Chapter 22 Battle of Qi County

In September of the second year of Jian'an (AD 197), Cao Cao led an army to attack Yuan Shu.As soon as the troops set out, Yuan Shu's stragglers took refuge along the way.They had just arrived in the territory of Pei Kingdom, and there were more than a thousand soldiers who had come to join them. Yuan Shu's side seemed to have collapsed before the battle was fought.In the beginning, the soldiers who came to vote were stragglers, but later Qi Ji and Qin Yi from Yuan Shu's department led a large army to surrender.After careful inquiry, it turned out that Liu Fu, a native of Peiguo, persuaded them to come and surrender.

Cao Cao was overjoyed, and immediately appointed Liu Fu as Sikong's subordinate in the army, and asked him to tell about the enemy's situation.It turned out that when Yuan Shu led his troops to plunder Chen Guo, he suddenly heard that Cao Cao had come to attack in person. Thinking of the defeat at Yongqiu, he was so frightened that he left the army and fled back to Huainan alone.When Yuan Shu ran away, his army was in chaos, and many soldiers went north to join Cao Cao, and the generals Qiao Rui, Li Feng, Le Jiu, Liang Gang and others were Yuan Shu's best friends, and anyone who held a fake high-ranking official would not be forgiven. When he was in the ranks, he hurriedly led his troops to seize Qixian County, gathered troops with deep ditches and high fortifications, in an attempt to stop Cao's progress.

Knowing the enemy's movements, Cao Cao hurriedly adjusted his troops and headed straight to Qixian County. The whole army sighed at what they saw and heard along the way.Chen Guo was originally a prosperous land in Yuzhou, Chen Wang Liu Chong was famous for his arrows, Chen Guoxiang Luo Jun was well-governed, so since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, no one has dared to do evil in this land of Chen Guo, even if Yuan Shu once set up a false Chen Guoxiang Settled in Wuping County. Now that Liu Chong and Luo Jun died at the hands of assassins, Yuan Shu led his troops to take advantage of the situation and loot wantonly. In less than half a month, this fertile land was ruined and turned into a different scene.All the good fields were looted, the corpses of the common people were lying in the fields, and the endless wheat and houses were burned. Qiao Rui, Li Feng and others not only cleared the fields, but also used scorched earth to destroy all the materials. , Wanting to completely cut off Cao Cao's food and grass supplies.

Cao Cao was furious and wanted to kill all the Huainan army who came to surrender, but after a round of inspections, he couldn't bear it anymore.Yuan Shu has cared about his own enjoyment all these years, completely disregarding the life and death of the people and the army.In the battle with Lu Bu, more than half of the elite soldiers were killed or injured, so he recruited the people from Huainan to serve as troops.These people are all naked and hungry, all of them are yellow and thin, and there are many old, weak, sick and disabled. They are simply a group of refugees.Faced with such a miserable puppet army, it is too disappointing for the massacre to vent their hatred.In desperation, he ordered Qi County to be surrounded, and Yuan Shu's best friend must be eradicated, and the food and supplies in the city must be taken back.

The city of Qixian County was already strong, and the enemy demolished the houses in the suburbs and dug several ditches, making it easier to defend and harder to attack.Qiao Rui didn't intend to fight at all, and only prepared strong bows, hard crossbows, rolling wood and thunder stones on the tower, which was clearly a gesture of resistance to the end.Cao Cao had no other choice this time, and ordered the Huainan troops to attack the county seat of Qixian County in the front and his direct descendants in the rear.After attacking for three days and three nights in a row, Cao Jun suffered numerous injuries, not to mention being unable to conquer the city, and even the two innermost trenches could not be filled under the cover of the enemy.

