In the fifth year of Jian'an, late June.

Ma Chao and Cao Cao formally formed an alliance to kill Han Sui.

There were more than 140,000 infantry and cavalry in total. Ma Chao led the cavalry and Cao Cao led the infantry. In a short time, the troops were approaching Jincheng.

Moreover, Cao Cao adopted Guo Jia's strategy and announced in a high-profile manner that only Han Sui would be held accountable for his crimes. The rest of the princes were bewitched by Han Sui and would be exempted from guilt if they surrendered and would be granted the title of general.

With this plan, chaos broke out inside Jincheng.

Han Sui was not trustworthy in the first place, and this time he was named and executed by Cao Cao and Ma Chao. As for the princes, they were all gathered together because of their own interests. Now that there was no profit to be made, they all retreated.

By the time Cao Cao and Ma Chao's troops arrived at Jincheng County, Han Sui's nine-unit coalition army had only three units left, including his own.

The other two films also had a grudge against Ma Teng and did not dare to leave.

For a time, the situation in Xiliang was changed by Cao Cao's several twists and turns, and they fell apart and went their separate ways.

However, Cao Cao knew that Han Sui must be killed. On the one hand, he could not keep him because the Ma family voted for him, and on the other hand, Han Sui was indeed acting irregularly.

——

In the seventh month, all the princes surrendered to Cao Cao.

Cao Cao's army expanded from 140,000 to 180,000, while Han Sui's troops were left with only about 40,000, guarding Jincheng alone. This made Han Sui extremely unwilling.

He originally wanted to use Cao Cao's hand to kill the Ma family.

But on the other hand, the Ma family wanted to kill him with the help of Cao Cao.

In Jincheng, Han Sui was furious.

"Damn, they are a bunch of idiots. Cao Cao deceived them with just a few words. They are the only ones who helped Cao Cao count the money after being sold by Cao Cao!"

Han Sui couldn't help but roared in the hall.

All the princes he had formed an alliance with ran away, which was simply irritating.

"Leader, what should we do now?" one person asked. He also had a grudge against the Ma family and did not dare to surrender. Moreover, he also knew the disadvantages of surrendering to Cao Cao.

"What else can we do? There is only a bloody battle, otherwise there is only death!" Han Sui couldn't help shouting, how could he be willing to fall into a desperate situation after a good game of chess?

"But Alliance Leader, Cao's army is all good at attacking cities, but our Xiliang soldiers and horses are all good at riding and shooting, but not good at defending cities. What's more, our city has been in disrepair for a long time, and has long since lost its defense capabilities due to the weather."

Another person couldn't help but speak.

"Then what else can we do? Is it possible to just surrender and let Cao Cao kill us all?" Han Sui asked, he was no longer as calm as before.

"Alliance leader, run away. We, the Han Dynasty, still had the Western Regions earlier. Why don't we lead our troops to flee to the Western Regions, which can be regarded as opening up and expanding the territory for the Han Dynasty. Moreover, it is said that there are very few soldiers and horses in small countries."

Someone suggested.

"Western Regions?" Han Sui frowned: "But most of the knights in the city are from Xiliang. How many of them are willing to let them leave their homes?"

"Whatever you can get, it's better than staying here and being killed by Cao Cao!"

"That's right, staying here will lead to death, and since the Ma family is in power, they won't let us go. Why not take this opportunity to escape to the Western Regions and rebuild the territory when the time comes."

The two began to make suggestions.

Xiliang's escape to the Western Regions is not far, but it is not close either.

Han Sui was troubled in his heart. He was afraid that he would never have the chance to come back.

However, Cao Cao is good at attacking the city. At this moment, his troops in the city are disorganized. It is estimated that even if they defend the city for up to half a month, they will be breached. It is better to go out and fight while they still have the strength.

"That's all, go and gather the whole army. Those who are willing to follow us can leave. Those who don't want to leave can surrender to Kaicheng!" Han Sui waved his hand, feeling a little unhappy in his heart.

The other two nodded, they didn't dare to stay in Xiliang anyway.

They knew from the moment Cao Cao took control of Xiliang that there would only be one boss in Xiliang, either them or Cao Cao. Now it seems that Cao Cao is superior.

After all, it was Han Sui's fault. If he hadn't forced Ma Teng to rebel, it wouldn't have been like this.

Immediately, in an empty space in the city, Han Sui made a speech, and a total of 8,000 cavalrymen from each department were willing to follow. The remaining people all looked at each other and did not want to leave.

Logically speaking, these people should be killed, but considering that so many people would mutiny accidentally and would not be able to escape by then, Han Sui did not force it.

That night, Han Sui asked his former subordinate Yan Xing to lead 5,000 cavalry south to attract Cao Cao's attention. He surrendered when he was discovered. As for Yan Xing, Han Sui temporarily placed him beside Cao Cao.

And he and the other two princes continued to the west with eight thousand cavalry. This place had been the land of the Han earlier, but as the Han declined, it gradually lost control.

"Report~, Lord, Han Sui asked his generals to break out of the encirclement and led his troops to flee westward. It seems that he is not allowed to stay in Xiliang!" In the military tent, sentries and cavalry rushed towards them.

"Haha, okay, okay!" Cao Cao laughed heartily. He had not been so happy for a long time.

"Congratulations, lord, congratulations, lord, for pacifying Xiliang and expelling Han Sui." Guo Jiaxunyou and others looked at each other, clasped their fists and chuckled.

