"The Battle of Guandu was a textbook-style battle of defense, movement, and resources. Cao Cao showed his excellent strategic vision and military sense in this war, and pushed the classical art of war to the to a new level.”

    —Revised Edition of Chinese Classical War History

    "...Although Zhong Huagong suffered a huge loss by giving up Hedong, even she had to admit during the replay: when Yuan Shao pressed all the troops north of Xuxian, we would lock A fifty percent victory."

   

    —————————

    "...Cao Cao's victory in the battle of Guandu did not depend on Yuan Shao being stupid (the lord who was absent from work because of his son's illness also lived for a long time==). But from the beginning of this war In terms of layout, we can see the gap between the strategic visions of the two sides.

    "Cao and Yuan have faced each other for many years. Yuan Shao is in the Yellow River North, Cao Cao is in the Yellow River South. The border line stretches for thousands of miles from the middle of the Yellow River to the mouth of the Yellow River. Where should the war start? Yuan Shao actually did not. A clear idea. Even Yuan Shao's counselor group could not give a unified opinion.

    "As early as during the Xuzhou War, Yuan Shao sent his eldest son Yuan Tan to attack Pingyuan County, trying to open a hole in Qingzhou in the lower reaches of the Yellow River. Unfortunately, he encountered Cao Sheng in an explosive state, Yuan Er Dai was beaten and had to go home to find his father. When Cao Yuan fought the decisive battle, the Qingzhou ptsd in Yuan Shao's camp was not yet ready, and when he saw Cao Cao sent Xiahou Dun to Pingyuan County, he did not dare to test it further.

    "Afterwards, Tian Feng proposed to cross the river from Cangtingjin, attack Juancheng by surprise, and cut off Cao Cao's logistics. This tactic with the most hope of winning did not get Yuan Shao's attention. The reason is probably It was because Tian Feng was isolated and helpless in the factional struggle within Yuan Jun. In the end, Boss Yuan hesitated to send thousands of troops to Cangtingjin to investigate the situation. Naturally, these people were Tiger Leopard Riders led by Boss Cao himself. The dog's head was smashed. At the same time, Cao Jun smashed the Yellow River ice in the Juancheng section, forcing Tian Feng's plan to cross the river from Cangting to aground.

    " Yuan Shao, who was frustrated frequently, waved his hand, and everyone aimed at Xuxian and forcibly crossed the river. So far, we can't say that Yuan Shao's army has no tactics and fights with feet, but the hesitation and goal of the whole layout The blurring, the internal splits are visible to the naked eye.

    "In contrast, Cao Cao's side is completely different.

    "Before the war, Cao Cao told the advisors: 'If hundreds of thousands of troops gather in a small place, food and grass will come first.' For this reason, Cao Cao did not hesitate to assign Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Hong, Xu Huang and others to guard the major ferry crossings, in order to protect the 'Qingyan Food Road' built by the Cao family with great effort. . Even at a critical juncture, he abandoned the fertile Hadong County and chose to rescue Cangjeongjin.

     

    "Guandu is less than 100 kilometers away from Xuxian County, the largest and most fortified granary of Cao's army. It can be said that it is backed by a grain mountain. Yuan Shao wanted to fight in Guandu, but he did not have a solid grain storage place. , which gave the opportunity to raid the granary later.

    "At the beginning of 195 AD, Yuan Shao's general Yan Liang took the lead in crossing the river in Baimajin, coercing Xuxian. , has fallen into absolute weakness. But in fact, the real battle has just begun..."

    —from the "Military Enthusiasts" forum post

    —————————

    "Crash." The sound of water sounded in the blue-gray dawn, with a unique winter chill. Cao Cao rubbed his face with ice water, then stood up from the stream with his blood-stained helmet on, and trudged back to the camp, one foot deep and one foot shallow.

    Dian Wei with a fierce face followed behind Cao Cao.

    The tiger and leopard riding camp on the rocky beach is not so much a camp as it is a broken battlefield. The bonfire has been burnt out, and the last few wisps of flames are making a dying sound in the cold wind.