Cao Cao originally thought that he could wipe out Yuan Shu's people in one fell swoop by using troops this time, but in this embarrassing situation, not only could he not capture the city, but the mood of the entire army gradually fell into a downturn.He sat bored in the tent of the Chinese army, so anxious that he couldn't do anything.At this moment, Wang Bi and Fanqin sent even worse news that Sun Ce had reneged on his covenant to attack Yuan Shu. Cao Cao was astonished: "What's going on here? Could it be that Sun Ce dared to rebel against the imperial court and openly help Yuan Shu?" What he was most worried about now was that Sun Ce would suddenly turn against him.

"That's not enough." Wang Bi held the bulletin in his hands, "It's because of some troubles at Chen Yu's place." Cao Cao slapped the table and scolded sharply: "Chen Yu is the prefect of Wu County appointed by the court anyway, so what the hell is his surname Sun?" "I'm afraid Sun Ce is not entirely to blame for this matter." Wang Bi swallowed, and handed him the emergency bulletin with both hands. It turned out that the Qianfan of the imperial court sent Yilang Wang Ju and Liu Wan to hold an edict to worship Sun Ce as the captain of the cavalry and the marquis of Wucheng.However, Sun Ce had already occupied the lands of Kuaiji and Yuzhang, and he thought that the mere commander-in-chief was too contemptuous of him, so he refused to accept the imperial edict.In desperation, Wang Ju made up the title of "General of Ming and Han Dynasties", which made Sun Ce awkward and sent out troops.

According to the original plan, Sun Ce should send troops to attack Yuan Shu together with Chen Yu, the prefect of Wujun appointed by the imperial court, but the two had their own secrets in mind from the beginning.Sun Ce wanted to annex Chen Yu's power, but Chen Yu secretly communicated with Jiangdong's powerful Zulang, Jiao Ji, Yan Baihu and others, plotting to overthrow Sun Ce's rule in Jiangdong.As a result, Sun Ce secretly sent his subordinates Lu Fan and Xu Yi to attack Chen Yu, defeated Chen Yu's army, and captured more than 4,000 soldiers. "These two villains!" Cao Cao slammed the secret report angrily after seeing it, "Chen Yu has great ambitions and talents, and Sun Ce's ambition is not a good thing! Let Yuan Shu escape..."

"Shall we withdraw our troops now?" Fanqin asked in fear. "Nonsense! After finally encircling Qi County, how can you withdraw the troops so easily?" Cao Cao glared at Fanqin, and then asked, "How is the situation with Yan Xiang?" What he is now afraid of is Yan, the governor of Yangzhou appointed by Sun Celian himself. If the elephant is killed together, then he will completely turn against the court. Wang Bi carefully said: "There is nothing wrong with Yan Xiang, but there are no soldiers to send." Although the governor of Yangzhou is useless, as long as Sun Ce does not tear himself apart, there is still room for redemption.Cao Cao heaved a sigh of relief and squeezed his painful brows. At this time, he must not make enemies for himself. He repeatedly reminded himself to refrain from haste and use patience. It took a long time before he raised his head and said, "Now that the encirclement and suppression between the north and the south has been broken, Yuan Shu is relieved." We may organize another rescue team in the future. But we must not evacuate, as evacuating will give him a chance to breathe. Now you immediately go to Xudu to write for me, and there are two important things to do."

When it comes to playing with a pen, Fanqin can be regarded as an expert, but before Wang Bi can react, Fanqin has already pulled through the blank bamboo slips and picked up the pen. "The first major event is that the Huainan army has been added, and the food may not be enough. Let Ren Jun send someone to transport the food quickly. The second matter is to ask Xun Yu to play Sun Ce as the rebellious general and the Jin named Wuhou. Don’t fall out with Sun Lang’s children at this time. Tell Wen Ruo not to go through the normal procedures, don’t wait for the memorial to be uploaded, and tell the envoy to go there day and night with the seal and ribbon!” Cao Cao couldn’t help complaining after giving the order, “Wang Ju is so stupid, Sun Ce can’t do it. He just wanted the title of general, but he couldn’t afford to give him a general, so he made up one. It’s not good to make up a name, but he even made up a ‘Ming Han general’! What does this mean? Call him Sun Ce Guangming Dahan Sheji, then why should I go? What a bunch of waste! How unreasonable..."

