Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1401 Interception
The soldiers of the Jin army blocked the road in a black mass, and flags of various colors flashed in the center of the army. Ma Chao took a glance and saw at least four or five flags in the colors of the generals, and the most obvious one in the middle was the red flag of the commander-in-chief with a yellow border and a big word "Zhao" on it.

Ma Chao was speechless for a moment. In order to strangle him, the main force of the Jin army did not go to Tianshui to attack Chang'an, but came to Wuwei to block him?
But seeing that the Jin army this time not only had at least twice as many people as his own, but was also fully equipped with weapons and armor, it was far beyond the capability of his light cavalry to deal with. Ma Chao knew that this time he was in great danger.

He looked at the anxious soldiers behind him, his face uncertain, but he finally rode out and headed straight to the front of the battle, shouting, "Where is the commander of the Jin army?"

"Please come and talk before the battle!"

The front line of the Jin army split into two sides to make way for a path. Zhao Yun rode out first, with Zhang Liao and Yan Rou on his two sides. When Ma Chao saw this combination, he knew that it would be difficult for him to escape today.

After Zhao Yun said this, Zhang Liao and Yan Rou reined in their horses and stopped. Zhao Yun walked forward a little more by himself until he and Ma Chao were several dozen steps apart. He said in a loud voice, "General Ma, we meet again."

"We have been waiting for you for a long time."

Ma Chao said in a hoarse voice: "Last year you sent me gifts to deceive me, and now it seems that I have been fooled by you!"

Zhao Yun said in a deep voice: "One is willing to fight, the other is willing to be beaten. You should know what the general was thinking at that time."

"The general is just trying to have the best of both worlds and reap the benefits."

"But General, don't you think about this? The world has been fought to this extent. Are there still people who are stupid enough to let others take advantage of them?"

After hearing this, Ma Chao couldn't help laughing and said, "General Zhao, you said it well. It's very well said."

"I was indeed greedy. I have ended up in this situation now. I can't blame anyone else."

"I'm afraid that Jin State will definitely spare my life today, right?"

Zhao Yun said, "Your Majesty has said that the rebellion in Xiliang is the source of unrest in the world and must not be tolerated."

"If the general leads them to surrender, His Majesty will arrange a place for them to live out their lives in Jiangdong. They will never be able to ride a horse again in this lifetime."

"So does General Ma. If you can accept this, Your Majesty will ensure everyone's lives are safe."

Ma Chao heard this and suddenly burst into laughter. He shouted to the people behind him, "Did you hear that?"

"That fierce tiger wants us to never set foot in Liangzhou again, and never ride on horses again. Are you willing?"

Ma Chao's generals and soldiers all shouted angrily, "No!"

"I would rather die than leave Liangzhou!"

"Let us not ride on horses, you might as well kill us now!"

Ma Chao shouted: "What they shouted is what I thought!"

"Since the fierce tiger won't let me live, then let the horse come over!"

After hearing this, Zhao Yun sighed in his heart. This situation was exactly what he had expected. When he met Yuan Xi before, he immediately proposed such conditions, but the Western Liang Army would never accept them.

At that time, Yuan Xi said, "I know that, but the Xiliang Army has offended almost the entire world in the past twenty years. Seven out of ten soldiers in my army, and even the people, have grudges against them."

"Under such circumstances, it is difficult to reconcile the contradictions. When the Silk Road is reopened, there will inevitably be more contradictions and conflicts. Therefore, I have no choice but to let these Western Liang soldiers leave Liangzhou completely so that I can rectify the atmosphere in the north."

"If we leave this hidden danger, it might be okay while I am still alive, but if the imperial court becomes weak in the future, what if they revive?"

"So if they don't agree, we can only cut the Gordian knot."

Thinking of this, Zhao Yun raised his spear, pointed it at Ma Chao and said, "I have delivered your Majesty's message. Since you do not accept it, the outcome will be decided on the battlefield."

Ma Chao swung his spear and laughed wildly, "Good!"

"Come over here and fight me to the death!"

Zhao Yun said calmly, "This time, I was entrusted by His Majesty to pacify Liang Province. The overall situation is important, so I will not challenge you in a one-on-one duel. We will attack you with all our strength in a while. Please wish you the best."

Watching Zhao Yun riding his horse leisurely back to the formation, Ma Chao felt a tightness in his chest. He had originally wanted to fight Zhao Yun in a one-on-one duel, defeat him, and then win a chance to break out, but the opponent didn't even give him this opportunity!
He was filled with rage, raised his spear high, and shouted to the soldiers behind him: "You can see that the Jin army is not going to leave us any chance to survive!"

"Come with me and fight them. Only by defeating them can we survive and become the lord of Liangzhou!"

When his soldiers heard this, they all roared, "We will follow the general till death!"

Ma Chao shook the reins and led everyone on horseback to gallop, charging towards the main camp of the Jin army with great momentum.

Zhao Yun had returned to his camp by then. Seeing that the Xiliang army had already launched a charge, he gave orders without much haste. The Jin army immediately formed a battle array, with the infantry in the front, the cavalry on the flanks, and the center firing arrows to hold the formation in place. The Jin army had already practiced this formation very well. A single volley of thousands of powerful bows knocked hundreds of Ma Chao's soldiers off their horses. Half of the front line had fallen before the charge was even halfway through, and the formation gradually became chaotic.

Ma Chao felt bitter when he saw this. The opposite Jin army had not yet used their crossbow carts, so he was helpless. The flank protection over there was also extremely tight, and he could not find any weakness to break through!
A thought flashed through his mind. The two times Zhao Yun fought with him, he always said that times had changed. Is it really impossible to reverse the defeat?

