Cao Cao is suspicious by nature, on the one hand, because of his personality, on the other hand, because of the current situation. In that era of rampant power, a sincere person will die miserably. Cao Cao warned his general Xia many times? When you're weak? Sometimes bowing your head and doing small is not really giving in, but taking a step back for better progress. Unfortunately, Xia didn't listen. He was defeated by Huang Zhong in Dingjun Mountain and was beheaded himself. Cao Cao warned people to be cautious all his life, but sometimes he boasted regardless of reality.
History is also unkind to Cao Cao, and arrogant people will come to no good end.
Before Cao Cao's expedition to Jingzhou, he was very worried about Marten, Han Sui and others. One thousand tight ahead, marten, Han Sui fooling around in the rear, jun will be difficult to take care of. So Cao Cao sent Zhang Lang to Liangzhou to persuade Marten to enter Beijing. Marten didn't want to leave his own territory, but Zhang hyped the news that Marten would be promoted to Jiuqing and leave Liangzhou, and secretly ordered the counties along the way to prepare for the reception, so that all the senior officials with more than 2,000 stones would go out of the city to meet him, which made a lot of noise. Marten's failure to go is an open rebellion. So Marten took his two sons to Beijing, leaving his eldest son Ma Chao in charge of his headquarters. After Marten arrived in Beijing, he served as the security guard in charge of the palace. In fact, he was taken hostage.
After the defeat of Chibi, it was impossible to pacify Sun Liu in a short time. Cao Caokong made moves to prepare for the relatively weak separatist forces such as Marten and Han Sui in the west and Zhang Lu in Hanzhong.
At that time, Cao Cao ordered Zhong You, a captain, to lead an army against Zhang Lu, and Xia led an army out of Hedong to meet Zhong You. Cao Cao had an official named Gao Rou, who once suggested to Cao Cao that when soldiers went to the Western Expedition, Han Sui and Ma Chao suspected that they had attacked themselves, and they would incite each other. It is advisable to summon the three assistants first, and the three assistants will be flat, and Hanzhong can pass. ? Gao rou is a real person, and his suggestion is very reasonable. The so-called Sanfu area is the original Chang 'an and Luoyang areas. Although there is rebellion from time to time, he has taken refuge in Cao Cao in name. As long as Sanfu area is pacified, Zhang Lu, which is close to Sanfu area, will naturally surrender without a fight. Why should we assemble two armies and waste money and food?
Cao Cao is not a fool. Zhang Lu in Hanzhong is just a small satrap, and his army's fighting capacity is low. He just relies on Hanzhong's dangerous terrain, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Zhang Lu has no ambition. He just wants to play house by himself in Hanzhong, and poses no threat to Cao Cao, who dominates the Central Plains. However, Ma Chao in the west is different from Han Sui. Xiliang is located in the frontier and often fights with the conference semifinals. The army itself has many Qiang people and conference semifinals, and the fighting capacity of cavalry ranks first in the country. Didn't Dong Zhuo give orders in the imperial court with powerful cavalry from Xiliang? Ma Teng, who has always flaunted loyalty, complained about Cao Cao and was not a fellow traveler. But at this time, Marten has joined the court as Wei Yan. How can you directly send troops to attack Ma Chao and Han Sui?
So Cao Cao deliberately asked the army to gather westward. Ma Chao and Han Sui were really arrested, gathered 100,000 people and declared rebellion.
When the news of the rebellion in Xiliang came, Cao Cao killed Marten and announced that he would lead an army to pacify the rebels that day. People think: Xiliang Army is good at spear fighting. If you don't choose a striker, I'm afraid you're no match for Xiliang Army. ? But Cao Cao smiled at the generals and said proudly, I decided to go to war, not betray a thief. Although they are good at spears, I have a way to keep their spears from coming out. You just wait and see? ?
Does Cao Cao really understand the strength of Ma Chao's army and prepare to destroy it?
