When Ma Teng and Han Sui rode back, a majestic man came up to them: "Father, uncle, are you back from the celebration banquet so soon?"
"Attend Fart's celebration party."
Ma Teng was furious, stared at his son and shouted back, saying loudly: "Hurry up and beat the drum to gather the generals. Everyone above the rank of captain will participate. No absence without excuse is allowed. There is something important to announce."
"Here."
Although Ma Tie didn't know what happened, he knew from the angry look on his father's face that something big must have happened. Moreover, there were people led by Gao Guanbo following behind him, which made people even more suspicious.
"Sir, please come this way. We will obey your orders."
"Anyway, we are back safely."
"..."
Seeing his father and uncle's respect for the man and the "safe return" message, Ma Tie did not dare to hesitate at all, left in a hurry, and was ordered to beat the drum and prepare to summon the generals to discuss politics.
Winter! Winter! Winter!
Dongdong—!
The dull and rhythmic sound of drums sounded.
The commanders of each battalion rushed to the Chinese army's tent one after another.
Not long after.
The tent was full of military commanders gathered together, lined up from left to right.
Han Sui's stern gaze swept across the civil and military personnel, and without any nonsense, he said directly: "Today, we were planning to rush to Chang'an to attend the celebration banquet for Chao'er and my son-in-law."
"But unfortunately, this is just a plan of Chang'an Yuan Wei. They were defeated in Hedong, so they want to recruit us and become their vassals to fight against Nanyang together."
"Thanks to the help of this gentleman, the two of us were able to escape the danger. From now on, our troops will officially join Nanyang. If anyone wants to quit, they can leave now."
Only then did Ma Tie understand why his father was so angry. It turned out that he almost lost his life during this trip to Chang'an. It was unreasonable for these guys to dare to attack his father.
At that moment, Ma Tie's face was sullen, he took an angry step forward and shouted loudly: "We all obey the general, no one will quit. We will no longer serve those dogs in Chang'an."
"Yes, I won't serve you anymore."
When Ma Tie shouted, all the civil and military officials in the room were filled with indignation and shouted:
"How dare you attack two generals? It's completely unreasonable. I won't serve you anymore. I won't serve you anymore."
"You bastard! Let's just raise an army, go to Chang'an, kill those bastards, and avenge the two generals!"
"That's right, take revenge and kill them all!"
"Kill them all, no one is left!"
"..."
Xun You had to admit it.
These rough guys in Liangzhou are all real men.
Han Sui and Ma Teng started to get agitated before they even started shouting. How could such a team be without combat effectiveness?
Ma Teng waved his hand to signal the soldiers to keep quiet, and then said: "This is Xun You from Nanyang Hanting. He saved us. Now we have to follow his arrangements on how we want to go."
"That's right!"
Han Sui immediately added: "Xun Lingjun of Nanyang Hanting is this person's uncle. He is the only one who can contact His Majesty the Emperor of Nanyang. We will follow his instructions on how to go next."
In an instant.
The eyes of all the civil and military officials were all focused on Xun You. Even Xun You himself couldn't believe it. There seemed to be a strange light shining in the eyes of these rough men in the tent.
Ma Teng lowered his voice and said: "Sir, the imperial court has always treated military personnel from border counties equally. Therefore, these brothers in Liangzhou have been looking forward to Nanyang for a long time. You can rest assured and give the order."
So that’s it.
Xun You was still worried that he could not control these guys and could only rely on Ma Teng and Han Sui, but he never thought that the influence of Nanyang Hanting was so terrifying in the border counties.
"Um."
At that moment, Xun You nodded affirmatively, turned to look at the generals in the tent, and said loudly: "In today's battle with Chang'an, we have completely lost our skin with him. If I am not wrong in my guess, there will definitely be a next step in the direction of Chang'an."
action."
"Therefore, we cannot sit still and wait for death. We need to prepare in advance so that we can remain invincible and wait for the latest instructions from the court."
Han Sui leaned forward and held up his hands: "Sir, just say so. We will definitely obey your orders."
Ma Teng nodded: "That's right, sir, just speak frankly."
"good!"
