In the middle of the night, fire broke out in the camp of Liu Dai and Qiao Mao, and there were shouts of killing. This is where the disputes between the princes began.
Yuan Shao sent someone to investigate and found out that Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, borrowed grain from Qiao Mao, the governor of Dongjun.
Qiao Mao refused, so Liu Dai led his troops into Mao's camp, killed Qiao Mao, and surrendered all his troops.
Yuan Shao was furious, and the coalition forces did not listen to his orders at all. Sun Jian had just left during the day, and now there was a fight between his own people.
There was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't start a war with Liu Dai in the name of the alliance leader, right? Besides, I have a good personal relationship with Liu Dai.
Let's say that when Dong Zhuo arrived at Xingyang, Zhang Ji led Feixiong's army to meet him, and Lu Bu and Xu Rong followed with their troops.
Li Rudao said, "The Prime Minister has abandoned Luoyang to be on guard against pursuing troops. You can teach Xu Rong to ambush his army beside the mountain dock outside Xingyang City. If there are troops chasing after him, let them go. Wait for me to defeat them here, and then intercept and cover them up. Order later." I dare not pursue him again."
Dong Zhuo followed his plan and ordered Lu Bu to lead his elite troops to contain the rear. When Bu Zheng was walking, Cao Cao's army caught up.
It is said that Cao Cao led his army to pursue him all night. By dawn, he had already passed Hongnong and vaguely saw troops in front of him guarding his chariot. When Cao Cao saw this, he was overjoyed and said: "In front of you is the emperor's chariot. You all move forward to welcome the emperor back. After such great achievements, everyone will be rewarded greatly."
In fact, Cao Cao himself was not sure whether the emperor's chariot was in front of him, but after a night's march, the army was exhausted and exhausted. Now he could only boost the morale of the army by falsely claiming that the emperor's chariot was in front of him.
But just when Cao Cao was about to reach the chariot, he didn't expect that a large group of soldiers in front suddenly turned around and were on alert. A person rushed out first, holding a painted halberd and sitting on a unique horse that was as red as charcoal, but it was Lu Bu.
Lu Bu laughed and said, "Haha, it's just as Li Ru expected! Cao Cao, my military advisor Li Ru has a clever plan in your hands." Then he moved his troops and horses away.
Cao Cao was shocked when he saw Lu Bu appear. He knew it was a trick, but he still shouted: "Everyone, the emperor's chariot is in front. Dong Zhuo ordered Lu Bu to stop, thinking that there was nothing to worry about. We only need to kill Lu Bu to rescue the emperor. Great achievement. Then they will be rewarded together.”
When Cao Cao shouted this, Xiahou Dun, Xia Houyuan, Cao Ren, Li Dian, and Yue Jin from behind shouted together, and then each led a team of troops to rush over. Cao Cao saw this and was not willing to be outdone. Together with Cao Hong who was protecting him, he fought hard to attack. forward.
Cao Cao stepped out and shouted, "Traitor! He has robbed the emperor and driven away the people. Where are you going?" Lu Bu scolded, "You are a coward who betrays your master, how can you talk nonsense!".
As he spoke, he galloped forward and took Cao Cao's head. Lu Bu's bravery and Cao Cao's generals had already seen it before Hulao Pass, and Xiahou and Xiahou Yuan were willing to let him have his way.
I saw Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan immediately stepped forward to intercept Lu Bu with their weapons, and they fought against Lu Bu together.
After fighting for several rounds, Lu Bu's lieutenant used a spear to lift the curtain of the chariot, and an ordinary soldier came out. Cao Cao saw this and knew that he could no longer deceive the soldiers with the Emperor's chariot.
The battle was over, and when Cao Cao hesitated and didn't know what to do, he heard the sound of a drum in the dense forest on the left. Zhang Ji led an army to attack from the left. Cao Cao urgently ordered Li Dian to meet the enemy.
Just when Cao Cao was still in shock, suddenly the shouts from the right started again. Fan Chou led his troops to attack, and Cao Cao urgently ordered Cao Ren to meet the enemy. Three armies and horses are unstoppable.
Cao Cao saw that three generals from Dong Zhuo's army were fighting out, and he knew that even all his generals could not defeat Dong Zhuo's army. Moreover, they were ambushed and the morale of the army was scattered. So he made a decisive decision and ordered Cao Ren to command the troops to attack Dong Zhuo's army, while he turned around. Ma Tou fled towards Luoyang.
