In the winter of October of the second year of Zhangwu, Cao Cao's army still faced off with the main force of the Western Dynasty across the Zhang River. Although Cao Cao defeated the Western Army in a row, he could only hold back a corner. The dangerous places in Hebei such as Jingxing, Huguan, and Juyong were now in the hands of the Western Army. What remained in the hands of the Eastern Army were nothing more than cities on the vast North China Plain. With Wubao alone, Cao Cao's tactical victory could not make up for the gap in military strength and geographical strength between the two sides.
Therefore, Liu Bei imitated the strategy used by Emperor Gaozu to defeat Xiang Yu, and constantly harassed Cao Cao's main force in Xindu from the front. From the side, he ordered the cavalry general Zhang Fei and Gongsun Zan's old subordinates Wenze, Liu Weitai and others to lead the Jinyang cavalry into Youzhou, in the name of Liu Bei. Recruiting and surrendering aggressively. If Youzhou is successfully pacified, the Western Army will be able to cut off Cao Cao's retreat and attack Xindu from the northwest.
Cao Cao had already considered this. At the beginning of the war, he wrote to Cao Pi, instructing him to strengthen the walls and clear the country in Youzhou. If any powerful people refused to comply, they might force them to move to Liaodong with swords and soldiers, or they might annihilate them on the spot and raise the country. prestige. It was winter, and the weather was extremely cold. It reached Gaoyang and Yijing in the south, Tangxian and Guangchang in the west, Jundu and Yuyang in the north, Lulong and Haiyang in the east, and all the cities and fortresses controlled by the Eastern Dynasty. They are all trying to gather the people and fortify their walls.
However, because the country had already levied heavy taxes during the summer harvest, there were almost no grains left in the fields, and there was not much food in the Wubao Fort, so the captive children of the common people could only be gradually released out of the city. The people who were released had no food or clothing, and they were crying all the way. Their emotions and scenery were extremely lamentable.
At the same time, Cao Pi sent people to move people from Hebei to Liao. Although people fled daily, he still continued to force them. Then the law of sitting together was established. During the migration, if one person in the family fled, the whole family would be implicated; if a family member fled, the entire clan would be implicated; if a family member fled in the entire clan, the entire clan would be implicated, and so on. The beheaded heads were hung high in the streets, and the people who moved later walked among the densely packed heads, their souls scattered.
Of course, this method treats the symptoms but not the root cause. People are not afraid of death, so why should they be afraid of death? When Zhang Fei arrived with his army, he brought in grain from Juyongguan and distributed relief in Guangyang and Liangxiang. Then he sent his Yan people to contact the old folks, saying that if they return, those who surrender will not be guilty and will be exempted from taxes for three years. After the news came out, the people of Youyan immediately gathered to respond. At the beginning of the Fang Dynasty, the peasants could not bear the tyranny and captured and killed the dock owners one after another to present the city to the Western Army. Later, when the dock owners saw that the situation was not good, they simply killed the governors sent by the Eastern Dynasty and surrendered voluntarily. Within just one month, Zhang Fei then gained fifteen cities and forty-seven Wubao. Among the counties in Youzhou, only Zhuojun and Peiping were still struggling to support themselves.
The person guarding Zhuojun was Xian Yufu, a veteran general from Youzhou. He had followed Liu Yu for many years, and later defected to Cao Cao and participated in several campaigns against the Western Dynasty. No less than a dozen members of his family were killed in the wars, and they had a blood feud with the Western Dynasty, so Cao Cao trusted him extremely. Even though the situation had deteriorated to this point, he still insisted on fighting to the death with Zhang Fei. At one point, he threatened: "If I die, my brother will lead the army. If my brother dies, my son will lead the army. If I fight the Western bandits, what's the harm in destroying the whole family?"
When Zhang Fei heard this, he couldn't help but sneered at the soldiers and said: "Xian Yu asked for benevolence and got benevolence, let's see how I can destroy his whole family." He immediately led his army to surround Zhuo County. There were only more than 3,000 people in the city. Unexpectedly, the Han army attacked by force for several days. Zhang Fei was very angry. It was Sun Zi who offered advice and said: "The imperial government was originally benevolent, and the chariots and riders acted with care, but they fell behind." Only then did he persuade Zhang Fei, and then transferred people from the Xianyu clan in Yuyang to shout to Xianyufu in the city. Persuaded to surrender.