Xun You was very satisfied with the attitude of Han Sui and Ma Teng: "That being the case, I will speak frankly! Guanxi is divided into Guanzhong and Longyou with Longshan as the boundary."
"If Chang'an wants to invade Longyou and eliminate us, there are only two ways. One is to take the ancient Qianlong Road and attack Long County; the other is to take the Chencang narrow road and enter Yicheng."
"If I were the enemy, I would definitely divide our troops into two groups. One group would take the ancient Ganlong Road to contain our troops, while the other group would take the Chencang Narrow Road and enter Yicheng, thereby threatening our rear."
"so......"
Xun You made a decision immediately and said sonorously: "We should take the lead in occupying Yicheng before Chang'an can react, and guard the narrow road of Chencang, so that we can be invincible."
Ma Teng frowned: "Yicheng?"
Xun You nodded: "That's right!"
Han Sui sighed: "Ke Yicheng is garrisoned by Geng Qiu, who has his heart set on Chang'an, so I'm afraid it won't be easy to take action."
"Why don't you know this?"
Xun You had already expected it, so he was naturally prepared: "The two generals have absolute influence in Longyou. As long as they can kill these people, the situation in Yicheng will be stabilized quickly."
"Sir, what you mean is..."
Ma Teng frowned and raised his eyes to look at Xun You.
"It's very simple."
Xun You said loudly: "Yuan Wei invites you to enter Chang'an, and we will take the initiative to enter Yicheng with only some personal soldiers to avoid arousing the other party's suspicion."
"If another person leads the army, supports the troops from the outside, and works both internally and externally, great things will surely be accomplished. As long as we can capture Long County and Yicheng, even Huangfu Song will not be able to do anything to you or me."
"good!"
Han Sui nodded without hesitation: "Unbeaten means victory. Leave it to me in Yicheng. I think I had a chance encounter with Geng Qiu back then. If I were to go, he would not doubt it."
"That's it."
Ma Teng patted his chest and promised: "Leave the troops and horses from outside to support me. Let's join hands. Who can stop us in Liangzhou? Just enter the city without worry."
"very good."
Xun You nodded with satisfaction: "If this happens, General Han will lead the troops and station them in Yicheng, and send people to set up troops in Linwei City on the narrow road of Chencang."
"General Ma Teng led the troops and horses and stationed them in Long County, and also detached a part of his troops to guard Xiaoguan. As a result, all the roads entering Longyou from Guanzhong were blocked."
The two of them raised their hands together: "Here."
About a quarter of an hour.
Han Sui then led a group of soldiers and horses from Long County and rushed straight to Yicheng.
At the same time, Xun You sent out scouts to search for the enemy's troops who were coming to pursue him, so that he could lead his troops to attack them head-on.
*****
Sili, Chang'an.
Tufu's Mansion.
Yuan Wei clasped his hands behind his back, frowned, and paced back and forth. He was anxious and looked up at the door from time to time, expecting the news that Shisun Rui would bring back.
If Ma Teng and Han Sui were allowed to return to Long County, then the entire Longyou would become a chess piece arranged by Nanyang Hanting in the back of Guanzhong, which would be extremely fatal to Chang'an's security.
How could Yuan Wei not be in a hurry!
"Damn it!"
Yuan Wei raised his eyes and stared again, but still could not see Shi Sunrui's figure. He cursed secretly: "I haven't come back for so long. I think the other party must have diverted in advance."
"map!"
Yuan Wei waved his hand and greeted.
"Here."
Yuan Ji quickly took out the detailed map of Chang'an and laid it flat on the eucalyptus.
Yuan Wei lowered his head and kept running his fingers over it: "Guanzhong is a plain, and the only place where you can ambush is the woods. From Long County to Chang'an, Yang Zan must have taken this road."
"So......"
After thinking about this, Yuan Wei locked several directions: "Meiyang is the most suspicious. This place is not too far from Chang'an, nor is it too close. As long as Yang Zan is defeated, he can return the same way, or he can cross the river and go farther than the near."
"That's right."
Yuan Ji suddenly understood and nodded slowly: "But uncle, Shi Sunrui is afraid..."
Yuan Wei sighed, frowned and said, "I'm afraid he won't be able to catch up."
