Chapter 1311 Heading North
Outside Huaicheng, Ma Chao looked at the city wall in front of him with hatred. Although he and Han Sui's cavalry had the advantage in the field battle, the Jin army on the opposite side had its back against the city and remained unmoved no matter how Ma Chao attacked.

Ma Chao had also thought about besieging the city and cutting off its supply, but behind Huaicheng was the Black Mountain, and the cavalry could not enter at will. In addition, the Jin army had been stationed and trained in the Black Mountain for several years and was very familiar with mountain warfare. If the cavalry went in, they would only be seeking death.

The two generals of the Jin army stationed in Huaicheng, Xu Huang and Zhang Xun, also cooperated very well. They had been fighting with Ma Chao for a long time and had become more and more familiar with the combat methods of the Xiliang cavalry. Now they could easily deal with the surprise attacks of the Xiliang soldiers with very few manpower and various equipment.

Ma Chao was extremely depressed these days, but he could not retreat now. Only by continuing to exert pressure on Huaicheng could he make the Jin army be cautious when attacking Luoyang. This is called attacking as defense.

That's nothing. What worries him is logistics. The food supply for the Xiliang soldiers is a big problem. Although they have food supply support from Henei and Hexi, the losses from hundreds of land transportation routes are not small. On the other hand, the Jin army has the Black Mountain behind it, so supplies are extremely convenient. If this goes on, he will be dragged to death sooner or later.

Outside the city, Xu Huang led hundreds of cavalrymen to confront Ma Chao. The two sides were old acquaintances. Xu Huang wanted to lure Ma Chao into the range of bows and arrows, and Ma Chao wanted to lure Xu Huang out. Neither side was willing to be fooled and they just stared at each other.

Xu Huang swung his axe, "Ma Chao!"

"War but not fighting, retreat but not retreating, what's the logic?"

"You don't even dare to get close to this shooting place?"

Ma Chao cursed in his heart, what do you mean by a one-shot deal? He thought so at first, and wanted to challenge the enemy outside the range of bows and arrows. As a result, he was almost shot into a sieve by the Jin army's crossbows on the city wall, whose range was twice that of bows and arrows. In the end, he had to retreat in embarrassment.

He snorted coldly, "Xu Huang, don't try to gain the upper hand with words. If you are brave enough, come and fight me in a one-on-one duel. I promise not to gang up on you!"

Xu Huang sneered, "I would be a fool to trust you treacherous rebels from Liang Province. If you are brave enough, come and attack the city. Do you dare?"

Seeing that most of the sky was already dark, Ma Chao realized that today's surprise attack would probably be in vain. Without wasting any more words with Xu Huang, he led his troops to disperse and plunder the surrounding villages and towns.

When Xu Huang saw this, he was not very happy. It was true that Ma Chao's army was short of food, but the other side would plunder on the spot, causing great harm to the people of Sili. Many people also fled to Jizhou. However, as a result, the Jin State had to spend a lot of money to resettle the victims.

Xu Huang still hasn't figured out a way to break the impasse. After all, the mobility of cavalry in this era cannot be ignored, especially the strong combat effectiveness of the Xiliang cavalry. The more Xu Huang thought about it, the more depressed he became. If the stalemate continues, how can he fulfill his lord's entrustment to break the impasse?
At this moment, a soldier came over and said that the city defender Wang Kuang invited Xu Huang into the city to discuss something.

Wang Kuang was originally the governor of Henei. He made great contributions when the emperor returned to the east, and because of this he got in touch with Yuan Xi. Later, after Cao Cao instigated the Huaicheng Rebellion, he took over all of Sili. Wang Kuang was unwilling to follow Cao Cao, so he fled to Heishan and took refuge with Yuan Xi, helping with Heishan's political affairs. Otherwise, Yang Feng alone would not have been able to manage Heishan in such an orderly manner in such a short period of time.

After the Battle of Yecheng, Yang Feng disappeared, so Yuan Xi asked Wang Kuang to lead the Inspector of the Imperial Guard and station him in Huaicheng to manage the affairs in the Heishan area. Now when Xu Huang heard Wang Kuang's request, he led his subordinates into the city to guard the official residence.

He entered the hall and found that Zhang Xun, who was stationed at the Black Mountain Pass, had also come. He was surprised and asked, "Why is the general here? Did something happen in Black Mountain?"

Wang Kuang, the leader, said hurriedly, "General, you have misunderstood. General Zhang is here to escort a group of prisoners who were exiled from Yecheng to the northern border of Bingzhou."

"There are quite a few people in this group, including their families, there are hundreds of them. Now that the Jinyang passage in Bingzhou has been opened, the speed is faster than the passage through Jizhou and Youzhou. So the lord ordered me to pick up two people from Weijun and escort them all the way from Heishan."

Xu Huang didn't react for a moment, "Prisoner?"

"Who offended the king and was exiled to Yinshan?"

"I remember the only large-scale exile was when the Xuzhou nobles rebelled, right?"

Zhang Xun had a strange look on his face when he heard this, and whispered, "The Wu Kingdom had just been destroyed by the Lord, so it was naturally the Wu officials who committed crimes and were unforgivable."

Xu Huang blurted out, "The king's adopted son, the King of Wei and Wu?"

As soon as he said this, he realized that he had broken his promise. Wang Kuang tried his best to keep a straight face and hold back his laughter, saying, "General Xu, this is not a good thing to say."

"Your Majesty also gave the King of Wu, no, Marquis Sun, a position as the Yinshan Wei, and made him responsible for all diplomatic affairs with the Xianbei and Xiongnu outside the Great Wall."

After hearing this, Xu Huang found it even more absurd. This exile arrangement was unprecedented. Sun Quan was once a local overlord and had even ascended the throne. How could he be willing to work for his lord?

