Guide
Cao Ren (曹仁), courtesy name Zixiao (孝孝), was a native of PeiGuo (沛国谯, in modern Bozhou, Anhui), and a younger brother of Cao Cao, known for his obedience to the law and orders, and had a high prestige in the Cao Wei clique. Cao Pi admired him very much, and before Cao Zhang's northern conquest of Karasuma, Cao Pi wrote a letter as the Prince of Wei to warn Cao Zhang: "In order to obey the law, do not (should) be like a southern evil!" "Let Cao Zhang follow Cao Ren's example." Cao Zhi also had a high opinion of Cao Ren, believing that he was a heavyweight of the "Emperor's Stock". According to this, some people believe that Cao Ren was the first general under Cao Cao.
However, Cao Ren's military ability was criticized by non-Cao clan relatives. For example, the famous Eastern Wu general Zhu Huan believed that Cao Ren was a "non-intelligent and courageous" general, and there was no need to be afraid. Wen Hui, who was also a minister of the State of Wei and known for his good at anticipating things, had also broken his heart for Cao Ren's inaction in Jingzhou.
In the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an (219), Sun Quan attacked Hefei, and the Cao Wei states all sent troops to garrison Yangzhou to guard against Sun Quan. However, Cao Wei's biggest hidden danger was not In Hefei, but in the direction of Jingzhou.
At this time, the Hanshui River Basin has entered the flood season, and the river water is rising. Wen Hui was keenly aware that Guan Yu was about to take advantage of the rising water to attack Xiangfan north, but Cao Ren, who was sitting in Xiangyang at this time, was defenseless and did not even prepare for a large ship that could wade into the water. Wen Hui worriedly said to Shi Peiqian of Yanzhou: "Although there are thieves here, there is not enough to worry about, but there are changes in the south. Now the water is born and the zixiao county army has no far-reaching preparations. Guan Yu is sharp, taking advantage of the benefits and approaching, and will surely be troubled. ”
In addition, in order to increase the readability of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Luo Guanzhong also magnified Cao Ren's shortcomings in the book. For example, in the Battle of Xinye, Cao Ren was described as a reckless general, who first recklessly entered the city, hit Zhuge Liang's fire attack strategy, rushed out of the city, and then encountered a water attack in the White River, and finally suffered a big defeat, which can be said to be played by Zhuge Liang between the palms of his hands.
So, is the real Cao Ren the first general under Cao Cao, or is he a mediocre general who is non-intellectual and often and heartbroken?
Data doesn't lie. Therefore, the most convincing way to figure this out is to start with Cao Ren's record and objectively analyze it, and then draw conclusions.
Battle of Jiangling: Cao Ren made a low-level strategic mistake and was defeated by Zhou Yu and Liu Bei
Before the Battle of Chibi, Cao Ren followed (from) Cao Cao to chase the deer in the world, and everywhere he went, he attacked Bike, the battle was victorious, and it was difficult to find an enemy. But in this process, Cao Ren was all conscripted, and Cao Cao was the protagonist of the frontal battlefield. It was not until after the Battle of Chibi that Cao Ren was given the opportunity to take command in major battles. The Battle of South County was the first battle in which he served as the commander.
After the Battle of Chibi, Cao Cao, who had suffered defeat, withdrew his army back to the north, leaving the general Cao Renzhen to defend Nan Commandery (治所江陵). Subsequently, Zhou Yu and Liu Bei jointly attacked Nan County, and the Battle of Nan County broke out. The seat of nan county was Jiangling, so the main direction of Zhou Yu and Liu Bei's main attack was undoubtedly Jiangling, which Cao Ren judged very accurately, so he chose to sit in Jiangling to wait for work.
Cao Ren's choice seems to be fine, but Cao Cao wants him to guard Nan County, not Jiangling, so Cao Ren actually committed the taboo of the main general, that is, the strategic mistake of not distinguishing between the primary and secondary. Cao Ren did not realize at this time that making such a low-level mistake in front of Zhou Yu and Liu Bei would pay a heavy price.
1. Mistake 1: Ignore the importance of the North Passage
Liu Bei and Zhou Yu besieged Cao Ren at Jiangling and sent Guan Yu to the Northern Province, the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and the Biography of Li Tong.
