Ji Han Liu Zhang

Lueyang.

When Ma Chao and Ma Dai braved the heavy snow and returned from Longdi to the Liangzhou military camp outside Lueyang City, they saw such a scene - the camp set up by the four Qiang and Hu tribes they had lured had its gates and fences in tatters and doors wide open. The tents, baggage and food inside had all been burned, leaving only the ashes that had been burned to black ground and a faint black smoke still floating in the air.

At first glance, it is so tragic.

Of course, this is not the most tragic thing. As the leaders of the four Qiang and Hu tribes, among Shao Ge, Midang and others, only Shao Ge was left with his body. As for Shao Ge's head, it was captured by the Shu general Gan Ning. Midang was much luckier. He only lost an arm but not his life.

Pang De explained to Ma Chao and Ma Dai the situation of the Shu army's night attack that night: "Because it snowed heavily the night before, we agreed with the Qiang and Hu to withdraw our troops. However, the Qiang and Hu were on their way back and their defenses were lax, so the Shu army took advantage of it and attacked and destroyed their camp at night."

Putting the blame on the Qiang and Hu themselves, Pang De continued, "After the Shu army broke into the camp, they set fire everywhere. Taking advantage of the strong north wind that night, the wind fanned the flames. In an instant, the Qiang and Hu camp was ablaze with fire and thick smoke billowing into the sky. The soldiers fled in all directions and no one fought. Gan Ning and his warriors rushed in and killed everywhere without restraint."

At this point, Pang De sighed, "Although our army came to help, the Qiang and Hu fled, and many blocked our way. We couldn't get to the Qiang and Hu camp in a short time. When we got there, many of them had been killed, and many were trampled to death by their own people. Some of them died from burning their spears, and Mi Dang had an arm broken."

"The fleeing Qiang and Hu are blocking the road, shouldn't we kill them all and clear a path?" Ma Dai was a little confused. According to military common sense, if the fleeing soldiers were blocking the army, they should be killed without mercy. Why were they let go so mercifully?

Pang De blushed when he heard this. He lowered his voice and said in an embarrassed tone, "These Qiang and Hu were lured to help our army. We originally wanted to take Lueyang City as a reward to repay their hard work. But before Lueyang City is taken, we have to pay for the food and money ourselves. Letting these Qiang and Hu die can save us a bit of money."

"And after this night attack, the strength of the four Qiang and Hu tribes was greatly damaged, so they dare not ask for more or discuss too many conditions." Pang De said this with a simple but slightly cunning smile.

Pang De then added: "But in the final analysis, the Shu army's night attack made such a big scene, completely destroyed the Qiang and Hu camps, and killed so many Qiang and Hu. It can be said that these Qiang and Hu were not cautious enough. They thought that the snow had accumulated on the ground, so they lost their defense. As a result, the Shu army violated common sense and launched a night attack, so the Qiang and Hu naturally ended up in this miserable situation."

"As an ally, we led the troops to rescue them, which is considered to be our fulfillment of our obligations. As for the rest, it has nothing to do with us."

The two sentences Pang De added were used to convince himself that he was at peace with himself. Being a somewhat straightforward person by nature, he felt somewhat embarrassed to use such a slightly despicable method against barbarians like Qiang and Hu.

"The Qiang and Hu people are not a pity. No matter how many die, many will be born. Let the Qiang and Hu people die, and this will save us some money and food." Ma Chao, who has one quarter Qiang and Hu blood, praised the move to harm the Qiang and Hu people.

Ma Chao's grandfather Ma Ping, whose courtesy name was Zishuo, lost his official position and lived in Longxi County. Due to his poor family, he could not afford to marry, so he could only marry a Qiang woman, who gave birth to Ma Teng. So as the son of Ma Teng, Ma Chao has one quarter Qiang and Hu blood.

However, Ma Chao did not regard Qiang and Hu as ordinary people just because he had Qiang and Hu blood. Instead, he still regarded Qiang and Hu as barbarians, inferior beasts and livestock from the perspective of a Han Chinese.

Therefore, the harm done to the Qiang and Hu people, which led to their leaders burning their weapons and dying, and Mi Dang having his arms cut off, were of little concern to Ma Chao.

In fact, Ma Chao hoped that all the four Qiang and Hu tribes that were recruited this time would be killed. Anyway, when they returned to Longxi County, he and his son could just make a move and a large number of Qiang and Hu tribes would come to help in the battle for the sake of profit.

Regarding Gan Ning's night attack on Qiang and Hu, Ma Dai, who was standing next to him, recalled the night attack by Wen Pin in Long's residence. He complained: "The Shu army is really a bunch of rats. They are used to sneaky night attacks, but they dare not fight with us openly."