As soon as Ma Chao heard that Han Sui had run away, he immediately said: "Mr. Cao, that Han Sui has an old enmity with my Ma family. I will lead my troops to kill him right now."

"Meng Qi, why should the defeated general pursue him? It's dark now. If we pursue him rashly, we might fall into an ambush." ​​Cao Cao quickly interrupted Ma Chao's thoughts.

And after this period of time when he dealt with Ma Chao, he found that Ma Chao was very capable as a strategist and very strong in force, but his personality was quite upright.

This made Cao Cao cherish his talents.

Ma Chao still wanted to persist, but Ma Dai next to him pulled Ma Chao's sleeve and said a few words in his ear. Ma Chao suddenly narrowed his eyes, which probably meant that Xiliang belongs to our Ma family.

If you chase him out, Cao Cao will regret it and so on.

Thinking of this, Ma Chao immediately gave up and said at the same time: "Mr. Cao, now that Xiliang has been pacified, shouldn't I be named the shepherd of Liangzhou and lead the chariot and cavalry general?"

"Haha, this is nature, this is nature!"

"Meng Qi, to be honest, my sons are not even as brave as you, let alone lead troops to fight. Naturally, I will give this to you in Xiliang."

"But I don't know if you are willing to marry my Cao Cao's daughter. When the time comes, our two families will get married and unite the Han River. How about that?"

Cao Cao looked at Ma Chao with burning eyes.

To be honest, he desperately hoped that Ma Chao would agree.

"This" Ma Chao hesitated,

"Meng Qi, your stage is much more than this. It's a bitter cold place on the border of Xiliang. Do you want to stay here for the rest of your life? Follow me to Chang'an and be my son-in-law, Cao Cao."

"When the time comes, you and I will join forces to take over the Han Dynasty. With your ability in commanding the cavalry, coupled with my Qingzhou soldiers, we will surely sweep the world."

Seeing Ma Chao's hesitation, Cao Cao quickly hit the railway while it was still hot.

He knew that Ma Chao had great ambitions, and there must be more than just what he saw before him.

Ma Chao pondered for a moment, then immediately clasped his fists and said: "Thanks to Mr. Cao's respect, Meng Qi is naturally willing, but my father still needs to take care of this matter."

"This is what it should be, it should be!"

Cao Cao grabbed Ma Chao's arm, which made him happy.

Even if he easily pacified Xiliang, he also recruited the general Ma Chao, and with Ma Chao's help, the Xiliang cavalry could also be used like an arm to prevent them from being defeated.

Ma Chao immediately retreated, with many thoughts in his mind.

Ma Dai and Pang De followed him without saying much.

Watching Ma Chao leave, Guo Jia and others said: "My lord, Ma Chao is a double-edged sword. If you use it well, it can severely damage the enemy. If you use it poorly, I'm afraid."

"I know it in my heart." Cao Cao said solemnly.

"My lord's move is not unreasonable. Although Xiliang has been pacified, to put it bluntly, it can only be regarded as a superficial recognition of my lord. We still need someone who can intimidate these people."

"Among them, Ma Chao is the best. Firstly, he is very brave, and secondly, he is Ma Teng's eldest son. The other princes do not dare to disobey. Only in this way can Xiliang be used."

Xun You chuckled, but he thought it was feasible.

Mainly, in troubled times, you should use heavy codes. If you insist on seeking stability, how can you compete with Chu Feng?

"My lord, Han Sui escaped. Now there are 90,000 of the 100,000 cavalrymen in Xiliang. Even if we can only recruit half of them, we can change the situation of our army without cavalry."

"At that time, after marrying Ma Chao, it will be easy for Xiliang to send out 100,000 cavalry. Plus our army's 100,000 infantry, the 200,000 army will not be as good as even Yuan Shao's back then."

Cao Ren was a little excited.

Two hundred thousand cavalry, Yuan Shao only had about one hundred thousand before.

Of course, this is the most ideal situation. They can dispatch so many cavalry by themselves. Cao Cao naturally does not have so many cavalry, but this is definitely great news for Cao Cao.

The intervention of these cavalry will definitely allow Cao Cao to stand firm.

"Cao Ren, go collect the surrendered soldiers." Cao Cao grinned from ear to ear. The Xiliang soldiers were brave. Dong Zhuo led the Xiliang soldiers back then.

However, the biggest shortcoming of Xiliang soldiers is that they are scattered and unconvinced by each other. To put it bluntly, they don't listen and watch. No matter how strong they are, they are just nonsense.

"No!" Cao Ren nodded and left.

"Lord, next is Yizhou." Xun You chuckled, the corners of his mouth curling up.

"Haha, once Yizhou is taken, I can mobilize at least 200,000 troops under my command. Even Chu Feng may not have so many troops!" Cao Cao said with a smile.

"My lord pacified Xiliang in three months and married Ma Chao. When this news comes out, I'm afraid the whole country will be shocked. By then, those rats in Yizhou will be in panic again."

Guo Jialang smiled, he could already predict the situation in Yizhou.

Judging from the current situation, Yizhou will definitely be frightened by this incident.

"Then when do you think it is the best time to enter Shu?" Cao Cao looked at the crowd with a smile on his face. He was more and more sure that he was right to withdraw from the Central Plains.
To be continued...