The passage (area) between the north of the Han Tombs and the south of Xiangyang is the North Passage. Geographically, the Cao army in Xiangyang had to go to Jiangling, whether by land or down the Han River, it had to pass through the northern passage. Similarly, if the Cao army in Jiangling wanted to withdraw to Xiangyang, the northern passage was also the only way. Once the northern passage was lost, Jiangling became an isolated city, and the only thing Cao Ren could do at this time was to withdraw to Xiangyang before the enemy army completely blocked the northern passage.
Liu Bei was well aware of the importance of the Northern Passage, so he sent Guan Yu to lead an army into the Northern Passage. Due to the limited number of troops, Guan Yu's task was not to capture the northern passage, but to find a way to prevent Cao Wei's reinforcements from reaching Jiangling via Beitong.
Cao Cao was also aware of the strategic significance of the Northern Passage. Therefore, before he returned to the north, in addition to leaving Cao Ren (the commander-in-chief) to guard The South County, there were also five other five people and horses (Xu Huang stationed in Fancheng, Yu Ban and Lejin Town guarding Xiangyang City, Manchu garrisoned Dangyang, RunanJun Taishou Li Tong stationed in Langling and Wen Ping stationed in Jiangxia), these five roads of people and horses while ensuring the smooth flow of the northern passage, at any time to respond to Cao Ren. However, due to Cao Ren's hindsight, he did not divide the work of these five people and horses in advance, resulting in their own battles, and Guan Yu delayed the marching speed in the northern passage, unable to reach Jiangling to rescue Cao Ren at the first time.
On the other hand, Liu Bei, in the name of Liu Qi, the assassin of Jingzhou, surrendered the four counties of Wuling, Changsha, Guiyang, and Lingling. Gangneung was further isolated. It can be seen that Cao Ren suffered a complete defeat in the battle with Liu Bei in this round.
2. Mistake 2: Linjiang County is not fortified
In addition to the Northern Passage, Linjiang County (Yiling) was another key factor in determining the outcome of the Battle of Nan County. Yiling is geographically at a horn with Jiangling, which can be said to be the satellite city of Gangneung, once Yiling is lost, Jiangling will not only lose its only flank, but also the army of Eastern Wu will seize the opportunity to seize the north bank (Zhou Yu's army is on the south bank), at which time Jiangling will lose the Yangtze River barrier. In addition, Liu Zhang, the mu of Yizhou at that time, submitted to Cao Cao (Emperor Xian of Han), and if necessary, Cao Cao could have Liu Zhang send reinforcements down the river to support Cao Ren. For Cao Ren, the importance of Yiling is self-evident.
However, Cao Ren once again made a rare low-level mistake, and he forgot to place guards in Yiling City. On the side of Sun Liu's coalition forces, it was Zhou Yu who attacked Jiangling. After recognizing Cao Ren's major mistake, he quickly sent Gan Ning to capture Yiling. At this time, Cao Rencai woke up like a dream and hurriedly sent troops to fight for Yiling, only to be defeated by Zhou Yu, who had already prepared, and Zhou Yu took advantage of the situation to cross the Yangtze River and garrison the north bank of the army to hold cao Ren.
At this time, the western, southern, and eastern sides of Jiangling City had been controlled by Zhou Yu, and the reinforcements in the direction of Xiangyang were dragged by Guan Yu in the northern passage and could not reach in time. In this case, Cao Ren's defeat was decided.
In summary, this battle exposed the weakness of Cao Ren's short-sighted strategy. As a general, he could not identify the strategic significance of the Northern Passage and Yiling before the battle, so Liu Bei and Zhou Yu were quick to ascend to the front, easily established a strategic advantage, and finally surrounded Jiangling, which had become an isolated city. It can be said that Cao Ren was the culprit in the defeat of Cao Wei in the Battle of Nan County.
Of course, Cao Ren's performance in this battle was not useless. His astonishing act of breaking into a heavy siege to rescue Niu Jin and others with one enemy and a hundred enemies deeply shocked the three armies, and Chen Jiao praised it: "The general is really a heavenly man! In addition, he was able to hold Gangneung for a year without help, which also showed his profound defensive skills.
Therefore, Cao Ren was a well-defended and well-armed general. But he was not a qualified commander-in-chief.
