The Three Kingdoms become stronger when they get treasures

Chapter 428 Dragons Without Heads
Seeing that Xia Houyuan was beheaded and Cao's army surrendered, Fazheng led his troops to attack Cao's Nanzhai on Dingjun Mountain again.

After Xia Houshang escaped and came back, he talked about Xia Houyuan's beheading. Guo Huai was so shocked that it was like a bolt from the blue.Xia Houyuan was no ordinary general, he was a general of the Cao clan, and he was appointed by Cao Cao as the commander of the western front. His death would have serious consequences.

Before Guo Huai had time to think about it, Fazheng had already led his troops to the village. There were not many defenders in the village, and they had no morale. When the defeated soldiers camped in Hanshui, people reported to Du Xi and Cao Hong.

After Du Xi got the news, his heart became even colder, and his first thought was that Hanzhong was lost.Xia Houyuan underestimated the enemy and rushed forward, but died in a trick. Not only did he lose Dingjun Mountain, the southern gate of Hanzhong, but also caused Cao Jun's entire Western Front Army to be leaderless.

At this time, although there were still many Cao troops in Hanzhong, there was no commander who could both convince the crowd and take on great responsibilities.After Xia Houyuan's death, among the generals in Guanzhong and Hanzhong, Cao Hong had the highest status and was a clan general. It is said that Cao Hong could take over the post of commander in chief, but Cao Hong's ability was somewhat insufficient.

Although Cao Hong is also a veteran who has fought with Cao Cao for many years, he seldom leads troops alone in battle, and he has never been in charge of one aspect of military affairs, because Cao Cao knows that his brother is brave and intrepid, and he is not worthy of a big responsibility.When Cao Hong and Xu Huang rescued Tongguan together, Cao Cao had agreed with him beforehand that he only needed to hold Tongguan for ten days. As a result, Cao Hong was tricked out by Ma Chao on the ninth day, and Tongguan was lost.

Moreover, Cao Hong also has a problem, that is, he is very stingy and greedy for enjoyment. He does not forget to enjoy himself when he is marching and fighting.After Cao Pi was selected as his successor by Cao Cao, he borrowed money from Cao Hong, but Cao Hong did not borrow money. As a result, when Cao Pi succeeded to the throne, he almost tortured Cao Hong to death.

In addition to Cao Hong, there is actually another general who is qualified to be the commander of the western front, and that is Zhang He, but Zhang He is a general with a foreign surname. Although he is capable enough, he lacks prestige. At least in the presence of Cao Hong, it is impossible to succeed Xia Houyuan. Commander-in-Chief of the Western Front.In the original book, after Xia Houyuan was hacked to death, Du Xi and Guo Huai supported Zhang Yun as the temporary commander. It was just to stabilize the morale of the army so that they could retreat to Yangping Pass, but Cao Cao came to the Hanzhong battlefield in person two months later.

Du Xi could only send someone to send a letter to Cao Hong, asking him to rush back to Nanzheng to see if he could take Dingjun Mountain back or hold Nanzheng, and at the same time send someone to urgently report to Cao Cao, asking Cao Cao to send reinforcements quickly .

After Fazheng occupied Dingjun Mountain, he didn't have enough troops to attack Nanzheng. He had to wait for Xu Shu to lead his army to join him before proceeding with the next step.

After capturing Dingjun Mountain and beheading Xiahouyuan, it does not mean that Hanzhong can be easily obtained, because Cao Jun still has [-] defenders in Nanzheng, [-] defenders in Yangping Pass, and about [-] troops in Xiabian. , the sum is no less than that of the Chu army, but there are many places to defend, and the troops are a little scattered.

Now Dingjun Mountain has been occupied by the Chu army, and the southern gate of Hanzhong has been opened. If Xu Shu wants to take Hanzhong, he must lead his army to join Fazheng. Then Cao Hong can return to defend Nanzheng. The strength of the two sides is actually about the same. , but it is somewhat difficult for the Chu army to attack the city with this force.

