Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1384 Dispatch
Xiahou Shang said in the evening that he heard from the soldiers that the Jin army had made unusual movements, so he hurried from the camp at the foot of the plateau to the top of the plateau, where he saw the Jin army using machines to dig at the foot of the plateau.

He looked at the direction where the Jin army was digging, thinking, and then asked Du Xi beside him: "What do you think they are doing?"

Du Xi stared at it for a long while and said in a lost voice, "No way, the excavation is facing north. Is this to divert water?"

The several plateaus in the north were actually washed out by the Yellow River floods over thousands of years, so there are several rivers in the north, which are all tributaries of the Yellow River. Water flows continuously through them, which is also an important source of water for the soldiers of both armies.

Now the Jin army was digging towards these rivers. Du Xi guessed, "Could it be that the Jin army wanted to dig through the bottom of the plateau to divert water and flood the channels at the bottom of the plateau?"

"But if this happens, we will certainly suffer heavy losses, so how can they get through?"

Xiahou Shang fell into deep thought, his expression becoming more and more solemn, and finally said:
"There are two possibilities. One is that it's a fake dig, the purpose is to lure us to take the initiative and then ambush us."

"The second is to really dig. If the bottom of the plateau is flooded, we can only retreat, but they can take a detour from other plateau tops. Although it wastes time, they can always find a way out."

Du Xi said, "If that's the case, then it will be difficult to deal with, because they have the initiative. If we change from defense to offense, we will inevitably suffer heavy losses."

Xiahou Shang nodded and said, "That's right. Let's not consider the first possibility for now. If it's the second possibility, it means that their real attack direction may be the Yellow River, or Jingzhou in the south."

"Then this group is not the main force of the Jin army, otherwise the offensive would not be so weak. The real main force is probably in Bingzhou or Jiangling. That's dangerous!"

Du Xi said, "That's what I think too. They've been dragging their feet for so long, I'm afraid they've created opportunities for the other two routes. Now that they're openly digging the river, I'm afraid they've heard that the other two routes have been breached, so they're so confident that they want to trap us to death!"

Xiahou Shang's face changed drastically, and he asked, "Did something happen in Tongguan?"

"Xin Zuozhi is in charge over there. If there is any problem, he should come and report it to me, right?"

Du Xi said in a deep voice: "It may not be the customs clearance, maybe Sanmenxia!"

"If the Jin army attacked Sanmenxia through other routes, I'm afraid that Military Advisor Xin would not have had time to inform us. Moreover, the Jin army already has a way to quickly transmit information. I'm afraid they are sure that we won't have time to react."

Xiahou Shang lowered his head and thought for a moment, then said, "We can't stay here any longer. If the Qiao-Han Pass is really cut off, we won't be able to escape."

"Pass on my order. The rear troops must guard the pass well. Everyone else must retreat immediately!"

After Cao's army received the news, there was a moment of noise and bustle. Enduring the sleepiness, they carried their weapons and hurriedly retreated to the west. In just the middle of the night, Cao's army had retreated, leaving behind an empty camp and abandoned baggage everywhere.

Yuan Xi rode on his horse and led everyone through the camp. He said to Yang Xiu beside him: "Dezu is really good at guessing people's minds. If it were someone else, they would not be able to grasp the opponent's commander Xiahou Shang's thoughts so accurately."

Yang Xiuqian said: "It was all just luck."

"I just think that Xiahou Shang is so young, yet he has become a general. He is obviously mature beyond his years and acts cautiously. Therefore, he fights with the premise of not being defeated. Such a person must be suspicious and dare not take risks."

"Now that he sees Your Majesty sending people to dig the river, he will think of the Wei army digging the Yellow River embankment that day, and he will naturally be afraid that his soldiers will be destroyed by the water."

“Plus, the situation on the other two routes is unclear, so he must retreat just in case.

After hearing this, Yuan Xi laughed and said, "Dezu is really amazing. This time he used the trick of pretending to dig a river to scare the enemy away. This is a classic trick."

"Now we can take advantage of the situation and catch up with them. Where does Dezu think they will stop and confront us?"

Yang Xiu said, "On the passage from Sanmenxia in Shan County to Tongguan, the Yellow River changes direction from north-south to east-west at the bend."

"The rear of the place is not affected by the Yellow River, and the north can also contain the enemy troops heading south. It is an excellent defensive position."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi took out the map and looked at it, then said with a wry smile: "This road is not easy to fight. There are fortifications everywhere and strong cities at every step."

From east to west, along a line starting from Sanmenxia are Shancheng, Lingbao, Ruicheng, Tongguan, Huayin, Weinan, Lintong, and Xi'an.

These cities are all strong cities in Guanzhong and are located at the throat of the Xiaohan Pass. This road is the final line of defense in the Sili area, and its purpose is to block the enemy army.

Yang Xiu said, "That's right. If the Wei army fights desperately, it may take more than a year to finish the battle if we continue to fight along this route. So Your Majesty can only hope for a breakthrough along the other two routes."

At the same time, the war had been going on for more than a month in Wuwei County of Liangzhou. Gao Gan's Bingzhou Army and Zhao Yun's Youzhou Army had fought several battles with Ma Teng and Han Sui's Liangzhou Army and Cao Zhang's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, with both sides suffering casualties.

During this time, Cao Zhang had learned that the Xiao-Han Pass in the south was under attack, so he sent for Ma Chao and said, "Tongguan cannot be lost. You can take 3,000 Liangzhou cavalry and quickly go to Tongguan to meet up with Xiahou Shang's army and cooperate with him."

Ma Chao felt unhappy after hearing this, so he said, "Rescuing our allies is beyond my duty, and I cannot refuse."

