Cao Cao led a large army to the military camp on the north bank of the Wei River the day after Xu Huang ambushed the Xiliang army. After hearing the reports of Xiahou Yuan and Xu Huang, he couldn't help but laugh: "The horse is brave but not wise. How can the courage of every man be undefeated?"

Xiahou Yuan bowed quickly and said, "This is all Mr. Xun's plan!"

Cao Cao nodded to Xun You and sighed: "I was killed by me in the past two years, with a poor morale and a low morale. Thanks to my good plans, I was proud of myself in Guanzhong. I will wash away the bad luck in the past few years. Please accept my tribute."

After saying that, Cao Cao bowed deeply to Xun You. Xun You was so scared that he quickly bowed to him, "The Prime Minister doesn't have to do this, this is the duty of the empress!"

Cao Cao was really happy and praised Xu Huang and Yu Jin again, and then asked Xun You, "Sir, how should we deal with it next?"

Xun You smiled confidently and said, "Ma Chao's biggest mistake was to kill Han Sui. Although he had Han Sui's army, he was disappointed with the warlords of other departments. The candidate, Cheng Yin and others were separated from him from now on. Ma Chao would definitely be defeated. Now he is just using some methods to stabilize him first and prevent them from escaping back to Xiliang. I guess Ma Chao might ask the Prime Minister for peace."

As soon as he finished speaking, a personal soldier reported outside the tent: "Report to the Prime Minister, Ma Chao sent someone to ask for peace!"

Cao Cao laughed, "Sir, it's true that he is a Bo Le!"

Xun You couldn't help but smile and said, "Prime Minister might as well listen to what Ma Chao wants to say?"

Cao Cao nodded and ordered: "Bring someone to enter the tent!"

After a moment, the soldier brought Ma Chao's Shuzuo in. Shuzuo knelt down and bowed: "I am General Ma's tent and Shuzuo came to deliver the letter under General Ma's order."

As he said that, he presented the letter with both hands. Cao Cao took it and read it, handed it to Xun You, and asked coldly: "What else does Ma Chao have to say?"

"General Ma promised the Prime Minister that he would use the Yellow River as the boundary and would only be one step in the Yellow River for his whole life. If the Prime Minister did not believe in his sincerity, he would be willing to send his son to Yedu as a charity."

Cao Cao was furious and snorted heavily, scolding: "The counties in Liangzhou were originally appointed officials by the court. Ma Chao just stayed in Liangzhou, how dare he talk to the court about dividing the land and separatist......"

At this time, Xun You coughed a few times, Cao Cao woke up and said slowly: "Wuwei is definitely not good, but if he promised to retreat to Zhangye, maybe I can consider it."

"I understand, so I'll go back and report to General Ma!"

Shu Zuo retreated, Cao Cao asked Xun You with a smile: "What should we do now?"

Xun You said lightly: "Stop their return immediately!"

Cao Cao nodded, "Mr. Gongda's words are just right with my intention!"

He turned around and ordered Xiahou Yuan and said, "Miaocai led 20,000 troops to marche westward for a hundred miles, and crossed the river with Zhong Yao, and cooperated with Zhong Yao to cut off Ma Chao's army's return."

"Abide by the order!"

Xiahou Yuan took the military order and quickly left the tent. Cao Cao pondered for a moment and issued another military order: "Tell me my order, the army will rest for a night, and cross the river at the fifth day of tomorrow!"

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Cao's army had built two floating bridges on the Wei River, which led to the barracks on the south bank. Before dawn the next day, Cao Cao's army began to cross the river quickly. By dawn, 50,000 troops had already crossed the Wei River.

On the floating bridge, the dark Cao soldiers were running fast. They were fully prepared at night. Each of them had clear armor, holding weapons, bows and arrows in their hands, and carrying dry food for two days. They had to wait until all the soldiers crossed the river, and then the logistics of food, supplies, and other logistics began to cross the river.

Cao Cao crossed the Wei River in the middle of the team. As soon as he arrived on the other side, Xu Huang came up and said with his fists: "Report to the Prime Minister, the candidate sent an envoy to ask for his visit!"

The candidate was the third largest warlord among the ten warlords of Guanlong. He had an army of 12,000. He actually sent someone to come. Cao Cao couldn't help but laugh proudly. It seemed that Xun You's plan of disagreement was very effective. Han Sui's death triggered internal strife among the warlords.

"Bring him up!"

After a moment, a man in a robe was taken to Cao Cao. He knelt down and saluted, "Little man Hou Jian pays homage to the Prime Minister!"