After Xu Shu received the information from Fazheng, he was overjoyed. After beheading Xiahouyuan and capturing Dingjun Mountain, the battle of Hanzhong was half won.The commander of Cao Jun's first army was killed. He must have been panicked and demoralized, but if Cao Hong's [-] soldiers were allowed to return to Nanzheng to defend, Xu Shu was not sure that he would be able to take down Nanzheng City before the reinforcements arrived. It's hard to say that the [-] soldiers are exhausted.

Of course, it would be the best if Cao Hong dared to take the initiative to fight Xu Shu, but it is estimated that Cao Hong would not get so much water in his mind.

Therefore, Xu Shu didn't want Cao Hong to lead his troops back to Nanzheng. He decided to use Cao Hong's eagerness to return to Nanzheng to defend, and set up an ambush beforehand to attack Cao Hong halfway.As long as Cao Hong is blocked outside Yangping Pass, the defenders of Nanzheng will not be supported, and the entire Cao army in Hanzhong does not have a unified command organization, so they will fight on their own. Didn't know what to do before the order.

But if you don’t join Fazheng, you can’t defeat Hanzhong with Fazheng’s 1 troops alone. Other places are easy to talk about, but Nanzheng, the seat of Hanzhong, will definitely not be taken down. Only by taking Nanzheng City can you truly capture it. Hanzhong.

Xu Shu issued a series of orders as the general of the right army division of the general's mansion of chariots and cavalry, and then sent someone to deliver a letter to Ma Chao, ordering Ma Chao to lead the cavalry to join him, and let Pang De lead the infantry to rush to Dingjun Mountain to join Fazheng.

During this period, Ma Chao provoked in every possible way outside Xiabian City, and Cao Hong and Zhang Yun did not leave the city to fight.As the saying goes, "Once bitten by a snake, ten years afraid of well ropes", Cao Hong lost Tongguan last time because of anger, and was almost beheaded by Cao Cao. Although Cao Cao was just scaring him, Cao Hong was really scared.

This time Cao Hong said nothing and didn't go out, because he knew that Ma Chao hated the surname Cao, and the key was that he couldn't beat Ma Chao.And Cao Xiu didn't dare to fight, because although he had more brains than Cao Hong, his martial arts were not as high as Cao Hong's, and he had seen Ma Chao's bravery back then.

There is also a battle of Xiabian in the original book, but the two sides involved in the battle are Cao Hong and Cao Xiu against Zhang Fei and Ma Chao. Liu Bei ordered Zhang Fei and Ma Chao to attack Xiabian to disperse the defenders in Hanzhong, and he personally led Huang Zhong and Zhao Yun. , Wei Yan and others will go to fight Xia Houyuan.

It is said that since Zhang Fei entered Shu, his brain seems to have opened up, and he even likes to use tricks when fighting.After arriving at Xiabian, Zhang Fei felt that he might not be able to defeat Cao Hong with a small number of soldiers, so he divided his troops and asked Wu Lan and Lei Tong to defend Xiabian. He and Ma Chao led troops to Gushan, threatening to cut off Cao Hong's retreat. Scared Cao Hong back.

Sure enough, Cao Hong was too frightened to march, but Cao Xiu saw through Zhang Fei's tricks at a glance, and saw that Zhang Fei was bluffing, so he led the elite tiger and leopard cavalry to attack Xiabian.As a result, Wu Lan was defeated and retreated, and Lei Tong was beheaded. Seeing that his strategy failed, Zhang Fei had no choice but to lead his troops back.

Now Cao Xiu dare not go out of the city to attack Ma Chao's camp, because Ma Chao not only has [-] elite infantry, but also thousands of cavalry. .

After Ma Chao received Xu Shu's military order, he immediately asked Pang De to lead his infantry to retreat from Longnan Road to Jiameng Pass, and then escorted a batch of grain and grass to Dingjun Mountain to join the main force.Although he was unwilling to retreat, he also knew that the most important thing at the moment was to capture Hanzhong. As long as Hanzhong was captured, Biancheng would not be able to escape now, and he could come to fight at any time.

(End of this chapter)