At the end of the Han Dynasty: a stingy husband from his hometown

Chapter 294 Ma Mengqi fights Cao Mengde
  Although what Li Yan said does not sound good, it is also true.

Zhou Qi conquered the south and the north, and was invincible. He was as powerful as Jing and Yizhou, but they were eventually captured by him. Hanzhong was only one county. Even if he could stop Zhou Yu, he might not be able to stop Zhou Qi.

Seeing that Zhang Lu still showed hesitation, Li Yan continued: "Now you and I are facing each other, and the outcome is still undecided. If the Heavenly Master is willing to surrender the city, it will be a great achievement, and His Highness the King of Chu will certainly not hesitate to reward him."

"Once the war starts, when most of the governor's troops arrive at the city, and the Heavenly Master surrenders the city when he is desperate, the credit will be very different, so please make plans in advance!"

At this moment, an official rushed in, walked up to Zhang Lu, and whispered softly: "Cao Cao sent an envoy."

Zhang Lu's expression moved slightly, and then he said to Li Yan: "This matter is serious, please go to the post house to rest first, and I will reply to you after I have completed discussions with my generals!"

When Li Yan saw this, he looked at the official who just ran in and frowned slightly.

However, he also knew that it was not appropriate to force Zhang Lu too much, so he immediately gave up the offer and returned to the post house.

……

By the way, while Zhou Qi was fighting Yuan Shao, Cao Cao withdrew his troops and returned to Chang'an, and then led his troops to rush to Chencang's aid all night long.

Ma Teng and Han then learned that Cao Cao's reinforcements had arrived, and immediately raised their accounts to discuss matters.

Ma Teng's son, Ma Chao Ban, asked for a fight, saying: "Cao's army has recently arrived. It is bound to be short of men and horses, and the soldiers are tired. I would like to invite three thousand cavalry to attack it and burn its food and grass so that it cannot set up camp!"

After Ma Teng and Han Sui discussed it, they immediately said: "When we go to challenge this time, we should focus on harassment. We should not act recklessly. If things cannot be done, withdraw our troops immediately!"

"Three thousand cavalry are too few. Let Pang De and Yan Xing each lead [-] cavalry to support them!"

Ma Chao and Pang De are both well-known Xiliang generals in later generations. However, Yan Xing was also extremely brave. In history, he once used a spear to stab Ma Chao. After the spear broke, he hit Ma Chao's neck with the broken spear and almost killed him.

Later, after Yan Xing surrendered to Cao Cao, he was also named a lord.

These three fierce generals are almost the top of Liangzhou's military strength.

When Ma Chao heard this, he was overjoyed, so he ordered his troops and horses, and together with Pang De and Yan Xing, went to Cao's camp to kill.

Before the three of them arrived at Cao's camp, Pang De said: "Cao Cao put down the Guanzhong rebellion, defeated Li Jue, Guo Si and many Liangzhou generals, and surrendered many Xiliang cavalry. Based on this, he formed the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. He knows very well the tactics of our Xiliang cavalry."

"The major general rashly leads his troops to attack, and he may not be able to win."

Ma Chao frowned and said, "Why should Ling Ming gain the ambition of others and destroy his own prestige?"

"The cavalry under Li Jue and Guo Bin have been arrogant and powerful in Guanzhong for many years. They have long lost their former fierceness. I regard them as chickens and dogs, so why should I be afraid?"

However, Yan Xing intervened at this time: "Cao Mengde knows soldiers well and is very cunning. The young general must not underestimate the enemy."

Ma Chao said angrily: "You are generals, but you are timid in battle. Who of the soldiers under your command dares to risk their lives?"

At this time, Ma Chao had already gained a great reputation in Liangzhou. His reputation for bravery was the highest in Xiliang, so he was naturally a little arrogant.

Pang De continued to advise: "Soldiers should be more sophisticated than numerous, and generals should be wise rather than brave. In a head-on confrontation, naturally none of the generals under Cao Cao can match the young general. However, there are many counselors under Cao Mengde. If you use deceit, like this What can I do?"

"We might as well divide our troops into three groups, and let the last general personally lead the troops to challenge, so as to test the strength of Cao's army."

"If Cao's army is unprepared, the trumpet will blow at the end. The major general and General Yan can lead another army to help and defeat Cao Mengde in one fell swoop."

"If he is prepared and pretends to be defeated again, Cao Jun will definitely pursue him."

"At that time, if the two generals attack together, they will be able to defeat Cao's army!"

Hearing this, Ma Chao frowned and thought for a long time. He felt that Pound's words were very reasonable, and immediately said: "I will lead three thousand cavalry to challenge, and you two will each lead one thousand five hundred people to ambush behind as reinforcements. How about that?"

The two acted according to the plan.

However, it was said that after Cao Cao led his troops to the area under Chencang's jurisdiction over a starry night journey, because the Xiliang army surrounded Chencang, Cao's army was tired from the distance and was not suitable to rush into the city by force. He immediately prepared to set up camp twenty miles east of Chencang.

