When it comes to Cao Cao's generals, I believe many people will think of the very popular "Five Good Generals", namely Zhang Liao, Le Jin, Yu Ban, Zhang He and Xu Huang. But in fact, none of these five people are commander-level figures, and they are not qualified to lead the army alone. It is clearly recorded in the "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms" that "every time they go on an expedition, these five people will be the vanguard when they attack, and they will be the rear when they retreat." ”
But there are two of them whose status is slightly special, one is Yu Ban, because he is different from Zhang Liao, Xu Huang and others, he is not a general, but Cao Cao's son and good buddy Bao Xin's general. Bao Xin returned to Cao Cao after his death, so he was very trusted by Boss Cao, and had the experience of leading troops independently in the early days of the Cao Wei group. The other person is Zhang He, who temporarily served as the commander of Cao Wei's Western Front, which we will talk about later.
Cao Wei's military system was roughly divided into three parts, the so-called three major group armies. They were the "Southeast Army" that supervised Xu, raised the military, and confronted Sun Quan; supervising the "Southern Army" of Jingzhou's military; as well as supervising the Guanzhong, Yong, and Liang military forces, and the "Western Front Army" that confronted Liu Bei.
Because Boss Cao himself "went on the horse to unify the army and dismounted to govern the country", he could control the generals and all the soldiers and horses, so the Cao Wei group did not set up positions such as generals or metropolitan governors in the Cao Cao era. Therefore, below Cao Cao, the three commanders of the eastern, southern, and western regions were the supreme military commanders.
However, due to the turmoil in the times, people's hearts fluctuated, although Cao Cao was very skilled in controlling people and employing people without doubt, he still firmly controlled the gun in his own hands. Therefore, the commanders of the three major front armies are all the clan generals of the Cao clan or the Xiahou clan, and the five sonliang generals will be subject to the jurisdiction and control of these people throughout their lives.
Cao Wei's southeastern army supervised Xu Erzhou, and the main one he dealt with was Sun Quan. For more than 40 years, the Wei and Wu families surrounded Hefei, and the protracted battle between the Wei and Wu families was here. The commanders in the early stage were Xiahoudun and Cao Xiu, and the generals were Zhang Liao, Zang Ba, Le Jin and Li Dian.
As the patriarch of the Xiahou clan, Xiahoudun was the first general after Cao Pi succeeded to the throne, but Xiahoudun was actually not good at military affairs, and was known as the so-called "never won the war, and never stopped being promoted", and even had the outrageous experience of being kidnapped by Lu Bu's subordinates.
He was able to be the first general of Cao Wei, in addition to the trust of Boss Cao, more because of his own uprightness and sitting end, "Three Kingdoms" recorded that Xiahoudun "is thrifty, has surplus wealth and distributes money, and does not govern the industry", and his personal conduct is also impeccable.
After Xiahoudun died of illness, he was succeeded by Cao Cao's distant nephew Cao Xiu, as the head horse of the second generation of the Cao family, Cao Xiu was known as the "Cao family's thousand miles of horses".
In the 23rd year of Jian'an, Cao Xiu and his uncle Cao Hong defeated the famous Shu Han generals Zhang Fei and Ma Chao in Hanzhong, and killed the Shu general Wu Lanlei Tong. Two years later, he succeeded Xiahoudun to guard the southeast. At the beginning of his tenure, he crossed the river to attack Eastern Wu and burned down thousands of military camps of the Wu army. After that, Cao Xiu was appointed as the general of the Eastern Expedition, and led Zhang Liao and other 20 armies to attack Wu and defeat the Eastern Wu general Lü Fan. After Cao Rui succeeded to the throne, he worshiped Cao Xiu as the great Sima and continued to supervise Yangzhou until the "Battle of Shiting" won the plan of Dongwu to surrender by deception, and died of hatred.
Cao Wei's Southern Army was established after Cao Cao took Jingzhou, with Cao Ren as the commander, and the generals were Man Chong, Le Jin, Xu Huang, etc. Garrisoned in Jiangling in the early days, after the Battle of Chibi, Zhou Yu took advantage of the situation to advance north, and Cao Ren gave up Nanjun and retreated to Xiangfan under the joint attack of Zhou Yu and Guan Yu.
