Tiger Guards

Chapter 450 We Have No Choice But to Fight
That night, in Puyang City.

Cao Ang tore the secret document to shreds, his anger burning uncontrollably. He grabbed the table with both hands and overturned it violently.

The table spun through the air and flew out of the door. The lacquered wood table was indeed durable, and it landed solidly in the courtyard outside the door without being damaged in the slightest.

When the table fell to the ground, Cao Ang saw that even the table was so stubborn, as if it were humiliating him.

Unable to control himself any longer, he screamed at the top of his lungs: "Ah~!!!!!!!"

His face flushed red, he drew his sword and pointed it westward, his steps trembling with rage: "Zhao Ji, you brat! How dare you humiliate my father like this!"

Cao Zhen strode in and saw that Cao Ang could barely stand, so he quickly went forward to help him up: "Zixiu?"

"Zidan, that brat Zhao Ji has gone too far in bullying me!"

Cao Ang collapsed, looking at Cao Zhen with a trembling voice: "I will gather troops to avenge my father and retrieve his head! If I fail, I will be unworthy of being a son, and how can I face the world?"

Cao Zhen dared not argue any further and immediately nodded: "Zixiu, do not be angry anymore. If you want to raise an army of grief and anger, Zixiu is the ruler. How can you be swayed by anger?"

"No, Zhao did this intentionally; he wants to force me to fight him!"

At this moment, Cao Ang's mind was filled with a violent collision of various thoughts, many of which arose when he inhaled and dissipated when he exhaled.

Many opinions and viewpoints collided, merged, and separated, then recombined, creating a momentary feeling that time had slowed down. His voice was urgent, as if he wanted to persuade Cao Zhen: "If our army retreats to Hebei, the officers and soldiers will all fall into the hands of the Yuan family. My father has been so humiliated. If I, as his son, do nothing, I will feel uneasy, and the heroes of the world will surely look down on me. How will I have the face to stand in this world and lead my father's old troops back?"

Almost everyone would look down on him!
Even if some people know that he can restrain himself and be patient, they will still look down on him!
Those who can see his restraint are even less concerned about the survival of his 20,000-plus troops.

Those who cannot see this will simply and foolishly believe that he is unfilial, lacks courage, and is untrustworthy and cannot be entrusted with important tasks!
Bearing such a bad reputation, his life is completely ruined. He has no hope of leading troops to avenge his family, and he will live the rest of his life in pain and regret!
While Zhao Ji's handling of Cao Cao's head was somewhat frivolous, as the saying goes, "birds of a feather flock together," and logically speaking, Cao Cao's evil deeds were far less than Wang Mang's.

After sending Cao Cao's head to Xuchang, it should be buried or returned to the Cao family.

Allowing the remains of a regional lord to be sewn up completely and buried intact was a basic principle and a tacit understanding, and Zhao Ji should have been aware of this principle and its boundaries.

Even though the two families had some personal grudges, Cao Cao was already dead, and there was really no need to go through all this trouble with Cao Cao's head and humiliate the Cao family.

Zhao Ji's behavior will surely bring him a bad reputation.

If Zhao Ji's infamy has increased a little this time, it will increase even more with Cao Ang.

If he sends troops to seize his father's head and suffers heavy losses, he will be criticized by all sides for being foolish and impatient, and for falling into Zhao Ji's treacherous trap.

If they can successfully recover his head, they can also erase the reputational burden caused by this incident.

But if he stops his troops, what will the generals of Cao Cao's army think of him?

What would his brothers think of him? What would Yuan Shao and the rest of the world think of him?

He and Zhao Ji were separated only by Baima. Zhao Yun, who was stationed at Baima, had already begun to withdraw his troops, which meant that they would soon be able to pass each other without any obstacles!
They are about 150 miles apart. If he sits idly by and does nothing, he will never be able to hold his head high in front of his younger brother, Cao Cao's former subordinates, or the people of the world for the rest of his life!