Fanqin's hands were really quick, and before he could finish complaining, the pen had already been written, and he held it over respectfully, and said with a flattering smile: "My lord, please take a look and see how the words are." Cao Cao gave him a blank look: "When is this? It's not a poem. Can't you write it clearly? Wang Bi, hurry up and deliver it yourself!" Wang Bi snatched the documents and left the account in a hurry.Fanqin saw Cao Cao's uneasy expression at this moment, fearing that the horse's ass would be slapped on the horse's hoof, he quickly withdrew.When he was alone, Cao Cao felt more and more bored. Xun Yu presided over the government in Xudu, Cheng Yu was in Yanzhou to monitor Hebei, and Guo Jia was assigned to Cao Hong. Now there is no one around who can give advice.As night fell and it was another day, Qi County was still unable to attack, so he wanted to ask Xu Chu to accompany him to visit the front enemy, but just as he stepped out of the big tent, he bumped into a military academy who bowed his head.Xu Chu, who was guarding the door, grabbed him, and the military academy fell on his back. "Are you blind?" Xu Chu snapped. The military academy slowly got up: "Damn it, the little one has secret military information to report to the lord." Cao Cao looked at him for a long time, and saw that his appearance and words were honest and honest, so he raised his hand and said, "Follow me in and talk... Which military academy are you from?" The man knelt down on the ground: "Little Wang Hou is the man under the tent of General Ren Jun Zhonglang, the school lieutenant who supervises the army rations." When Cao Cao heard that he was in charge of food, he knew about it. He hurried to the tent and saw that there was no one around except Xu Chu. He put down the curtain and asked, "Is there not enough food?" Wang Hou was just promoted by Ren Jun. It was the first time he spoke face-to-face with Cao Cao. He lay on the ground without daring to move, and said in a low voice, "There is enough food to send troops this time. But there are so many surrendered troops from Huainan." , more than 2,000 mouths were added out of thin air, and the fields within dozens of miles were all called Qiaorui. "How long can the current food supply last?" "Less than five days." The king must go to Xudu to urge the grain, and Ren Jun has to allocate the grain, and he has to prepare chariots and horses for transportation, which will take more than seven days.As long as the soldiers are hungry, not only will the battle be impossible, but mutiny may occur at any time. Cao Cao walked around in the tent for a while, and suddenly squinted at Wang Hou: "Who else in the army knows about the lack of food?" "This matter is related to the morale of the army, and I dare not say anything about it, but..." Wang Hou didn't dare to draw his bow too full, "The soldiers in the department of food must know, but everyone was taught by adults, even if there is only one person left. They don't dare to talk nonsense even if there is a grain of food." "Very good...very good..." Cao Cao couldn't stop scratching his beard. "Forgive me for talking too much, my lord has to adjust the food immediately." "There is as much food as you want, but it's all in Qi County." Wang Hou raised his eyelids slightly: "Then what should we do now?" Cao Cao pushed aside the curtain and took a look. Seeing that there was no one there, he went to Wang Hou and said in a low voice, "You replace the large hudou and big rations with small ones..." The rations in the army are all distributed with hudou. For unit supply, each battalion takes a fixed number of hudou, and changes the number of hudou into small ones. Although the number of hudou remains unchanged, the actual distribution of grain will decrease. This is a disguised method of embezzlement. "Withdrawing military rations?!" Wang Hou almost jumped up from the ground. "Don't shout." Cao Cao hurriedly covered his mouth, "Isn't it just a change of fighting?" "Withholding military rations will arouse public outrage, and I dare not do that..." Wang Hou's body trembled like chaff. "What are you afraid of? With my backing, you just do what you want. After this difficulty is over, I'll tell Ren Jun to promote you!" "This..." Wang Hou is really an honest person, and he said after a long time, "I will obey my orders, but