A successful person, not only has the resources, but also the person who will arrange, learn to configure, and have a progress chart or schedule in advance. There is bitterness to eat in the front, and there is happiness to enjoy the back, this is the arrangement. There is a particular need for vision, strategy and wisdom in the arrangement.
After the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao was faced with a problem of arrangement, his resources were limited, but the enemy in front of him could not be fought, although Yuan Shao lost in the Battle of Guandu, but his power was still there, Ji, Qing, You, and the four prefectures were still in Yuan Shao's hands, and Liu Biao behind him had already annexed Changsha with 100,000 armor. The little bully Sun Ce has become a climate and dominates the side. Cao Cao had to look ahead and take care of the back, and more importantly, within the Central Plains of influence under his rule, anti-Cao forces rose and fell one after another, so after the Battle of Cao Cao's Guandu, there was chaos and danger, and there was chaos in danger. So how does Cao Cao arrange the rhythm?
In 201, the sixth year of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Cao arranged for the deployment of an important battle. In April of that year, Cao Cao entered Cangting and fought a second decisive battle with Yuan Shao's main force, Yuan Shao's sons led troops to assist in the battle, Yuan Tan of Qingzhou brought 50,000 horses, Yuan Xi of Youzhou brought 60,000 horses, his nephew Gao Gan brought 50,000 horses from Hezhou, Yuan Shao recruited some more troops from Jizhou, combined with 200,000 troops, and then entered Cangting and fought a decisive battle with Cao Cao.
Cao Cao's adviser Cheng Yu gave Cao Cao a ten-sided ambush plan, sent Xu Chu to pretend to steal the camp, pretended to retreat, and attracted Yuan Shao to chase, and we ambushed ten teams of men and horses on the road and took turns to attack it. According to the plan Xu Chu went to sneak attack, Yuan Shao 200,000 people and horses chased together, Xu Chu was initially a false defeat, and then a real defeat, Cao Cao followed Xu Chu to the edge of the Yellow River, in front of the mighty river blocking the road, followed by Yuan Shao's pursuing soldiers, Cao Cao shouted: "It has reached the end of the road, why not fight." In the early years of battle, cao cao was present in all dangerous tasks, and Cao Cao was always in the most dangerous place. Cao Cao's troops turned back to fight Yuan Shao, and in the darkness, Cao Cao slaughtered the ten men and horses that Cao Cao had ambushed in advance, killing Yuan Shao's men and horses cleanly. Then Yuan Shao was defeated back to Jizhou, and after this return, he fell ill and finally vomited blood and died.
The victory in the Battle of Cangting was a decisive victory, and after this battle, Cao Cao really had the capital and really swept through Jizhou, Qingzhou, Youzhou, and Hezhou. Just when everyone was preparing to go north with Cao Cao, Cao Cao stopped fighting and returned to the army to rest. After a major battle, take a break. Cao Cao did a very good job in this regard, the battle should be light and heavy, the major battles must be brave and forward, and after the end, it is necessary to take a little rest, so that the army can be more harmonious and energetic, the war must also be rhythmic, and when necessary, it is necessary to find the right time to seriously fight a war, and then carry out a reasonable rectification and rest, and we cannot blindly only care about fighting the war all the time.
Life is the same, it is time to retreat, so that there is the strength to move forward, and there will be a stage of accumulating strength. Only by accumulating strength can there be greater progress.
After the Battle of Guandu, although Yuan Shao died in a crushing defeat, his northern power did not collapse, and how to defeat a powerful opponent became a difficult problem in front of Cao Cao.
