Cao Zhen's presence in romance of the Three Kingdoms is extremely low. The credit was robbed by Sima and he himself was killed by Zhuge Liang. Ghosh said that his "New Three Kingdoms" is close to history. In fact, Cao Zhen has become an idiot. The straw bag son became a hero. The real Cao Zhen is not like this, you must know that Cao Wei's ancestors, the last to take power is Cao Zhen's line.
Cao Zhen (曹真), courtesy name Dan, after his father's death in battle, Cao Cao adopted him as his adopted son (original surname Qin), Cao Zhenxiao was brave and good at war, brave and fierce, and was given the title of tiger and leopard by Cao Cao. He successively served as a partial general, a leader in the middle, and a defender of the Shu Army, and participated in the Battle of Hanzhong. After Cao Pi succeeded to the throne, Bai was made the general of Zhenxi, the governor of Yongliang military, and the marquis of Dongxiang. After Cao Rui ascended the throne, Cao Zhen was the head of the Eastern Pinghe River and the north resisted Zhuge Zhuge in the north. He was able to achieve the highest military commander of Cao Wei, Sima Da. After Cao Wei's emperor Cao Xiu died of illness, Cao Zhen was the only one left among the Marquis of Cao.
During Cao Cao's lifetime, Cao Zhen did not show his face, he was an ordinary military general (his seniority and age were too shallow), but Cao Zhen belonged to one of the "tiger and leopard riders" in Cao Cao's core, Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Cao Chun, Cao Xiu, Cao Zhen, Xiahou Shang, and others, which formed the clan forces at the core of Cao Wei's clique. It is the leader and representative figure in the clan power, commonly known as the "Cao Wei Eight Tiger Riders". They were the pillars that followed Cao Cao early on, and they were the core force in the establishment and stabilization of Cao Wei's regime. In terms of generations, Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, and Cao Chun were all Cao Pi's uncles, while Cao Xiu, Cao Zhen, and Xiahou Shang were Cao Pi's contemporaries. Cao Zhen's status gradually increased with his military achievements and age, and he repeatedly made military achievements, and showed a certain command ability, and was quite active in the Battle of Hanzhong. But it has to be said that during Cao Cao's reign, Cao Zhen did not have the opportunity to lead the army independently. In the Cao Pi dynasty, it can be clearly seen that Cao Zhen has become a high-ranking general in the military aspects of Cao Wei, and his own ability is constantly improving.
In 226 AD, Cao Pi died, and Cao Zhen and the zhenjun general Chen Qun, the general Cao Xiu of Zhengdong, and the general Sima Yi of the Fujun army were entrusted with the posthumous auxiliary government, and Cao Zhen's status was second only to that of Sima Cao Xiu, the four auxiliary ministers, two clan relatives, and two scholars. In the fourth year of Cao Rui's ascension to the throne, Sima Cao Xiu fell ill and died, and among the Marquis of Cao, Cao Zhen was left alone. So in 230 AD, Cao Rui promoted Cao Zhen to the position of Grand Sima and Marquis of Shaoling. The Hussar general Sima Yi was made a general. He also gave Cao Zhen the sword to the temple, and entered the dynasty without tendency. At the beginning, only Cao Cao had this courtesy. Thus the tragedy of Cao Zhen arose. After Cao Rui ascended the throne, Zhuge Liang attacked Cao Wei three times, although it did not cause actual harm to Cao Wei, but it greatly involved Cao Wei's energy. Therefore, in the western theater where Cao Wei was in charge of the war against Shu at that time, Cao Zhen, the governor of the Yongliang region, suggested to Cao Rui that instead of passively defending, it was better to take the initiative to attack, that is, to attack Zhuge Liang in multiple ways. This proposal was approved by Cao Rui, but the general Sima Yi did not comment (Shi Zai's silent words).
It can be said that Cao Zhen made sufficient preparations for this, first collecting grain from all over the world and hoarding heavy loads. According to Cao Zhen's original plan, Cao Wei's three-way army attacked Shu Han, the first way was Sima Yi sent troops from Xicheng along the Han River to the west, land and water and advanced into Hanzhong, the second way was the che riding general Zhang Gao along the Meridian Road south into Hanzhong, and the third way was that Cao Zhen himself led the main force from Yu County to take Hanzhong, and in August 230 AD, Cao Zhenshi began to act. This time Cao Wei can be described as elite. With the intention of taking Hanzhong in one fell swoop, he reported this top-secret military plan to Cao Rui. However, in Chen Qun's view, the biggest shortcoming of this battle plan is that the food supply is not enough, and as long as Zhuge Liang insists on not fighting, our army can only retreat. But in the face of Chen Qun's suggestion, Cao Zhen did not adopt it.
