Preface
In the world of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the five good generals can be called heroic, among which Zhang Liao often stands tall with his outstanding military talent. However, if Zhang Liao is the head of the five good generals, then Xu Huang may be the hidden brilliance behind him. Lu Su once said that "five good generals, brave and invincible", but Xu Huang is one of the lesser-known but meritorious existences.
Each of the five good generals can be said to be the crown of fierce generals under Cao Cao, each with its own merits, and it is difficult to distinguish between them. But in the minds of the people and history readers, Xu Huang's impression is the most profound and the most talked-about.
So, where is the secret?
In his early years, he followed the warlords of the Northwest and gradually revealed his political acumen
Xu Huang, whose name is Gongming, is a native of Yang County, Hedong County. When he was young, he had big ambitions and was eager to achieve his ambitions. At first, he took refuge under the command of Yang Feng, a warlord in the northwest.
Yang Feng is brave and powerful, and he is a strong man in the northwest. He commanded a crowd of ten thousand people, and he was majestic. Xu Huang knew that it was not a thing in the pool when he saw it, so he came to attach himself, starting from the county officials, and was valued by Yang Feng in the future and promoted to the mastermind.
During this period, Xu Huang has already emerged. He is smart and thoughtful, and he can deal with every suggestion, which makes Yang Feng overjoyed. No matter how tricky the problem is, Xu Huang can quickly analyze it and put forward countermeasures, which impresses Yang Feng.
Gradually, Yang Feng has come to trust Xu Huang, and all important decisions require him to come forward to help, and Xu Huang never disappoints him. Between the two, it can be said that it is difficult to find a bosom friend and have a common heart.
When Cao Cao welcomed the Han Emperor to Xu County, Xu Huang immediately advised Yang Feng to lead an army to escort him, and pointed out the major benefits of this move. But Yang Feng did not listen after all, and lost a good opportunity to make meritorious contributions. This has shown that Xu Huang's political vision and predictability are much more clever than Yang Feng, who is only satisfied with military conquest.
Join Cao Cao's army and make great contributions
After Yang Fengdong's failure to return, Xu Huang escaped and soon joined Cao Cao's command. Cao Gong also took a fancy to the talent of this strategist, appointed him as his subordinate, and treated him with great courtesy.
In the following years, Xu Huang followed Cao Gongnan to fight in the north and made many miraculous achievements. He first quelled the Hanoi rebellion with his army, captured the enemy commander and the rumor-spreading Julu man Zhang Xu, and stabilized the rear. He bravely killed the enemy in the battle of the border city, and killed the enemy general Yan Liang in the first battle, making the first contribution.
By the time of the famous Battle of Guandu, he played an important role in the battle. Xu Huang personally led the team to go deep behind the enemy and burned Yuan Shaojun's heavy grain and grass, causing him to fall into the predicament of cutting off the back road and shaking the morale of the army. This move laid the foundation for Cao's army to finally defeat Yuan's army and achieve a complete victory.
He has a good plan in his belly, and he uses soldiers like a god
Such years of battlefield training have not only enabled Xu Huang to improve his martial arts to a higher level, but also greatly improved his command ability. He is no longer the hot-headed strategist he used to be, but has grown into an excellent general.
When Cao Gong went west, he saw that Tongguan Xiongguan was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the enemy army refused to attack the horses, and arranged a tight defense line at the pass layer upon layer. Xu Huang immediately judged that the enemy's main force was all defending on the front and the flanks were unguarded, so he proposed to divide his troops to cross the Yellow River from Pujin and open up a second battlefield.
This plan was taken by surprise, and the enemy was caught off guard and returned defeated. Cao Jun successfully broke into the pass from the side and pulled out the land of Longyou in one fell swoop. This battle can be described as a stroke of genius, all thanks to Xu Huang's golden cicada's plan to get out of the shell, so that the enemy will lose the opportunity as if he was in mourning.
The subsequent battle of Hanzhong was even more fierce. Liu Bei selected more than 100 heroes in Shuzhong, who stood in the deep mountains and condescendingly besieged Cao's army. When the situation was critical, Xu Huang seized the fighter plane and personally led a hundred fierce generals to seize the road with a horizontal sword, and spelled a way out of the tiger's mouth. They fought bloodily, chanting the strong words of "sacrifice for the country", and finally opened up Cao Gong's retreat.
It can be seen that no matter how complicated the battlefield situation is, Xu Huang's adaptability is extraordinary. He is brave and resourceful, and his soldiers are like gods, which is elusive.
Fancheng fought to the death and made outstanding achievements
In 219 AD, Guan Yu, the general of Shu Han, led an army to besiege Fancheng, and for a time Wei was shocked at home and abroad. Xu Huang, who was prepared for danger in times of peace, was the first to stand up and ask for his life, asking to lead the troops to relieve the siege.
However, at this time, the main force of the Wei army had been completely lost, and only twelve battalions of recruits could be deployed. This group of recruits has just joined the army and has no actual combat experience, so there are still great doubts about whether they can withstand the test of bloody battles.
But Xu Huang accepted the task without hesitation, knowing that time was looming, and every second that added could kill more soldiers. So he straightened out his mind, straightened his army's appearance, and galloped to the front line that night
When Cao Ren saw the reinforcements coming, his morale was greatly boosted. The enemy Guan Yu also entered the city at this time, and the two sides fought to the death. Xu Huang's soldiers chanted slogans, and with an indomitable momentum, they went straight into the Yunyun Shu army, and finally recovered the city in one fell swoop.
People praised that the battle of Fancheng was comparable to Sun Wu's miraculous feat of breaking Chu! And all these miracles depended on Xu Huang's leadership.
It can be seen that among the five good generals, Xu Huang is a well-deserved leader. No one can defeat the strong with the weak like him, and create miracles in desperate situations.
Be cautious and old, and kill relatives with righteousness
However, even such a heroic Xu Huang, his personality is extremely cautious and low-key. Never because of the war achievements gallop to sell fame, and always maintain a humble and cautious style.
Cao Cao was bent on eradicating hostile forces, and intimidated people with blood and iron. And Xu Huang advised that benevolent government is the foundation of hegemony for a long time. He advocated preferential treatment to surrender the enemy and convince people with virtue, and this kind of unity and harmony and the mentality of the world made Cao Cao impressed.
On another occasion, Cao Cao wanted to kill a young general who had just surrendered to make an example. Xu Huangyi sternly opposed this move, emphasizing that the regime is built on the basis of people's hearts, and if it is too cruel, it will lose the support of the people.
This kind of righteous courage to kill relatives is really awe-inspiring. It shows that Xu Huang is not only brave and unparalleled on the battlefield, but also has his own indifferent ambition in terms of politics and the world.
Retired after success and died heroically
Xu Huang has grown from a brave young man all the way to a white-haired veteran, and has made great contributions to Cao Wei. He is still heroic; When the white knives fight, the style is still the same.
Even in his twilight years, he still insisted on serving in the army and worked tirelessly. Throughout his life, he fought bloody battles with the enemy on the front line, guarding the country's rivers and mountains with his own flesh and blood. That high-spirited and strutting figure still lingers in people's minds today.
In a battle with Soochow, Xu Huang was ambushed and became a hero. Like a lion, he died with his enemies and died for his country.
That's why I asked: Among the five good generals, who is the most iron-blooded and tiger-minded?
The answer is self-explanatory.