Creating dense smoke to cover the army's attack on the fortified city of Hangu Pass was actually just a temporary thought of Deputy Director Tao, and he was inspired by the behavior of Cao's army - the Xuzhou soldiers who had previously pretended to be Cao's soldiers were able to successfully sneak into the city. Entering Cao's army was because Cao's army lit fires in the valley and created a lot of thick smoke. The smoke lingered in the narrow valley for a long time, giving the Xuzhou army officers and soldiers a lot of opportunities.
After Deputy Director Tao, who was good at summarizing experience and lessons, discovered this, he temporarily decided to try this cover tactic. Before that, Deputy Director Tao and the decision-makers of the Xuzhou Army did not dare to put much hope in this tactic. Many generals in the army tried their best, and arranged for Xuzhou Army veteran Qin Yi to lead a thousand auxiliary soldiers to collect a batch of firewood and send it to the battlefield for use. At the same time, in order to avoid back-defeating tactics that could also interfere with Xuzhou Army's siege, To dampen the spirit of his own team, Deputy Director Tao did not dare to use this tactic in the first wave of exploratory attacks. It was not until he confirmed that a frontal attack was almost impossible to break through that Deputy Director Tao treated a dead horse like a living horse. , gave this tactic a little try.
The effect of the smoke tactic was so good that it greatly exceeded the expectations of Deputy Director Tao and the Xuzhou Army. When he saw the second wave of siege troops easily attacking the wall in the smoke, Deputy Director Tao's mouth opened. Circle shape! After finally coming back to his senses, the first thing Deputy Director Tao did was to curse himself for being stupid. He didn't let Qin Yi collect more than ten times the amount of firewood, didn't bring absolute elites like Danyang soldiers and trapped camp, and missed this broken opportunity in vain. Shut down the opportunity!
The result also made Deputy Director Tao extremely regretful, because Boss Cao promptly sent the most elite Huben battalion under his command to participate in the war. Also because the Xuzhou army was seriously underprepared to break the city in the first attack, the Xuzhou army that rushed to the wall was unfortunately driven off the wall by Cao's army when the smoke cover gradually disappeared, and failed. Breaking the mythical miracle that Hangu Pass has never been directly attacked by the enemy.
Regrets are regrets. After confirming that the smoke tactics were extremely effective in the valley battle, the Xuzhou army was immediately full of confidence in attacking Hangu Pass head-on. A group of Xuzhou generals rushed to Deputy Director Tao to ask for orders to fight, vying for who would take the usual responsibility. Shangdu was worried about the important task of attacking the city. Ma Yan, the veteran general who had been used as cannon fodder in the first wave of siege, argued the loudest, saying that his own army did not do badly. It was only because there was no smoke cover that we did not attack Hangu Pass. Asked Deputy Director Tao to give him another chance. General Qin Yi, the often defeated veteran of the Xuzhou Army, also patted his chest and promised that the supply of firewood would be guaranteed next time and that the smoke would always be shrouded in the Hangu Pass.
The most confident person was of course Deputy Director Tao himself, who withdrew his troops and returned to the camp with a smile. Deputy Director Tao immediately organized people to study the kind of trees that could produce more smoke. I plan to attack the enemy head-on, uncharacteristically. However, only one night passed. On the morning of the next day, a shocking news came from Cao Jun. Boss Cao actually gave up the Hangu Pass natural danger. He personally led an army of 15,000 people out of the pass, arrived at the open area of ??the valley exit of Hangu Pass, and set up camp only 20 miles away from the Xuzhou Army camp, assuming a posture of fighting to the death with the Xuzhou Army in the wild!
When the news spread, the Xuzhou generals who had long been looking forward to killing the main force of Cao's army in the field did not hesitate. They rushed to the Chinese army's tent to request orders from Deputy Director Tao to go into battle. Unfortunately, the treacherous and suspicious Deputy Director Tao saw that his father-in-law was unreasonable. Not only did he not immediately seize the opportunity to send troops, but he was still confused and hurriedly sent a large number of scouts to detect the movements of Cao's army, understand the situation of Cao's army, and analyze the true purpose of Lord Yuezhang.