    The tired soldiers leaned together in armour, purring one after another, but still clenched their spears in their hands. The war horses also dozed off with their heads lowered, only raising their eyelids when they heard Cao Cao's footsteps.

     Walking down the low **** of gravel piles, there are corpses in the woods, but here is gradually alive. Under the supervision of tiger and leopard knights, the dejected captive dragged the body into a large pit and buried it.

      , was devoured by tiger and leopard riding.

    Even after burying the bodies overnight, these captured Jingzhou people still couldn't understand why Cao Cao, who was supposed to be fighting Yuan Shao, discovered their sneak attack so quickly.

    What's more terrifying is that he came in person! !

& nbsp; "Duke Cao ran to Wancheng to ambush me? Aren't you afraid that Yuan Shao would take the opportunity to capture Xu County?"

    Cao Cao folded his arms, looked at him lazily, and said, "Don't worry, Yuan Benchu's reaction was very slow. When he made a decision, I would have returned to Xuxian - you listened to Liu Biao Ordered to attack me? Does the Jingzhou family agree?"

    Deng Ji felt a little uncomfortable when he heard it.

& nbsp; Shengsheng dragged him. If Jingzhou raises troops to attack, it will be a little troublesome."

    Although the tiger and leopard knights ran on their horses for half a month and did not stop from Cangtingjin to Wancheng, they still smiled at this time: "Liu Biao, keep your ears. "

    Deng Ji became more and more uncomfortable. Before he could figure out how to defend his master, Cao Cao drew out his sword and swiped it twice, and the hemp rope on his body shattered in response.

    In Deng Ji's stunned, Cao Cao has already turned his horse. "Go back and tell Liu Biao that he used to have a grudge against Yizhou and Jiaozhou, and now he should be careful about the fire in the backyard. The mantis catches cicadas and the oriole is behind, don't stare at Laozi's Wancheng all day long, the bottom of your pants will fall off. ."

     Leaving this sentence, Cao Cao slapped the horse's **** and rushed back to the camp. In less than a quarter of an hour, the tiger and leopard cavalry, who had been sleeping with their heads covered before, completed their entire army. With the sound of horses' hooves, this lightning-fast team disappeared into the woods in an instant, leaving only the almost stripped captives shivering in the cold wind, not yet recovering from the sudden freedom.

    It took a long time for Deng Ji to realize: Oh my god, these hundreds of people have no clothes, no food or weapons in the wilderness. How can they go back to Jingzhou? I'm afraid that if I haven't moved, I'll have to freeze half to death.

    Not to mention what Liu Biao's expression looked like ten days later when he saw the snot-snoting remnants, but Cao Cao had already rushed back to the Yellow River.

    Two months, starting from Xuxian to Cangting, then from Cangting to Wancheng, and then back to Xuxian, Cao Cao ran out of a big triangle on the land of Yanzhou, completely completed The first stage of the two-line defense against Yuan Shao and Liu Biao.

    This era has never seen such a frenzied campaign. So far, nearly 80% of the horses who followed them out of Xu County two months ago died, and more than half of the soldiers rested at various post stations due to exhaustion.

    But Cao Cao didn't seem to know he was tired. As soon as he returned to the Xuxian base camp, he summoned his advisors and generals and asked, "I'm going to fight back Baimajin tonight, will Yan Liang be prepared?"

    The people below hear it, yes, the war is going to be good.

    Xun Yu stood up and made the first bird: "My lord... can your body hold up?" After all, a monster like Dian Wei's feet are fluttering.

    Cao Cao's tone choked, and tentatively "concerned": "Then let me drink a tonic soup? Just what kind of wolfberry, Poria, angelica and angelica that Ah Sheng often drinks?"

    Guo Jia Jia Xu Xun Yu Xun You Cheng Yu Xi Zhi Cai:…

    I finally know who Cao Zhonghua's desperate energy is like. Your old Cao family has produced two talented workaholics!

