Ji Han Liu Zhang

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were three passages between Guanzhong and Longyou, arranged from north to south, namely Panyu Road, Guanlong Avenue, and Chencang Narrow Road. All three had precedents as military passages and were reused by later generations.

The three passages vary in distance and difficulty. Panyu Road is the northernmost and the farthest, while Chencang Road is the closest and the narrowest. This is because Chencang Road is the Wei River Valley in the mountains, and the river valley is narrow and difficult to travel.

Apart from Panyu Road and Chencang Road, the central Guanlong Road is the most frequently traveled and easiest avenue through Longshan Mountain. In the sixth year of Jianwu in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu sent seven armies to conquer Wei Xiang who ruled Tianshui. This passage was the first one considered. Unfortunately, the seven Han armies were blocked by Wei Xiang in the Longdi area of ​​Guanlong Road and were not allowed to enter Longyou, resulting in the failure of Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu's first plan to conquer Longyou.

Now Liu Zhang wanted to seize Longyou, and the route he first considered was the same as that of Emperor Guangwu of Han, Liu Xiu, who also marched from Guanlong Road. However, unlike Emperor Guangwu of Han who was blocked at Longdi, he took advantage of the internal struggle between Ma Teng and Han Sui, sent Gan Ning to capture Lueyang, and stationed Wen Pin in Longdi, thus seizing the right to pass Guanlong Road and taking Lueyang, a key place.

By the time Ma Teng and Han Sui reacted, they conspired together because they were worried about Liu Zhang and led their troops to Lueyang, but they were helpless against Lueyang.

In addition, after Ma Teng and Han Sui arrived in Lueyang, they separated an army and sent Ma Chao and Ma Dai to Longdi, hoping to capture Longdi, cut off the Guanlong Road, and at least take back an important place.

But when Ma Chao, Ma Dai and his army arrived at Longdi and observed the camps of one or two Shu soldiers set up in Longdi, Ma Chao's expression suddenly became serious.

There was no other reason. The Shu army's camp had very complete defenses, including trenches, chevaux de frise, solid fence walls, and tall gate towers. As a veteran soldier, Ma Chao could see that the commander of this camp was no ordinary man.

"What a well-fortified camp." Ma Chao's cousin Ma Dai, who was standing beside him, sighed after observing the Shu army camp for a while.

"Brother, who is the commander of the Shu army in this camp? How could he arrange such a well-organized and impeccable camp?"

Hearing Ma Dai's question, Ma Chao slowly spoke: "According to the investigative report, the Shu army general stationed in Longdi is named Wen Pin, with the courtesy name Zhongye, and is from Nanyang County, Jingzhou..."

"Chu people? How did a Chu person get to serve as a general under Liu Jiyu?" Ma Dai was puzzled. The Grand Marshal Liu Zhang occupied the Shu area, so how come there were Chu people among his generals? His hands were so long.

"Wen Pin was a man who was defeated and captured when Cai Mao and Zhang Yun of Jingzhou attacked Shangyong. Later, he was redeemed by Liu Jiyu and bought the land of Shu. Since then, he has served as a general under Liu Jiyu." Ma Chao explained the reason.

Then Ma Chao shook his head and sighed, "I heard earlier that this man was defeated and captured. He thought Wen Pin was a mediocre general, so the Long Mansion should be easy to obtain. I didn't expect that the defeated general would have such a talent. The Long Mansion is not easy to obtain..."

"Perhaps this person is all gold and silver but rotten inside. After all, he has many fancy things to show off, but he is actually vulnerable." Knowing Wen Pin's past, Ma Dai thought about it in a positive way.

Hearing this, Ma Chao just shook his head calmly. There are people in the world who look gorgeous on the outside but are corrupt on the inside. But Wen Pin in front of him is definitely not one of them. The camp set up by Wen Pin, in addition to being complete, also showed a strong momentum like a solid wall, which could not be faked.

"Longdi, we must not leave. This trip will be in vain!"

Ma Chao had already made up his mind before attacking the Shu army's camp. It can be said that this was Ma Chao's intuition, but it was more of a military quality that Ma Chao had refined after years of experience in war, which gave Ma Chao a unique insight into the battle situation and military intelligence.

"Let's set up camp first and send troops to attack the Shu army camp tomorrow." Seeing that it was already past noon, Ma Chao planned to set up camp first. Otherwise, if they attacked the Shu army camp at this time, it would be dusk when they were halfway through the attack, and they would have no choice but to live in the wilderness.

At night, a crescent moon hangs in the night sky.

The north wind howled outside Ma Chao's tent, with a shrill whistle, like the howling of ghosts and wolves. At this moment, inside the tent, a light was dim, and Ma Chao had not fallen asleep. He sat in front of the table, one hand like a pillar supporting his tilted head, thinking about how to capture the Shu army camp.

Attacking a city is hard and tiring work, because in a siege, if the people in the city are determined to hold on, it will often take three to five months to capture the city, and it may not be possible to capture the city even after one or two years.

