Chapter 325 Cao Great Wall
It has endured thousands of blows but is still strong, regardless of the winds from east to west, north and south. ----------"Bamboo and Stone" by Zheng Banqiao of the Qing Dynasty
It is said that war smoke suddenly rose on the two fronts of Juancheng and Dingtao. Xun Yu was sitting in Rencheng, and suddenly received a snowflake of battle reports. No matter how the mountain collapsed in front of him, he did not change his color, and he broke out in a cold sweat.
Xun Yu ordered his men to quickly invite the general Cao Ren. He was also worried that Man Chong and Xu Huang's Puyang would be cut off on the other side of the Yellow River, so he wrote another letter, strictly ordering Xu Huang and Man Chong to defend the city under any circumstances. First priority. The soldier who delivered the message had just gone out, and the guard at the door came to report that the general Cao Ren had arrived.
Cao Ren was nine feet tall, with broad shoulders and a thick back, and a figure like a fan. He had just returned from training and had not yet taken off his armor. The pure black helmet cherry blossoms scattered from the top of the iron-black iron helmet to Cao Ren's neck, and connected with the collar of the black shirt, setting off Cao Ren's resolute and courageous slightly dark face. Under the two thick eyebrows was a cold and calm gaze, which seemed to be anything. None of it would make him lose his cool. An eagle nose, two light beards, suppressing the tight corners of the mouth, and a scattered mustache on the chin, setting off the free and uninhibited style of a Confucian general. The one-piece leather armor with huge shoulder pads makes this Cao family general even more powerful.
Cao Ren walked into the hall, saluted Xun Yu, and immediately sat down. He took off his helmet, revealing his neat bun, which was wrapped in a black scarf. Being dressed in all kinds of black is a sign of nobility in Cao's camp. Cao Ren, the first general of the Black Tiger Army, as Cao Cao's disciple, has a noble status that no one can compare with.
Cao Ren, courtesy name Zixiao, was of Han nationality, from Qiao County, Pei State, and Cao Cao's younger brother. He was twenty-two years old this year, and was in his prime. In life, he is best at bowing, horse riding, riding and shooting. If he doesn't practice any discipline when he is young, when he grows up and becomes a general, his character will become strict and he will abide by laws and orders. He served Cao Cao for many years and made great contributions to the Wei Dynasty. Defeating Yuan Shu, Cao Ren gained a lot. He defeated Tao Qian's army and Tao Qian's general Lu You, captured Juyang, and captured Lu Bu's general Liu He alive. In the battle of Guandu, he defeated Liu Bei's army in Yinqiang, and again in the battle of Jiluoshan. The victory over Yuan Shaojun is an incalculable achievement.
After the defeat in the Battle of Chibi, Cao Ren guarded Jiangling and Zhou Yu for a year, which bought Cao Cao valuable time to regroup. Since then, his reputation for being good at defense has been known to the world, and he is known as Cao's Great Wall. Weinan defeated Ma Chao, defeated the rebel generals Su Bo, Tian Yin, and Hou Yin, blocked Guan Yu's attack in the Battle of Xiangfan, defeated Chen Shao with Xu Huang, and marched to Xiangyang. After the founding of the Wei State, Cao Ren worshiped the General of Chariots and Cavalry and commanded the military forces of Jingzhou, Yangzhou, and Yizhou. The Jin Dynasty granted him the title of Marquis of Chen. At the age of sixteen, his posthumous title was Zhonghou.
According to the official history, during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Cao Ren secretly gathered thousands of young men and swam between the Huaihe River and Sishui River. Later, he led a team to follow Cao Cao and was appointed as a commander of other departments and a commander in charge of Li Feng. In the fourth year of Chuping, Cao Ren made great gains in the battle between Cao Cao and Yuan Shu. During the expedition to Xuzhou, Cao Ren often led the army and cavalry and served as the vanguard in front of the battle. Don't attack Tao Qian's general Lu You, the governor of Xuzhou, and defeat the enemy. Then he joined the army in Pengcheng and defeated Tao Qian's army. After attacking Feixian, Huaxian, Jimo, and Kaiyang, Tao Qian sent his men to rescue the counties, but Cao Ren defeated them one by one.
In the second year of Xingping, Cao Cao conquered Lu Bu and sent Cao Renbie to attack Juyang. He successfully captured the city and captured Lu Bu's general Liu He alive. After Cao Cao defeated the Yellow Turbans, he welcomed Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty and established his capital in Xu County. He also worshiped Cao Ren as the prefect of Guangyang because of his military exploits. Cao Cao valued his heroic military strategy very much, so he did not let Cao Ren guard the county, but let him supervise the army as Yilang.
In the third year of Jian'an, Cao Ren attacked Zhangxiu and the surrounding counties, and captured more than 3,000 people in the city. When Cao Cao's army retreated, Zhang Xiu sent troops to pursue him. Cao Cao's army was at a disadvantage and his soldiers were all discouraged. Only Cao Ren rose up and provoked the soldiers. The morale of the army was very high. Cao Cao made great use of his actions and finally defeated Zhang Xiu.
