Chapter 17 Back to Xudu

The failure of the Battle of Wancheng was entirely caused by Cao Cao's personal misconduct, which made him both regretful and ashamed.This battle not only lost soldiers, horses and supplies, but also his son Cao Ang, nephew Cao Anmin and his confidant and beloved general Dian Wei were also killed in the battle. Zhang Xiu sent Zhang Xian to continue the pursuit after a short rest, making it impossible for Cao Jun to gain a foothold even on the east bank of the Feishui River.The so-called defeat is like a mountain, obviously the enemy has only a small number of troops, but Cao Cao's army's morale cannot be stabilized, so he had no choice but to lead the soldiers and horses to fight and walk, retreating to Wuyin to station.

After entering the county seat, the soldiers and horses were settled properly, and Cao Cao could finally cry happily.Cao Ang was the only flesh and blood left by Mrs. Liu, his concubine. He died in childbirth to give birth to Cao Ang and Mrs. Liu. Later, he was raised by his wife Ding.Ding regarded him as his own, and poured all his efforts into it; Cao Ang was also a vigorous child, who learned literature at the age of seven and practiced martial arts at the age of nine. He was a filial son at home, and he was a competent general when he sent troops. , and died out of filial piety, how can I explain to Ding when I go back?

Cao Anmin is the son of Cao Cao's younger brother Cao De. Cao Song and Cao De traveled from Xuzhou to Yanzhou. On the way, Tao Qian's subordinate Zhang Kai murdered them for money.Although this child is not very serious, he is also a bit smart, and it is the blood left by Cao De, and now he has ruined it. How can this be worthy of his dead brother? Dian Wei is the tiger minister of the world, and his bravery is no less than that of Meng Ben and Xia Yu in ancient times. He has always followed Cao Cao closely and is a fierce general admired by the whole army.Fighting Lu Bu and Ping Huangjin, he was unscathed in many fierce battles, but now he lost his life in Wancheng.What's more, when Zhang Xiu had already surrendered, he took his aunt as his concubine, which made him rebellious.Dian Wei's death was so unworthy, wouldn't it chill the hearts of the three armies, how could he explain this to the soldiers of the battalion?

The more Cao Cao thought about it, the more regretful he felt, the dignified man burst into tears, and no one could persuade him.The Wang family and the Zhou family were also dumbfounded at this moment. Now they have become the target of the defeat of the three armies. Although no one dared to insult and scold them face to face because of Cao Cao, everyone looked at them with white eyes.In fact, the two women are also very wronged. Cao Cao forced them to marry them back then, not to mention killing so many soldiers, and killing the wife’s son before entering Cao’s house. Not necessarily!The two persuaded Cao Cao to step aside quickly. At this juncture, they were afraid that they would blame themselves.

Xia Houyuan, Le Jin, Zhu Ling and other generals hurriedly surrounded them, and you spoke to each other to enlighten them, and even a careless person like Xu Chu also followed up with comforting words at this moment.Cao Cao wiped away his tears, looked up at Xu Chu, and said sadly, "I don't feel sorry for my son or nephew when they die, but I only feel sorry for Dian Wei. A generation of brave generals lost their lives on the battlefield. What a tragedy! What a pain!" These words were not sincere Yes, no matter how good Dian Wei was at fighting, he was just an outsider, and he couldn't feel more regretful than the death of Cao Ang and An Min.He said this in order to win people's hearts and let the generals feel his affection, so that they should not blindly resent mistakes.

How can Xu Chu have more eyes than Cao Cao? Seeing that he was still crying for his beloved general in such a situation, the tough man couldn't hold back, and shed a few tears: "My lord, it's my husband's good fortune to wrap his body in horse leather! Let's raise our troops and fight again Zhang Xiu, just avenge Dian Wei." Xia Houyuan lamented: "The body shrouded in horse leather...but Dianwei's body is still in the enemy camp!" Cao Cao finally seized a chance to express himself: "I will pass down a message to the enemy. Whoever can return Dian Wei's body will be rewarded with a large sum of money! Dian Wei must not be allowed to die in a foreign country..."

