Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1113 Bad News

When Pang De entered Ma Chao's tent, he found that almost all the generals of the Western Liang Army had arrived. However, Ma Chao, who was sitting at the top, had an extremely ugly expression on his face.

Ma Chao was obviously distracted and ignored Pang De's arrival. It was not until Pang De clasped his fists and saluted that Ma Chao came back to his senses and said weakly, "Ling Ming is here?"

"sit down."

Pang De was puzzled. What had happened to make Ma Chao become like this?
Ma Chao hesitated for a moment, and finally sighed and said, "There is bad news from the west."

“It may not be true, but.”

Pang De was even more puzzled when he saw Ma Chao hesitating in speaking. Ma Chao used to speak straightforwardly, so what happened today?
At this time, a young man of about fifteen or sixteen spoke up below Ma Chao. He said, "General Pang, what my brother heard was a rumor from Tianshui, but it has not been confirmed yet."

Pang De recognized that the person who spoke was Ma Chao's cousin Ma Dai. He had grown tall and was quite brave. He could ride a horse and kill the enemy at the age of twelve or thirteen. Therefore, he was brought to the battlefield by Ma Chao, and it has been more than three years now.

Pang De felt uneasy when he heard Ma Dai's words, and asked quickly, "What's going on?"

Ma Dai hesitated for a moment and said, "Rumor has it that Bingzhou sent a troop of soldiers and horses westward into Liangzhou Beidizhou, passed through Andingzhou, and then reached Tianshui."

Pang De was skeptical and asked curiously, "The Tiger Army?"

"How did they get along so smoothly?"

It's no wonder that he didn't quite believe it. There were only two states between Bingzhou and Tianshui County, but all along the way there were Qiang and Hu settlements, and the road was complicated and it was very easy to get lost. It shouldn't be so easy for the Xionghu Army to come here.

Moreover, Tianshui was the ancestral home of the Ma family. Although the Ma family had once moved to Longxi County in the west, because Tianshui was the gateway to Liangzhou that led directly from the Sanfu area to Chang'an, the Ma family moved their headquarters back to Tianshui City in the past two years and placed the families of their generals and soldiers in the city.

Such considerations were also based on the practices of the princes of the time, which were to concentrate soldiers in one city, which was not only convenient for protection and management, but also for boosting and stabilizing military morale. This was the case with Cao Cao in Xu Du, Yuan Xi in Jicheng, and Sun Quan in Qu'a.

Of course, this move also had certain hidden dangers. For example, the capture of Qu'a was beyond Jiangdong's expectations, so that for a long time the people of Jiangdong were divided because of the fall of Qu'a, resulting in a large number of deserters.

Pang Deqi asked, "Isn't this a rumor made up by Xionghu?"

"Is there no one from the Qiang and Hu tribes along the way who reported the news or even tried to stop us?"

"Can it reach Tianshui so easily?"

"They attacked the tribe, scattered the cattle and sheep, and caused destruction. How many people could they kill?"

After these words came out, Ma Dai's face became even more unhappy, and he whispered: "It's not just that."

"There are rumors that they have captured Ji County, the seat of Tianshui."

"In the city. Hey."

Pang De was shocked and stood up suddenly, "Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

"Although Ji County is not as strong as the Central Plains, it still has walls. The fierce tiger army must be cavalry, how could they possibly capture the city?"

Ma Dai whispered: "It is said that it is a Qiang Hu traitor."

"That's even more impossible!" Pang De couldn't help but said loudly: "The general came from the Xiliang Ma family, and married into the Qiang tribe. He has a high prestige among the Qiang tribe. How could the Qiang people help Xionghu?"

Pang De didn't realize that he lost his composure when he heard the news, and his voice became much higher. No wonder he was anxious, because his family was also in Tianshui City, including his two young sons!
At this time, Ma Chao's voice sounded, "Pang De, shut up first."

Pang De finally reacted and apologized. Ma Chao called him by his name, which obviously made him very unhappy. Pang De was always good at observing people's expressions, so he stepped aside honestly.

Ma Chao stood up slowly, with an anxious look on his face, and paced back and forth in the tent. No one dared to speak, and the tent was unusually quiet. The only sound was the thumping of Ma Chao's footsteps, like drums, which made everyone's hearts tighten.

After a long while, Ma Chao suddenly said, "Tell me, if we go back now, is it too late?"

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. If this rumor was true, Ji County had already been destroyed and they would have to go back for at least two or three months. What was the point?

However, when they thought of their family members in Ji County whose lives were in danger, they became even more unsure and felt panicky.

Someone hesitated and said, "General Pang is right. This may just be a rumor. The evil tiger was released to trick us into retreating."

"They have a cavalry force, so they can't possibly capture Ji County, right?"

This was equivalent to repeating Pang De's words just now, but everyone nodded in agreement. It was not so much that they wanted to believe it, but rather that they chose to believe it, because even the Xiliang Army was quite worried and concerned about their families.

But some people hesitated and said, "If the news is true, the fierce tiger army must have captured our families to threaten us. What should we do then?"

Pang De let out a long sigh and said, "No wonder the fierce tiger entangled us here. This explains it."

"They have been fighting us so desperately for the past two months just to attack Ji County with a surprise attack, capture our families, and force us to withdraw or even surrender to them. What a good plan!"

