Chapter 908 Biao Zi
Taiwu fourth year, the eighth day of the third month.
Cao Jun, who was stationed on the south bank of Zi River, was shocked when he suddenly saw thick dust rolling up on the other bank.
Subsequently, more than ten golden sounds quickly spread along the Zi River to both sides of the Zi River.
……
"Report, the sentry who came back from the other side reported that the enemy suddenly began to mobilize in full force and was forming formations on the north bank."
Not long after, another report came.
"Report, the enemy troops are roaming around. Our army's sentries on the north bank are outnumbered and are gradually returning to the south bank."
Then, generals from various battalions from all directions also followed one after another. After sending the army to report here, Cao Cao, who was sitting in the tent at this time, frowned and listened to the news.
Soon, Cao Cao issued military orders to all armies:
"All troops are ordered to strictly guard the camp and are not allowed to attack without our military orders."
"Yes."
Soon, troops were ordered everywhere in the camp to quickly convey Cao Cao's will to all camps. .
Cao Cao then turned around and stood up, walking to the map set up beside the tent.
Seeing Cao Cao stand up, the generals in the tent also stood up one after another, and gathered around the map to wait for Cao Cao's instructions.
Cao Cao looked around, and then nodded to Zhong Yao in the crowd:
"Zhong Gong, it is up to you to explain the military strategy below."
Zhong Yao, as one of the planners of this operation First, he is also in charge of Cao Jun's school affairs, so he can be said to be the best person to explain military strategy.
He saluted respectfully, then calmly walked to the map and began to talk about his plan this time.
Before talking about the specific plan, Zhong Yao first told a piece of information.
That is about the latest battle in Xuzhou battlefield.
Unfortunately, there is no good news here.
First, the news that Guan Yu’s troops had annihilated Langya’s army made the generals’ hearts sink. Then there was another piece of bombshell news:
No one expected that an army from Nimeng Valley would The Taishan Army's sudden cavalry came out directly from Wushui and attacked the two cities of Kaiyang and Jiqiu successively.
What is also surprising is that the person responsible for opening the gate of Kaiyang City at that time turned out to be Chen Deng's brother-in-law Mi Fang.
These generals of Cao's army could not imagine why Mi Fang, who had been deeply tied to Chen Deng, would rebel at this critical moment.
After the generals present knew that Mi Fang had rebelled, they knew that Xuzhou would suffer a big loss.
Sure enough, with the fall of Kaiyang one after another, these Taishan Army sudden cavalry led by cavalry quickly penetrated into the hinterland of Xuzhou along the Yishui River.
Because of Mi Fang's leading party, the Taishan Army that captured Xuzhou felt like a deserted land in the hinterland. The troops' fronts were erratic, hundreds of miles a day, and appeared all over Xuzhou in an instant.
It is not that the counties and counties in Xuzhou have not organized encirclement and suppression campaigns, but either they struggled to organize a large army and then rushed to nothing, or they were ambushed by the Taishan Army as soon as they left the city.
In the wild, those Xuzhou troops simply died under the iron cavalry.
Just the intelligence sent to Cao Cao now shows that the Xuzhou Army in the East China Sea and Xiapi areas no longer dare to leave the city, and the connection between them has been severed.
It can be said that the Taishan Army turned the Jianghuai area upside down with just four thousand cavalry, and even divided and surrounded the Xuzhou Army in the city with this small force.
It is no exaggeration to say that in the current Jianghuai land, no army or civilian dares to leave the city at will to transport supplies to the front line.
At this time, the Xuzhou Army on the front line of Pengcheng suddenly fell into a difficult problem.
It can be said that the situation in Xuzhou was a big sap for Cao Cao.
Originally, he thought that his side was difficult enough. Qingzhou alone would have to resist the main force of 60,000 Taishan Army. But he didn't expect that the situation in Xuzhou was even worse than him.
Cao Cao immediately saw that if the Xu Yang coalition forces in Pengcheng could not open up a lifeline as soon as possible, the only way waiting for them would be to leave the city and fight the Taishan Army.
But if they put in so much effort and mobilized such a large cavalry force, wouldn’t they have to fight Chen Deng’s side?
However, Cao Cao also knew that Xuzhou had a naval force. As long as this force was present, the large cities located along the rivers could still send food to the front line.
But this method treats the symptoms rather than the root cause. After all, food does not grow in the city. Once the vast countryside is lost, the Xuzhou army will be slowly exhausted even if it does not fight.
But this no longer needs to cause Cao Cao a headache. What Cao Cao should really worry about is Guan Yu, who has just annihilated the Langya Army.
Cao Cao knew Guan Yu very well. He and his old enemy would definitely not miss this opportunity to stab him in the back.
It can be said that Cao Cao can be sure that Guan Yu must have been dispatching troops towards Zishui at this time.
So what is Cao Cao worried about most? That is, the Taishan Army on the other side continues to confront him across the Jiahe River. When Cao Cao has Zishui in front of him and Guan Yu behind him, it will really be the end of the road.
So Cao Cao considered this on the first day of the confrontation with the Taishan Army on the other side, so he staged such a play.
