Chapter 21 come and go freely

In May of the ninth year of Jian'an (AD 204), Cao Cao heard that the war on the plain had changed. He changed his attack tactics against Yecheng, leveled the earth and filled the tunnel, and dug another trench to surround Yecheng to cut off Yecheng from Yuan Shang. contact.When digging, Cao Cao played tricks and ordered the soldiers to dig narrow and shallow; the judge could see clearly from the city, thinking that such a narrow ditch could be crossed in one leap, but he didn't send troops out to destroy it in time, instead he laughed at Cao Jun for wasting his efforts .Unexpectedly, Cao Cao had a trick in his plan, and took advantage of the slackness of the defenders to order the whole army to rush to work overnight. In just one night, he dug a ditch forty miles long, two feet wide, and two feet deep around Yecheng, and dug The Zhang River to the west of Kaiye City led the rolling river water into the ditch.It was too late for the examination and distribution, and Yecheng was completely cut off from the outside world. Not only could the military report not be conveyed, but also the food and grass were almost exhausted. People died of hunger every day.The judge was trapped by the terrain and could not break out. The only hope is to hope that Yuan Shang will return to the army soon for rescue.

Cao Cao was also ready for a decisive battle. While sending scouts back and forth to inquire about Yuan Shang's army, he went down to the village along the ditch to block off the main road.Yecheng is the largest city in Hebei, and its scale is no less than that of Xudu. The surrounding walls are nearly three feet high, and there are seven gates in the outer gate alone. Among them, there are Fengyang, Zhongyang, and Guangyang gates in the south of the city. It is the focus of the confrontation between the offensive and defensive sides.In order to ensure the defense of this road, Cao Cao not only set up the camp of the Chinese army in the south, but also built a gate along the ditch, assigned soldiers to guard it day and night, and ordered the generals and school Sima of all ministries to personally inspect every day, so as to prevent Yuan Jun's secret operations from mixing into the encirclement...

In addition to participating in research on military aircraft in the Chinese military camp these days, Guo Jia would take the initiative to go down to the battalions to inspect whenever he had time.Not long ago, a family member from Xudu heard the news that Chen Qun impeached him for his death, frugality and amassing wealth. He expected that it must be Cao Cao who had good words for Xun Lingjun, so he felt more grateful for Cao Cao's kindness. Do things more attentively.He changed his usual style of literati, wearing a military uniform and wearing a leather hat, personally observing the suffering of soldiers, and whenever he met a general repairing the gate to transport grain and grass, he would send his own soldiers to help, and he was loved by everyone. .

At noon that day, Hua Tuo came to give Cao Cao acupuncture and moxibustion, and Cao Pi, Cao Zhen, and Cao Xiu also waited on him.Seeing their father and son talking and laughing happily, Guo Jia quietly left the big tent, and led his soldiers along the horse trail between the camps to inspect.This time the Northern Expedition was exceptionally smooth, and the soldiers were relaxed and yet disciplined. The generals of the various ministries, Sima, came out to inspect according to orders, and the traffic was as tight as a shuttle.Before he knew it, it was noon, and the fire-headed soldiers everywhere were burying pots and cooking, and the smoke rose straight up. Guo Jia suddenly smelled a tangy aroma of rice, and felt his stomach growling, so he steered his horse back to the north. Camp meals.Unexpectedly, just after passing two gates of the village, I saw a large group of soldiers gathered around to watch the fun.

Guo Jia ordered his soldiers to disperse the crowd, but he saw two young soldiers kneeling on the ground with bare backs and being whipped, and beside him was a general in armor holding a command arrow, sitting on the horse and cursing: "Beat me! Beat me hard!" If you don’t teach these stubborn people a good lesson, what will happen to them on the battlefield!” His three soldiers obeyed his orders, swung their whips like a roulette wheel, beat the two tortured people to pieces, and begged for mercy.Although the discipline in the army is strict, the punishment cannot be too harsh. It is really rare to see soldiers blocked on the horse road and whipped.

