In February of the 24th year of Jian'an, Cao Cao returned to Yangping Pass after several years.
When Cao Cao arrived, he discovered that although Yangping had tens of thousands of troops, it had never had any major battles with Liu Bei. In addition to Liu Bei's passive avoidance of war, it was also related to the confusion among the generals at Yangping Pass.
Xia Houyuan died in the battle at Dingjun Mountain. Guo Huai and Du Xi jointly elected Zhang He to act as the acting governor. After Cao Cao received the news in Chang'an, he gave Zhang He a leave to supervise the military affairs in Hanzhong, and Zhang He appointed Guo Huai as his commander.
Zhang He held Cao Cao's knot in his hands, and Xu Huang of Nanzheng also obeyed his general's order to ensure that grain and grass were transported along the north bank of Mian River to Yangping.
Under the deployment of Zhang He, Cao's army in Hanzhong ensured the smooth flow of grain routes between Yangping Pass and Nanzheng, and also did a good job in monitoring Liu Bei's shipbuilding on the south bank. The problem arose after Cao Hong arrived at Yangping Pass.
Cao Hong and Cao Zhen arrived at Yangping Pass with 30,000 troops. The number of defenders at Yangping Pass instantly increased to more than 50,000. In addition, the total strength of Xu Huang's troops in Nanzheng was equal to that of Liu Bei's army.
At this time, Liu Bei was still building ships leisurely on the south bank. He had no intention of crossing the Mian River to attack Yangping Pass. He also sent people downstream to harass Cao's army's food route from time to time.
With an equal number of troops and all the warships available, Zhang He did not choose to cross the river to fight Liu Bei. This was not because he still wanted to go on, but mainly because he could not command the clan generals Cao Hong and Cao Zhen.
Because of Cao Hong's ability issues, his official position was Protector General at this time, and his responsibility was to supervise the other generals in the army. Although this was a false position with no real power, he was too senior and was one of the four generals in Cao's army, so Zhang He could not afford to offend him. It's an existence that I don't dare to mess with.
Cao Zhen was not as qualified as Zhang He, but he was Cao Cao's favorite adopted son. Before he was granted the title of General of the Conquest of Shu, he served as the third commander of Cao's army. This position was to command the personal guards and the imperial army. Those who were not Cao Cao's close confidants had no chance to hold the position. The first two terms were Cao Cao's confidant Shi Huan, and Xia Houyuan who died in Dingjun Mountain.
Zhang He did not dare to command Cao Hong and Cao Zhen, and because of Zhang He's integrity, the two clansmen did not dare to take over Zhang He's command. They just muddle along like this until Cao Cao, the king of Wei, came.
After Cao Cao arrived, the issue of command authority was easily solved. He considered that the issue of corvee must be resolved quickly.
Looking at the east-west map of Hanzhong, Cao Cao frowned and snorted: "The big-eared thief wants to compete with us, how can I follow his wishes? It seems that we must dig a trap for him."
Liu Ye saw that Cao Cao's eyes were on the vicinity of Nanzheng, so he tried to guess: "Liu Bei occasionally sends troops across the Mian River to attack our army's food routes. Could it be that the King of Wei intends to use the food as bait?"
Cao Cao shook his head, "The raid on the grain road will not attract Liu Bei's main force. Don't the big-eared thieves want Hanzhong? I will call Xu Gongming back to Yangping Pass, and we will hand over Nanzheng to Liu Bei."
"King Wei, what do you mean?" Cao Hong asked anxiously.
In the big tent, Cao Zhen, Zhang He, Guo Huai and other generals were very puzzled. They thought to themselves: How could they send the city away before the battle started?
"Just do as Gu said." Cao Cao was trying to be mysterious.
"Wei." Liu Ye responded with his hands raised. He seemed to understand Cao Cao's intention.
A few days later, Xu Huang followed Cao Cao's military order and marched toward Yangping Pass along the north bank of Mianshui River with great fanfare, fearing that Liu Bei's army scouts on the south bank would not find him.
When Xu Huang arrived at Yangping Pass, the scouts sent out by Cao Cao were sentrying back and forth along the Mian River. They paid close attention to the movements of the Yizhou soldiers on the south bank.
Unfortunately, after two days of observation and a message from the soldiers and horses left behind in Nanzheng, it was learned that Liu Bei was indifferent to the "pie falling from the sky".