Deputy Director Tao didn't put much effort into this. After learning that Cao's troops had left the customs, the Xuzhou military drum team sent to greet the father-in-law the night before sent a crucial guarantee to Deputy Director Tao. That is, they clearly heard the rhythmic and uniform slogans of Cao Jun's soldiers shouting revenge in the valley. After confirming this, Deputy Director Tao immediately came to his senses, clapped his hands and said with a smile: "The thief Cao jumped over the wall in a hurry. He knew that Hangu Pass would be breached by our smoke cover tactics sooner or later, so he thought that instead of waiting passively to die, It¡¯s better to take the initiative to go out and fight to the death, so there may be hope of the weak defeating the strong.¡±
"Perhaps there is another reason." Liu Ye agreed: "Cao's traitor can also prevent our army from disturbing him by beating drums and trumpets in the valley. Wei's late night attack and surprise attack on our army's drum and trumpet troops are enough to prove that Cao's thieves have been tortured by our army's tired enemy tactics and are unbearable. By moving to the mouth of the valley, Cao's thieves can at least have a good rest."
¡°I never thought that Thief Cao could not stand the square dance and couldn¡¯t help but shoot the Tibetan Mastiff.¡±
Deputy Director Tao, the organizer of the square dance in the late Han Dynasty, laughed loudly and said something that Xuzhou Civil and Military Affairs could not understand. However, the Xuzhou generals were already used to Deputy Director Tao's new terms from time to time and ignored them if they did not understand. They just called for war one after another and asked Deputy Director Tao to immediately order the dispatch of troops.Taking advantage of the opportunity when Cao's army was not stable, he sent troops to fight decisively and annihilated the main force of Cao's army in one fell swoop. But after Deputy Director Tao thought about it for a long time, he waved his hand and said, "We won't send troops for the time being. Let Cao's bandits set up camp!"
"My Lord, we finally forced the Cao thieves out of Hangu Pass for a decisive battle, why don't you allow us to send troops again?" Xuzhou generals asked in surprise.
"Didn't you hear the report from our drum and bugle team that Cao's bandits uniformly chanted slogans of revenge last night?" Deputy Director Tao replied: "This is enough to prove that Cao's bandits have done a good job of mobilizing the army before sending troops. , his team must now share the same hatred with the enemy, and their morale is high. If we send out troops to fight the Cao thief at this time, we will inevitably encounter full resistance from the Cao thief's team. Even if we can defeat the enemy, we will suffer a lot of losses, which will affect Our next battle.¡±
"But my lord, what should I do if Cao Cao, the traitor, retreats to Hangu Pass after seeing that our army refuses to fight?" Wei Yan asked.
"If we send troops at this time, we will win, and the Cao thieves can still retreat to Hangu Pass calmly." Deputy Director Tao said calmly: "You have all walked through the valley road of Hangu Pass, and the Cao thieves' team retreated, what do we have? Is there an opportunity to outflank and cut off his return? Since we are not sure of annihilating the Cao thief team's exit team, it is better to wait for Cao thief team to overcome this momentum. Morale will be low again, and then we can send troops to fight decisively at the minimum cost. Get the biggest win.¡±
Seeing that Deputy Director Tao had made up his mind, the Xuzhou generals, although they still had some regrets, did not dare to persist and had no choice but to keep their mouths shut. Deputy Director Tao then ordered: "I am ordering all battalions and troops to strictly guard the camp from now on to prevent Cao's bandits from sneak attacks or hijacking the camp. No one is allowed to go into battle without my order. Anyone who disobeys the order will be killed!"
The generals in Xuzhou sang the promise together to accept the order. It was at this time that Jia Laowu suggested with a smile: "My lord, I think you might as well send a team of people. Send a batch of wine and meat to Cao Mengde's team. Reward Cao's army."
"Mr. Wenhe. Thief Cao is our enemy, how can we reward his team?"
The Xuzhou generals started shouting, but Deputy Director Tao didn't find it strange at all. He also frowned and said: "Although Mr. Wenhe's plan is clever, in order to boost morale, Cao Cao might have killed everyone in our envoy team?"