"Stop! Why use torture?" Guo Jia hurriedly stopped. The general hurriedly jumped off his horse and cupped his hands, saying: "The general will see Guo Jijiu, please forgive me for not being able to give the full salute when you are in armor. Your old man has worked so hard to patrol the camp, and you don't have to eat at such a time, how can the general be patient?" Got it?" He was as fierce as a tiger when he whipped the soldiers, but he was as humble as a sheep when he saw his servants, Guo Jiaming was only in his thirties, and he called him an old man.The onlookers couldn't help but sneer when they heard his flattery.

Guo Jia originally wanted to reprimand him, but when he heard him call out himself and kept saying good things, Guo Jia was more polite, and got off his horse and asked, "Which general are you from?" , why are you beating the soldiers here?" "Report to Guo Jijiu." The officer walked two steps closer, "The last general is General Zhang Xiu's Sima, who is ordered by my general to inspect the camp." He changed his tone and pointed at the person being tortured, "These two boys Guarding the gate of the village, I just saw the Huotou army prepare the food, and they left the gate to steal the war food, if Yuan Jun was asked to sneak in, it would be fine! Do you think they should fight?"

"Don't dare! We really didn't leave our posts without authorization..." The two soldiers were beaten to a pulp, and they kowtowed to Guo Jia in defense. "How dare you not admit it!" The general thrust the command arrow between his necks, grabbed one of them and slapped him across the face, making the soldier lie on the ground until he groaned; the other immediately changed his words: "Forgive me, General, I'll know I was wrong, I won't dare next time... I won't dare next time..." The officer spat and snorted angrily: "Guo Jijiu, did you see that, these are two rotten bones! Just now I taught them a few words, and they dared to talk back, this is not a deal!"

Guo Jia has been sizing up this general—seeing that he is in his prime, with a broad forehead and a big face, a long and wide mouth, a scorched yellow skin, and no beard under his chin. Pass.But this face looked so familiar, besides, he yelled "Guo Jijiu" one by one, as if he was very familiar with him.There are many generals and schools in various departments of the army and they have been transferred frequently. It is not uncommon for some of them to be familiar but cannot be named. This person must have been in contact with him before.Guo Jia felt relieved, looked up at the big banner on the gate of the village, and couldn't help laughing: "This is General Xiahouyuan's camp, and you are under General Zhang's command. If you punish soldiers at this gate, of course they will not accept it."

Unexpectedly, the general was so serious: "Cao Gong treats the army equally, no matter which general is under him, he should be punished for violating military discipline. Since the last general came here, he will naturally take care of him when he sees it!" Guo Jia listened to his plausible words, and it didn't hurt his good intentions, so he said: "It's fine to control, but don't be too harsh. Punishment of soldiers is to implement military law, not to vent personal anger. Just whip a few times." How can they go into battle? Look at how many people are staring at you. Wouldn't doing so recklessly hurt the morale of the army?"

