Cao Ren continued: "I have asked the local people and inquired about the current situation of Huangmenting. They built a manor, and now they have moved the people of Xiangting to Huyang to stick to the manor."
Cao Yong smiled and said: "It's just a small manor. Does it require brother to put in any effort? I will bring a thousand troops over and level this manor."
"You don't understand."
Cao Ren waved his hand and said: "I heard from the local people that the Huyang guard has a very close relationship with the Deng family and often goes in and out of Huangmen Pavilion. Do you think it is easier to attack a village or a city?"
"What do you mean, brother?"
"We will feign a large-scale attack on Huangmen Pavilion, lure Gan Ning to help, and ambush him halfway."
"this"
All the generals looked at each other.
Director Chunyu said cautiously: "General, I'm afraid he won't come to help."
Cao Ren smiled and said: "It would be better if we don't come to help. Then we should first destroy Huangmen Pavilion to avenge the ear-cutting, and then go south to attack Huyang City."
"Well, that's true."
"Brother is more thoughtful."
"That's it."
A few people thought about it for a while, and it seemed to be the truth, so they nodded in approval.
In fact, Cao Ren also considered at the beginning that Huangmen Pavilion was just a rural pavilion, so there was no need to expend all his strength and he could just send a small group of troops there.
But later I learned about the relationship between Gan Ning and Deng Hong, and when I learned that Gan Ning often went to Huangmen Pavilion to have fun, I had another idea.
That is to first take the initiative to attack Huangmenting in the name of revenge, but in fact it is to ambush Gan Ning's army in the middle.
It would be best if Gan Ning comes, but it doesn't matter if he doesn't come. Huangmenting itself is going to be destroyed anyway.
Therefore, after deciding on the attack plan, he sent Cao Yong as the vanguard, leading 2,000 troops, pretending to be 5,000 troops, and marched out of the city in the direction of Huangmen Pavilion.
Cao Ren himself led 3,000 men and horses to the left bank of Bishui, preparing to ambush on the road that must pass by Huyang to rescue Huangmenting.
At the same time, he wrote another letter and sent people to shoot into Huangmenting's manor. The general meaning was that he had a personal vendetta against Shen Chen, and if Huangmenting handed over Shen Chen, war would be avoided.
At three o'clock in the morning, Shen Chen received this letter.
"hehe."
At this time, in a cave in the back mountain of Huangmen Pavilion, the clan elders gathered together.
There were two clan elders, the Deng brothers and the Shen family, as well as Deng Zhao, Chen Zhen and others. Looking at the letter sent into the manor, Shen Chen sneered and said: "This is a plan to weaken the enemy. Hand me over, they will
I won’t let the entire clan go.”
Compared to Deng Hong, people like Deng Zhao who had fought in wars were more bloody and roared: "Cao Ren has always had a blood feud with us in Huangmenting Township, and we will let him die here today!"
"Okay, three years of operation, today."
"Achen, tell me, we will listen to you on what we should do."
"This battle requires the Cao family to pay a price, not only for the hundreds of relatives gathered in Zhenyang, but also for the hundreds of thousands of people in Xuzhou."
Everyone had a sworn hatred against Cao Ren and shouted one after another.
Shen Chen actually didn't know how Cao Ren could claim to have a grudge against him, just because he had lost an ear?
What about the fate of the hundreds of Deng and Shen relatives gathered in Huangmen Pavilion and Zhuanyang?
Where are the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Xuzhou?
Perhaps in the eyes of aristocratic families like them, the lives of the lower class people are not as important as his one ear.
But Shen Chen was going to tell him today that you, Cao Ren, are nothing.
Seeing that the clan elders were filled with righteous indignation, he immediately said: "Uncles, don't worry, I am sure of winning this battle. Act according to the plan first. Uncle, you first lead people to the manor tower to hold on, and wait until the situation turns bad. Retreat to the back mountain."
"good."
Deng Zhao nodded. He was the cousin of Shen Chen's mother, Deng, so Shen Chen wanted to call him uncle.
Shen Chen then said to his father Shen Zhen: "Father, please lead some people to pick up my uncle. After he withdraws, immediately enter the cave and secure it with a cage."
"Well, I understand."
Shen Zhen nodded. He had been a soldier before and knew what to do.
Shen Chen looked at the crowd again and said: "Uncles, this battle is about the life and death of Huangmenting. I hope you stay calm and stay in the basement. When Uncle Xingba's army arrives, Cao Ren will die without a burial place!" "
"good."
Everyone obeyed orders and acted.
Now everyone began to perform their duties. Deng Zhao led 500 people to the main entrance of the manor, where a certain amount of bows and arrows were stored for temporary defense.
After all, Huangmenting's manor is not a city wall. There are only some wooden platforms inside, and there are arrow towers at the east, west, north and south corners.
About an hour later, at about three o'clock in the afternoon, Cao Jun's arrival was seen on the western horizon.
Outside the manor are fields and countless rural households. At its peak, there were more than 20,000 people here. It was like a town. There was even a street to the west of the manor that served as a bustling market.
But at this moment, there was no one around. Cao Jun followed the post road and came to the market. All the soldiers, led by officers at all levels, began to occupy various important roads in a well-trained manner.