In February of the fourth year of Jian'an, Zhang Yang was killed by Yang Chou, a general under his command, and Yang Chou was killed by Sui Gu. Sui Gu attracted people to join Yuan Shao and camped in Shedog. In April, Cao's army marched towards Linhe, and Cao Ren and Shi Huan crossed the river to attack Suigu. Suigu sent Zhang Yang's old chief Shi Xue Hong and Hanoi governor Miao Shang to stay behind to shoot the dog, while he led his troops north to look for Yuan Shao for help. However, he met Cao Ren and others in Dog City. The two armies fought, and Cao's army won a great victory and killed Sui Gu.
In the fifth year of Jian'an, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were at a stalemate in Guandu. Liu Pi and others from Runan surrendered in response to Yuan Shao's rebellion and invaded Xu. Yuan Shao sent Liu Bei to attack Jian and strengthen the counties, and many counties responded. From the south of Xuchang, the officials and people were very uneasy, and Cao Cao was also worried about it. At this time, Cao Ren said: "The counties in the south thought that our army was in urgent need of Guandu and could not rescue them, but Liu Bei was suppressing the border with a large army at this time. Their betrayal was normal. But Liu Bei had just led Yuan Shao's troops, and they had not yet been able to rescue them. Once it is used, it can be destroyed with one blow." Cao Cao agreed, so he ordered Cao Ren to send his cavalry to attack Liu Bei and drive him away. Cao Ren finally recovered all the rebel counties and returned them. Later, Yuan Shao sent his general Han Xun to cut off Cao's army from the west, but Cao Ren defeated him at Jiluo Mountain. From then on, Yuan Shao did not dare to send any more troops. Cao Ren, Shi Huan and others intercepted Shao's grain carts and burned all the grain.
In the tenth year of Jian'an, the north of the Yellow River was established, and Cao Ren came to Huguan from Wei Gao. At that time, Cao Cao ordered: "After the city is captured, all the enemy troops will be trapped." The result was that it lasted for months. Cao Ren advised Cao Cao: "When you besiege a city and attack Guo, you must declare a living door to the enemy in order to open up a way for them to survive. Now that my lord has declared to the enemy that the city will die if the city falls, the enemy will defend it to the death. Moreover, this city is strong and has plenty of food. If you want to attack, your soldiers will be tired; if you want to defend, you will be delayed for a long time; it is not a good plan to garrison troops under a strong city and attack the defending soldiers." Cao Cao listened to his words, and sure enough, the city surrendered immediately. So he included Cao Ren's military achievements before and after, and made him the capital of Tinghou.
In the thirteenth year of Jian'an, Jingzhou was conquered by Cao Cao, and Cao Ren was granted the title of General of the Southern Conquest. After the Battle of Chibi, Cao Cao left Cao Ren, Xu Huang and others to stay in Nanjun. Zhou Yu and Cheng Pu led tens of thousands of troops to stalemate Cao Ren across the river. Before the two armies clashed, Zhou Yu first sent Gan Ning to occupy Yiling. Cao Ren sent some troops to surround Gan Ning, and Gan Ning asked Zhou Yu for help. Zhou Yu adopted Lü Meng's strategy and left Ling Tong to guard the rear. He personally led Lü Meng to rescue Gan Ning, defeated Cao Ren's army in Yiling, and lifted the siege of Gan Ning. Zhou Yu took advantage of the situation to cross the Yangtze River and garrisoned troops on the north bank, stalemate with Cao Ren.
In the 14th year of Jian'an, Zhou Yu led an army of tens of thousands to attack Nanjun. Thousands of his vanguard had arrived. Cao Ren ascended the city to look into the distance and recruited 300 men, so he ordered his general Niu Jin to challenge the army. However, Wu's army was large and Niu and Jin's army was small, so they were surrounded. Cao Ren and Chen Jiao, the chief minister, were both on the city. They saw Niu Jin and other three hundred people dying in danger, and everyone on the left and right turned pale and frightened. But Cao Ren was furious and called for horses. Chen Jiao and others knew that Cao Ren wanted to go down to the city to rescue Niu Jin, so they pulled Cao Ren together and said, "The thieves are so powerful that they are unstoppable. Why not give up these hundreds of people, while the general Go with your body!" Cao Ren responded, put on his armor, mounted his horse, and led dozens of his strong men out of the city. They were more than a hundred steps away from the Wu army and were approaching the city ditch. Chen Jiao and others thought that Cao Ren was just staying on the ditch to support Niu Jin. Unexpectedly, Cao Ren actually crossed the ditch and rushed forward, rushed into the enemy siege, and Niu Jin and others were rescued. However, the remaining enemy soldiers had not yet left the siege. Cao Renfu rushed in again, pulled out the remaining soldiers from the siege, killed several Wu soldiers, and drove the Wu army back. When Chen Jiao and others first saw Cao Ren rushing out, they were all frightened. When they saw Cao Ren returning to the city, they had to sigh: "The general is really a man of heaven!" The three armies all admired his bravery. Cao Cao valued him even more and transferred him to Anping Pavilion. Hou.