He knows Ding Sheng on the other side very well, after all, he has fought with him several times.
In Cao Cao's view, Ding Sheng was definitely not willing to give great credit to Guan Yu, it was just a reason for him to go to war.
And Cao Cao gave it.
He clearly let the Taishan Army raiders who were attacking the camp come in, just to let them send a signal to Ding Sheng, that is, I, Cao Cao, are really weak at this moment.
I'm so weak, do you, Ding Sheng, still have to be so cowardly?
Now looking at the actions of the Taishan Army on the other side, it is obvious that Cao Cao's strategy worked, and Ding Sheng decided to take the initiative to attack.
And what are their follow-up plans?
Since Cao Cao was worried about Ding Sheng retreating, he definitely couldn't stop the attack directly at the water's edge.
When he was in Qishui, Ding Sheng was defending on the other side, and he was attacking on the other side. That time he almost killed Cao Cao.
Therefore, Cao Cao wanted to retreat and lead Ding Sheng into a designated area to ambush the Taishan Army.
In fact, there is another reason why Cao Cao did this, and that is that the weakness of Cao Cao's army at this moment was not all a show, but that their combat power had indeed dropped significantly.
During the heavy rain, hundreds of people fell ill in the army at once. Although the number of people may not sound large, you must know that this is contagious.
So Cao Cao knew that his only chance was to outwit this one.
At this time, when Cao Cao was thinking about all this, Zhong Yao had already told the generals the most critical point.
At this moment, Zhong Yao paused deliberately, then turned and pointed at a point on the map.
The generals all looked at it and saw that this place was Guang County, a city on the edge of Linzi. Some people who were far away, after asking others, also knew that Zhong Yao was referring to Guangxian County on the edge of Mengshan Mountain.
Then I heard Zhong Yao say:
"Now you all know the critical situation of Qingxu. For the sake of the whole, and for our Qingzhou, if we want to change the current unfavorable battlefield situation, the only way is to annihilate it. The Taishan Army in front of us is a perfect opportunity to encircle and annihilate the Taishan Army."
After that, he explained:
"In order to pursue us, the enemy must pursue us with light troops. The elite troops must be in front and the baggage behind. Our army has already ambush troops between Guishan and Gaoshan outside Guangxian County in advance. Once the enemy pursues our army, After passing here, we can directly attack and cut off the enemy's front and rear connections."
"From here. The road leading to Guang County can be said to be a sixty-mile hilly road. Once our troops are blocked from behind, no matter how elite the enemy's army is, how many days can they survive without their baggage? "
< br>Zhong Yao's words were very soft, but when they fell on the ears of the Cao Jun generals present, they made them all breathe heavily. They finally understood the lord's previous series of strange behaviors.
Why did the Lord take time to go hiking in the Guishan area on his way back to Linzi?
Why did the Lord put the cold-suffering officers into one battalion and place them at the outermost line?
Why did soldiers and horses start leaving the camp one after another yesterday, and then they didn’t come back today.
It turns out that these are all plans for this moment.
At this moment, the generals admired Cao Cao's strategy to the extreme.
But if Cao Cao knew what these people were thinking, he would only sigh that they thought too much.
Calculating a plan, taking one step and thinking ten steps, these are just feasible things in people's minds, but in fact, it is never like this in real life and battlefields.
No one can think about the other party's reaction in advance. You have arranged ten steps here, and they will directly turn the table for you in the first step. Isn't your arrangement a joke?
The real situation is that Cao Cao's plan was just thought of yesterday and was planned together with many staff.
Everything is planned according to Ding Sheng's character, just like his plan for Guan Yu last year.
But if you want to say that Cao Cao has done so much, is it really considered good?
That's definitely not the case. Cao Cao also knew that his biggest flaw was what to do if Ding Sheng didn't pursue him.
Yes, what if we don’t pursue him?
Does Cao Cao have a corresponding backup plan? Sadly, no.
Cao Cao knew very well that he just gambled! He just bet that Ding Sheng would not let him go for such a big contribution to Cao Cao.
The generals were digesting this plan here, but suddenly a general in the crowd raised a question of his own.
I saw this man speaking out without hesitation:
"Lord, I have one last question."
Cao Cao turned his head and looked over, and saw that the speaker was his beloved general Zhao Yan. He nodded and asked him.
Zhao Yan asked seriously:
"My Lord, the Taishan Army has a lot of cavalry. Even if our army withdraws, it will soon be overtaken by the enemy's cavalry. We may not catch up before we can." When I arrived in Guangxian, I was bitten by the Taishan Army. I don’t know how the lord responded.”
Zhao Yan originally brought this up because he thought it was impossible for Cao Cao not to have thought of this, but if he didn't say it now, he must have forgotten it, so he only reminded him here to reassure the generals.
But who would have thought that Cao Cao shook his head very calmly and said:
"There is no countermeasure. I am just betting now that Ding Sheng has no cavalry."
As soon as these words came out, almost all the generals were in an uproar.
