Cao Cao led the main force of the Han army in Jinan, 20,000 men, and set out from Dongpingling to the Han army battlefield in Pingpingjin on June 25th.
When the army passed by a rural community in the county, the Qingzhou soldiers under Cao Jun once again looted and massacred the place. The corruption of military discipline in the Qingzhou Army gave Cao Cao a headache.
Before that, he had vigorously improved the military discipline of Qingzhou soldiers, but no matter whether it was harsh punishment or merit and inducement, the effect was not great.
In the final analysis, these Qingzhou soldiers from the Yellow Turbans of Qi State have degenerated. The wanton massacre has turned them into a sadistic army, with no regard for superiors or subordinates.
But although Cao Cao had a headache about the military discipline of these people, he liked the Qingzhou soldiers' bravery and fearlessness of death. He also understands that these two are two sides of the same coin, so he just lets it go as far as military discipline is concerned.
It's just that this time these people really went too far. Cao Cao needed to set an example for the powerful surnames in Pingyuan County, and then you massacred a village community in front of someone's house. How could he be the "King Master"?
So, this time Cao Cao also became cruel and directly punished the tribe that participated in the massacre of the township community.
All five hundred officers and men took off their military uniforms and knelt on the ground. Then they came up one by one to draw chips. Those who drew red chips were all killed with sticks in public.
Among them, the leader of this department was a veteran of Cao's army. He was sentenced to death for poor supervision, and Cao Cao executed it himself. The old army had followed Cao Cao for many years, and he had fought with Cao Cao in blood since the Qishui battlefield.
With tears in his eyes, the old army looked at the serious Cao Cao and cried sadly:
"My lord, I am humble and lax in running the army. He deserves to die. I just hope that my lord can take good care of my young son because of his humble hard work for many years."
Cao Cao was in tears at this time. Humans are not grass and trees, how can they be ruthless. For these loyal subordinates, if there was no other way, how could Cao Cao break his arm?
So, he held his arms and said emotionally:
"Don't worry, Lao Qin, I will take care of your wife."
With Cao Cao's words, the general surnamed Qin finally relaxed his mind, closed his eyes, and the pain was over.
After personally burying the general's head, Cao Cao presided over the following ten drawings.
Rows of ten Qingzhou sergeants stepped forward to draw chips. Some drew red chips and looked ashen, while others drew white chips and remained silent.
It's not that those who drew the red chip didn't think about resisting, but after seeing the rows of armored soldiers around them, these people could only obey.
In the end, a total of fifty people were placed in a separate circle. Outside the circle were their former lords. These people were lucky enough to survive.
Cao Cao shouted to these people from the high platform:
"I know there are grievances and dissatisfaction among you. Those who drew the red chip will say why they died when they clearly did not participate in the massacre. On the contrary, those on the outside circle, who knows how many people were massacred wantonly that day, why did they die? But I, Cao Cao, tell you, this is your life. If I defeat you and capture you, your life belongs to me, Cao Cao. If I want you to die, you will die. Live so you can live.”
"I'm not punishing you for not teaching me. When it comes to military discipline, I give my orders repeatedly. But you just turn a deaf ear. There's nothing I can do. Since you can't listen, I can only use blood to make you remember. I'll draw white chips later. If you use a short stick, you will kill the people in the circle. Don't complain, because those who survive outside the circle will be merged into the criminal army, and they will be the ones to fight in the next battle. The whole camp will die only if they are trapped. So you just go down first, and these people will chase you immediately. This is the justice I, Cao Cao, can give you."
At this moment, everyone was silent.
The people inside the stadium were saddened by their destined fate, and those outside the stadium were also horrified by Cao Cao's ruthlessness.
When the Qingzhou soldiers outside the circle took over their short sticks, they were silent for a short time and then began to beat the robes inside the circle like crazy.
They were as crazy as beasts, and every blow spattered blood. The only thing they could do to deal with Pao Ze was to end their pain as soon as possible.
A moment later, all the fifty people in the circle fell in a pool of blood, mutilated and bloody. And those who were still alive, looking at Pao Ze who they had beaten to death with their own hands, knelt on the ground in pain and hesitation, moaning and crying bitterly.
After this, the three armies were purged.
After that, the army continued westward and drove to Pingyuanjin.
After arriving at Luoyin in the west, Cao Cao unexpectedly fell ill.
The disease came on so quickly and violently that even the strong Cao Cao could not hold on, so after the general power was transferred to his personal general Xia Houyuan, he was sent to Luoyin in a daze for treatment.
After Xia Houyuan discussed with the military advisor Xijiu Xi Zhicai, they decided to temporarily change the march plan. The army first stopped in the Luoyin area for training, waiting for Cao Cao to recover. On the one hand, they coordinated with Pingyuan County to dispatch a group of civilian men to accompany the army, and then recruited a group of mules, horses, and grain.