"Lord, have you forgotten that we captured many prisoners of Cao's army during the last battle with Cao's army and Zhang Liao's troops at Hangu Pass?" Jia Lao Poison smiled even more happily and said: "Many of those prisoners were locals from Guanzhong. , my wife, children, and children are all in Guanzhong. Since my lord has come to save the country and bring peace to the people, why not give more rewards to some innocent prisoners of war?"
Deputy Director Tao clapped and laughed, and exclaimed: "As expected of Mr. Wen He, it's really a great idea, let's do it like this!"
¡¡¡¡¡¡
At the same time, at the exit of Hangu Pass, in addition to seizing the time to set up a strong camp, Cao Cao's army also personally led 10,000 troops to line up in an open area, always ready to face the invading Xuzhou Army. The officers and soldiers of Cao's army held high banners, their swords and guns were sharp. Everyone was gnashing their teeth and looking angry, hoping that the Xuzhou army would come as soon as possible for a decisive battle. However, Boss Cao's team waited and waited from morning until half past noon, but there was still no news of the Xuzhou army going into battle. On the contrary, there were reports from scouts, saying that the Xuzhou army camps had closed their gates tightly and set up more bows at the fences. The crossbows were tightly defended, and at the same time, a no-war sign was shamelessly hung in front of the main camp of the Xuzhou Army!
When the camp was not yet stable, the enemy was displaying a no-war card. Normally, Boss Cao would have been snickering. But this time, Boss Cao was furious and yelled, "Traitor! Damn you traitor! You can't even do that little bit." You won¡¯t even give me a chance! If I meet this traitor as my opponent, I will be unlucky for eight lifetimes!¡±
"My lord, it's okay if the Tao thief refuses to take risks and go into battle." Guo Jia coughed and said: "Our army should seize the time to set up camp. At least we can advance, attack, retreat and win. It may not be inferior to fighting to the death with the Tao thief's team now. .¡±
Boss Cao nodded helplessly, but he was also afraid that his unscrupulous son-in-law might hide his sword in his smile and deceive his troops into letting their guard down, so he immediately sent troops to make a surprise attack. He did not immediately order the withdrawal of troops, but also ordered to block the news that the Xuzhou Army had displayed a war-free card, so that the army could continue to be tight. Be on guard and protect the rear army from setting up camp. However, not long after, another scout from Cao's army rushed to report that the Xuzhou army had sent a team of about three to four hundred people, leading dozens of pigs and sheep, and ten carts of wine jars, flying white flags. Come to Cao Jun's camp.
"Pig and sheep wine jar? What is the traitor Tao Ying planning to do?" Cheng Yu, who didn't react for a moment, exclaimed.
"Apart from loosening the morale of our army, what else can we do?" Guo Jia said with a wry smile: "Tao Thief must have expected that our army's morale is high now and we share the same hatred with the enemy. He knew that if we send troops to fight decisively at this time, even if we win, we will lose a few teeth. So they hung up the war-free card to avoid the sharp edge of our army, and sent people to reward the army with sheep wine, so that our army couldThe soldiers felt that Tao Thief was amiable, which eliminated the hostility of our soldiers towards him, weakened the morale of our army, and also shaken our military morale. "
Cheng Yu suddenly realized that Boss Cao gritted his teeth and cursed a traitor. Boss Cao immediately called Xiahou Ba in front of him and ordered Xiahou Ba to lead an army of 500 to intercept the Xuzhou envoy, and asked Xiahou Ba to kill those who dispersed the Xuzhou army. The envoy team killed all the pigs and sheep, smashed all the wine jars, refused to accept the filial piety of the unworthy son-in-law, and took the opportunity to try to anger the unworthy son-in-law. Xiahou Ba took the order and hurriedly led 500 elite soldiers to greet them along the road.
After half an hour, Xiahou Ba returned to Boss Cao. Seeing that Xiahou Ba had only brought back a dozen soldiers, Boss Cao couldn't help but asked in shock: "Where are the five hundred soldiers you brought? Why didn't they come back? They What happened?"
