My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 412 Cao Cao: Don’t hit people in the face, Zhuge Liang is going too far!
Cao Cao hurriedly returned from Hebei to Suiyang, and then stayed in Suiyang for a few days. He did not rush to Fuli on the front line immediately. Naturally, he had a deep intention.

Firstly, after a rapid march, the troops are exhausted from acclimatization and must recover before they can engage in battle, and there is no time to rush.

Secondly, Cao Cao also wanted to take the time to appease Zhang He and others and set a benchmark to stabilize the hearts of the defeated generals.

Finally, Cao Cao also wanted to take advantage of Cao Ren to show a little weakness, hoping that Liu Bei would get anxious and lose his composure and reveal some flaws, and then he could send his entire army to rescue Cao Ren and give Liu Bei a severe blow.

In a nutshell, Cao Cao came here with a lot of expectations. He wanted to use Yuan Shang's power to kill him and take advantage of his own morale to confront Liu Bei's main force head-on. It was not just a simple matter of forcing them to retreat.

As a result, under Zhuge Liang's arrangement, Liu Bei only fought some harassing scout battles, then fled after a feint, and evacuated most of the population of the three counties in the southeast corner of Qiao.

This really made Cao Cao feel like he was punching cotton with all his strength, and he felt empty inside.

Unfortunately, Liu Bei did not retreat far, and as soon as he crossed the Huai River, he deployed heavy troops to prepare for battle. This made it difficult for Cao Cao to launch a propaganda war, and he could not just tell the world: Liu Bei feared me like a tiger, and fled back to his lair as soon as he heard that I was coming.

They did not return to their old nest, but just strategically retreated across the Huai River and continued to watch Shouchun covetously.

A few days later, the two armies broke off contact on the Fuli front, and Cao Cao also rushed to Fuli from Suiyang.

Fuli City had been relieved, so Cao Ren could naturally leave the city at will. Hearing that Cao Cao had come in person, with Xiahou Yuan and a large number of troops, Cao Ren personally went out of the city dozens of miles to greet him.

"I am incompetent and have lost three counties of the imperial court. Please punish me, Sikong."

As soon as he saw Cao Cao, Cao Ren began to apologize by carrying a bundle of thorns on his back. He was not just pretending, he really took off all his clothes and carried a bundle of thorns on his back in the middle of winter.

After all, he was indeed responsible for some obvious decision-making errors in a series of battles in the past six months.

Moreover, Cao Cao wanted to show that he was fair in rewarding and punishing, so he had to be ruthless to his own people and lenient to outsiders. Even Guo Jia was slightly punished by Cao Cao, so Cao Ren, a brother of the same family, had to be punished even more.

So after the meeting, Cao Cao did not let him get up immediately. Instead, he let Cao Ren endure the cold and gave him a lecture in public, summarizing the experience and lessons, which made Cao Ren obediently learn from them seriously. Then Cao Cao went to Jing himself, took off his brocade robe and put it on Cao Ren, then took his hand to help him mount the horse and led him into the city.

While riding on his horse, Cao Cao also made a few pertinent conclusions: "Zixiao, don't take it to heart. It's not surprising that you have been tricked so many times. You fell into Zhuge's trap. Who in the world can escape from it?

But you usually fail to unite the army, causing the commanders in the surrounding defense areas to worry about being punished for not saving you, and you fail to let them stay at their respective posts with peace of mind. This is your failure as a commander, and you must work hard to correct it in the future."

Cao Cao's words were incisive and clear in distinguishing merits from demerits.

Cao Ren was convinced after hearing this. He was indeed too tough in commanding his troops. Although he was also considerate of his subordinates and did not abandon his teammates, overall, he was too powerful and never put himself in their shoes to think about what his subordinates were afraid of.

After this defeat, Cao Ren might learn some lessons in this regard.

After entering the city, Cao Cao first went to the parade ground, inspected the defenders of Fuli, and gave a speech, encouraging the soldiers to hold on through the most difficult times, saying that the court would never treat them unfairly. Now that Yuan Shang was dead, the main force of the court went south, and Liu Bei retreated, the final victory was expected.

After encouraging the army, Cao Cao came to Cao Ren's temporary shogunate, where Cao Ren entertained him with some wine.

Cao Cao had expected that Cao Ren would be besieged for several months. Although the Suishui waterway was still available for transportation, the supplies in Fuli City would certainly not be sufficient. So this time, he brought a lot of supplies to Cao Ren. Seeing that the wine and food on the table were few and far between, Cao Cao ordered the wine and meat transported with the army to be brought in to reward the generals.

