Uncle Emperor, I am really not Wolong Zhuge!

Chapter 120 Xiliang’s bravery
Outside Hangu Pass.

In the Xiliang camp, war horses neighed and armor clanked.

The 20 Xiliang cavalry were invincible along the way. If Ma Chao had not heard about Cao Cao's return and moved forward cautiously, I am afraid that he would have broken through Luoyang by now and surrounded Nanchang.

In the large tent of the Chinese army, Ma Chao and his subordinates Pang De and Ma Dai; Han Sui's former eight general candidates, Cheng Yin, Zhang Heng, Li Kan, Cheng Yi, Yang Qiu, Liang Xing, and Ma Wan were convening a meeting to discuss countermeasures .

"Our Xiliang Iron Cavalry's advantage lies in surprise attacks. This time we attacked Xuchang, we took advantage of Cao Cao's troops heading south and the capital was empty, so we had an opportunity to take advantage. But now the general is hesitant, fearing that there will be insufficient supplies of food and grass, so he only marches three or four times a day. Ten miles. Such speed is equivalent to eliminating our advantage and having a fair encounter with Cao Cao!"

Han Sui finally couldn't help raising objections to Ma Chao as the candidate for the top eight generals under his command.

At the beginning, Ma Teng was hanged in Xuchang.Ma Chao therefore called on his men to avenge his father and kill him in Xuchang.Han Sui was grateful for his close friendship with Ma Teng, so he assigned his eight mighty generals to Ma Chao's staff. He also lent all his troops and horses to Ma Chao, while he only led the old, weak and disabled troops to be responsible for the logistics transportation of grain and grass.

When Ma Chao first raised his troops, he was very aggressive and had to conquer more than a dozen cities every day. He was unstoppable along the way, and there were many small cities that surrendered without a fight.

But suddenly one day, there were rumors everywhere in Xiliang that Cao Cao got rid of the entanglement of Liu Bei's troops in Jingzhou, retreated to Wancheng, reorganized his troops and horses, and prepared for a showdown with the Xiliang cavalry!
"Cao Cao's report to Wancheng a few days ago was all lies. At that time, he was blocked by Liu Bei's Fancheng and could not advance or retreat. Xuchang was empty and the defenders were weak. If a general can move lightly and simply, abandon his baggage and supplies, and rush thousands of miles to attack, Breaking into Xuchang, Cao Cao and his generals' family members and relatives in Xuchang have all been captured by the general's men!"

"But now Cao Cao has really got rid of his troops in Jingzhou and stationed troops in Wancheng. If we go forward, we will use our own shortcomings to compare with the strong points of Cao Cao's thieves!"

"This is an unwise move!"

Cheng Yin also agreed with the candidate's point of view, stood up, shook his armor and said.

"The general is advancing cautiously in order to be able to advance steadily and avoid advancing too fast, which may lead to unsustainable and timely supplies of subsequent food and grass, leading to riots among the three armies."

Pang De saw that Ma Chao had a strange look on his face and remained silent, so he stepped forward to defend his lord.

He had been greatly favored by Ma Teng, and when Ma Teng died, his grief was no weaker than that of Ma Chao.He didn't agree with Ma Chao's army strategy, but at this moment, he had to explain to Ma Chao.

"Since my brother is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, he has decision-making authority. How can you be so rude!"

Seeing that the candidate and Cheng Yin were so aggressive towards Ma Chao, Ma Dai was furious. He held the scabbard on his waist with his left hand, held the hilt of the sword tightly with his right hand, and cursed angrily.

"Although we made the young general a commander, we are only grateful for the kindness of the old generals in the past, plus the order of my lord Han Suigong, so I came here reluctantly. How could you not know?"

Zhang Heng choked, struck the sword in his hand into the air, and said angrily, tit for tat.

The air inside the big tent suddenly became extremely tense, and it seemed that there were many weapons and weapons coming together to cause trouble for Xiao Qiang.

"We have no affiliation with the young general. We are here to avenge the old general, not to die! If the young general insists on not listening, please move your troops to the front. We are willing to stay behind."

Seeing the tension between each other, Li Kan hurriedly stepped forward, gently pressed the sword in Zhang Heng's hand, and spoke slowly.Although his words were not violent, they were sharp and hit home.Obviously, Han Sui's soldiers and horses were no longer willing to die for Ma Chao.

Seeing this, Pang De also stepped forward quickly, stopped the angry-eyed Ma Dai, and said with difficulty, "We are all brothers who have worked together in Xiliang for many years. We have experienced so many battles of life and death, why are we so easily angry today?" , or even turn against each other? If Ma Tenggong, the general of Pingxi, and Han Suigong, general of conquering the west, were here, wouldn't they be disappointed and sad? "

"If you have any objections, you can speak freely so that we can talk and discuss. You must not hurt the harmony."