Cao Cao was short in stature and was not conspicuous in the crowd. When he escaped, he did not attract the attention of the soldiers. After all, Cao Cao's banner was still there and Cao Ren was commanding the battle.
Let alone Cao Cao's escape, the Xiahou brothers fought with Lu Bu for more than ten rounds. Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan were unable to resist the enemy Lu Bu, and were gradually losing ground. The two knew that if they did not escape, they would risk their lives here today.
So they made a quick decision and attacked Lu Bu with a few moves. Then they left Lu Bu and turned around, flying back to the formation. Lu Bu saw the Xiahou brothers fleeing, but did not pursue them. He immediately led his soldiers to kill Cao Cao's army.
Lu Bu rode in front as if he were entering an uninhabited territory. With Lu Bu as an arrow, the army behind him was like a tiger rushing into a flock of sheep. Gao Shun and other Bingzhou generals led their cavalry to cover up the attack. Cao's army was defeated, and they looked back at Xingyang and left.
Zhang Ji and Fan Si on the other two sides had already entered Cao Cao's army. Cao Ren saw that he was outnumbered and did not dare to stay long, so he immediately led some remaining soldiers to retreat. Li Dian and Yue Jin on one side naturally followed suit and retreated with some soldiers.
Here Lu Bu rushed into the middle of Cao's army. Fang Tian waved his halberd and chopped down Cao Cao's flag. The deputy general behind him immediately understood and shouted: "Cao's army has been defeated, Cao's army has been defeated." With this shout, Cao's soldiers Seeing that the flag had fallen and the commanding general was nowhere to be seen, I became even more panicked.
At this time, Lu Bu saw a man in Confucian robes fleeing in front of him. Although he didn't know who he was, he saw that he was well-dressed and knew that he must be an important figure in Cao's army, so he rode a red rabbit horse and chased after him.
This man in Confucian uniform was not good at equestrian skills, and Lu Bu was riding a red rabbit horse, so how could he compare to his inferior horse. I saw that Lu Bu caught up with this man soon, and used his horse power to sweep the halberd directly towards the man.
The man heard the noise and turned around, only to see the head of the painted halberd sweeping towards him. Before he could react, he felt a pain in his waist, but was directly cut into two pieces by Lu Bu's halberd.
At this time, a lieutenant general recognized that the man in Confucian uniform was Cao Cao's friend, the wealthy businessman Wei Zi. It was Wei Zi who paid for Cao Cao to recruit troops and gather the princes' coalition forces to attack Dong Zhuo.
Seeing that he had killed this man, Lu Bu considered it a credit. When he looked again, General Cao's army had disappeared. He knew that there was an ambush on Xu Rong's side, so he did not pursue him, but slowly gathered his soldiers.
Back to Cao Cao, after leading Cao Hong and some soldiers for a while, they found that Lu Bu, Zhang Ji and Fan Si were not pursuing them. They walked to the foot of a barren mountain. It was about the second watch and the moon was as bright as day.
So he slowed down his pace, and then gathered the remaining soldiers. All the generals were separated. After walking for a while, he found that the soldiers had been traveling all night and experienced a big battle. They were extremely tired, so they let the soldiers rest where they were. Just as he was about to bury the pot and make rice, he heard shouts from all around and Xu Rong came out of ambush.
When Cao Cao saw this, he jumped up on his horse and fled. Only Cao Hong and a few soldiers followed Cao Cao. The rest of the soldiers were shot one by one by Xu Rong's ambush before they could react.
After Cao Cao fled for a while, he saw General Dong Zhuo blocking the way in front of him. After a closer look, Cao Cao knew that it was Xu Rong and immediately walked towards the other side.
Cao Cao hurriedly rode his horse and ran away. When he met Xu Rong, he turned around and left. When Xu Rong saw this, he immediately drew his bow and shot an arrow at Cao Cao, hitting Cao Cao in the shoulder. Cao Cao didn't care much and fled with an arrow.
Cao Cao fled for his life with an arrow and crossed the hillside. Two sergeants were lying down in the grass. When they saw Cao Cao's horse coming, they fired two shots. Cao Cao's horse was shot and fell. Cao Cao fell off his horse and was captured by two soldiers.
The two soldiers ignored the horse and were about to escort Cao Cao to Xu Rong to ask for merit. At the critical moment, they saw a flying horse coming, slashing two infantrymen to death with a knife, and dismounted to rescue Cao Cao. Cao Cao took a closer look and saw that it was Cao Hong.
