Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 646: Bad News and Vomiting Blood
With the help of Jiang Wei and Li Jun, Wang Ping and Zhao Ang led their troops into Jicheng unhindered and wiped out the remnants of the evil forces in the city because Jicheng was caught off guard.

First, Pang Rou was shot by an arrow and captured by Jiang Wei, then Ma Chao and his family in the palace were captured by Wang Ping, and later the families of all the generals in the city were controlled by Zhao Ang.

After taking control of Ji County, Wang Ping followed Lu Xun's instructions and enforced strict military discipline in the city. Zhao Ang, relying on his past fame in Tianshui, provided food to the lonely and elderly in the city.

At that time, a sergeant in the Han army could not stand the bitterly cold weather and the strong wind in Longyou, so he took an outer robe from a commoner's home. Wang Ping and Zhao Ang learned about this and immediately arrested him and asked him what had happened.

The sergeant was caught red-handed and dared not make excuses. He could only hope that Wang Ping would forgive him this time because of his past merits.

Wang Ping was a man of few words and was known for his strict military discipline. Even though the sergeant had made meritorious services in the past, he would certainly be punished according to military law for violating military discipline at this critical juncture. Therefore, he ignored the pleas of the captains and executed him immediately.

After Wang Ping used the head of the sergeant to correct military discipline, people inside and outside Jicheng feared his methods and immediately calmed down. In addition, Zhao Ang, relying on his identity as a Tianshui native, spread the word to everyone, and the people in the city were somewhat reassured.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Jiang Wei was worried that something might happen if he delayed too much, so with Zhao Ang's approval, he personally requested to go and persuade Jiang Xu who was stationed in Shanggui.

Shanggui is very close to Ji County, and the journey takes less than a day. When Jiang Xu saw Jiang Wei coming in person to persuade him to surrender, he knew that his rebellion was successful, so he surrendered the city to the Han army.

As the two important cities of Shanggui and Jicheng were captured by the Han army, the surrounding cities of Tianshui such as Xixian, Licheng, Xinyang and others all surrendered to the Han after being appeased.

In the Longyou area, there was no other large army except Ma Dai and Gao Gang. In order to eliminate the remaining forces, Zhao Ang borrowed Ma Qiu's name to send a letter to Gao Gang persuading him to surrender.

Gao Gang, who was a general of Wei at an early age and later surrendered to Ma Chao, was not a die-hard member. But now that Liang had no future and his family was safe and sound, and he did not know whether Ma Chao was alive or dead, he half-heartedly surrendered to Han in name, on the grounds that Ma Qiu had persuaded him to surrender.

However, in order to prevent Ma Chao from making a comeback, Gao Gang led his troops to station in Qishan to observe the situation in Longyou. Once the situation became clear, Gao Gang would make a serious statement.

Seeing that Gao Gang remained neutral, Zhao Ang and Wang Ping did not force him. Instead, in order to prevent Ma Dai from returning to retake Longyou, they ordered Jiang Wei to lead a thousand soldiers to the north to seize the dangerous place.

In just two or three days, under the manipulation of Zhao Ang and Wang Ping, the people of Jicheng and Shanggui were reassured, and most of the cities in Tianshui and Guangwei counties also surrendered to the Han.

When Ma Dai learned that Tianshui had been captured by the Han army, he was at a loss for a moment. He sent someone to report the situation to Ma Chao while leading his troops south to see if he could recapture Tianshui. When Ma Dai passed Jieting, he was blocked by Jiang Wei's troops who had seized the city.

Seeing that 5,000 men were unable to capture Jieting where more than 1,000 men were stationed, Ma Dai had no choice but to retreat north to Chengji, intending to make plans after Ma Chao returned.

Seeing Jieting was attacked, Wang Ping wanted to lead his troops to rescue Jiang Wei. However, when he was halfway there, he learned that Ma Dai had retreated to Chengji and supplied Jiang Wei with a batch of supplies, so he led his troops back to Jicheng to prevent Ma Chao from leading his troops to counterattack.

Lingju was the camp of the Liang army.

Inside the big tent, Ma Chao was sulking and pacing around.

"Your Majesty, Guo Huai is a cunning military commander. Although he withdrew due to lack of food and grass, his main force was not lost. It is normal for us to suffer a small setback now," Cheng Gongying advised.

Guo Huai withdrew his troops due to lack of food and grass, and Ma Chao led his troops to pursue him along the Lishui River. During the pursuit, Guo Huai borrowed a large amount of food and grass from the Qiang tribe, and then launched a counterattack, defeating Ma Chao's vanguard troops in Lingju.

Afterwards, Guo Huai urged for food in Hexi while leading his troops to station in a dangerous place, hoping to use Ma Chao's long food route to drain Ma Chao's army's supplies.