Previously, the frontline officers had continuously sent injured New Army officers to Luoyin for treatment, so Luoyin was actually already under a very heavy burden at this time.
In order to bring food to the front line, most of the healthy women in Dingkou of Luoyin were conscripted, leaving ten houses in the county empty.
But Luo Yin ordered Yin Pu to be from Hanoi, and his hometown was threatened by the Taishan army, so even though it was very difficult now, he still met Cao Jun's requirements.
In this way, with the help of Cao Jun's force, Luo Yin ordered another three thousand disciples to accompany the army and drove them to Cao Jun's camp.
Along the way, every family cried, every road wept. Everyone knew that the hope of these people returning to their hometowns was slim and slim.
It was precisely because of the best cooperation of Luo Yin's order Yin Pu that Xia Houyuan and Xi Zhicai finally decided to set up the army's grain platform here.
Cao's army's grain reserves were transferred from Jinan, Le'an, and Qi to Luoyin. For a time, the people and horses in Luoyin were neighing and it was even more lively than before the war.
It’s just that the already empty countryside has been naturally ignored.
A few days later, Cao Cao recovered and the army continued to set off.
Then, finally on the second day of July, the army set off to the east bank of Pingyuanjin.
According to the original plan discussed by Cao Cao and Shen Pei, the Pingyuan County side was stationed in Dongbi Township, just east of Pingyuanjin. After Cao Cao led his army, they were stationed in Anting, three miles southeast of Pingyuan soldiers.
When Cao Cao arrived, it was already Haishi.
After the Chinese army's tent was raised on his side, not only the generals of Cao's army rushed over, but also Shen Pei himself and a group of plain generals.
It can be seen from this that Shen Pei secretly defected to Cao Cao a long time ago.
In fact, it’s not the fault of Shen Pei, it’s Liu Yu’s character and talent that isn’t quite suitable for this troubled world. Previously, Shen Pei, Gai Tong and other generals were still of the same mind as Liu Yu.
But who made Cao Cao suddenly show his devouring spirit and captured the two counties of Le'an and Qi in just half a month. Compared with the brave and enterprising Cao Cao, Liu Yu's performance in Qinghe or in the plains was nothing.
Sun Jian had also followed Liu Yu south before, and he originally planned to actively assist Liu Yu in establishing a career.
But something happened that made Sun Jian very disappointed in Liu Yu and no longer wanted to stay.
When he was in Qinghe, Shen Pei trained the new army, and Sun Jian trained the Hebei Yellow Turban troops. After Shenpei was defeated and the new army collapsed, Sun Jian handed over half of the surrendered troops to Shenpei to help him reorganize and train the new army.
But later, Liu Yu's son Liu He wanted to take charge of the army and directly took away half of Sun Jian's remaining troops.
Why did you attack Sun Jian?
Without him, you are the only foreign general, and the others are all Hebei generals and our own people. In this way, the new army trained by Sun Jian became a wedding dress for others. Knowing that he was no longer taken seriously, Sun Jian, who had already returned to his hometown to develop his power, immediately hung up his seal and left.
With a small number of military officers who were willing to follow him, Sun Jian went south to Xuzhou and returned to Jianghuai and Wuyue to develop his power.
Exactly that sentence, ambition is really bumpy, and now we are overcoming it again.
One consequence of Sun Jian's departure was that the army gradually became the talking point between Shen Pei and Gai Tong.
Liu He had no prestige in the army at all, so he won over some Youzhou sudden cavalry generals such as Xian Yufu and Qi Zhou. Gai Tong, Gongsun Yue and other Youzhou Cavalry generals stood clearly with Cao Cao.
At this time, choosing Cao Cao is no longer an option for Shen Pei.
After Chen Qun's back and forth communication, Shen Pei finally reached an agreement with Cao Cao. From here Shenpei launched an attack on the Taishan Army in Pingyuanjin, Hebei Province, and then when the war expanded and Liu Yu was unable to parry, he invited Cao Cao to help.
Once Cao Cao arrived at Pingyuanjin, he Shenpei and Gaitong would lead Pingyuan soldiers, Qinghe soldiers, and Youzhou sudden cavalry under Cao Cao's account, completing the de facto annexation of Pingyuan.
Therefore, after Cao Cao arrived at Pingyuanjin, he became the coach here.
Now that the commander-in-chief has been promoted, all the generals, both internal and external, will naturally come to attend the military meeting.
When all the generals from home and abroad were seated in the big tent, they naturally wanted to exchange greetings.
Among them, Cao Cao and Shen Pei met for the first time. Strangely enough, both of them had been eunuchs in Kyoto for many years, and Cao Cao and Shen Pei's former benefactor Yang Qiu also had a lot of contacts.
But this was the first time the two met.
However, Shen Pei has heard of Cao Cao's reputation, but it is generally not a good reputation.