Xian Yufu was furious at first and scolded the clansmen in the city: "You can't keep the rules, but you are ruining the reputation of the clan leader?" Unexpectedly, he was stopped by Sun Zi who was in the city: "General Liu Youzhou, the former master, was here, and he was determined to make a leader." The state is in peace, and thousands of families live in peace. Is what the general did today not a loss?" Xian Yufu was speechless. After returning to the city, he saw hungry people in the streets and recalled Liu Yu's deeds of peace and prosperity during his lifetime. He gradually felt ashamed and ashamed. rise. Three days later, Xian Yufu rode his horse in white clothes to attack the city, and Zhuo County immediately fell into the hands of the Western Army.
Urgent documents from Youzhou came to the Xindu camp like snowflakes, which shocked Cao Cao. Over the years, he relied on his outstanding military capabilities to create an unparalleled reputation, and then maintained high-pressure rule in various states, but he did not want to finally usher in the collapse of Youzhou at this moment. Could it be that he was going to die here? As soon as this idea appeared in Cao Cao's mind, he suppressed it forcefully.
Cao Cao immediately ordered the troops to stay in camp, trying to block the news of the large-scale defection in Youzhou. But how could such an abnormal method not make the soldiers feel strange? I don't know since when, news spread secretly in the camp that Xian Yufu had surrendered to the enemy, Youzhou had overturned, and even the Western Army had invaded Liaodong. Cao Cao worked hard for this and even began patrolling day and night to maintain stability in the army.
Then, after a long period of separation, in the late winter month, when Cao Cao was patrolling the camp that night, he suddenly heard that some of his trusted generals had rebelled first. This man was none other than Sima Yi, the general guarding the army. Cao Cao was very angry when he learned about it and ordered a hot pursuit.
It was dark and windy at that time. Sima Yi was traveling for more than ten miles when he saw torches swaying behind him, as if he was being chased. In a panic, Sima Yi simply stopped and stood up with his bow in hand and his horse in hand. The sky was dark, and the pursuer could not be seen, but he could see the light of fire approaching. He shouted in front of the fire: "If a general flees, according to the law, the leader must be killed. My leader is Marshal Cao, what does it have to do with you? Besides, Youzhou has been lost, and everyone has no way out. I just want to find a way to survive, so why bother?" Are you forcing each other hard? If you let him go today, he will definitely repay you later. If you pursue him again, you will be rude!" After saying this, he took the arrow in his hand, aimed it at a fire in the distance, and shot it, and the fire was extinguished.
Seeing that the chasing cavalry hesitated and stopped pressing, Sima Yi led his cronies to continue to escape, and attacked Boluo Pavilion along the way to surrender to Liu Bei.
When Liu Bei heard that Sima Yi had come to surrender, he was overjoyed. He hurriedly summoned him, held hands and led him to sit down. He said with a smile: "They say Sima Bada is the best, and Zhongda is the best. If you get it today, why should the east thief be worried?" Then he held hands and led him to sit down, and treated each other with a smile. Quite affectionate. Sima Yi felt relieved when he saw that Liu Bei did not pursue his father's surrender to the Eastern Dynasty, but he still put on a shy expression on his face, even saying he was ashamed and then confessing his words.
Liu Bei fully understood the true strength of Cao Cao's army and knew that its morale was on the verge of collapse. He couldn't help but be overjoyed. He clapped his sword with his hand and said, "If we don't attack now, how much later will we wait!" So he decided on a sneak attack plan, imitating Geng Yan's attack back then. Attack Zhang Bu, select elite cavalry and prepare to attack Xindu.
Liu Bei personally selected Wanqi and specially summoned Yuan Tan, saying: "Back then, I promised Xiansi to be the governor of Jizhou. It was not until this attack that I had the chance to fulfill my promise!" Yuan Tan panicked and said, "Back then, I thought fame was important. But today, I know how valuable my relatives are. I only hope that your majesty can pardon more people of the Yuan clan, and Tan Bixiao will do his best." After hearing this, Liu Bei comforted him and said: "Qingxu Yuan Shang and others, as long as they don't resist to the end, I will We will not be held accountable." Then he ordered Fa Zheng to guard Boluo Pavilion, and Yuan Tan set off with three thousand cavalry.
