Cao Cao was a man of great affection. Liu Yanqing, a veteran of the Western Army, had always treated him well. How could he sit back and do nothing?
Therefore, as soon as he heard that Liu Yanqing's rear was in danger, Cao Cao hurriedly rushed his troops and horses. After running for three to five miles, he saw two to three thousand Song troops on a low hill surrounded by tens of thousands of thieves.
Cao Cao hurriedly reined in his troops and sent spies to see the banners of the thieves. After a while, the report came back, which was the two banners of "Chu" and "Jin".
When everyone thought about it, the "Chu" flag was naturally under Duan Wu's command, and the one carrying the "Jin" flag was probably Tian Hu, the Tiger King of Hebei.
Although this person is known as "Hebei Tianhu", it is from the north of the Yellow River, and his actual foundation is in the middle of Jin. Therefore, if he becomes king, his first choice is the King of Jin.
Lu Junyi asked curiously: "When did Tian Hu become the King of Jin?"
Cao Cao sneered and said: "I'm afraid the root cause is still with us. We framed Wang Qing, assassinated the prince, kidnapped the emperor's concubine, killed the prince, and made a big fuss in Tokyo. This made the King of Chu so famous that the Hebei tycoon was unwilling to accept it. Loneliness brings out the idea of becoming king and hegemony!"
Lu Junyi was dumbfounded when he heard this, and then said with a bitter smile: "I'm afraid that's really the case, but he moves too quickly."
Cao Cao shook his head and sighed: "Think of the terrain in the center of Jin, surrounded by mountains and forming an integrated whole. If he rebels, he will have a geographical advantage. As long as he can get it right in the early stage and set up a prairie fire, if he breaks out of the Taihang Mountains, he can cross the river and go straight to Tokyo. Bianliang! Haha, the official family of the Song Dynasty was probably so scared that they wet their pants a few times."
Lao Cao is a veteran of war. He has spent his whole life in the military, especially in the mountains and rivers of the north. What is not in his heart?
The land in Jinzhong to the north of the Yellow River is known as the mountains and rivers on the outside and inside. Several mountain ranges rise and fall like dragons, extending from north to south. They are called Luliang on the left and Taihang on the right. Between Luliang and Taihang, there is Taiyue. Its terrain It is higher than the northeast and lower than the southwest. If we break out of Taihang and occupy Weizhou, we will face Tokyo across the river. Once we cross the river to attack Henan, we will have a commanding position.
You must know that the ancients always used condescension as the best strategy when leading troops. As the saying goes, "Looking down from a high position is as powerful as splitting bamboo" - Ma Su believed in this military strategy at that time and climbed up the mountain to lose the street pavilion.
Of course, leaving aside the individual cases of applying mechanically and sticking to the rules, this art of war is indeed a brilliant principle. "Sun Tzu's Art of War" says: "If I live first, I must live in Gaoyang to wait for the enemy." The same principle applies.
Lu Junyi also knew the terrain in the north. After listening to Cao Cao's words, he also found it difficult and said angrily: "In the final analysis, the officers and soldiers are still incompetent."
What he said is true. They are all powerful men in the world. How could they not know Tian Hu’s background?
Tian Hu was originally just a hunter, but because he was born with good physical strength and practiced martial arts, he was well-liked in the countryside. What's rare is that he has a generous nature and has a wide network of friends. Later, his reputation spread, and the government and the Jianghu were willing to give him face. In addition, his hometown, Qinyuan County, is surrounded by thousands of mountains, which is naturally an easy place to gather, and it is worth the floods and droughts every year. Unevenly, the people are poor every year as they compete each year, so people's minds are confused.
Since Tian Hu had many friends, his vision was not bad. When he saw this situation, he thought that the time and place were favorable and everyone was here, so he took the opportunity to gather people to escape, fabricated rumors, incited the ignorant people, and gathered people to cause trouble. At first, they just robbed some property, but later When the people and horses grow stronger, they will invade the state and seize the county.
In fact, if there were one or two ministers in the local area at this time, it would not be difficult to treat them. However, if you look around, they are all civil servants who want money and generals who are afraid of death. These useless losers control the government and military power. The officialdom is dark, and everything is dark. It's so dark that no light can shine through.
The officers and soldiers in those prefectures and counties are all old and weak, and have no food and salary. When it is time to drill, they hire people to help them. As a result, the country spends all its money on raising soldiers, but only a lot of silverfish are fed and fed. , how can anyone fight? They forced some people to go into battle, but when they heard the word "thief", they dispersed, and they only hated their parents for being young.
The local officials were also shrewd and were afraid of being responsible for losing their land, so they offered gold, silver, money and food to each other, hoping for peace with each other.
