Chapter 51 2. The defeat of Dingjun Mountain

In July of the twenty-third year of Jian'an (218), Cao Cao mobilized troops and horses, and personally went to Hanzhong to reinforce Xia Houyuan. It has been three or four months since Liu Bei's soldiers arrived at Yangping Pass. The main reason why Cao Cao didn't set off immediately was that the rebellion of the Wuhuan people in Daijun had not subsided. Before leaving, Cao Cao promulgated the "Last Order", explaining his funeral. The "Last Order" said: "In ancient times, barren land must be chosen for burying people. After my death, I can set aside the Ximen Leopard Temple and the area above the Xiyuan as the Shouling Mausoleum, and use the higher terrain as the foundation of the tomb. No land is built and no trees are planted. .According to the rituals of the Zhou Dynasty, special personnel can be set up to guard the cemetery. After the death of the princes, they can be buried in the front of the left and right. Mausoleum, the scope of the cemetery can be expanded to ensure that so many people can be accommodated (it has a vast area to make it compatible)."

This is a suicide note, and the sudden release of such a suicide note before the army set off gives people an ominous feeling.In the past, Cao Cao always tried every means to boost everyone's morale, but this time he released his suicide note. It was a special pre-war mobilization, showing his determination to win to the death?Or sensed something in the dark? On the Hanzhong side, Xia Houyuan commanded Zhang, Xu Huang and other troops to block Liu Bei's onslaught during this period, so that Liu Bei did not make much progress.Liu Bei sent general Chen Shi and others to cut off the Ma Ming Pavilion Road, Xia Houyuan sent Xu Huang to attack and defeat Chen Shi.Liu Bei launched an attack from Guangshi again, defending Guangshi, Liu Bei was unable to attack.

From the failure of the Battle of Wudu to the disadvantage of Guangshi, Liu Bei has never won a single battle. This time, although he brought an ultra-luxury lineup composed of Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong, Ma Chao, etc., he has suffered repeated defeats. Liu Bei was unwilling. He hurriedly wrote to Zhuge Liang who was staying in Chengdu, asking for more troops. In fact, Liu Bei basically brought all the soldiers he could bring, and Zhuge Liang really didn't have anything to spare. According to the "Three Kingdoms Li Yan Biography", the interior of Yizhou was not peaceful at this time. Ma Qin, Gao Sheng and others gathered tens of thousands of people to rebel in the county. Defeat them and kill Ma Qin and Gao Sheng.As soon as the matter was settled, the Yi people from Yue County besieged Xindao County again. Li Yanchi went to rescue and defeated them.

Liu Bei still has some elite troops, but at this time in Jingzhou, he cannot be separated at all.Almost all the rest went to fight Hanzhong. Liu Bei asked Zhuge Liang to continue to increase his troops, which made Zhuge Liang scratch his head. Yang Hong, who worked in Yizhou, said to Zhuge Liang: "Hanzhong is the throat of Yizhou, the key to survival. If there is no Hanzhong, there will be no Yizhou (this is also a disaster for this family), so don't think about it!" Zhuge Liang also realized that this battle could no longer be backed down, no matter how difficult it was, he had to face it.So on behalf of Liu Bei, he appointed Yang Hong as the prefect of Shu County, responsible for handling conscription and logistics supply matters, and supporting the Hanzhong front line.

When Li Yan was the prefect of Qianwei County, Yang Hong was his personnel director (Jun Gongcao). Now Li Yan is still the prefect of Qianwei County, and Yang Hong has been promoted to the prefect of Shu County, on an equal footing with the old leaders.After Yang Hong became the prefect, he had a secretary called He Zhi who was very talented. Yang Hong recommended him, and He Zhi was promoted faster. When Yang Hong was still the prefect of Shu County, He Zhi had already been promoted to Guanghan County. Too guarded. These eclectic selection and appointment of personnel were all carried out under the leadership of Zhuge Liang, who was in charge of the work in the rear. The local officials and people in Yizhou deeply admired this (Xitu Xianfu Zhuge Liang can make the best use of the time).

At this time, the whole state of Yizhou has entered a state of battle, throwing pots and selling iron, and using all material resources and manpower to support the front line of Hanzhong.With the support from the rear, Liu Bei was even more determined not to take down Hanzhong County and not to withdraw his troops. However, Cao Cao does not seem to fully realize the urgency of the problem. In July, he set off from Ye County and traveled westward along the Yellow River, first arriving at Chang'an.According to the "Three Kingdoms Wang Su Biography", when Cao Cao passed by Hongnong County, he heard that Emperor Xian Liu Xie's brother, Hongnong King Liu Bian was buried here after his death, and thought of mourning at the grave.Dong Yujin, a native of Hongnong County and serving as the servant of Huangmen, remonstrated: "According to the righteousness of "Spring and Autumn", a monarch who died less than a year after ascending the throne cannot be called a monarch. They should not pay homage to you." Cao Cao thought it was reasonable, so he gave up.

In September, Cao Cao led the army to Chang'an, and it took two months to walk a thousand miles in total. This speed is too slow. At this time, Cao Cao received a report from Hefei that Le Jin, the right general, had died of illness. Cao Cao was very sad to hear that.Le Jin followed Cao Cao Jiwu when he started his army, and he is considered one of the founders of Cao Jiajun.This little man started as a guard (officer) next to Cao Cao, and eventually grew into a senior general of Cao Jun. He is brave in battle, has strategy, and is a rare general with comprehensive qualities. Cao Cao ordered Le Jin to posthumously posthumously title Weihou, and the title was inherited by his son Le, who later served as governor of Yangzhou and was killed in the Huainan Rebellion.The strange thing is that Cao Cao seems to have stayed in Chang'an for about two or three months. The reason is unknown, but it was during these terrible two or three months that the situation on the front line had an irreparable reversal.

