Review of the Classic Battle of Guandu: How Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao with 40,000 soldiers and horses and 110,000 soldiers
The first overlord of the Three Kingdoms period was Dong Zhuo, although he burned Luoyang and evacuated Chang'an urgently, but Chang'an was not his nest of comfort, and soon Dong Zhuo was assassinated, and all the troops belonging to him became fragmented, at this time Cao Cao's vision was very accurate, and he became the leading figure in the north in such a chaotic situation, and Cao Cao was originally just an insignificant small warlord.
Holding the Son of Heaven
Cao Cao's first move was to quickly take the little emperor over, and then rely on the little emperor's holy will to help him conquer the land of other small forces in the north without bloodshed. In fact, in addition to Cao Cao, the biggest force in the north at that time was Yuan Shao, who actually thought about controlling the emperor, but the Yuan family was an old minister of the Han Dynasty, and the four dynasties and three dukes were loyal to the Han Dynasty, and there would be a person named Yuan Kui who was a minister who was loyal to the Han family, so the Yuan family had an inexplicable reverence for the Han family's Tianzi.
If he hesitates, he will lose, and Yuan Shao hesitates, so the little emperor is attacked by Cao Cao first.
A few years later, Yuan Shao realized that the situation was getting more and more wrong, if Cao Cao continued to use the little emperor to issue the holy will, the whole world, including his own forces, would be digested by him, although he was a friend when he was a child, Yuan Shao finally couldn't help it and decided to launch an attack on Cao Cao. Liu Bei was now serving as a state pastor in Cao Cao's territory, and then Liu Bei and Yuan Shao worshiped a son to do what? Is it rebellion, against whom? Of course it is Cao Cao, so this is actually an anti-Cao alliance.
Yuan Shao's first wave of attacks
His own territory rebelled, Cao Cao was very anxious, the first time he sent the most powerful troops to suppress, wanted to complete the blow to Liu Bei in the shortest possible time, and Cao Cao did it, Liu Bei rebelled only two days, directly recovered by Cao Cao. Of course, Liu Bei had already bought enough time for Yuan Shao, and Cao Cao went to rehabilitate, and at this time the northern defense line was empty, and Yuan Shao's army was already suppressed!
The difference in strength between the two sides is very obvious, so this is also Cao Cao's most proud victory, Yuan Shao's 100,000 troops plus 10,000 heavy cavalry, Cao Cao's total strength is only 40,000.
Yuan Shao's army crossed the border, first of all, sent a cavalry force of 4,000 people to quickly take Yanjin, because their two forces were fighting across the Yellow River, and if they could have a stronghold on the yellow side of the Yellow River, then this attack would be more effective with half the effort. However, although Cao Cao was in the counterinsurgency, he left 1,000 troops to defend Yanjin in the uncertain prophet, plus 1,000 reinforcements could reach a total of 2,000 soldiers and horses, and the defensive side in ancient warfare had a great advantage, so Yuan Shao's first attack ended in defeat.
Guandu
The name of this war is called the Battle of Guandu, then the main battlefield must be in Guandu, Cao Cao has long expected that this will be the main battlefield of both sides, so a lot of grain and grass were transported in advance and hoarded here, which is also Cao Cao's foresight. After a small-scale exchange of fire between the two sides in Yanjin, Cao Cao had already pacified Liu Bei, and the army began to rush to Guandu.
Archers in the case of high to low has an advantage, so the siege side usually suffered heavy losses, yuan shao since he prepared for several years to attack, then there must have been premeditated, he built several very high siege vehicles, higher than Cao Cao's city wall, but Cao Cao may have received intelligence long ago, and then used catapults to easily destroy the siege vehicle, the shortcut to the siege was destroyed, Yuan Shao had to besiege the city to fight a war of attrition, the war situation as Cao Cao expected to fall into a stalemate, grain and grass supply is the key to winning the victory of this war.
Two burned grain grass
Two burning grain and grass was Cao Cao's wisest decision in the Battle of Guandu, and laid a decisive victory for this war, Cao Cao first found a way to sneak attack and burn some of Yuan Shao's grain and grass, Yuan Shao's protection of grain and grass was even more secret, and later Cao Cao did not know where the main grain and grass of Yuan Shao's army were piled up.
In fact, this place is Wuchao, and a person named Xu You in Yuan Shao's army brought this very important information, it is estimated that this guy was originally Cao Cao's traitor, otherwise you believe what the enemy military division said when he rebelled? What if it's a set and the calves are gone? (The Romance of the Three Kingdoms says that xu you and Yuan Shao were at odds with each other, but according to logical analysis, Xu You was most likely Cao Cao's person.) ）
Therefore, Cao Cao soon burned Yuan Shao's main grain and grass, and the grain and grass were in a hurry, which forced Yuan Shao to attack strongly, and then the balance of the entire war situation was completely biased in favor of Cao Cao.
Didn't Cao Cao lack food? Why burn?
It is worth mentioning that after Cao Cao discovered Yuan Shao's two grain and grass hoarding places, he took a measure called burning, rather than taking them away, in fact, Cao Cao's army was also very short of supplies, and the reason why it was burned instead of his own use was because the speed of consignment of grain and grass was very slow and took a long time. And Yuan Shao's heavy cavalry rushed to kill Cao Cao's head and bleed, so he could resist greed and understand what things he could want and what he couldn't want, which was the key to Cao Cao's ability to win more with less.