Cao Cao’s opening rounds against Ma Chao get a little hairy.

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Welcome to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms Podcast. This is episode 72.

Last time, Cao Cao had killed Ma Teng, a longtime adversary. In response, Ma Teng’s eldest son, Ma Chao, had mobilized the troops of the western outpost of Xiliang and was marching toward the heartland to do the “you killed my father, prepare to die” thing. With a little trickery, he took the former capital city of Chang’an and was now encroaching on the key strategic location of Tong (2) Pass.

Cao Cao sent two of his top officers, Cao Hong and Xu Huang, to defend the pass. He told them they just had to hold it for 10 days while he mobilized the main army. But on the ninth day, after listening to the enemy call his ancestors all sorts of nasty names for eight days, Cao Hong’s temper got the better of him, and while Xu Huang’s back was turned, he charged out with 3,000 men to take on the enemy.

When the Xiliang troops saw Cao Hong charging toward them, they abandoned their horses and weapons and fled, which induced Cao Hong to give chase. While this was happening, Xu Huang, who was inspecting provisions when Cao Hong decided to go out to fight, had heard what was happening. Alarmed, Xu Huang immediately led a detachment of troops and came looking for Cao Hong, shouting for him to turn back.

But alas, it was too late. Just then, cries of battle rose up behind them and shook the ground. Ma Chao’s cousin Ma Dai (4) charged onto the scene with an army. Cao Hong and Xu Huang, recognizing that they had fallen for a ruse, turned and ran. But a signal sounded, and from behind a hill came two detachments of enemy soldiers, led by Ma Chao on the left and his commandant Pang De on the right. The two sides scrummed, and Cao Hong ended up losing more than half of his men.

Seeing the tide of battle turn against them, Cao Hong and Xu Huang fought their way out and fled back to the pass. But the Xiliang troops were hot on their tail, so hot, in fact, that Cao Hong and company could not hold their ground and had to abandon the pass. Pang De kept chasing them until he ran into reinforcements led by Cao Cao’s kinsman Cao Ren. While Cao Ren rescued Cao Hong and Xu Huang, Pang De returned to the pass to celebrate with Ma Chao.

 

When Cao Cao saw Cao Hong, he was furious.

“I told you that you must hold the pass for 10 days. Why did you lose it after nine days?!”

“The Xiliang troops were insulting us,” Cao Hong answered. “I saw that their ranks were disorganized, so I attacked, but who knew it was a trick.”

Cao Cao now turned to Xu Huang and admonished him. “Cao Hong is young and impatient, but you should know better!”

“I tried time and again to advise him against fighting,” Xu Huang said. “But he won’t listen. I was inspecting provisions when he went out. By the time I found out, he was already out there. I was worried something would happen to him, so I rushed out, but by then, he had already fallen for the trap.”

When he heard this, Cao Cao was so angry that he wanted to execute Cao Hong. Fortunately for Cao Hong, all the other officers begged for leniency, and Cao Cao backed off. Cao Hong got an earful before being dismissed.

 

Cao Cao then marched his troops to outside Tong (2) Pass. There, he ordered his men to cut down trees and make camp.