Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 649 The horse died here!

After Ma Chao led his cavalry to break out of the encirclement, they were surrounded and pursued by the Han army, so only about a hundred of the more than three hundred cavalry were left.

Ma Chao, who had escaped, had no time to rejoice. Instead, in order not to waste time, he led his cavalry to hurry on, fearing that Wei Yan would lead his troops to catch up with him.

After walking about fifteen miles, as time passed, the morning sun gradually rose in the east, the darkness had long been dispelled, and the air was cold and fresh.

Ma Chao had been traveling all night, and after fighting to break out of the encirclement, he was increasingly exhausted. However, he did not dare to rest because of the pursuit.

As he rode his horse forward, Ma Chao saw that the road ahead was between two mountains and that it was narrow and difficult to navigate. He could not help but ask, "What is ahead? How long is it to Langgan?"

The attendant looked at the quiet surroundings and said, "Your Majesty, this place is called Luoma Gate because there are two hills on both sides of the road and the valley road is rugged and difficult to walk. After passing Luoma Gate, it is about 30 miles to reach Langan City."

Longyou is a mountainous area, which is very suitable for ambushes. Luoma Gate is similar to Mumen Gate, with two hills on both sides of the road, and the valley road is rugged and difficult to walk. Generally, people with poor riding skills will fall off their horses when passing this road, so it is called Luoma Gate.

Upon hearing the name of Luoma Gate, Ma Chao's face changed slightly. This name of the gate conflicted with his own name, so he felt that the name was unlucky.

Ma Chao looked around and saw that there was no path to follow, so he asked, "Are there any other mountain paths?"

"Your Majesty, Luomamen is adjacent to Langgan. If we take a detour from there, it will take too much time and we may be caught up by the Han cavalry," said the attendant.

Ma Chao hesitated for a long time, but in order to get to Langan as soon as possible, he finally said, "Let's go, from this road to Langan!"

"promise!"

As the valley was full of gravel and the road was bumpy, Ma Chao was worried about damaging the horse's hooves, so he and the other riders dismounted and walked, leading the war horses through the rugged and difficult Luomamen Road.

When Ma Chao was walking towards Luomamen Road, hundreds of Han soldiers hid in the bushes on the hillside of Jiashan, looking at the Liang soldiers on the valley road, holding bows and crossbows in their hands, ready to pour arrows into the valley as soon as the military order came.

"General, the Liang army has entered Luoma Gate. Should we order an ambush?" asked the attendant.

Liu Yin narrowed his eyes, staring at the hundreds of riders on the road, and said, "I don't know if Ma Chao is among them. If he is not, the ambush may make Ma Chao alert and he may abandon his horse and flee over the mountain!"

"What should I do?"

The attendant lowered his voice and said, "General, what if Ma Chao is among them? If we don't order an ambush now, won't we miss the opportunity?"

"Not urgent!"

Liu Yin smiled and said, "Whoever stays near the stone tablet will be shot with a volley of bows."

"promise!"

In order to prevent Ma Chao from escaping, Wei Yan not only led a large army to ambush Ma Chao, but also ordered the General Liu Yin to lead 500 soldiers to set up an ambush at Luoma Gate to prevent Ma Chao from escaping during the chaos in the army.

Liu Yin, courtesy name Xiu Ran, was from Chengdu, Shu Prefecture. He was famous at a young age, but was selected to serve in the army because of his bravery and military knowledge. At that time, Wei Yan valued Liu Yin's outstanding talents and ordered him to ambush Ma Chao at Luoma Gate as his last insurance.

In the valley, the leading soldier walked with his horse, and looking around, he found a stone tablet erected on the roadside. On the stone tablet was engraved "Ma Mengqi~", and the lower half of the content was covered by sand, making it difficult to know the content.

"Your Majesty, this stele has your name on it!"

Seeing Ma Chao's name on the inscription, the leading soldier couldn't help but shout.

"what?"

Ma Chao, with a puzzled look on his face, walked forward and gathered in front of the stone tablet with everyone else.