During Guan Erye's Northern Expedition, the Seventh Army was flooded, and the surrounding areas of Wancheng and Xudu also had the internal response of Guan Yu. Cao Ren inspired the soldiers with a mortal heart, and finally defended the barrier of the Central Plains. After Cao Pi succeeded to the throne, he worshiped Cao Ren as the great Sima, the general, and the military governor of Jing, Yang, and Yi, and was the only commander in charge of the world's soldiers and horses in the early period of Cao Wei.
Cao Ren and Xiahoudun are a bit similar, they are both the first brother of the clan, and they are very upright and strict in their obedience to the law. So much so that Cao Pi once warned Cao Zhang with "for the sake of serving the law, not as if to conquer Nanye", meaning to let Cao Zhang learn from Cao Ren, the difference is that Cao Ren can fight more than Xiahou Dun.
Replacing Cao Ren is Xiahou Shang, a small character who has been hacked several times in the romance, and can be regarded as the leader of the second generation of Cao Wei's clan in the official history. He was Xiahou Yuan's nephew, and after taking office, he accepted Meng Da's surrender, led Xu Huang and others to defeat Liu Feng, captured the three counties of Shangyong, and later broke Zhuge Jin of Eastern Wu.
More importantly, Xiahou Shang opened up the mountain road from Shangyong to Jingzhou, and broke tens of thousands of barbarians in the mountains to surrender to Wei. Just imagine, if the road from Jingzhou to Shangyong had been smoothed earlier, Guan Erye would not have died in Maicheng back then.
Cao Wei's Western Front Corps supervised the capital Guanzhong, Yong, and Liang Zhu military, and the first commander was Xiahou Yuan. Xiahou Yuan and Cao Cao, in addition to the possible blood relationship, are still brothers-in-law, and when they were young, they also squatted in prison for Boss Cao, and the two are real close comrades-in-arms.
Xiahou Yuan led Xu Huang and Zhu Ling generals in the early days of the Cao Wei group, leading the army alone. After Cao Cao pacified Guanzhong, he left him to guard Chang'an, and after that, he broke Ma Chao, defeated Han Sui, pacified Xingguo, and turned to Gaoping, Pinghe Pass, and Dinglong You, all of which were the credit of Xiahou Yuan, so there was a saying that "Tiger Step Pass Right". After Cao Cao forced Zhang Lu to surrender, Xiahou Yuan served as the general of Zhengxi, and supervised Zhang He and Xu Huang to guard Hanzhong.
In the battle of Dingjun Mountain, Xiahou Yuan was killed in battle, and the entire Western Front Army was suddenly leaderless, and the three armies were terrified. Fortunately, Guo Huai stood up and said, "Zhang He is a famous general of the country, and Liu Bei is afraid, so General Zhang should be recommended as the commander to reassure the army." So Zhang He became the temporary commander of Cao Wei's Western Front Army as a miscellaneous general (Dangkou General), which was also the only time in the early days of Cao Wei that a general with a foreign surname served as the commander.
After Cao Cao and Liu Bei lost in the battle for Hanzhong, Cao Zhen took over as the commander of the Western Front. Although Cao Zhen's surname is Cao, he is not related to Cao, he is Cao Cao's adopted son.
After Cao Pi succeeded to the throne, Cao Zhen faked the festival, and supervised the Yong and Liang military forces. Later, he was enshrined as the Great Sima, and obtained the privilege of "praising and worshipping the nameless, entering the dynasty and not tending to the court, and going to the palace with the sword", and the general Cao Xiu at that time, and established himself as Cao Wei's Qingtian protector.
Zhuge Liang's first three Northern Expeditions, including the defeat of Jieting and the restraint of Chen Cang, were actually opponents of Cao Zhen. Therefore, Cao Zhen in history is not the clown who was easily played by Zhuge Liang in the romance, but the "Zidan beauty" in Huan Fan's mouth!