please think again, can you dismiss some..." "There's no need to say more." Cao Cao waved his hand, "Maybe we can take down Qi County with all our efforts in the past two days. At that time, nothing will happen. Just go about it!" "No." Wang Hou didn't dare to say anything more, and got up to leave. Cao Cao patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Don't say anything about this matter, you must not let others know that it was my idea, otherwise you will be killed..." Wang Hou was terrified: "Don't dare, this matter must be kept secret." "Take it easy, don't be so nervous." Cao Cao raised the tent curtain and sent him out personally.Wang Hou didn't know that Cao Cao had already planned to capture Qi County. The military rations were distributed at noon the next day, and there was an immediate commotion.No one is blind, can you not see it when you exchange a small one for a big one?The army soldiers who stormed the city for the past few days were already dissatisfied, and they were even more disturbed by the embezzlement of military rations. The quarrels broke out in the barracks, and those who had the courage ran to the gate of the barracks to swear and refused to disperse. Wang Hou was anxious and thirsty and ran to the tent of the Chinese army to report.Cao Cao calmly listened to him finish his words with a smile, then patted his shoulder and asked, "Where are you from? Who else is there in the family?" Wang Hou didn't want to chat, but when Cao Cao asked him, he couldn't help but answer: "I'm from Chenliu, my mother is in the hall, and I have a wife and a son. My lord, I'd better find a way to appease the soldiers." Cao Cao sighed, leaned forward and looked at him directly: "If I want to solve this urgent problem, I must borrow something from you." "Borrow what?" "Lend your head!" "Ah?!" Wang Hou collapsed on the ground, "I...what is my crime?" Cao Cao glared: "Isn't it a crime for you to change the Hu Dou and withhold the military rations without permission?" "You... how do you..." "I was forced to make such a bad plan." Cao Cao sighed and said in a soft voice, "Brother Wang, a strong man will not hesitate to cut off his wrists. I can only do this to wipe out the traitors. Don't worry, your family I will take my wife and children to Xudu and take care of them, and I will never treat them badly. You can go with peace of mind!" "No...no..." Wang Hou stared at the devil in astonishment, kept shrinking back, and finally got up and ran out of the tent. Seeing this, Cao Cao yelled, "There are assassins!" Xu Chu heard it clearly, seeing Wang Hou running out in a panic, he stretched out his hand to grab his arm, and pushed him back with all his strength, immediately throwing him to the ground.Before Wang Hou could react when he was lying there, Xu Chu had already pulled out his sword and nailed him to death in the tent! Cao Cao walked over slowly, bowed his body to the ground, and told Xu Chu: "Cut off his head and hang it high over the gate, and ask someone to transport all the food to the front of the camp. Then beat the drums and gather troops. Yuanmen lectures." In a short time, Wang Hou's head was hung on the gate.With the sound of the soldiers gathering drum, soldiers from all battalions crowded to the gate of the Chinese army camp, surrounded by a sea of ​​people.Cao Cao boarded a grain cart, pointed to the heads and shouted loudly: "Brothers! There is a villain in our army! This grain supervisor Wang Hou, he stole military funds to fill his own pockets, and even exchanged hudou and withheld military rations. We Killed him already!" "Good kill! You should kill..." All the soldiers turned against Yingtian and shouted to relieve their anger. Cao Cao raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet: "Although this trickster was killed, our military rations have suffered a huge loss, and now only these vehicles are left!" He pointed to a few grain trucks under his feet, "Maybe there is food, but It may not be delivered within half a month." Hearing this, there was no sound in the surroundings, and no one spoke when they looked at each other. Cao Cao raised his voice: "So I will distribute the remaining food to everyone. We must capture Qi County before the food is exhausted! As long as we enter the city, we will be saved! But if we cannot enter the city, we will all have to