"Yes, yes, you taught me the right lesson. How can a rough man like the general have such insight as you? Thanks to your old man's lesson, the general will benefit a lot. Our army has a benevolent and righteous man like you. It is really a blessing for the whole army. Why don't you worry that Yecheng will not be defeated and the Yuan family will not be defeated..." The officer nodded and bowed and praised repeatedly. Seeing his obsequious look, Guo Jia couldn't help laughing, and interrupted: "Okay, okay! Don't disgust me here, let these two people go, and continue patrolling your camp." The official was very respectful to him, but when he turned his face away, he immediately put on the posture of flattery and bullying, and shouted: "For the sake of Guo Jijiu, I let you go, but I punish you not to eat , Continue to guard the gate of the village. If you are not convinced, just go to your general and complain, if you have anything to say, tell your general to tell me!" The two soldiers did not dare to speak back, and retreated with pain. Guo Jia sneered at the side - what a lifeless guy, how could Xia Houyuan be easily provoked, he is both a relative and a general, if you, a small battalion Sima, dare to make such wild words, you will be able to bear it in the future!Guo Jia endured a smile and got on his horse for the second time to go back to the camp. The officer came over again and said, "The last general will send Guo Jijiu respectfully. Things on the battlefield are changing rapidly. I hope you can take care of yourself." on horseback.Many people have seen the ferocity with which he whipped the soldiers just now, but now they saw him approaching with command arrows, and they all avoided them, but he was picky: "Which department are you from, give me all of them." Be more energetic... It is not allowed to bury pots and cook food on the road, move away quickly...Are you blind? If you start a fire by the fence, can you afford it if it causes a fire..." He looked arrogantly and saw who was in charge Who, pointing and pointing all the way to the east. Guo Jia was angry and funny, so it was inconvenient to intervene, so he led the soldiers and continued to go his own way.But for some reason, the face of that Sima always appeared in his mind. It seemed that the name of that person was about to come out, but he just couldn't remember who it was, so he turned back and asked the soldiers: "Do you know that Sima just now?" "I don't even know the little one. He must have just been promoted to success. Look at him! I hate this kind of flattery. He doesn't look like a subordinate of General Zhang Xiu. He behaves like that." A person trained by Yu Jin." This soldier also dared to say anything. "Shut up! You should say such things." Although Guo Jia blamed him, he also felt it was funny. "This subordinate is guilty... You don't know that person who flattered you so much?" Guo Jia smiled wryly and shook her head: "He knows me, but I don't know him...but it's not that I don't know him, but I just can't remember the name." The soldiers also laughed: "Speaking of which, I don't blame you sir. General Zhang Xiu's subordinates are all from Kansai. Suddenly a Sima with a Zhongzhou accent pops up. He must be a new transfer from somewhere else." Guo Jia reined in his horse suddenly: "It's strange! This person really has a Zhongzhou accent. Zhang Xiu is a powerful former soldier and a surrendered man. How could he not inform the lord of the transfer of his songs? He saluted me just now and said that the battlefield is changing rapidly. What do you mean by this..." The more he thought about it, the more he felt strange, and he smelled a strange smell, "No! I want to go back and have a look!" Several soldiers thought that he was too worried, but they dared not say much, and followed him back to the vicinity of Cao Hong's camp - the general had long since disappeared, only the two soldiers who were tortured just now were still leaning against the gate of the camp, moaning and moaning. . Guo Jia pointed at the two of them: "Where is the Sima who beat you just now?" It’s okay if you don’t ask, but when you ask these two unlucky bastards, they scrambled and fell to the ground: "Mr. Guo, please make the decision for us... We really didn’t leave our posts without authorization..." Even tears and snot down. "What's going on?" The two soldiers cried and said: "We were ordered to guard the gate of the village. That Sima insisted on breaking in. I asked him for an arrow. He didn't give it and asked us if we knew him? We didn't know what tricks he was playing. To tell you the truth, he didn’t know each other, he said he asked us to get acquainted today! His soldiers didn’t ask indiscriminately, they beat us when they caught us...he has a high official position, we dare not fight back..." "Damn it!" Guo Jia also recalled that when the man replied to him, he stuck the arrow in his neck and did not hand it in for verification. "You were wronged and beaten, why didn't you report it to your