While Liu Bei's army was besieging Puyang, Cao Cao led his army south to repulse Zhang, stopped in the north of Zhang River, and conquered the troops of Qinghe, Weijun, Zhaojun, Julu, Anping, and Bohai. At this time, soldiers from various places were in a hurry and could not arrive.
, and I heard that Liu Bei had given up the siege of Puyang, leaving only Chen Gong and Zhang Miao to guard the place. The main force chose to continue marching eastward. The forwards crossed Jishui and arrived at Gaotang, the plain.
Cao Cao buckled his saddle with his whip and said in confusion: "How dare Liu Bei let go of his retreat and go to the plains? Isn't he afraid that I will go south to cut off his retreat?" He thought carefully for a moment, his expression changed drastically and he said: "No! It must be so.
Yuan Tan voted for him!"
Yuan Tan was the eldest son of Yuan Shao. Before and after Yuan Shao's death, he had been stationed in the plains to monitor the movements of the Han army in Qingzhou. In the past few years, Yuan Tan had made great military achievements and won the hearts of the people of Hebei. Therefore, Cao Cao was deeply afraid of him and would rather win over Yuan Shang.
Reluctant to win over Yuan Tan, he thought: Yuan Tan and the Yuan family both prospered and suffered losses. Even if they were angry, they should take the overall situation into consideration. But the current trend of the Ba Mansion clearly indicated that Yuan Tan had surrendered!
The generals all had a favorable impression of Yuan Tan and were suspicious of what he heard. But in the afternoon of the same day, another news came that Yuan Tan was openly flying the banner of Bafu and building ships and bridges on the Yellow River. The message was also sent to all counties in Jizhou.
Encourage them to change their ways and be loyal to the court. The returned scouts also came with a letter, which was written to the magistrate of Ganling County. The red seal stamped at the end of the letter has been replaced by the newly made Jizhou governor's seal.
This frightened the generals. Wen Chou and others asked Cao Cao that before, Yuan Shao could mobilize an army of 170,000 in Hebei, but after Yuan Shao's death, the soldiers were scattered. Now there are only 80,000 left, which is really impossible to compete with the overlords.
, you can wait for the scattered soldiers from various counties to reunite before making plans.
But Jushu disagreed. He said: "Everything in the world can only be achieved if there are a large number of people. When Yuan Gong died, the soldiers who fled were all snobbery and a mob. What's the use of recruiting them? They can't win."
! Now our army is full of elite veterans and determined soldiers. Even if Liu Bei has ten times more soldiers than me, he still dare not claim victory. No need to wait any longer! Send troops now!"
Yan Liang also asked for a fight and said: "Defeat is nothing but death. If you don't fight, will you become a slave?" Xu You took the opportunity to offer advice and said: "It's better to go south to rescue Puyang first and seize the enemy's way back." Cao Ren also said: "After defeating the enemy, we
It is best to make them retreat without fighting!"
After Tian Feng heard these words, he couldn't help but sigh and said: "Why don't you understand that the key to today is a battle! Liu Bei came with hundreds of thousands of troops, and the situation is uneasy. If we avoid the battle, we will definitely make the world laugh and think that
We are afraid of Bafu. By that time, people's hearts will be scattered. Once the situation changes, such as the Bohai Sea and the counties in the rivers surrender, where will we go? I am afraid that the stragglers who have been recruited will also turn to attack us.
!"
Xia Houyuan heard this and stood up with his sword, shouting: "If you don't fight, you will die. Why are you hesitating? Are you just waiting to invite Liu Bei to get riches and honors!" Liu Yu shook his head and said, "But such a hasty decisive battle is not asking for death.
"?" Everyone couldn't argue for a while, and finally they all went to see Cao Cao.
Cao Cao was also struggling in his heart. He looked at Guo Jia and saw that Guo Jia was looking at him, obviously waiting for him to give an order. He then agreed. This made Cao Cao a little disappointed. He thought to himself, if Wen Ruo were here,
That's fine, but he is in Qingzhou, and I'm afraid he is also in Liu Bei's army at this time.