Cao Cao stood by the Mian River and sighed: "There are experts around the big-eared thief. He can actually see Gu's plan. It's hard to deal with this guy now."
"The lord plans to turn his back on the guests, abandon Nanzheng to lure Liu Bei there, and then use heavy troops to cut off his food routes and trap them to death in Hanzhong?" Liu Ye continued to speculate.
Cao Cao smiled awkwardly. It turned out that Liu Ye also saw what he thought was a clever strategy, and he must not be able to hide it from Pang Tong, who was known as Feng Chu.
"The big-eared thief avoids fighting because he is cowardly. If he doesn't come to Gu and dares to fight, Gu will cross the river to find a fight. Wherever Miaocai loses his glory, Gu will find it for him somewhere." Cao Cao snorted coldly with empty eyes.
Liu Ye nodded, "If the King of Wei crosses the river from here to go to the south bank to build a stronghold, we can shorten the distance of grain and grass transportation and reduce the risk of grain and grass being attacked by Liu Bei. However, Liu Bei's main force is building ships on the other side, so crossing the river from this point may be half-crossed by the opponent. Instead of attacking, why not lead the troops to the east and then cross over? This way we can also outflank them in a roundabout way."
Cao Cao shook his head when he heard this: "How can Liu Bei's newly made simple rafts block our warships? The big-eared bandit crossing the river will definitely be unable to resist it. Furthermore, if we cross the river eastward to find an uninhabited place, our army's flanks will be easily attacked. When Liu Bei's troops ambush Zhang Fei, he has learned to be so shrewd now. The big-eared thieves have Pang Tong and Fazheng to help them. I'm afraid they have more bad things in their stomachs than the water in front of them..."
"Uh... King Wei is wise." Liu Ye quickly complimented.
Cao Cao turned around and put his hands on his back, and said leisurely: "Let's go back to the camp to deploy now."
"only."
Cao Cao returned to Yangping Pass and gathered his generals and said: "As the saying goes, strike first and strike later but be controlled by others. Liu Bei wanted to stalemate with our army at Mian River, so Gu decided to take the initiative. Ziyang and Zilian prepared ships as soon as possible. Zixu was responsible for allocating grain and grass in Guanzhong, and the other generals immediately Prepare your troops and horses, and board the ship early in the morning two days later to attack the south bank."
"Wei." The civil and military officials in the tent responded in unison.
Xu Huang agreed and was about to say nothing. Cao Cao noticed that he seemed to have something to say, so he stretched out his hand to stop the harmony and asked, "What did Gongming want to say?"
"Our army's grain and grass supplies are transferred southward from Baoshui River to Mian River, which is dozens or hundreds of miles long in Hanzhong. Liu Beai sent people to harass along the Mian River. Now the garrison in Nanzheng is sparse and less than a thousand people. , Unable to effectively coordinate the eastern section of the grain road, the general will ask Ying to lead troops to protect the safety of the grain road." Xu Huang said sonorously.
"Gongming has thought carefully, and the King of Wei should agree to his request." Liu Ye stood up and spoke for Xu Huang.
Cao Cao thought that Xu Huang was brave and good at fighting, so he sent him to protect food and display his talents. At this time, Cao Cao suddenly saw Zhang He with a stern expression, so he looked at him and said: "Gong Ming, I still have other uses. Jun Yi has always been cautious, so give him How about you send 10,000 soldiers and horses to protect the food supply?"
"The last general takes orders." Zhang He responded decisively.
"King Wei, then General..."
When Xu Huang saw Zhang He picking his peaches, he couldn't help but ask about his mission.
"The big-eared thief is doing whatever he wants. He can disturb our army's food route, but why can't he cut off his food route? As long as Liu Bei's stronghold on Jinniu Road is broken, what will he eat in Dingjun Mountain?" Cao Cao sneered.
Guo Huai followed up and said: "King Wei, the last general, under the orders of Governor Miaocai, once attacked Liu Bei's Mianbei camp, but the terrain there was narrow and difficult to defend and difficult to attack..."
Cao Cao walked to the map hanging in the tent, pointed to a place outside Yangping Pass and said: "Liu Bei can send people to cross Zomaling and then attack Maming Pavilion Road. Why don't we use the route of the big-eared bandits?"
Guo Huai was startled when he heard this, and thought to himself that King Wei really had a better move.