Back then, Cao Cao was friends with Yuan Shao, and he did many ridiculous things in Kyoto. He even broke into Zhang Rang's house overnight and molested his adopted son and bride.
However, Shen Pei's evaluation of Cao Cao was not low.
After all, there are not many uncles who dare to use five-color sticks to help kill eunuchs when they are just starting out. From here, we can see that Cao Cao is a ruthless person. He directly broke with his family and background for the pursuit of his heart.
I just don’t know what this pursuit is.
If so, judge the secret passage.
While Shen Pei was silently observing, Cao Cao was also looking at Shen Pei calmly and did not choose to speak immediately.
It's not that he is afraid of the trial match and wants to show him off.
Although this person's military strength is indeed strong and should not be underestimated, this is not the reason.
The situation of Pingyuan County is very special. It is the most populous county in Qingzhou. There is a large river crossing in the territory, and there are troops stationed all year round.
Previously, there were roughly 5,000 county soldiers and 1,000 battalions in Pingyuan County. Afterwards, the Yellow Turbans rose up in Qingzhou, conquered counties and killed the chief officials. In order to protect their hometown and their own property, the princes, kings and surnames of Pingyuan County began to expand their tribes.
The armed forces in Pingyuan County once reached more than 10,000 people.
Later, Liu Yu took Qinghe's civil and military officials and officials south to escape the disaster. Among them, there were 20,000 elite soldiers brought to the plains. Among them were 10,000 new troops, 10,000 volunteers from Sun Jian, and 3,000 Youzhou cavalry from Gai Tong.
In this way, Pingyuan County's military strength once reached 40,000. Later, because the pressure to raise troops was too great, Liu Yu once reduced Pingyuan County's troops by half, but he still had 30,000 troops, which could be said to be the best in Qingzhou.
It can also be seen from this point that Ju Shou and other generals were not unreasonable to be dissatisfied with Liu Yu.
You, Liu Yu, have such a huge military advantage. You don't know how to aggressively expand, and you still think about disarmament.
In these troubled times, if you don't advance, you will retreat. Liu Yu's temperament really cannot give Shen Pei, Gai Tong and others a sense of security.
After Chen Qun learned about these situations, he sent a secret letter to Cao Cao. In the letter, Chen Qun directly said:
"Liu Yu is weak and has no heroes but he acts as a guarding dog. This is the help given by God to the Lord."
And now, among the 30,000 troops in Pingyuan County, Pingyuanjin's camp alone has 17,000 people. Among them, Shen Pei commanded 10,000 troops, Liu Jia commanded 5,000 troops, and Gai Tong commanded 2,000 cavalry troops.
Among them, Liu Jaw is Liu Yu's younger brother and the supervisor of Pingyuanjin camp this time. Obviously, Liu Yu was not too reassured about the matchmaking and had to let his clan brothers check and balance it.
At this military meeting, Liu Jia also came.
In front of this supervisor, Cao Cao naturally couldn't be too enthusiastic about the trial, otherwise it would alert Liu Jia, which would be detrimental to subsequent plans.
But Cao Cao didn't say anything, but Liu Jia began to introduce him warmly.
Liu Jia was also a popular figure in Beijing circles before, and he and Cao Cao were good brothers-in-law who fought side by side in the banquet and fun. At this time, I saw my old friend bringing troops to help, and he took the lead in becoming the host.
He held the lacquerware wine glass high and said to Cao Cao:
"Amao, I knew you were loyal. If you were in trouble for your brother, you would lead the army directly from Jinan. I will remember this kindness. Don't worry, you left it to me to push my brother to rebuild the republic. . I promise to make this happen. I just don’t understand why my brother can refuse to be an emperor while I can be a king. This guy is really stubborn. The emperor’s lineage from Hebei can do it, but our lineage from Xuzhou’s lineage can’t?”
After saying that, Liu Jia drank the wine in the glass in one gulp.
And the plains behind him will all look at each other. Can this be said in public?
Even so, Cao Cao couldn't help stroking his forehead and sighing in his heart:
"This guy is still the same as before, he still loves to dream."
But this time the protagonist is not this person. So Cao Cao directly changed the topic and asked:
"Good brother, as the host, you haven't introduced me to the heroes behind you."
Liu Jia burped, waved his hand directly to Cao Cao, and said something that made the generals in Pingyuan change their expressions.
The man said drunkenly:
"They are all obedient and do things as they are. They are the dogs of my family, Mr. Liu. What does the dog's name mean? As long as it can run and hunt, it is enough. Come on, come on, don't care about them, let my two brothers talk about old times again. If you want me After all, this plain is not as good as Kyoto. When we go back in the future, we can still drink in the same place for three days and three nights.”
These words immediately caused people to take pictures, but one person had already stood up and punched Liu Jia.
The trip to Xinjiang has ended. After gathering the experience, it will be more interesting to write about things in Liangzhou later.