starve!" The soldiers were in an uproar again. Cao Cao suddenly raised his arm, pointed at a group of Huainan soldiers, and shouted sharply: "Huainan is here! Did you hear that? Let me tell you, this Chen country was originally a rich land. We have no supplies! Don’t blame the past, I didn’t blame you, I gave you enough to eat! But now my food is almost gone, if I run out of food, I will never let you go! I will kill you all, but not all of you I will drive you back to Huainan, and tell you to continue starving with Yuan Shu! Did you hear that?" There are many direct descendants in Huainan and few in Huainan. Seeing the people around them glaring at them viciously, the Huainan soldiers all lost their legs and knelt down one by one to ask Cao Cao for forgiveness. Cao Cao still had a straight face, but his tone changed: "If you don't want to be killed or go hungry, then I will show you a clear way and join us in attacking Qi County! And I will ask you to rush to the front! If we have food, we will all be saved! No matter if we are from Yanzhou, Yuzhou, or Yangzhou, we must be like brothers and work together to win this strong city. I, Cao, am not some fucking Sikong now, I am you One of them. Today I will go to battle in person, and I will conquer Qi County no matter what! I, Cao, will go all out, how about you?" I don't know who shouted loudly: "My lord is fucking willing to let go, I have a head and a mouth, what can I not let go? Isn't it just fucking with my life!" When he shouted, everyone They all yelled, and for a while they seemed to be fighting against each other. "Okay!" Cao Cao drew out his sword and raised it to the sky, "To capture Qi County, start now!" With this pre-war agitation, the morale of the soldiers immediately rose.Especially the soldiers from Huainan, now they are not afraid of the sky and the earth, and the brigade is burning towards the city like a raging fire.The city defenders had also been fighting for several days. Seeing that Cao Jun's momentum was different this time, they quickly raised their bows and set up arrows to block the attack.At this moment, Cao Jun is all desperate. If he can't take the city, he will die, no matter how many arrows fly, fill the ditch, and charge.Cao Cao also grabbed a bag of sand and gravel, and followed the soldiers to fill the trench under the cover of the tiger and leopard cavalry.In less than an hour, the last two ditches were also filled, and the soldiers climbed up the city on ladders like crazy.The enemy army did not dare to neglect, Li Feng, Liang Gang, and Le went to the tower to command in person, and threw down rolling wood and thunder stones, and a large piece of them was smashed. The siege battle was fought from noon to Shen time, it was almost dark, and the two armies were still at a stalemate.Cao Cao ordered people to carry the war drum, and personally beat the drum in front of the battle to cheer.Cao Jun can be said to have followed suit, and Yu Jin, who has always been prudent, rushed under the city wall to command under the city wall despite falling rocks.The soldiers built ladders again and again, and finally Le Jin, Zhu Ling, and the surrendered Qin Yi and Qi Ji climbed the wall by themselves, and finally climbed the enemy tower against the rain of arrows. When the city guards saw Cao Jun killing the tower, they panicked.Especially when they found that there were still many Huainan fellow villagers who came up, they couldn't help but followed and killed.The three generals Li Feng, Liang Gang, and Le Jiu failed to command well and were chopped into meat sauce on the spot. Cao Jun rushed down the enemy tower and rushed into the city.Seeing that the general situation was over, the main general Qiao Rui quickly opened the south gate and led more than a thousand people to break through.The whole army of Cao Bing rushed forward and occupied Qi County in one fell swoop, and all the thousands of Huainan troops who failed to break through the city surrendered. At this moment, Cao Cao was most afraid that the enemy would come and burn everything, so he rushed into the city with tigers and leopards to protect the county temple.When the situation stabilized, Cao Cao was relieved to find that the treasury was piled up like a mountain of grain and grass, everything was fine, and the difficulty of food shortage was successfully