Hearing his statement, everyone felt a little relieved, and several of them couldn't help wiping away their tears.At this time, Guo Jia suddenly rushed over: "Master, there are Qingzhou soldiers who have fled here, saying that Yu Jin has rebelled, and led his troops to attack Cao Ren's Qingzhou soldiers, and they have already killed Wuyin." "Ah?!" Cao Cao cried back in fright.Now that the army has scattered and has not yet gathered, how can Yu Jin rebel again?Although people's hearts fluctuated when the army was defeated, after all, Yu Jin had followed Cao Cao for so many years, and it was quite doubtful that he suddenly said that he had rebelled.Cao Cao immediately ordered the soldiers to close the gate of the city on guard, and personally led all the generals to the Wuyin city tower to watch the movement.

At first glance, everyone was confused.But seeing the sound of killing in the distance, Yu Jin's men were fighting with Zhang Xian's pursuers, the two sides were evenly matched and the fight was indistinguishable.Cao Cao calmed down, it would be better if Yu Jin didn't rebel, even if he rebelled, it doesn't matter, and let him fight Zhang Xian, if Zhang Xian loses, he will calm the foreign troubles, and if Yu Jin loses, he will eliminate the internal strife. Cao Cao sat on the mountain and watched the tigers fight quietly to watch the changes, but he saw that even when the army was defeated, the soldiers and horses led by Yu Jin were not scattered, and the lineup was neat and orderly; upper hand.The two sides stalemate for a long time, Zhang Xianjian could not win, fearing that Wuyin City would attack again, he took the initiative to withdraw his troops.Yu Jin didn't dare to pursue anymore, he straightened out his soldiers and horses and collected supplies, and it took a long time before he led his troops towards Wuyin City.All the people in the city held their breath and concentrated, fearing that they would not lead their troops to attack the city.But he saw that his soldiers stopped advancing when they reached the moat, and then set up camp in a leisurely manner, burying pots and making food, and there was no sign of rebellion at all.

Cao Cao watched silently for a long time, then suddenly said: "Quickly open the city gate and ask General Yu to come in." "You can't open the gate!" Zhu Ling emerged from the crowd, "Now that Yu Jin's rebellion has not been found out, if he opens the city gate, his soldiers and horses will rush in, what will happen?" Cao Cao also knew that Zhu Ling and Yu Jin were not on good terms, but it was inconvenient to reprimand him at this time, so he just enlightened him: "Don't doubt Wen Bo, I will protect Yu Wen and I will not oppose it!" Zhu Ling stopped talking and stepped aside, but secretly secretly Complaint: Did you ever protect Zhang embroidery from being reversed?Haven't you been chased here yet?

After a while, the gate of the city was opened wide, and there was no difference between Yu Jin's soldiers and horses. He was the only one who rode into the city alone.He hurriedly came to the top of the city tower, knelt down to salute Cao Cao from a long distance, and said in fear and fear: "The last general gathers the defeated army and marches slowly, and the death penalty is the death penalty. I wonder if the lord is safe?" When Cao Cao heard that he first asked about his own safety, all his doubts were relieved: "Wen Ze, please get up quickly. Thanks to the generals who risked their lives to protect you, I am fine. Please repel the pursuers. Thank you for your hard work."

