In the winter of October of the second year of Zhangwu, Cao Cao's army still faced off with the main force of the Western Dynasty across the Zhang River. Although Cao Cao defeated the Western Army in a row, he could only contain it to a corner, and the dangerous places in Hebei such as Jingxing, Huguan, and Juyong were all lost at this time.
What remained in the hands of the Western Army and in the hands of the Eastern Army was nothing more than the cities and forts on the vast North China Plain. Cao Cao's tactical victory could not make up for the gap in military strength and geographical strength between the two sides.
Therefore, Liu Bei imitated the strategy used by Emperor Gaozu to defeat Xiang Yu, and constantly harassed Cao Cao's main force in Xindu from the front. From the side, he ordered the cavalry general Zhang Fei, Gongsun Zan's old minister Wenze, Liu Weitai and others to lead the Jinyang cavalry into Youzhou, in the name of Liu Bei.
They wantonly recruited and surrendered. If Youzhou is successfully pacified, the Western Army will be able to cut off Cao Cao's retreat and attack Xindu from the northwest.
Cao Cao had already considered this, and at the beginning of the war, he wrote to Cao Pi, instructing him to clear the country in Youzhou. If there were powerful people who refused to comply, he might force them to move to Liaodong with swords and soldiers, or they might annihilate them on the spot to raise the country.
Prestige. It was winter, the weather was very cold, and it reached Gaoyang and Yijing in the south, Tangxian and Guangchang in the west, military capital, Yuyang in the north, Lulong and Haiyang in the east, and all the cities controlled by the Eastern Dynasty.
The forts are all trying to collect the people, and they can't get out.
However, because the country had already levied heavy taxes during the summer harvest, there were almost no grains left in the fields, and there was not much food in the stronghold of Wubao, so the captive children of the common people could only be gradually released out of the city. The people who were released had no food or clothing.
The road was filled with howls and weeping, and there were thousands of people walking all the way. The emotion and scene were truly breathtaking.
At the same time, Cao Pi sent people to move people from Hebei to the Liao Dynasty. Although there were people fleeing every day, they still continued to force him. Then he established the law of joint sitting. During the migration, if one person in the family fled, the whole family would be implicated; if a whole family fled, the whole family would be implicated.
There is a clan of fugitives in the whole village who are connected to the whole village, and so on. The beheaded heads are hung high in the streets, and the people who moved back will walk among the densely packed heads, their souls are scattered.
Of course, this method treats the symptoms but not the root cause. The people are not afraid of death, so why should they be afraid of death? When Zhang Fei led his army to arrive, he led Juyongguan to transfer grain and fodder and distributed relief in Guangyang and Liangxiang. Then he sent his Yan people
He went to contact his hometown folks, claiming that he had returned, and those who surrendered would not be guilty and would be exempted from taxes for three years. After the news came out, the people of Youyan immediately gathered to respond. At the beginning, the farmers could not bear the tyranny, and they captured and killed the dock owners one after another to present the city to the Western Army.
, later, when the leaders of the docks saw that the situation was not good, they simply killed the governors sent by the Eastern Dynasty and surrendered on their own initiative. In just one month, Zhang Fei captured fifteen cities, forty-seven fortresses, and all the counties in Youzhou.
, only Zhuojun and Peiping are still struggling to support themselves.
The person guarding Zhuojun was Xian Yufu, a veteran general from Youzhou. He followed Liu Yu for many years and later defected to Cao Cao. He participated in several campaigns against the Western Dynasty. No less than a dozen members of his family were lost in the wars, and they were not the same as those in the Western Dynasty.
It can be described as a blood feud, so Cao Cao trusted him extremely. Even if the situation deteriorated to this point, he still insisted on fighting to the death with Zhang Fei. At one point, he threatened: "If I die, my brother will lead the army. If my brother dies, my son will lead the army and fight against the Western thieves."
What's the harm in destroying the family?"
When Zhang Fei heard this, he couldn't help but sneered at the soldiers and said: "Xianyu Fu seeks benevolence and gets benevolence, let's see how I can destroy his whole family." He immediately led his army to surround Zhuo County. There were only more than 3,000 people in the city. Unexpectedly, the Han army attacked by force and could not retreat for several days.