When Ma Chao was unable to break Guo Huai's camp and saw that his hopes of taking Hexi were dashed, how could he not be depressed and angry?
Dong Zhong showed a worried look on his face and said, "Your Majesty, it is difficult for our army to defeat Guo Huai right now. In addition, the weather will suddenly turn cold soon, and it will be difficult to transport military rations to the army. I am afraid we need to make plans early!"

Ma Chao frowned and asked, "Has Jiang Jiong not delivered the food to the army yet?"

As the governor of Jincheng, Jiang Jiong was responsible for transporting food and fodder for the army when Ma Chao was chasing Guo Huai. But according to the date, Jiang Jiong had already transported the food to the front line.

"Not yet!"

Cheng Gongying shook his head and said, "I sent someone to urge him. It is probably because the food and supplies from the rear were not delivered as scheduled, so Jiang Jincheng was delayed."

Jiang Jiong worked diligently and was unlikely to make mistakes in Cheng Gongying's eyes. Especially since Jincheng was not too far from Lingju and grain could be transported along the Lishui River, it was not a difficult task.

As he spoke, Cheng Gongying advised: "Your Majesty, today the weather is getting colder. When the mountains are covered with snow and Lishui is frozen, it will be more and more difficult to supply food and grass. Guo Huai has the support of the five counties in Hexi. He is good at winning the hearts of the Qiang and Hu people. It is not easy to defeat Guo Huai quickly now. It is better to withdraw the troops now!"

Although Ma Chao was good at winning the hearts of the Qiang people, it did not mean that this was exclusive to him. Guo Huai had been in Liang Province for so long, and under his kindness and power, all the Han, Hu and Qiang chieftains surrendered to Hexi and provided food and soldiers for Guo Huai.

"Hey!"

Ma Chao paced back and forth, sighed deeply, and said: "The only solution now is to lead the troops back to Long, temporarily reorganize the troops and horses, and wait for the opportunity to use them in the future~"

Before Ma Chao could finish, the scout rushed into the military tent and reported anxiously, "Your Majesty, Jiang Jiong killed the grain supervisor and has now taken Jincheng and rebelled."

"what?"

Ma Chao showed a look of disbelief, stepped forward, grabbed the scout by the collar, and angrily asked: "I treated Jiang Jiong well, how could he betray me?"

"But you heard it from others, or you were bribed by Guo Huai to slander the generals in the country and sow discord!"

"The villain dare not!"

The scout was terrified and said quickly, "I was ordered by the military advisor to go south with Ma Duliang to supervise Jiang Jincheng. Unexpectedly, Jiang Jincheng lured us into the city and then sent troops to capture and kill us. If I hadn't fled at the risk of my life, I would have had a hard time reporting to the king."

"An dare, thief!"

Ma Chao threw off the scout's collar with one hand, kicked over the table in anger, and said angrily: "I have treated Jiang Jiong well, how dare he do this. If I don't kill him, I will never be able to get rid of the hatred in my heart!"

Ma Chao was furious at being betrayed by someone he trusted, and if Jiang Jiong stood before him, Ma Chao would tear him in half.

"Your Majesty, with Guo Huai in front and Jiang Jiong rebelling behind, it is best to withdraw our troops. If the two armies attack us from both sides and cut off our food supplies, I am afraid our army will be wiped out!" Cheng Gongying reacted and advised.

Ma Chao gritted his teeth and said coldly, "The reason why Jiang Jiong rebelled was probably because of Guo Huai's instigation. Guo Huai pretended to be defeated and lured us deep into Lishui, and then let Jiang Jiong cut off our food supply, thus destroying our army. If our army had not been aware of it, the thief would have succeeded!"

At this point, due to the lack of information, Ma Chao still did not believe that the Southern Han had stabbed him in the back, but the first person he thought of was Guo Huai who was confronting him.

"Withdraw troops!"

Ma Chao suppressed his anger and said, "We should withdraw our troops southwards to see if we can capture the city and kill the traitor Jiang Jiong." Ma Chao did not forget Jiang Wei and Jiang Xu, and said, "Send someone to Jicheng and order Pang Rou to kill Jiang Wei and Jiang Xu to prevent the two traitors from causing trouble."

"promise!"

With the rage of killing the rebels, Ma Chao led his troops to burn down the camp and march towards Jincheng. Guo Huai was unaware of the riot in Longyou, and when he saw Ma Chao hastily withdrawing his troops, he thought that he was worried about his pursuit, so he led his troops to withdraw to Longyou.

Lingju was more than 400 miles away from Jincheng, and Ma Chao led his troops to attack, hoping to take Jincheng by force while Jiang Jiong was unprepared. However, Jiang Jiong, who had been planning to return to Han for a long time, would not be unprepared.

When Ma Chao led his troops to the gate of Jincheng, he saw that Jiang Jiong had closed the gate tightly and the soldiers were on high alert, making it impossible to break into the city by force.

