Chapter 61 5. Victory without a fight

Cao Cao stayed in Liucheng for a month, where he made simple repairs, replenished supplies, and at the same time cleared the population of the Wuhuan-controlled area. He asked for their own opinions on the Han Chinese who were kidnapped by the Wuhuan people and the Yuan brothers from the interior. Those who are willing to go back can bring them back together. As a result, the vast majority of Han people are willing to go back, and the number reaches more than 100,000. This proves once again that Cao Cao's massacre in Liucheng does not exist. The victory over Wuhuan in one fell swoop boosted the morale of Cao's army, and the accompanying generals were all eager to try again. They didn't rush back to the army, so they went straight to Liaodong, and dealt with Gongsun Kang and the Yuan brothers, so as to save another trip.

However, just when everyone was full of confidence and ready to go to Liaodong, Cao Cao ordered the squadron to return to Jizhou, which puzzled everyone.From the matter of the Northern Expedition to Wuhuan, everyone felt that ordinary people were really inferior to Duke Cao in terms of daring to think and do it. Why is it that now that everyone's enthusiasm has been mobilized, Duke Cao dare not do it? Facing the generals whose morale was like a rainbow, Cao Cao smiled and said: "I am asking Gongsun Kang to chop off the heads of Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi. Don't bother everyone. Don’t bother the soldiers)!” Everyone was even more confused, and turned to ask the Chief of Staff (Military Master Sacrificial Wine) Guo Jia, hoping that he would come forward to persuade Duke Cao again.Unexpectedly, Chief of Staff Guo smiled mysteriously and did not answer, which means that you just wait and see the good show.

As a staunch supporter and chief strategist of this military operation, Guo Jia has been following the army. He should have been very happy, but at this time he was not happy: Guo Jia was ill. There is no record of Guo Jiade's illness. Perhaps it was due to overwork, or perhaps he was not acclimated to the environment after going deep into the minority areas in the north. This time he was seriously ill, and his health was getting worse day by day.Cao Cao was very worried about this, and ordered someone to take good care of him, and planned to return to the teacher as soon as possible. In September of the twelfth year of Jian'an (207), Cao Cao led his army back from Liucheng.Not long after they set off on the road, the emissary of Gongsun Kang, the prefect of Liaodong County, chased after him, and brought Yuan Shang, Yuan Xi, and the heads of Supuwan, Wuhuan Shanyu of Liaodong County.

The generals looked amazing at first sight. It seems that Cao Gong had already planned his plan well, and he predicted things like a god, and he won without fighting.Everyone didn't know what kind of clever trick he used to mobilize Gongsun Kang, who had always been "unyielding", so they all came to ask. Cao Cao smiled and said: "Gongsun Kang has always been afraid and jealous of Yuan and his son. If we pursue too quickly, they will unite against us. If we slow down, they will kill each other. , and ease comes from the phase diagram), it’s just this simple truth.” Everyone listened and had to admire.

The Yuan brothers fled to Liaodong and joined Gongsun Kang, the prefect of Liaodong County.Although Gongsun Kang was a prefect of a county, he actually controlled the entire "Great Liaodong" area, including Lelang County, Liaodong County, Xuantu County, and Liaodong vassal states, roughly equivalent to the entire Liaodong Peninsula and part of the Korean Peninsula today. In addition to this, there is a small part of the Shandong Peninsula across the sea. Yuan Shao and his son had no relationship with the Gongsun family in Liaodong. As Cao Cao analyzed, Gongsun Kang only wanted to protect himself. Come to kill yourself.

Moreover, Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi did not come alone, there were thousands of troops behind them, which made Gongsun Kang even more uneasy.These two boys are now desperate, and maybe they will take risks to grab their own territory.Gongsun Kang decided to act first, kill them, and relieve his confidants, and at the same time sell Cao Cao a favor. According to the "Dianlue", Gongsun Kang hosted a banquet for the Yuan brothers, and ambushed elite soldiers in the stables in advance, waiting for the two Yuans to attack as soon as they arrived. Gongsun Kang is playing dirty, and the Yuan brothers are not idle.Just as Gongsun Kang expected, Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi were also plotting against Gongsun Kang, and they also chose to do it at this banquet.Yuan Shang was brave and aggressive. He said to Yuan Xi: "I will definitely meet Gongsun Kang at this banquet. I want to join hands with you, brother. Then Liaodong will be ours!"

Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi also made arrangements, such as dancing swords at the banquet, throwing cups as signs, etc., but they did not get the chance to perform, because they were tied up by Gongsun Kang's ambushes as soon as they entered the banquet hall.Gongsun Kang ordered them to be thrown to the ground in the yard. It was the tenth month of the lunar calendar at this time, and the northeast region was already freezing cold, which really froze Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi to death.Yuan Shang couldn't help it, and wanted to ask for a mat to spread on the ground to make it more comfortable. Yuan Xi said to his younger brother, "I'm going to move my head in a while, what kind of mat do I need (the head can travel thousands of miles, what mat should I do)?"

Gongsun Kang ordered Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi to be beheaded.Yuan Shao's three sons, the eldest son Yuan Tan, the second son Yuan Xi, and the third son Yuan Shang all died at this point, and the Yuan family's power was completely wiped out.According to "Dian Lue", Yuan Tan's character is Si, Yuan Xi's character is Yi, and Yuan Shang's character is Fu. According to the book "Book of Wu", Yuan Shao also had a son named Yuan Mai, who went to Liaodong with Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi, and was killed by Gongsun Kang. The book "Cao Man Biography" also mentioned Yuan Mai, but it believed that Yuan Mai was not Yuan Shao's son, but Yuan Shao's grandson, the son of Yuan Tan or Yuan Xi, and the nephew of Yuan Shang.

When the heads of the Yuan brothers were sent to Cao Cao, he was still on his way back to his teacher.In order to commend Gongsun Kang and continue to stabilize the Northeast King, Cao Cao worshiped Gongsun Kang as the left general in the name of Xiandi and named him Xiangpinghou.This is a county marquis. Gongsun Kang's previous military position was General Wuwei inherited from his father Gongsun Du, and his title was Yongning Xianghou. Gongsun Kang's administrative position has not changed, and he is still the prefect of Liaodong County. Cao Cao led the army to continue to advance. There is no clear record of the route they took to return to the division, but compared with the time when they came, the return journey was not as easy, or even more difficult.

According to "Cao Man Biography", when Cao Cao returned to his army, it was cold and dry, and there was no water source within 200 miles, and the army food became a problem.Cao Cao ordered to kill horses to feed his hunger, and killed thousands of horses before and after. This made Cao Cao feel bad. The brothers who are poor tiger and leopard riders can only temporarily change to infantry. Cao Cao ordered people to dig a well on the spot to fetch water. After digging more than 30 feet, the Liaohe Oilfield would have been dug out in advance if they dug further down. Only then did they barely get some water.

This battle was fierce, and the scene of the march was also tragic. It was tragic when he went there, and it was also tragic when he returned from victory. Cao Jun had never fought such a battle. Guo Jia could no longer ride a horse and could only lie on the cart.Cao Cao was concerned about Guo Jia's condition, kept asking along the way, and often visited Guo Jia, but Guo Jia's condition showed no sign of improvement, which made Cao Cao feel very heavy. There was also a happy thing on the way back to the division. When the army marched to Yishui, Daijun Wuhuan Shanyu Pufulu, Shangjun Wuhuan Shanyunalou and others led the tribal leaders to congratulate Cao Jun on his victory. And expressed his willingness to surrender.This once again proved the impossibility of Cao Cao slaughtering the city in Liucheng. According to historical records, there is another interesting thing about Cao Jun’s return to the army. There was a large cart in Cao Jun’s team, and there was a big iron cage on the cart, which contained a rare thing: a lion. According to the book "Natural History", Cao Jun encountered a lion on White Wolf Mountain, and Cao Cao sent people to hunt it down, but the lion was very fierce and injured many people.Cao Cao personally led hundreds of people to besiege, and the lion roared, frightening everyone from left to right. Cao Cao suddenly found something running out of the forest, like a raccoon, and it jumped onto the handlebar of the car Cao Cao was riding on.When the lion came to attack, the thing like a raccoon jumped up and jumped on the lion's head. The lion fell to the ground and dared not get up, so everyone went up and killed the lion. This was not the only lion encountered on the White Wolf Mountain. Cao Cao's commander even caught one alive, so he got a cage and put it on a cart to pull it back. When approaching Ye County, the male lion roared loudly. According to "Natural History", hearing this roar, dogs and chickens within 30 miles did not dare to bark (all chickens and dogs within 30 miles, No barking).