Cao Cao made some preparations. For example, let Coss and others in front build a solid position and don't fight Ma Chao. At the same time, on the surface, they gathered a large number of military forces in Tongguan, as if to fight a decisive battle in Tongguan, and then secretly let the arrogant general Huang Xu, who is best at surprise, lead the elite soldiers to bypass the river and camp in Xi 'an of the Yellow River. After gaining a foothold in Huang Xu, Cao Cao began to storm and the army crossed the river.
At that time, Ma Chao had got the news that Huang Xu had passed Puban in Xi, west of the Yellow River. Ma Chao thinks that troops can be stationed in the north of the Yellow River (the Yellow River turns in Tongguan area to form an included angle, and the north of the Yellow River mentioned by Ma Chao is the central area of the included angle) to prevent Cao Cao's troops from crossing the Yellow River. In this case, Huang Xu troops on the west bank of the Yellow River will naturally be devastated by lack of food and grass. However, Han Sui and Ma Chao were at odds. At this time, due to the situation, although the alliance, but the relationship is not harmonious. Han Sui strongly disapproves of Ma Chao's statement. He thought Cao Cao could attack by crossing the river halfway. Later, after Ma Chao's Han Sui was pacified, Cao Cao heard Ma Chao's opinion and said with great emotion. I have no place to bury the horse before it dies. ? According to Ma Chao's strategy, Cao could never cross the Yellow River in Cao Can. In time, he will surely defeat the local Xiliang Army.
However, even if Han Sui's advice was followed, Cao Cao's army paid a heavy price for crossing the river, and Cao Cao himself almost died.
At that time, Han Sui and Ma Chao led the troops stationed on the south bank of the Yellow River, watching Cao Cao's army cross the river, while Han Sui and Ma Chao reined in their horses until the army was halfway through. At that time, Cao Cao let the soldiers go first, and he led 100 more than the most elite samurai behind the house. At that time, arrows rained down, and Cao Cao was still sitting on a folding stool. At first, Cao Cao looked carefree. Don't you Han Sui just want to die halfway? I'm waiting! Cao Cao thought that his elite troops could completely block the impact of Ma Chao's ten thousand cavalry. After all, fighting by the river will not be between Scylla and Charybdis. As long as all his troops crossed the river, he won half the battle. However, I didn't expect Ma Chao's cavalry to be extremely brave, and the spears thrown were even more fierce, often piercing several warriors with one spear. West cool cavalry came and went like the wind, and in a blink of an eye, more than a hundred warriors were killed or injured. Chu Xu, the guard, saw that the situation was unfavorable and quickly helped Cao Cao get on the boat, but the boatman was also shot. So Chu Xu held a saddle in his left hand to protect Cao Cao and punted in his right hand. However, the speed of the ship is too slow and the pursuit is too urgent. Seeing that the cavalry of Xiliang will catch up, once Cao Cao is caught, history will be rewritten. At this moment, tens of thousands of cattle, sheep and horses suddenly came to the rear. When Xiliang cavalry saw animals, they dismounted and robbed, and Cao Cao took advantage of the chaos to escape.
When Cao Cao returned to the army, Cao Cao knew that Xiliang cavalry could play so well. But in history, Cao Cao did not admit his mistake as in the romance, but covered his wound tightly and continued to play the role of a strong man.
Later, Cao Cao used Jia Xu's stratagem to drive Han Sui and Ma Chao into civil strife, and successfully eliminated the forces of Xiliang. After the war, the generals asked about the initial arrangements. Cao Cao said that if we gather our troops by the river, the enemy will gather a large number of horses on the river bank. But I gathered outside Tongguan, so Huang Xu was able to camp on the west bank of the Yellow River smoothly. When we crossed the river, the enemy didn't dare to stop us from crossing it, precisely because Huang Xu's army was on the west bank, which could form the momentum of being attacked from both sides. The changes in the art of war are not static.
In Cao Cao's statement, Jia Xu was not mentioned, and Ma Chao's wisdom and courage were deliberately ignored. In fact, if Ma Chao camped on the north shore, if Jia Xu's suggestion did not destroy the relationship between Ma Chao and Han Sui, Cao Cao's so-called coup to let Huang Xu sneak into China would only ruin thousands of lives in vain. Of course, history is never possible, and history is written by winners, so Cao Cao's image can continue to be carried forward.