"Who are you a candidate?" Cao Cao asked coldly at him.

"The villain is his younger brother."

Cao Cao nodded, "What's the matter with me?"

Hou Jian took out a letter and submitted it, "We are willing to surrender to the Prime Minister and no longer follow Ma Chao."

Cao Cao took the letter and read it. It was a joint letter from the candidate, Cheng Yin and Li Kan. They all expressed their desire to surrender. This was beyond Cao Cao's expectations. He showed a gentle smile on his face and his voice softened, "That's right! Those who know the times are heroes. As long as you surrender sincerely, you will not treat you badly."

Hou Jian was extremely grateful and kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "Ma Chao wants to kill us, we hate him for being ruthless and unrighteous. He must have surrendered to the Prime Minister."

"Why did Ma Chao kill you?"

"Report to the Prime Minister, last night, Ma Chao asked everyone to gather in the Central Army under the pretext of discussing military affairs. My brother sent someone to investigate in advance and found that there were swords and axes hidden in the Central Army tent. We did not go on the grounds that the soldiers were unstable. Ma Chao had no description for the time being. He probably would do something today or tomorrow."

Cao Cao nodded, "You can endure it for a day or two, and don't leave. At most, I will attack Ma Chao's army in two days. You can turn against each other. After the matter is completed, I will all give you the titles of Marquis."

Hou Jian was overjoyed and hurriedly said, "Thank you for your kindness to the Prime Minister, I will go back and report to my brother!"

Cao Cao sent someone to send him away. At this time, Xu Huang stepped forward and said, "Prime Minister, these people are all Guanlong Eagle and Tigers. They are obedient to eat with meat. If they don't eat without meat, they will rebel. Never indulge them again."

Cao Cao sneered, "Of course I know that I am just stabilizing them. I finally gathered them in Guanzhong. If I don't wipe them out completely, wouldn't I waste my food?"

Speaking of this, Cao Cao made a quick decision and ordered: "The whole army speeds up the crossing of the river. After crossing the river, you must not remove your armor. Be prepared to launch a complete attack!"

...........

In the camp, Ma Chao was upset and paced back and forth in the big tent. Last night, he wanted to kill all the candidates, Cheng Yin and others to seize their troops. Unexpectedly, Cheng Yin and Li Kan did not come, only Zhang Heng, Liang Xing, Cheng Yi and Ma Wan came. These four were just small warlords, and the total strength was only more than 10,000. Ma Chao did not attack the candidates and others, so he did not take action.

He was a little worried that his plan had been elected. Cheng Yin and others saw it through, and they were worried that they would withdraw their troops to flee west. If the three of them fled, the number of troops would be reduced by half. This made Ma Chao very worried. At this time, he also wanted to withdraw his troops, but before he agreed with Cao Cao, if he rushes to withdraw his troops, he would lose the greatest interests and even have no place to stand.

Ma Dai next to him advised: "We might as well retreat to Longxi. The Hehuang area has a fertile land of thousands of miles, and the Qinghai area can also shed horses, which is enough to build a foundation for us. Why do our brothers have to rely on the gifts of Cao Cao?"

Pang De also advised: "Cao Cao's army has been crossing the river since last night, and this clearly has no intention of making peace with us. It is to wipe us out in Guanzhong. If the general is cut off, it will be cut off. Don't count on Cao Cao anymore. We need to withdraw our troops immediately."

Ma Chao allowed him to retreat west of Zhangye because he received Cao Cao's promise, which made him quite moved. Although he lost the mighty county, Zhangye was also an extremely prosperous place, including Jiuquan, Dunhuang and other places. If this area was obtained by himself, he would be enough to become king. It is precisely for this reason that he wanted to reach a written agreement with Cao Cao and then withdraw his troops.

Ma Chao sighed and said, "I also know that the situation is not good now, but if I don't try my best to fight, I'm afraid there will be no chance in the future. Wait for another three days and we will withdraw our troops without a reply in three days!"

At this moment, a soldier rushed to the tent to report: "Report to General, Zhang Heng and Cheng Yi led their troops to leave the camp, as if they were going to retreat west!"

Ma Chao was furious, and he immediately said to Ma Dai and Pang De: "You can lead two thousand cavalrymen to chase and strangle them."

Ma Dai and Pang De looked at each other and had to bow and said, "Abide by the order!"

The two of them walked out of the tent quickly, and Ma Dai sighed and said, "The general still sent hope to Cao Cao, how unwise!"

