Since a combined attack is unavoidable, Zhang Wen can only work within his capabilities to make this urgent battle a positive one.
So, in the sixth year of Guanghe, November 7th was the second day after the winter snow melted.
Chaoge: The drums of the Han army in Henan are blaring loudly, and the soldiers holding feathers fly to the camp on the south bank of Qishui River.
The various generals who had been meeting in the military mansion also returned to the camp, surrounded by their respective soldiers, to preside over the next war.
The appearance of this heavy snow gave the Han army a brief rest, but the overall morale did not rise.
There are many reasons, including being demoralized by long battles, and fear of facing powerful enemies. But most of them are actually confusion about the future.
Currently, the main force of the Han soldiers in the camp are the Northern and Southern troops who followed Huangfu Song out of the country at that time. They are strong in combat, high-spirited, and the most loyal to the Han Dynasty, but to be honest, they are also the most confused.
Just tell me, have they gone through the expedition successfully since April? There were a lot of thieves killed, but more and more of them were killed.
Some of them have read the Bible and have family traditions, and they all know in their hearts what situations would lead to such a situation.
It was the last days of the Qin Dynasty and the last years of Mangxin, when chaos arose and no one could survive.
After realizing this, how could these last warriors guarding the Han Dynasty not feel fluctuations in their hearts? How could they not feel a sense of sadness?
After all, not everyone wants to be the lonely loyal man who holds up the white jade pillars holding up the sky and the purple golden beam across the sea, and is buried with the Han Dynasty.
They are also members of a family, and their families are also directing them to choose a way out. They cannot be willful.
Therefore, the atmosphere in the Han army camp was quite strange.
On the one hand, there are nine captains like Cao Cao, Sun Jian, Zhao Rong, Chunyu Qiong, Zheng Tai, Bao Hong, Huangfu Li, Feng Fang, Zhang Chao who are eager to fight.
But on the other hand, the middle and lower-level military officials and soldiers at the bottom were depressed.
The Ninth Colonel was naturally aware of the low morale. Logically speaking, the head coach should be here to boost morale at this time.
But unfortunately, our coach Zhang Wen is still stationed at Chaoge.
Are you afraid of death? No one in the army dared to say, and no one knows.
Zhang Wen handed Chijie to Cao Cao and asked him to be responsible for arranging the battle.
To be honest, the other eight captains were not convinced. Half of the reason why Cao Cao had just lost the battle and the morale of the army was so low was because of this man.
Also, if we had not led the army to arrive in time, Cao Cao would have died on the other side.
So, just ask why?
However, the Eighth School Lieutenant continued to dissatisfy, and Cao Cao was still granted the title of Zhijie. He marched to the Central Army during the holiday and supervised the Ninth School Lieutenant Department in Qishui.
As soon as he won the festival, Cao Cao summoned the entire army to the camp.
In the cold wind, he said to everyone:
"I was really surprised. I never thought that our Northern and Southern troops, who had fought hundreds of battles, would be afraid of facing a group of thieves.
Is this still the legendary warrior team that I heard about since I was a child, the warrior with great military exploits and the title of wolf warrior?
Stop fighting, you go back. Go back to the woman's arms to cry, go back to the high wall of Wubi to survive, go back to Kyoto to continue living in a dream, but all you have to do is abandon the glory of your fathers and ancestors.
Yes, as long as you abandon the glory of your fathers and ancestors and let them see in the underworld, your proud descendants will tarnish the family and the loyalty to the Han Dynasty.
So I give you a chance. Those of you who are willing to fight again should show your left side, and those of you who want to go back should show your right side.
It doesn't matter, no one will laugh at you, because you are no longer our warriors, and warriors who have no fighting spirit in their hearts are no longer worthy of being called warriors.
So, bare your shoulders and tell me your choice. Fight or walk?"
A very old-fashioned kicker but very effective.
These generals in the army have all been fighting for the Han Dynasty in the Northern and Southern armies since their father's ancestors. Indeed, as Cao Cao said, they grew up bathing in the glory of their ancestors.
They can die, but the glory of their ancestors and family cannot be lost in their hands. Therefore, nearly one hundred and twenty generals bared their left shoulders, raised their arms and shouted:
"Fight! Fight! Fight!"
Cao Cao's hair was cut off during the Battle of Qishui, so it was tied up hastily, but this did not affect his heroic spirit.
The man stepped on the horse, waved his arms, and shouted:
"Okay, this is the soul of my Han family, this is the spirit of my Han family, this is the pride of my Han people."
Then, he beat his chest and continued:
"I know many of you have heard of me, Cao Cao, and you will definitely say, Hey, isn't this the evil boy who wandered around Kyoto, the wanderer who stole the bride with Yuan Shao? There will even be more vicious ones among you,
Even an eggless castrate wants to be our handsome guy, right?"
Then Cao Cao stared at the people in the audience with his falcon eyes.
This gaze was so sharp and penetrating that many military officials who had this thought could not withstand the pressure and lowered their heads to avoid it.