Zhang Fei was very angry. It was Sun Zi who offered advice and said: "The imperial government was originally benevolent, and the chariots and cavalry acted with care, but they fell behind." This persuaded Zhang Fei, and then transferred people from the Xianyu clan in Yuyang.
He shouted to Xian Yufu below the city to persuade him to surrender.
Xian Yufu was furious at first and scolded the clansmen in the city: "You can't keep the rules, but you are ruining the reputation of the clan leader?" Unexpectedly, he was stopped by Sun Zi, who was in the city: "General Liu Youzhou, the former master, was here, and he was determined to make him a leader.
The state is in peace, and thousands of families live in peace. What the general did today, can it be blameless?" Xian Yufu was speechless. After returning to the city, he saw the streets full of hungry people and recalled Liu Yu's deeds of peace and prosperity during his lifetime. He gradually felt ashamed and ashamed.
Three days later, Xian Yufu rode his horse in white to attack the city, and Zhuo County immediately fell into the hands of the Western Army.
Urgent documents from Youzhou came to the Xindu camp like snowflakes, which shocked Cao Cao. Over the years, he relied on his outstanding military capabilities to create an unparalleled reputation, and then maintained high-pressure rule in various states, but he did not want to do so at this moment
The collapse finally came to an end in Youzhou. Could it be that he was going to die here? As soon as this thought appeared in Cao Cao's mind, he was forced to suppress it.
Cao Cao immediately ordered all the troops to stay in the camp, trying to block the news of the large-scale defection in Youzhou. However, such an abnormal method could not make the soldiers feel strange. I don’t know when it started, but secretly spread in the camp that Xian Yufu had defected to the enemy.
Youzhou fell, and there was even news that the Western Army had invaded Liaodong. Cao Cao was deeply concerned about this, and even began patrolling day and night to maintain stability in the army.
After a long period of communication, in the late winter month, when Cao Cao was patrolling the camp that night, he suddenly heard that one of his trusted generals had rebelled first. This person was Sima Yi, the general who protected the army. Cao Cao was very angry when he learned about it and ordered an emergency
Chase.
It was dark and windy at that time, and Sima Yi was walking for more than ten miles when he saw torches swaying behind him, as if there was a horse chasing him. In panic, Sima Yi simply stopped and stood up with his bow and rein in his horse. The sky was dark, and he could not see the face of the horse chasing him, but he could see the light of the fire.
Come bit by bit. He shouted into the fire: "If a general flees, according to the law, the leader must be killed. My leader is Marshal Cao, what does it have to do with you? Besides, Youzhou has been lost, and everyone has no way out. I just want to make a plan."
There is only one way to survive, so why bother forcing each other? If you let go today, you will be rewarded tomorrow. If you pursue me again, you will not be polite!" After saying this, he took the arrow in his hand, aimed it at a fire in the distance, and shot it, and the fire was extinguished. Seeing that the pursuing cavalry hesitated and stopped pressing, Sima Yi led his cronies to continue escaping, and attacked Boluo Pavilion along the way and surrendered to Liu Bei.
When Liu Bei heard that Sima Yi had come to surrender, he was overjoyed. He hurriedly summoned him, held hands and led him to sit down. He said with a smile: "It is said that Sima Bada is the best, and Zhongda is the best. I got it today, so why should the east thief be worried?" Then he held hands and led him to sit down, and treated each other.
They were quite affectionate. Sima Yi was relieved when he saw that Liu Bei did not pursue his father's surrender to the Eastern Dynasty, but he still put on a shy expression on his face, even saying he was ashamed and then pouring out his words and letters.
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Liu Bei fully understood the reality of Cao Cao's army and knew that its morale was on the verge of collapse. He couldn't help but be overjoyed. He clapped his sword with his hand and said, "If we don't attack now, how much later will we wait!" So he decided on a sneak attack plan, imitating Geng Yan's attack back then.
Attack Zhang Bu, select elite cavalry and prepare to attack Xindu.
Liu Bei personally selected Wanqi and specially summoned Yuan Tan, saying: "Back then, I promised Xiansi to be the governor of Jizhou, but it was not until this attack that I had the chance to fulfill my promise!" Yuan Tan panicked and said, "Back then, I thought fame was important.