What happened to my lord, how could he say such a thing? The strength of the Taishan Army on the opposite side is the standard strength of two legions. How could such a huge force not have cavalry?
But Cao Cao did not explain much, but said calmly:
"Let God witness everything for us. If God bless our army, we will safely withdraw to Guangxian. If not, then I will The army fought to the death by the Zi River. "
At the end of the conversation, Cao Cao looked around the generals and said:
"So you are willing to witness with me!"
The generals were excited and followed. They all sang:
"I am willing to fight to the death with my lord!"
At this moment, Cao Cao suddenly pointed to the Zi River outside, and then made this oath:
"I swear by this Zi River. This battle will be like mine. If the army is victorious, I, Cao Cao, will not enjoy today’s glory alone, but will share this glory and wealth with you all!”
After saying that, Cao Cao took out a section of his hair, and then cut off a section with his knife! Held it in his hand.
Over there, Zhong Yao, Xiahou Dun, Chen Qun, Xi Zhicai, Du Xi, Xi Lu, Xin Pi and others also understood and hurriedly cut off a section of their own hair with a knife.
Then the generals realized what he was doing, and they imitated each other, cutting off a section of their hair and holding it in their hands like Cao Cao did.
Then Cao Cao shouted:
"Cao Cao joins hands with all the gentlemen today to kill the enemy with all our strength. We share life and death, and we share wealth and honor!"
Everyone was moved. , shouting one after another:
“We join together and fight with all our strength to kill the enemy. We share life and death, and we share wealth and honor!”
At this moment, everyone's morale reached its peak.
Then, these people came up one by one to receive their tasks from Cao Cao. Some needed to stay in the camp to snipe the enemy, while others needed to be dispatched to other places for other tasks.
Every general stepped forward seriously and expressed their loyalty to Cao Cao.
When the last person walked up to Cao Cao, Cao Cao was stunned for a moment. It turned out that the person who came up was his nephew Cao Xiu, who was only fifteen years old.
Although Cao Xiu was still underage at this time, he was already seven feet six inches tall and was considered a great man in the old Cao family.
When Cao Cao saw Cao Xiu, he was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said:
"Silang, you are still young, go down. You will stay in my Chinese army with a few brothers for this battle."
But Cao Xiu held his head high and said loudly:
"Uncle, this is a matter of life and death for my Cao family. Battle. If we lose this battle, will the enemy let us go because of my weak crown? The life of the son of the Cao family is in my own hands, so I want to ask my uncle to crown me now so that I can serve the Cao family. Kill the enemy!”
Cao Cao laughed loudly, pointed at Cao Xiu and boasted to everyone present:
"Okay, your life is in your own hands. Gentlemen, today I will introduce to you the man standing in front of you, my Cao family's thousand-mile horse, Cao Xiu!"
Said, Cao Cao turned to Cao Xiu and said:
"Since you want to crown your uncle, well, then come forward and kneel down!"
Cao Xiu did not hesitate, knelt forward and put his head He paused on the ground.
Cao Cao looked at this nephew who had been raised by his side since he was a child, and thought of his own sons who were still so young, and he made a decision in his heart.
He said to Cao Xiu:
"Actually, I have already thought about your cousin's name before. Because you have been impulsive since you were a child, you got the word 'fierce' from me, but you lacked my Wen and could not restrain it." The fierceness will only become your weakness, so the word I want to give you is "Wen Lie". I hope you have enough control over your fierceness. Wisdom."
Cao Xiu was about to thank Cao Cao, but Cao Cao hadn't finished his words:
"But I changed my mind. The word I gave you today is not called '文. Lie' is the word 'Destiny'."
Cao Xiu was stunned. He didn't know how heavy the word "Destiny" was.
At this moment he murmured:
"Uncle, how can nephew bear such heavy words?"
But Cao Cao didn't expect to be extremely serious. He faced the stunned Cao Xiu, word for word. Said:
"If destiny is with you, you can naturally bear it. If destiny is not with you, then die!"
Cao Xiu understood, and gave Cao Cao a heavy blow. Knocked down.
From now on, he, Cao Xiu, will no longer be called Cao Silang, but Cao Tianming!
At this moment, all the civil and military officials of the Cao family present were witnessing this scene. How could they not understand that once something unexpected happened to the lord during this war, Cao Xiu, who was kneeling in front of him, would be the heir to the Cao family.
But the smarter ones among them have already guessed what Cao Cao really meant.
That is, he wants to show everyone his determination in this battle. If he wins, the Cao family will open a glorious future. If he loses this battle, then Cao Cao will never live alone. .
But he, Cao Cao, will exchange his death for one thing, and that is you, the Cao family retainers present, listen up. Even if he is defeated, he, Cao Cao, is dead, and you people must help him. Cao Xiu continued.
We must fight to the death with the Taishan Army!
If it doesn’t work in one life, then two lives; if it doesn’t work in two lives, then three lives. As long as there are still people in his Cao family, he will never make peace!
So this is not where Cao Cao is establishing a successor. He is clearly determined to die!
He is truly worthy of being the lord who said, "I would rather let the world down than let the world down me"!