The Guanzhong Plain has been rich since ancient times, and the Qin territory is dangerous and solid to conquer the world. Twenty thousand people are enough to equal a million princes, and there is a saying that there are one hundred and two Qin Passes.
There are the steep Qinling Mountains to the south, Tongguan and the Yellow River to the east, Longshan and Liupanshan to the west, and Ziwuling and Huanglongshan to the north.
Cao Cao wanted to actually control the Yongliang area and completely remove the military threat from the various tribes in Guanxi. There were three marching routes from east to west. The north route was from Pubanjin in Hedong County crossing the Yellow River to the west, the middle route was from Tongguan Continent to the west to Guanzhong, and the southern route was a detour. Wancheng, go to Wuguan and Lantian counties.
Cao Cao chose to pretend to attack Tongguan on the middle road, actually sneak across to Puban on the north road, and abandon Wancheng and Wuguan on the south road. The most important thing was to consider the large army grain road. Both the north road and the middle road could use the Yellow River waterway to transport grain. The south road was abandoned directly because there was no waterway.
If Cao Cao's army left Hedong directly, the Kansai Allied Forces would send troops to guard the ferry. It would be difficult to cross the river from the north, so Cao Cao chose Tongguan to feign an attack. Unfortunately, the Kansai warlords were all reckless men with narrow vision. Although they Han Sui was elected as the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, but no one saw through Cao Cao's plan to attack the east and attack the west.
Tongguan is connected to the Qinling and Yanshen Mountains to the south, and to the north is the intersection of the Yellow River and the Weishui River, which is the intersection of the last L of the several bends of the Yellow River. To the west of the L bend is the tributary Weishui. When viewed together, the two rivers generally show an inverse T-shape. .
No one in the world knew the importance of Tongguan, but Cao Cao forced the Kansai generals to rebel in March, and did not come to the pass to confront him in person until July, which was really beyond the expectations of the Kansai generals.
Cao Cao could seize Tongguan first, and there was no need to wait until now to risk crossing the river from Puban. In fact, he used Tongguan as bait to lure all ten troops here to annihilate him, so as to avoid wasting time searching for battles after entering the pass. This can also save food greatly.
"Sun Tzu's Art of War" says: Earth refers to distance, danger, width, life and death. Cao Cao gave up the "land" and took the "way". He used the "danger" to make the "approach" easier.
In early September, Cao Cao led his main force to move northward, preparing to cross the Yellow River north from Fenglingdu into his own Hedong County. Xu Huang and Zhu Ling secretly led their troops to cross the Yellow River westward from Pubanjin further north in Hedong County at the agreed time. , entering the Hexi area controlled by the Kansai Allied Forces.
The generals in Guan Guan were at a loss when they heard that Cao Cao was crossing the river. Commander Han Sui told the generals: "Cao Mengde cannot attack Tongguan. Now he must cross the Yellow River north by water. If he is allowed to enter the land west of Hexi, the pass will be in danger."
Ma Chao cupped his fists and said, "The art of war is to attack him halfway across the river. Why not take advantage of him to cross the river and send troops to kill him by surprise?"
The tribes in Guanxi are not subordinate to each other. Although they unite to fight against Cao Cao, no one wants to be the leader. At this time, almost no one is willing to let them go out to fight against Cao Jun. Therefore, after Ma Chao made the suggestion, the scene was very tense. of silence.
Seeing that the generals were silent, Han Sui said, "We have been going to Tongguan to increase our troops for the past two months. Why not send people to guard the crossings in the west of the river? As long as there are thousands of people defending, Cao Cao cannot force the crossing even with a hundred thousand troops. "
There was no one to do the thankless job. Someone jumped out immediately to do this kind of cheap job.
Liang Xing cupped his fists and said, "I am willing to lead my troops to share the governor's worries."
Han Sui nodded and said: "General Liang, go quickly. To go to Hexi, you have to cross Hebei from Weikou after Guanhou. We must reach Hexi before Cao Cao."
"I will definitely live up to my mission." Liang Xing smiled and walked down the pass.
Liang Xing felt that no matter how hard he delayed, he could still be faster than Cao Cao. After all, the current in that section of the Yellow River was very fast. If Cao Cao went upstream, there would be greater risks. If Cao Cao first crossed Hedong County from the south bank of the Yellow River to the north, and then crossed west from Pubanjin to the north, It took too long.
