Chapter 196 Chapter Twenty-Eight

In 1988, Cao Cao led his army to march westward to Wudu, and the journey was quite smooth. When entering the border between Wudu and Hanzhong, the road was full of dangers and vehicles were difficult to move, and the soldiers were subjected to severe tests.Natural and natural dangers plagued Cao's army, and the local Di tribe often harassed the troops, robbing food and seizing horses. In a rage, Cao Cao ordered Zhang He and Zhu Ling to lead a cavalry army of 5,000 paces as the vanguard to sweep first. Before Zhang He and Zhu Ling left, Cao Cao chopped chicken with his own hands, mixed the blood with wine, served it to the two generals, and said: "The mountain road is rugged, and the ravine is deep. Please pay attention to the two generals. If you don't wipe out the Di tribe, don't come to see me." I."

Zhang He and Zhu Ling were provoked by Cao Cao, so they issued a military order, led 5,000 soldiers to stand in front of Cao Cao, and swore in unison: "I won't wipe out the Di clan, the mountains and valleys will be buried, and the wild beasts will eat together." The voices of the soldiers resounded through the valley and echoed for a long time. This tragic scene made Cao Cao's eyes fill with tears.Holding the wine glass, he looked around the majestic mountain peaks, overlooking the huge ditch and long river below the mountain, and the narrow trails that the army passed by. He drank the wine in one gulp and shouted: "Bring paper and ink."

The attendants took out pens, inkstones, and paper from the tent. Cao Cao faced the cliff in front of him, and behind him were five thousand soldiers ready to go.Seeing Cao Cao in his clothes looking into the distance, the soldiers picked up their pens and began to write on the paper. After a while, after Cao Cao finished writing, he threw his pens on the ground, turned around and handed the paper full of words to Zhang Yun. Seeing that it was a poem, Zhang He recited it to the officers and soldiers in a vigorous voice: How difficult is the road to Sanguan Mountain in the morning; Newton can't afford it, the car is attached to the valley;

Sitting on a rock, playing the harp of hills; It is Qingjiao rhyme, which is confusing in the mind, and the song expresses the will. In the meantime, the mountains are silent and the water is silent, no insects or birds are silent, only the mountain wind, spreading Zhang He's voice far, far away... Cao Cao's ideal of enduring danger and pain and looking forward to a peaceful and prosperous age to nourish love and happiness was written by him at the age of 61. Although he has experienced the bitterness of the world, he still has the enthusiasm of his young entrepreneurial days.Cao Cao boldly, straightforwardly and naturally expressed his ideals with this poem, which infected his subordinates. The soldiers raised their arms and shouted: "I will not destroy the barbarians, and I will not return them." Afterwards, Zhang He and Zhu Ling led their troops to Di The camps of the tribes and tribes left in a mighty way.

The army was far away, and Cao Cao looked at the billowing smoke and dust caused by the march of the troops in the distance, feeling a lot of emotion.He asked the military music officer to immediately compose his poem to music and teach the soldiers of other troops to sing it to inspire everyone's morale. Soon, the soldiers sang ballads based on Cao Cao's poetry. "...Sitting on the rock, playing the qin of hills and strings, for Qingjiao rhyme..." Cao Cao himself is an expert in music, and he also sang along with the soldiers, which greatly boosted the morale of Cao's army.

Zhang and Zhu led troops to wipe out the harassment of the Di tribe, which opened the way for Cao Cao's army to move. When Cao Cao sent his troops across Wudu and arrived at Hechi (near Huixian County, Gansu today), he was blocked by a powerful Di tribe.The leader of this Di tribe was Wang Dou Mao, who was husky, brave and resourceful. Cao Cao led his army to fight against him for several months. Hechi City is tall and strong, and the soldiers defending the city are good at shooting. Because the arrows are often poisoned, the killing rate is extremely high.When Cao Cao ordered Xia Houyuan to attack, those who were hit by the arrows could not be cured, and the casualties were heavy.

Cao Cao deduced that if the stalemate persisted here, Zhang Lu's deployment would be disrupted after he heard the news, and he would even fall into the predicament of defeat.Cao Cao told Liu Ye and others his worries, but everyone was helpless. In 1999, when Cao Cao conquered Zhanglu on the western front and blocked Hechi, Sun Quan led an army of 70,000 on the southern front as he expected, and besieged Hefei with ten times the number of Cao Jun Xue Ti.In this way, Cao Cao faced a difficult period of fighting on the west and south fronts. For the Battle of Hefei, Cao Cao hoped to win, but he couldn't take command in separate form.Fortunately, Cao Cao was prepared for Xue Ti's secret plan.When Sun Quan's army arrived, Xue Ti immediately opened the secret letter Cao Cao gave him, which said: "If Sun Quan leads the army to surround Hefei, immediately recruit Zhang Liao and Li Dian's army to fight, and Le Jinjun will take over the defense of Hefei. The original defenders must not fight .”

After Xue Ti finished reading, he sent a messenger to invite Zhang Liao to wait in Hefei for an emergency military meeting, and presented Cao Cao's personal letter.All the generals felt hesitant because of the disparity in strength between the enemy and us, and it was very dangerous to take the initiative to attack. Zhang Liao volunteered and said: "Mr. Cao's expedition to Hanzhong was a long way away. If he turned his troops to help him, not only would he be too exhausted, and his military strength would be greatly reduced. Even if he arrived, I dare say that Hefei would be lost. Sun Quan's army is now Thinking that there are many soldiers and horses, the momentum is unstoppable, and we don't pay attention to our guards at all. This is a sign of the "arrogant soldiers must be defeated" as stated in the military book. The battle of Duke Cao's Guandu was also a small number of people, but the few won the many .We can fight another Guandu battle."

Zhang Liao noticed that the generals were listening intently to his speech, so he simply confessed his thoughts: "If we take advantage of Sun Quan's coming far away, when we are tired and have no foothold, and lead our elite soldiers to attack him violently and weaken his edge, we can inspire Our morale is the only way to prepare for a long-term defense; secondly, it can make the Soochow army's morale weak, weak in combat, and fear our army. When their food and grass are exhausted, Sun Quan will retreat." Zhang Liao spoke excitedly and optimistically. But Le Jin, a rational general, thought that the chances of taking the initiative to attack were too low, and shook his head to express his disapproval. However, Cao Cao's order was indeed what Zhang Liao expressed, so it was inconvenient to object, and everyone faced Zhang Liao's speech with silence. .

Seeing everyone's hesitation and fear of missing the military plane, Zhang Liao stood up and said loudly: "Success or failure, in this battle, if you are still looking forward and backward, and hesitate, then let me, Zhang Liao, take on the task of attacking the Soochow army alone!" Li Dian and Zhang Liao used to have feuds, and they had deep grievances with each other, but at the moment Zhang Liao's generosity and enthusiasm, and his courage to treat death as home moved him, so he kept silent for a while, and now he supported Zhang Liao's proposal.He stood up and said loudly, "Military and national affairs are imminent. How can I let General Zhang stand alone against Sun Quan's army out of personal grudges? Whether it is life or death, victory or defeat, I will fight side by side with the general to bear this responsibility Let’s shoulder the burden and go to the adversity together!”

So Zhang Liao selected from his own troops the capable and stubborn soldiers who were used to fighting to form a death squad. There were only 800 soldiers, and they were divided into four teams, each with 200 people. The general and school leader planned to form a small group after entering the Sun camp, and strive for a quick victory.