Seeing that the pursuers behind him were very anxious, Cao Cao said, "I will die here, my dear brother, please go quickly!".
Cao Hong said, "Brother, please mount your horse. Hong Yuan is walking." After saying this, he let Cao Cao ride his horse.
Cao Cao said: "What will happen to you if the traitors catch up?"
Cao Hong said: "The world cannot be without Hong, but it must not be without justice."
Cao Cao sighed: "If I were to be born again, you would have the power." So he refused again and again, so Cao Cao got on Cao Hong's horse and ran away. Cao Hong took off his armor, dragged his sword and followed the horse.
About four o'clock in the morning, I saw a big river in front of me, blocking the way, and the shouts of killing were approaching from behind. Cao Cao saw this and sighed: "Is it possible that God wants to destroy me, Cao Cao?"
Seeing that the situation was urgent, Cao Hong hurriedly helped Cao Cao off his horse, took off his robe and armor, and carried Cao Cao across the water on his back. Just after crossing the other side, the pursuers had already arrived and fired arrows across the water. Cao Cao and Cao Hong ran away immediately, regardless of their wet bodies.
Cao Cao took the water and walked away. Waiting until dawn, he walked for more than thirty miles, resting briefly under the hillock. Not long after he sat down, shouts of killing suddenly came from a distance, and Xu Rong and others were seen leading some men and horses to kill.
It turned out that Xu Rong led the army to cross the river and then came back to kill him. Although it was a little slower, he still caught up with Cao Cao.
Just when Cao Cao was desperate and Cao Hong was preparing to fight, Xiahou Dun and Xia Houyuan suddenly arrived with ten cavalry. Zhang Ji's nephew Zhang Xiu saw this and immediately said: "The two generals are brave. General, please step back and let Rong Xiu come to fight." Xu Rong Seeing it, he nodded.
Zhang Xiu flew out on his own to block Xiahou Yuan and Xiahou Dun. After a few rounds of fighting, Cao Ren, Li Dian, and Le Jin each led a team of troops to find them.
Xu Rong saw this and knew that because he had just chased from upstream, he didn't have many troops. Now that Cao Cao's men had arrived, it was probably difficult to kill him. He reluctantly glared at Cao Cao and said, "Bowei, Cao Cao's reinforcements have arrived." ,retreat."
Zhang Xiu understood this and used several moves to force back the Xiahou brothers, who had been exhausted for a day. Then he and Xu Rong led the army to retreat. When the Xiahou brothers want to chase.
But Cao Cao said: "Don't chase, it's important to return to Luoyang now." After hearing this, the Xiahou brothers went over to help gather the soldiers. Several generals found another horse with Cao Cao, and several of them led the remaining defeated generals back to Luoyang.
At the beginning of the first year of Chuping (190), Cao Cao led his army to join the Guandong Army to attack Dong Zhuo, and stationed his troops in Suanzao (now southwest of Yanjin, Henan). Cao Cao saw that all the troops were afraid of the enemy and could not advance, so he led more than 5,000 people, including Bao Xin, Bao Tao and Zhang Miao's general Wei Zi, and about 10,000 people to advance, preparing to march into Chenggao (today's Sishui, Xingyang, Henan). town).
Arriving at Bianshui, Xingyang (now southwest of Xingyang, Henan Province), he encountered Dong Zhuo's general Xu Rong. The two sides fought fiercely for a day, and Cao Cao and others were defeated. Cao Cao was hit by an arrow and his horse was injured.
Cao Cao surrendered his war horse to his younger brother Cao Hong and fled back to Suanzao at night. Bao Xin was wounded, Bao Tao, Wei Zi and others were killed in the battle, and most of his troops withdrew with the loss of most of their troops. (See the Battle of Bianshui).
Cao Cao saw that the Kwantung armies, numbering more than 100,000 men, were having a drinking party and had no intention of making progress, so he suggested that the armies occupy key passes and then divide their forces to attack Guanzhong. The generals did not listen and continued to drink and party.
This is what Cao Cao experienced during this period, and this experience completely transformed the passionate young Cao Cao.
In Cao Cao's camp, Cao Cao looked coldly at the fire and the shouts of killing in the distance. He had seen through this group of coalition forces, but his own strength was limited and was not enough to accomplish anything big.