Similar to siege a city, capturing a camp is also a difficult task, especially when the defending general is reliable. The difficulty of capturing a camp is almost the same as that of attacking a city. Both are hard and tiring tasks that torture the attacker.

Just as Ma Chao was deep in thought, he heard a commotion outside the tent, followed by a chaotic sound of shouting and killing. He frowned and immediately stood up and walked out of the tent.

When Ma Chao opened the curtain, he saw his cousin Ma Dai, who was on night watch, standing outside his tent. Ma Dai looked a little panicked. He cupped his hands and reported to Ma Chao, "Brother, the Shu army took advantage of our long journey and the fatigue of the soldiers to lead the army to attack us at night."

"Have you breached the gate?" Ma Chao asked calmly without changing his expression.

Ma Chao took some precautions against the possibility that Wen Pin would lead his troops to launch a night attack while Ma Chao had come from afar and was not yet firmly established. He arranged for his cousin Ma Dai to lead elite soldiers for patrol. So when Ma Chao heard that the Shu army was coming to attack, he was not too nervous because he believed in Ma Dai's ability.

"No." Ma Dai shook his head, a look of fear revealed on his face. If he had not been on guard personally and patrolling everywhere, and happened to discover the Shu army coming for a night attack, he might have been tricked by the Shu army and had been killed and entered the camp.

"But the soldiers in the army had just rested, and when they heard the Shu army's attack, they were a little panicked. Some soldiers ran away from the camp and started running around. The situation in the camp was not good."

Hearing that the camp gate was not broken, Ma Chao felt relieved. After all, the camp gate was intact and the Shu army had not entered the camp, so there was nothing to worry about.

The first thing he had to deal with now was that the soldiers in the camp were in a panic because of the Shu army's night attack, and there was a possibility of the camp blowing up. As long as the camp was stable, the Shu army would not have much chance of taking them down.

Having made the decision, Ma Chao took action. He arranged for Ma Dai to lead his troops to continue guarding the camp gate and not give Wen Pin any chance. He stood in the camp and ordered his personal guards to suppress the soldiers who were running around in panic like frightened birds.

"Everyone return to your own camp and do not move rashly." Ma Chao shouted loudly. On the one hand, he sounded intimidating with his words, and on the other hand, he took out the sword from his waist and slashed at a soldier who was panicking and running in front of him, using killing to intimidate the panicked soldier.

Under Ma Chao's personal suppression and the fact that the Shu army had been slow to break into Ma Chao's camp, the originally chaotic and noisy camp gradually quieted down. Everything returned to silence, except in front of the camp gate, where Ma Dai was still fighting with the Shu army and some noises could be heard from time to time.

Not far from Ma Chao's camp, Wen Pin, dressed in military uniform, could sense the movements in Ma Chao's camp from afar. Seeing that the camp had gone from being noisy to being almost silent, he couldn't help but show a look of pity. 'There is no chance, or rather, not much chance.' Wen Pin was used to fighting and had a good grasp of the situation. Just like at this moment, he knew that if the Liangzhou bandit camp had not been completely disturbed by the shock, he would have no chance to break through the Liangzhou bandit camp gate and kill his way into the Liangzhou bandit camp.

Even if the leader of the Liangzhou bandits pacified the situation in the camp, the chance of him breaking through the gate of the Liangzhou bandits' camp would be extremely small, almost zero.

"Retreat, I will cover the rear myself." Wen Pin made a prompt decision. If his attack failed, he decided to leave.

At Wen Pin's command, the sound of the horn was sounded, and the soldiers under his command were divided into several teams and retreated one by one. Under the cover of night, they swept in like a tide, and then left like a tide.

"Ma? Ma Teng, or Ma Chao. Ma Teng would not have come this far, so it must be Ma Chao."

Wen Pin, who was at the rear, observed the enemy camp gate and covered his soldiers' departure while thinking about the identity of the leader of the Liangzhou bandits. After a moment, he had an answer, he thought the person who came here should be Ma Chao.

There is no other reason. As a Liangzhou hero who is as famous as Han Sui, Ma Teng would definitely not lower his status and be driven here by Han Sui. He should stay in Lueyang and attack Lueyang City with Han Sui. Among Ma Teng's descendants, the most famous one is his eldest son Ma Chao, who is known as "strong and brave" in Liangzhou. It is thought that Ma Chao was ordered to come here.

Seeing that Ma Chao's camp gate was closed and he did not move out after hearing the horn sound outside the camp, Wen Pin sighed that Ma Chao was a cautious person and led his troops away without stopping here.

The crescent moon above the dark night was shedding faint moonlight, shining on Wen Pin and his group as they returned to the camp.

Although no great achievements were made tonight, Wen Pin did not look resentful. After all, he had disturbed Ma Chao and prevented his soldiers from sleeping. Tomorrow's soldiers would surely be tired, and they would have to wait another day before they could attack his camp.