"My lord, nothing happened to them. They are monitoring the Tao envoy team five miles to the east." Xiahou Ba replied dejectedly.
"What? Why didn't you kill all the Tao thieves' envoys?" Boss Cao asked angrily: "Why did you still take them five miles to the east?"
"My lord, the general will not be able to take action." Xiahou Ba knelt down on one knee. He replied with a mournful face: "The envoys sent by Tao Thief are all our soldiers who were captured by Tao Thief at Hangu Pass a few days ago. They are all local soldiers in Guanzhong. They were released by Tao Thief because they missed their relatives in their hometown. Let them return to our army, and also let them send thirty pigs and sheep each and ten carts of fine wine to reward our army."
"What?!" Mr. Cao was so angry that he almost vomited blood. He was also so angry that he pulled out his other famous sword, Qingzhi Sword, and cut off the table in front of him with one strike, roaring loudly. "Shameless traitor! Such a shameless trick. Thank you for coming up with it!"
"Traitor!"
Guo Jia and Cheng Yu also trembled with anger and cursed, but like Boss Cao, they were helpless with Deputy Director Tao's cheap trick to get these released prisoners back. It is determined to shake the morale and morale of the troops. Drive away or kill these prisoners. If the news spreads among the soldiers under Xiahou Ba's command, it will not be as simple as a shake of morale and a loss of morale for Cao's army. A large number of defections may occur! So after beating my chest for a long time. Having no choice, Boss Cao still roared to Xiahou Ba: "Go and escort those people back to Hangu Pass. They are not allowed to come into contact with our main force. The Tao Thief's gifts have all been destroyed. You are not allowed to bring back any of them!"
Boss Cao's order was finally implemented faithfully this time. All the pigs and sheep sent by Deputy Director Tao were killed by Xiahou Ba's team, all the wine jars were smashed, and nearly 400 Guanzhong Cao army prisoners were also directly detained. After returning to Hangu Pass, they were not allowed to enter the main force of Cao's army and confuse the morale of the army. However, the paper could not contain the fire. The news of Deputy Director Tao's "Yi Shi" Cao Jun's prisoners secretly spread among Cao Jun's troops through the mouths of Xiahou Ba's soldiers. The hearts of Cao Jun's newly formed troops who had not experienced the melee in the Central Plains were floating. , morale and fighting spirit have inevitably been greatly affected.
What made Boss Cao furious was still behind. The Xuzhou Army's reward master Zhuyang, who was killed by Xiahouba's team on the road, eventually quietly wandered into Cao's camp and became a delicacy in the mouth of Cao's soldiers. As a result, Boss Cao not only failed to make In order to prevent the morale of the army from wavering, many soldiers complained quietly in private, complaining that Boss Cao only cared about himself to vent his anger and refused to sympathize with the soldiers' hard work.
Because all the materials needed to set up the camp had been prepared in Hangu Pass, when it was dark, Cao Jun's camp was basically set up. Cao Lao felt a little relieved, but he was worried that the trenches had not been dug yet, and the antlers of the horses had not been nailed. Buried perfectly, he was afraid that his unscrupulous son-in-law would come to rob the camp at night, so Boss Cao still ordered the troops to take turns on guard that night. Regardless of his serious illness and frailty, Cao insisted on getting up at night to patrol the camp. But one night passed, but there was no movement from the Xuzhou Army, and the hard work of Boss Cao and the soldiers of Cao Army was in vain.
Deputy Director Tao's dirty tricks were not over yet. The next morning, Deputy Director Tao sent Song Kai as an envoy to visit Boss Cao. He presented a letter of challenge and invited Boss Cao to fight in front of Cao's military camp the next day. The treacherous and suspicious Boss Cao planned After thinking for a long time, he still nodded and agreed to fight to the death with his unscrupulous son-in-law the next day. After Song Kai left with Boss Cao's reply in hand, Guo Jia and Cheng Yu immediately warned Boss Cao: "My lord, Tao is treacherous and Jia Xu is scheming. It is very inconsistent with their military habits to send letters to fight. We need to prevent them from taking advantage of the opportunity to cheat."
