Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 769: Attack Pingzhou
After discussing strategies with Pang Tong, Huang Quan, Quan Cong and other generals, Zhuge Liang chose Huang Quan as the commander-in-chief.

As for why Zhuge Liang did not choose Lu Xun to lead the troops, it was more because he considered reducing Lu Xun's influence.

After all, since Huo Jun's death, Lu Xun has become the number one general due to his achievements and qualifications. In order to prevent Lu Xun from becoming the only one in power, Zhuge Liang must consider training others to balance the forces in the army.

Huang Quan is a man of both civil and military talents, and is related to Huo Jun by marriage. If he can achieve military merit, he will be able to use the power of the Huo family to fight against Lu Xun.

As for the selection of deputy general, Zhuge Liang hesitated for a while and finally chose Ma Su as the general to assist Huang Quan in commanding troops, hoping to increase Ma Su's experience in commanding troops.

In March, Liu Chan issued an edict to appoint Huang Quan as the commander-in-chief of Hebei military affairs, and Ma Su as the general of the northern expedition, and led 30,000 infantry and cavalry to Youzhou, responsible for dealing with Sun Quan and Ju Quyuan in the northeast region.

At the same time, in order to conquer Sun Quan who was entrenched in Pingzhou, Zhuge Liang ordered Huo Fan to lead 10,000 navy troops from the coast to cooperate with Huang Quan in the frontal battle.

In April, because Ma Su had issued a military order, Huang Quan ordered Ma Su to be the vanguard and lead 10,000 soldiers to Youzhou first.

At that time, Ju Quyuan joined forces with Sun Quan to invade Youzhou. The Murong Xianbei retreated to the interior of the border, and Taishi Heng led his troops to guard the dangerous roads.

Ma Su led his troops to Youzhou and, after learning the detailed situation, made a bold decision to send troops north to attack Ju Quyuan first, hoping to eliminate Ju Quyuan first so that the subsequent army could attack Pingzhou.

In response to Ma Su's suggestion to attack Ju Quyuan, Tai Shi Heng firmly opposed it, believing that Ju Quyuan was cunning and his subordinates were brave and good at fighting, and should not be easily ignored. It would be better to defend the border and wait for the arrival of Huang Quan's army.

In order to establish merit, Ma Su rejected Taishi Heng's suggestion, insisted on leading his troops to the battle, and forced Murong's troops to accompany him.

Mo Huba was not optimistic about Ma Su's military action and did not want to lead his troops. However, due to Ma Su's status, he had to send his eldest son Murong Muyan and several hundred cavalrymen to accompany him.

In order to achieve the goal of taking the enemy by surprise, Ma Su led his troops out of Gubeikou Road.

Gubeikou Road is the most precipitous road among all the roads in Yanshan Mountain, and is called "蠮螉" by the locals. 蠮螉 means poisonous bee, which shows how difficult this road is.

In May, Ma Su led 10,000 infantry and cavalry to attack Juquyuan from Gubeikou Road.

When Ma Su led his troops to set off, Huang Quan, who was late in command of the army, learned of Ma Su's abnormal behavior and hurriedly sent scouts with Ma Su to ask him to return to Youzhou as soon as possible.

Ma Su received the military order, but thought that Huang Quan was worried that he would make great achievements and ordered him to return. So he used the excuse that he was not in a position to obey military orders and continued to lead his troops to attack Ju Quyuan.

When Huang Quan saw that Ma Su refused to obey his orders, he was so angry that he almost had a cerebral hemorrhage.

After careful consideration, Huang Quan, in order to consider the overall situation, led Tai Shi Heng and Mo Huba to sneak out of Lulong Road.

Ma Su thought that no one would know that his troops had marched out of the Yulu Road, but he didn't know that Ju Quyuan had already sent scouts to various roads to guard against surprise attacks by the Han army.

In late May, Ju Quyuan received the news that Ma Su's troops had marched out of the Yuluo Road. He was overjoyed and led his troops to fight.

At the end of May, after Ma Su's troops had marched thousands of miles and were exhausted, they were suddenly attacked by Ju Quyuan.

The two armies fought in a steep valley. The Han soldiers were unprepared and Ma Su had no ability to adapt to changing circumstances. They were no match for the Xianbei soldiers.

After half a day of fierce fighting, the Han army was defeated and fled because Ma Su fled on the battlefield. Ju Quyuan killed and captured many of their troops.

Fortunately, Murong Muyan was well versed in military affairs and led hundreds of his own cavalry to bluff in the mountains, scaring off Ju Quyuan who wanted to pursue the victory.

As Ma Su was missing, the other generals recommended Han general Jin Feng as their commander, and Jin Feng consulted Murong Muyan on many matters.