overcome.After resting for a while, he was about to arrange troops to chase after Qiaorui, when suddenly an emergency report arrived. Zhang Xiu led his troops out of Rang County to regain Nanyang, and Liu Biao also sent his general Deng Ji to station in Huyang to boost his momentum.Zhangling, Xi'e, Yinxian, Wancheng, Bowang, and Wuyin were in dire straits, and Cao Hong was outnumbered and retreated to Yexian County. "It's not what I expected!" Cao Cao wiped off his cold sweat, "It's dangerous! Rest in the city overnight and send troops to rescue Nanyang tomorrow." "What about Yuan Shu?" Yu Jin couldn't help interjecting. Cao Cao looked at him: "Since you asked about this, I will tell you to divide up three thousand troops to pursue Qiaorui." "Promise." Yu Jin cupped his hands and said, "I will definitely hit Shouchun directly." "No need. Just break through the bridge, don't cross the Huai River." "what?!" Cao Cao smiled slightly: "Yuan Shu lost all his capital in this battle in Qixian County, and the food he robbed from Chen State has not been transported away. Now he has no soldiers, no food and is unpopular. He can no longer cause trouble. Let's call Let him fend for himself in Huainan!" Yu Jin seemed unwilling: "As long as my lord gives me more soldiers and horses, I will surely capture Yuan Shu alive and pacify Huainan." "If you can fight, you won't fight now." Cao Cao sneered, "Yuan Shu is not important anymore." "but……" Cao Cao raised his hand and knocked him on the head: "Think about it the other way around. With Huainan as a buffer, we can still watch the fire from Sun Ce. If Yuan Shu is wiped out now, we will have to border on that kid." If we have to eat one bite at a time, we have hidden dangers in the east and north, and we can't care about fighting Sun Ce now! Do you understand?" "Understood!" Yu Jin rubbed his head, not forgetting a few words of compliment, "My lord has a clever plan and a far-sighted strategy, and I will be convinced in the end." Zhu Ling was afraid that he would seize the opportunity, so he rushed over: "The matter in Nanyang is urgent, and the final general does not need to rest. I am willing to lead the army to rescue in the starry night!" "Wen Bo's courage is commendable. But..." Cao Cao saw that he still had an arrow wound on his right arm, and the arrow was still bleeding after taking off the arrow, so he tore off the brocade from his battle robe and bandaged him with his own hands. The injury is not light." "This injury is nothing, the last general marches day and night!" Cao Cao comforted him and said, "I know Wenbo that you are a warrior, but after storming Qi County for several days, you are not tired and the soldiers are tired too. The rescue work is not busy this night, so let's start tomorrow." Noticing that Zhu Ling and Yu Jin were looking at each other subtly, as if neither of them accepted the other, he hurriedly added meaningfully, "You have made a lot of contributions in today's battle, but don't forget that the Huainan troops have made more contributions. In my barracks Everyone here is brothers, and there is absolutely no difference between first come first come first come first come first!" Yu Jin and Zhu Ling bowed their heads upon hearing this. "After I go back, I will give Qi Ji and Qin Yi additional official positions. But there is another person who has made the most contributions, but I can't add an official to him." "Who else?" Zhu Ling was very puzzled. Cao Cao shook his head and remained silent.Although he had won the battle, the screams of Wang Hou before his death echoed in his ears... With the end of the battle in Qixian County, Yuan Shu basically withdrew from the competition in the Central Plains. Not only did he not get any benefits from the plunder of Chen State, but he also lost a lot of soldiers and horses.Afterwards, Yu Jin pursued him to Ku County, where he beheaded his beloved general Qiao Rui.This year's winter was cold and there was no snow. A great plague broke out in Huainan. The army and civilians were infected and killed countless people. The land became more barren and desolate. Yuan Shu's subordinates fell apart because of lack of food and grass. He even dragged his troops back to Mount Yan and continued to fall into the trap, leaving Yuan Shu behind and sitting in the empty hall with the Jade Seal of Chuanguo in his arms...