Ma Chao laughed out loud when he heard this. He stretched out his hand and put it on Ma Dai's shoulder. He said to Ma Dai: "On the battlefield, victory or defeat is the most important thing. Defeating the enemy is the most important thing. As for what means or strategies you use, they are irrelevant... In short, you must win. Only the winner has the opportunity to speak, and the loser can only cry on the ground."

As they talked, they soon arrived at the central military tent where Ma Teng was.

"Father, is it time to withdraw the troops?" Ma Chao opened the curtain and entered the tent with a gust of wind and snow. Before he even sat down, he asked Ma Teng a question.

"Well, it's time to withdraw our troops. With the heavy snow, we can't fight this battle." Ma Teng, who was in the lead, nodded and replied to Ma Chao. His tone was not very high and not as clear as usual.

Ma Chao walked forward a few steps and saw Ma Teng's face clearly. He found that Ma Teng looked a little listless, and there were a few more wrinkles on his cheeks. It was obvious that the war was exhausting, making people restless and unable to sleep well.

Ma Dai and Pang De, who were following behind Ma Chao, stepped forward and saluted Ma Teng.

"We are family, there is no need to be so polite. Besides, we don't need to go through those complicated etiquettes in the army." Ma Teng half impatiently and half warmly invited Ma Dai and Pang De to take a seat.

After Ma Chao, Ma Dai and Pang De took their seats, Ma Teng said to Ma Chao and Ma Dai, "The commander of Lueyang City, Gan Ning, is no ordinary general. He defended the city very strictly and was almost impeccable. The Qiang and Hu attacked the city for two consecutive days, but they suffered heavy casualties and they didn't even touch the city wall of Lueyang."

When talking about the battle of attacking Lueyang, Ma Teng's expression became even more listless. He had no temper at all towards Lueyang, which was as solid as an iron road, and Gan Ning, the Shu general who was good at defense and attack. Now he just wanted to return to Longxi County as soon as possible to lick his wounds.

"There has been a heavy snowfall recently. In theory, we have no choice but to retreat, but in fact, if we stop here, we have no chance. It is indeed extremely difficult to take Lueyang City from Gan Ning and the Shu army."

Ma Teng boosted the morale of others and destroyed his own prestige. The tone of his words was very decadent, but it was also the truth. As long as there were sufficient food and grass in Lueyang City, and with a good general like Gan Ning, taking Lueyang City would be more difficult than climbing to the sky.

If in front of outsiders, Ma Teng would be full of ambition and treat Gan Ning as nothing, but in front of his own son and his trusted general Pang De, he would express his true feelings and there was no need to be pretentious in front of his family.

"I didn't expect Gan Ning to be so difficult." Ma Chao sighed. He had gone to capture Longdi before, and he didn't have a deep understanding of the battle in Lueyang City. Now, after hearing Ma Teng's explanation, he was afraid of Gan Ning, but more of an eager and restless mood. He wanted to fight Gan Ning and taste his strength. However, Ma Chao's thoughts could only be left until next year. Once the snow fell, stationing troops in the wilderness and bathing in the north wind would result in self-destruction without fighting.

"How is Longdi? But before we could attack, heavy snow blocked the road?" Ma Teng asked Ma Chao who was leading the troops to capture Longdi. Even though Ma Chao came back, Longdi was naturally not taken. There was no way he could capture and hold Longdi, a strategic point on the Guanlong Road, to resist the Shu army next year.

However, although Longdi was not captured, Ma Teng still cared about the situation of Longdi. As the commander-in-chief, he needed to understand every detail of the overall situation and have everything under control.

Ma Chao shook his head. His expression showed that the situation was not good. "I arrived at Longdi two days before the heavy snow. We had one more day to attack Longdi. However, the Shu general Wen Pin who was guarding Longdi took advantage of our arrival and lack of foothold and attacked us at night. As a result, our soldiers did not sleep well. We had to delay for one day. On the second night, it snowed heavily and we had to retreat."

Talking about Wen Pin, Ma Chao said with emotion: "The camp set up by General Wen Pin is very solid, like an iron barrel, which can be said to be impregnable. In addition, he dared to attack our army at night while our army was far away. He can be said to be a good general."

Ma Chao was not stingy in praising his enemies. He had no scruples in this regard. The men of Liang Province were always quick to speak, without any falsehood or concealment.

"We can't take Lueyang, and Longdi is not easy to capture either. It seems that we can't stop the Shu army from coming to Liangzhou next year." Ma Teng was a little discouraged.

Ma Chao retorted, "Father, the Shu army has been mobilizing for years and has not rested. If we want to send troops to Liang Province, we have to wait until next autumn. From the beginning of spring to the end of summer, we still have the opportunity and time to capture Lueyang and cut off the Long Road."

Although it was a rebuttal, Ma Chao's tone was very calm, almost straightforward and slow, without any mixed tones.