     

    So Cao Cao drank two bowls of medicine and slept, and the next day led his troops to Yanjin with great fanfare. Yanjin was upstream of Baimajin. Once Cao Cao crossed the river, it would be equivalent to detouring behind Yuan Shao's base camp.

    Yan Liang, who had already crossed the river, got the news earlier than Yuan Shao. On the other hand, Cao Cao resolutely threw down the cumbersome infantry, lightly cavalry, and turned to attack the empty Baimajin.

    This tactic, which was repeatedly deduced by Cao Ying's advisers, was self-evident: Bai Majin returned to Cao Cao's hands. If there is anything worth mentioning, it is probably that Zhang Liao, who had recently defected to Cao Cao, led the leading troops to kill Yan Liang, and the battle proved his strength.

    Cao Cao, who took back Baimajin, vaguely felt that something was wrong with Yuan Shaojun. When Yan Liang died, he didn't show much brains, and he was too sorry for his reputation as the "Four Generals of the Hejian".

    Cao Cao squinted at the dark river beside Baimajin, and suddenly pulled up the "Cao" flag on the fortress, and ordered the cavalry: "Retreat! Return to the south!"

    It turned out to be the one who took the initiative to give up Baimajin, who was finally called back!

    Although the soldiers were puzzled, they still obeyed Cao Cao's orders and returned to the forest south of Baima with all the grain stored in Baimajin.

    "Is the lord worried that Yuan Jun has a conspiracy?" Zhang Liao, who had just made a great contribution, was much more courageous and took the initiative to ask Cao Cao to solve his doubts.

    Cao Cao smiled: "What kind of conspiracy is to take Yan Liang's life? Yuan Shao can't bear it. But...let's see, if Yuan Jun has a conspiracy, it's fine, the big deal is that we go back to Xu County; If there is no conspiracy, then we can take another bite of the fat from Yuan Shao."

    Cao Cao waited in the woods for more than ten days before he waited for Yuan Jun, who was slow. It turned out that Wen Chou led the team and re-occupied Baima, and Wen Chou sent troops to the south just like a stupid boy.

    This… is too straight?

    Although Cao Cao was puzzled, his military instinct made him kill a carbine as originally planned. So, the famous Wen Chou also hung up.

    Cao Cao: …It’s fake. Yuan Shao's brain is so funny. Although I am good at fighting, Yuan Jun is too stupid!

    Yuan Shao's brain is not showy, it is corrupted by love. When Yan Liang and Wen Chou gave Cao Cao their heads successively, Yuan Shao was not on the front line, so he went back to Yecheng to see his wife and children.

    It's not the eldest wife, but the eldest wife and concubine. Yuan Shang's child, who was deeply favored by Yuan Shao, caught the flu in winter and spring, and the fever persisted. Yuan Shao's father's love flooded into a flood, and he said bluntly: "If my son has three strengths and two weaknesses, I will conquer the world, and who will I give it to?"

    The eldest son Yuan Tan was so angry that he scolded his father.

    The counselor was so angry that she cursed.

    But no one could stop Yuan Shao from dying.

    Different from Yuan Shao's slow rhythm, the Cao brothers are all good at seizing opportunities. In the spring of 195 AD, two reported goshawks lifted off from Jizhou, one to the north and the other to the south, bringing the news that "Yuan Shaoyi took care of the young son's illness" to the Cao twins.

     Cao Cao, who received the news, immediately decided to attack Yuan Jun's granary.

    And Cao Sheng, who received the news, immediately decided to send troops.

    Note 1: Since the death of the Han emperor, Cao Cao successively ordered his cronies to write letters to his eldest son, Cao Ang, to teach him about the recent military and political events, including the Yuanshu crusade, Xuzhou crusade, Guandu war, The Jingzhou campaign, the battle against thieves in Jiangdong, and the economic, military, political, and cultural aspects of the Hanzhong War period, the authors include nearly 60 civil and military officials. After Cao Ang ascended the throne, he compiled these letters into a book collectively called "To Cao Zi Xiu Shu".

    Note 2: All quotations at the beginning of this chapter are made up, and the description of the Battle of Guandu differs in detail from history.

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like