My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 806 Abandoning Yecheng and Exterminating Ma Teng

The first day of September, the eighteenth year of Jian'an.

Ten days after Luoyang City was completely surrounded.

Cao Cao had retreated to Mianchi County, 150 miles west of Luoyang, more than half a month ago.

Cao Cao left Luoyang secretly and has not announced it publicly until now, in order to prevent the defenders in Luoyang city from knowing that the emperor had fled and causing the collapse of military morale.

However, Cao Cao has not been idle these days. He has been working hard to deploy the layers of defense in the rear, adjust the civil and military affairs of the Qin court, and sort out the money and grain raising affairs. At the same time, he also pays attention to the latest developments in Luoyang every day, hoping that Cao Ren can hold on for a while longer.

When Cao Cao learned that Liu Bei had completely surrounded him and Gucheng and Henan County had been abandoned by Cao Ren, he was sad for a while, but then he recovered.

Luoyang City was majestic and strong. If they were determined to defend it, it would not be easy to capture it. Ten days was not enough for Liu Bei's army to build special siege equipment, and it was not even enough for the attackers to fill the moat to create several roads leading directly to the city.

Cao Cao had experienced too many setbacks recently, and he no longer had the emotion to grieve for Cao Ren. All he could do was to make Cao Ren's sacrifice more valuable and use the time Cao Ren was delaying to make more arrangements.

Although the Mianchi County where he was located was still east of Hangu Pass, it was not far from Hangu Pass. He could retreat to Hangu Pass by retreating fifty miles. Moreover, Mianchi County was also located in the valley of the Xiaohan Road. There was no way to get around it, so he could not be surrounded and cut off. He could leave at any time.

Cao Cao did not want to give up Mianchi directly. He was also hoping that after the fall of Luoyang, he could rely on the terrain here that could not be bypassed to delay for another month and a half. He could resist and retreat step by step along the valleys of the Xiaohan Road. By then, he would surely be able to delay until winter and snow, and Liu Bei's advancement this year would be over.

In this way, Cao Cao could at least keep the territories of Guanzhong, Bingzhou and Hedong until the spring plowing next year, so that Cao Cao could also make arrangements for the subsequent westward expedition or escape or other plans. In any case, the offensive of Liu Bei's army this year should be completely stopped first.

"Your Majesty, new urgent reports of military situation have arrived from Bingzhou and Guanzhong today. Please review them."

Cao Cao was planning in front of the map when General Yue Jin came to the door to ask for a meeting and bring him today's military intelligence.

Cao Cao put down the map, called Le Jin to come forward, and unfolded it to take a closer look.

The first of these two military reports was sent by Xiahou Dun. The content was certainly not good news. It just said that under the continuous oppression and advancement of the enemy, in order to prevent the road back to Huguan from being cut off, he finally had to give up Yecheng, which he had held for several months.

Fortunately, Xiahou Dun had made sufficient preparations before retreating, and took away as many supplies and young men as possible from Yecheng and Handan. However, he did not destroy Yecheng before leaving, and basically left a relatively intact but relatively empty city to Taishi Ci, who was in the Hebei war zone of Liu Bei's army.

Before, after Zhuge Jin led Zhao Yun, Ma Chao and Zhou Yu to attack Henei and finally crossed the river to the south to attack the Heluo Basin, only Taishi Ci was left on the battlefield in Hebei. His troops were not very large, but they were definitely stronger than Xiahou Dun's.

Taishi Ci did not forcefully attack Yecheng, but repeatedly attacked the junction between Yecheng and Huguan in Bingzhou, trying to cut off Xiahou Dun's way back.

In order to ensure his retreat, Xiahou Dun could only fight Taishi Ci in a camp attack and defense battle to prevent his fortified corridor from being cut off. This kind of battle is definitely more difficult than a city defense battle, and Xiahou Dun's consumption is not small.

The two sides fought a low-intensity war of attrition for so long that Xiahou Dun finally realized that something was wrong - mainly because the Bingzhou area behind him seemed to be beginning to become unstable, and Xiahou Dun was short of troops, there were too many places to block, and the front line was too long, so he had to abandon Yecheng in an orderly manner.

However, after abandoning Yecheng, relying on this buffer, Xiahou Dun was able to level the defense line again and build a more solid in-depth support.

Xiahou Dun placed part of the troops that retreated from Yecheng in Huguan to defend the place, and also directly sent the young and strong troops that retreated from Yecheng to Huguan to participate in the defense of the city, and let the veterans supervise the battle.

Another part of the veterans evacuated from Yecheng were released by Xiahou Dun and transported hundreds of miles to Changping in the south of Bingzhou and Chenguanxing between Hedong and Henei to defend.

Changping is the Changping where Bai Qi and Zhao Kuo fought the Battle of Changping, which is probably in Luzhou in later generations. This place is the throat pass of Yewang County in Henei Prefecture along the Qinshui River to Bingzhou. This place is much easier to travel than Huguan and Jingxingguan between Bingzhou and Jizhou.