"But Chao led the troops that day with His Majesty's imperial decree. Now if the general wants to mobilize Chao, he needs His Majesty's order or military token. Otherwise, Chao will not be able to bear the consequences if they are investigated later."

After hearing this, Cao Zhang became furious, because he and Cao Pi were not on good terms, so on the journey to Liang Province, Cao Pi's original order was for Cao Zhang, Ma Chao and Han Sui to cooperate with each other, but he did not specify who would be the leader. Naturally, this left hidden dangers for today.

If Cao Pi had appointed four generals in Chang'an with the power of pretending to be emperor, he could naturally have mobilized Ma Chao. However, Cao Pi appointed even those who had little experience and military achievements like Chen Qun and Xiahou Shang, and missed out on Cao Zhang!
But there is nothing wrong with it. Although Cao Zhang was brave at that time, he was very young, not even twenty years old, and had never participated in any decent battles, including the Battle of Yecheng, which ended because he was far away in Sili and did not have time to arrive.

This has always made Cao Zhang feel resentful. After all, he had worked diligently in the north in the past few years, but in the end Cao Pi only gave him a leisurely marquisate and only assigned more than a thousand people to the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. The remaining cavalry were the private soldiers he asked for from various families in Liangzhou.

But private soldiers have to be supported by oneself. Cao Zhang himself cannot afford so much military pay, so he can only seek help. He looks down on Ma Chao, so he will naturally tend to Han Sui, who has more powerful power and has always been on good terms with Cao Cao.

Han Sui was naturally happy to have a relationship with Cao Zhang. Although he was fickle, in this time and space, because Cao Cao died early, Han Sui did not have time to rebel against Cao Cao, so he had a good relationship with the Cao Wei court and his position was more firm than Ma Chao.

When Han Sui learned about Ma Chao's collusion with Jin Guoan, he immediately wrote a letter to the court to impeach Ma Chao. On the one hand, it was to show his loyalty, and on the other hand, it was to strike a blow against Ma Chao, who might threaten him in the future. However, after considering many factors, Cao Pi finally did not pursue Ma Chao.

But Ma Chao found out about this later, and he developed a hatred towards Han Sui. Moreover, when Ma Chao saw that Han Sui and Cao Zhang were on good terms, he became even more suspicious. Now that Cao Zhang wanted to mobilize Ma Chao, he naturally pretended to obey and refused to act.

Cao Zhang knew very well that he had no power to mobilize Ma Chao, but the route to Liang Province was extremely critical and could not be lost. If he left to rescue Tongguan, what would happen if Ma Chao and Han Sui quarreled among themselves or even rebelled?
It has to be said that Cao Zhang's sense of smell was extremely sensitive. The Western Liang Army, led by Han Sui and Ma Chao, had actually been tired of fighting the Jin Army in recent years. They just wanted to be local emperors in Liangzhou, not to be buried with the Wei Kingdom!

Now Cao Zhang saw that he could not persuade Ma Chao, so he suppressed his anger and said, "You should understand that if Tongguan is lost, Chang'an will be in danger."

"Even if the Jin army doesn't attack Chang'an, they can still open up a passage to Bingzhou. When the Jin army surrounds you, you will be attacked from both sides. Can you keep your current territory?"

After hearing this, Ma Chao's face froze. What Cao Zhang said was right. If the Jin army broke in, the first to be hit would be the Henei area occupied by Ma Chao. If Sili was occupied by then, Ma Chao would have no choice but to return to Liangzhou. But in Liangzhou now, where would there be any extra space left for him?

So Ma Chao could only reluctantly say: "Since the Marquis of Yanling said so, then Chao will go on this trip."

He thought to himself, you yellow-bearded boy, you are so ignorant. Do you think you can defeat the Jin army without my help?

You should know that the main generals along this route are Zhao Yun, the great general of the Jin army, and Zhang Liao, the cavalry general who is feared in the north. They tried their best to hold off the enemy a few days ago, and they didn't want to fight anymore. I didn't expect that you, Cao Zhang, actually thought that you could defeat the enemy after you left?

Then just don’t get killed by the opponent!

Ma Chao didn't say much and led his cavalry directly to Tongguan. After Ma Chao left, Cao Zhang's face became gloomy.

He had a good relationship with Xiahou Shang, so he persuaded Ma Chao to help. Of course, he was under a lot of pressure along the way. After all, Zhao Yun and Zhang Liao on the opposite side were in their prime, and were much more experienced than Cao Zhang in both military tactics and martial arts.

Cao Zhang was no fool. He knew that he had no chance of winning against any of the other sides, so he went to find Han Sui and said, "There may be problems at Tongguan. I have already persuaded Ma Chao to go back to defend it."

"But this will increase the pressure we face along the way."

"But as long as Zhao Yun and Zhang Liao are alive, Liang Province will always be threatened, so we must defeat them at all costs, and it would be best if we can kill them."

Han Sui smiled bitterly and said, "This seems a bit difficult, right?"

Cao Zhang said coldly: "So I need the General Zhengxi to mobilize the generals of Xiliang to cooperate with me."

"If we succeed in killing the enemy general, the Jin army will never dare to invade Liang Province again!"

Although Han Sui didn't quite believe it, he still asked, "What does the Marquis of Yanling need me to do?"

Cao Zhang said: "I need the general to mobilize Hou Xuan, Cheng Yin, Li Kan, Zhang Heng, Liang Xing, Cheng Yi, Ma Wan, Yang Qiu and other troops to surround the Jin army and kill Zhao Yun and Zhang Liao!"

(End of this chapter)