Chapter 42 Five, fierce battle Chenggao

While Dong Zhuo was preparing to move the capital, fighting had already started on the front lines, and the northern line was the first to fight. Yuan Shao and Wang Kuang stationed in Hanoi County were closest to the front line.At this time, Yuan Shao claimed to be a general of chariots and riders. This position is similar to the commander-in-chief or deputy commander-in-chief of the national armed forces (depending on whether there is a general). His previous qualifications in the army were only one of the eight school lieutenants in Xiyuan. A major general does not count. However, Yuan Shao is currently sitting in Huai County, the prefecture of Hanoi County, commanding the coalition forces in various places, and at the same time he needs a high reputation.Jizhou Mu Hanfu was stationed in Ye County, responsible for logistics supply.

Huai County is on the north bank of the Yellow River, less than a hundred miles away from Luoyang in a straight line, and it takes less than half a day for light cavalry to reach it.Yuan Shao ordered Wang Kuang to cross the Yellow River at Pingyin Ferry and make a tentative attack.Niu Fu led Dong Zhuojun to confront Wang Kuang at Pingyin Ferry, and secretly sent elite troops to cross the Yellow River from Xiaopingjin, another ferry, to go around and copy Wang Kuang's back route. Wang Kuang's troops suffered heavy losses and retreated to Huaihe River The county meets Yuan Shao and will not leave for the time being.

The defeat of the coalition forces in the first battle made the generals in the direction of Suanzao in the middle road become hesitant, and the most people gathered here.Everyone seemed to be in no hurry to attack, and they ate and drank a lot every day (Zhijiu Gaohui). Cao Cao was very anxious seeing this situation. Suanzao was on the territory of Chenliu County, and Zhang Miao had the most weight in the coalition army. Cao Cao found this old friend many times and asked to launch an attack. Cao Cao said: "Let's mobilize righteous soldiers to attack Dong Zhuo. Now that the troops have gathered, what are you waiting for? Dong Zhuo hijacked the emperor, burned the palace, and shook the sea. This is the perfect time for Heaven to destroy him. time), the world will be settled in one battle, so don’t miss this opportunity!”

Cao Cao repeatedly stated that Zhang Miao could no longer refuse, but said that he was unable to dispatch other ministries and let Cao Cao figure out a way by himself.Among the people from all walks of life, Cao Cao had a certain friendship with Bao Xin, Minister of Jibei, and this person had already arrived in Suanzao. Cao Cao found him again and persuaded Bao Xin to act together. Bao Xin was a firm supporter of Cao Cao's early career, and he was willing to act with Cao Cao together with his younger brother Bao Tao.Cao Cao had more than 5,000 men, and the Bao brothers more than 10,000. They formed a mixed force, which was actually controlled by Cao Cao, Wei Zi, Bao Xin, and Bao Tao. Cao Cao was the commander in chief, and marched west.

The team entered the Yin territory of Henan Province, which belonged to the Sili Xiaowei Department, and encountered no resistance. Yangwu, Yuanwu and other counties could not even find local officials.After the formation of the military confrontation between the East and the West, this area has become the forefront. No matter who wins or loses, this place will be devastated by the flames of war, and the local officials have long since fled. Yang Yuan, who was the magistrate of Zhongmu County at the time, also wanted to abandon his official position and flee, but someone advised him not to do so.This person is Ren Jun, who is from the county. He persuaded Yang Yuan, saying: "Dong Zhuo caused chaos, and there is no one in the world who does not hate him (everyone looks sideways), but they dare not start the incident first. It's not that they don't want to, but the situation is immature. If you can take this opportunity to be an advocate, you will definitely get a response from the world."

Yang Yuan may be a foreigner, so he also wants to slip away, but Ren Jun is a local, and has nowhere to run, so it is better to take up arms to defend his hometown.Yang Yuan followed Ren Jun's suggestion, called himself Henan Yin, appointed Ren Jun as the chief secretary, took over several nearby counties that were no longer under management, implemented temporary local self-government, recruited scattered braves, expanded the force, and waited for the opportunity. At this time, I heard that Cao Cao led a team to come. Ren Jun, together with Zhang Fen, another well-known local person, led hundreds of people to join the coalition team.Cao Cao temporarily organized these people into a division and appointed Ren Jun as the division commander (Ci Duwei).

After Ren Jun joined Cao Cao's camp, he won Cao Cao's trust. Later, Cao Cao married a cousin to him.After that, Ren Jun was mainly responsible for logistics work and became an outstanding expert on agricultural issues. He was one of the early leaders of Cao Wei's farming and died in the ninth year of Jian'an (204). With the unexpected joining of Ren Jun, the morale of the coalition forces greatly increased, and the team soon marched to the Xingyang and Chenggao areas. Their goal was to occupy the strategically important Aocang. The reason why Ao Cang has become a battleground for military strategists since ancient times is that it was the largest granary in the world at that time.There is an artificial canal called Bianshui near Xingyang and Chenggao, which is used to connect the Yellow River system with the Huaihe River in the south and other rivers, so that materials from the southeastern counties can be transported here very conveniently.