They occupied all the markets outside, and then Cao Yong personally led the team outside the manor and shouted inside: "The general has an order, hand over Shen Chen, surrender and avoid death!"
"call out!"
What greeted him was an arrow.
Cao Yong drew his knife and blocked it, and sneered: "Seek your own death, attack!"
After giving the order, a thousand men and horses slowly walked out of the market behind them, rushing toward the manor like a surging tide.
At the same time, in the north and northwest corners of the manor, other Cao soldiers attacked the manor separately.
The reason for this is that the design of Huangmenting's manor is very particular. To the south is the Shahe River and to the east is the back mountain. There are only two sides that can be attacked, namely the west and north sides of the manor.
There were many structures like this in the cities of the Han Dynasty. They were surrounded by mountains and rivers, making them easy to defend and difficult to attack. There were even crazy ones, like Xiangyang City, which was built entirely on the water. The Han River protected all sides of the city, leaving the city. Depend on ships.
It's just that Huangmenting is not a city after all. Even the walls of ordinary county towns are generally more than two feet, which is four meters. Like Chang'an and Luoyang, they are more than five or six feet, while Huangmenting Manor is only one foot and four, that is, 3.2 meters.
This height is not to mention ordinary ladders. Even well-trained soldiers can go up with the help of two people to help build a ladder. Therefore, it is almost impossible to defend Cao's soldiers from all directions.
"Shoot, shoot, shoot!"
Deng Zhao stood on the built-in platform and kept waving the Huanshou knife in his hand.
Although the soldiers had been training all day long and had experienced fighting with the Yellow Turban Army, they were still slightly behind elite soldiers like Cao Jun. They were all very nervous, and the speed and accuracy of their arrows were far behind.
Fortunately, there are still some veterans among them. When we first recruited soldiers, they were mainly young and strong and veterans who had been on the battlefield. These veterans had excellent psychological quality and killed many enemies.
Clusters of arrows fell like raindrops, and many of Cao's soldiers at the front fell to the ground. However, these soldiers were not afraid of death and braved the rain of arrows to carry the ladders and ran all the way. Soon, several ladders had arrived outside the manor.
When the manor was originally designed, it was planned to dig a trench and divert the water from the Shahe River in the periphery, because the Shahe River itself flows from north to south, flowing from Bishui into Feishui, which is the tributary between Tanghe and Baishui in later generations. A moat is very convenient.
But later Shen Chen overturned this idea. He believed that there was little point in holding on to the manor. In a large-scale war, the enemy could easily break through the manor and enter it. It is best for the moat to be wider and deeper, but the flow of the Sha River is very small and the average water depth is That is, between half a meter and one meter, it cannot bear the task of moat at all.
Therefore, without the obstruction of the moat, Cao Jun easily reached the foot of the manor.
Deng Zhao went up to kill him with his sword. At this moment, someone came to report: "Chief, the north side of the manor has been breached."
"Where are they?"
"Already coming this way."
"So fast? Retreat, retreat to the back mountains!"
Knowing that the opponent had broken through the north gate of the manor, Deng Zhao immediately ordered a retreat without caring about anything else.
The soldiers immediately breathed a sigh of relief, jumped off the platform one by one, put on their weapons and equipment, and ran towards the back mountain.
By the time Cao Yong came in, the manor was already empty.
"Where are the people?"
He was puzzled and looked around, but there was no one there.
Since the back mountain is a forbidden area of Huangmen Pavilion, non-people of the same tribe are not allowed to enter. Therefore, even the villagers who later joined Huangmen Pavilion did not know what was in the back mountain. They only knew that they were not allowed to go there, so Cao Ren did not know that Shen Chen The real defense point is in the back hill.
A soldier came to report: "Sima, they ran to the mountains over there."
He pointed to the mountain path behind the manor.
Cao Yong raised his head and saw several hills rising to the east of the manor. The hills didn't look high, the tall ones were only forty or fifty feet, and the short ones were only twenty or thirty feet. The only thing that was a bit strange was that they looked There seem to be many rammed earth towers hanging on the top of the mountain.
"Strange, what is that!"
A low-level officer was setting up a pergola and saw those tall towers.
Cao Yong said: "No matter what it is, attack it first. The general said that the entire Huangmen Pavilion will be leveled."
"only."
Many officers expressed their understanding, and under Cao Yong's order, they began to assemble their troops and march towards the back mountain.
At this moment, Shen Chen was standing on top of a cage.
The view here is wide, and although he doesn't have a telescope, he can already see dense black spots in the distance heading towards the back mountain.
The external and internal structure of the Qiong Long resembles a pagoda, but the difference from the pagoda is that there is a door below the pagoda, while the outside of the Qiong Long is sealed and can only be entered and exited through tunnels.
Later, at the Qionglong ruins in Gansu, people discovered that this thing could not only defend against enemies, but also survive.
Livestock can even be raised at the lowest level, and the livestock excrement can be used to grow grains. During the Qing army's attack on Jinchuan and Jinchuan, Qionglong suffered a lot from the Qing Dynasty, and it was not captured for several years.
Therefore, Cao Yong would never have thought about what he would encounter if he continued to attack in the direction of the back mountain.