Ji Han Liu Zhang

The capital of Hedong County was outside the city of Anyi.

As the governor of Hedong, Ma Chao, together with Lou Fa and Fa Zheng, led a total of 9,000 infantry and cavalry to the outside of Anyi City and set up camp outside the city.

As for why Ma Chao did not enter Anyi to station there, it was because the current Hedong prefect Wang Yi did not want the Shu army to enter Anyi, fearing that after the Shu army stationed there, his power as the Hedong prefect would be stolen.

Although Wang Yi's original intention was this, the Supervisor Wei Gu, who he sent to reward the army, said something different to Ma Chao: "The Grand Marshal saves people in need and is truly a benevolent elder."

"Lord Wang originally intended to accept the general to station in Anyi City, but after thinking about it, there are a few inconveniences."

Wei Gu gave a reason for rejecting Ma Chao's request to station in Anyi: "First, Hedong County and Shu Army are not subordinate to each other. If they live in the same city, there may be trouble. Second, Gao Gan lives not far away and is eyeing Anyi covetously. It is better to station a general outside the city to support Anyi City. This will ensure safety."

"That's why." The governor of Hedong County was very humble, but his determination to refuse the Shu army from entering the city was very firm: "My master hopes that the general can be stationed outside the city. This will increase the situation and be beneficial to the current war."

Ma Chao's face was calm, showing no sign of disturbance, but Pang De beside him was furious when he heard this. Pang De stepped forward and sneered, "Wang Taishou was besieged in Anyi by Gao Gan, and he sent several letters to Chang'an asking for help, begging my Excellency to lend a hand."

"Oh." Pang De chuckled. "Today, our army has come from afar, despite all the hardships, to come here for the sake of Governor Wang. However, you forbid us to enter the city and ask us Shu troops to stay here. Is this the principle of Hedong's hospitality?"

When Pang De said this, he bowed to Ma Chao and said, "General, when you sent me before, I told you about the Hedong issue. You can do it yourself and report back later."

"The ruler of Hedong doesn't know how to treat guests. General, you'd better leave now. It's better to abandon these ungrateful Zhongshan wolves than to rescue them and let them get angry."

"This..." Anxiety appeared on Wei Gu's face. If the Shu army left, Gao Gan would continue to besiege Anyi and take advantage of the Shu army's departure when the morale of the defenders in the city was slightly lowered to attack the city. Then Anyi would be undefendable.

When Wei Gu thought of this, he hurriedly bowed, but not to Pang De, but to Ma Chao beside Pang De: "General Ma, don't let a small matter ruin the big thing. Gao Gan is plotting to take Hedong. On the surface, he is supporting my master, but in fact he is planning to take over Guanzhong... If you leave, Hedong will be taken by Gao Gan, and Guanzhong will be difficult to stabilize."

As a famous scholar from the Wei family of Hedong, Wei Gu had been exposed to the teachings of the school of diplomacy, and his words of advice were extremely appropriate. He bluntly stated that he was thinking about Guanzhong rather than his own Hedong, thus tying Guanzhong and Hedong together.

Ma Chao's expression remained calm when he heard this. He first reached out his hand and patted Pang De on the shoulder: "Ling Ming, please be patient. You sent us here to help the needy and settle down in Hedong... Although we can leave, we cannot leave lightly because of your entrustment."

Ma Chao then said to Wei Gu, "There have been battles in Guanzhong for years. Now that our army has arrived here, we need food and fodder..."

"Don't worry, General. There are a lot of reserves in the city, which can provide you with the food and fodder you need for the war." Wei Gu saw that Ma Chao was not like Pang De, who was determined to force his way into the city, but only had some requirements for food and fodder. He quickly agreed. As long as the Shu army did not station in Anyi, everything would be fine and everything could be discussed.

After saying this, Wei Gu left behind the wine and cloth he brought to reward the army and returned to Anyi to report to the prefect Wang Yi. At the same time, he also took credit for himself. After all, under his advice, the Shu army gave up the plan to enter the city, thus avoiding the risk of Wang Yi's power being taken away.

Pang De looked worried as Wei Gu left. He complained to Ma Chao, "General, why don't we take this opportunity to forcibly occupy Anyi? Anyi is the capital of Hedong County. It has high walls and deep moats, and is rich in reserves. If we take Anyi, Hedong will be stable."

"If the general does not enter Anyi today and loses the opportunity to take Anyi, there will be many troubles in the future." Pang De said with a worried tone. On the surface, they went to Hedong to rescue Wangyi, but in fact, like Gao Gan, they were all planning to take over Hedong. Among the counties in Hedong, Anyi was the most important. If Anyi could be taken, everything would be easy.

Ma Chao shook his head slightly. He looked at the tall Anyi City from afar and consoled Pang De: "Mingming, don't be anxious. Although we cannot enter Anyi today, sooner or later, Anyi will be ours."

After saying this, Ma Chao moved his feet and walked towards the central army tent. He opened the curtain and stepped into the tent. Ma Chao first bowed to the two people in the tent and said, "Lord Fa, Lord Lou."