On the twelfth lunar month of Jihai, Liu Bei personally led his cavalry across the Zhang River from Tangyang in the lower reaches, and then marched toward Xindu along the north bank of the Jiang River.
At noon on the second day, sixty miles away from Xindu, the army stopped advancing. Hundreds of light cavalry were sent out to search and kill the enemy's reconnaissance cavalry, and dozens of cavalry were obtained, as well as the military bugles and passwords used by the capital that day. At noon, light snow began to fall in the sky, the clouds and snow hung low, and the sky and earth became gray, making it difficult to tell the direction. The weather was extremely cold and humid, and the Western Army could not eat fire, so they only ate some dry food to keep warm.
The weather was bad and the enemy's situation was unclear, so the Western Army did not continue its march. However, from the Western Army's formation, several riders braved the snow and marched eastward. These people were all dressed as Eastern troops. They did not wear Western furs, but cloth robes, and used bamboo hats to cover their bodies as they marched forward. When encountering Eastern Army scouts, they all reported their orders for the day and claimed to be under the command of Pingyuan Prefect Li Dian. When they were interrogated, they lifted up their clothes, and they all had tattoos unique to the Eastern Army.
In the evening, these people entered Xindu smoothly and went straight to Li Dian's military camp by familiar roads. The sergeant at the door asked about its origin, and the leader took out a letter from his arms and gave it to the sergeant to take in. Li Dian was shocked when he saw the letter. It turned out that it was a surrender letter written by Liu Bei himself. He hurriedly ordered someone to bring the envoy in. The envoy stood outside the court covered with white snow. He took off his bamboo hat and bowed to salute Li Dian. Li Dian recognized that the leader was none other than Sima Yi's sixth brother Sima Jin. He was the one who had been running west with Sima Yi a few days ago.
When Li Dian saw him, he hurriedly stepped forward to hold the handle of the knife on his waist and asked, "General Sima is in the west? How are you?"
Sima Jin, who was covered in wind and snow and a little tired, replied: "My second brother is very polite. He learned from the west that the emperor has long wanted to recruit and surrender our generals. No matter what happened in the past, as long as they surrender, there will be no consequences. .”
Li Dian nodded repeatedly and asked: "We are about to surrender before the battle. Do you want me to attack Cao Cao's main formation?"
Sima Jin said: "No need, general, you just need to lead the troops out. The emperor of the Western Dynasty will attack Cao Cao's main formation directly."
After saying a few words, Sima Jin wanted to escape, but Li Dian wrote back. Li Dian hesitated a little, then wrote the word "nuo" on the back of Liu Bei's letter and gave it to Sima Jin to take back overnight.
After Sima Jin left, Li Dian didn't even bother to eat dinner and summoned his cronies to discuss. His son Li Zhen, who was only sixteen years old, was very happy when he heard the news. He drew his sword and said: "Since you have made up your mind to run west, why not take advantage of this opportunity to rush into Cao Cao's camp first, take Cao Cao's head and surrender to the army, and you can also make money." A great success."
Li Dian heard that the words were inappropriate, so he sighed and said: "The Marshal treats my family well. I left him today just for the sake of my family. If I cheat and kill to claim credit, how will the world talk about it in the future?" His younger brother Li Dian said: Feng Que said: "My whole Li family worked hard for Cao Cao, and how many people died! But he only used people from the Cao family and the Xiahou family. How can he say that he was not kind to my family? Sir, don't hesitate! Today, he is patrolling the camp. , we attack him with a knife, if we get his head, how can the remaining party accomplish anything?"
Li Dian thought about it again and again, but he was unwilling to give up. Now he defected to the Western Dynasty. If he could not establish himself with extraordinary achievements, wouldn't the hard work of Li Zheng and Li Jin be in vain? After thinking about it, he sent someone to the camp and arranged it left and right in the camp. He planned to catch Cao Cao and his guards at this time.