Hanging at the tomb of Zang Hong in Suanzao is not only Cao Cao's head, but also Cao Ang's reputation, who has been put on the hot seat by Zhao Ji.

She was saddened and grieved by her father's misfortune, and also furious at Zhao Ji for looking down on her.

Cao Cao has only been dead for a few days?
How could the feelings and loyalty of powerful military officers such as Cao Hong, Xiahou Yuan, Han Hao, Yu Jin, and Yue Jin change so quickly?
Even a strategist like Cheng Yu had no reason to dissuade Cao Ang at this moment.

This not only concerns Cao Ang's personal reputation and fate, but also every one of Cao Cao's former subordinates.

If they don't even dare to avenge their former master, how will people like Yuan Shao and the people of Hebei view them?

In such chaotic times, after ordinary troops suffer losses, they can be replenished after a period of rest and recuperation.

Young and middle-aged people in various places are like weeds in the fields; once one bundle is harvested, another one appears.

As long as the core troops and key military officers are not harmed, the loss and casualties of the lower-ranking soldiers can be completely erased by time.

Anyway, going to Hebei was just part of Yuan Shao's plan to wage a war of attrition.

The lower and middle-ranking officials will inevitably be worn down or their ranks will be taken over; it is better to die in a war of revenge than to die for the cause of the Yuan family!
This is a simple matter to calculate; this battle is unavoidable!

This account was easy to calculate; Zhao Ji had already done it for them when he was calculating his own accounts.

If this fresh force of Cao Cao's army were to join Yuan Shao's command, Yuan Shao's power would increase dramatically. What would that lead to?
Yuan Shao's control over Ji Province increased, his mobilization efficiency improved, and he gained a greater advantage over Gongsun Zan.

Once Yuan Shao's advantage becomes significantly greater, the neutral forces on Gongsun Zan's side will waver and become perfunctory in their dealings with Gongsun Zan's orders and plans; even Gongsun Zan's subordinate forces will lose their fighting spirit and begin to act perfunctorily.

In Zhao Ji's eyes, war was like using chopsticks and a knife together—the final step in eating meat.

Prior to this, all sorts of schemes, defections, intimidation, and repeated maneuvering were aimed at forcing the other party to the dinner table.

War can only break out when everything is in place.

They either devoured their opponent, or were choked to death. But now, with a dried-up head of Cao Cao hanging in the right place, and with a proper reminder to his army, the Cao soldiers themselves would jump onto the dining table and fight him.

As for attacking Puyang, Zhao Ji simply had neither the interest nor the willpower.

The fact that Yuan Shao has not yet mobilized a large army does not mean that he has not made a mobilization plan.

If Yuan Shao doesn't start a war with Cao Ang, he will appear harmless.

If the siege of Puyang breaks out and it becomes inconvenient for him to withdraw, the Hebei troops will at least employ a piecemeal strategy to stabilize the morale of Cao Ang's side, continue to rely on the fortified city of Puyang and the morale of the soldiers, thereby stalling him and exhausting him.

Then, Yuan Shao will launch a thunderous attack!
Compared to a protracted and arduous battle, and the unpredictable changes in the war situation... why should Zhao Ji fight?
Cao Ang didn't kill his own father, so why should he take that risk?
Even Yuan Shao didn't dare to kill his own father in Dai County... Whether it was Yuan Shao or the powerful clans of Youzhou, launching a surprise attack on Dai County or plotting to assassinate Zhao Lian were both feasible options.

But who among them dares?
Cao Cao twice massacred Xuzhou, yet many people defended him, claiming it was to avenge his father.

Under the guise of revenge, no matter how outrageous Zhao Ji's actions are, he will not be subject to much criticism.

Therefore, among the men of Yan and Zhao who knew of the massacre in Xuzhou, who would dare to provoke such a disaster?
Even if Yuan Shao wanted to provoke Zhao Ji and force him to take the initiative to fight... the various armies in Hebei might not dare to provoke this disaster.