Yuan Ji couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "I didn't expect that this Xun You was well versed in the art of war and was so accurate in grabbing points. If Ma Teng and Han Sui were to return to Long County, I'm afraid it would be of no benefit to us."
"Have you sent someone to invite Huangfu Song?"
Yuan Wei hurriedly asked. He didn't know much about the art of war himself, so he could only ask Huangfu Song for help.
Only by allowing Huangfu Song to take charge of Chang'an could he truly feel relieved.
"Don't worry, uncle, we have already made arrangements."
Yuan Ji nodded with great certainty: "If we hurry, we can arrive tomorrow evening. Let's gather our troops and horses, and maybe we can catch Ma Teng and Han Sui by surprise when they are in shock."
"Report—!"
At this moment, a long announcement sounded outside the hall.
Yuan Wei raised his eyes and looked.
However, when he saw the unkempt scholar Sun Rui burst into the palace and met Yuan Wei, he almost burst into tears: "Taifu, the last general... The last general has a heavy responsibility and failed to catch Ma Teng. Han
So."
Yuan Wei had already expected it, but he did not panic. He just asked: "Tell me, what is going on?"
Shisun Rui took a deep breath and immediately told the truth: "It's like this. When General Mo led his fine cavalry to pursue him, he went near Meiyang and found the body of General Yang, so he continued to lead his troops to pursue him."
"But along the way, there were horse traps and roadblocks, which greatly delayed our army's march. When we arrived near Long County, we encountered Ma Teng and Han Sui's troops again, and they killed us.
Big defeat."
"The last general..."
At this point, Shi Sunrui was already bursting into tears, crying hard: "If the general hadn't fought to the death and killed the enemy one after another, I'm afraid he would never come back, and he would never be able to see the Taifu."
Yuan Wei looked at Shisun Rui up and down. Although he was unkempt and extremely embarrassed, there were no wounds on his body, let alone any blood stains.
Apparently!
The other party was lying. He didn't fight to the death and kill enemies one after another. Otherwise, how could there be no blood stains?
Of course, although Yuan Wei saw through his lie, he did not expose it. Instead, he nodded and said softly: "Thank you for your hard work. You should go back and rest early."
Seeing that Yuan Wei did not blame him, Shi Sunrui quickly bowed his head and said, "Here!"
Looking at Shi Sunrui's leaving figure, Yuan Ji asked curiously: "Uncle, Shi Sunrui is obviously lying. He must not be able to fight hard. Why don't you deal with him?"
"It's very simple."
Although Yuan Wei was disgusted in his heart, he still held back: "Because we are short of major generals. If the soldier Sun Rui is killed, who will be handed over to lead the army? Could it be me?"
"this......"
If you think about it carefully, this is really the truth.
Yuan Wei pinched his beard and sighed: "No matter what, this person is at least loyal and somewhat capable. If you keep him, he will be of some use."
Yuan Ji nodded slowly: "That's it."
Yuan Wei said softly: "Don't think so much. The most important thing for us now is to prepare our troops and horses. As soon as Huangfu Song comes back, we will immediately send troops to Long County and capture him at all costs."
Yuan Ji bowed his head: "Here."
"How many troops and horses are there in Chang'an?"
"About 20,000 to 30,000 people."
"How about gathering all the troops and horses from all counties?"
"There could be thousands more soldiers and horses, but uncle, the battle of those soldiers and horses..."
"We can't take care of that much anymore. We only take care of the troops, horses, and food. As for the use of troops, it's Huangfu Song's business."
"All right."
"..."
******
Hangu Pass.
military camp.
In a side account somewhere.
At this moment, Ma Chao was holding a spear, imitating Zhang Fei's moves, and attacking Yan Xing in slow motion: "Yes, the move is indeed like this, but its power is very strong, and it is relatively difficult to withstand such an attack.
"
"Um."
Yan Xing nodded affirmatively: "The most important thing is that Zhang Fei grasps the timing of using this move very well every time. His offensive is perfect."
"Instead of thinking about how to break his move, we should think about how to prevent him from creating opportunities to use this move and fundamentally prevent the other party from attacking."
