Chapter 2 Section 2 Jin Army Attacks Cao to Rescue Song

In the winter of the eighteenth year of King Xiang of Zhou (634 BC), in order to fight for the hegemony of the Central Plains, King Cheng of Chu surrendered to the State of Jin on the pretext that the State of Song (in the eastern part of Henan Province), which had succumbed to Chu State, personally led the Chu Army and Zheng, Zheng, and Jin. The armies of Chen, Cai, Xu and other vassal states went to attack Song State and surrounded Shangqiu (now Shangqiu City, Henan Province), the capital of Song State.Song Chenggong sent Grand Sima Gong Sun Gu to the state of Jin to ask for help.Both Xian Zhen [zhen Zhen] and Hu Yan [yan Yan], the great officials of the Jin State, advocated sending troops to save the Song Dynasty.But in terms of strength, Chu is stronger than Jin, and Chu has many allies, which are very powerful; in terms of geography, Song is not close to Jin, and it is difficult to support the Song Dynasty from afar. Can't decide.In response to this situation, Hu Yan proposed a strategy of attacking Cao and Wei to relieve Song's siege.Wei State and Cao State happened to be sandwiched between Jin State and Song State.He said to Duke Wen of Jin: "I heard that the state of Chu has just surrendered to the state of Cao, and married the state of Wei. They are allies of the state of Chu. If we go to attack these two countries, the state of Chu will definitely come to rescue them. In this way, The siege of the Song Kingdom can be solved without rescue.” Jin Wengong accepted this suggestion and agreed to Gongsun Gu’s request, asking him to go back to the country first, and telling Song Chenggong to guard the capital, and the Jin army will arrive later.Jin Wengong immediately expanded the original upper and lower armies of Jin into the middle, upper, and lower armies (about 12,500 people each), and quickly formed a powerful fighting force.

In the first month of the 20th year of King Xiang of Zhou (632 BC), Duke Wen of Jin concentrated his troops on the border between the Kingdom of Jin and the State of Wei, on the pretext that when he was in exile in the State of Cao, Cao Gonggong was rude to him and asked the State of Wei to excuse him. Let him attack Cao Guo.The state of Wei refused, so Duke Wen of Jin sent troops to attack the state of Wei first, and captured Wulu City (now Puyang County, Henan Province) in the state of Wei.This frightened Wei Chenggong. He quickly sent someone to ask Jin Wengong for peace, but Jin Wengong refused.Wei Chenggong wanted to go to Chu State for help, but the people of Wei State were dissatisfied with Wei Chenggong, and drove Wei Chenggong out of the capital Chuqiu (now Hua County, Henan Province).Duke Wen of Jin then sent troops south to besiege Taoqiu, the capital of Cao State (now southwest of Dingtao County, Shandong Province). In March, he captured Taoqiu and captured Cao Gonggong, the king of Cao State.In order to gain the support of the people of Cao State, Duke Wen of Jin announced Cao Gonggong's crimes in public, saying that he did not use the virtuous minister Xi to restrain him.Jin Wengong also ordered the Jin army not to enter Xi Luji's house, to protect the safety of Xi Luji's family, to show respect for the sage.In order to enforce military discipline, Duke Wen of Jin ordered the beheading of the general Tianjie (jiejie) who disobeyed the order, and ordered the whole army.The Jin army has strict military discipline and improved combat effectiveness.In order to expand the conflict between Chu and Song, Jin Wengong ordered the captured Cao Gongbus to be taken care of by the Song army.