After three rounds of drinking, the atmosphere gradually relaxed. The pressure of being besieged for months and worried about losing was gone. Cao Ren also talked more and boldly asked Cao Cao:
"I wonder how long you will fight Liu Bei? Liu Bei has already retreated across the Huai River. Does that mean our army will have to counterattack and cross Huainan to achieve complete victory?
Excuse me for being blunt, although Liu Bei retreated, he was not defeated. He had been winning battles and seizing territory from the beginning to the end. This time he also took the initiative to retreat. Our army had just defeated Yuan Shang, and the soldiers were tired. We should rest for a long time, slowly reorganize the surrendered troops of the Yuan family, and win over the hearts of the people in Yuan Shao’s former territory..."

Cao Cao raised his hand, signaling Cao Ren not to worry: "How could I not know? This time I came here to force Liu Bei to retreat, and I didn't think of counterattacking Huainan immediately. It's just that the army of more than 100,000, plus your own troops, has exceeded 200,000 people.

Two hundred thousand men were mobilized, but they didn't get a chance to fight. He just ran away. Where is the dignity of the court? I had always wanted to defeat Liu Bei once. Even if I didn't take back any counties, it would be enough to go to Xudu to publicize it. But Liu Bei didn't give me a chance.

Scouts have learned that Liu Bei stayed in Yicheng and Xiacai after retreating across the Huai River. How can I retreat first? At least I have to wait until Liu Bei retreats to Hefei in person, so that the court can regain its dignity. "

Upon hearing this, Cao Ren remained silent.

What Cao Cao wanted was the dignity of the imperial court and to fight for his dignity. He had already understood.

Liu Bei's shogunate was previously located in Wuchang, and moved to Hefei before the Northern Expedition. This time, Liu Bei had to at least retreat to Hefei, leaving Zhao Yun to guard Shouchun, Xiacai, Yicheng and other places, so that the court could publicize "Liu Bei's defeat".

And Liu Bei advanced and stayed in Shouchun, which cannot be considered a defeat in any way.

It is precisely at this critical juncture that this tone and the effect of this propaganda campaign are also very important, and are not just "empty reputation".

Because this involves other foreign princes in the world, and their interpretation of Cao Cao's destruction of Yuan Shang and Liu Bei's northern expedition to Cao Cao's capture of the three counties.

It involves the question of who the princes of the world think is stronger between Cao and Liu, and how they should stand in the future when the world is divided. The value of this united front is too great, and everyone wants to fight for it.

Neither Cao Ren nor Guo Jia could persuade Cao Cao on this issue, so the two sides could only hold on for a while. No one was able to launch a large-scale attack, so they could only perform a "sit-in war" for a while.

If there is really no solution, we can only use time to dilute everything.

It is now mid-November of the fifth year of Jian'an. If the war drags on any longer, beyond the New Year, it will become protracted, the heat will fade, and no outsiders will pay attention to the outcome of the war.

Cao Cao drank a few more cups, and finally got drunk. He smashed the bronze wine cup and sighed: "I have never regretted anything I have done in my life! But what I hate most in this life is that I didn't keep Zhuge Jin in Xudu!
I was so blind back then. How could I have thought that letting Zhuge Jin, who was greedy for fame and power, go back would cause the Zhuge family and Liu Bei to fight for power in the future? Hahaha, one mistake. If I had killed Zhuge Jin back then! At least I had detained Zhuge Jin, and now Liu Bei would have been captured by me!
Liu Bei, Liu Bei, although Liu Bei's military strategy is not as good as mine, and his conscription and tax collection are not as good as mine, he is really good at trusting people. Brother Zhuge is so monopolistic, but he is not worried about being deceived. I can't compare to him in his sincerity in giving up power. "

Guo Jia, who was standing by, heard Cao Cao even say such drunken words, and fearing that it might shake people's hearts, he hurried to help persuade them to make peace:

"Sikong was modest after drinking. Why go too far? Liu Bei and Zhuge Jin Zhuge Liang could become the biggest threat to the court, and he had his own extraordinary qualities. But Sikong's indulgence of Zhuge Jin to go back that year was not necessarily a big mistake.

People are not saints, how can they predict the future? Moreover, when Zhuge Jin came to Xudu, Zhuge Liang had not yet entered the government. If Sikong killed him, Zhuge Liang would certainly be angry and surrender to Liu Bei, and would work hard to avenge his brother. The harm to the court would be no less than what it is now. "

Guo Jia's words were purely for comfort, and a bit far-fetched. However, the logic behind them was barely plausible.