After thinking about it, he had to admit that the Han Dynasty was really in decline, and the heroes of the world were about to attack each other for hegemony.
"Mengde, where should we go?" Xia Houyuan asked.
Cao Cao was silent for a while and then said: "South, recruit troops."
"But Mengde, have you ever thought about where we should go after recruiting soldiers and horses?" Cao Ren, a brother of the Cao family, asked.
Cao Cao pondered for a long time, and all the generals also lowered their heads in thought and did not dare to disturb him. "Yuan Benchu asked me in Suanzao a few days ago, if something goes wrong, where can I stay?" Cao Cao glanced at the generals.
"It seems that Yuan Cheqi has not made up his mind to fight Dong Zhuo for a long time. It's pity that we are desperately pursuing Dong Zhuo. I don't know how my lord will answer" Li Dian asked anxiously.
Cao Cao shook his head, "I didn't answer, but asked Yuan Benchu what his plan was." Then he said: "Yuan Benchu said at that time that he would occupy the Yellow River in the south, guard Yan and Dai in the north, and have both Wuwan and Xianbei people, and then Go south and fight for the world, maybe you can succeed!"
Le Jin said angrily: "It turns out that he had long planned to occupy territory and strengthen himself, and his mind was not focused on attacking Dong Zhuo at all. He was just a vain person who pursued personal interests in the name of righteousness."
"General Yue, don't make any noise, don't let Yuan Cheqi listen." Cao Ren advised.
Cao Cao didn't take it seriously, "I think there are many powerful powers in the north, but the forces in the Central Plains are relatively weak, and there are remnants of the Yellow Turbans causing chaos, so we can make plans."
Several people decided to disperse and prepare to leave.
The next day, Cao Cao came to Yuan Shao, the leader of the alliance, to say goodbye. Yuan Shao was unhappy, but he also made some polite remarks to Cao Cao. Yuan Shao smiled, stopped irritating Cao Cao, held the wine glass, and drank together.
After drinking for a while, Cao Cao seemed to have thought of something and wanted to regain his place.
Knowing this, he asked, "Today, most of the princes are gathered like this. Who do you think can be called a hero?" Yuan Shao deliberately asked, "Who does Meng De think is the hero?".
Cao Cao muttered in his heart, I asked you why you asked me back, so let me just say a few things by the way, so Cao Cao deliberately said, "Dong Zhuo of Xiliang, with his strong soldiers and brave generals, can he be called a hero?"
Yuan Shao said contemptuously, "Dong Zhuo is cruel and ungrateful, and will inevitably lead to chaos in the long run. What's the point?"
Cao Cao asked again, "Nanyang Yuan Shu is fully equipped with troops and food, can he be a hero?" Yuan Shao laughed and said, "Why bother with the dead bones in the grave, he is not a hero." Cao Cao said, "There is a man named Bajun who dominates Jingzhou: can Liu Jingsheng be a hero?"
Yuan Shao replied, "Liu Biao has only a false reputation, no real talent and learning, and is not a hero." If he still doesn't agree, Cao Cao had to continue, "Is there a man of strong blood and Jiangdong leader Sun Wentai who is a hero?"
Yuan Shao said with a smile: "Sun Jian will be injured by random arrows in the long run due to his bravery, so why bother talking about him." In fact, not long ago, Yuan Shao had sent someone to persuade Liu Biao to intercept Sun Jian. Cao Cao changed the subject and asked, "Can Liu Youzhou of Yizhou be a hero?"
Yuan Shao shook his head and said, "Although Liu Yan is from the clan, in my opinion, he is just a dog that keeps the household. Although he is very scheming, how can he be a hero if he takes the lead in occupying Yizhou!"
Yuan Shao denied all these, and the answer was ready to come out. Cao Cao refused to give up and said, "What about Han Sui, Gongsun Zan and others?"
Yuan Shao clapped his hands and laughed and said, "What a big deal for such a mean person!". When Cao Cao saw that he had finished speaking and did not find his place, he said dejectedly, "Other than this, I don't know what's going on."
Yuan Shao deliberately tried to say, "A hero is one who has great ambitions, has a good plan, has the opportunity to hide the universe, and can swallow the aspirations of heaven and earth."
Cao Cao was startled and said, "Who can be worthy of it?"
Yuan Shao pointed at Cao Cao, then pointed at himself, and said: "Today's heroes are no more than Meng De and me!".