But how to get those gold, silver, money and food? It is inevitable to blackmail the people, and even wealthy gentry with no background cannot escape this disaster. Officials can get money to "protect the place", and they can also get a lot of oil and water, so why not do it? Unexpectedly, the common people and even local heroes were so persecuted by the government that they all decided to join Tian Hu. Tian Hu then got money with his left hand and people with his right hand, and enjoyed the success, and his power became more and more prosperous.
Originally, with Tian Hu's true intention, he planned to stock up for a few more years before making big moves. Unexpectedly, this year, there have been many major events in the world. First, Liangshan defeated several soldiers from the imperial court and gained great prestige. Then Liangshan traveled thousands of miles to defeat Huazhou, and gained a group of thieves from Shaohua Mountain to join the gang, spreading his reputation as a righteous man. ; And then to "Wang Qing makes trouble in Tokyo", King Chu's limelight becomes more and more unparalleled - Tian Hu is not really a deep and sophisticated person, how can he still sit still? I told my brothers, "My mother, if we don't fight again, the whole world will be taken away by others."
So he made a noise and proclaimed himself King of Jin. Jinzhong had been infiltrated by him. In one month, he conquered several prefectures without losing any blood and dominated Jinzhong. He was about to attack Weizhou and Bianliang. , suddenly received Duan Wu's request for help, Tian Hu wanted to seize Liangshan Yi Bo Yuntian's reputation, so he sent a large army to cross the river to help, and made an appointment with Duan Wu Liangli. Prepared and unintentional, he beat Tong to the ground and was defeated thousands of miles away.
Naturally, Cao Cao didn't know the details of this. He had been busy fighting against Wang Qing in the past few months, and when he arrived, he encountered a huge defeat of his officers and soldiers. He had no idea how far Tian Hu had developed, how many troops came, who were the outstanding figures, and various situations. I don't know anything about it, but now that I have to rush into battle, I have to save the Song army in front of me first, and then make any calculations.
Seeing that the Song army on the mound was increasingly unable to hold up, Cao Cao made a decisive decision, pointed at the enemy formation and said: "Brothers, look, those traitor soldiers are so powerful, and they are at a time of success, and their morale is high. We cannot fight with them. Rescue them." Let's go, Old Liu! Now we are divided into three waves, and we will attack one of them with an unstoppable force. You all are not allowed to fight. When you see that the situation is tired, you will retreat quickly and have your own rear team to pick up."
Du Bo and others originally thought that everyone had the courage to rush forward, but unexpectedly, Cao Cao arranged carefully, and they all said happily: "What a good plan."
Cao Cao then instructed Du Chu to lead the first team of 1,000 people, Yuan Lang and Zhu Jing to lead the second team of 1,000 people, and he and Lu Junyi were the third team. They attacked one after another. At that moment, the division was decided, and the whole army slowly rushed forward, two meters away from the enemy. Inside, many bandit soldiers from the periphery were shouting and rushing toward them. Du Bo waved his spear and shouted the word "kill". He took the lead in accelerating with a thousand cavalry under his command. He broke out of the formation and galloped straight into the bandit army. middle.
Du Bo was a sharp man himself, leading the way with a snake spear. Although the morale of the thieves was high, how could they stop this brave general? They separated like waves, and Du Bo rushed to the foot of the mountain in one breath. The bandit soldiers on the mountain turned around and beat him with stones and crossbows, and then they stopped his charge.
When Du Bo saw this, he didn't want to fight anymore. He waved his spear and turned around to kill. The soldiers couldn't help but be stunned: You came to save people with such a strong momentum, which scared our little hearts. In the end, we rushed to the foot of the mountain and turned around. run?
Unexpectedly, just as Du Bo got out of the way, another cavalry troop came rushing in along the path taken by the former army. The two leading generals, one wielding a battle ax and the other using his axes, drove straight in despite the arrows and stones, and immediately killed them. Countless thieves.
The two of them were so brave, but they annoyed a strong man among the thieves. From the mountainside, a nine-foot-tall general with a face like a blue crab emerged from the mountainside. He picked up a thirty-pound wind-splitting knife, pointed at it and shouted: "Hey ! Damn General Song, do you recognize Dong Cheng, the general under the throne of Jin?"
Yuan Lang laughed and said: "You are a thief and a coward, and you have no choice but to be a nameless ghost. Who has the time to remember my last name?"
It turned out that when Tian Hu sent his army to cross the river, the leading general was a famous hero in Jin Dynasty, Niu Wenzhong, the "Iron Dragonfly", who was named Privy Envoy by Tian Hu. Dong Cheng was the vanguard of his subordinates. He was highly regarded because of his extraordinary bravery. How could Yuan Lang be so underestimated? He became furious and shouted: "I must turn you into a headless ghost to express my hatred!" He turned the sword and slashed across his face.
There are different teachings: butterflies flutter their thin wings by the sea, and knights drop iron nails on their way. There is no end to the cycle of cause and effect, and the secret of heaven is invisible.
(End of chapter)
