My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 757: Using Cao's evil methods to bite him back
Relying on the reputation and prestige that Liu Bei left in Zhongshan, as well as his own military power, Zhao Yun only persuaded three counties to surrender, and then he broke through Zhongshan County and advanced all the way to Wuji County, the southernmost county in Zhongshan.

There are eleven counties in total in a county, but they only took three of them to break through. This kind of advancement efficiency is simply a blitzkrieg and electric drill war, a style of fighting that completely disregards the retreat.

But Zhao Yun had an entire army of cavalry, and the cities he conquered were able to receive their treasuries intact, and he could also receive "donations to support the army" from cooperating powerful gentry, so he didn't have to worry about his retreat and wasn't afraid of a shortage of supplies in the short term.

Such power caused the local people to panic when Zhao Yun arrived in Wuji County.

Zhao Yun looked at the civilians and militiamen who were defeated along the way, and inevitably underestimated the enemy. He thought that he could persuade Wuji County to surrender without bloodshed.

Unfortunately, things never happen three times. Just when Zhao Yun’s confidence was soaring, a small accident brought him to a halt.

When they arrived outside Wuji County, Zhao Yun's first reaction was to ask his generals, soldiers, and staff to act separately. He first sent a general to persuade the county to surrender, and then asked his staff to find those wealthy manors outside the city that were likely to be willing to cooperate and persuade the local tyrants.

However, those who went to the county town to persuade them to surrender were shot back by arrows from the garrison commander, and so they did not achieve anything for the time being. The staff sent to contact the powerful also received some bad news.

"Reporting to the general! Following the general's order, I first went to find the prominent families in this county that had good relations with the Zhen family in the past. However, these families have generally not lived well in recent years and have been oppressed by Cao Cao. Cao Cao also specially replaced the local officials with cruel and iron-fisted officials to suppress them, so I failed to complete my mission! Please forgive me, general!"

When Zhao Yun heard this reply, he was slightly stunned.

He knew about Wuji. The largest wealthy family in the early days was the Zhen family, which was the family that had two daughters married to the Zhuge brothers as wives and concubines (Zhao Yun was not a time traveler, so of course he didn't know about the marriage between the Zhen family and the Yuan family in the original history).

That was twelve years ago, when Yuan Shao had not yet been completely destroyed. Zhen's direct relatives moved to the south at the end of Yuan Shao's rule and lived with Zhuge's family. However, some of the side branches and distant relatives, as well as those from other families who had made friendly alliances through marriage, could not all move away, so they stayed.

Later, after Hebei was ruled by Cao Cao, Zhao Yun arrived in Youzhou. He also heard that some powerful people in Zhongshan Wuji who were on good terms with the Zhen family were having a hard time, but he didn't take such trivial matters to heart. After all, there were several levels of relationship between them, and these people had not been of any use to him before, so he didn't pay much attention to them.

Until this time, Zhao Yun and Zhuge Jin discussed before the battle and felt that these people could be used. As long as they were willing to help fight the rebellion, such as persuading Wuji or even the surrounding counties to surrender, they could all be given small official positions or honorary titles.

It was only when he finally arrived that Zhao Yun discovered that the situation was even worse than he had expected. Those powerful people who had a good relationship with the Zhen family or were inclined to Liu Bei's camp had been purged so badly by Cao Cao that it was impossible for them to persuade the local officials to surrender or help open the city gates.

It’s not Zhao Yun’s fault that he didn’t do enough reconnaissance before the war, because he had to deal with too many counties along the way and had to adapt to the circumstances. Who could care about a small place like Wuji?
However, since it has already happened, Zhao Yun is not without a plan.

He quickly remembered that before going on the expedition, Zhuge Jin had discussed with him some means of dealing with emergencies and had discussed countermeasures for several types of problems. One of them was barely similar to the problem he encountered today.

So after sorting out his thoughts, Zhao Yun quickly calmed down and tried to come up with a plan to deal with the situation.

He first called several local powerful families in Wuji County who had good relations with the Zhen family and questioned them face to face:

"Are the county magistrate, military commander, and others in the city Cao Cao's confidants? How did Cao control them? Are their families being held in Xu County?"

The representatives of the local powerful who had already declined in power all responded enthusiastically to Zhao Yun's question: "The county magistrate and the military commander were both selected by Xiahou Dun, and they are indeed very loyal to the Cao family, but their families are not detained in Xudu, but left in Yecheng.

Cao Cao was very confident in leaving the families of the middle and lower class civil and military officials in Hebei to Xiahou Dun's care. Only the families of important officials were moved to Xudu, and that was a few years ago. In the past one or two years, I heard that they have gradually moved to Luoyang. "

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yun nodded subconsciously and understood what was going on.