Pang De's idea was approved by everyone present, including Ma Chao. It was natural for them to think so. After all, only by capturing their families could Yuan Xi's army gain the greatest benefit. Ma Chao calmed down a little this time and said with a forced smile, "If that's the case, then Xionghu has made a wrong calculation."

"We are now Han officials, and we should follow the emperor's orders to suppress the rebellion. How can we kneel down and bow to the rebels just because our family members have been arrested?"

"And the more we give in, the less likely we are to save our family. Now we should fight back with the strongest attitude and let Xionghu know that he has made a wrong calculation!"

"If Xionghu insists on doing what he wants and dares to harm our families, we can just trade homes with him. Whether it's conquering the three counties of Jizhou or Youzhou, we have countless women to fight for. What's a mere Ji County?"

"If we take down Jicheng, we will divide up Xionghu's family. I heard that he is a lecher and has many female relatives. I want to see him kneel before me and cry for mercy!"

Everyone burst into laughter, and the tent was filled with a happy atmosphere. Pang De also became happy and said with a smile: "The fierce tiger looks fierce but is weak inside. There is no need to be afraid of him. Besides, it is hard to tell the real from the fake. I don't think the fierce tiger has the guts to harm our family!"

Everyone agreed, and Ma Chao's frown gradually relaxed. He laughed and said, "I was overthinking it. Anding and the other two counties are difficult to travel. Even if someone led the way, how could the fierce tiger army find Tianshui so easily and capture Ji County?"

"This is most likely a rumor!"

Everyone praised Ma Chao for his wisdom, but Ma Dai said, "I heard that the Tiger Army used a kind of black oil produced in Wuwei during the battle of Jiangdong. Wuwei is in the north of Beidi County, which means that the Tiger Army has infiltrated there. The speed is so fast that we have to guard against it."

After hearing this, Ma Chao became unhappy again. He thought to himself that his cousin was really talking about things that were not relevant. No wonder Ma Chao was anxious. His original wife Yang and dozens of concubines were all in Ji County. Now the news was unpredictable. Ma Chao could not suppress his anxiety at all.

He snorted coldly: "Then tell me, what should we do now?"

"Should we negotiate with the fierce tiger, or just ignore it and continue the war?"

Pang De said, "It's hard to tell whether the news is true or false. Should we send someone to investigate first and act accordingly? That would be safer?"

Ma Chao snorted coldly, "Send someone to gather information and attack the fierce tiger army at the same time!"

Everyone was shocked when they heard this, and then they heard Ma Chao say, "If this news is true, if we bow our heads, the other party will only get more aggressive!"

"The more ruthless we are, the less likely the fierce tiger will dare to do anything to our family!"

"Listen to my command. From today on, intensify the attack, massacre more towns, and rob more women. Let the fierce tiger be terrified of us and can only use his family to beg for peace with us!"

"I want to see who will give up first, me or him!"

Everyone laughed when they heard this and said, "General, you are wise. The ferocious tiger is fierce on the outside but weak on the inside. If you dare to fight the general head-on, why would you use such a shady trick?"

"He must be helpless against the general. He resorted to such despicable means. It is obvious that he wants to retreat!"

Ma Chao had fully recovered his spirits, stood up and shouted, "Good!"

"Listen to my orders. From today on, we will intensify the slaughter of the three counties of Jizhou and completely eliminate the arrogance of the fierce tiger!"

Everyone responded with loud orders, filed out, gathered their troops, and prepared to massacre the three counties.

Pang De also followed him out. Although he looked calm, he felt a little uneasy in his heart.

In fact, he himself didn't really believe what he said just now.

Moreover, was Xionghu's intention in going on the expedition really just to force Ma Chao's army to surrender?

What if he had other intentions?
Pang De shook his head and drove the idea out of his mind. Ji County was now nearly a thousand miles away from Qinghe, and it was useless to do anything. All he could do now was to compete in courage with the ferocious tiger!
In the next half month, the conflict between Ma Chao's army and Yuan Xi's army escalated again. Both sides fought to the death and neither side gave in. The casualties of the Xiliang army began to increase significantly.

The reason for this was that after Yuan Xi deployed a large number of troops in the three counties, Ma Chao's army no longer had much room to maneuver. The mission of Yuan Xi's cavalry changed from pursuit to interception, and even the armor was changed from leather armor to iron armor with better protection.

As a result, the situation changed from harassment and long-range shooting to positional warfare, and the shortcomings of Ma Chao's army were completely exposed in front of the Youzhou cavalry.

Pang De thought of various ways to deal with this. After thinking about it, he came up with a good idea, so he went to see Ma Chao.

As soon as he entered the tent, he saw Ma Dai standing there blankly with a pale face, while Ma Chao was furious and smashed everything in the tent to the ground, smashing them to pieces.

Seeing this, Pang De quietly walked to Ma Dai and whispered, "What happened?"

Ma Dai said with difficulty: "Accurate news has come in. The fierce tiger army has indeed joined forces with the Qiang traitors and captured Ji County."

"After the city was broken, the Qiang people rushed in and massacred Ji County!"

Pang De only felt a blackness in front of his eyes and a buzzing in his ears, and he was stunned for a moment.

How can it be?

Isn’t the fierce tiger known for its benevolence and righteousness?

(End of this chapter)