Chapter 124: Chen Gong Welcomes the Inspector

In the tenth month of the second year of Chuping, Cao Hong formally organized his troops into a force of 5,300 men. This included 300 soldiers from the elite Recruitment Battalion and 5,000 halberdiers from the Eagle-Raising Colonel’s Battalion. From these 5,000, Cao Hong selected 1,000 young, robust soldiers to serve as his personal guards. The remaining 4,000 were divided into four units; instead of appointing battalion commanders, he assigned a Sima to each, with Deputy General Pan Zhang overseeing their daily training, though Cao Hong retained the authority to deploy them at any time.

As for the 15,000 laborers, they were divided into three camps of 5,000 men each. One camp was immediately reassigned by Cao Hong to repair the city walls, exempting them from military drills. Of the remaining two camps, one was tasked solely with training in grain transport formations, while the other practiced defensive maneuvers, such as throwing stones, pouring boiling oil, and using long wooden poles to push away scaling ladders.

Under the standard military practices of the time, a remote campaign typically required at least three laborers per soldier to handle transport, cooking, camp construction, and laundry. However, since Cao Hong was currently only campaigning within the borders of Yanzhou, a ratio of 5,000 laborers for 3,000 soldiers was more than sufficient, allowing him to allocate 5,000 men to wall repairs and another 5,000 to garrison duty within the county.

The newly formed 5,000 halberdiers focused on the techniques of thrusting with long halberds. The 1,000 personal guards, however, faced a much more grueling regimen. Beyond standard drills, they underwent three additional training sessions: physical endurance under scorching sun, swimming, and wilderness survival.

The first two were daily requirements. The endurance training involved standing perfectly still for two hours in the blazing sun while holding a long halberd and balancing a five-pound sandbag. The swimming training required them to cover 2,000 meters in the Leize Marsh within the borders of Juancheng. The former was manageable, but the latter was torturous for these men from the Central Plains. Many who lacked swimming skills initially relied on logs discarded by the laborers. Cao Hong strictly forbade any soldier who used a log from visiting the camp prostitutes, and within a month, every single guard had abandoned the logs and learned to swim proficiently; remarkably, not a single man drowned.

Wilderness survival was scheduled once every ten days. The men were sent into the Li Mountains with only three days' worth of rations and ordered to survive for seven. Whether they stole, robbed, deceived local villagers and landlords, or hunted wild game, they were required to return on time to complete the mission. However, Cao Hong issued a decree to local village heads and pavilion chiefs: anyone who captured a stealing soldier would be rewarded with 2,000 coins.

Two thousand coins could purchase five shi (approximately 100 kilograms) of high-quality rice—a significant sum. This prompted the local villagers near the Li Mountains to keep a sharp lookout for the foraging soldiers. Any soldier who grew too hungry and abandoned the mission faced a brutal flogging upon return. After nearly two months and three survival exercises, the 1,000 guards were gaunt and thin, but fortunately, not one had starved to death in the wilderness.

Such extraordinary training required extraordinary treatment to sustain. Cao Hong naturally provided the guard battalion with better rations. While not as unrestricted as the Recruitment Battalion, they fared much better than the average soldier, enjoying at least two days a month where they were permitted to drink alcohol in the camp.

The shifting political landscape, however, did not grant Cao Hong much time to train his troops. Once the tenth month passed, the weather turned sharply cold. The endurance and swimming drills were suspended, though wilderness survival continued, albeit with the interval increased to once every five days. Over time, the guards grew accustomed to the hardship and no longer suffered the same level of physical emaciation as they had at the start.

Time flew, and the second year of Chuping drew to a close. The walls of Juancheng were mostly complete, and barring any unforeseen events, they would be finished by the end of next spring. Just then, news reached Juancheng that the Administrator of Taishan Commandery, Ying Shao, had been defeated and killed. Furthermore, the forces of the brothers Zhang Miao and Zhang Chao had been routed and were retreating toward Chenliu, while the forces of Bao Xin, the Chancellor of Jibei, and Liu Dai were surrounded by the Black Mountain bandits and the Qingzhou-Xuzhou Yellow Turbans in Dongping, west of Taishan Commandery, with their whereabouts unknown.

With this news, Cao Hong knew the time for deployment was near, and he intensified the soldiers' training as the New Year approached in less than ten days.

At the same time, the government office of Dongwuyang County received an unusual guest: Chen Gong, the Magistrate of Suanzao in Chenliu Commandery, a man Cao Hong had briefly encountered during the alliance years ago.

Upon hearing of Chen Gong’s arrival, Cao Cao set aside all his affairs and received him privately in his study.

As soon as they met, Chen Gong bowed and said, "Yanzhou is on the verge of collapse. I implore you, my lord, to intervene and offer your assistance!"

Cao Cao smiled and replied, "You are a magistrate under the command of Mengzhuo (Zhang Miao). Does this visit mean you have been sent on his behalf?"

Chen Gong answered, "Not at all! Administrator Zhang was defeated in Taishan and has not yet returned to Chenliu."

Cao Cao said, "If that is the case, have you come here behind your master's back? I fear Mengzhuo will not be pleased by this."

Chen Gong replied, "Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. Aside from you, my lord, all the administrators of Yanzhou have been defeated. If you do not march your troops, I fear there will be no one left to save Yanzhou from the flames of war!"

Cao Cao laughed, "Yet, when Mengzhuo raised his troops to aid Ying Shao, he did not invite me, Cao Mengde. If I march now, Mengzhuo will surely think I am taking advantage of the crisis to seize glory."

Chen Gong was momentarily stunned. Though he was a renowned scholar of Yanzhou, he was, after all, only a magistrate and unaware of the political machinations between higher-ranking officials like Zhang Miao and Zhang Chao. He had only heard of their defeat and, realizing the gravity of Yanzhou’s situation, had come to seek Cao Cao’s help. It was common knowledge that after Cao Cao marched from Xiangyi, his six-pronged strategy had sent the Black Mountain bandits into chaos; if anyone in Yanzhou could still contend with the rebels, it was Cao Cao.

He had not expected that Zhang Miao and his associates would prioritize their own interests even in such a critical moment, pushing Cao Cao aside and giving the Administrator of Dongjun such a legitimate excuse to remain stationary. Growing increasingly anxious, Chen Gong gritted his teeth and said, "I have a long-standing friendship with Wan Qian, the Assistant of Yanzhou. The Inspector of Yanzhou is currently missing, and Wan Qian is still in Shanyang Commandery. I shall write a letter urging Wan Qian to welcome you, my lord, as the acting Inspector of Yanzhou. In this way, your march will be perfectly justified."

Cao Cao smiled and asked, "If that were to happen, I wonder how many in Yanzhou would truly support me, Cao Mengde?"

Chen Gong bowed and said, "At the very least, the great clans of Shanyang will support you wholeheartedly."

Cao Cao asked again, "And if Inspector Liu Gongshan (Liu Dai) returns to Shanyang Commandery, what then of this acting position?"

Chen Gong replied, "Liu Dai has failed to suppress the bandits and is no longer fit to be Inspector. I will lobby all the scholars, gentry, and great clans of Yanzhou to welcome you as the Inspector of Yanzhou together."

Cao Cao laughed heartily, "In that case, I shall attend to the plight of Yanzhou!"