After a basic rest, the combat effectiveness of Cao Cao's army was restored, and Cao Cao began to arrange a large-scale Northern Expedition, and his rhythmic skills were very good. There are three main ones:
First, slow down the pace and wait for the enemy to chaos before attacking. The first enemy of the Northern Expedition was the remnants of Yuan Shao's forces, Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang, in the spring of 203, Cao Cao led a large army to fight with Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang at Liyang, and the battle was successful, defeating Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang, and the army was pushed all the way to Yuan Shao's old lair, Yicheng, and went to Yicheng to return to retreat. This is Cao Cao's skill, Cao Cao's principle is to solve things with the mind, never use force to solve, things that can be solved by making people nod their heads, solve things without killing heads, can laugh and say things, never say with a cold face, can persuade to solve things, never pat the table and say.
Brothers work together, strength can break gold, unity is the basis for survival and development. Yuan Shao's son did not understand this truth, Yuan Tan, Yuan Shang, and Yuan Xi fought fiercely for the successor after Yuan Shao's death, Cao Cao took advantage of this contradiction, when Yuan Shao died, because there was no will left, the country had no master, and it was necessary to compete to get it, which was Yuan Shao's great failure.
Cao Cao did not see it at first, so he pretended to lead troops to attack Liu Biao, on the one hand, to deter Liu Biao and Sun Ce, on the other hand, to make room for Yuan Shao's sons to pinch each other, and then come back to collect them when the time was right. Yuan Shang was young, but he had military talent, won two battles and two victories, and beat Yuan Tan to Nanpi. Yuan Tan decided to find Cao Cao to destroy Yuan Shang, which was called luring the wolf into the room. Cao Cao's army defeated Yuan Shang, Yuan Tan was there to watch the liveliness, Cao Cao went straight to the old nest of Yecheng and achieved a decisive advantage, Yuan Tan had a little regret, but raw rice was cooked, and there was no way.
Second, we should gather the hearts and minds of the people, stabilize the rear, and then advance troops. After Cao Cao occupied Yicheng, he went to Yuan Shao's tomb to pay tribute, Cao Cao was weeping, returned Yuan Shao's family, treasures, and belongings to Yuan Shao's wife, and also allocated special funds to take care of Yuan Shao's family life, Cao Cao cried Yuan Shao for three reasons: First, there was indeed an emotional factor, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were small. Cao Cao had helped Yuan Shao at a turning point in his life, and Yuan Shao had protected Cao Cao when his feathers were not plump. Second, the political factor, at that time, Yuan Shang was destroyed, but Yuan Xi, Yuan Tan, and Gao Gan were still there, and Yuan Shao's forces were also there. Yuan Shao loved the common people very much and loved the generous favors of his subordinates, and a large number of people supported Yuan Shao. Third, the personal emotion factor, the vicissitudes after success, the loneliness after the flash, people have such an emotional instinct. After the great war, Cao Cao's mood was very complicated, on the one hand, he lamented that the battle was too difficult, and on the other hand, he lamented that if it were not for such a powerful enemy as Yuan Shao, he would not have developed to this point today.
Cao Cao hoped that by crying, he could win more people's hearts and minds, stabilize the rear, and prepare to do the third thing, that is, to take advantage of the victory to pursue and sweep away the north, when Yuan Tan had already surrendered, Yuan Xi was still dividing, and Gao Gan was also dividing. Cao Cao decided to attack Yuan Xi and Gao Gan first, but unexpectedly, when Cao Cao was marching north, Yuan Tan rebelled. Cao Cao returned to defeat Yuan Tan, in the midst of this trip. This led to Cao Cao's third strategy in the north.
Third, lock in the focus and concentrate on grasping the key. The principle of doing things is like digging a well, the resources are limited, don't dig too many wells, you have to focus on a few points to break through, there are many people who are not successful, not the problem of resources and capabilities, but in greed for perfection, there is no focus.