general?" "My general was ordered by the lord to escort food and grass, but he has not returned, so he is not in the camp!" Guo Jia gritted his teeth and stomped his feet in hatred: "It can't be such a coincidence, that person must be a secret agent sent by Yuan Shang, and he wants to sneak into the encirclement and report to Yecheng!" The guard next to him interrupted: "Then how did he recognize you?" This sentence reminded Guo Jia, when he thought of Yuan's subordinates, that big face came to mind again, this time he immediately recognized who that person was - Li Zixian, Li Fu, who worked in Jizhou! Before Guandu, Guo Jia went to Nanyang to persuade Zhang Xiu to surrender, just as Yuan Shao also sent Li Fu to lobby, the two still had a verbal battle in front of Zhang Xiu.At that time Li Fu was gentle and elegant, today he just shaved off his beard, dyed his face yellow, and changed his clothes, but he acted like a domineering warrior.Guo Jia was secretly startled by how well this person disguised himself, so he didn't dare to be negligent, he sent his own soldiers to report the news at the gate by the ditch, and at the same time he whipped his whip and went straight to the tent of the army in the camp. Cao Cao had just pulled out his acupuncture and was still eating, Guo Jia rushed into the tent and said, "My lord, Li Zixian, who works in Hebei, broke into the encirclement to deliver letters!" Hua Tuo was packing up the medicine box and looked up at Guo Jia, immediately shocked—— This person is ill! "What?" Cao Cao didn't notice it, he just cared about the military situation, "How many troops did he bring to kick our battalion, why didn't the scouts come to report?" "There are only four people." Guo Jia didn't have time to explain clearly, "My lord, quickly order a thorough investigation of the camp, and if he is a little slow, he will..." Before he finished speaking, there was a commotion outside, Han Hao stumbled and knelt down in front of the tent: "My lord! There are enemies who have infiltrated the army to cause trouble, and they have broken out of the gate of the village and waded towards Yecheng!" Cao Cao was taken aback, and quickly left his job and ran out to have a look.Guo Jia, Xu Chu, Cao Pi and others followed closely with their own soldiers, heading north all the way to the gate of the ditch village in the south of Yecheng——but seeing that the gate was wide open, the guards were all there, but they were all tied up. On the fence, his mouth was stuffed tightly.They all said that a Sima with a command arrow came just now, accused them of playing, gossiping and not paying attention to guarding the gate, and asked three of his soldiers to tie them up and whip them as punishment.Unexpectedly, just after they were tied up and before they were tortured, the four of them opened the gate and walked away.Cao Cao gritted his teeth with hatred when he learned of his emotions. At this time, Hou heard the cheers from the city of Ye - Li Fu had successfully entered the city. Even though he was very careful, he still let the enemy sneak in. Cao Cao was so angry that he ignored the dissuasion of his generals and his son, and ordered the soldiers to build a temporary bridge, and wanted to go to the city of Ye for a glimpse.It was easy to do things with a lot of people, and the soldiers built a pontoon bridge on the ditch not long after they moved the wooden planks and carts. Xu Chu, Deng Zhan, Han Hao, and Shi Huan led their own soldiers to keep Cao Cao close.Yecheng has been trapped for more than five months, today is the news of Yuan Shang, every soldier wept with joy, and some waved banners to show off to Cao Jun. Cao Cao couldn't help yelling: "What a Li Fu thief, how dare you use such a despicable method! This old man must..." Before he finished speaking, there was a sound of "嗖", and a cold arrow passed by his ear. He shot a soldier beside him in the throat, and the soldier immediately fell into the pit and lost his life. "What a powerful archer! You risked my life!" Cao Cao was surprised again and retreated with his head in his arms. All the soldiers panicked to cover; Like migratory locusts, many soldiers were shot to death in the ditch. Han Hao and Shi Huan each took arrow wounds to protect Cao Cao and fled back to Yuanmen across the pontoon bridge. At this time, all the generals in the camp heard the news and came, Cao Hong anxiously said: "Just now a scout came to report, Yuan Shang gave up Pingyuan and returned to the army for rescue, and marched all the way, only thirty miles away from Yecheng!" "Oh!" Cao Cao didn't expect Yuan Shang to come so quickly, "How is Yuan Tan doing?" "Yuan Tan didn't follow behind to pursue, and led his troops northward to attack the counties in Bohai." "Hey hey." Cao Cao couldn't help smiling wryly, "This kid really has ulterior motives. He wanted Yuan Shang to compete with the old man and the two tigers, so he took the opportunity to expand his territory. It's a pity that his cleverness can't save his