Since the beginning of the Qin Dynasty, the country has built warehouses on the nearby Aoshan Mountain to stockpile food and other materials, as well as some ordnance, and became the imperial court's grain reserve base and the army's logistics base.Cao Cao led his army straight to Xingyang and Chenggao. In addition to this being the only way for the Western Expedition, the capture of Aocang is even more significant. At first, they went smoothly. After the team crossed Bianshui, the faint shadow of Aoshan Mountain could be seen. Everyone was very excited, thinking that they were done.

However, what awaits them will be a fiasco, and most of them will not have the chance to cross the river again.Because, they are facing a terrible enemy, and they have carefully laid a trap for them. Once they enter, it is very difficult to get out alive.The enemy opposite them is called Xu Rong, and he is an out-and-out fierce man. Dong Zhuo Group currently has two main forces, one is his own Liangzhou Army, and the other is the Bingzhou Army who came back from the surrender. The two together have more than 100,000 people.Although the number of people is not particularly large, they are all elite soldiers. It is not an exaggeration to say that they can outnumber ten on the battlefield.

Especially the Liangzhou army, they are all professional soldiers, most of them were born in the Liangzhou area, due to the genetic advantages formed by the mixed ethnicity, all of them are physically strong.They have experienced hundreds of battles and have rich experience in the battlefield, and their family members and children are all in Liangzhou. They also have a fatal advantage: war horses.After the chariot withdrew from the role of the protagonist of the war, the war horse became one of the winning weapons in the cold weapon era.To measure the combat effectiveness of a team, it depends on the proportion of the number of cavalry and whether the breed of horses is good.In this regard, the Liangzhou Army undoubtedly has an absolute advantage.

The main generals of Dong Zhuo's Liangzhou army were Niu Fu, Li, Guo Si and others.Niu Fu has already introduced him as Dong Zhuo's son-in-law.Li Zizhiran was born in Beidi County (now Qingyang, Gansu Province) of Liangzhou Governor's Department. He fought bravely, treacherously and cruelly.Guo Si, also known as Guo Duo, was also born in Liangzhou and was a titan. These three people can be regarded as generals at the first level of the army commander. Under Commander Niu, the more famous division commanders are Zhang Ji and others; under Commander Li, the famous division commanders are Li Xian and Li Li (nephew of Commander Li ), Zhang Bao (not Zhang Fei's son), etc.The division-level generals directly commanded by Dong Zhuo include Xu Rong, Dong Yue, Duan Yan, Hu Zhen, Yang Ding, Li Meng, Fan Chou, etc. Most of them, like Dong Zhuo, were born and grew up in Liangzhou. They made great achievements in fighting the Qiang people, and their military ranks rose steadily.Among them, there is a special person, Xu Rong. Xu Rong was from the Northeast. One theory is that he was from Xiangping County, Liaodong County (now Liaoyang, Liaoning), and another theory is that he was from Xuantu County (now Shenyang, Liaoning).He was originally a low-level officer in the imperial army. He was promoted continuously because of his bravery during the battle in Liangzhou. Later, he was under the command of Dong Zhuo. He was one of the few generals who were not from Liangzhou that Dong Zhuo trusted. Although Xu Rong is very powerful, he doesn't fight recklessly. He prefers to use his brain.Seeing that the coalition forces were coming towards him, Xu Rong considered that the number of his troops was insufficient and it was not appropriate to stretch the front line too long, so he took the initiative to abandon the frontier strongholds such as Wuyang, Yuanwu, and Zhongmou, and deployed heavy troops in the Chenggao area, waiting for the enemy to cross. Attack after crossing Bianshui. The battle started in the Chenggao area around Aocang.Although the coalition forces are superior in numbers, most of them are recruits with short training time, insufficient battlefield experience, poor equipment, and a small number of cavalry. They are basically vulnerable to professional soldiers in Liangzhou. However, under the leadership of Cao Cao, Bao Xin, Wei Zi, Bao Tao, Ren Jun and others, as well as the brothers Cao and Xiahou, the coalition forces did not retreat and fought bloody battles to the death.The battle was extremely fierce, and the coalition forces were clearly at a disadvantage. At the critical moment, Cao Cao's horse was shot to death by random arrows, and Cao Cao, who lost his horse, would be killed in the melee at any time.At a critical moment, Cao Hong brought his war horse over for Cao Cao to ride, but Cao Cao was unwilling, so Cao Hong was in a hurry. Cao Hong said: "The world can live without me, Cao Hong, but it cannot live without you!" Only then did Cao Cao get on his horse and break out of the siege.Cao Hong then also managed to escape.The horse that has made great achievements is said to have a nice name called Baihu (a white crane).However, these are all the words of later generations. After retreating to the bank of the Bian River, Cao Cao saw that the enemy was not chasing him any more, so Cao Cao gathered them together. After counting, he found that Wei Zi and Bao Tao were killed in battle, and he and Bao Xin were both wounded. Fortunately, Cao Hong, Cao Ren, Cao Cao Chun, Xiahou, Xiahouyuan, and Ren Jun are all fine. The 20,000-strong team was almost completely annihilated. Most of those who did not die on the battlefield deserted. Only those brought out from Qiao County followed them closely. A group of people crossed Bianshui at night and returned to the base camp Suanzao.