Back to the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty

Chapter 299
"My lord, it's all the fault of Captain Chang. Captain Chang was afraid of the rolling stones on the mountain, so he hesitated, causing the enemy's Tiger Guards to attack our rear! If it wasn't for this, even if we were defeated, General Cao would still be able to die with his whole body. Back!" Cao Yong cried.

"It's unreasonable!! Why did you come back alone? Where is Chang Xiaowei now!" Cao Cao said angrily.

"Report! My lord, Lieutenant Chang Diao Chang led the defeated soldiers back!" At this time, Cao Cao's subordinates came in to report.

When Cao Cao heard this, he sneered and ordered, "Bring Chang Diao in!"

After a while, Chang Diao came to see Cao Cao, and looked at Cao Yong standing behind Cao Cao with a complicated expression. He didn't understand when Cao Yong escaped, but what is certain is that Cao Yong must be Those who fled the field before him!Now that Cao Yong had seen Cao Cao before him, he must have reported to Cao Cao about the death of Cao Ren and others in battle.

Cao Yong also glanced at Chang Diao with mixed eyes, and nodded slightly.

Chang Diao took a deep breath, not daring to look into Cao Cao's angry eyes. With a plop, he knelt down in front of Cao Cao, clasped his fists, and looked guilty.

"My lord, my subordinates did not do their best to rescue General Cao, and General Cao was killed. Please punish me, my lord!"

Cao Cao stared at Chang Diao, who was kneeling in front of him, his face was constantly changing, and countless thoughts flashed in his mind, but in the end he suppressed his anger. This is a general whose martial prowess is comparable to Cao Ren, and Cao Ren's most trusted subordinate , but now because of his mistake, Cao Ren died in battle! !If it's a low-level military general, you don't need to ask too much, just pull him out and behead him.

"Say, why didn't you launch an attack immediately? Also, is it because you didn't attack that your opponent Xu Chu sent troops to attack the rear of Cao Ren's army?" Cao Cao's voice became extremely cold.

Chang Diao's heart skipped a beat when he heard the sound, his body trembled slightly, and his complexion changed drastically.

In the battle with Feng Yao, Chang Diao did nothing wrong, the only mistake was to underestimate Feng Yaojun's combat power!

At that time, if Chang Diao saw that Cao Ren's army was being burned, if he immediately attacked the mountain, he would definitely suffer the same result. If he crossed the river to help Cao Ren, the enemy would definitely attack his rear when he was halfway across!And the facts have also proved that if you cross the river at that time, you don't have to wait for the enemy to attack, you will be drowned by the next flood.

The best way is to wait in place!

If Chang Diao had known in advance that Feng Yaojun was so brave that even Cao Ren would be doomed, he would have rushed up the mountain early, and even if it cost the lives of the three thousand Qingzhou soldiers, he would have held back the enemy's Tiger Guards so that they would not let him die. They divided their forces to attack Cao Ren.

Three armies are easy to get, but one general is hard to find! !

Even if the [-] Qingzhou soldiers are dead, it doesn't matter, Cao Cao can only scold him a few words at most, but now Cao Cao's most trusted cousin, Cao Ren, one of the three generals Cao Cao relied on, died in battle, and he served as One of the generals escaped alive! !
Chang Dia choked with sobs and said, "The subordinates have tried their best to save General Cao. They didn't decide to retreat until General Cao died in battle. Every soldier who came back with me can prove my words!"

"Hmph, those soldiers are all your subordinates, how can people believe it!" Cao Cao said.

Chang Diao turned to Cao Yong for help, clasped his fists and said, "Lieutenant Cao, you probably retreated after General Cao died in battle, you should know that everything I said is true!"