Cao Cao's camp controlled their officials and generals to prevent them from surrendering to the enemy or rebelling. A very important skill was to keep hostages. From civil and military officials to soldiers, all of them had their families detained, but the hostages lived at different distances according to their ranks. The higher the level of the hostage, the more likely they were to be kept in the central government.

Of course, we can only say that Cao Cao was particularly cruel in this matter, but in history, the major camps of the Three Kingdoms also did similar things, but to a lesser extent than Cao Cao.

Zhao Yun did not force those willing to cooperate to help him capture the city, but changed his request: "Can you find enough boats to help me cross the Hutuo River? In addition, after my army crosses the river, I will divide the troops to search along the river to ensure that the news from the north and south banks of the Hutuo River is cut off within a few days.

You have been in the area for a long time and are more familiar with the situation. You must know where it is easy for people to cross the river. You can send spies to watch, cooperate with our army to blockade, and serve as guides for our army. "

In response to Zhao Yun's obviously lowered request, the local tyrants who had suffered from Cao for a long time expressed their willingness to cooperate. Although they had a low political status over the years, their manors were still able to operate, and they were not short of various materials and transportation.

In addition, Zhao Yun's attack was sudden, and the people in Zhongshan County did not have time to fortify their defenses and clear the countryside. The government also had no time to search for and confiscate the ships, so it was easy for the people to find the ships.

However, two hours later, Zhao Yun obtained a group of small boats, and then crossed the Hutuo River, which had not yet completely frozen, and entered the territory of Changshan County.

As for Wuji County, he left it behind for the time being. He did not even seek to occupy the county, but only controlled the main ferry crossing in the wild.

Its boldness at the strategic level is also clearly revealed.

After crossing the river, Tian Chou, who served as Zhao Yun's military officer, could not help but question: "Although the general can rely on the enemy for food, but he is so careless that he even crosses a large river like the Hutuo River and allows the enemy's stronghold to remain behind. Isn't it too reckless?"

Zhao Yun was very determined, and only revealed a little to Tian Chou: "This response strategy is also what I discussed with Situ before the battle, and Situ gave me some advice.

Before the war, Situ thought that although Zhongshan and Changshan were home to many of my lord's and my old friends, and it would be easier to force them to surrender than in other counties, Cao Cao's practice of keeping civil and military officials and the families of generals as hostages would surely affect many people, who would not dare to surrender without a fight.

So Situ came up with a plan to deal with this situation. And Wuji and Zhending are the most suitable places to implement Situ's plan."

Tian Chou was too low-ranking, so he did not participate in discussions at this level before the battle. Only when the situation that Zhuge Jin and Zhao Yun had deduced before the battle actually happened and he needed to implement it, would Zhao Yun confront him.

If these deductions have not happened yet and are not needed, Zhao Yun would rather keep these high-level discussions to himself.

After hearing this, Tian Chou really became serious, his desire to learn was unprecedentedly high, and he also became very humble: "I wonder what trick Situ came up with at that time?"

Zhao Yun pointed to the Hutuo River in front of him and said, "After our army crosses the river, we would rather slow down our advance and set up both visible and hidden defenses on both the north and south banks.

Openly send cavalry to patrol along the river, find key crossings to search and kill those crossing the river. Secretly, you can leave one or two unknown small wild crossings, pretend that our army is not familiar with the local geography and does not know how to guard, lure the enemy's informants to cross the river, and then let the local tyrants who are secretly monitoring report in time to intercept and kill them.

In this way, it can be ensured that within a few days, or even within ten days, the true situation of Zhongshan County on the north bank of Hutuo River will be difficult to spread to the southern counties. Those counties under the rule of Cao thieves that have not yet surrendered to our army will either give up contacting the rear or let our army intercept and kill the messengers.

If this move were somewhere else, we would not dare to think of it, but the boundary between Zhongshan County and Changshan County is just right for doing so, because on the north bank, there are local powerful people who are on good terms with the Zhen family, and Zhending on the south bank is a place I know very well.

This is the only way to combine the light and the dark, and take advantage of the situation. The officials and generals in the northern counties who have not yet surrendered will never think that our army will do this or dare to do this. "

During the discussion before the war, Zhao Yun asked Zhuge Jin what to do if they encountered an extreme situation after the battle and needed to isolate themselves from the news to make Cao Cao make a wrong judgment.

Zhuge Jin once reminded Zhao Yun: Since ancient times, there have been thieves who can steal for a thousand days, but no one can guard against thieves for a thousand days. So if we simply rely on strengthening patrols and preventing people from crossing the Hutuo River, there will definitely be loopholes, and someone will always send a letter across the river.

At this time, we must combine the real and the fake, deliberately leave one or two small gaps, pretending that our army does not understand the local situation and is negligent, lure the enemy to cross the river from here, and then set up an ambush to kill them.