However, Guo Jia took the opportunity to persuade: "The Xiliang army is brave. If we know that the general is camping here, he will definitely send troops to attack. We must be on guard!"

Cao Cao believed this, and immediately made a plan to pretend to set up camp here, and piled a lot of grain and grass as bait in the middle. In fact, he set up pocket formations. Once the Xiliang army came to attack, the opponent would definitely be unable to come back.

As Guo Jia expected, it didn't take long for three thousand cavalry to arrive.

But he saw the first general, who was eight feet long, with a green face and a long beard, a tiger's back and a bear's waist, a lightning-looking wolf, eyes like copper bells, and a tall head and big ears.

He is holding a tiger-headed golden gun with a sound like a huge thunder and a power like a galloping horse. He has a heroic appearance and extraordinary power. He is Xiliang Jin Ma Chao.

Even Cao Cao couldn't help but secretly praise Ma Chao when he saw him.

"Xiliang Ma Chao is here, who dares to fight me?"

A thunderous sound exploded in front of the two armies, causing the horses to neigh in fear. Many of Cao's soldiers were immediately frightened when they saw this.

Seeing Ma Chao acting cruelly in front of the battle, he angered a hero, none other than Cao Cao's number one general, Xia Houyuanrang.

I saw Xiahou Dun lightly kicking the horse's belly, rushing to the front of the formation with a spear in hand, and shouted sternly: "Horse Xiu, please don't be crazy, let me, Xiahou Dun, come to take your head!"

When Ma Chao saw Xiahou Dunsheng's majesty, he was not surprised but overjoyed. He raised his horse and attacked Xiahou Dun directly with his spear.

The two fierce generals went back and forth in front of the formation, killing each other like sand and stones. The sky was dark and the earth was dark, and the sun and the moon were dim. They fought for fifty rounds, but Xiahou Dun gradually became exhausted.

Cao Cao was worried that Xiahou Dun was missing, so he hurriedly ordered Xiahou Yuan to go to rescue him.

Ma Chao was one against two, but he was not afraid at all. Instead, he cheered up and fought with the two for another hundred rounds, which greatly boosted the morale of the Xiliang cavalry and everyone applauded.

When Cao Cao saw this, his eyes could not help but shine with wonder.

The two Xiahou brothers can be regarded as the ceiling of Cao Cao's military strength. Now that they join forces, they still cannot defeat Ma Chao, which shows how brave the other side is.

When Cao Cao saw that his horse was overtaking the enemy, he became more and more brave. He was worried about the loss of the Xiahou brothers, so he hurriedly offered money to withdraw his troops.

The two of them finally came to their senses, made a feint, and headed straight for the formation.

When Ma Chao saw this, he suddenly raised the spear in his hand and shouted sternly: "Charge with me!"

"kill!"

Ma Chao's brilliant victory of one versus two just now greatly boosted the morale of the Xiliang cavalry. After hearing the order to attack, they rushed directly to the front of Cao's army without any hesitation.

"Tap Tap!"

Three thousand cavalrymen came galloping forward with unrivaled momentum.

Cao Cao, on the other hand, hurriedly asked the infantry to get into position to protect the camp being built behind.

However, the Xiliang army's offensive was too fierce, and the poorly prepared infantry phalanx was soon torn open, directly exposing the camp under construction.

Ma Chao was overjoyed when he saw this and hurriedly led his troops to rush over.

Wherever the Xiliang army passed, they were invincible. Cao Jun retreated in fear, and easily reached the unbuilt camp of Cao Jun.

"Rush in!"

Without any hesitation, Ma Chao looked at the direction where Cao's army was stacking grain, grass and baggage, and planned to destroy it. ˆ ˆ ˆ Never thought about it.

Ma Chao rushed to the places where grain, grass and baggage were piled, only to find that there was no grain at all, just some straw. He immediately felt his heart sinking, knowing that he had been tricked.

"Retreat, retreat quickly!"

"Boom boom boom!"

Just as Ma Chao roared, he heard the exciting sound of war drums.

Immediately afterwards, around the camp that was being built, the soldiers who had already ambushed them quickly surrounded the camp with horses and antlers, intending to catch turtles in the jar.

Once Ma Chao's three thousand cavalry cannot break out of the camp, they will be like meat on the chopping board.

Although Ma Chao is not a resourceful general, he has a natural keen sense of commanding troops in combat, and he quickly understood the current situation clearly.

He turned his horse's head and looked at Cao Jun's infantry, which seemed vulnerable just now. At this time, they had formed a neat square formation, blocking the retreat of Xiliang's cavalry.

That direction was also the only place where no horse or deer antlers were set up.

When Ma Chao saw this, a stern look flashed in his eyes, and he immediately raised his spear high in the air, and then shouted sternly: "I fell into the thief's plot by mistake today, and my only chance of survival is here."

"All the soldiers have decided to survive, so they will charge with me and directly capture Cao Cao!"

Having said this, Ma Chao pointed his spear forward, which was exactly where Cao Cao was.

Immediately, Ma Chao didn't care whether the soldiers behind him would follow him. He immediately rushed towards Cao Cao's direction without any hesitation.

