Chapter 24 In the fourth quarter, Cao Cao burned food and Yuan Shao was defeated

In the stalemate stage of the two armies, whether the army can be continuously supplied with rations will directly affect the victory or defeat of the war.One day, Cao Jun's spies discovered that thousands of Yuan Jun's grain carts were being escorted to Guandu.The escort officer Han Meng is a man of courage and no strategy, he underestimates the enemy and prepares little when fighting.When Xun You heard this, he suggested to Cao Cao to send troops to rob Yuan Shao's grain cart.Cao Cao sent generals Xu Huang and Shi Huan to lead troops there, beat Han Meng away on the way, and burned all the grain carts and military supplies he escorted.In October, Yuan Shao sent people to transport more than 10,000 vehicles of military rations from Hebei, and hoarded them in Gushi and Wuchao (both in Yanjin County, Henan Province) 40 miles north of Daying. Ten thousand people are stationed there for protection.Since the grain cart was burned last time, Jushou specially reminded Yuan Shao this time, asking him to send another general to lead a part of the army to garrison outside Chunyuqiong to prevent the Cao army from attacking.Yuan Shao did not accept this suggestion.

Xu You, another counselor of Yuan Shao, believed that Cao Cao had few troops and the main force had been concentrated at Guandu, so the rear must be empty; he suggested that Yuan Shao send a light cavalry to attack Xudu in the starry night.Yuan Shao was subjective and arbitrary, he had many worries, and he didn't accept Xu You's opinion. Instead, he said, "No, I can definitely catch Cao Cao here!" Xu You saw that Yuan Shao was so proud and underestimated the enemy that he would eventually lose to Cao Cao. Shaken.At this time, someone from Xu You's family who lived in Yecheng violated the law and was detained by the judge who stayed in Yecheng.In anger, Xu You secretly abandoned Yuan Shao and went to Cao Cao.

Cao Cao and Xu You were old acquaintances, but when they heard that Xu You had come to join him, they were so happy that they didn't even have time to put on their shoes, so they ran out to meet them.Cao Cao clapped his hands and said, "Ziyuan (Xu You's name is Ziyuan) has come from a long way, and my great event will definitely be successful." Xu You sat down and asked Cao Cao, "Yuan Shao's army is very strong, how do you plan to deal with him? How much rations do you still have?" Cao Cao said, "It can be supported for one year." Xu You knew that this was a lie, so he said, "There is not so much, please tell me more!" Cao Cao said, "It can be supported for half a year." Xu You knew that Cao Cao was still lying, so he pointed him out and said, "Don't you want to defeat Yuan Shao? Why don't you tell the truth?" Cao Cao knew that he couldn't hide it from Xu You, so he said to Xu You with a smile on his face: "Just now I was joking with you. In fact, the military rations are only enough for one month, so what do you think we should do?" Seeing that Cao Cao had told the truth, Xu You told Cao Cao all about Yuan Shao's hoarding of military rations in Wuchao, and suggested that Cao Cao send Qingqi went to attack and burned all of Yuan Shao's food, grass and luggage. Within three days, Yuan Shao could be defeated.

Cao Cao was overjoyed by Xu Youxian's strategy.That night, the sky was full of stars. Cao Cao left Cao Hong and Xun You to defend the Guandu camp. He led 5,000 infantry and cavalry under the banner of Yuan Jun. The horses' mouths were all tied up, and they ran from the path to Wuchao.A stick is a small wooden stick like chopsticks. In ancient times, when marching at night or sneaking into enemy camps, each marcher often had one stick in his mouth, so as not to be noticed by the enemy when he spoke or made a sound.There are ropes tied around the neck at both ends of the piece.Cao Jun encountered Yuan Jun's interrogation several times along the way, pretending that Yuan Shao had sent him to Wuchao for reinforcements. In this way, he passed Yuan Jun's defense line smoothly.Before dawn, Cao Jun arrived at Wuchao and surrounded Yuan Shao's grain storage.Cao Cao ordered the soldiers to light dry firewood and set fire to it. In an instant, thick smoke rose from the food store and the flames shot into the sky.Yuan Jun woke up from his dream, panicking, not knowing what to do.Chunyu Qiong, Yuan Jun's defender, rushed to fight, but couldn't withstand the onslaught of Cao Jun's onslaught, so he had to retreat and guard the gate of the camp.

Yuan Shao quickly figured out that it was Cao Jun who attacked Wuchao, but he didn't pay much attention to it.He said to his eldest son Yuan Tan: "Even if Cao Cao defeats Chunyu Qiong, as long as we capture his camp, Cao Cao will not return." So he ordered generals Zhang He (hehe) and Gao Lan to lead their troops to attack Cao Cao's Guandu big camp.Zhang He believed that Cao Cao personally led elite soldiers to besiege Wuchao, and Chunyuqiong might not be able to resist it. If Wuchao was lost, the event would be over.Therefore, he repeatedly asked Yuan Shaoxian to send troops to rescue Chunyuqiong.However, under Guo Tu's catering, Yuan Shao still insisted on using the main force to attack Cao Cao's Guandu camp, and only sent a few cavalry to rescue Wuchao.Cao Jun's camp at Guandu was strong, and the soldiers defended it to the death. Yuan Jun could not attack for a long time, which was equivalent to providing conditions for Cao Cao to break through Wuchao.

Let's talk about the battle situation in Wuchao.When Yuan Shao's reinforcement cavalry approached Wuchao, the people around Cao Cao hurriedly reported to him, "The enemy's cavalry is approaching, let's quickly divide a part of the army to resist it!" Cao Cao sternly ordered his subordinates: "Wait until the enemy arrives. Behind us, report again!" Under Cao Cao's resolute and decisive command, Cao's soldiers fought desperately, unstoppable, and soon captured Yuan Jun's camp, killed the general Chunyu Qiong, and Yuan Jun's 10,000 carts of grain were burned. Spotless!

The news of Chunyuqiong's defeat and killing spread to the front line of Guandu. Zhang Yun saw that the situation was over and heard that Guo Tu had framed him in front of Yuan Shao. battalion to surrender.Yuan Jun's morale had already been shaken, but when he saw the general surrendering, he became even more flustered and all collapsed.Cao Jun took advantage of the momentum to counterattack, Yuan Jun was defeated, and almost all the main force was wiped out. Yuan Shao and Yuan Tan only led 800 soldiers and fled back to the north of the Yellow River.Because of this disastrous defeat, Yuan Shao could no longer recover his strength, and finally became ill from accumulated worries, and died of illness in May of 202 AD.Several of his sons fought for power and killed each other, but were defeated by Cao Cao one by one.The brutal rule of Yuan's father and son ended, and the situation of Cao Cao's unification of northern China was finally formed.

The Battle of Guandu was a famous battle in history where the few defeated the many and the weak defeated the strong.Cao Cao was able to win the victory because he implemented correct and flexible combat principles in the military, such as: first wipe out the scattered weaker separatist forces, and then concentrate on dealing with the strong enemy in the front; ; Burn the enemy's food and grass, shake the enemy's morale, and so on.The reasons for Yuan Shao's failure are obvious: political corruption, pride and underestimation of the enemy, only knowing how to fight hard, not knowing how to use tactics and so on.Cao Cao was able to accept the suggestions of his subordinates with an open mind, while Yuan Shao insisted on going his own way, which was also an important factor in Cao's victory and Yuan's defeat.