In the autumn of the fifth year of Jian'an, Wuchao zhongtun north of the Yellow River gathered yuan shao's 100,000 troops of grain, and it was Yuan Shao's general Chun Yuqiong who was responsible for guarding Wuchao. The Book of the Later Han Dynasty says:
Shao envoyed Chun to Qiongdian's army
The main force of the army led by Chun Yuqiong here was the Montenegrin army unit that Yuan Shao had surrendered in Wei County, because most of the soldiers in this unit were from ordinary people and had not undergone professional training, so their combat effectiveness was poor, and the "Spring and Autumn of Kyushu" recorded: "
The Montenegrin Army had more than five battalions of men, and the five battalions of soldiers were clothed and feared the middle men
Why Yuan Shao used fifteen thousand troops with poor combat effectiveness to guard the lifeblood of the troops' rations is unknown, but later facts proved that Yuan Shao's arrangement had endless troubles.
During the Battle of Wuchao, cao cao was in the army due to his small number of troops
They have a high concentration of their forces in space and time
。 In terms of space, because Guandu was closer to Cao Cao's rear and farther away from Yuan Shao's rear, Cao Cao carried out a "five-soldier draw-one" military draw from many counties around Guandu before sneaking into Wuchao, such as the county seat of Zhongmu County at that time, Cao Cao"
Ordered to recruit Nanzi to drive the county at night, the soldier household engaged in the recruitment of point soldiers, got three hundred and fifty people, and the officials crossed the camp.
"Historical records say that Cao Cao led five thousand people to sneak into Wuchao, but in fact, more than half of these five thousand people were not permanent garrisons in Guandu, but were temporarily recruited from various places.
In terms of time, Cao Cao also highly concentrated his forces. When Cao Cao led his army to sneak into Wuchao, Chun Yuqiong did not surrender directly, but took the initiative to meet the battle. The Chronicle of Emperor Wu says:
Joan waited to see that there were fewer soldiers and went out of the gate
However, Cao Cao arranged all the two thousand heavy cavalry he led on the right flank of the front, so as to avoid the reinforcements that Yuan Shao was bound to come, so that he could concentrate time on defeating the Wuchao enemy. Cao Cao placed infantry in the middle and left flank of the front, and the main role of these infantry was to enable the two armies to remain deadlocked without collapsing, and later, Yuan Shao"
Order light horse to rescue The Nest
This light cavalry just happened to meet the infantry on the left flank of the Cao Army, and the heavy cavalry with the strongest combat effectiveness of the Cao Army had completed the task of burning the Wuchao.
From the above point of view, it seems that in the victory of the Battle of Wuchao, the good deployment of the Cao army played a great role, but the daily necessities of Cao Cao unearthed in Henan may have put a question mark on this judgment. In 2009, archaeologists discovered Cao Cao's tomb in Anyang, Henan Province, and a piece of Cao Cao's daily necessities was unearthed in the tomb.
King Gehu of Weiwu euphorbia
。 The excavation of this item greatly changed Cao Cao's personality, and since then, cao Cao's understanding of personal martial courage has undergone a huge change.
During the Wei and Jin dynasties, no more than today, the folk tiger plague was a huge problem, and tigers from the surrounding mountains and forests often harassed the people. The Book of the Later Han Dynasty says:
The tiger killed people, and dozens of people were injured each in the head of the dam, the bridge head, and the soap lake.
It is recorded in the Biography of Rulin:
The mountain road is plagued by many tigers and cannot be traveled.
"Therefore, the ancient tiger plague posed a great threat to people's production and life, and people in some places even arrived at that time."
Afraid of the tiger, do not dare to come out, out of the death
" to the point. In order to reassure people, the rulers and some nobles of the time often used the "
Can hold the tiger, can shoot the tiger
"Self-assertion for the sake of ability, often carried out"
Tiger Hunting
"Activity. For example, Cao Cao's son Cao Zhang, once "
Hand-held beast
And Cao Pi also loved to hunt tigers, and even was criticized by his courtiers for his excessive hobbies.
However, the tiger hunting activities of the aristocratic class at that time were only a means of increasing personal authority and influence, and few people really liked to deal with tigers. However, the Euphorbia gehu unearthed in Cao Cao's tomb shows that Cao Cao is an exception. In terms of the distribution of artifacts in Cao Cao's mausoleum, there are many distributions of Euphorbia gehu and corresponding stone tablets, for example, the 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 172nd, 176th and 181st places of gaoling West Cave are all euphorbia and corresponding stone tablets. At the same time, the distribution location is also very close to the middle room where Cao Cao's remains were excavated. These facts show that Cao Cao probably liked to hunt beasts of prey, especially tigers.
Speaking of this, it is impossible not to mention the historical records of Cao Cao's personal armed forces. Cao Cao in history, make good use of it"
halberd
"This kind of weapon. Sun Sheng's "Miscellaneous Sayings of Similarities and Differences" contains:
Taizu tasted the private entry into the Middle Chang Waiter Zhang's room and let Juezhi; Taizu was a dancer in the court, out of the wall, only to be martial, Mo Zhi could harm.
From this record, it can be seen that Cao Cao's personal martial courage is very good. Zhang Rang was the head of the Ten Constant Attendants, and the guards in his home were very strict, according to the Book of later Han:
Zhang gave way to the right of the great general He Jinzhi, the forbidden army in the dian da nei, and in the private house, there were countless guards with halberds, relying on his injuries and many people, and the ghosts were also fans.
"In"
The number of halberd guards is innumerable
In the environment, Cao Cao could fight out of the siege alone, which was a bit amazing.
Therefore, some scholars believe that although cao cao was able to defeat Yuan Shao, there was a very important reason that was seriously ignored, that is
Cao Cao's personal force
。 Taking the Battle of Guandu as an example, when the attack on Wuchao was carried out, Cao Cao personally led the army, and this kind of battle led by the monarch himself was very rare even in the battles at that time, unless the monarch himself was strong in force, such as Lü Bu and Sun Jian and Sun Ce. The Chronicle of Emperor Wu says:
Public anger: 'The thief is behind it, but it is white!' ’
It shows that Cao Cao was personally participating in the decisive battle at that time, and Cao Cao's personal heroism can be said to be the most important factor in the success of this sneak attack, and there is no one.
Clausewitz said in the spiritual elements of The Treatise on War:
The will and firmness of the commander-in-chief, as well as the spiritual quality of the commander-in-chief, had a fundamental impact on the course of the war. ...... A person who does not have courage cannot become an outstanding commander-in-chief, and courage is the primary condition for becoming an outstanding commander-in-chief.
"Cao Cao's courage comes from his nature and also from his strength, and his personal martial courage is the main pillar of his strength." In the battle of sneaking into Wuchao, the soldiers around Cao Cao were more than once afraid of the support of Yuan Shao's army, so they were afraid to go all out, at this time, Cao Cao's personal role was reflected.