Later, Zhou Yu personally came to attack and was wounded by a stray arrow. He was seriously injured and led his troops back into battle. Cao Ren heard that Zhou Yu was injured and could not get up, so he personally supervised the troops in front of Zhou Yu's formation. Zhou Yu then got up and walked to the military camp to boost morale. Cao Ren retreated upon seeing this.
In the 16th year of Jian'an, Cao Cao conquered Guanzhong westward. Cao Ren was the general of Anxi. The governor generals refused to defend Tongguan and defeated the ten princes of Guanzhong headed by Ma Chao and Han Sui in Weinan. At that time, Su Bo and Tian Yin in Hejian rebelled. Cao Ren then led the general Qiaoqi and commanded seven armies to defeat Tian Yin and others. Cao Cao again sent Cao Ren to conquer the south. During the holidays, he stationed in Fancheng and assumed the important task of guarding Jingzhou.
In the 23rd year of Jian'an, when Cao Zhang, the Marquis of Yanling, was marching north to Wuwan, his brother Cao Pi wrote a letter admonishing Cao Zhang: "A general must be loyal and abide by the law. Shouldn't he be like Cao Zixiao, the general who conquered the south?"
In the 24th year of Jian'an, Hou Yin of Wancheng rebelled and looted thousands of people from nearby counties. Cao Ren led the army to defeat the rebels, killed Hou Yin, and returned to Fancheng, where he was appointed as the general for the southern expedition. Later, Guan Yu attacked Fancheng. At that time, the Han River surged and overflowed. Yu Jin and other seven supporting troops were drowned, and Yu Jin surrendered to Guan Yu. Cao Ren led thousands of soldiers to defend Fancheng, and the water almost flooded the entire city. Guan Yu took a boat to attack the city and surrounded it for several levels. There was no communication between the city and the outside world, and there was not much food left, but reinforcements had not yet arrived. Cao Ren inspired the soldiers with courage and expressed their determination to defend the city to the death. The soldiers were moved by his spirit and devoted themselves to defending the city. Soon, when Xu Huang arrived with reinforcements, the flood gradually receded. Xu Huang attacked Guan Yu from the outside. Cao Ren was able to break through and finally repulsed Guan Yu. In the first year of Yankang, Cao Pi ascended the throne as King of Wei, worshiped Cao Ren as a chariot general, commanded the military of Jing, Yang, and Yizhou, granted the title of Marquis of Chen, increased the number of cities by 2,000, and combined the former total of 3,500 households, and later returned to Tunwan. city. Sun Quan sent general Chen Shao to occupy Xiangyang. Cao Ren followed the order and defeated Chen Shao with Xu Huang. He took control of Xiangyang and sent general Gao Qian and other uncivilized people who had migrated to the south of the Han River to the north of the Han River.
In the second year of Huangchu, Cao Pi appointed Cao Ren as general. He also ordered Cao Ren to kill the rebel general Zheng Gan, move the army to Linying, and then move to Da Sima. The governor's troops were stationed in Wujiang, and they were also stationed in Hefei. In October of the third year of Huangchu, Sun Quan rebelled again. Cao Pi personally led various armies to attack Wu. He sent Cao Ren to lead tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry to attack Wu's Ruxu (Battle of Ruxukou). He also used the strategy of attacking from the east to the west and sent Jiang Ji to attack Xianxi. He successfully lured the enemy general Zhu Huan to send reinforcements to Xianxi, and then sent his son Cao Tai to attack Ruxu City. Generals Chang Diao, Zhuge Qian, Wang Shuang and others attacked Zhongzhou, while Cao Ren stayed in the rear.
In the fourth year of Huangchu, the Battle of Ruxukou was still going on. At this time, Zhu Huan, the commander-in-chief of Wu Fang, personally resisted Cao Tai and sent general Yan Gui to attack Chang Diao and others. As a result, Chang Diao was beheaded, Wang Shuang was captured alive, and the Wei army had over a thousand dead and had to retreat. Not long after the defeat, Cao Ren died at the age of fifty-six. He was posthumously named Zhonghou. Together with Xiahou Dun and Cheng Yu, they were honored by Cao Rui in Cao Cao's temple for their meritorious services.
Cao Ren, who was the best at defending among Cao's troops, discussed with Xun Yu and determined a set of defensive strategies. However, Cao Ren insisted on informing his lord as soon as possible and requested that a communication channel with Puyang be opened as soon as possible. There were some differences between the two. If you want to know what happens next, listen to the explanation next time.
