Friends who are familiar with zhengshi know that at the beginning of Cao Cao's army, it was actually very unsmooth. In the sixth year of Zhongping, when Cao Cao raised an army in Jiwu County, Chenliu County, he scattered his family wealth and recruited some soldiers, so Zhang Mi ordered his subordinate Wei Zi to support some of Cao Cao's assets and let Cao Cao set up an army, but Cao Cao had only 5,000 people at that time.
Chen LiuXiaolian Weizi used his family wealth to raise an army, and there were 5,000 people.
Then, more than a dozen princes attacked Dong Zhuo, but they all stopped. At that time, only Sun Jianbu and Cao Cao led an army to attack Dong Zhuo. Sun Jian won Dong Zhuo twice, but Cao Cao was frustrated, and in the Battle of Beishui, thousands of his soldiers were killed and wounded, and he himself was almost captured, but fortunately, Cao Hong helped Cao Cao to escape the disaster. At this point, there were very few soldiers and horses left in Cao Cao's hands, although the specific number was unknown, but at most there were only a thousand people, and the wounded were twelve or thirteen. Later, Cao Cao recruited troops again because he had too few soldiers, and this matter is recorded in history.
Taizu had few soldiers, but he recruited soldiers from Yangzhou with Xiahou Huan and others, and assassinated Shi Chen Wen and others with more than 4,000 soldiers. Also to the dragon, the soldiers are rebellious. To Zhen and Jianping, the reconquest of more than a thousand troops, into the Tun Hanoi. Because I was afraid of the multitude of soldiers and the strength of the enemy, I became the beginning of the disaster. Therefore, when fighting with Dong Zhuo, there were only a few thousand soldiers; later, when he recruited troops in Yangzhou, it was also limited to three thousand. - "Self-Evident Ben Zhi Ling" The soldiers plotted rebellion, burned Taizu's tent at night, and Taizu killed dozens of people with his sword, and the rest were invincible, but they came out of the camp, and their non-judgment was more than 500 people. - Book of Wei
Cao Cao and Xiahou Huan and others went to Yangzhou to recruit about 4,000 men, but after these soldiers arrived at Long Kang (place name), most of them defected again, and when Cao Cao arrived in the Jianping area, he collected more than 1,000 troops, and then he went to Hanoi to join Yuan Shao. At this point, Cao Cao clearly stated in his "Order to Let the County Self-Ming Ben Zhi" that in order to prevent confrontation with the great princes, he recruited no more than 3,000 troops. Therefore, it can be confirmed that Cao Cao's total strength at this time was about three thousand people.
After that, Cao Cao decided to leave Yuan Shao because of his disagreement with Yuan Shao on some major policies, but their differences were not strong, and Yuan Shao let him go on the grounds that he ordered Cao Cao to go out to Yanzhou to attack the Black Mountain Army. When Cao Cao left Yuan Shao, he did not know whether Yuan Shao had supported Cao Cao, but according to the custom at that time, Yuan Shao ordered Cao Cao to send an army to fight, and it was likely to fund some of Cao Cao's soldiers and horses, but these funds were more symbolic. Therefore, with the addition of Cao Cao's own soldiers and horses of 3,000, we believe that the total number of soldiers and horses of Cao Cao at this time may be between 3,000 and 8,000.
Cao Cao then defeated one of the leaders of the Black Mountain Army in Yanzhou,眭固, at Yanzhou's Eastern Commandery. The total strength of the Montenegrin Army in Kouluo Yanzhou was about 100,000 people, but the number of generals in The Gugu Department was not recorded. Therefore, we cannot be sure how many military horses Cao Cao used with these thousands of people, but it is estimated that it is impossible to have less than 10,000 people. But in any case, Cao Cao finally won the battle. Since the battle has been won, it is inevitable that some descendants will be surrendered, and the specific number of historical materials is still not loaded, and it is impossible to know for sure here.
Later, Cao Cao defeated the Xiongnu Army of Yufu Luo at Yanzhou, defeating Xiao Gu again. At this point, until Cao Cao collected 300,000 people from the Qingzhou Army, during which time Cao Cao had no more wars. Before Cao Cao took over the Qingzhou Army, something else happened, and Shi Zai:
The Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou entered Yanzhou, killed Zheng Sui, the chancellor of Ren, and transferred to Dongping. Liu Dai wanted to strike at it, and Bao Xin advised: "There are millions of thieves today, the people are terrified, and the soldiers have no fighting spirit and are invincible." Watching the thieves follow each other for generations, the army has no weight, only the money is slightly used as a capital, and now it is not as strong as the strength of the animals, first to hold, he wants to fight, he cannot attack, he is bound to disperse, and then choose the elite, according to its key points, the blow can be broken. "Dai did not obey, so he fought with it, and the result was killed."
More than a million people poured into Yanzhou, and Bao Xin analyzed this situation. "Thieves follow each other for generations" shows that the Yellow Turban Army brought their families with their mouths to Yanzhou, which included both the yellow turban army soldiers and their wives, children, and children; "the army has no weight", indicating that the yellow turban army does not have a lot of money, money, and grain, and these things are relied on "grabbing the money and using it now"; "only using money as capital", indicating that the main motive and purpose of the Yellow Turban army is to "grab things" and has no other purpose and consciousness. In view of the fact that the Yellow Turban Army has no organizational discipline, no clear purpose, and no rear support, Bao Xin reasonably put forward the policy of "sticking to it." If they hold firm, it will not be easy for the Yellow Turban Army to break through the city and rob the property, and they will not have rear support, which will inevitably not last, and it is likely that they will not be able to attack themselves in the end.