Yu Jin got up and retreated to the side, he didn't say anything about attacking and killing Qingzhou soldiers, he couldn't help but muttered to the left and right generals: "My lord is in such a difficult situation, it's really the luck of the court and the world's luck." Although he was muttering, his voice was well controlled , neither big nor small, just enough for Cao Cao to hear clearly. Zhu Ling couldn't help being annoyed when he saw that he was still pretending to be flattering and flattering at this moment; he also saw that Cao Cao was twirling his beard with his hands, and he didn't mention the rumors of rebellion.He took the initiative to take a step, cupped his hands at Yu Jin and said, "Brother Wen Ze, what is the purpose of you leading your troops to attack our Qingzhou Department?" Yu Jin didn't even look at him, he just looked at Cao Cao and said, "When the army withdrew, Qingzhou soldiers took advantage of the chaos to plunder the other's luggage. I just taught them a little lesson." Without waiting for Zhu Ling to intervene, he again Said first, "Think about the Qingzhou soldiers, who used to be members of the Yellow Turbans. Now that they belong to the lord, how can they become thieves again!" Zhu Ling's words were blocked by saying this, and he looked at this obedient face to the face, but the back of the back. Yu Jin felt his teeth itch with hatred, but he didn't know what to say.Cao Cao asked calmly, "Wen Ze, do you know that Qingzhou soldiers came here to sue you for treason?" "It has been expected." Yu Jin cupped his hands. "Since I've figured it out, why didn't you quickly call the gates of the city to come in to argue, and why didn't you rush to set up camp outside the city?" "Now the enemy is behind, and there is no time to pursue them. If you don't prepare first, how can you defend against the enemy? And the general knows that the lord is smart, how can you hear the words of false accusations?" Yu Jin's words are justified and well-founded. fart. Cao Cao couldn't help sighing: "The difficulty in the water is so hasty, but the text can be rectified when it is chaotic, and there is an immovable festival. Although a famous general in ancient times, why add it! Wait for me to execute those who slander, and return to the court Afterwards, I will play you as the Marquis of Ting as a reward." Yu Jin rejoiced in his heart, but declined and said: "The final general doesn't want to be entrusted with the title, but I just hope that the lord can forgive those who slander. Qingzhou soldiers are the people who belong to them, and it is better to show their kindness to calm their hearts. The last general can't bear to kill each other because of personal grievances." When he said this, the magnanimous image of himself and Cao Cao was established. Cao Cao was even more relieved: "It makes sense...but you still have to be rewarded for your merits, and you must be sealed if you deserve it." Yu Jin did make a lot of contributions in this retreat, but his pretentious and ingratiating performance to his boss made others disgusted.Although Le Jin, Zhu Ling and others did not have time to gather the scattered troops to repel the pursuers, they still guarded Cao Cao's safety. Wouldn't it be more credit for protecting the coach in times of crisis?Originally, it was Zhu Ling who had the greatest grievance with him, but now that the position has been promised, other people have also started to have prejudices against Jin. At this time, the dust was flying in the south again, and the Qingzhou soldiers gathered by Cao Ren gradually came.At this point, the soldiers and horses from all walks of life were finally transferred to Wuyin territory smoothly.Cao Cao also breathed a sigh of relief, turned his head and smiled at the generals: "I surrendered Zhang Xiu and others, but I failed to take their hostages, so that's the reason. Now I know why they lost. You look at it, and it will never come back from now on." We are defeated!" Haven't taken his hostage yet?The aunts let you go under the quilt... The generals wanted to laugh but didn't dare to laugh, saying things like "victory and defeat are commonplace in military affairs".In any case, the morale of the army has finally stabilized. Cao Jun stationed in Wuyin for several days, waiting for the scattered soldiers to gradually gather back.But at the same time, I also got news that Zhang Xiu led his troops to move to Rang County, and Liu Biao was close to each other, so it was impossible to cause trouble easily for a while.In desperation, Cao Cao had to temporarily abandon the war and lead his troops back to Xudu.With a heavy reward, there must be a brave man. Someone secretly sent the bodies of Dian Wei and Cao Anmin. Cao Cao ordered them to be buried and sent back to his hometown, but Cao Ang was washed away by the flood water. Zhang Xiu could have been drawn over originally, but now he has been pushed to Liu Biao's side in vain. Although most of Nanyang County has been regained, the root cause of the disaster has not been eliminated, and troubles may arise again at any time.What's more, Cao Cao kowtowed his head in the first attempt of "serving the emperor to beg his ministers", which encouraged other separatists to contempt for the imperial court, and also created a situation in Xudu where "a hundred officials always listen to themselves". shaken.Internal and external troubles once again forced Cao Cao violently...