The soldiers of Xiliang, who were originally in confusion after being ambushed, immediately cheered up when they saw the bravery of their coach, and charged forward fearlessly behind him.

When Cao Cao saw this, he couldn't help being shocked and said in a voiceless voice: "I never thought that this horse could actually lead an army like this!"

An excellent general's role on the battlefield is far beyond ordinary people's imagination.

Either by virtue of their own bravery or their extreme command of their subordinates, they are often able to create miracles in desperate situations.

On the contrary, some mediocre people, even if they originally have an advantage, may eventually lose because they cannot infect their subordinates.

Throughout the history of the Three Kingdoms, generals such as Lu Bu, Ma Chao, Zhao Yun, and Zhang Liao may be far inferior to Cao Cao in commanding large-scale army operations, but they can often create miracles in small-scale united operations.

A strong general like Ma Chao can even exceed expectations on the battlefield.

Perhaps it is precisely because of this that he was able to kill Cao Cao at his peak in history and almost lost his life. Later, with his personal bravery, he became a serious problem for Cao Cao in Liangzhou.

At this time, Ma Chao did not retreat but advanced, and actually came straight towards Cao Cao. On the contrary, he perfectly missed the ambush that Cao Cao had set in other directions in advance.

Those directions are not only filled with antlers and horses, but there are also horse traps, horse ropes, and ambushed soldiers and horses behind them.

Once Ma Chao chooses another direction to break out, he may not be able to escape unscathed.

However, neither Cao Cao nor Guo Jia, nor the other counselors in Cao's army, could have guessed that Ma Chao would choose the direction that was the most difficult to break out of.

"Fire arrows!"

Cao Cao saw Ma Chao rushing towards his direction and hurriedly ordered the archers to release arrows.

"Choo Choo Choo!"

Bows and arrows poured down, causing many Xiliang cavalry to fall to the ground, but Ma Chao at the front still waved his spear and rushed towards Cao's army unscathed.

Generals are the courage of soldiers.

Since the generals are so brave, the Xiliang cavalry will naturally not cower and continue to charge forward despite the rain of arrows.

Fortunately, Cao Cao did not expect Ma Chao to break out from here, so he did not have many archers. Moreover, after the cavalry entered the shooting range, there was a saying that they could not defeat three arrows.

Even the most skilled archers can only shoot three arrows at most before the cavalry rushes over.

Seeing that the archers could not contain the Xiliang army's charge, Cao Cao hurriedly shouted: "The shield soldiers come forward and the spear soldiers form array!"

"kill!"

As soon as Cao Jun formed their formation, Ma Chao rushed over.

He was not at all afraid of the spear formation in front of him, but instead kicked the horse's belly suddenly, and the horse immediately jumped into the air, directly over the shield in front, and rushed forward.

Ma Chao took the opportunity and suddenly swung out his spear, directly breaking all the spears in front of the horse.

If it were other generals, the horses under their crotches might not dare to charge into battle.

Ma Chao was different. Not only was his horse a divine horse, but he also trusted his master so much that he charged forward without hesitation.

There is no doubt that Ma Chao lived up to the trust of the war horse and broke the spears in front of him in advance, preventing them from penetrating the body of the war horse.

After the war horses rushed into the formation, they immediately tore a hole in Cao's army's formation. Ma Chao took the opportunity to rush left and right, widening the gap for the soldiers behind him.

"Tap Tap!"

More and more Xiliang cavalry rushed into the formation. Due to the gap created by Ma Chao, the casualties of the Xiliang cavalry were far less than expected, and they quickly dispersed Cao's army's formation.

When Ma Chao saw this, he immediately shouted: "Capture Cao Cao today!"

After saying this, Ma Chao immediately leaped on his horse, raised his gun, and charged directly in the direction of Cao Cao.

Seeing Ma Chao getting closer and closer, the general Yu Jin standing next to him hurriedly shouted: "Ma Chao is brave and invincible. Let's go quickly!"

At this time, Cao Cao did not have Xu Chu and Dian Wei to protect him, and the Xiahou brothers were not around, so no one could stop Ma Chao.

never thought.

However, Cao Cao seemed not to have heard Yu Jin's words, and still sat leisurely on the chariot, refusing to move an inch.

He even stood up from the chariot, pointed at his neck, laughed and said to Ma Chao in the distance: "Cao Cao's head is here, can the horse take it?"

Cao's army was originally in disarray, but seeing how brave Ma Chao and the Xiliang army were, they were already a little confused.

If Cao Cao fled because he was afraid of Ma Chao, his soldiers would definitely be defeated.

It is said that a defeat is like a mountain falling. Even if Cao's soldiers are outnumbered, once they are defeated, they will definitely be killed by Ma Chao's cavalry.

It was precisely because Cao Cao understood this that even though he knew his life might be in danger, he still stood still on the chariot and even provoked Ma Chao with words.

Although Cao Cao's move was risky, it quickly stabilized the morale of the army.

The soldiers who were planning to escape immediately lost their fear when they saw the commander was so calm and composed, and began to gradually stabilize their formation.

(End of this chapter)