However, Bao Xin's suggestion, Yanzhou Assassin Liu Dai did not listen, so Liu Dai died in battle. At this point, Yanzhou was leaderless, and Cao Cao had newly destroyed the Black Mountain Army and the Xiongnu Army in western Yanzhou, and Bao Xin naturally asked Cao Cao to send troops to help.
Shinnai and the governor Wan Qian waited until Dong Commandery to welcome Taizu to lead Yanzhou Mu. So he marched on the Yellow Turban to attack Yu Shou Zhangdong. Faith fights to the death, only to break it. The people who bought the letter could not be mourned, but the wood was carved like the shape of a letter, and the sacrifice was weeping. Chase the Yellow Turban to Jibei. Begging. In the winter, more than 300,000 soldiers, more than 100,000 men and women, and those who received their elites were called Qingzhou soldiers. Taizu will ride more than a thousand people on foot, look at the battlefield, and reach the thieves' camp, and the battle will be unfavorable, and hundreds of people will be killed, and they will be returned. Thieves seek to move forward. The Yellow Turban is a thief for a long time, several times the victory, and the soldiers are all fierce. Taizu has few old soldiers, new recruits are not trained, and the whole army is afraid. Taizu was punished by a baby, pro-patrolling soldiers, Ming persuaded to reward and punish, the crowd was revived, the idle attack, the thief retreated slightly. The thief was moved to the book Taizu: "In the past in Jinan, when the altar was destroyed, its way was the same as that of Zhonghuang Taiyi, and if he knew, he would be even more confused now." Hanxing has been exhausted, and the Huang family should be established. The great fortune of heaven is beyond the ability of a monarch to survive. "Taizu saw the book, cursed it, and taught the way down; then set up a strange ambush, fought day and night, and the birds were captured, and the thieves retreated." - Book of Wei
Fortunately, the situation after Cao Cao's arrival is well documented in the historical records. Specifically, Cao Cao personally led more than a thousand infantry and cavalry to inspect the area around the battlefield, but he did not expect to encounter the Yellow Turban Army barracks, and then inevitably engaged. In this battle, perhaps because the number of troops was too small, or too sudden, Cao's army was defeated, and hundreds of people died, and after the defeat, Cao Cao led his army back to the camp. Then, the Yellow Turban Army slowly advanced, perhaps pursuing the Cao Army or exploring the enemy's virtual reality.
Here, the historical materials deliberately emphasize the comparison of the combat strength of the two armies at that time - I increasingly think that Chen Shou is here to pave the way for cao Cao's "merits" later. According to historical records, the Yellow Turban Army has been a thief for a long time, and its number is large, its soldiers are also very fierce, and its combat effectiveness is strong. Cao Cao's old soldiers (soldiers recruited at the beginning of his career and soldiers recruited in Yangzhou and other places) were few, and the new soldiers (yuan shao's soldiers and the soldiers who defeated the Black Mountain Army and the Xiongnu Army) had poor combat effectiveness, and the entire army was very afraid. At this time, Cao Cao stood up, he personally encouraged the soldiers, and finally boosted the morale of the soldiers, and then fought with the Yellow Turban Army again, this time cao army won a small victory over the Yellow Turban Army.
In the end, Cao Jun's description of the decisive battle of the Yellow Turban Million Army was very sketchy, saying only that "Cao Cao set up a strange ambush, fought with the Yellow Turban Army sooner or later, and finally defeated the Yellow Turban Army." The rough description of this key point is obviously not satisfactory: why did the Yellow Turban Army still lose to the Cao Army when it crushed the Cao Army in numbers and its combat effectiveness was stronger than the Cao Army? Was it simply because Cao Cao inspired his generals and set up an ambush? I don't know what you think, but I think it's very far-fetched.
Personally, I believe that the rout of the Yellow Turban Million Army at that time was probably not caused by "combat factors", but by the situation that "there were problems within the Yellow Turban Army, and the combat effectiveness was greatly damaged". As for what problems occurred within the Yellow Turban Army, the historical data do not record it, but through what Bao Xin said above, it may be possible to get a glimpse or two.
As mentioned earlier, Bao Xinyan said that the Yellow Turban Army "brought its family with its mouth and had no grain and pay," indicating that the vast majority of the Yellow Turban Army's rations were sustained by "successful robbery." Such a method of ration maintenance, once the robbery fails, the army will collapse in an instant. If the army has no food for a day, it will collapse on its own. This is the obvious truth. If you don't have enough to eat in a day, you may be able to hold on hard, but if you are hungry for more than a day, it will be chaotic no matter what, how chaotic? Scattered to rob, can not rob the city, loot the village, even cannibalism. After all, these were just peasant rebels with no training or any professionalism.
Therefore, I think that at that time, the Yellow Turban Army probably had difficulties in supplying grain and grass, resulting in a critical situation, and the Cao Army won several more victories against the Yellow Turban Army, and the Yellow Turban Army finally suffered a major rout that collapsed. Therefore, the so-called Cao Cao defeated the Million Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou, I am afraid that Cao Cao's role is really not much, but the contribution of the Qingzhou Yellow Turban's own disintegration is even greater.
If this is the case, see also the example of Chen Shou beautifying Cao Cao.