Pang De smiled bitterly, "We can only do our best, let's go! It's important to catch up with Zhang Heng and Chengyi."

After a moment, Ma Dai and Pang De each led two thousand cavalry out of the camp and chased westward. These four thousand cavalry were Ma Chao's last cavalry. The horse's hooves sounded like thunder and a gust of wind rushed westward.

.........

Less than an hour after the cavalry left, Cao Cao's 100,000 army launched an attack on Ma Chao's army. Six generals, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Xu Huang, Yu Jin, Zhang Liao and Zhang He, each led 10,000 troops to fight from all directions, and Cao Cao personally led 40,000 troops to attack from the middle.

Ma Chao's army was not prepared, and more importantly, the warlords of all departments were rebellious. Before Cao's army could kill, they raised their flags and surrendered, which quickly collapsed. Ma Chao's army was about to collapse and the army was defeated.

Under the attack from Cao's army from all directions, Ma Chao's army cried and knelt down and begged for mercy, but was killed by Cao's army without any mercy. The army suffered heavy casualties. The candidates, Cheng Yin, Li Kan and others were expected to surrender to Cao Cao, but Cao Cao refused to accept their surrender and ordered the army to kill them. Everyone was killed by Cao's army in the chaos, and their army could not accept surrender, and they were killed by Cao's army in the chaos.

Ma Chao led 5,000 troops to resist, but Cao's army was so powerful that his army became fewer and fewer than a thousand people were left. In desperation, Ma Chao had to lead his army to fight out a bloody path and flee westward. He ran for more than fifty miles in one breath. Then he turned around, only more than twenty cavalry were followed behind him, and the rest of the soldiers were separated.

Ma Chao was exhausted at this time and couldn't help but sigh, "God is going to destroy me!"

Suddenly, one of his subordinates pointed to the west and shouted: "The Second General and General Pang are here!"

When Ma Chao turned around, he saw Ma Dai and Pang De leading more than a thousand cavalry to come in panic, and many soldiers were injured. Ma Chao was shocked and hurriedly met him, "What's going on?"

Ma Dai bowed and said, "General Qi, we have caught up with Zhang Heng and others. When the fierce battle was happening, Xiahou Yuan led a large army to fight from the west. We couldn't resist it and were defeated by Cao's army. Zhang Heng and Cheng Yi also died in the chaos."

At this time, Pang De asked in surprise: "General, what happened to the camp? Why are there only a few people following?"

Ma Chao said in tears: "I regret not listening to the words of the two brothers and believed Cao Cao. As a result, he suddenly attacked the camp, and the candidate, Cheng Yin and others surrendered one after another. The army was in chaos and was defeated by the Cao army. I had to fight a bloody way to escape, and we...the whole army was wiped out!"

Speaking of this, Ma Chao was full of regret. He drew out his sword and wiped it at his neck. Ma Dai quickly looked at him and hugged him, "Brother, don't!"

Pang De stepped forward and snatched Ma Chao's sword and persuaded him urgently: "Victory and defeat are common in military affairs. How can a general admit defeat once he loses?"

Ma Chao sighed after a while: "My army is gone, and there is no chance to prosper again. I...what should we do now?"

Ma Dai thought for a while and said, "Otherwise, if you go to Hanzhong and your eldest brother and Liu Jing have an alliance, he will definitely take us in."

Ma Chao shook his head, "I am a prince at least, and I don't want to be his general under his tent for others to drive."

Seeing that Ma Chao refused to go to Hanzhong, Pang De said, "Otherwise, go back to Xiliang first to see if there is any chance. If it really doesn't work, then find another way."

This suggestion can be considered, so Ma Chao nodded, "Well, let's go back to Xiliang first, I don't have a chance to talk about it."

Ma Chao rectified the cavalry, and there were still a thousand people who stood out. They bypassed Cao's army from the south and blocked them, plundered food and grass all the way, and fled to Xiliang.

...........

Cao Cao defeated Ma Chao's army and ordered all the defeated troops to behead them. He divided his troops into two groups and ordered Cao Ren to lead 30,000 troops across the Hebei region and go to Shangjun to attack Yang Qiu's troops.

He also ordered Xu Huang, Zhang Liao and Yu Jin to lead 20,000 troops to guard various fortresses in Guanzhong, defend Liu Jing's army from north from Hanzhong, and grant Xun You the Grand Sima of the Three Auxiliary, and to command the troops in Guanzhong.
Chapter completed!