In Dong Zhuo's crusade, many people may think that Cao Cao and Sun Jian, who dare to move forward bravely, are the brilliant and resounding twin stars in this war, as for the so-called "Three Heroes Battle Lu Bu" and "Wenjiu Killing Huaxiong" are just made up by Luo Guanzhong. It is true that Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and others did not participate in this war, so they did not leave any traces in the history of this war, and Sun Jian was indeed the protagonist in the crusade and the main force in the coalition army.

But it is a little different from what everyone imagined, Cao Cao did not play a positive role in this war as everyone thought, and he himself was not the protagonist in this battle, not even those supporting roles, but played an unpopular harlequin.

In history, Qiao Mao sent a letter to all states and counties to falsely claim to be the three dukes of Jingshi, stating Dong Zhuo's evil deeds and asking all localities to raise troops against Dong, which officially kicked off the prelude to the crusade against Dong Zhuo by the people of the world.

After Chen Liu's Taishou Zhang Miao responded to the announcement of the Three Gongshu's announcement to raise troops against Dong, Cao Cao, who was also in Chenliu, joined his command with Wei Zi and others, and then they went to Sour Zao to meet with many princes such as Liu Dai, Guangling Taishou Zhang Chao, Dongjun Taishou Qiaomao, Shanyang Taishou Yuan Yi, Jibei Xiang Bao Xin, etc., and held an alliance here to swear an oath against Dong Zhuo.

In other places, Bohai Taishou Yuan Shao, Later General Yuan Shu, Jizhou Mu Hanfu, Yuzhou Thorn Shi Kong Ling, and Hanoi Taishou Wang Kuang also raised troops against Dong one after another, and under the joint recommendation of everyone, Yuan Shao became the leader of the anti-Dong coalition army, and all the princes were falsely awarded official titles, and Cao Cao was also worshiped as a general of Fenwu. Since then, the Hanoi army led by Yuan Shao, the sour jujube army gathered by the princes, and the main force of Sun Jian's army dominated by Yuan Shu have been formed to defeat Dong Zhuo in three ways, of which the supply of the Hanoi army and the sour jujube army is mainly undertaken by Jizhou Mu Hanfu.

Due to the strength of the anti-Dong coalition army, Dong Zhuo moved the capital to avoid its edge. In order to prevent the imperial court from being taken away by the coalition forces, Dong Zhuo forcibly moved the capital to Chang'an, and then turned the entire Luoyang region into a battlefield, and Dong Zhuo himself personally guarded and commanded the overall situation.

Dong Zhuo's move of the capital was considered a great opportunity by Cao Cao, but the other princes did not think so, on the one hand, the princes of Sour Zao thought that the time was still not ripe, on the other hand, they were still afraid of Dong Zhuo's Xiliang army, Cao Cao decided to send troops alone, and Zhang Miao sent Wei Zi to lead the army with the army.

When Cao Cao marched to Bianshui in Xingyang, he encountered an army led by Xu Rong and was defeated, Wei Zi was also killed, and Cao Cao himself fled back to Sour Jujube in embarrassment. After that, Cao Cao put forward the proposal that all the armies should have their own strongholds, and then divide their troops to the west to enter Wuguan and besiege Dong Zhuo, but they were ignored by the princes. Cao Cao later went to Yangzhou to recruit troops, Yangzhou assassin Chen Wen, Danyang Taishou Zhou Xin lent him more than 4,000 people, but when Cao Cao returned to Longkang, almost all the soldiers defected, and Cao Cao and Xiahoudun and others recruited more than 1,000 troops again, and went directly to Yuan Shao in Hanoi.

Cao Cao was mainly responsible for the defeat of Bianshui, and the responsibility of the battlefield commander was secondary, and the biggest mistake Cao Cao made was that he did not do what he could, and did not make a detailed assessment of Dong Zhuojun's current specific strength and subordinates before the war.

After Dong Zhuo moved the capital, there was no burden to the imperial court, strictly speaking, he let go of his hands and feet, the Xiliang army had no place to defend, its combat power not only did not decline but increased, and Dong Zhuo himself was also in command in the Luoyang area, at this time it can be said that Dong Zhuo and the Xiliang army have put on a posture of fighting to the end, but it is a pity that Cao Cao did not see this, but after he perceived the opportunity, he made a rough decision to attack, which was the first big mistake made by Cao Cao.

The second big mistake Cao Cao made was that he misestimated his own strength, he overestimated the strength of his troops, thinking that he could pick up Dong Zhuo's cheap with his 10,000 men, but Xu Rong took a partial army to pick up the cheap.

The third mistake Cao Cao made was that he was not fully prepared before the war, and he was not prepared for defeat after the war. In contrast, Sun Jian's preparation was much more adequate, Cao Cao and Sun Jian were also almost wiped out by Xu Rong, but Sun Jian was able to turn over later, and Cao Cao couldn't afford it.

And Cao Cao's defeat in this battle had a catastrophic impact on the sour jujube coalition army, before Cao Cao's defeat, although the princes of sour jujube were afraid of Dong Zhuo's Xiliang army, they did not have the heart of a battle, otherwise they would not have sworn to defeat Dong Zhuo.

But after Cao Cao's fiasco in Bianshui, the princes of the sour jujube did not dare to fight anymore. Unlike Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, the division of labor is very clear, and the princes from all walks of life do not have a clear leader, which can be seen from the fact that Zang Hong, who presided over the oath of the alliance, is just a gongcao. Because the princes of the sour jujube themselves are very scattered, so they can't afford to lose, after Cao Cao was shot in the head, before the depth was explored, the sour jujube coalition army had already lost the confidence to attack. When Cao Cao suggested again, no one could help but think about it.

"Classmate Cao Cao, what you said is so good, so where is the classmate Weizi who believes in you? Have you recovered his body? ”

Cao Cao's defeat completely destroyed the courage of the sour jujube coalition army.

After the defeat of this battle, the sour jujube coalition army could not shrink, and the princes had nothing to do, and the whole feast was held to test each other. After Jizhou Mu Hanfu knew about it, he cut off the supply of the sour jujube coalition army, and after the military food ran out, the princes were also forced to disband and go back to their respective homes.

In a sense, it was not only Cao Cao who failed in Bianshui, but the entire sour jujube coalition.

But in the same comparison, after Sun Jian's same fiasco to Xu Rong, Li Min, the companion of Yingchuan Taishou, was captured and cooked alive by the Xiliang Army, everyone can turn over those historical materials, does Yuan Shu have any complaints?

After Cao Cao lost the Battle of Bianshui, Dong Zhuo's crusade basically had nothing to do with him, and this war was quite bitter for him. He not only lost himself, but also lost the life of his good friend Wei Zi, and even buried the sour jujube coalition army, one of the main forces of Dong Sanlu, in a sense, and then was looked down upon by those princes, and the four thousand troops supported by others were disbanded halfway through, and they had to take refuge in their old friend Yuan Shao and send people under the fence.

But gold will always shine, God will not be wrong, although Cao Cao lost, he did not lose, the opportunity will always come, it depends on whether you can seize it.

Cao Cao, can you catch it? Can you keep it?

ps: Sun Cao and Liu Sanjia in the Dong Zhuo crusade in the official history. Liu Bei didn't go at all, Cao Cao was helping, only Sun Jian could be called the mainstay!