Ma Chao's eyes suddenly brightened, and he said with great interest: "Brother Yan is right. Zhang Fei, a thief, should not be underestimated. This move brought me to the bottom twice."
"Damn it!"
Ma Chao gritted his teeth and clenched his fists: "It's hard to believe that this guy is so powerful. He is obviously not much older than me."
"Don't worry, Chao brother."
Yan Xing patted Ma Chao on the shoulder and comforted him: "You have your advantages, and you have made great progress during this period. It may not be long before even I may not be your opponent."
Ma Chao smiled faintly: "Brother Yan, what are you talking about? Let's learn from each other and make progress together. That's all. In the future, you and I will be the two heroes of Liangzhou, just like General Han and my father."
"Report—!"
At this moment, a long announcement sounded outside the tent.
Ma Chao and Yan Xing turned to look.
But when he saw soldiers entering the tent, he leaned forward and said, "Two generals, there is a man outside the camp who claims to be from Liangzhou. He has something urgent to ask to see the two generals."
"oh?"
Ma Chao couldn't help but be surprised: "He's from Liangzhou?"
The soldier nodded: "Exactly."
"My father must have sent me."
Ma Chao was very happy and waved his hand: "Let him come in."
The soldier raised his hands and said, "Here."
Not long after.
The soldier led a man into the tent.
The man stepped forward and bowed his head: "I, Wang Mu, have met the two generals."
Ma Chao and Yan Xing were both stunned: "Wang Mu?"
The two of them had never heard of this name at all.
Wang Mu nodded: "Yes, it's me. The two generals may not know about me, but it doesn't matter. I just came to tell the two generals a piece of news."
"What's the news?"
Ma Chao and Yan Xing couldn't help but become cautious.
Wang Mu knew that there was not enough time, so he was too lazy to talk nonsense and said directly: "Chang'an has been defeated in the battle of Hedong, which led to the complete failure of Chang'an's grand strategy."
"Grand strategy?"
Ma Chao was stunned when he heard this, frowned and asked: "What kind of grand strategy is it?"
Yan Xing was even more confused: "What exactly do you want to say?"
"Well......"
Wang Mu was a little embarrassed, so he simply gave up the story and went straight to the result: "Let me just put it this way, Grand Tutor Yuan Wei wants to forcefully recruit Liangzhou soldiers and horses, and now he may have taken action against the two generals Ma Teng and Han Sui. I think he will arrive soon.
There you two are."
"ah?"
Ma Chao was stunned.
Yan Xing was even more stunned.
The two people obviously didn't believe Wang Mu's words and stared at each other with puzzled faces: "What do you mean by this?"
Wang Mu didn't bother to say anything anymore. If he continued to stay, he might be exposed: "I have already reminded you, so you can take care of yourself. If my guess is correct, we will see the results early tomorrow morning."
"I'll take my leave."
After saying this, Wang Mu turned around and left.
"Wait a minute!"
A random person comes, says some incomprehensible words, and then leaves?
Although Ma Chao and Yan Xing don't know much about grand strategy, they are not good at it: "Two generals, do you have any questions?"
Ma Chao stopped Wang Mu and said coldly: "Believe it or not, with just one order from this general, I can cut you into pieces."
Wang Mu nodded: "Of course I understand that since I am here tonight, I have no intention of going back, but if I die in the hands of you two, I may not die in peace."
Yan Xing was furious: "What do you mean?"
Wang Mu was indifferent and answered fluently: "I came to save you, but I died in your hands. If this matter were placed on you, would you be willing to do it?"
Ma Chao frowned, judging from the other person's expression, it didn't look like he was joking, and the other person's behavior seemed like there was no need to joke:
"This is such a big deal, why should we trust you?"
"this......"
Wang Mu naturally couldn't produce any evidence.
After all, he just received a letter from Fei Ge: "I only received intelligence and no evidence, so I can't convince the two generals."
"so......"
Wang Mu bowed his head and said calmly: "It is my duty to remind you two, but whether you believe it or not is your own business."
"But I still have to remind you that as General Ma said, this is a serious matter, so I would rather believe that it is there, have multiple minds, be careful, and do not believe that it is not there, just in case."
After saying this, Wang Mu bowed again: "I'll take my leave."