While Pang De was speaking, he looked at Ma Chao.

Ma Chao remained silent, just frowning and thinking. At this time, when he saw Pound urging him to speak, he had to raise his head, look at the eight generals, and said in a deep voice: "You are here on the orders of my uncle Han Suigong to help me attack Cao Cao." Thief. As long as Han Suigong has an order, you can naturally go back and there is no need to follow me south. But before the order of General Zhengxi arrives, I also ask all the princes to obey the military order and perform their duties."

When the eight powerful generals heard this, they all had angry expressions on their faces.Unexpectedly, everyone fought all the way from Xiliang to this place, with smoke and fire bursting out, going through life and death.But he didn't get any gratitude from Ma Chao. Instead, he thought that everyone was fighting to obey Han Sui's generals and had nothing to do with him.

"The young general is so brave, he will defeat Cao Cao one day and conquer the world. How can we, who are stupid, be worthy of following and serving you! I would like to retreat first, and then take charge of the area after my lord arrives."

Liang Xing sneered and waved slightly, and the eight powerful generals stood up and retreated as if they were one body.

"Hmph, a bunch of cowards!"

"Brother, why didn't you just kill eight of them in this big tent and surrender them all? In that case, all the soldiers and horses in Xiliang will be under your control. Why not! "

Ma Dai watched the eight generals leave one after another, then turned to look at Ma Chao and said angrily.

"Oh!"

Ma Chao exclaimed softly. At this moment, he realized the intention of his brother Ma Dai holding the sword hilt, and he felt a bit regretful in his heart.

"How can this be?"

"It's not feasible!"

"Old General Han Sui helped me with integrity and assigned all his elite troops to the young master. If he kills his beloved general, how will he explain to Han Sui?"

"If this matter spreads, who in the world would dare to help us easily?"

Pang De listened and said hurriedly.

"The words of a coward. The winner is the king and the loser is the bandit. Why worry so much? Strike first to gain strength, strike later to suffer disaster. If we don't plan for it early, it will be their plan!"

Ma Dai could not accept Pound's suggestion, but Ma Chao obeyed Pound's words. In anger, he reached out and held Ma Tie, who had been silent next to him, and strode out of the tent.

"Young Master, what the generals said..."

"Now it seems that the good opportunity to capture Xuchang has been lost. Instead, it is falling into the trap step by step. The initiative in this battle has been transferred to Cao Cao."

When Pang De saw that everyone had retreated, and only Ma Chao and him were left in the tent, he frowned worriedly and said.

"It's my fault that I didn't know clearly, misbelieved the rumors, and failed to advance quickly to capture Xuchang."

Ma Chao put his hands on the table, shook his head and sighed.

Ma Chao lowered his head and stared at the land of Xuchang with the flag on the map on the table, feeling regretful in his heart.

When he heard the news of his father Ma Teng's death, along with his late father's sadness came the excitement deep in his heart!

Cao Cao led his troops southward, exposing Xuchang, who was so empty, to himself.

As long as Xuchang is captured, we can control the emperor of Han Dynasty, imitate Cao Cao, and use the emperor to control the princes!
And not only that, they can also capture Cao Cao and many of his relatives in Xuchang and use them as threats to force them to surrender to him.

At that time, the entire territory of the world will be in the hands of his Cao family!

But he didn't expect that a rumor about Xun Lingjun of Xuchang would cause him to miss the opportunity he had been waiting for for many years.

"If we go to war with Cao Cao, what do you think about the outcome?"

Ma Chao suddenly looked away from Xuchang's flag, stared at Pang De in front of him, and asked seriously.

"I'm afraid it's less than [-]%..."

Pang De looked frustrated and said in detail: "Cao Cao has many soldiers and generals, and a group of counselors. The knowledgeable people in the country will win food and follow them. In terms of planning, we lost [-]% first." Cao Cao's soldiers and horses have experienced the baptism of conquering Yuan Shao and pacifying Liaodong. They have rich combat experience and have a certain understanding of the tactics of the grassland cavalry. Although our Xiliang soldiers are famous throughout the world, they have not been able to do so since the Qiang people declined. The opportunity for conquest was lost, and many soldiers and horses never even went to the battlefield. The majesty of Xiliang's soldiers and horses was only superficial and rumored, but Cao Cao's soldiers and horses had been baptized by bloody wars. If I took advantage of Cao Cao's unpreparedness , there is no problem in attacking Xuchang, but if you want to directly confront Cao Cao on the battlefield, it will be even more difficult to win."

"So in the battle, we lost another [-]%."

"Third! Cao Cao's soldiers work hard and work together. And we..."

Pang De glanced at the door of the tent and sighed softly.

The tense scene just now has sounded the horn for the disintegration of the army and horses.

Ma Chao shook his head but did not speak.