But only today do I know how valuable my relatives are. I only hope that your majesty can pardon more people of the Yuan clan, and Tan Bixiao will do his best." After hearing this, Liu Bei comforted him and said: "Qingxu Yuan Shang and others, as long as they don't resist to the end, I will
We will not be held accountable." Then he ordered Fa Zheng to guard Boluo Pavilion, and Yuan Tan set off with three thousand cavalry.
On the twelfth lunar month of Jihai, Liu Bei personally led his cavalry across the Zhang River from Tangyang in the lower reaches, and then marched toward Xindu along the north bank of the Jiang River.
In the afternoon of the second day, sixty miles away from Xindu, the army stopped. Hundreds of light cavalry were sent out to search and kill the enemy's reconnaissance cavalry, and dozens of cavalry were obtained, and the military trumpets and passwords used in Xindu that day were obtained. At noon,
Light snow began to fall in the sky, the clouds and snow hung low, and the sky and the earth were gray and it was difficult to tell the direction. The weather was extremely cold and wet, and the Western Army could not eat fire, so they only ate some dry food to keep warm.
The weather was bad and the enemy's situation was unknown, so the Western Army did not continue to march. However, several cavalrymen were separated from the Western Army's formation and marched eastward in the snow. These people were all dressed up as the Eastern Army. They did not use Western furs, but cloth.
Wearing robes and hats to cover the snow, they walked forward. When encountering Eastern Army scouts, they all reported the day's command and claimed to be under the command of Pingyuan Prefect Li Dian. When encountered for interrogation, they lifted up their clothes and all had the unique tattoos of the Eastern Army.
.
In the evening, these people entered Xindu smoothly and went straight to Li Dian's barracks. The sergeant at the door asked about their origins. The leader then took out a letter from his arms and gave it to the sergeant to take in. Li Dian saw the letter
Later, he was shocked. It turned out that this was a surrender letter written by Liu Bei himself. He hurriedly ordered someone to bring the envoy in. The envoy stood outside the court covered with white snow. He took off his bamboo hat and bowed to Li Dian to salute. Li Dian recognized it and took the lead.
The person is Sima Jin, Sima Yi's sixth brother. He was the one who ran west with Sima Yi a few days ago.
When Li Dian saw him, he hurriedly stepped forward to hold the hilt of the sword on his waist and asked, "General Sima is in the west? How are you doing?"
Sima Jin, who was covered in wind and snow and a little tired, replied: "My second brother is treated very politely. He learned from the west that the emperor has long wanted to recruit and surrender our generals. No matter what happened in the past, as long as they surrender, there will be no consequences.
."
Li Dian nodded repeatedly and asked: "We are about to surrender before the battle. Do you want me to attack Cao Cao's main battle?"
Sima Jin said: "No, as long as you, general, lead the troops out, the emperor of the Western Dynasty will directly attack Cao Cao's formation."
After saying a few words, Sima Jin wanted to escape, but Li Dian wrote back. Li Dian hesitated a little, then wrote the word "nuo" on the back of Liu Bei's letter and gave it to Sima Jin to take back overnight.
After Sima came in, Li Dian didn't even bother to eat dinner and called his close friends to discuss it. His son Li Zhen, who was sixteen years old, was very happy when he heard the news. He drew his sword and said: "Since you have made up your mind to run west, why not take advantage of this opportunity to get there first?"
Even if you break into Cao Cao's camp, take Cao Cao's head and surrender to the army, you can also earn the first prize."
Li Dian heard that the words were inappropriate, and he sighed and said: "The Marshal treated my family well. I left him today just for the sake of my family. If I cheat to get credit, how will the world talk about it in the future?" His younger brother Li Dian said.
Feng Que said: "My whole Li family worked hard for Cao Cao, and how many people died! But he only used people from the Cao family and the Xiahou family. How can he say that he was not kind to my family? Sir, don't hesitate! Today, I will take advantage of his patrol of the camp.
, we attack him with a knife, if we get his head, how can the remaining party accomplish anything?"
Li Dian thought over and over again, but finally refused to give up. Now he went to the Western Dynasty. If he could not establish himself with extraordinary achievements, wouldn't the hard work of Li Zheng and Li Jin be in vain? After thinking about it, he sent people to the camp and arranged it left and right, planning to
At this time, Cao Cao patrolled the camp and captured him and his bodyguards.