Liu Bei made many tentative attacks on the front line of Yangping Pass, but there was no progress. Later, his reinforcements arrived one after another, and his morale was boosted. Passed Yangping Pass, advanced along the Hanshui River Valley for a certain distance, and arrived at the foot of Dingjun Mountain. As mentioned earlier, the core area of ​​Hanzhong is a basin extending from the Han River Valley, surrounded by high mountains, and almost all important towns are on both sides of the Han River.Yangpingguan is the west gate of this basin, which is located on the Han River. In other words, from Yangping Pass along Hanzhong, you can reach Nanzheng, the central city of Hanzhong County, but before you get there, you will encounter a barrier, which is Dingjun Mountain.

Dingjun Mountain is located in the south of the Han River, more than ten miles south of Mian County, Shaanxi Province. It belongs to the Daba Mountains. Compared with the deep mountains and rivers around the Hanzhong Basin, its altitude is not very high. The main vein is composed of twelve east-west stretches. It is composed of mountain peaks, with a total length of about 20 miles, and its highest point is only more than 800 meters above sea level. From here, to the east is Pingchuan. In other words, although Dingjun Mountain is a barrier, it is not particularly dangerous. When Liu Bei led his army to attack here, Cao Jun would be in danger.

Seeing that Dingjun Mountain was occupied, Xia Houyuan rushed to grab it, and the two battles started a fierce battle. Liu Bei launched a night attack and burned the antlers of Cao Jun's camp. At this time, Xiahouyuan was stationed in the west camp, and Zhang was stationed in the east camp. Half of the reinforcements are for Zhang, but something big will happen in this way. According to the "Three Kingdoms" records, Xia Houyuan personally led troops to reinforce Zhang. After Fazheng saw it, he felt that the opportunity must not be missed, and suggested Liu Bei to attack Xiahouyuan directly at all costs.Liu Bei ordered Huang Zhong to be the main attacker, biting Xia Houyuan's reinforcements and relentlessly fighting and charging, Cao Jun was defeated. General Zhengxi and Bochang Hou Xiahouyuan died in battle!Also died in the battle was Zhao, the governor of Yizhou appointed by Cao Cao.

Cao Cao used to warn Xia Houyuan, saying: "There are times when a general should show weakness, and he should not blindly fight fiercely. A general should be courageous, and win with wisdom. Bravery without strategy is nothing more than a mediocrity (to be a general) When you are timid, you can’t just rely on courage. Generals should use courage as the foundation and act wisely; but if you know how to be brave, a man is no match for his ears).” Xia Houyuan’s death in battle just confirmed Cao Cao’s words. In "Cao Cao Ji", there is an article "Wei Wujun Policy Order", which also talks about this battle.According to the records of this military order, the battle situation at that time was like this: the enemy burned Cao Jun's antlers, but these antlers were fifteen miles away from the camp.Xiahouyuan led four hundred soldiers to repair the antlers alone. The enemy saw it from the mountain and rushed out from the valley. Xiahouyuan personally participated in the battle and died in battle. Cao Cao believed that Xia Houyuan had made a command error in this battle. A general like Xia Houyuan, who was responsible for commanding the entire battlefield, should not have personally participated in the battle, let alone such trivial matters as repairing antlers. Cao Cao later wrote this matter into the military order and reported it to the whole army, which shows that he was very concerned about the defeat of Dingjunshan.In this military order, he even made serious remarks, saying that Xia Houyuan was not good at leading troops, and the army called him "General Baidi" (Yuan was not good at using soldiers, so he was called "General Baidi" in the army).Although Xia Houyuan was dead, Cao Cao still did not forgive him. Xia Houyuan was the commander-in-chief of the entire western front, equivalent to a marshal-level figure. His sudden death shocked everyone in Cao's army (all three armies were eclipsed), and everyone was terrified and didn't know what to do. Du Xi, the former Secretary-General of the Prime Minister's Mansion (Prime Minister's Chief History), is serving as the military governor in Hanzhong at this time, and Guo Huai, who once served as the chief of the security department (the thief Cao) in Cao Pi's Wuguan Zhonglang General's Mansion, is now serving as Sima in Xiahouyuan's army. The two of them restrained the scattered soldiers and ordered the whole army to say: "General Zhang is a famous general in the country, and Liu Bei is also afraid of it. Now the matter is very urgent, and it is not General Zhang who can't preside over the big event." Du Xi and Guo Huai jointly promoted Zhang as the interim commander. Zhang readjusted his deployment and secured the camp, and everyone settled down a little.Liu Bei wanted to take advantage of Xia Houyuan's death in battle to take Hanzhong in one go, and commanded troops across the Han River to attack the camp the next day. Everyone thought that at this time the enemy was outnumbered and their morale was not as good as that of the opponent. It is better to build fortifications beside the Han River to resist The enemy crossed the river. Guo Huai disagrees with this view. He believes that this is an approach to show weakness to the enemy and cannot defeat the enemy.It's better to line up a little farther away from the Han River, lure the enemy soldiers to cross the river, wait for them to cross halfway, and then suddenly attack (half aid and then attack), Liu Bei will definitely be defeated. Zhang adopted Guo Huai's suggestion and lined up far away on the north side of the Han River.Liu Bei was really suspicious when he saw it, and he didn't dare to cross the river. Under Zhang's auspices, Cao Jun temporarily stabilized the position to avoid defeat across the board.They stood firm on the north bank of the Han River, waiting for the arrival of reinforcements.