Tian Chou nodded and confirmed the deduction, then asked: "But even if we cut off the news for a while, what's the next step?" Zhao Yun's eyes turned cold, and he sighed with a little pity: "The next step... Although I can't bear to explain it in detail, I have to do it. It's nothing more than us taking the initiative to spread rumors and create panic.

For example, within three days, our army penetrated the entire territory of Zhongshan County, fought all the way to Changshan, and even broke through Zhending, the seat of Changshan County. It was because in Beiping County, Tang County, Weichang County, and Wuji County in Zhongshan, officials and generals along the way were intimidated by our army's might, or because they were grateful for the kindness of the lord and the friendship between us, or because they were grateful for our friendship with me, they surrendered upon hearing the news, so our army advanced so quickly.

Cao Cao heard that within three days, an entire county was captured, and even Changshan County, which was not on the border, had a part of its key areas captured, so he must be furious. At this time, in order to reverse the decline and stop the wave of chain surrenders, they must use severe punishments in times of chaos.

Even if they don't kill the families of the surrendered officials, they will at least punish them with typical imprisonment or exile. In short, Xiahou Dun will definitely take some thundering measures to forcibly stabilize people's hearts. And what our army has to do is to frame the crime of the loss of Zhongshan and Changshan on those who refuse to surrender, and temporarily protect those who have surrendered to us."

Hearing this, Lian Tianchou couldn't help but take a breath. Although he was a civil servant, he was still relatively indifferent and open-minded, and was not good at conspiracies and intrigues. So he couldn't bear it at first.

"But the truth about this kind of thing will come out sooner or later...Willn't Cao Cao retaliate by then? Won't he go even further and persecute the families of those officials who truly surrendered to our army?"

Zhao Yun shook his head firmly, "No, this kind of thing, if there is a mistake once, once it is found that the diehard ministers have been wrongly accused, Xiahou Dun will definitely be punished. At that time, Cao Cao must show mercy and give all officials and soldiers who fall into the hands of the enemy the benefit of the doubt. At most, they will just keep their families under custody, but they will never dare to punish them casually again.

In this way, Cao's greatest reliance on controlling people's hearts will be temporarily broken, and he will be afraid to use his weapon. In the subsequent attack on the counties of Jizhou by our army, the situation of "the enemy generals are afraid that their families will be punished and have to fight to the death" will be greatly alleviated. This can also be regarded as a good tool for a good job - this is what Situ and I deduced when we discussed before the war.

Don't think this is a vicious move. We are using violence to stop violence. We would rather Cao Cao mistakenly kill a few officials and their families who are loyal to him, so that Cao Cao will be cautious and will not dare to kill again in the future."

Tian Chou finally understood what was going on and stopped reminding others to do so. Instead, he immediately and decisively carried out Zhao Yun's order and arranged to spread the rumors.

As for patrolling the banks of the Hutuo River and temporarily cutting off information from the north and the south, there are naturally other people in charge.

The trick that Zhuge Jin told Zhao Yun seems to be similar to the vicious scheme in the later "Water Margin" to force people to join the Liangshan Mountains, and it is also similar to the vicious scheme used by the Tartars in later generations to deal with Ming Dynasty officials who refused to surrender, but there are still great differences in principle and motivation.

Zhuge Jin only wanted to temporarily create chaos and stop Cao Cao's terror, so that Cao Cao would be afraid to act rashly and abolish Cao Cao's tactics. This was a defensive strategy, which was fundamentally different from Song Jiang and Huang Taiji.

After arranging these things, Zhao Yun quickly led his troops to besiege his hometown, Zhending County, the seat of Changshan County.

In addition, Changshan County actually has three counties to the north of the Hutuo River, namely Xingtang County, Shangquyang County, and Lingshou County. In terms of latitude, the north-south orientation of these three counties is the same as that of the neighboring Zhongshan County, but they are all located to the west of Zhongshan County.

When Zhao Nan crossed the Hutuo River to attack Zhending County, he bypassed the three counties on the north bank of the Hutuo River. He had no intention of using force to deal with those places. He only needed to block the Hutuo River and create chaos among the high-ranking officials of Cao's army.

It can be said that from beginning to end, Zhao Yun’s goal was very clear.

After Zhao Yun hastily assembled his troops, he led more than 10,000 people and attacked Zhending County.

After returning to his hometown, Zhao Yun personally went to the foot of the city to shout, and rarely chose to be closer to the city, just enough to be within an arrow's range to ensure that he could not be hit by a single crossbow.

The lines in the calls are naturally more sincere and heartfelt, different from those in other counties.

In addition to the conventional content of persuading surrender, Zhao Yun also emphasized a few points in a bluffing manner, simply to tell the military and civilians of Zhending that all places on the north bank of the Hutuo River had surrendered to him and that there was no hope in resisting now.