Battle of Xiangyang: Cao Ren's shortcomings reappeared, assisting Guan Yu in flooding the Seventh Army
In the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an (219), in order to achieve the strategic goal of "crossing the Jing and Benefiting" in the "Longzhong Pair", Guan Yu took advantage of cao Wei's internal rebellion and led an army from Jingzhou Nan County to attack the two cities of Xiangyang and Fancheng occupied by Cao Wei, and the Battle of Xiangyang broke out. At this time, Xiangyang's main general was the Zhengnan general Cao Ren.
Now born in the water and the Xiaoxian Army, there is no far-reaching preparation - Wen Hui.
Cao Ren's troops are superior, why are they passively beaten? Wen Hui, the minister of the State of Wei, said that it was because Cao Ren "had no far-reaching plans." That is to say, Cao Ren's pre-war preparation was not sufficient, or he did not make any preparations at all!
1. Cao Ren is in his position and does not seek his own government
Xiangyang was a barrier to southern Cao Wei, and if Xiangyang fell, it would endanger Xuchang (which is why Cao Cao once wanted to move the capital to avoid Guan Yu's front). Therefore, Cao Cao attached great importance to Xiangyang and deliberately transferred Cao Ren from Yangzhou to Jingzhou to replace Lejin and take on the heavy responsibility of guarding Jingzhou. However, Cao Ren was in his position, did not seek his own government, and failed to live up to Cao Cao's expectations.
After Cao Ren arrived in Xiangyang, he neither trained a strong water army, nor managed to blockade the water and prevent the enemy from attacking in the direction of Nan County. What is even more outrageous is that knowing that Eastern Wu and Guan Yu have a strong water army, and the Han River Basin will rise every year during the flood season, he did not prepare a large ship that could wade in advance. It can be said that Cao Ren's combat readiness is simply a mess.
Not only that, before the Battle of Xiangyang broke out, there were various indications that Guan Yu would carry out the Northern Expedition. Even Wen Hui, who was in the field, could see this clearly, but as the main general of the town guarding Xiangyang, Cao Ren did not know about it, which was a serious dereliction of duty.
Therefore, the reason why Guan Yu was able to break through the momentum and severely damage cao's army at the beginning of the campaign was because Cao Ren's preparation for the battle was too bad, giving Guan Yu an opportunity to take advantage of it.
In addition, Cao Ren also made a major mistake in the command of the battle.
2. Cao Ren made a mistake in command, and Guan Yu flooded the Seventh Army
After Guan Yu reached Xiangyang unimpeded from Jiangling, Cao Cao knew that things were not good, so he urgently ordered Cao Zhi to lead an army to rescue Cao Ren. However, Cao Zhi was so drunk that he could not be ordered, and Cao Cao, enraged, sent a total of 30,000 people from the Seventh Army to Fancheng.
According to historical records, Guan Yu's attack on Xiangyang was at most 30,000. This meant that after Yu Ban led reinforcements to Xiangyang, the Cao army had a numerical advantage, and the situation was unfavorable to Guan Yu, who was fighting against the current. However, Cao Ren made a big mistake by ignoring the basic common sense that it was the Flood Season of the Han River at that time, and even let Yu Ban and Pang Detun be stationed in a low-lying area north of Fancheng.
Sure enough, after more than ten days of autumn rains, the Han River Basin experienced a flood of "Han Water overflowing and harming the people", and the 30,000 troops who were forbidden and Pound's troops were flooded. At this time, the evil consequences of Cao Ren's lack of preparation before the war began to appear, and Yu Ban and others who lacked large ships could not walk in the big water, while Guan Yujun took a big boat to come and go freely in the flood, as if walking on the ground. Soon, Guan Yu forced Yu Ban and his men to surrender and capture Pound.
Therefore, it was Cao Ren's command mistake that made Guan Yu easily force (flood) the Forbidden Seventh Army.
To sum up, as the main general of Cao Wei sitting in Xiangyang, Cao Ren was in his position, but he did not seek his own government. He did not take military measures to prevent the Northern Expedition of the Wu and Shu armies, nor did he train the water army and build large ships, and the preparation for war was extremely bad. At the same time, he did not recognize Guan Yu's intentions in the Northern Expedition in time, exposing the shortcomings of his short-sighted strategic vision. In addition, his order to be banned during the flood season and Pound's army stationed in low-lying places exposed another shortcoming of his poor adaptability.
