Chapter 332 Acting for Heaven
Zang Ba led a small group of elite troops directly south from the Taishan Mountains, bypassing Lu County which was well prepared and under martial law, and suddenly attacked and captured Feicheng, Sheqiu and other counties.
When the news reached Cao Cao, he was stunned.
"Zang Ba is so arrogant! Not only does he not defend himself, but he even dares to attack proactively?"
Cao Cao knew the reputations of the two bandit leaders under Tian Ze, and he also knew that Zang Ba and Gan Ning were both very bold, but he never thought they were so bold.
You must know that relying on the Taishan Mountain range to defend the city has the geographical advantage, and it is not far from the Yellow River.
The Snake Hill area is already close to Yuzhou, which is within the territory under his command. Once he and his troops block it, it will be impossible to escape.
"My lord, Zang Ba led his troops south, his purpose must be to tie down our army and buy time. General Yuan Rang is leading his troops to intercept him, I believe it should be no problem." Xi Zhicai said.
As the second-in-command in Cao Cao's army, Xiahou Dun was the best among all the generals in terms of seniority and loyalty, and was the one Cao Cao trusted and closest to.
Although his ability in frontal combat was somewhat poor, fortunately, Xiahou Dun had relatively strong overall capabilities. He was able to properly handle matters such as logistics management, local governance, and suppressing bandits. He was able to fully mobilize local resources and provide Cao Cao with stable rear support.
Therefore, whenever there was a major war, Cao Cao would often lead the army himself due to his strong talents and abilities, and Xiahou Dun was the only choice to stay in the rear.
"The most important task now is to quickly cut off Zhao Yun's troops in Gaotang and Zhu'a to prevent them from transporting food and fodder to the Taishan Mountains, and to use this to block Zang Ba's troops that have sneaked into the mountains."
When Cao Cao heard this, he agreed with it deeply.
Hit the snake seven inches.
It would be difficult to achieve results by encircling and chasing Zang Ba's troops in the Taishan Mountains. After all, the terrain here is too dangerous and complicated, and it is adjacent to the Yellow River, making it almost impossible to encircle and destroy them.
As long as Zang Ba's army's food and supplies are cut off, this army will no longer be a concern.
"We can't just leave Zang Ba's army alone. My lord, maybe you can contact Yuan Shao and encircle and suppress them together."
The problems left by Tao Qian resulted in Taishan County being divided into two parts again, with the eastern part belonging to Yuan Shao and the western part belonging to Cao Cao.
Although the army led by Zang Ba was located closer to Cao Cao's army, it was very close to Yuan Shao's army. The general stationed there was Jiang Qi, who was also a fierce general.
If he could join forces with Xiahou Dun, defeating Zang Ba would not be a problem.
When Xiahou Dun received Cao Cao's order, a hint of resentment flashed in his eyes.
"You little brat Zang Ba, you dare to march deep into the enemy's territory alone. Don't you think highly of me, Xiahou Dun?"
Although Zang Ba's troops were good at mountain warfare, it would certainly not be possible for them to march quickly and raid around Mount Tai to capture two lines.
Xiahou Dun was well aware of this, so he estimated that the number of soldiers led by Zang Ba must be small.
"Why use a butcher knife to kill a chicken? It's just a small force, why do we need to join forces with Yuan's army? I can destroy it alone."
Seeing that Xiahou Dun was a little drunk, a young man next to him shook his head slightly.
"General, calm down."
"Although Zang Ba's army must have few soldiers, they are all elite. Moreover, the places he attacked, such as Feicheng and Sheqiu, are all located around the Taishan Mountain Range. With the general's ability, it will not be difficult to defeat them."
"But if you want to destroy it, I'm afraid it will flee when it sees the situation is not good."
"If we can unite with Yuan Shao's army and Jiang Qi's army and surround them from both sides, we will definitely be able to leave them with no way to escape, and we may be able to capture and kill Zang Ba."
"Once Zang Ba is killed, the situation at Mount Tai will be easily resolved. General, are you interested in taking this great achievement?"
Hearing the young man's words, Xiahou Dun's eyes suddenly lit up.
You know, Zang Ba's position under Tian Ze is almost second only to the Five Good Marshals, and he is also very famous throughout the world.
Although he was the second-in-command of Cao Cao's army, he had only been doing supporting and logistics work, and did not have many outstanding achievements. Although Cao's generals knew that Cao Cao valued him and were aware of his contributions.
However, there were still a few generals who criticized him and looked down on him, thinking that he was just close to Cao Cao and his ability was not as good as that of other generals.
Xiahou Dun was also holding his breath in his heart.
It’s a pity that every time there was a major battle, Cao Cao led the generals and left him to guard the house. His situation was similar to that of Xu Rong under Tian Ze.
Xu Rong's ability had been tested by the generals under Tian Ze, so no one dared to question it. However, he was not as outstanding as Xu Rong.
So he always wanted to prove himself.
"Zi Yang really deserves to be the best disciple of Xi Junshi. What you said is very true."
Xiahou Dun, who was tickled by Liu Ye, changed his attitude without hesitation and immediately sent someone to contact Jiang Qi.
Liu Ye smiled when he heard this, but didn't say much.
Although he became famous at a young age and Xi Zhicai was not his teacher, he did give him some pointers, so they could be considered to be half-teacher-student relationships.
As the successor prepared by Xi Zhicai for Cao Cao, he also has some pride and ambition.
If he could kill Zang Ba here, he would have established a reputation for himself.
After receiving Xiahou Dun's request, Jiang Qi agreed without hesitation.
Now Cao and Yuan are allies, and are in a very close stage. Their relationship is very good, and he has no reason to refuse.
Moreover, among the army of only 10,000 people was Zang Ba, a general under Tian Ze. What a tempting bait.
Naturally, the movements of Jiang Qi and Xiahou Dun's army could not be hidden from Zang Ba's eyes.
After looting several cities and slaughtering all the local Cao army officers and soldiers, Zang Ba directly swept away the food and fodder in the city.
Except for a small amount kept for the army, the rest was distributed to the local people.
For a time, the people in the surrounding areas were all looking forward to it, waiting for Zang Ba's army to come and "invade".
Zang Ba was just about to raise the banner of "acting on behalf of heaven".
The existence of such a group of "righteous bandits" made the officers and soldiers in the surrounding counties tremble with fear.
If Cao Cao's reforms had not achieved initial results and changed the previous situation of high-pressure exploitation, the people in these places would have lived a better life.
I'm afraid that there is no need for Zang Ba to attack, as the officers, soldiers and civilians in these places would consciously prepare food and drink to welcome the royal army.
Although limited in manpower and time, Zang Ba's troops did not cause much actual damage to Cao Cao's forces.
However, it greatly shook the foundation and prestige of the surrounding Cao army, and the indirect losses it brought were beyond the imagination of many people.
As a result, Xiahou Dun, who was leading his troops at a rapid pace, had to speed up his march again after receiving relevant news along the way.
We must not allow this group of bandits to roam around here anymore. It is damaging to the people's morale!
In the camp under Sheqiu City, after learning the latest location of Xiahou Dun and Jiang Qi's troops from the scouts, Zang Ba gently drew two marks on the east and west sides of the map.
"Yuanzhi, the stage has been set. It's up to you and me to perform this play."
(End of this chapter)