"Of course I know this." Boss Cao said with a sneer: "The Tao thieves just want to trick me into taking it lightly. They will take the opportunity to rob the camp tonight. Maybe they will divide their troops to seize the valley road, cut off our army's return route, and destroy our army." The main force was wiped out outside the pass."
Considering that Deputy Director Tao has always been a noble person, Guo Jia and Cheng Yu also agreed with Boss Cao's analysis and judgment. Boss Cao then made a plan and decided to set up ambushes on both sides of the camp at night and wait for the Xuzhou army to come and attack Cao Cao ordered Zhang Liao to lead an army to ambush in the mountains to the north. When he saw the weapons, he immediately attacked the Xuzhou camp. At the same time, Cao CaoThe young master had no choice but to imitate the trick of his wicked son-in-law. He ordered a group of Zhang Liao's troops to put on Xuzhou military uniforms and drive to the front. They tried to pretend to be the defeated Xuzhou army robbers and deceived the gate of the Xuzhou military camp to break into the Xuzhou military camp at the minimum cost. internal.
On that day, Cao Jun's scouts discovered several Xuzhou scouts disguised as common people, secretly peeping and reconnaissance on the remote road leading to Hangu Pass. After hearing the report, Cao Boss ordered the scouts not to rob or kill, and allowed the Xuzhou scouts to explore the trails, pretending to be Unprepared, he increasingly believed that his unscrupulous son-in-law would come to rob the camp tonight.
????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? away from the bow to catch the tiger, arrange scented bait to catch the trout, everything is ready. That night, Boss Cao and his soldiers wore armor together, never unsaddled their horses, never left their swords in their hands, always preparing for war, studying and recuperating, just waiting for the Xuzhou army to come to rob the camp and die. However, from the first watch to the third watch in the middle of the night, and then from the third watch in the middle of the night to The rooster crows and the sky turns white, but not a single Xuzhou soldier appears in front of the barracks. Boss Cao, who has not slept all night, is aggravated by this.
"We fell into the trap again!" When the sky was dim and there was no possibility of a sneak attack. Only then did Boss Cao dare to confirm that he had been tricked by his son-in-law again. He sighed and said, "Tao Ying, the traitor, knew that I was suspicious, so he expected me to suspect that he was taking the opportunity to rob the camp, so he deliberately sent a few scouts to reconnoiter the trail to make me believe that he was planning to rob the camp, deceiving me and the entire army to spend the whole night in vain. But he Take this opportunity to recharge your batteries. Prepare for a decisive battle. He has been more treacherous than me, and he has been more treacherous than me!"
"Lord, we should immediately recall all the ambush troops of our army. Assemble the troops." Guo Jia reminded: "Tao Thief predicted our army's move. Our soldiers lurked in the wilderness without rest all night. It is difficult to hide this from Tao Thief's scouts. With the reconnaissance, Tao Thief will never miss the opportunity to take advantage of the enemy."
Boss Cao nodded feebly, coughed and issued a withdrawal order, recalling all his troops who were ambushing outside the camp, and gathered in front of the camp to prepare for the decisive battle of the Xuzhou army. However, this time Boss Cao, Guo Jia and others miscalculated Deputy Director Tao's plan. When Cao's troops, who had been feeding mosquitoes all night, withdrew to gather in front of the camp, Song Kai, a small diplomatic liar under Deputy Director Tao, went on his own. The cavalry arrived in front of Cao's army, handed a letter to Boss Cao, and then said to Boss Cao: "Meng Degong, my lord knows that you must not have slept all night last night, and the main soldiers under your command also worked hard all night in vain. My lord The decisive battle with you today is just to take advantage of your danger, so my lord has sent a villain to report to you that today¡¯s decisive battle will be rescheduled to tomorrow. Please rest assured and raise your body, Mr. Meng De, and don¡¯t worry about today¡¯s decisive battle.¡±
"Aren't you willing to take advantage of me?" Mr. Cao, who was too tired to speak loudly, laughed and said with a sneer: "If he is really so kind, then why didn't he give my army time to rest in Xuchang? Yuan Shaogang Let¡¯s go, he will send troops to attack Xuchang immediately?¡±
Song Kai did not dare to say anything. Boss Cao looked at the sealed envelope in his hand and asked Song Kai strangely: "Since Tao Yingshuzi has sent you to explain the rescheduling of the decisive battle, why do you write to me again?"