"If we can't win it this year, will we be able to win it next year?" Ma Teng still has a very pessimistic attitude towards the future.

Upon hearing this, Ma Chao fell silent. He knew that his father was thinking of retreating, which was in line with Ma Teng's temperament. After all, his father had never had any big ambitions. He became a hero by chance, and became the overlord when the Han Dynasty was in decline and collapse.

Soon, as Ma Chao expected, Ma Teng said, "Hiss, the Grand Marshal Liu Jiyu appointed me as the governor of Liang Province. Although this was to reduce his worries when he was not in Guanzhong to fight against Li Jue and Guo Si, it also showed that Liu Jiyu wanted to befriend me, not to regard me as a bandit."

Ma Teng had the idea of ​​jumping ship. Before, he accepted Liu Zhang's recommendation of him as the governor of Liang Province, and fought with Han Sui who ruled Jincheng. Later, because the Shu army set foot in the territory of Liang Province, he joined forces with Han Sui, who was originally his enemy, and came here to attack Lueyang and Longdi occupied by the Shu army.

Now that the attack on Lueyang and Longdi has been blocked, Ma Teng wants to jump back on the boat of Grand Marshal Liu Zhang.

"I heard that Liu Jiyu is a kind person with the style of Emperor Gao. Emperor Guangwu is magnanimous and will not think about the past grudges, but will only talk about the friendship in the past."

As Ma Teng spoke, his eyes gradually brightened. "In the first year of Xingping, I once joined forces with Liu Yan to save the emperor from the thieves of Li Jue and Guo Si. With such friendship, Liu Jiyu will not mind the fact that I led the troops to attack Lueyang together with Han Sui today."

"If my father had joined Liu Jiyu at this time, with Liu Jiyu's magnanimity and generosity, even if my father could not become a governor of a state, he would have become the governor of a large county."

Ma Teng was looking forward, and the reason for his looking forward was the strong strength of Lueyang and Longdi, and the mighty military power of Liu Zhang who conquered Guanzhong in a few months and killed Li Jue and Guo Si.

Ma Teng, who was unable to capture Lueyang and Longdi for a while, thought about joining Liu Zhang. He did not want to compete with Liu Zhang. As for the treatment he would get if he joined Liu Zhang, he thought about Liu Zhang's past deeds of recruiting surrenders and rebels, and felt that he should be able to get a good result.

After saying this, Ma Teng looked at the people below, wanting to hear their opinions.

Ma Chao was the first to arrive. He was not surprised by what Ma Teng had just said, and he also knew clearly that what Ma Teng said made some sense, but he was unwilling to agree with it.

"Father, there is a banner of our Ma clan in front of Lueyang City. Liu Jiyu must be unhappy when he hears it. This is the first reason. We have been in power for a long time. It is inconvenient to be driven by others all of a sudden. This is the second reason. People in Guandong have always looked down on Liangzhou and do not take Liangzhou seriously. Liu Jiyu should not be an exception. This is the third reason."

Ma Chao spoke earnestly, and said with a worried look: "With these three things, my father wanted to surrender to Liu Jiyu, but Liu Jiyu would not accept him sincerely, nor would he be treated with courtesy by his civil and military officials. In the end, he was stripped of his military power and placed in an idle position, and no longer had the prominence of dominating Liangzhou today."

"Besides, I am under someone else's control, and my life and death are controlled by Liu Jiyu. I am always worried and exhausted. If one or two treacherous people say something to harm my father, and Liu Jiyu believes them, it will be too late to regret!"

Ma Chao's attitude was very clear. He opposed joining Liu Zhang. After all, between being the master of his own house and being a dog for others, any normal person would choose to be the master of his own house rather than being a dog for others.

Although the current situation is very delicate and not very good for them, they are not completely without chance. After all, the soldiers of Liangzhou are elite, and there are many fierce fighting Qiang and Hu people. They have some chance of winning against the soldiers of Shu under Liu Zhang and the people of Guanzhong.

"Now our army has no less than 10,000 soldiers who can fight, and Han Sui's army also has no less than 10,000 soldiers. Next year, we will recruit tens of thousands of Qiang and Hu people, and combine them into 100,000 troops to attack Lueyang and Longdi. We will not only cut off the Long Road and prevent the Shu army from advancing westward, but also march eastward, sweep across Guanzhong, and aim to dominate the area."

"Father, have you not seen Song Jian, the King of Pinghan in Heshou? Song Jian gathered his subordinates in Fuhan, changed the reign title, appointed hundreds of officials, and went out on patrol and entered the imperial carriage. How happy it was!" Ma Chao's words inspired Ma Teng, and he cited Song Jian as an example.

Ma Teng listened to Ma Chao's sincere advice and hesitated, unable to make a final decision. (End of this chapter)