In the novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Cao Cao was once hunted down and killed by Ma Chao, in order to escape, Cao Cao first threw away his robe, and then cut off his beard, which was very embarrassing, thus leaving an allusion to "abandoning the robe and cutting the beard". However, in history, there is a famous general who did have the behavior of "abandoning the robe and cutting the whiskers", he is the famous general of the Jin Dynasty, which is called the Golden Wushu by the people! So who killed the Golden Vulture so badly?
This person was neither Yue Fei nor Han Shizhong, but another famous general of the Southern Song Dynasty, his name was Wu Jiu! Wu Jie was born a civilian, learned martial arts from an early age, "grew up in riding and shooting, knew the art of war, and could read to understand great righteousness", and joined the army at the age of ten. At that time, the main opponent of the Northern Song Dynasty was the Western Xia, Wu Jie started as a soldier, repeatedly made military achievements, and was constantly promoted, and by the jing kang years, he was already a deputy general. After the establishment of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Jin Dynasty wanted to take Shanxi, so it constantly sent troops to harass.
Wu Jiu and his younger brother Wu Xuan were recommended by Liu Ziyu for their bravery in battle. At that time, Zhang Jun served as an envoy to Sichuan and Shaanxi Xuanfu, and he was very appreciative of Brother Wu, "with Jiu Yu, Dayue, that is, the command system, and the brother was in charge of the account before the soldiers." Soon after, Wu Jie was promoted to deputy commander of the Jingyuan Road Horse Infantry Army, repelling the Jin general Sa Li. In September 1130, Zhang Jun, despite the persuasion of Wu Jiu and others, hastily launched the Battle of Fuping, which resulted in a crushing defeat for the Song army.
The Jin army took advantage of the situation and seized the Wulu area of Shaanxi in one fell swoop. After that, the Jin Dynasty began to focus on the western front, believing that after the Battle of Fuping, the main force of the Song army was lost, so they wanted to capture Sichuan, control the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and then go down the river to take the Jiangnan region. In September 1131, the Jin Dynasty generals Wuli and Ulu divided their troops into two routes and prepared to meet the division at Shangyuan. Unexpectedly, Wu Jiu led an army of thousands of people to defeat the Jin army and achieve victory.
After receiving the news of the defeat of the Jin army, Yan Wushu was very angry, and in October of that year, he personally led 100,000 troops to cross the Weishui River, assemble near Baoji, and then concentrate his forces to the south and take Shangyuan directly. Wu Jiu had already made preparations, and he ordered his generals to select strong bows and crossbows and form "garrison arrows". The Jin army launched a continuous offensive on October 7, 10, and 12. Wu Jie's "garrison arrows" were "continuously fired, and the rain was poured out", resisting the offensive of the Jin Army.
At the same time, Wu Jie also sent people to attack from behind, cutting off the Jin army's grain route. On October 20, the two sides had already engaged in "more than thirty fronts", and the Jin army that had been deprived of food for three days could no longer continue fighting, so Wu Jiu commanded the Song army to launch a counterattack and ambushed it at night, so that the Jin army completely collapsed. In the melee, Yan Wushu was also shot by the Stray Arrows of the Song Army, and in order to escape, he, like Cao Cao, "only spared himself, and urgently removed his beard and returned".
This battle was the famous "Battle of Shangyuan", Wu Jiu led the remnants of the defeated generals after the Battle of Fuping, defeated the 100,000 troops of Yan Wushu, and successfully saved the gateway to Sichuan. Zhang Jun was very pleased, and immediately undertook to appoint Wu Jiu as an envoy to the Zhenxi Army, and since then Wu Jiu has become a general of the Southern Song Dynasty, who has been guarding the town and has since defeated the Jin army that has come to attack many times. In 1139, Wu Jie died of illness in Xianrenguan at the age of 47.
After Wu Jiu's death, his younger brother Wu Xuan continued to defend the area against the Jin army. In the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, led by Wu Jie and Wu Xuan, a "Wu Family Army" was formed, and they, like the Yue Family Army, defended the Jiangshan of the Southern Song Dynasty. Although Wu Jiu's merits were great, the King of Pluto was still inferior to Yue Fei, Han Shizhong and others, and even lost the so-called "Four Generals of Zhongxing"! In 1176, Emperor Xiaozong of Song posthumously made Wu Jiu the Prince of Fu, which was to recognize the greatness of his exploits.
References: 1. "History of Song"; 2. "Records of the Year since Jianyan"; 3. "Compilation of the Northern League of the Three Dynasties"