Moreover, Sun Quan's strength lies mostly in the fact that he is in Jiangdong and is familiar with the navy. Now that the lord is throwing him to the north, isn't this like letting the fish come ashore?
Wang Kuang said, "I asked the general to come here this time because there are a lot of baggage for these hundreds of people. It seems that the lord is determined to let these people settle in Yinshan for a long time."

"It's still more than 200 miles to Jinyang in the north, but there are harassment from the defeated soldiers of Xiliang on the way. In order to ensure the safety of these people, I hope that the general can escort them all the way, hand over to Governor Gao and return, and don't worry about what happens next."

"The escort was arranged by the Lord himself. These people have sensitive identities, otherwise I would not have the audacity to ask the general for help."

Xu Huang heard this and said, "No problem. I can lead a few hundred cavalrymen. It will take half a month to go back and forth. During this time, you must be careful to guard against Ma Chao in the city." Wang Kuang said, "Don't worry, General. There is no problem defending this city."

Xu Huang immediately accepted the order, went back to organize his troops, and sent out scouts to spy out the enemy situation along the way to avoid being discovered by the Xiliang soldiers. At noon the next day, he escorted Sun Quan and his entourage on their journey.

The route he chose was along the passage of the Black Mountains. The road here was flat, which was convenient for carriages to pass through. In case of encountering the enemy, they could also enter the Black Mountains to hide.

Including his soldiers, a convoy of hundreds of carriages and nearly a thousand people headed northward in a mighty manner. Among the team, Sun Quan, the protagonist who was exiled on this trip, was sitting in the carriage bored. Madam Xu was talking beside him, and Sun Quan was listening absent-mindedly.

Madam Xu complained, "Your Majesty, the further north we go, the drier it feels. My skin feels like it's about to crack!"

"No wonder the skin of northern women is so rough. How can they survive in this kind of weather?"

Seeing that Sun Quan seemed to be lost in thought and did not hear her words at all, she curled her lips and said, "When I was bidding farewell to my mother in Shouchun, I met someone that Your Majesty would never guess."

The mother that Madam Xie was referring to was naturally Madam Wu. After Sun Quan and Madam Wu met in Shouchun, Sun Quan finally acknowledged the fact that he had failed, and the relationship between the two sides eased a lot.

Sun Quan came to his senses this time and said, "Don't call me the king. I am no longer the king."

"Now I am just a small Yinshan Wei."

Madam Xie hurriedly said: "In my heart, the king will always be the king, not only the King of Wu, but also the Emperor of Wu. If it weren't for the despicable and shameless Jin and Hannan, they would have joined forces to attack the king..."

Sun Quan interrupted Madam Xu and said, "These words are meaningless. What do you want to say?"

Madam Xu heard this and whispered, "When I went to see my mother, I found that the person serving her was Madam Xie!"

When Sun Quan heard this name, his face became even uglier. He opened his mouth and asked, "Why is she in Yecheng?"

Madam Xu said, "I have asked. After she was divorced by the king, she followed the Xie clan across the Yangtze River to Shouchun. Her brother Xie Jing was doing well under Lu Xun, so she was able to find peace of mind. Later, my mother went to Shouchun and met Madam Xie, so she kept her by her side."

"Didn't mother tell the king and his husband?"

Sun Quan guessed it as soon as he heard it. Madam Xie definitely didn't want to see him, so she hid when he went to see Madam Wu. Thinking that Madam Xie had been with Madam Wu for quite a while, she might have been taken advantage of by the ferocious tiger long ago. Sun Quan felt as if his heart was stabbed by a knife, and he felt a green light coming out of his head.

Then he laughed at himself. He had already divorced Mrs. Xie a long time ago. Who could he blame?

He looked at the endless mountains outside the window and wondered when he had started walking on the wrong path.
What unknown fate awaits me on the other side of Yinshan Mountain?
He couldn't help but think of Yuan Xi, who was not much older than him but had already occupied most of the world and was about to become emperor. It was really frustrating to compare yourself with him.

Of course, what made Sun Quan most depressed was that in later history, when writing about himself, there was an 80% chance that the King of Jin would be noted as his adoptive father. This was the most fatal blow to him.

Sun Quan couldn't help but lower his head. Forget it, things have come to this point, what else is there to say?
At the same time, Yuan Xi in Yecheng had already received the news that Sima Yi was leading his troops to set up defenses between Shouchun and Fancheng.

Because Jin was gaining momentum, many Wei officials were secretly looking for ways to retreat. Xu Du had long been infiltrated by the Procuratorate, so the detailed information about Sima Yi's military expedition was soon delivered to Yuan Xi's desk.

Yuan Xi and Zhuge Liang carefully studied the names of the officials and generals Sima Yi brought with him to predict the next move of the Wei army. When Yuan Xi saw Li Yan's name among them, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "Sima Yi has a unique vision. He actually dared to use this man."

Zhuge Liang leaned over to take a look and said, "Indeed, I have studied the situation of the lord's several battles in Jingzhou, especially the final battle to defeat Xiahou Yuan. Li Yan played a very bad role in it and can be said to be the culprit of Xiahou Yuan's defeat."

Yuan Xi thought to himself, not only that, he was also the culprit that caused your failure in the Northern Expedition in later generations.

He looked at the names on the list and said, "Sima Yi is indeed not a simple person. Military advisors should be careful."

Zhuge Liang was looking forward to it. "I have met a worthy opponent. I am just thinking of competing with him. Please rest assured, my lord."

"However, Liang is not worried about this journey, but the situation in the north this year."

"Liang still cannot predict when the Xianbei will attack again."

(End of this chapter)

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