Fa Zheng and Lou Fa each returned the greeting, and then the few of them sat down. After they were seated, the atmosphere in the tent was a little strange, and no one spoke for a while.

After a few moments, Ma Chao coughed lightly and said to Fa Zheng and Lou, "Wang Yi, the governor of Hedong, sent an envoy to Wei Gu, the supervisor of postal affairs, with cattle, wine and cloth to reward the army. He also said that he hoped our army would be stationed outside the city. For the sake of the overall situation, I have already agreed. I wonder if you two have any suggestions? Chao will listen attentively."

As soon as the words fell, Ma Chao waited quietly for the response from Fa Zheng and Lou Fa. Although he was the governor of Hedong, Fa Zheng and Lou Fa should be under his control, but Lou Fa was from Ba County and an old minister of Liu Zhang, and Fa Zheng was from Fufeng and had joined Liu Zhang in the second year of Xingping. He was very close to Liu Zhang and both of them had extraordinary backgrounds and positions.

Therefore, as the governor of Hedong, Ma Chao did not regard Fa Zheng and Lou Fa as his subordinates who could be commanded at will. Instead, he discussed everything with Fa Zheng and Lou Fa, for fear of causing any grudge between him and Fa Zheng and Lou Fa.

"General, you agreed. What's your reason?" Fa Zheng did not respond. He asked back. Since Ma Chao had agreed to Wei Gu's request, he could not let Ma Chao take back his words. He could only ask Ma Chao what his plan was.

Ma Chao explained in a serious tone: "Wang Yi is afraid of Gao Gan, but he is also afraid of us. After all, both Gao Gan and I have the possibility of seizing Hedong. If we force our way into the city, we may have a conflict with Wang Yi... Gao Gan is stationed not far from Anyi City. If we fight with Wang Yi in Anyi, Gao Gan may take advantage of us. This is the reason."

"Secondly," Ma Chao analyzed clearly, "As for the two things we need to do right now, we need to capture Anyi and defeat Gao Gan. If we defeat Gao Gan, we can easily capture Anyi with the momentum of a great victory... But if we capture Anyi first, it will not be a foolproof strategy."

Fa Zheng smiled slightly and nodded, saying, "General, you are absolutely right. That's how it should be." He was very satisfied with Ma Chao's explanation, which was exactly the same as what he had thought in his mind.

As for Lou Fa who was standing aside, he simply said: "General, your plan is very good, so we should do it this way."

Seeing that Fa Zheng and Lou Fa both agreed, Ma Chao breathed a sigh of relief. What he was most worried about was that Fa Zheng and Lou Fa would rely on their status as elders to ignore him or even confront him.

Fortunately, Fa Zheng and Lou Fa were both mature and sensible people. When facing a powerful enemy, they ignored personal feelings and prioritized public affairs. This made Ma Chao feel relieved and at the same time, he developed some respect for Fa Zheng and Lou Fa.

However, in order to strengthen his authority as the governor of Hedong, he needed to make achievements so that the troops under his command would be united and under his command, so Ma Chao began to think carefully.

A team of Xiongnu knights wearing tube-sleeved helmets and holding various weapons in their hands approached Ma Chao's camp, intending to go around Ma Chao's camp for a careful reconnaissance. Behind the Hu cavalry was a large group of troops led by Qu Bei, the right wise king of the Southern Xiongnu, who served as a support.

As the commander-in-chief of the army, Ma Chao could not tolerate such a rampant attitude of the Hu cavalry. After all, if the Hu cavalry were allowed to circle the camp, the courage of the soldiers in the army would probably be dampened.

Lou Fa also had the same attitude. He cupped his hands and said to Ma Chao: "Ma Jun, you should shoot and kill this group of Hu cavalry, otherwise the morale of the army will be low."

"Yes." Ma Chao nodded in agreement, and then he turned over and mounted the horse he usually rode in battle. On the horse's back, he bowed to Lou Fa and said, "Lou Jun, please support me. I will kill this group of Hu cavalry for you."

"Mr. Ma, what are you doing?" Lou Fa saw that none of Ma Chao's personal guards showed any signs of getting on their horses. Instead, Ma Chao rode alone and when he arrived at the camp gate, he was ready to charge out.

Lou Fa was about to speak when Fa Zheng casually tugged at his sleeve and motioned him to look around with a meaningful look in his eyes. He saw that all the soldiers around him were staring at the figure of Ma Chao riding out of the camp alone.

At this time, if Lou Fa gave some words of advice, advising Ma Chao not to take such risks, it might have a negative impact on the morale of the army. So Lou Fa closed his mouth at the right time, staring at Ma Chao's departing back with concern.

Since Liu Zhang conquered Guanzhong, Lou Fa has been serving as the defender of Puyang and stationed in Puyang City. However, he did not participate in Liu Zhang's conquest of Longyou and the killing of Han Song. He only heard of Ma Chao's reputation for bravery, but did not know what Ma Chao's real ability was.