decline." Cao Hong, however, was very nervous: "Yuan Shang's army has more than 10,000 troops, well equipped and many cavalry, and the teams assigned to various places are still gradually gathering. My lord, please make a quick decision!" "Don't worry." Cao Cao looked back at the city, "Since he sent Li Fu into the city, he must be planning to join forces with the inside and outside to attack our army. If you go in, you have to come out. You return to the camp and watch carefully. The old man sits here personally, and we I don’t believe that thousands of troops can’t catch Li Zixian!” Guo Jia shook his head incessantly—in the Battle of Guandu, Li Fu could sneak through Yuzhou and go straight to Nanyang, so what is the battalion in front of him?Since people dare to go in, they must be sure to come out. The generals went away under orders, but Cao Hong refused to leave, and suggested, "Yuan Shang's forces are very strong here, and our troops are scattered in all directions to encircle and disperse our forces. There is a saying in the military law, 'Don't stop when you return to your division', so it's better to get out of the way and let Yuan Shang enter the city. , let’s go back to the division to fight hard and trap them into the city.” "Not busy," Cao Cao sneered, "Let the scouts investigate the details." Cao Hong was a little anxious: "Yuan Shang's troops are only thirty miles away from our army, if..." "The old man has his own ideas. He has come from a long way and it is impossible to use force immediately. Besides, the person who made the appointment has not left the city. Let's talk about it after we find out what's going on." Cao Hong left in dismay.Someone moved a stool, and Cao Cao swaggered inside the gate.The soldiers of the Chinese army lined up outside the gate, one by one guarding the ditch with their bows and arrows. As long as Li Fu came out, he would be shot like a hedgehog.Moreover, in order to prevent the enemy from breaking out on a large scale, military orders have already been sent to all battalions, and every checkpoint is ready along the trench for forty miles a week. The soldiers of the three armies waited in full force, and after more than an hour, there was still no movement of the enemy, but the scouts sent to inquire about the news came back like flowing water and reported: "Yuan Jun is twenty-five miles away from the city!" "Yuan Jun is twenty miles away from the city!" "There are still nineteen miles..." No matter what the visitor said, Cao Cao said, "Investigate again!" and sent it away. When the sky was getting dark and the lights were on, someone came to report: "Yuan Shang's army stopped at Yangping Pavilion seventeen miles away, preparing to set up camp. " Cao Cao's face suddenly became serious, and he stood up from the stool, called the scout who reported the incident to him and told him in person: "Yangping Pavilion is the official road, and there is a danger of Xishan River on the side, you go and investigate carefully, Yuan Shang Whether to camp on the main road or rely on the mountain, let me know as soon as you come back!" The scout led the way, but Cao Cao gradually became nervous.He didn't sit anymore, and walked around the gate, sometimes talking to himself, and sometimes clasping his hands as if praying.After a while, several loud noises were heard one after another, and the three gates of Fengyang, Zhongyang, and Guangyang in the south of Yecheng opened at the same time; It wasn't Li Fu or Yuan Jun who came out, but countless people! The city has been trapped for more than five months, and food has been out for a long time. These people have long been hungry and crazy.Some held up white flags and shouted surrender, some held torches to light the way, and some just wanted to escape from the battlefield regardless of anything.Cao Jun was stunned for a while, then remembered that the military order had not changed, and immediately shot out after layers of arrows. What is Yuan Cao's crime in fighting against the Li people?The poor people who rushed forward have all become ghosts under the arrow.But there were still people pouring out from behind, and most of them were the old, the weak, the sick and the disabled, and there was a loud bang in the crowded room—the three city gates were closed again, and thousands of innocent people were thrown onto the battlefield. There was a heroic soldier in front of him who had no way to retreat, and these people were all red-eyed. Those who knew how to swim jumped into the trench and threw themselves out desperately. As soon as they touched the shore, their fingers were chopped off by Cao Bing's big knife.More bustling people rushed onto the pontoon bridge, and were stabbed by Cao Jun's guns and arrows, and the dead bodies fell into the ditch in pieces.The screams, begging for mercy, cursing, and crying for father and mother were earth-shattering. In the blink of an eye, hundreds of people died at the hands of Cao Jun, and even the water in the ditch was stained with blood. Cao