Now that Henei County has been completely controlled by Liu Bei, Liu Bei certainly has the ability to go north to Bingzhou from Henei County through Changping, so Xiahou Dun had to withdraw part of the troops on the eastern front to block this gap.

Otherwise, if Liu Bei's army stole Bingzhou, it would be useless even if Xiahou Dun could keep the road from Yecheng to Bingzhou. If you don't even have a "back-up plan" or a "secondary back-up plan", what's the point of having a "primary back-up plan"?

The Chenguan Pass is a pass that crosses the Zhongtiao Mountains, a coastal mountain range north of the Yellow River. It is roughly the remnant of the Luliang Mountains and happens to be the geographical dividing line between Hedong County and Henei County.

If the Chenguan Pass was not defended, Liu Bei's army could advance from Henei to Hedong, and then from the rivers in Hedong to the Yellow River at Pubanjin, and directly into Guanzhong. In that case, Cao Cao's last lair would be lost.

Therefore, this place is also extremely important. As the total strength of Cao's army became increasingly stretched, Xiahou Dun, as the head of the entire defense zone north of the Yellow River, had to help coordinate the overall situation. The final result was that he had to abandon Yecheng, which had become more and more like an enclave.

After Cao Cao usurped the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, in addition to conferring the title of king on Cao Ren, he also conferred the title of king on Xiahou Dun, in order to make Xiahou Dun fight for him until the last moment.

Cao Cao trusted Xiahou Dun so much that he had previously distributed the military defense power of the Qin Dynasty according to the idea that "Emperor Cao Cao is responsible for the national military affairs, the defense zone south of the Yellow River is under the charge of Cao Ren, and the defense zone north of the Yellow River is under the charge of Xiahou Dun."

The "north of the Yellow River" here no longer refers only to the last remaining bit of territory in Jizhou, but as long as it is north of the Yellow River, Hedong and Henei of Sili, and the entire Bingzhou are included.

"Yuan Rang feels that he has to give up Yecheng now, and he must have his own difficulties. Well, I trust the people I employ, so why should I be so stubborn?"

After reading it all, Cao Cao had made up his mind, so he picked up his pen and wrote a decree to Xiahou Dun, telling him to just go ahead and do it without any psychological burden.

There is no need to elaborate on the specific wording and literary style.

After replying to Xiahou Dun, Cao Cao picked up a secret report that had just been sent by Prince Cao Pi from the Guanzhong area.

The things in the secret report were actually hinted at by Cao Cao, but the specific implementation process and results still surprised Cao Cao a little.

"What? Pang Hui actually killed Ma Teng's entire family under the pretext of 'colluding with Liu Bei'? How dare this guy be so cruel to his former master? This is not only not inferior to Pang De, but I'm afraid he is even better than Pang De!"

It turned out that what Cao Pi secretly reported was exactly the task assigned by Cao Cao to "get rid of Ma Teng". As mentioned before, Ma Teng had surrendered to Cao Cao several years ago, but he was actually just a puppet. Especially since Ma Chao surrendered to Liu Bei, Ma Teng was tightly controlled by Cao Cao's men in Xiliang and actually had no real power at all.

When Pang De was still alive, Cao Cao gave all the military power of Xiliang to Pang De. But later Pang De himself was stabbed to death by Zhang Fei on Chencang Road during the Battle of Hanzhong.

Cao Cao had to send some other officials, such as Wei Kang and Yang Bu in history, to take over the military and political vacuum left after Pang De's death.

At the same time, Cao Cao found that Pang Hui, Pang De's eldest son, who was only a teenager at the time, seemed to have the style of his father, and was also brave and heroic, and quite aggressive. Cao Cao let Pang Hui inherit Pang De's title and gave him a hidden position at a young age.

Pang De had three other younger sons, but they were much younger than Pang Hui, so naturally they could not be given official positions at the time.

But after all these years of growth and experience, Pang Hui is finally a young general in his twenties. Pang Hui's other three younger brothers, the youngest of whom is fifteen or sixteen years old, can also be given some honorary titles or military positions.

Cao Cao was very appreciative of talents who were willing to work for him. Pang De was so active back then, so Cao Cao would definitely not treat Pang's family badly.

In addition, Cao Cao needed some people to help him do the dirty work, so when Pang Hui was only in his twenties, Cao Cao had already promoted him to the rank of captain, in charge of military affairs in Tianshui County. Later, when Cao Cao ascended the throne and became emperor, he promoted Pang Hui to a higher rank, and now he is already a lieutenant.

Who would dare to think of a lieutenant in his early twenties in other situations? In history, more than 40 years later, when Zhong Hui entered Chengdu, Pang Hui was already a 70-year-old man, and he was only a "general who pacifies bandits" with a miscellaneous title.

In this life, Pang Hui's promotion can be said to be at rocket speed.

However, if you want to be promoted quickly, you must show your loyalty. When Cao Cao ascended the throne, he had planned to leave a way out for the future, allowing Cao Zhang to escape to the west and leave a lineage for the Cao family in a foreign land.

Although Ma Teng was already a puppet, he had been loyal to the Han Dynasty court before. When he surrendered to Cao Cao, he also took into account that "Cao Cao was the prime minister of the Han Dynasty."