According to the battle plan, Cao Zhen and Sima Yi would meet in Southern Zheng (near present-day Chenggu County) in the Shu Han Realm. At Sima Yi's suggestion, Cao Zhen had Guo Huai march all the way from Wuwei in Liangzhou to recover lost territory and invade Hanzhong from Qishan Province. The four-way army marched in tandem, with a total of 150,000 troops, and slaughtered to Hanzhong. The biggest mistake of Cao Zhen's crusade against Shu Han was that the time was not right, it was the rainy season, and Zhuge Liang deliberately avoided this time node during the Northern Expedition. When he learned of Cao Wei's offense, Sima Shu and Wei Yan, who was stationed in Hanzhong by The Marquis of Liangzhou, gathered soldiers and horses to resist on the one hand, and on the other hand, immediately reported it to Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang immediately asked Wei Yan to hold firm, and on the one hand, Li Yan, a former general of Zhongdu, led a 20,000-strong army from Jiangzhou to reinforce Hanzhong, and on the other hand, he personally led the main force to Akasaka in Chenggu County. It should be said that this place in Akasaka was also carefully selected by Zhuge Liang.
Cao Zhen's army had just arrived at the border between the two armies when it suddenly rained heavily, especially in the Meridian Road, which had been raining for more than 30 consecutive days, and before that, the Meridian Road had not rained for half a year, so how the weather marched, the torrential rain not only raged on the Qinling Mountains, but also swept through the entire western region of China, including Yishui, Luoshui, and Yellow River in western Henan. Not only did it make it difficult to transport, but because the rivers were diverted, the military supplies did not know where to go, and the information was not smooth. The boardwalk was washed away and could not be marched at all. The Shu army sneaked into the camp, and Xiahou Ba almost took prisoner.
And Sima Yi was not much better. Sima Yi did not go west along the Han River to meet Cao Zhen and Zhang Guo, but opened the way to The Mountain, crossed the Daba Mountain and went south to attack Badong, but due to the torrential rain, Sima Yi could only stand still, and Zhuge Liang began to counterattack, Zhuge Liang ordered Wei Yan to abandon Hanzhong and directly attack Longxi, Guo Huai resisted with all his strength, but it was not Wei Yan's opponent, and wei Yan's defeat returned to Shanggui. The deputy general Fei Yao was killed, and at this time Cao Zhen had been sending troops for a month, but he was already a general who had lost his troops. Under these circumstances, Sikong Chen Qun, Tai wei Huaxin and others proposed to withdraw their troops, and after Cao Zhen received Cao Rui's edict, he could only return in vain, and Cao Zhen's invasion of troops and the loss of money really did not pay off.
Cao Zhen fell ill after returning to the dynasty, it should be angry and angry, it is also strange to say, Cao Zhen just withdrew the army did not rain, but also half a year did not rain, and even a major drought Cao Zhen This is really unlucky. In March 231 AD, Cao Zhen died, the age should be less than 60, Cao Zhen has both talent and handsome talent, and it is rare to be able to fight with Zhuge Liang, a genius in the world, without falling behind. He was the last commander of the three armies of the Cao Wei clique. Think of the other major generals of Cao Wei, Cao Ren died because of the defeat of Shukou, Cao Xiu died alive because of the defeat of Shiting, Cao Zhen died of the failure of Shu Shu, and three successive emperors died of the same reason, it has to be said that it is Providence.
Cao Zhen had a lifetime of military achievements and great prestige in the army, and every battle was personally on the front line and ate the same meals as ordinary soldiers. The real Cao Zhen was approachable, a courtesy corporal, humble and simple, deeply rooted in the hearts of the army, and the generals were willing to obey his dispatches. If he did not die, Sima Yi would have absolutely no chance of seizing power.
I am clear water, the watchman of history. Looking forward to your attention and comments.