Battle of Fusukou: The Battle of Cao Ren
In the second year of the Huang Dynasty (221), Cao Pi worshipped Cao Ren as a general, and then moved to Sima Da, and the governor's various armies held Wujiang and also held Hefei. At this time, although Cao Ren ranked above the Three Dukes and Great Generals, his battle record did not match his position, so he urgently needed a big victory to justify his name.
Ren wanted to attack the middle of the continent, and Ji Yue said: "The thief is on the west bank, and the ships are flowing, and the soldiers enter the continent for the sake of hell from within, and the way of peril is also." "Ren does not obey, and Guo (Ran) is defeated--The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, The Biography of Jiang Ji
Soon the opportunity came. In the third year of the Huang Dynasty, Cao Pi's governor Sanlu Army attacked Eastern Wu. Among them, Cao Ren commanded the Middle Route Army and attacked the city of Wushu, which was defended by the Eastern Wu general Zhu Huan, which is known in history as the Battle of Wushukou.
Cao Ren made a sound plan to attack the west. He ordered Jiang Ji to attack Xianxi to the east to disperse Zhu Huan's forces, and Zhu Huan was sure to make a plan and rushed to aid Xianxi, but Cao Ren led his troops directly to attack The Mouth of The Beard. At this time, the Eastern Wu garrison of Wu had only 5,000 men, while Cao Ren had tens of thousands of infantry and horses, and the difference in strength between the two sides was very different. In this case, if Cao Cao adopted the tactic of besieging the city and providing reinforcements, he would have won the victory.
However, Cao Ren, who prides himself on having many soldiers, must not only win, but also win beautifully. Ignoring the advice of Jiang Ji, the commander of the Scattered Horse, he insisted that his troops attack the city in two ways, one with his son Cao Tai's overseers to attack the city, and the other with the general Chang Diao to attack Shazhou Island, where Zhu Huan's soldiers were located, by oil boat. Zhu Huan, on the other hand, judged the hour and sized up the situation, took retreat as an advance, and deliberately stopped the flag to show weakness and lured the Cao army to attack the city. Cao Tai was indeed successful in his plan, and led his army out lightly, but was set on fire by Zhu Huan and defeated, and was forced to retreat.
After Cao Tai's defeat and retreat, Zhu Huan turned around and attacked the Changdiao Department that penetrated deep behind the Wu army. After losing the oil tanker, Changdiao's department was unable to return to the camp, and was tragically surrounded and annihilated by Zhu Huan, and the entire army (5,000 people) was destroyed (Changdiao himself was killed in battle).
Cao Ren was the Grand Sima of the State of Wei and several times more powerful than the Wu army, but was defeated by the General Of Pei (a low-ranking general) Zhu Huan. This made the arrogant Cao Ren ashamed and embarrassed, and he went back to see Cao Pi without a face, and he died in the army.
To sum up, although Cao Ren successfully implemented the tactic of attacking the west from the east and gaining a good opportunity to break the enemy, he immediately suffered a complete defeat due to The light enemy' plan to lure the enemy.
This battle once again exposed Cao Ren's strategic short-sightedness and shortcomings in the ability to respond to battles.
epilogue
Cao Ren's actual combat results show that he was not the first general under Cao Cao. In actual combat, although he is brave in combat and has excellent defensive ability, he has a short-sighted strategy and a fatal shortcoming of insufficient ability to respond to battles. This is an absolute fatal injury for a commander-in-chief.
Before the Battle of Fusukou, because Cao Cao, the firefighting captain, was constantly dispatched in the back, Cao Ren was able to retreat in several key battles, although he was embarrassed. However, after Cao Cao's death, Cao Pi no longer played the role of firefighting captain, and Cao Ren began to show his original form, and in a less difficult duel (the Battle of Fusukou), he was ruthlessly crushed by the low-ranking general Zhu Huan of Eastern Wu, paying the price of his life.
Therefore, Cao Ren is a "lucky general" who can add icing on the cake, but he is also a commander of a member of the "pit death of the three armies".