Chapter 58 Chapter 8 Expansion of the Territory: Tu Xuzhou's backyard is on fire and fights against Puyang (2)

Sure enough, although Tao Qian's newly recruited troops were bluffing and shouting, they were actually not beaten.After Cao Cao captured a city in the first battle, he captured the second city almost effortlessly in the second battle.Tao Jun fled watching the wind, abandoning more than 20 cities. At this time, Tao Qian was setting up a decisive battle with Cao Jun in front of Yanzhou. He was thinking, since Cao Cao wants to compete with me, Tao, then come on. Only after a thorough contest like this will you Cao Cao really admit defeat.Therefore, he devoted himself to this battle and fully mobilized his generals.

At this moment, Xuzhou's fast horse came galloping to report the emergency situation that Cao Jun had successively descended to several cities in Xuzhou. Cao Jun took advantage of the victory and advanced, and Xuzhou was in danger. Tao Qian turned pale with shock, and muttered to himself, "How is this possible? How is this possible?" But facts are facts after all, and he can't help but reconsider.At that moment, the clever Tao Qian also thought, since Cao Cao's main force was going to attack Xuzhou, why not take this opportunity to capture Yanzhou? However, as soon as he thought about it, his advisers dissuaded him, saying that Cao Cao was obviously already in the army. Yanzhou has deployed elite soldiers. Although Tao Jun has many troops, he cannot take Yanzhou in a short time.Such a delay, after the main force of Cao's army captured Xuzhou, they returned to Yanzhou. Tao's army was not only attacked, but also homeless.

Tao Qian gave up the idea of ​​attacking Yanzhou, ordered the whole army to withdraw, and immediately rushed to Xuzhou for rescue. Tao Qian rushed back to Xuzhou in a hurry, and set up an array in the field north of Pengcheng, an important military town, to block Cao's army, planning to hold a big battle here. Tao Qian, who has been sticking to and operating the Xanadu in Xuzhou for a long time, does not have a deep understanding of the current military situation, so he does not really "know himself", let alone "know the enemy".He forgot that the Xuzhou army is almost all farmers, who are not good at riding horses at all, and his main force is mainly infantry.On the contrary, what Cao Cao himself is best at is precisely commanding cavalry assaults.Because Cao Cao has been operating for a long time with his strengths, the most destructive force in his camp is the cavalry.

Tao Qian ignored this fundamental key difference, and he was bound to make a fatal mistake. Cao Cao led the crowd to observe in front of the formation, he couldn't help laughing, and said: "Tao Qian, Tao Qian, why are you so pedantic, you only know the formation of the art of war, but don't know the actual needs, you are deliberately exposing your weaknesses to others. I am Cao Cao. The battle has not yet started, and the victory or defeat has been decided!" Cao Cao looked around the flat and open field, and there was a magnificent sight of his cavalry regiment galloping in front of him.Tao Qian's infantry, on the other hand, wriggled like ants in the field.

How could Cao Cao let go of this great opportunity? He immediately returned to the camp, assembled the cavalry, gave an order, and the galloping horses galloped, and the cavalry rushed towards Tao Ying like a hungry tiger.The field was flat and horseshoes were flying like flying horses. The Tao soldiers with short weapons were caught off guard and were killed and trampled one by one.Those who fled in panic were not spared death either. A man could run ten paces, which was less than a galloping horse. Many people were cut down during their desperate escape. The Xuzhou army suffered a terrible massacre, with more than 10,000 dead and injured. Blood flowed into the fields or ditches, and the corpses lay horizontally. Many fell into the Sishui River, blocking the river.

Tao Qian had never seen Cao Cao's cavalry be so brave and powerful, and he was completely stunned.Fortunately, left and right struggled to protect him, and he was able to escape from danger. Tao Qian led the remnant troops to retreat to the east, and did not stop until Tancheng, which was 150 miles away. So far, most of Xuzhou's territory had been lost. Change, such as after a serious illness.Tao Qian sank into a feeling of regret all day long, repeatedly examining his series of mistakes. In the fourth year of Chuping, that is, in 193 AD, Cao Cao wrote to ask him to come to Yanzhou as soon as possible for the safety of his father Cao Song.

Cao Song, Cao Cao's father, escaped from the capital at the urging of Cao Cao during the Dong Zhuo Rebellion.Because Cao Cao didn't want to be an official under Dong Zhuo, he abandoned his post and absconded, and was wanted by Dong Zhuo on the list, causing harm to his family, so Cao Song naturally didn't dare to return to his hometown.At that time, the Cao family was extravagant and luxurious, with hundreds of millions of wealth. When they fled, almost all of them were turned into money. He thought that Xuzhou had the best security, and he had a lot of friendship with Tao Qian, so he went to settle in Langya County, a subordinate of Xuzhou, for refuge.

Now, Cao Cao and Tao Qian met in battle, and Tao Qian was beaten badly by Cao Cao. Cao Cao had to consider the safety of his father under Tao Qian's rule.So he immediately passed the letter to his father, and at the same time sent Ying Shao, the prefect of Mount Tai, to meet his father on the border, and asked Ying Shao to lead his troops to escort his father over. Cao Song also knew about his son's war with Tao Qian. He felt sorry for Tao Qian, but he couldn't interfere with his son.Although he didn't really believe that Tao Qian would take revenge on him for Cao Cao's affairs, but after all, living here was a bit embarrassing or even embarrassing.At this time, he received a letter from his son asking him to go, and he readily agreed.He packed the gold and silver treasures and some valuable utensils accumulated in his life into more than one hundred carts, and then took his beloved wife and concubines and his youngest son Cao De, a family of thirty or forty people, and servants, servants, etc. Many people went to Yanzhou in a mighty way.

I had a safe journey and arrived at the border of Mount Tai one day earlier than the schedule.When we arrived at the junction of Hua County and Fei County, before dark, we found an inn to stay temporarily, waiting for the arrival of Taishou Ying Shao's troops.However, before Ying Shao, Captain Zhang Kai under Mu Taoqian of Xuzhou arrived first with 200 cavalry.In fact, Tao Qian had a lot of traditional Chinese martial arts concepts. Although he suffered from Cao Cao's losses on the battlefield, he had no intention of harming Cao Song. When he learned that Cao Song was leaving, he did not stop him, but instead sent Zhang Kai to escort him out.But the Cao family didn't know which soldiers and horses it was, and thought they were here to greet the old man.However, this team of soldiers and horses who came to meet the old man was a little strange. They would move vehicles when they saw them, and kill people when they saw them.Only then did Cao Song know that he had met a strong man, and he repeatedly shouted that he had been fooled.Cao De went out to resist with his sword, and was killed at that time.

Cao Song hurriedly dragged the fat lady to escape, and went to the backyard to climb the wall to get out.However, the fat lady was so fat that Cao Song failed to lift her up against the wall after repeated attempts, so he had to take her to hide in the hut. After a while, soldiers came to search and found both Cao Song.Cao Song begged for mercy repeatedly, but was still killed by the soldiers. Except for a few servants who ran fast, all Cao's family members were killed.Of course, all the gold, silver, jewelry and valuables in more than one hundred vehicles were taken away. It is said that this group of strongmen fled to Huainan with their belongings.