Ma Chao looked at Liang Xing's back and thought to himself, you know how to pick out weak persimmons, and you are even more disdainful when you see the generals planning their own plans.
"Since you are unwilling to leave the border, Chao is willing to lead our troops to come out to stop the attack." Ma Chao said with clasped fists.
"A good nephew must not be careless. Cao Mengde is very good at using troops and has many powerful generals under his command..." Han Sui tactfully dissuaded him.
Ma Chao sneered: "The chance of fighting is fleeting. I regard Cao's thieves as nothing but grass. Uncle, please watch me behead the thieves."
"My dear nephew, you must be careful..." Before Han Sui finished speaking, Ma Chao had hurriedly left the pass. The generals in the pass shook their heads when they saw this.
Han Sui and Ma Teng were both Xiliang warlords. After their close relationship, they became brothers with different surnames. They followed Zhong Yao's advice and nominally obeyed Cao Cao. Later, they became enemies due to conflicts between their tribes, and they attacked each other. By killing Ma Teng's wife, Cao Cao pretended to reconcile the contradictions but actually they fell apart. He transferred Ma Teng to the court as an official according to the imperial edict.
Ma Teng was worried that he would lose his military power and would have no place in the court in the future, so he left Ma Chao to command his troops.
Cao Cao used tricks to force the Kansai generals to rebel. Among the generals, Han Sui and Ma Chao were the strongest. Their attitudes determined the attitudes of the ten Kansai tribes.
The current enemy is based on common interests. In order to make friends with Han Sui, Ma Chao put aside his past resentment and said the self-destructive words: Chao has abandoned his father and regards the general as his father. The general should also abandon his son and regard Chao as his son.
Although the allied forces did not pay tribute to father and son since the war against Cao Cao, they behaved quite intimately in front of the Kansai generals. Ma Chao's bravery shocked the Xiqiang people. The Kansai generals were friendly and kind on the surface, but secretly they still despised his words and deeds.
Ma Chao's character is a bit like Cao Cao's. He would rather be a real villain than a hypocrite. He has mastered military power since he was a child, and he knows that strength is king. Ma Teng will be safer if he can win the battle with soldiers in hand. Otherwise, Ma Teng in the court may fall into crisis.
After Ma Chao passed the pass, he ordered all his troops and headed northeast to where Cao Cao crossed the river.
Cao Cao built fortifications twenty miles east of Tongguan with deep ditches and high fortifications from north to south. Now that the army was crossing the river one after another, there was no one to defend the fortifications, so they were easily defeated by Ma Chao's pursuers.
At this time, Cao Cao was commanding the army to cross the river on the south bank. He only had his clan kinsman Xia Houjian, surrendered general Gao Lan and tiger guard Xu Chu with him. There were still 3,000 soldiers who had not crossed the river. He did not expect that Ma Chao would come out to pursue him.
The sound of horse hooves was as loud as thunder, and the yellow sand on the shore was rolled up, covering the sky and blocking out the sun.
Cao Cao heard the noise and stood up from his bed in shock. He saw from a distance this army of about ten thousand people dressed in Xiliang uniforms. At this time, they were injured by bows and arrows while fighting for the crossing hole. Cao Cao relied on the bravery of his soldiers to prepare for the attack.
The front troops of the Xiliang Army stopped their horses, and Ma Chao stood in front of the formation with a gun. He had a face like a crown of jade, eyes like shooting stars, a tiger body and ape arms, a belly and a wolf waist, a lion helmet and animal belt, silver armor and white robes, and he looked very powerful. Divine Horse.
"Where is that traitor Cao? Why don't you go out and die?" Ma Chao shouted loudly, his voice strong and resolute.
Cao Cao had few soldiers at this time, so how could he dare to ask a large army to report to his family?
Xia Houjian was furious after hearing this. He couldn't help but urge his horse to take two steps forward, and then shouted angrily with a gun: "You dare to rebel against the traitor and insult the prime minister. I, the general, will make you pay the price."
Cao Cao sweated after hearing this. This Xiahou Jian was Xiahou Dun's distant nephew. His martial arts had been carefully taught by Xiahou Dun. Although he was famous for his bravery in the clan, he was much inferior to Gao Lan next to him.
Cao Cao asked, "Why are you so impulsive?"