Cao Cao wanted this effect, but he obviously underestimated the chaos of the military officials below.
When Cao Cao was about to make the following remarks, a sturdy Kansai soldier interrupted Cao Cao rudely.
I saw this man yelling in the crowd:
"Xiao Cao, you have eggs, but your grandfather doesn't have eggs. I, Wang Zhong, have no other merits except that my eggs are big, so I can give you some."
When all the military officers heard this, they burst into laughter.
These words were close to humiliation, and Cao Cao on the platform looked livid at the moment.
Shi Huan, Xu Ding, and Xia Houyuan, who were at the front of the crowd, also had red eyes and were pushing away the crowd to beat the yawning dog slave.
Just when all the soldiers looked down upon Cao Cao more and more, Cao Cao jumped down from the general platform with a whoosh, and then ran wildly in front of Wang Zhong, who was just helpless.
Wang Zhong was seven feet tall and Cao Cao was six feet tall. Cao Cao put his forehead on Wang Zhong's nose and kept hammering it like a bull.
"Come on, come on, let Nai Gong see where your eggs are? Come on, if you don't let Nai Gong surrender today, Nai Gong will take out your eggs and stuff them into your mouth."
Wang Zhong was the chief of a small pavilion in Fufeng. He later joined the army and became the current garrison general.
At first, everyone looked down upon Cao Cao, but he was the only one who spoke out.
At this moment, Wang Zhong felt two feet lower when he saw this son of a high official rushing to the top like a barbarian ranger in the countryside.
He used to be seven feet tall, but now he is only five feet tall in his heart. He is shorter than Cao Cao across from him. Because he knows that a messy person like Cao Cao will definitely get revenge.
So Wang Zhong said nonchalantly:
"It's nothing, nothing. Cao Gong's eggs are big, Cao Gong's are big."
Cao Cao pushed the coward away and continued to shout in the crowd without returning to the stage:
"I, Cao Cao, am an eunuch, and this cannot be changed no matter what. But what? I, Cao Cao, can still ride a strong horse and kill thieves. In every battle, I, old Cao, am not at the forefront."
After saying that, Cao Cao threw off his cloak and stood naked in front of the generals.
Then Cao Cao carried the bird on his arm and the eggs in his pocket, and said proudly in front of everyone:
"Here, bring the wine."
During this time, Wang Zhong on the side secretly glanced at Cao Cao's lower body, and then lowered his head in shame again.
"It's still your size."
At this time, Xu Ding and Shi Huan each held a jar of wine, placed it at Cao Cao's feet, and then guarded him on both sides.
Cao Cao took out a spoonful of wine, pointed at a scar on his chest, and said to the generals:
"Look at this, this is what I suffered when I was in Changshe. At that time, the thief pierced my armor with a pair of bladed spears and almost passed through my chest."
After saying that, he drank the wine he had just scooped out in his hand, and the overflowing wine flowed across his thick chest, showing his unparalleled strength.
As soon as he finished drinking, Cao Cao roared:
"Is Lao Cao worthy of this spoonful of wine?"
The soldiers beside him were all fierce men. They had already respected Cao Cao when they saw Cao Cao's scarred front, and they admired him even more when they were inspired by his actions and actions.
What a hero! No one from all over the world can be satisfied with this man's arrogance!
However, Lao Cao wasn't done yet. He burped, and then pointed at a long and narrow knife mark on his abdomen. Although it was not deep, the length almost reached the dragon's crotch, which made him shudder.
Cao Cao pointed at the scar and laughed:
"You see, this is my old Cao's destiny. As long as this sword strikes one more time, Naigong Dalong will be killed. As expected, God is jealous of it and wants to destroy it, but my old Cao fights for it and fights with it. Not only will he
The thief was stabbed to death with a knife. After that, Lao Cao shot six of them. Whether you accept or not is up to you."
All the soldiers made a noise and shouted:
"Submit Lao Cao, obey Lao Cao."
Then Lao Cao drank another large spoonful of wine, turned around, exposed his smooth back, and said to everyone:
"Come on, come up and take a look. Is Lao Cao's back slippery and moist? Of course, mother-in-law, take a look and don't touch it! Otherwise, I'll let you know how many peaches Lao Cao picked with his spear that day."
"Ha ha!"
All the soldiers could no longer bear it and rushed forward one after another. They raised their hands and touched Cao Cao.
All the soldiers understood what Cao Cao was talking about. It turned out that Cao Cao not only played with women, but also with men.
But no matter what, a really hot girl has a bad temper towards Nai Gong.
So Cao Cao yelled again:
"Old Cao, my chest was cut to pieces with thousands of swords, but there was not a single scratch on my back. Did Old Cao deceive you? Is Cao Cao a good man?"
At this time, without saying anything more, everyone embraced Cao Cao enthusiastically, and threw him up, and again, and again.
Cao Cao was up and down, laughing wildly as everyone shouted "Cai".