After all, Zhao Lian wasn't that important to the Zhao family.

The core of the Zhao clan consisted of two people: Zhao Yan, who stabilized the rear, and Zhao Ji, who led troops to conquer foreign lands.

Whoever goes and kills Zhao Lian, don't blame Zhao Ji for slaughtering everyone in his county, whether they are related or not.

Killing Zhao Lian was a very unwise move with extremely potential future problems.

No one dared to do it, and no one dared to propose it, in Yuan Shao's household.

Have you not seen the case of Zhu Han, the official in charge of the capital? He only helped Yuan Shao severely punish Han Fu, breaking Han Fu's son's leg. As a result, public opinion in Hebei was in uproar, and Yuan Shao immediately pushed him out to take the blame and had him beheaded.

But what did Zhu Han do wrong?
You did nothing wrong!

At that time, Yuan Shao took command of the Sili Commandant, and the officials under the Sili Commandant were always known for their ruthlessness.

Not to mention that Han Fu's son, who lost his official position, was just a commoner, even the high-ranking officials and eunuchs in the court during the reigns of Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling would be wary of the special power of the Commandant of the Capital Region to arrest people on the spot and to pre-examine them before drafting charges.

Other institutions need to gather evidence before they can prosecute a case and then interrogate the person after a charge has been established.

As a special violent institution that extends from imperial power, the Sili Xiaowei (司隶校尉) doesn't care about procedures at all; if they hear you've broken the law, they can arrest you!

If we arrest you, we'll torture you and find evidence of your crimes; even if we accidentally kill you, it will be considered that you committed suicide out of fear of punishment.

This attitude of preferring death to admitting guilt is more serious than the crime itself and deserves even stronger punishment.

So when Zhu Han broke Han Fu's son's leg, he was really being very restrained.

As a result, amidst the public outcry, Yuan Shao threw Zhu Han out to appease the anger of the people of Hebei.

The death of Zhu Han itself signified and demonstrated the strength of the Hebei people under Yuan Shao's command!

Furthermore, Ju Yi's death directly led to Yuan Shao sending troops to besiege Zang Hong for a year, but they were unable to break through Dongwu City, which was starving and where people were resorting to cannibalism.

It's not that we can't break through, but we're afraid of repeating the mistakes of Ju Yi and Zhu Han.

The same logic applies to Zhao Lian. Those who propose and carry out the killing of Zhao Lian are likely to be sacrificed by Yuan Shao to appease Zhao Ji's anger when Zhao Ji's offensive becomes too fierce to resist.

This is also why Zhao Ji protected Cheng He, Han Dong, and others to the death. Even those Hedong people who killed Fu De and fled were not investigated by Zhao Ji.

When enforcing military law, with Rui Dan as an excellent example, the Tiger Warriors and the people of Hedong generally performed well and did not gamble on Zhao Ji's favoritism and impartiality.

If outsiders wanted to bypass Zhao Ji and kill his subordinates, Zhao Ji would certainly not be happy about it.

Because Yuan Shao had a history of bad behavior, Zhao Ji planned to lure Cao Ang out to fight.

Under moral and public pressure, and after weighing the pros and cons, what reason do they have to refuse?
Only by severely damaging Cao Cao's army can Gongsun Zan hold out for a while longer, preventing Yuan Shao from quickly taking over You and Ji provinces.

The slower Yuan Shao breaks the deadlock, the better Xizhou recovers, and the less he needs to fear a protracted war.

Only by not being afraid of a protracted war can we avoid a decisive battle with Yuan Shao.

Compared to the decisive battle with Yuan Shao, the current decisive battle with Cao Ang... will obviously result in fewer deaths, making it a very profitable deal.

This is practically an open strategy, and the opportunity is very rare.

If Lü Bu withdraws his troops back to Xuchang, then this battle will be really difficult to fight. With Lü Bu as a variable so close at hand, who knows what outrageous choices this guy might make.

(End of this chapter)