Cao Cao thought about it and it made sense. If he had killed Zhuge Jin, wouldn't Zhuge Liang have used 120% of his intelligence to help Liu Bei and avenge his brother? So it wasn't a sure win.

Since that’s the case, the past is past, so why think about it anymore.

……

For the next half month, Cao Cao continued to station troops in Fuli, personally inspected the battle line, and held out against Liu Bei to see how the situation would develop.

At the same time, of the three counties previously abandoned by Liu Bei's army, Longkang and Xu counties were forcibly relocated again by Cao's army, and the remaining people were withdrawn to the rear, creating an uninhabited area in the front confrontation zone.

All the measures predicted by Zhuge Liang came true. Cao Cao relocated the people indiscriminately and without any compensation. After moving back to the rear, they were still subject to heavy rent and taxes.

After confirming the news, Liu Bei's army, of course, immediately did their best to spread the news within their own territory, which quickly stabilized the hearts of the people who had been evacuated, allowing them to build houses with peace of mind and resume normal production in the early spring of the next year.

Of course, Zhuge Liang’s predictions did not come true 100%, but were slightly discounted - the discount was that Shansang County, one of the three counties, was not completely and indiscriminately relocated.

When Zhuge Liang first heard the news, he was slightly stunned. Then he carefully reviewed it and immediately understood: Longkang and Xiaoxian were the counties closest to the Huaihe River and the Sishui River, so they had to be evacuated. Although Shansang County was also occupied by Zhao Yun for a time, it was a rear stronghold after all, which Zhao Yun occupied when he went around to Fuli.

Cao Cao couldn't possibly evacuate the support points behind Fuli. So it's not surprising that Zhuge Liang slightly "exaggerated" this point.

The two sides are playing games like this. When one side is trying to gain real benefits, the other side is fighting a propaganda war, throwing dirty water to win over the people. When the other side comes back to win over the people, this side will try to gain some real benefits.

Although one method is rough and the other is delicate, they both do their best.

Time passed quickly and it was already the twelfth lunar month. On the first day of the month, a scout from Cao's army once again went to scout the movements of Liu Bei's army. After returning, he brought Cao Cao the latest good news - but also a piece of bad news.

After analyzing the situation, Guo Jia immediately found Cao Cao and reported in person: "Report to the Minister of Works, our spies who have infiltrated Shouchun have discovered the latest movements of the enemy:
Zhao Yun still stayed in Shouchun, Gan Ning stationed in Xiacai, strictly guarding the Huaihe River defense line. But Liu Bei's own banner had already left Shouchun and began to retreat. "

Cao Cao raised his eyebrows when he heard this. This was the first good news he had heard in more than half a month. He hurriedly asked, "Did they retreat to Hefei?"

When Cao Cao asked this question, he was drinking chicken soup and chewing the chicken bones used to make the soup. After hearing the good news, he felt that the chicken ribs in his mouth had no taste at all.

If Liu Bei retreated to Hefei, he could then put on a show for ten days or half a month and then return to the court with a great victory, and announce to all the officials in Xu Du that "Liu Bei was defeated and fled by him."

Unfortunately, Guo Jia's next words put Cao Cao in a difficult position:
"Liu Bei did leave... but he didn't go back to Hefei. I heard that he just went east along the Huai River, then took a detour through Sishui to the north to Xuzhou, and finally went to Xiaopei..."

The chicken ribs in Cao Cao's hand froze in mid-air, and he was stunned for a few seconds: "Why does he go to Xiaopei instead of returning to Fei?"

Guo Jia gritted his teeth and said, "I heard that... Liu Bei sent envoys to the various clans and prefects in the south to ask them to send people to Mangdang Mountain to watch the ceremony. He wants to rebuild the tomb of King Liang Xiao on Mangdang Mountain, hold a ceremony to pay tribute, and... also condemn our army for setting up 'Fa Qiu Zhonglang Jiang' and 'Mojin Xiaowei' to rob the tombs of the former kings of the Han Dynasty and steal their gold and treasures..."

"Pah!" Cao Cao threw the chicken bowl away, and the remaining chicken soup was also spilled on the ground.

"Liu Bei, you are going too far! The titles of General of the Graveyard and Lieutenant of the Grave-Robbing Army were all made up by Chen Lin! It is true that I have robbed tombs, but when have I ever established these positions?!"

(End of this chapter)