Finally, Cao Cao fainted. After he landed, he said to everyone:
"Does anyone still care who is Lao Cao's descendant? Does anyone still think that Lao Cao is not a warrior? Are there still people who don't want to be Lao Cao's brothers? Are there still people who don't want to fight on the battlefield with Lao Cao and wrap their bodies in horse leather?"
He pointed to the two jars of wine and said to the soldiers:
"Come on, if you think highly of Lao Cao, let's have a drink with Lao Cao. We'll all be drunk in the wine. From now on, we will live and die together and share joys and sorrows."
As soon as Cao Cao finished speaking, the Eighth Colonel, who had been sitting upright on his horse on the general stage, looked ugly.
They couldn't see that Cao Cao was winning people's hearts and forming brothers in the army. From now on, these generals will all be his brothers, so how will they, the generals, deal with themselves?
But neither Sun Jian nor Zhao Rong came out to stop it.
The former is confident that his subordinates are monolithic and cannot be splashed with water. The latter feels that Cao Cao still needs this to boost morale.
As for loyalty? Who believes it?
Do you believe it?
No matter what the eight captains on the stage were like, driven by such a warm atmosphere, all the military officers came up to scoop up drinks, then bowed to Cao Cao and shouted:
"To support the Han Dynasty and eradicate the Yellow Turbans, this is where justice lies. Even if you die, you will have no regrets."
Cao Cao also raised his arms and shouted:
"Be born as a Han scholar and die in the country, and die as a Han ghost protecting the Dragon Court."
The thousands of words spoken by all the military officials were condensed into one sentence:
"Be born as a Han scholar and die in the country, and die as a Han ghost protecting the Dragon Court."
Sun Jian on the stage also blushed, jumped up and shouted:
"Be born as a Han scholar and die in the country, and die as a Han ghost protecting the Dragon Court."
Finally, the eighth captain also stood up and shouted.
But Zhao Rong among them pointed at Cao Cao, who was jumping up and down in the crowd, and whispered to Chunyu Qiong with disdain:
"It's erect, doesn't it look like a dog?"
Unexpectedly, Chunyu Qiong refuted Zhao Rong seriously, and then spit out:
"No, he looks like a giant monkey."
After saying that, the two of them laughed as heartily as the soldiers below.
Yes, isn't this Cao Cao just a big horse monkey? He's five inches tall and jumps up and down with all his strength, but isn't the rope around his neck still tied to their hands?
Haha, okay, this big horse monkey is really good.
…
With his outstanding speeches and personal charm, Cao Cao inspired the three armies and also improved his prestige among the middle and lower-level military officials.
It was precisely with this prestige that Cao Cao was finally able to implement the planning and scheduling of this battle.
In this battle, Cao Cao did not plan to attack with his entire army as before, but decided to launch only a small-scale harassment war.
He first held a martial arts competition in the army, and used the military seizures and supplies as bounties. Cao Cao's purpose of doing this was to improve the morale of his soldiers on the one hand, and to select true warriors among them on the other hand.
The Han army's martial arts competition was held on the south bank of Qishui River, which was to show their high fighting spirit to the opposite side.
This competition lasted for three days, and Cao Cao also selected 300 warriors who topped each team and added them to his command.
These 300 people and the 300 brothers who had previously withdrawn from the north bank of Qishui River were all commanded by Xu Chu, who had recovered from his injuries. His troops were also called "Tiger Soldiers".
Cao Cao also specially invited Zhang Wen in the rear to bring military flags and golden drums to officially confer flags on this "Hu Shi Camp".
After that, Cao Cao disappeared with the Hu Shi Ying for a day, and then when everyone was suspicious, Cao Cao came back with the Hu Shi Ying.
Also brought back were two hundred heads.
It turned out that they lurked out of the camp in the middle of the night, hid across the Qishui River, passed the Taishan Army's Shuiying Luzhai, and went straight to a military station twenty miles away in the north.
This is Cao Cao's plan, to use a small force of elite troops to penetrate the Taishan Army's rear military station and destroy its supplies. Once he succeeds, he will return and then carry out the next attack.
In order to maximize the mobility of the Tiger Battalion, the entire army of 600 people was equipped with horses and mules to carry supplies. They carried six days of feed, military rations, and one day of water. Each man also carried three swords and hundreds of arrows. branch.
Then Cao Cao took the heavily armed Hu Shi camp and directly attacked the nearest military station of the Taishan Army at night. Because of the fatigue of the Han army these days, the Taishan Army became somewhat slack.
This military station has three granaries, each with hundreds of troops stationed.
Cao Cao's tiger camp arrived too quickly and was caught off guard. The farthest granary was burned down, and all the hundreds of people stationed in the granary were killed.
Cao Cao wanted to continue the night attack on the remaining two warehouses, but the Taishan Army's surprise cavalry cruising nearby saw the flames soaring into the sky and rushed to help.
In the end, Cao Cao could only kill some civilians and Taishan soldiers, wrap up their heads, and get rid of the crazy revenge of Taishan's cavalry, and finally returned to the camp on the second day of the day.
It was also through these two hundred heads that Cao Cao's prestige in the army reached its peak!