However, the magistrate of Zhending County and the captain guarding the city were both carefully selected trusted subordinates of Cao Cao's camp, and it was obviously impossible for them to be moved by Zhao Yun.

After all, Zhao Yun has been in charge of Youzhou for six or seven years. Cao Cao knows who his biggest enemy is in Hebei, so of course he guards Zhao Yun's hometown most strictly.

Zhao Yun did not expect to persuade this stubborn official to surrender, so after shouting for a while, he immediately ordered his soldiers to prepare to attack in the chaos.

The soldiers under Zhao Yun's command dismantled the boats and rafts they had used to cross the Hutuo River and rebuilt them into trench bridges. They also set up simple flying ladders and even converted cavalry into infantry, and rushed towards the city like mad tigers.

The county magistrate and the captain who were guarding the city did not expect the enemy to arrive so quickly and to be able to prepare themselves for an instant attack, so the defenders did not even have time to prepare rolling logs and stones, let alone ash bottles, gold juice, or boiling water.

The defenders could only rely on a small number of projectiles and standard bows and crossbows to suppress the siege. If the enemy climbed the city, they could only rely on close combat with swords and guns to push back.

"Zhao Yun actually wanted to attack the city directly with cavalry? I was careless! I thought that the counties along the way that he was able to capture were those who surrendered without a fight because of their weak will. I didn't expect that Zhao Yun really had the ability and determination to attack the city?"

The county magistrate was a little confused, but he could only mechanically ask the captain guarding the city to urge the soldiers to hold the city well.

Zhao Yun's cavalrymen were temporarily reassigned to infantry, and they charged forward with great momentum. Although cavalrymen were precious and not good at infantry combat, their weapons and equipment were undoubtedly excellent.

Moreover, the troops Zhao Yun chose to climb the city walls were all heavy cavalrymen wearing steel breastplates. These steel cans had a huge psychological advantage when facing the enemy's ordinary weapons.

The remaining rear cavalry who could not climb the city walls also took out their bows and crossbows and fired arrows at the top of the city walls, relying on their absolute advantage in numbers to suppress the enemy. At the same time, the entire army shouted loudly in accordance with the order to shake the morale of the defenders.

Many of Zhao Yun's subordinates and staff were sweating in their palms, fearing that such a strong attack would cause the troops to suffer additional serious casualties.

Only Zhao Yun's expression remained resolute and calm. He whispered to everyone to reassure them: "Don't worry! Zhending is my hometown. I am very familiar with this place. Moreover, when I was in the village, I knew how many people were loyal to me.

Even if Cao can replace the county magistrate and the captain, can he replace the soldiers and the people? Someone will surely respond to our army soon!"

Zhao Yun firmly believed that in his hometown, he could choose to take the grassroots route. Even if the garrison had troops transferred from other places, what about the civilians and auxiliary soldiers who assisted in the battle?

Sure enough, the assault lasted only a quarter of an hour before the situation changed.

Groups of local militiamen who assisted in defending the city, as well as some soldiers in the army, seemed to be inspired by Zhao Yun, or perhaps they were overwhelmed by the bloody killing on the battlefield, and realized that Zhao Yun's troops were powerful and difficult to defeat, so they might as well join Zhao Yun to survive.

Some local soldiers began to defect in the middle of the battle, and some regular army soldiers dropped their weapons and surrendered. The defense line on the city wall, which was originally a scene of fierce fighting, was torn into a huge hole.

The soldiers under Zhao Yun fought bravely and quickly climbed onto the city wall. The number of surrendered local soldiers also snowballed. In the end, only the county magistrate, the captain and some of the family members of the diehard Cao army were left in Yecheng. They were still fighting there, but they were soon overwhelmed.

The county magistrate and the captain did not die immediately. After they were severely injured and stabbed and fell to the ground, they were tied up and taken to report their achievements to Zhao Yun.

Zhao Yun looked at the dying enemy generals and officers, but did not embarrass them. He just said a few cold words to attack their hearts: "I hope you can hold on and die a few days later. I also hope that you really think that Cao Cao represents the court and did not oppress the emperor, so you are loyal to him until death.

It is not because you are worried that Cao Cao will detain your family members that you are loyal to him - because if you are loyal to him for the latter reason, you will soon find that the hope you risked your life for is completely meaningless.

Situ had thought about it long ago, let Cao thief kill a few people by mistake, and then force him to be cautious, so as to avoid panic. I don't care about advancing this battle, temporarily stopping here, and I don't care about delaying it for a few more days by the Hutuo River.

Anyway, I just want to make as much noise as possible this time to force Zhang He back. It doesn't matter whether I occupy two or three counties along the way."

(End of this chapter)