A trace of cruelty flashed across Cao Yong's eyes, he ignored Chang Diao's words, but knelt down abruptly, and said in a painful voice: "My lord, General Cao is the clan brother of my subordinates, if my subordinates were still awake at that time, how could they let me General Cao was killed? At that time, the thunder wood fell from the mountain and just hit his subordinate’s head. If Mingguang’s helmet hadn’t swept it, his subordinate would have died long ago. At that time, his subordinate passed out after being swept away. , When I woke up later, I happened to see Captain Chang running for his life, and General Cao..., my lord, my subordinates are incompetent, and my subordinates knew that they had to come back and tell the lord everything, so they ran back desperately! "

After that, Cao Yongfu burst into tears, his voice was very miserable!

"You! You...!" Chang Diao was shocked. He didn't expect Cao Yong to say such words. He looked at Cao Yong, dumbfounded, and was too angry to speak.

Cao Cao's eyes flashed with murderous intent, and he shouted angrily: "Chang Diao, what else do you have to say! Left and right, pull Chang Diao down for me, and behead him immediately according to military law!"

"My lord!! I..." Chang Diao's face was ashen, he hesitated to speak, and finally lowered his head, allowing Cao Cao's personal soldiers to tie him up. He didn't want to say any more, and he wanted to die!After all, Cao Yong is a member of Cao Cao's family. Since both Cao Cao and Cao Yong want him to die, what else can they do?If the two of them are provoked to hold grudges again, I am afraid that their family members will also lose their lives. It is better to die now, so that Cao Cao can pity his wife and take care of her!
Two personal soldiers escorted Chang Diao to the door, just when Gongcao Mao Jie arrived after hearing the news, he stopped him immediately when he saw the situation, and said: "Wait a moment, wait until I plead with the lord!"

Mao Jie saw Cao Cao anxiously, and asked, "My lord, why did you kill Captain Chang?"

Cao Cao ordered Cao Yong to narrate, and Mao Jie said sadly: "My lord, please be sad and obedient! But now that our army is employing people, if we kill the general because of this, I am afraid it will shake the army's morale. It is better to demote Chang Diao and punish him. Make him atone for his crime!"

Cao Cao knows that Mao Jie has always distinguished between public and private, and has always acted on the basis of facts, so he let Mao Jie take such an important position as a meritorious Cao. Cao Cao also understood that although Chang Diao was at fault, he was not guilty of death, and Mao Jie interceded. Then he nodded and said: "Since Xiao pleaded first, then temporarily spare Chang Diao's death, and you can arrange the rest, I don't want to see him again for the time being!"

After sending away Chang Diao, Cao Cao immediately summoned his generals, ordered Man Chong, Mao Jie and others to guard Linzi against Zang Ba's attack, and personally led an army of [-] to attack Laiwu.

Xiahou Dun was a forward general, leading [-] troops, and his lieutenants included Han Hao, Shi Huan, etc.
Cao Cao personally led Dian Wei, Cao Xiu and other generals, and ordered Cao Hong to escort the rear army to transport food and grass, and went all the way to Laiwu.

From Linzi to Laiwu, about [-] miles away, along the Zishui River, when we reached the hill where Cao Ren died, it was getting late and it was raining lightly. Cao Cao ordered Xiahou Dun's vanguard to station on the mountain. All the rear troops were stationed on the banks of the Zishui River.

This time Cao Cao learned the lesson of being divided and broken by Feng Yao, and all the troops were concentrated on the west bank of Zishui.

The scouts in front reported that Cao Ren's tomb was found on the hillside. Cao Cao was so sad that he passed out several times when he came to the tomb and swore, "If you don't destroy Laiwu City, you will never return to the army!!"

But soon, Cao Cao learned the news that Banyang City was breached by Wei Yan, and that Lu Chang was captured by Feng Yaojun!

I had to ask Ji Yu Xizhong again, and Xi Zhong said: "My subordinates think that this rain will last for at least seven days. At that time, the mountain torrents will be flooded, the ground will be muddy, and it will be difficult for vehicles and boats to enter. Weapons! How about retreating twenty li for the time being and ordering the army to station in Changguo City, this will not only prevent Wei Yan from attacking Changguo City, cut off our army's retreat, but also save the army from getting sick due to the continuous rain!"

(End of this chapter)