Now that Cao Cao has rebelled, even if Ma Teng has no real power, if he raises the flag in Xiliang and pretends to be "loyal to the Han Dynasty", it will cause great harm to Cao Cao and may even disrupt Cao Cao's rear.

So when Cao Cao let Crown Prince Cao Pi return to Chang'an, he hinted to Cao Pi to take advantage of these few months to deal with the aftermath.

Cao Pi then handed the matter over to Pang Hui, and the final result was that Ma Teng's entire family was killed on the charge of colluding with Liu Bei.

When seeing this result, Cao Cao couldn't help but sigh that Pang Hui was too cruel to his former master.

"The only threat is Ma Teng. What kind of trouble can the rest of Ma Xiu, Ma Tie, and the women and children cause? Even if Ma Teng is charged with a serious crime, we can punish them according to the law. We can sell these people as slaves or lock them up. Why kill them all?

I have already let Zijian surrender to the enemy. If Pang Hui killed Ma Teng's family after that, wouldn't that give Liu Bei an excuse to kill Zijian in the future... Even if Liu Bei didn't kill him, Ma Chao would definitely find a way to kill him, alas..."

Cao Cao was quite depressed and blamed himself for not explaining things clearly. However, it was difficult to explain such a dirty job too clearly, and it all depended on the specific executors to understand the limits themselves, which resulted in such a big mistake.

Cao Cao had made painstaking arrangements for so long in order to give Cao Zhi a chance to survive. Cao Zhi did repent and brought Shanyang King Liu Xi with him to surrender. In theory, he could have survived and just changed his surname back to Xiahou.

But Cao Zhi's repentance and request for life were also based on the premise that "crimes related to the Cao family before that would not be punishable by death." But after that, the Cao family took the initiative to destroy other princes who were nominally loyal to the Han Dynasty. It was Cao Cao who did it first, so didn't he give others an excuse to retaliate in kind?

Cao Cao killed all of Ma Chao's family members in Xiliang. If Ma Chao wanted to kill Cao Zhi in revenge in the future, it would be completely reasonable. Liu Bei didn't even need to add fuel to the fire. He just had to watch and criticize Ma Chao after he succeeded, and then punish him with a little title and fiefdom.

Cao Cao could have easily anticipated this situation by judging others by his own experience.

After much thought, Cao Cao finally came up with a remedy.

"I know... why Pang Hui was so cruel. He must be worried that if he doesn't get rid of the root of the problem, he will be retaliated in the future. I am powerful and fearful of the world. I didn't explicitly order the killing of Ma Teng. Even if Ma Teng's family survived, they would not be able to take revenge on me in the future.

But Pang Hui is different. All of Pang Hui's power was given by me. His foundation in Xiliang is far less than that of the Ma family. Even if he relies on the remaining power of his father Pang De, it is not enough to convince the people. So since he has taken action, he will definitely cut the grass and root it out, so as not to leave the people of the Ma family to retaliate against him in the future... I was negligent and should not let him handle this matter alone."

Cao Cao felt a little regretful, regretting that he did not see that this young man Pang Hui was so ruthless and decisive.

It can only be said that Pang Hui was a person with a strong desire for revenge, and he judged others by his own standards, thinking that "if I don't kill them completely after I have taken revenge on them, it will definitely give their descendants a chance to take revenge on me in the future." Once he became so suspicious, he would not hold back when he took action.

After thinking for a while, Cao Cao suddenly came up with an idea. Since Pang Hui was so cruel, if Cao Zhang went on an expedition to the west in the future, he must not bring Pang Hui with him. Otherwise, Pang Hui would follow Cao Zhang, and Ma Chao would definitely chase Cao Zhang to the ends of the earth.

It is better to continue to promote Pang Hui, give him honor and title, and then keep him by his side, so that he can live and die with this emperor.

In this way, when Cao Cao himself died in the battle, Pang Hui was also taken to the front of the Hongnong Army. When Ma Chao saw this, he would definitely seek revenge on Cao Cao himself and Pang Hui. After the revenge, he would have vented his anger and would not have pursued Cao Zhang or insisted on killing Cao Zhi.

Of course, these were just long-term backup plans that Cao Cao deduced in his mind. He only considered all of this when he had to die in battle for his country.

The original Cao Cao might have thought about whether to build a fake tomb after his death to prevent others from robbing his tomb.

But Cao Cao was now on the decline, so why would he consider a fake tomb? He only thought that when the time came, his body could be fully utilized. Even if it was torn apart by the enemy, it would be worth it as long as the enemy could vent their anger and one or two of his sons could be saved.

As for Pang Hui, he would keep him by his side. When the day came when his body was torn into pieces, Pang Hui would also be torn into pieces and beheaded by Ma Chao.

Pang Hui's three brothers could also be promoted, at least to the rank of captain. This way Cao Cao could transfer them to the front line one after another, and let Cao's own people go to Tianshui, Jincheng and other places to directly control the army.

In this way, all four brothers of the Pang family can be brought to the front line, and then Ma Chao will have enough time to get angry.

(End of this chapter)