This time, Ma Chao did not stop him and allowed Wang Mu to leave. He turned to Yan Xing and glanced at Yan Xing: "Brother Yan, what do you think about this matter..."
Yan Xing frowned and pinched a strand of beard under his chin: "I'm not sure whether to pay attention, but what that person said makes sense. We still have to be cautious, otherwise if something happens, our lives will be at risk."
"But......"
The sudden change made it difficult for Ma Chao to accept, and he didn't know what to think: "If this is true, how will we deal with it tomorrow?"
"Since we are being persecuted, my father and uncle who want to come to Long County will also be unable to escape the persecution. If we go to Guanzhong, it will be a dead end. We can't seek refuge in Nanyang, right?"
Yan Xing stared at Ma Chao: "Why not?"
"ah?"
Ma Chao was stunned, with a look of disbelief on his face: "Design yourself to Nanyang?"
Yan Xing'en nodded: "If we are persecuted, it proves that your father and my father-in-law have already been persecuted. If we seek refuge in Nanyang Hanting, we may be able to get revenge. But if we return to Guanzhong, there is really only one dead end."
Ma Chao frowned: "But, how should we get out of the customs?"
Yan Xing shook his head: "Let's act according to the situation. What if that person is talking nonsense?"
Ma Chao nodded: "This is the only way."
...
Early next morning.
The rooster crows the dawn and the morning glow fills the sky.
Outside Hanguguan City.
As expected, Liu Bei showed up with his troops, and Zhang Fei, carrying his eight-foot-long spear, stepped forward to call for battle again.
Ma Chao and Yan Xing both stood outside the city, still dueling with them as usual.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The golden sound exploded, and the sparks burst out.
In the blink of an eye, the two sides went back and forth for more than ten rounds.
Zhang Fei suppressed Ma Chao's silver spear with one spear, raised his eyes to the top of the city, and seeing that the distance was relatively far away, he said with peace of mind: "Boy, someone must have told you last night."
"Um?"
Ma Chao was stunned for a moment and stared at Zhang Fei: "You...how did you know?"
Zhang Feidan smiled: "That was an assassination attempt by my Majesty in Guanzhong. They got the information that Yuan Wei is going to take action against your father, and he rushed to Hangu Pass quickly. He will definitely order Fu Qian to take action against you and others."
"You may have a chance of survival if you seek refuge in Nanyang Hanting now, but if you return to Hangu Pass, you may never come out again. It's hard to think about it."
Ma Chaoqiang supported Zhang Fei's moves: "You are talking nonsense! We are the heroes who assassinated Dong Zhuo. Why did the Taifu want to attack my father? You are afraid that you can't kill me, so you did it on purpose, right?"
"snort!"
Zhang Fei's eyes widened and he said angrily: "You brat, believe it or not, do you really think I can't kill you?"
At that moment, a strong force followed the spear shaft and the tip of the spear and entered Ma Chao's body. Ma Chao gritted his teeth and tried his best to resist, preventing him from advancing even an inch.
"If you don't believe it, let's fight for a while longer. I guess it won't be long before Fu Qian receives the news, which is the order sent from Chang'an."
Ma Chao was also doubtful at first, so he immediately raised his head and said: "Fight a little longer, then fight a little longer. Do you think I'm afraid of you? Yesterday, we discussed how to break your moves, and we'll try it out today."
"oh?"
Zhang Fei was surprised and his eyes were full of joy: "If this is really the case, then of course it's best. Come on, let's have a good fight."
Ma Chao laughed lightly: "I can't ask for it."
clang-!
At that moment, Ma Chao knocked away Zhang Fei's weapon, swung the silver spear in his palm, pointed it at Zhang Fei's weakly defended waist, and swept through the entire army with one move without any flashiness.
Although this shot came relatively quickly, Zhang Fei was not an easy person. He immediately withdrew his Zhangba spear and stabbed it back diagonally, accurately blocking it midway and stopping Ma Chao's attack:
"snort."
With a slight snort, Zhang Fei cheered up: "Look at me!"
Ma Chao hurriedly returned to his defense: "Come on, am I, Ma Chao, afraid of you?"