"The soil is gone!"

When Ma Chao saw the words below, he ordered his men to dig up the sand, only to find the complete inscription: 'Ma Mengqi died here'.

Seeing this, Ma Chao seemed to react, his face changed drastically, and before he could speak loudly, a low horn sounded above Gu Dao's head.

After the horn sounded, five hundred arrows were shot out, aiming at the people in front of the stele. The dense arrows flew through the air, covering more than ten people around the stele, including Ma Chao.

"Whoosh!"

The next moment, hundreds of arrows broke through the wind, making a low and sharp whistling sound, and whirled towards Ma Chao and the surrounding Liang soldiers.

The arrow was so fast that Ma Chao had no time to react. He only saw the sharp arrowhead pierce through the heavy armor, breaking the armor. With the momentum, the arrow pierced through his inner robe and penetrated his skin and flesh.

Not only one heavy arrow, but also three or four long arrows pierced through Ma Chao's body, hitting his abdomen, thighs, and arms. If it weren't for the protection of heavy armor, Ma Chao's body would probably have been pierced by the longbow.

"Ah~"

Ma Chao wailed in pain. More than a dozen people around him, like him, were shot like hedgehogs by the dense rain of arrows.

"Your Majesty!"

When Cheng Gongying saw that Ma Chao was shot by an arrow, he grabbed a shield and tried to protect Ma Chao with his cavalrymen. However, on the way, a second wave of arrows arrived.

Cheng Gongying was hit in the thigh by an arrow, causing him to fall down while running, and then he was hit by other arrows. In an instant, Cheng Gongying was hit by at least five or six arrows, some of which hit his vital parts, while others only caused minor injuries.

Ma Chao used the stone tablet as a cover to see Cheng Gongying fall to the ground, and couldn't help but shout, "Bojie!"

Cheng Gongying fell to the ground and could not get up again. He looked at the painful Ma Chao, finally spit out a mouthful of blood, and died instantly from his injuries.

In the second wave of arrows, most of the Liangzhou soldiers were covered by arrows. Many of them, like Cheng Gongying, were killed or injured, and some of their horses were injured and ran away in response to stress.

Afterwards, the Han soldiers who were good at archery drew their bows and loaded arrows, and three waves of arrows covered them. Then there were four waves, five waves, six waves... a total of ten waves of arrows were shot, and the attack range almost covered the more than a hundred Liang soldiers in the valley. Under the ten waves of arrows, Liu Yin led the Han infantry down the hillside, trying to harvest the remaining Liang soldiers.

At the same time, the surviving Liang soldiers saw that the Han army was going downhill, and suddenly stood up from various hidden corners and rushed towards the valley entrance. The lucky ones rode their horses and escaped.

Ma Chao, who was tenacious in life, hid under a stone tablet and escaped. He picked up the spear on the ground, struggled to get up, and called his surviving subordinates, hoping that they could help him escape.

In front of Ma Chao, the escapee on horseback seemed to have stepped on something and fell into it with his horse, and then a wailing sound was heard. Apparently, the Han army had dug pits in the valley to prevent the Liang cavalry from escaping.

With the support of his left and right companions, Ma Chao staggered forward, enduring the wound from the arrow.

Seeing that there were still surviving Liang soldiers, Liu Yin took the lead in drawing the bow, aiming at Ma Chao who was supported by both sides, and shot an arrow.

"Whoosh!"

The next moment, dozens of sharp arrows pierced Ma Chao's body again. This time he was not so lucky, as Ma Chao's body was covered with arrows, like a hedgehog.

The Liang soldier who was supporting him died on the spot. Ma Chao held his long spear and used his last bit of strength to steady his body. Then he looked at the Han army coming towards him with a look of great resentment and finally died unwillingly!

Because Ma Chao had endless hatred for Lu Xun and his eyes were filled with fear, the Han soldiers who saw this scene couldn't help but feel a little scared.

Ma Chao's body was knocked down by the stabbing of spears, which made the timid Han soldiers feel at ease.