"I don't know," Song Kai replied respectfully, "When the Lord handed the letter to the villain, he only said that it was dedicated to Duke Ming, but did not mention the content or reason."
"Isn't this traitor 90% using deception again?"
Boss Cao sneered knowing his son-in-law very well, then he opened the envelope and took out the white silk to read it. However, when he took a closer look at the text on the silk, Boss Cao was stunned. Guo Jia and Cheng Yu saw that Boss Cao looked wrong. , hurriedly came over to take a look together, but after taking a closer look, Guo Jia and Cheng Yu couldn't help but be stunned. It turned out that Deputy Director Tao actually wrote a poem neatly on the white silk. The content was:
Although the turtle has a long life, it still has its time.
The tan snake rides on the mist and turns into ashes.
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? The old man is brave and has his ambitions for thousands of miles.
The martyrs are full of ambition in their old age.
The period of profit and contraction is not only in the sky.
After reading over and over for a long time the poem "The Turtle Sustains Life", which was published two years in advance, Mr. Cao's expression became increasingly gloomy. After a long time, he asked Song Kai: "Song Kai, your master, why is my writing style so similar to mine?"
"This" Song Kai was a little embarrassed and replied with a wry smile: "Ming Gong forgives me. Although the envoy has been following the master for a long time, the envoy really doesn't know why the master's writing style is similar to Ming Gong."
After saying that, Song Kai quickly added, "But the envoy secretly speculated that maybe it is because the master admires Ming Gong's talent and is familiar with Ming Gong's poems, so his writing style is similar to Ming Gong's."
"Tao Thief admires my talent?" Boss Cao smiled bitterly and coughed feebly: "Are you afraid that I will kill you and are you flattering me on purpose?"
"No, no, no." Song Kai quickly waved his hand and said: "Ming Gong doesn't know something. When the envoy was with the lord, he once heard his lord comment on Ming Gong. My lord once said, Mr. Meng De, you?The most outstanding statesman, military strategist, writer and calligrapher in the world, he is actually far inferior to you in many aspects, so although the lord hates you, he also admires you immensely. These words were spoken by my lord himself, and the envoy dare not lie. "
A sickly blush appeared on Boss Cao's face, and he suddenly stopped coughing. He smiled and said to Song Kai: "Go back and tell your lord, I actually admire him very much. I am convinced that I lost at his hands. What's more, , thanked him for his kindness on my behalf, and said that I appreciate his kindness to fight another day. Tomorrow at this time, in this place, I will fight with him again. "
Song Kai agreed and hurriedly said goodbye and left. As he watched Song Kai go away, Boss Cao struggled to stand up. Halfway through, his legs became weak and almost fell down. Fortunately, Guo Jia and Dian Wei were quick and helped him to greet him. Boss Cao He shook his head weakly and whispered: "Help me return to the camp and let all the soldiers return to the camp to rest."
Guo Jia and others agreed with tears and ordered all the soldiers to withdraw to the camp. Guo Jia, who was also very ill, and Dian Wei, who had an injury on his foot, joined forces to support Cao, who was almost collapsed, and walked slowly back to the camp with difficulty. Camp, and on the way back to the camp, Boss Cao kept mumbling about the poems his son-in-law had plagiarized from him, "Although the divine turtle lives a long life, it still has its time. A tan snake rides on the mist and eventually becomes ashes. Although the divine turtle lives a long life, it still has its time." There is an unexpected time. A tan snake rides on the mist and turns into ashes in the end"
After murmuring these two lines of poetry over and over again, Boss Cao suddenly opened his mouth and spurted out two mouthfuls of blood. He fell on top of Dian Wei and passed out on the spot without knowing what was going on. (To be continued)