Ma Chao rode out, holding a spear and cursing, saying: "You bastard Jiang Jiong, I treated you well, why did you betray Liang and surrender to Wei? Now your family is in Jicheng, if you don't leave the city and surrender, don't blame me for being ruthless, I will kill all three clans of the Jiang family."

"Ha ha!"

On the tower, Jiang Jiong leaned on the rough parapet, laughed a few times, and said, "Traitor Ma Chao, you betrayed Cao Cao, and then surrendered to him. After Cao Cao died, you betrayed him again. How can you face me now?"

Jiang Jiong said loudly without hiding anything, "My Jiang family has been loyal to the Han Dynasty for generations. I was forced to serve you in the past because of the situation. I have already surrendered to the Han Dynasty. If the previous emperor had not passed away, Longyou would have been taken by the Han Dynasty long ago."

"what?"

The angry Ma Chao was stunned for a moment, then he realized what was happening. He was so angry that he cursed, "Big-eared thief, how dare you bully me like this!"

When Ma Chao learned that Jiang Jiong had returned to Han, he was really devastated!

Although he and the Han people were wary of each other, he still wanted to unite with the Han people. As for the future falling out, that was a matter for the future.

But the Han's methods were too despicable. After signing the city's surrender, he even planned to seize the city in his hands. Such shameless behavior was hard for even a capricious person like him to accept!

"Ha ha!"

Jiang Jiong didn't bother to be polite with Ma Chao. He immediately called out to his men and shouted, "Shoot!"

"Whoosh!"

A rain of arrows fell on Ma Chao's head, but fortunately his attendants were prepared and held up their shields to protect Ma Chao.

Ma Chao retreated back to the battle line, feeling ashamed and angry. He pointed at the city and shouted, "Attack the city. Whoever can kill Jiang Jiong will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins."

"Your Majesty, calm down!"

Cheng Gongying hurriedly stopped Ma Chao and said, "Jiang Jiong surrendered to the Han Dynasty for a reason. I believe Lu Xun has already sent troops to Ji County. In this emergency, Your Majesty should lead the army back to Ji County. If Ji County is captured by the Han, our army will have nowhere to go!"

"Thief!"

Ma Chao gritted his teeth and stared at Jincheng fiercely, as if he was unable to get rid of the anger in his chest.

After being angry for a while, Ma Chao finally sobered up a little and said in a muffled voice: "All troops, listen to my order. Go south to Taoshui to get food, and then go east to Jicheng."

"Your Majesty is wise!" Cheng Gongying said with relief.

Under the current circumstances, attacking Jincheng is undoubtedly the worst option. If Ma Chao can recapture the cities in the Wei River Basin, Jiang Jiong who is entrenched in Jincheng will be like a water without a source, and retreating south to Longnan is inevitable.

Just as Ma Chao was about to lead his troops south, scouts came galloping from afar.

Seeing the scouts, Ma Chao looked nervous and asked, "Could there be a change in Jicheng?"

With the precedent of Jiang Jiong's rebellion, Ma Chao was really worried about the loss of Tianshui.

Cheng Gongying comforted him and said, "Your Majesty, if Jiang Xu is stationed in Shanggui, Shanggui may be lost. Jicheng has Pang Jun stationed in Jicheng, and there are Generals Gao Gang and Ma Dai around, so there should be no worries!"

"嘘嘚~"

The scout dismounted, knelt on one knee, and reported urgently: "Your Majesty, Ji County has been occupied by Wang Ping, and Shanggui Jiang Xu has surrendered the city. At present, all the counties in Tianshui have surrendered to the Han Dynasty, and Your Majesty and the families of your soldiers have fallen into the hands of the enemy!"

"How could Ji County be occupied by Wang Ping?"

Cheng Gongying asked hurriedly: "What about Generals Ma Dai and Gao Gang?"

"The Han army is using the excuse that Your Majesty has looted 2,000 Xianbei horses and is attacking our army!"

The cavalry officer said, "Jiang Wei led his troops to hold the South Gate Commander Li Jun hostage, opened the South Gate, and welcomed Wang Ping into the city. Jicheng was lost. General Ma Dai was blocked by Jiang Wei and has now retreated to Chengji."

"Is there any trace of Lu Xun in Longyou?" Cheng Gongying asked.

"Not yet!"

"Your Majesty~"

Cheng Gongying looked towards Ma Chao, wanting to say something, but saw Ma Chao holding his chest, trying hard to hold back something.

Ma Chao hated himself for being greedy and said reluctantly, "It's easy to find a pretext to accuse someone of something, but unfortunately I fell into the trap of that traitor Lu Xun!"

"puff!"

Under the irritation of so many bad news, Ma Chao became so angry that he couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.

Immediately afterwards, Ma Chao’s eyes went dark, his body became weak, and he fell off his horse!
"Your Majesty!"

(End of this chapter)