Cao never expected that things would come to this point, and was stunned by this cruel scene.Xun You ran over and grabbed his robe and remonstrated bitterly: "My lord, let go quickly! If innocent people are killed, what is the prestige of the court's teachers?" "Ah!" Cao Cao looked at the massacre in front of him dully, "Li Fu must be hiding in it, if he doesn't kill all these people, he will run away to deliver a letter to Yuan Shang. Light, the soldiers and civilians in Yecheng want to fight our army because of this hatred. This is really a dilemma... Forget it! Siege is the bottom line and the heart is the top priority. At this time, you should not quarrel with the people. Send an order quickly, and our army will not stop it. Make a way for the people to leave the city!" The soldiers gradually stopped shooting arrows and dodged the horse path, and Cao Cao also retreated to the camp of the Chinese army, but how can all the trenches in the forty miles be ordered in a short time?I don't know how many innocent people lost their lives!The miserable cries of the common people enveloped the entire company, and every tent could hear it clearly.Cao Hong went against the flow of fleeing people and squeezed into the central army: "My lord, quickly order an investigation, Li Fu must be among them." Guo Jia shook his head helplessly: "It's getting late, how can we find a needle in a haystack? Let him go..." Cao Cao closed his eyes and frowned tightly: "I despise the people of Hebei. Yuan Benchu ​​has been in Jizhou for nearly ten years, and his subordinates are countless. Li Zixian can enter and leave our camp with ease. I don't know where Yuan Shang will go to the camp?" That's what he's most concerned about right now.Most of the fugitives were separated. The mother was looking for her children and brothers, and she cried and quarreled for half an hour before it gradually quieted down. There were bloodstains, corpses, and parcels everywhere on the horse paths between the camps. Seeing this desolate scene, Cao Cao became more and more anxious. Looking out. The generals had never seen him so nervous, even his hands were shaking uncontrollably. I don't know how long I looked at it, it was already dark, and suddenly I heard the sound of horseshoes, and the figure of the scout gradually became clear in the firelight.Cao Cao couldn't hold back his concern, so he went up to meet the soldier regardless of his identity, grabbed the rein of the soldier's horse, and asked sharply, "Will Yuan Shang camp on the main road or at the foot of the mountain?" The soldier was taken aback by him, and said fearfully, "Camp along the west mountain." Cao Cao didn't seem to believe it: "Say it again, where is it?" There was a tremor in his voice. The soldier regained his composure, showed his martial spirit, jumped off the horse and knelt down on one knee, and answered loudly, "My lord, Yuan Shang is camping at the foot of Yangpingting Mountain!" Cao Cao took a deep breath and took two steps back, as if relieved, he waved his hand to send the scout away.Seeing that he was not in a hurry, Cao Hong shouted anxiously: "Let's withdraw the siege quickly, Yuan Shang's army has fallen into the camp, and Li Fu has also slipped away. If we don't withdraw, we will be flanked by others!" "Yes!" All the generals echoed. Yu Jin has always been highly valued by Cao Cao, and he also earnestly said: "There is a saying in the art of war, 'Return to the teacher and don't be evil'. Our army can't concentrate the troops surrounding Yecheng. If Yuan Shang goes all out to attack me, the trial and support will be coordinated inside, and the inside will cooperate with the outside. The results of several months can be ruined in one day." "Hey hey..." Cao Cao kept laughing. He smiled at the beginning, then turned his head to the sky and laughed loudly after hearing what the generals said. Take Jizhou! Hahaha...don't you believe it?" Yu Jin and Cao Hong looked at each other, not understanding why he made such an assertion.Xun You, Lou Gui, and Xu You all showed knowing smiles, and Guo Jia even made fun of it: "Congratulations, my lord! Congratulations to my lord! Jizhou is here to wipe out the Yuan family." Seeing that the generals were still confused, Cao Cao smiled and put his hands behind his back: "Just wait and see, it will come true soon." Speaking of this, he sighed, "Ben Chu, Ben Chu, your two sons are both Don't live up to it! Even if there are judges and Li Fu, what's the use if you can't give full play to your talents? It's so easy to give up the territory you've worked so hard for...you hate a prodigal..." Cao Hong stared blankly at him for a while before asking: "Then how should our army deal with it now?" "Let me keep an eye on Yecheng day and night, and within three days the enemy will try their best to break through. Be careful when trying to match a trapped beast." "If Yuan Shang..." "Don't pay attention to that prodigal son!" Cao Cao said impatiently, and then wandered back to the big tent.