Chapter 289: The Battle of Chang’an on the Third Front
After hearing about the situation in the Liangzhou military camp from Ma Dai, Jia Xu was finally sure that Han Sui and Ma Teng finally started a quarrel.
His counter-espionage plan has been effective. Logically, Jia Xu should be happy, but now he is not very happy.
The outcome he originally expected was that after Han Sui and Ma Teng broke up, both sides fought to the death, but their strength was greatly damaged and they were unable to fight. Then Cao's army could take advantage of the fisherman's advantage.
But now, although Han Sui and Ma Teng turned against each other, Han Sui easily solved Ma Teng and did not spend much effort to absorb Ma Teng's remaining troops. Although the strength of the Xiliang Army was reduced, the losses were not as serious as expected, and at least they still had the power to fight.
The results are not enough...
However, nothing can be perfect. Even if Jia Xu is known as a poisonous man and is extremely wise, the strategies he thinks cannot be perfect every time. If everything can be operated according to his ideas without any deviation, then Jia Xu is not a wise man, but can directly call him a god.
However, the Xiliang Army had experienced internal friction and its strength had declined. If they had a glimmer of hope to break through Chang'an City before, then there was no possibility of breaking the city now.
In this way, although the ending is not perfect, it is still acceptable.
Just as Jia Xu and Xiahou Yuan were ready to continue fighting with the Xiliang army, the Xiliang army suddenly retreated.
The reason why the Xiliang army withdrew its troops was really simple, that is, Han Sui no longer planned to continue attacking Chang'an.
First of all, after Ma Teng died, although he unified his troops, his strength was eventually consumed and he lost the possibility of breaking through Chang'an City.
Secondly, the main reason why Ma Teng sent out his troops was that he received a heavy promise from the court, and agreed that he would have a heavy reward after defeating Cao. However, after he took Ma Teng and replaced him, it is hard to say whether the court would fulfill this promise. At least Han Sui himself did not have an optimistic attitude towards this. Since there is no benefit, why should he continue to fight against Cao Cao and deplete his strength?
Finally, there were many Qiang soldiers under Ma Teng's tent, and the Qiang people were not obeying discipline. That is, Ma Teng and Ma Chao's accumulated power suppressed them and allowed them to serve them. Now Ma Teng, Ma Chao and his son were both dead. Although Han Sui also annexed these Qiang troops, he was not sure that he could completely calm them down and had to be wary of them. Otherwise, if the Qiang life changes, the consequences will be extremely serious.
For various considerations, Han Sui finally concluded that he was the only way to withdraw his troops.
Han Sui withdrew his troops, and the war on the Western Front finally came to an end. After the news came back to Xuchang, Cao Cao let out a sigh of relief. The Liangzhou Army was the most powerful of the three armies. When the Liangzhou Army retreated, the situation he faced became much easier. Even if the war situation of the other two armies was unfavorable, the situation would never be so bad that it could not be irreversible.
The heroes in this battle, whether they were Zhong Yao who guarded Chang'an, or Xiahou Yuan, Jia Xu, Xu Rong and other generals who were reinforcements, were highly rewarded.
At this time, Ma Dai and the others had learned that the reason why Ma Teng and Han Sui had fallen out, and even the Ma Teng family was killed by Han Sui, was all because of the counter-espionage scheme implemented by Cao's army. However, they have joined Cao's army now, and even if they regret it, it would be too late. Besides, even if it was the counter-espionage scheme implemented by Cao's army, it was Han Sui who killed Ma Teng and Ma Chao with his own hands. After all, Han Sui himself was sure to kill Han Sui. If they wanted to kill Han Sui to avenge, they could only rely on Cao Cao's power.
Who else can you rely on if you don’t surrender to Cao Cao? Can you still expect that Zhang Lu, a mediocre person who only knows how to defend his achievements and is not enterprising, will he have the intention of storing troops to attack Liangzhou? If Zhang Lu had the courage, he would probably be able to climb a tree.
Cao Cao was also very happy about Ma Dai and Pang De's surrender. He had heard Xiahou Yuan say about Pang De's ability. Xiahou Yuan praised him as "a good general in the country, who can be comparable to Xu Gongming." For Cao Cao, who never thought he had many talents, he had never stinged with expressing his appreciation for such a good general.
Cao Cao immediately appointed Pang De as General Li Yi and was granted the title of Marquis of Guanmen Ting.
Although Ma Dai is not as good as Pang De in all aspects, he is also a good second-tier general. What's more, he is now the only survivor of the Ma family. If he conquers Liangzhou to attack Han Sui in the future, Ma Dai can become a very good banner of righteousness. For example, the reasons for helping Ma Dai avenge the Ma family are too easy to find. Therefore, Cao Cao also attaches great importance to Ma Dai and attaches no less importance to him than Pang De.
Although Cao Cao only granted Ma Dai a position as a general, because he had no marriage, he found a woman of appropriate age from the clan to show his favor.
Although Ma Dai could not completely mind Cao Cao because of the death of Ma Teng and the members of the Ma family, Cao Cao married the woman from the Cao clan to him. Even if he and Cao Cao became in-laws, even if he was still a little unhappy, Ma Dai would not have any other thoughts.