If we delay for another day, the changes may be very big. It is winter now, and the north wind is blowing quite strongly. It is impossible to say when a heavy snow will fall, and the offensive of the Liangzhou bandits will be in vain. After all, it is difficult to travel in the snow, let alone fight.

On this side, Wen Pin floated away, while on the other side, he was in Ma Chao's camp.

Ma Dai said to Ma Chao with an unwilling look on his face: "Brother, are you really not going to catch up with them? If we leave the camp now, we may be able to catch up with the Shu army and destroy their prestige. We can teach these sneaky Shu troops a lesson."

"Wen Zhongye is not an ordinary person. When facing such a good general, you don't ask for merit, but to avoid mistakes. You must not be greedy, and you must not have any thoughts of getting angry and raising an army." Ma Chao shook his head and rejected Ma Dai's advice with these words. At the same time, he was also teaching the slightly immature Ma Dai.

“Sometimes when two armies fight, it is not about who has more ingenious strategies or higher wisdom, but about which army makes fewer mistakes and is less likely to be caught by the other side… The art of military deployment is related to the safety of the three armies, so one must not be reckless.”

Ma Dai bowed his head and accepted the teachings of his elder brother, who was like a father to him. He said, "Thank you for your guidance, elder brother. I will learn from you."

Day two.

Due to the disturbance caused by the Shu army's night raid last night, most of the soldiers in Liangzhou did not sleep well. Even if the Shu army retreated, the soldiers did not dare to sleep soundly. Most of them slept with one eye open and one eye closed, fearing that the Shu army would come back and they would lose their lives in their sleep.

Seeing the exhaustion on the soldiers' faces, Ma Chao would certainly not urge the soldiers to leave the camp to attack the Shu army camp in Longdi under such circumstances. He asked the tired soldiers to have a good rest and planned to test the situation of the Shu army camp tomorrow.

"Brother, the north wind is getting stronger and stronger. It is hard to say when a heavy snow will fall. The camp set up by Wen Zhongye is very strong. I feel that this trip may be in vain."

When he was with Ma Chao in private, Ma Dai spoke out his true feelings. Although his words were extremely depressing, they were true. Moreover, he said them in front of his elder brother Ma Chao without any reservation.

Ma Chao, as the commander, did not get angry when he heard these discouraging words. Instead, he nodded and said, "Winter is not a good time to raise troops. In addition, the Shu invaders are very stubborn. It is difficult to expect to achieve great success. It is indeed as you said. It is difficult to achieve success."

"Besides..." At this point, Ma Chao's eyes sparkled, and he sighed, "We have just fought with Han Sui for several months. We suddenly joined forces only because the Shu army was powerful. The coalition forces are united in appearance but not in heart. We have to go to the Shu army with 30% of our strength, and 70% of our strength has to deal with Han Sui in secret. We don't have enough strength, so how can we achieve success?"

The decision to join forces with the mortal enemy Han Sui was the result of the arbitrary decision of Ma Teng, the head of the Ma family. To be honest, Ma Chao was not very optimistic about the idea of ​​joining forces with Han Sui. After all, Han Sui was cunning and unpredictable. Joining forces with Han Sui would be like courting death.

Ma Chao's plan was to defeat and kill Han Sui before the end of the year, making the Ma family the only one in power in Liang Province. Then, before the Shu army marched west the following year, he would recapture Lueyang and block the Guanlong Road, thereby preventing the Shu army from attacking Liang Province. This would be the correct approach.

As for joining forces with Han Sui to block the Shu army from entering Liang Province, this kind of thing is really unreliable. God knows what this thief Han Sui is thinking and what he will do.

"Brother, so you had the same idea!" Ma Dai showed joy on his face. He was happy to have found someone with the same ideals as him.

Ma Dai was not optimistic about the current war, and he also disagreed with the idea of ​​joining forces with Han Sui to resist the Shu army. However, his words were not influential, so he did not dare to speak out, and only dared to say a few words in front of Ma Chao, with whom he had a close relationship.

The third day was the day that Ma Chao had planned to attack Wen Pin's camp, but a heavy snowstorm disrupted Ma Chao's plan. The snow covered the sky and the earth, and it was so deep that people could not get up to their knees. Under such circumstances, it was naturally impossible to mobilize an army.

So Ma Chao sent an envoy to Ma Teng to inquire about Ma Teng's subsequent plans. However, while Ma Chao's envoy was still on the way, he ran into the envoy sent by Ma Teng to Ma Chao, who brought back Ma Teng's order.

'retreat!'

This was an order that came without surprise, and Ma Chao accepted it calmly. He ordered his soldiers to pack their luggage, intending to leave here as soon as possible, and join forces with Ma Teng outside Lueyang City, returning to their base in Tianshui County to avoid the cold winter wind.

After the heavy snow, Wen Pin of Longdi received the news that the Liangzhou thief Ma Chao had retreated. (End of this chapter)