Therefore, Lou Fa was indeed somewhat worried about the fact that his main general Ma Chao was going out to meet the enemy so rashly. He was worried that Ma Chao would be at a disadvantage, and that the outcome would not be good.

At this moment, the camp gate of the Shu army opened in front of Qu Bei's eyes, and a silver-white figure rushed out of the camp of the Shu army. He was wearing a silver helmet and silver armor, a white robe, and a spear made of cold iron. Under the shining sun, he was truly dazzling.

Ma Chao rode out of the camp alone, with a clear goal in mind, and he charged straight at the Xiongnu knights approaching the camp. The Xiongnu knights who were sent to scout the Shu army camp saw Ma Chao charging and rushed towards him.

As for why this group of more than ten Xiongnu knights had the courage to fight Ma Chao head-on, it was because the Xiongnu knights thought that there were more than ten of them, and there was only one person on the other side, so they could not retreat.

Secondly, when the Hun knights saw the armor on Ma Chao and the horse he was riding, they could tell at a glance that Ma Chao's armor and horse were not ordinary ones. After all, Ma Chao's armor was so dazzling and his horse was so majestic, which aroused the Hun knights' greed.

Based on these two points, the Hun knights rushed towards Ma Chao regardless of anything. When they were a little further away, one of the Hun knights, relying on his proficiency in archery and horse riding, took out the horn bow hanging on the side of his horse, put the arrow on the horn bow in an instant, took aim slightly, and shot towards Ma Chao.

The Huns had been riding horses since they were young. Among this small group of more than ten Hun knights, five or six were good at drawing bows and shooting arrows while galloping. So, five or six arrows were shot at Ma Chao in a disorderly manner.

However, as he was shooting arrows from horseback while his horse was galloping, the arrows were not very accurate. Two or three of the five or six arrows passed by Ma Chao and had no effect on him.

One or two arrows flew straight towards Ma Chao and his horse, but at this critical moment, Ma Chao gently fiddled with the spear in his hand and actually deflected the arrows, showing his superb martial arts.

After firing one arrow, the Xiongnu knights were not allowed to fire another arrow, after all, the two sides were close to each other and it was time for a hand-to-hand fight. But at this moment, the more than ten Xiongnu knights were secretly frightened, shocked by Ma Chao's martial arts in deflecting arrows, and they all had the idea of ​​retreating.

But now the situation had reached the point where he had no choice but to act. In an instant, Ma Chao engaged in combat with more than a dozen Hun knights and used his deadly moves.

After a moment's time, two Xiongnu cavalrymen fell from their horses, one on his back, and the other on his side. In just one move, Ma Chao killed the two Xiongnu cavalrymen.

Ma Chao had a smile on his face. He used his superb martial arts to control the divine horses under his command that were in tune with his mind. He flipped the spear in his hand again and used another practical and unpretentious move to end the life of a Xiongnu cavalryman.

Soon, Ma Chao killed five or six of the dozen or so Xiongnu cavalrymen, and the rest were so frightened that they dared not move forward. Some of them even turned their horses around and ran back.

Seeing some of the Hu cavalry fleeing, Ma Chao looked unfriendly. He roared, clenched the spear in his hand, and killed several Hu cavalry who were hesitating and didn't know how to advance or retreat. Within three or five moves, except for one fleeing Hu cavalry, more than ten Hu cavalry were killed by Ma Chao.

Ma Chao did not intend to let go of the Hu cavalry who were fleeing away from him. He picked up a famous bow, skillfully put the arrow on the bow, and instantly locked onto the back of the fleeing Hu cavalry.

"Here!" Ma Chao muttered to himself, and saw the arrow he shot out was like a meteor, flying towards the figure of the Hu cavalry.

The fleeing Hu cavalry heard the sound of a bowstring swinging behind him. He subconsciously responded to this familiar sound of drawing the bow and drawing the arrow. He did not turn around, but intended to steer the horse under him to turn a corner to avoid the arrow behind him.

However, just as the Hu cavalryman squeezed his legs together and changed the direction of his horse, he suddenly felt something sharp on his back, piercing through the armor behind him, tearing open his flesh, and going straight into his bones.

Despite such a fierce blow, the Hu cavalryman could not even let out a scream. He only felt his body becoming weak and he gradually lost control of his limbs. He could no longer control the horse under him, and under the influence of inertia, he flew forward and fell, dying on the spot.

At this point, more than a dozen Xiongnu cavalrymen were killed on the spot, leaving only the horses they were riding. They stayed beside their masters, reluctantly waiting for their masters who would never wake up to mount them again.

He rode out alone and killed more than ten Xiongnu cavalry in a few moments. At this moment, Ma Chao reined in his horse and stood in the middle of the field, being watched by both the enemy and us.

At this moment, the battlefield was terribly silent. The Shu army, the enemy Qu Bei, and Wang Yi and Wei Gu, who were standing on the top of Anyi City and seemed to be friends but not friends, were all in a state of extreme silence, so that the only sound was the whistling of the wind. (End of this chapter)