Liu Zhang set up a dragnet, but eventually something slipped through the net.
Ma Chao's escape cannot change the final result of Liu Zhang's pacification of Yongliang, but he will definitely cause a lot of trouble.
Just as Han Sui's escape brought many variables, Ma Chao will definitely add a lot of resistance to Liu Zhang.
"Wuwei County, under the leadership of Ma Chao, is bound to resist us. It seems that our strategy of dividing our troops to pacify the counties may be in vain."
Liu Zhang's original plan was to annihilate Ma Teng's army and then divide his forces into two groups to attack the Yongliang counties.
At present, Han Sui was in charge of Yuzhong and Jincheng, and Ma Chao was in charge of Wuwei. Liu Zhang had to concentrate his forces again and defeat them one by one.
"My lord, although Ma Chao escaped, Ma Teng, the governor of Yongzhou, was captured by us. Moreover, the entire army of 50,000 Liangzhou cavalry was wiped out. How can Ma Chao resist the army?"
Zhao Yun has already learned in detail that Ma Teng's total strength is only these 50,000 cavalry.
In other words, if Ma Chao escapes, he will also face the situation of having no available troops.
Liu Zhang shook his head. He was not as optimistic as Zhao Yun.
"Zilong, Ma Chao's mother is the daughter of the chief of the Xianling Qiang clan. As a Lanwai from the Xianling Qiang clan, do you think Ma Chao will be a loner?"
"First Ling Qiang?"
None of the generals in the Yizhou army were from Liangzhou, and they did not know much about the Qiang people in Liangzhou.
At this time, Fazheng, who had lived in the Yongliang area since childhood, stood up and took the initiative to explain to everyone.
"My generals, there are more than twenty Qiang tribes in the Yongliang region, among which the five major Qiang tribes, Xianling Qiang, Shaodang Qiang, Gongtang Qiang, Beiqiang and Han Qiang, are the outstanding ones."
"The strength of the five major Qiang tribes is almost equal to that of all other tribes. The Xianling Qiang and Shaodang Qiang can draw 50,000 to 60,000 people, while the few are as few as 30,000 to 40,000!"
After hearing Fazheng's summary of the power of the Qiang people, Taishi Ci felt even more ashamed.
"Xiao Zhi, do you mean that Ma Chao can immediately raise an army of 50,000?"
Fazheng looked at Tai Shici who asked him with some embarrassment, and then shook his head.
Taishi Ci was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but was immediately shocked and held his breath by Fa Zheng's words.
"More than fifty thousand!"
Fa Zheng was very depressed. Due to the lessons learned from Han Sui's escape, several wise men jointly planned this time in order to keep all Ma Teng's troops in Ji County.
But despite all calculations, no one could predict Sha Lifei's speed, and Ma Chao finally escaped.
"The Qiang people who are friendly to Ma Teng are the Xianling Qiang and Gongtang Qiang, the Qiang people who are friendly to Han Sui are the Shaodang Qiang and Han Qiang, and there is also a Bei Qiang group that has never helped each other and is in a neutral state."
Fa Zheng's words once again made the atmosphere in the room depressing, and everyone suddenly felt like the enemies were being beaten more and more.
"If that's true, wouldn't the two of them be able to pull off an army of 200,000?"
Two hundred thousand!
If this is this number, the generals of the Yizhou Army will undoubtedly start to have a headache.
This number was more than twice their total strength, not counting the local Liangzhou cavalry that they had annihilated.
"Hey! I'm not afraid of attacking you. Ma Chao and Han Sui can at least unite the four major Qiang tribes, and if the four major Qiang tribes unite, they will definitely be able to bring in the Beiqiang as well."
"At that time, with the deterrence of the five major Qiang tribes, the other Qiang tribes will more or less send troops to help. As for what the final number will be..."
The meaning of Fa Zheng is very obvious, I am afraid it is much more than 200,000!
"Now that Ma Teng, Ma Yue and others are in our hands, is it possible that Ma Chao can forcefully become our enemy without caring about the life and death of his father, uncle and others?"
Hearing Pang Tong's words, everyone felt relieved a little from their nervousness.
It was okay for Han Sui to make a desperate move. After all, there was nothing in the hands of the Yizhou Army.
But Ma Chao is different. Now that Ma Teng and others are in his hands, Ma Chao may not be able to throw a trap at him.
"not necessarily!"
The atmosphere that had just calmed down was completely frozen by the two words Liu Zhang blurted out.
The generals in the room didn't know Ma Chao's temperament, but Liu Zhang knew it well.
Historically, Ma Chao took the initiative to unite with Han Sui and personally destroyed his entire family.
There's nothing he can't do for such a lunatic!
"Everyone, we must prepare for the worst in everything. What if Ma Chao really ignores Ma Teng's life?"
"The military is a major issue for the country, a place of life and death, and a way of survival! You must not place everything on the possible!"
Liu Zhang looked extremely serious on the surface, but in fact he was full of bitterness in his heart.
Before the threat of hundreds of thousands of Xianbei people could be resolved, hundreds of thousands of Qiang people immediately appeared!
Xianbei has street pavilions as obstacles, so how can the Qiang people resist?
There was no such narrow terrain in Liangzhou for Liu Zhang to use, so he could only choose to have a head-on confrontation with the Qiang people!
There was silence in the room for a while. The generals blamed themselves for allowing Ma Chao and Han Sui to escape, and the counselors also felt guilty for not planning carefully.
"Lord, things don't have to be so pessimistic!"
Pang Tong's sudden words immediately attracted the attention of everyone in the room.
"Shiyuan, do you have any clever ideas?"
Liu Zhang was quite curious, could this adventurous guy really have a clever plan to turn the tide of the war?
"No!"
Facts proved that Liu Zhang had overthought everything, and Pang Tong denied it without hesitation.
"..."
Liu Zhang was a little speechless. What time had happened? Pang Tong still had the intention to joke.
"Lord, you can think of things from another angle!"
Pang Tong glanced at the faces of everyone in the room, and the depressing atmosphere gave him the motivation to continue speaking.
"Why did it take so long for the Lord to decide Nanzhong? No doubt the barbarians were too scattered. Now that Ma Chao and Han Sui are willing to gather the Qiang people for us, doesn't it save us a lot of effort?"
"If the Qiang are pacified in one battle, then the naturalization of the Qiang people in the future will definitely achieve twice the result with half the effort!"
Liu Zhang nodded slightly, maybe this is the greatest contribution that Ma Chao and Han Sui can make.
"What Shi Yuan said is absolutely true. You all need to cheer up! The soldiers will come to cover up the water and the earth. The final victory will definitely belong to us!"
As soon as Liu Zhang finished speaking, rapid footsteps suddenly came from outside the door.
Not long after, a soldier walked up to Liu Zhang in a panic.
"Your Majesty, urgent report of stability!"
"Speak quickly!"
Liu Zhang became nervous and quickly urged the soldiers to report.
"According to reports from scouts, Xiao Pass has been completely burned, and there are no Han Sui troops in any of the counties in Anding County!"
It’s coming after all!
Liu Zhang's eyes narrowed slightly. It's true that blessings are unparalleled and misfortunes never come alone! One wave after another!
I just warned everyone to prepare for the worst, but I didn’t expect the worst news to come out so soon!
Xiaoguan will not be destroyed for no reason, which also indicates that Han Sui has contacted the Xianbei people.
As for whether Bu Dugen will come on his own or in conjunction with Kebi Neng, that is unknown...