After getting along with each other for the past few years, Xun Yu has become Cao Cao's most valued friend and his indispensable think tank. However, Cao Cao also knows that Xun Yu is loyal to the Han Dynasty in his heart and aims to restore unification. Therefore, at the end of last year, Liu Bei conquered
He was the governor of Qingzhou, and Cao Cao did not stop him. It was only at this moment of hesitation that he realized that the two were inseparable.
While he was silent, a soldier suddenly came to report: "Ming Gong, there is a man outside the camp who came to surrender, saying he is an old friend of Ming Gong." This was strange. Guo Tu said alertly: "Now is a time of great chaos.
How could Ming Gong have any old friends to join him? Could it be that Chen Chong failed in his plan and sent another assassin?"
Everyone was convinced and claimed that they would send someone to arrest this man. The soldiers were startled, kowtowed to the ground repeatedly, took out a short sword from their arms, claiming that it was a token brought by the man, and Cao Cao saw it.
Zhi. Cao Ang took the dagger and felt that it looked strangely familiar. He handed it to Cao Cao. Cao Cao took out the sword blade with ease and saw the word "Secret Valley" inscribed on the sword. He immediately looked happy and left everyone alone to go out.
.The generals didn’t know what was going on, but they didn’t dare to let their master go out alone, so they had no choice but to chase after him.
Cao Cao walked quickly to the gate of the camp and saw a man standing in front of the gate. He immediately went up to hug me and said, "Wen Ruo didn't abandon me! What's the point of regretting death?" Everyone was shocked. The man in front of them was in ragged clothes, his face was dusty, his legs and feet were dirty.
His hands and feet were stained with mud and yellow ash, and he didn't look cool at all. Who would have expected that it was actually Xun Wangzuo, who was famous for his fragrant beauty!
Xun Yu obviously went through hardships along the way, but he looked calm and raised his eyes and asked Cao Cao: "Does Meng De want to separate the country? Does he want to bring peace to the world?" Cao Cao replied: "Now that we have Hebei, we should sweep away Liuhe."
Enemy! Revitalize the king's affairs." Xun Yu said with a smile: "In that case, I am willing to use my useless body to help Meng De achieve great achievements."
After the two said this, everyone returned to the main camp, while Xun Yu cleaned himself, changed his clothes, and then entered the camp to discuss matters with everyone. Only then did everyone see Xun Yu's face, and they couldn't help secretly sighing at his beauty, while Cao Cao and
He bluntly stated the current predicament and told everyone's opinions to him. Xun Yu thought for a moment and said slowly: "What Mr. Tian said is the right way! Since Hebei is a foundation, it cannot be lost suddenly. When I came over, the Bafu army
We haven't arrived yet. If we rush to the Bohai Sea to set up defenses, we still have a chance to stalemate with the Bafu. After people's hearts stabilize, it will be a good opportunity to go south to invade!"
Everyone looked at Cao Cao at this time. Cao Cao no longer looked embarrassed. He nodded and said, "What Wen Ruo said is very much in line with my heart!"
So everyone stopped arguing and selected about 60,000 elite soldiers, leaving 20,000 old and weak people here to continue waiting for reinforcements. Cao Ang led him and ordered him to go south to rescue Puyang as appropriate. After all, the Yanzhou generals and their families are all in Puyang. Once
If it falls, Yanzhou's fighting spirit may be gone, so it still has to be rescued. However, Hebei's soldiers are already weak, and now they are divided again, which makes the sergeants of the army feel that their future is bleak.
The soldiers running east carried half a month's supply of food and grass, led their horses across the Zhang River, and waved goodbye to those on the west bank. Many of them had tears wet their sleeves. Cao Cao stood among the soldiers and ordered tigers and leopards to ride along the Zhang River to maintain order and supervise
The whole army swam directly across the river. However, I have seen river soldiers bundle weapons, clothing and other supplies with cowhide, and put them on the back of the horse. Wearing only single clothes, they were submerged with the horse into the cold river water, cutting through the waves. Some people tied the horse's tail to paddle.
Some people hugged the horse's neck, some lay motionless on the horse's back, and the darkness was spectacular. There were also unfortunate people who were washed away by the water, rising and falling in the river, and finally disappeared without a trace. Others saw
I can only lament to myself. The reason for crossing the Zhang River so forcefully is because there is no time to collect the boats to cross the river. The few wooden boats are not enough to load and unload iron armor and baggage. With so many people and horses pouring into the Zhang River, the original rapids are blocked by the flow of people.