Following Murong Muyan's suggestion, Jin Feng led his troops to retreat slowly and reported the news of the defeat to Youzhou.

At the same time, when Ju Quyuan ambushed Ma Su, Huang Quan led his troops to sneak along the Lulong Road, marching day and night, and unexpectedly reached the Xilin Gol Grassland before Ju Quyuan returned to the tribe victoriously. Knowing that Ju Quyuan was not in the tribe, Huang Quan led his cavalry to attack Ju Quyuan's camp and learned from the captives that Ju Quyuan had ambushed Ma Su and might have returned victoriously.

Upon hearing the news, Huang Quan roughly expected Ma Su's defeat. In order to defeat Ju Quyuan, Huang Quan set an ambush on the dangerous road on his way back. However, because Ju Quyuan returned too quickly, Huang Quan's ambush plan failed, and the two armies met at Yangling.

However, since Ju Quyuan did not anticipate Huang Quan's whereabouts, his troops were more hastily prepared than the Han army.

The two armies fought for most of the day. Huang Quan waited until the Xianbei soldiers were tired and used his cavalry to break through the formation, defeating Ju Quyuan and taking tens of thousands of prisoners. Ju Quyuan was defeated and fled. Tai Shi Heng led his troops to chase him for more than a hundred miles and finally beheaded him.

After returning to Youzhou in triumph, Huang Quan learned about Ma Su's defeat and learned that Ma Su had fled back to Chang'an out of fear of being punished. Huang Quan was furious and submitted a memorial to Zhuge Liang impeaching Ma Su for three crimes: disobeying military orders, deserting the battlefield, and entering alone without permission.

In June, Huang Quan stationed troops in Youzhou and prepared to conquer Pingzhou.

At the same time, the memorials to defeat Ju Quyuan and impeach Ma Su were sent to the Secretariat in Chang'an at the same time.

In the Secretariat, Zhuge Liang was furious when he learned that Ma Su was defeated and fled from the battlefield, and his whereabouts were still unknown.

Zhuge Liang had a gloomy face and said nothing; the ministers and vice ministers of various ministries sat in silence, waiting for Zhuge Liang to speak.

Zhuge Liang looked around at everyone and asked in a deep voice, "According to the Yellow Cavalry, Ma Su was defeated and fled back to Chang'an, and I don't know where he is. Do you know anything about this?"

After Ma Su was defeated, he was afraid that he would be punished by Huang Quan, so he fled back to Chang'an, planning to use his brother and his own connections to pardon his crime.

Everyone looked at each other, they also didn't know where Ma Su had gone.

Seeing that no one was saying anything, Zhuge Liang's tone turned cold and he said, "Ma Su disobeyed military orders and fled because he was afraid of being punished. He should be wanted and sentenced to death."

Xiang Lang hesitated for a while and said, "It has not been long since the empire was at peace. Ma Su has made great contributions in governing Yingchuan. I wonder if the Prime Minister will pardon him, demote him to a commoner, and spare his death penalty!"

Zhuge Liang looked serious and said in a stern voice: "Ma Su was ordered to go to war, but now he has not only violated the order, but also deserted the battlefield, putting the army in danger. If we do not bring him to justice, how can we win the trust of the people!"

Zhuge Liang softened his tone and said, "I know there are some of you who are friendly with Ma Su, but if you protect him now, I will never tolerate it. If you can persuade Ma Su to plead guilty sooner, I may be able to forgive him."

Ma Su's defeat and escape disappointed Zhuge Liang greatly. He had thought that Ma Su, with his many years of experience, might become a great general with his talent, but Ma Su was too eager for merit and irresponsible, which made Zhuge Liang regret choosing him as his deputy general.

Zhuge Liang was disappointed, but also felt lucky. Fortunately, he did not agree to let Ma Su be the commander-in-chief, but chose Huang Quan as the commander-in-chief. Although Ma Su disobeyed the military order, Huang Quan's outstanding military talent turned the tide of the war.

Xiang Lang had something on his mind, so he stopped asking questions and instead lowered his head to think about Ma Su's matter.

After Ma Su was defeated, he immediately fled to Xiang Lang's house. Xiang Lang chose to shelter Ma Su because of his deep friendship with the Ma brothers. Zhuge Liang probably guessed that Ma Su was being sheltered by them, so he gave a final warning.

"Cough cough!"

Zhao Ang coughed a few times and said, "Prime Minister, although Ma Zhengbei fled from the battlefield, the army defeated the Eastern Xianbei. It is appropriate to issue an imperial decree to reward him."

"good!"

Zhuge Liang nodded slightly and said, "Send someone to tell Huang Piqi that if he can conquer Pingzhou, he should do so as soon as possible. As for the soldiers who have made contributions in this battle, the Secretariat will issue an order to reward them soon."

"promise!"

(End of this chapter)