"Is this person Ma Chao, the Prince of Liang?"

Liu Yin brought a captured Liang soldier, pointed out Ma Chao's body and asked.

"It's actually Ma Chao's body!"

The captured Liang soldier saw the monarch's body and said with a sad look on his face.

"Congratulations, General, for shooting and killing Liang Wang Ma Chao!"

Hearing this, the surrounding officers and soldiers bowed to Liu Yin and congratulated him, saying.

Liu Yin suppressed his excitement and said, "It's not just the credit of Yin alone, but also the credit of all of you guys' hard work!"

"Ha ha!"

Looking at Ma Chao's body, the people around him seemed to be looking at something precious, with a smile on their faces. The merit of shooting Ma Chao was enough to make them and their wives and children worry-free!
"General Wei is here!"

While everyone was having fun, Wei Yan, who was chasing Ma Chao, arrived at the scene shortly afterwards.

Wei Yan came over with the whip in his hand and asked, "Did Xiu Ran shoot Ma Chao?"

"General!"

Liu Yin brought Wei Yan to Ma Chao's body and said with a smile: "Yin has lived up to the general's trust and will shoot Ma Chao and his followers here."

"Okay!"

Wei Yan looked at Ma Chao's resentful expression before his death. In order to hide his joy at having made a great contribution, he smiled and said, "Ma died, but I can keep my head!"

"Ha ha!"

Everyone knew that Wei Yan had signed a military order with Lu Xun to capture and kill Ma Chao. Now that Ma Chao was killed by Wei Yan, Wei Yan could be considered to have fulfilled Lu Xun's military order.

"Somebody come!"

Wei Yan called his men and said, "Cut off Ma Chao's head and send it to Commander Lu!"

"promise!"

As he spoke, Wei Yan could no longer hold back his laughter and said to his attendants, "Prince Jun sent down the flood, and I killed Ma Chao. My military exploits are no less than his!"

Because this plane is full of talented people, even though Wei Yan is a subordinate of Liu Bei, it is difficult to compare his historical status. Instead, his current official position is equivalent to that of Wang Ping who was discovered in advance, and he serves as a prefect with the title of general.

Wang Ping and Wei Yan were often compared to each other in the Bashu army because of their outstanding abilities. Now Wang Ping attacked Tianshui and Guangwei, and made remarkable achievements, which made Wei Yan jealous. At present, Wei Yan's achievement of shooting and killing Ma Chao was enough to be compared with Wang Ping.

It can be predicted that as Southern Han took over Longyou and expanded its western territory, Wang and Wei would inevitably rise in power, and either become commander-in-chief or go to govern another place to assist Director Lu and Director Huang.

"Ma Chao is the king of Liang. The general's merit in shooting and killing him must be greater than Wang Ping's merit in taking Long!" The people around him flattered.

"not necessarily!"

Wei Yan put his hand on his belt and said with a smile: "Although you and I killed Ma Chao and made great achievements, Wang Ping took the lead and took Long, and then scattered the morale of the Liang army. This is the key to this battle."

As he spoke, Wei Yan thought of Lu Xun and said with a little fear: "The merits of this battle will depend on how Lu Huqi reports to Wuhan."

Because the Southern Han had many generals, unlike the situation in Shu where there were no great generals, Wei Yan had some self-knowledge and did not dare to be too arrogant. Even when Lu Xun often slapped him in the face, Wei Yan did not dare to despise the commander.

After all, Lu Xun was not a man like Zhuge Liang who valued peace. Although Lu Xun was a Confucian scholar, his methods were ruthless. The most common methods Lu Xun used to deal with Wei Yan were to slap him in the face and give him a red date.

A typical example is the battle in front of us. Lu Xun first ignored Wei Yan and appointed Wang Ping to take Long; then he asked Wei Yan to sign a military order and take the credit for capturing and killing Ma Chao.

Now that he was being disciplined by Lu Xun, Wei Yan gradually began to feel a little afraid of the kind-hearted but cruel Lu Xun!
(End of this chapter)