It seems to have stood still.
They crossed the Qinghe River and the old route of the Yellow River in this way [1]. Sixty thousand people marched for seven days and ran for six hundred miles. Finally, they captured the city of Chonghe in advance before the Bafu army arrived. At this time, the Bafu army's vanguard had already arrived.
Arriving at Leling City on the south bank of the Guduma River, the follow-up army continued to rush towards the front line like the confluence of hundreds of rivers.
At this moment, both sides seemed to have a tacit understanding. They knew that the enemy troops were on the side, but they did not lead the crowd to attack. Instead, they organized their troops and ordered them to calm down the hearts of the troops. But many soldiers said: they smelled the enemy troops.
.
Cao Cao's army was running all the way, which was much harder than the Bafu army, so they spent the past two days resting, some eating and warming themselves by the fire, and some sleeping in the tent to rest. On this day, Cao Cao was studying the layout of the camp in the tent when he heard a man secretly asking for an audience.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Gongsun Ji, an old subordinate of Liu Yu.
Cao Cao asked him: "Why did you come to see me? Something happened?"
Gongsun Ji looked around in confusion, and Cao Cao ordered them all to come out of the tent, and then he heard him say: "Marshal, today when I, Wei Dun, was discussing matters with Duke Bo'an, Duke Bo'an suddenly said that the reason why he lived in seclusion before was
The reason why he came out of the mountain now was because he thought Liu Bei was a sycophant, and the marshal wanted to help him. Unexpectedly, when he was in the army, he saw the marshal's words, which showed that he did not respect the emperor and the king, and he felt regretful in his heart."
Speaking of this, Gongsun Ji couldn't help but hesitant, but seeing Cao Cao's face gradually becoming gloomy, he gained more courage and forced himself to continue: "Therefore, Duke Bo'an said that if we cannot win this battle, we will all die without a chance.
It is enough to die for the king, but if he is lucky enough to win, he will find an opportunity to assassinate the king and regain the power of Hebei!"
When Cao Cao heard this, he was startled. Suddenly he heard a noise in the sky. He went out to look at it and saw that it was a group of crows flying overhead. Crows were a bad omen. Cao Cao couldn't help but feel disgusted when he saw them. He returned to his tent and put down the tent.
He said to Gongsun Ji: "Thank you very much, Gongze. I will never forget your kindness."
Gongsun Ji lowered his head, carefully watching Cao Cao's expression, and asked: "How should I deal with the matter of Duke Bo'an?"
Cao Cao waved his hand and said, "Go back and make sure nothing happens. If he makes another move, it won't be too late for you to report it. As for the rest, I will have my own arrangements." He reached out and pressed Gongsun Ji's shoulder and whispered.
: "If an accident happens, don't say anything."
Gongsun Ji was shocked, then kowtowed and declined.
The next day, Cao Cao held a military meeting and asked about the current situation of various ministries and whether there were any difficulties in supplying supplies from the Bohai Sea. At the meeting, he specially observed Liu Yu's expression and saw that Liu Yu was taciturn and worried, and he suddenly understood.
It was September 18th, the cold dew season had passed, and the weather was getting colder and colder. Cao Cao's camp had just been completed, and the Bafu army had arrived, and the war seemed about to break out.
[1] The old course of the Yellow River: refers to the Yellow River burst and changed its course in the third year of the founding of the People's Republic of China by Wang Mang (AD 11). Originally, the Yellow River flowed from Puyang, Henan, to Dongguang, Hebei. Later, during the reign of Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty, Wang Jing controlled the water flow and diverted the Yellow River from Changshoujin.
Since its departure from its old channel in the Western Han Dynasty, the river followed the ancient Luoshui River eastward and meandered between the present-day Yellow River and Majia River, and now flows into the sea in the south of Binxian County. This river has been stable for more than 800 years and has never experienced major disasters.
During this period, there were few overflows and no major diversions. Therefore, many histories of the Wei, Jin, and Southern and Northern Dynasties did not note the river canals, and there is no record of the course of the Yellow River in "Sui Shu Geography". Wang Jing also controlled the water flow.
It can be called the greatest achievement in water control in ancient times.