Seeing the enemy's army getting closer and closer, he had to put aside all distractions, raised his spear high, and shouted: "Kill!"

The two sides collided fiercely, and the shouts and fighting sounds of tens of thousands of people intertwined and mixed, covering the grassland for dozens of miles and going straight up to the sky. What followed was a life-and-death struggle in which no one would back down.

Ma Chao could not remember how long the battle lasted, he only knew that he charged towards the Jin army facing the rising sun, until the people around him kept falling down and he was forced to abandon everyone and flee, with the setting sun behind him looking like blood.

Almost all of the tens of thousands of soldiers he brought with him were killed. To be precise, two hours before sunset, the Western Liang army had lost more than half of their troops and then completely collapsed. Many people took the opportunity to flee in all directions, while the Jin army divided its forces and pursued them relentlessly, obviously intending to kill them all.

At that time, Ma Chao saw that the situation was hopeless, so he called Ma Dai, whose arm was already injured, and asked him to lead his men to escape along the way they came.

Ma Dai was puzzled and asked, "Aren't we going to Tianshan?"

Ma Chao said bitterly: "How can the Jin army let us pass when they are blocking the Hexi Corridor?"

"Even if we break out, they won't let us go."

"You should go back to Youfufeng. That is our Ma family's ancestral land. If you hide your identity, maybe you can spend the rest of your life and leave a legacy for our Ma family."

Ma Dai asked in panic, "What about my brother?"

Ma Chao looked toward the horizon and said, "I want to go to Tianshan."

“I don’t know why, but I always feel like I have to go there.”

"I've failed too many times in my life. I couldn't reach the place I wanted to go every time. This time, I'm going to get there even if I die!"

"I will break through first to attract the enemy, and you take the opportunity to walk back, quickly!"

After hearing this, Ma Dai could only clasp his fists and say, "Since my brother has given the order, I dare not disobey. I hope you take care of yourself on your journey!"

When Ma Chao saw Ma Dai retreating with dozens of his clansmen, he immediately led his troops to charge towards the Jin army. He ran straight towards Zhao Yun's army with a spear in hand, but was entangled by Zhang Liao and Yan Rou, and they started to fight each other.

Yan Rou was almost stabbed in the throat by Ma Chao as he came up, so he quickly retreated and shot arrows to hold his ground. Zhang Liao used his crescent halberd to lock the tip of Ma Chao's spear, making it impossible for Ma Chao to use his spear.

However, Ma Chao had other ideas. He took advantage of the chaos on the battlefield and blocked Zhang Liao's halberd with one spear, then rode his horse straight towards Zhao Yun who was leading the battle. He had already made up his mind that even if he couldn't escape, he would drag Zhao Yun down with him!

Seeing that Ma Chao was rushing towards him regardless of his life, Zhao Yun raised his spear, held the butt of the spear with one hand and the middle of the spear with the other hand. The tip of the spear was shaking slightly, making it difficult to see the direction.

At this time, Ma Chao should have completely ignored the obstruction of the surrounding Jin soldiers. He only had Zhao Yun in his eyes. The long spears of the Jin soldiers poked into his armor, but could not make his body shake at all.

The power of his spear has been accumulated to the extreme. Once this spear is fired, it will definitely be the most powerful spear in Ma Chao's life!
The two men were getting closer and closer, and in the blink of an eye they were within three meters. At this moment, they both fired their guns at the same time.

Everyone present only saw a flash before their eyes and the two war horses suddenly passed by each other, but what they heard was three ding ding ding sounds.

Only Zhang Liao, who was chasing behind, could barely see that both sides fired three shots at that moment. He couldn't help but be shocked. If it were him, no matter who fired those three shots, he would most likely not be able to block them!

Moreover, Zhang Liao clearly saw that Zhao Yun was obviously shot in the shoulder and thigh, and blood was oozing out from the gaps in his armor. His heart sank, and he quickly sped up his horse and galloped after him.

However, to Zhang Liao's surprise, after Ma Chao fired the gun, he did not continue to fight with Zhao Yun, but rode his horse directly to the north to break out. When the Xiliang soldiers on the battlefield saw this, they lost their morale and fled in all directions.

At this time, the sunset had already set to the horizon and the sky was gradually darkening. When Zhang Liao rushed to Zhao Yun's side, a doctor had already come up and sprinkled medicine powder on Zhao Yun's wound and bandaged it to stop the bleeding.

Seeing Zhang Liao's worried look, Zhao Yun said, "It's okay, they are just flesh wounds."

"But I shot him in the abdomen."

Ma Chao shot with his back to Zhang Liao, so Zhang Liao did not see it. Now after hearing what Zhao Yun said, he finally understood why Ma Chao ran away. It turned out that Zhao Yun had exchanged injuries for his own. It seemed that the shot had done a pretty good job.

Zhao Yun sighed, "I also took advantage of him. He fought for a whole day, and I was resting and waiting for him to tire himself out. This was a rather unfair victory."

"What a pity! He could have been used by Your Majesty to expand the territory, but he took the wrong path from the beginning and is doomed to be unable to turn back."

When he saw the doctor had finished bandaging him, he jumped on his horse and said to Zhang Liao, "Your Majesty has ordered me to chase him myself. I will report back only after I have seen his body."

"Wenyuan, you will take command of the army on my behalf. Go to Tianshui and march towards Chang'an. I will return as soon as I get Ma Chao's head."

(End of this chapter)