Among these enemies, Cao Cao locked on yuan tan, who was closest to him, and in July 204, he destroyed Yuan Shang, who ran to Yuan Xi. In the first month of 205, he defeated Yuan Tan, captured Yuan Tan, and beheaded him. In March 206, Cao Cao went out to conquer the bitter cold land and the state, eliminating Gao Gan. Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi were left, shrunk in Youzhou, and these two people found a patron, combined with the forces of the minority Wuhuan, and Cao Cao was facing the form of whether to conquer Wuhuan in the north, and on this issue, a fierce debate broke out again in Cao Cao's ranks. Every major issue of Cao Cao has a different voice and a debate, and this kind of organization is healthy.
Because the situation of unanimous vote is either a scam or a prejudice, people are different from people, things and things are different, it cannot be a voice, and hearing different voices is conducive to us making the right choice. This time, Cao Cao's team had a voice saying that if we were to go far away, swing our division north, and march Wuhuan to attack Youzhou, what if Liu Biao in the rear attacked us. Moreover, Liu Bei and Liu Biao had already joined forces, which were very close to us and very dangerous. And the road to Wuhuan is difficult, most people suggest not to conquer Wuhuan, at this time Guo Jia stood up again, once again put forward the correct opinion, he said two things: First, Liu Biao, this person you let him point out the Jiangshan can, do some practical things can not be done, he can protect himself. There was also Liu Bei who went to him, and he had to consider how to put Liu Bei on the ground, and he couldn't take care of us. Second, the leader of Wuhuan thought that we could not go on an expedition against him, that he was defenseless, and that if we did, the initiative in the campaign was in our hands.
Cao Cao once again adopted Guo Jia's correct advice, a person should be resourceful and judgmental, it is easy to be resourceful, it is difficult to judge well, it is easy to choose a choice, and it is difficult to choose a correct one. Cao Cao took a large army north to conquer Wuhuan, and defeated Wuhuan in a battle, when the number of Hu and Han tribes alone surrendered was as high as 200,000, and finally, Yuan Shang, Yuan Xi and Wuhuan's aristocratic minority fled to Gongsun Kang in Liaodong Province, and the generals wanted to take advantage of the victory to pursue, Cao Cao once again stopped fighting, triumphantly returned, and said that the heads of Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi, Gongsun Kang would cut them off for us. Cao Cao said that between Yuan Shang and Gongsun Kang, they were on guard, and they could fight on their own. Not long after, Gongsun Kang really beheaded Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi and gave his head to Cao Cao.
After the victory at the Battle of Wuhuan, Cao Cao completely pacified the north, and throughout the process of the Northern Expedition, Cao Cao could be described as carefully arranged and relaxed, fully demonstrating his superior strategy. What were the key victory factors in Cao Cao's fight against Yuan Shao? The Zizhi Tongjian records a conversation between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao in their youth, and Yuan Shao asked Cao Cao, if the situation is unfavorable, what do you rely on to control the situation? Cao Cao asked you what to do? Yuan Shao said: "Wu nan holds the river, the north blocks the Yan Dynasty, and the people of Rong Di, and the southward direction to fight for the world." Cao Cao said, "I am the intellect of the world, and I can do everything with the Tao." ”
In this dialogue, it can be seen that Yuan Shao judged the situation by considering geographical factors and material factors. Cao Cao considered the human factor, considered the moral, and considered the issue of development from the perspective of man. Cao Cao's words cut from the perspective of people's hearts, human nature, talents and manpower, to grasp the key to progress and victory, because of the grasp of this factor, Cao Cao succeeded, this matter is worthy of our posterity to ponder deeply.
In November 207, after nearly seven years of great war, Cao Cao finally swept away the north, took the sea and land, returned to the Central Plains along the Bohai Sea, and wrote a group of poems called "Step Out of Xiamen" on Jieshi Mountain, from which it can be seen that Cao Cao at this time already has the great ambition of the world, life is like climbing a continuous mountain range, the future is invisible on the top of the hill, the higher the climb, the more the magnificent future is displayed. The goal is to find, yesterday did not know that it does not matter, on today's platform will find, if you can not find the goal, then do today's things, the magnificent future will naturally appear.