Cao Cao used his troops like a god, with many soldiers and broad generals.Although he said he was not afraid, if he really asked his 20 cavalry to fight against Cao Cao's 80 elite troops and said he was not afraid, he would be deceiving!
His 20 Xiliang cavalry are all the elites of Xiliang, and also include the troops and horses of the eight powerful generals under Han Sui. If he were to part ways with them, the core troops and horses he would actually lead would only be around [-]. That’s all.

On the other hand, Cao Cao was occupying the Central Plains. As long as he raised his arms, Jizhou, Qingzhou and other places could send hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses to rush to his aid.

The disparity between strength and weakness made him have no confidence in defeating Cao Cao.

But if we retreat at this time, we will see that Xuchang will miss it forever, and we will feel unwilling to do so.

"Report!"

"Urgent report!"

While Ma Chao was hesitating, suddenly the anxious shouts of a scout sounded outside the door.

"Let him come in!"

Ma Chao's expression changed and he said to Pang De beside him.

"General. General Zhenxi's grain-carrying carriages and horses were plundered by a group of cavalry, and half of the grain storage camp outside Yangping Pass was burned down!"

Under the guidance of Pang De, the scout staggered into the tent, bowed and saluted, and spoke eagerly.

"what??"

"The food camp was burned down?"

Ma Chao's heart sank, and he suddenly felt an ominous feeling that the situation was over. He rushed forward, grabbed the scout's wrist tightly, and asked impatiently.

"There were about 3000 men in our unit, all lightly armed and riding thousands of miles of horses. They arrived in a surprise attack, and our army was dispersed before we had time to react. General Han Sui was also seriously injured..."

The scout endured the pain and reported the truth.

Ma Chao held his hand with too much force due to nervousness, causing even the knuckles to turn white and bloodless, and the short nails were even embedded in the scout's flesh.

"Qianliju?"

"According to the reply from our scouts, the generals of Cao Ying are conducting troops in Fancheng and have not left the camp. Only the young general Cao Xiu left the camp with three thousand troops..."

Pang De looked solemn and said in a low voice.

"It must be Cao Xiu!"

"He used the generals to close the camp and not come out as a strategy to stabilize the king, but he ordered Cao Xiu to secretly move quickly and cut off my food route!"

"It's really abominable! It's extremely abominable!"

"Thief Cao, how can you and I be willing to break up? Sooner or later I will eat your flesh and sleep in your skin!"

Ma Chao yelled and cursed angrily.

But in my heart, I was even more afraid of Cao Cao's evil intentions!

Once the food and grass are cut off, his three armies will be unable to move even an inch!

Pang De sent the scouts out, turned around, and came to Ma Chao.

"It's still too late to retreat now. We have enough food for ten days in our camp. It won't cause riots. If we don't retreat, I'm afraid Cao Cao will use a vicious trick to cut off our retreat. If the food and grass don't continue, even if If you are trapped for three days, the whole army will mutiny and lose the momentum..."

Pang De and Ma Chao once again witnessed Cao Cao's viciousness in using his troops.At this moment, they have become frightened birds, always afraid of Cao Cao's strategies.

"Seeing success and ruin, I really can't bear to give up..."

Ma Chao's eyes were always fixed on the Xuchang flag on the desktop map.

Take the emperor to order the princes, take Cao Cao to order the generals in Cao's camp!
If you capture Xuchang, everything will become possible, and you will even be able to dominate the world and be proud of the mountains and rivers because of it!

It's a pity that the opportunity is lost forever. Not only can't we make any further progress now, but we also have to worry about the opponent's sneak attacks all the time.

Pang De got a cup of slightly cold ancient tea from the teapot on the table, handed it to Ma Chao, and said comfortingly: "Now that the world is in turmoil, it is not certain who will win. Why should the general be worried about this?"

Ma Chao took the teacup, drank it all in one gulp, and dropped it heavily to the ground, breaking into pieces.

"With this defeat, I'm afraid I will never be able to touch the Central Plains again for the rest of my life..."

Ma Chao murmured quietly.

"What's involved in the Central Plains?"

"Didn't the general take revenge on Cao Cao and seize Xuchang to avenge the old general?"

Pang De asked in surprise.

All he could think about was revenge for Ma Teng, and he had never wanted to touch the world.But he didn't expect that the brave and wise new master in front of him had already dreamed of becoming the world's hegemon!
"Retreat!"

"Send word to the three armies that they are ready to depart. They must return outside the customs within three days!"

Ma Chao realized that he had lost his words and accidentally revealed the secret in his heart.He also knew that Pang De had a delicate mind, and I was afraid that this matter could no longer be hidden from him.

Perhaps returning troops at this time, reorganizing military affairs, and unifying Xiliang's troops and horses is the top priority!

Ma Chao thought of the many disrespectful words Han Sui's generals had just said in front of him, and another plan arose in his mind.

……

(End of this chapter)