Prancing Horse Xiliang

Chapter 266 Ma Chao Pleads
Jian'an Er'an, at the end of August 194 AD.

Just when Guo Bang was unable to attack Hongnong by force and plundered with his troops, Chang'an suddenly heard a rush from eight hundred miles.

Since Luo Zheng successively defeated Duan Yan, Ma Teng, Lu Bu, etc., and pacified the ten counties of Liangzhou, after two years, after the ten counties of Liangzhou were completely stabilized, Luo Zheng finally sent troops brazenly and launched a war against Guo Bang who was entrenched in Guanzhong .

At this time, Hebei, Central Plains, and Jingyang are also in flames of war, and no one pays attention to Guanliang.

Gao Shun, the general under Luo Zhengju's command, led [-] troops from Linjing to the south. Within a few days, he drove straight for more than [-] li. After defeating Qixian County, he immediately marched eastward, and within seven days he reached the city of Chang'an. Before he could rest, he sent his army to storm Chang'an .

At the same time, Luo Zheng personally led an army of [-] troops out of Long County, and forcibly broke through Chen Cang with a thunderous force. He was about to go directly to Chang'an, and joined forces with Gao Shun. information.

Guo Si has already returned to Chang'an, only three days later than Gao Shun's army.

Chang'an is only three hundred miles away from Hongnong, and the cavalry marched quickly to arrive in two days.

Even if the time required for fast horses to come and go is removed, after Guo Si received the news, as long as the army can be assembled within one day, he can lead the army from Hongnong to Chang'an in ten days at the earliest.And behind the high wall of Chang'an City is the real fortified city, and Guo Si left a full [-] troops stationed there. It is almost impossible to break through Chang'an in just three days.

Gao Shun was not greedy for merit. When he learned that Guo Bang had led his army to kill him, he immediately withdrew ten li and went down to the village to confront Guo Bang's army.

After Luo Zheng received the urgent report from Gao Shun, he immediately summoned Jia Xu to discuss.

"I don't want Guo Si to come so fast!"

Jia Xu said: "Since Guo Si's army has arrived in Chang'an, there is no other way but to attack Chang'an. My lord, you can order General Gao Shun to contain Guo Si's army. First attack the counties west of Chang'an, and then move eastward to fight with Gao Shun. The generals join forces to attack Chang'an."

Luo Zheng said: "That's the only way, just follow Wenhe's opinion!"

Jia Xu continued: "General Gao Shun only brought rations for [-] days, and did not take any cities along the way. I am afraid that the rations of the Linjing army will not be able to reach the army smoothly. My lord must find a way to transport the rations to General Gao Shun's army. yes."

Luo Zheng thought for a while, then said: "Where is Yan Xing?"

Yan Xing rushed out and said: "The end is here."

Luo Zhengdao: "Speed ​​five thousand fine riders to escort the food and grass to the Gaoshun army, so there must be no loss."

"The last will obey!"

Yan Xingkeng accepted the order, and then strode out of the tent.

Hongnong, the official residence of Zhang Ji.

Zhang Xiu hurried into the inner hall, and said to Zhang Ji, "Uncle, I found out!"

Zhang Ji hurriedly said, "Quickly tell me, why did Guo Si suddenly retreat?"

Zhang Xiuning said: "The news came from Chang'an from the scout that it was Luo Zheng who sent troops."

"What, Luo Zheng sent troops?"

Zhang Ji turned pale with shock and was extremely shocked.

Zhang Xiu replied: "That's right, Luo Zheng's fellow seems to have premeditated, ordered Gao Shun, a powerful general under the command of guarding Beidi and Anding counties, to lead [-] garrison troops to the south, break Qi County in one fell swoop, and kill Chang'an within seven days. Under the city."

Zhang Ji frowned and said, "How is that possible? Qi County is nearly [-] miles away from Chang'an. Even if Gaoshun's [-] garrison soldiers marched non-stop, it would take seven days to reach Chang'an. Could it be that the guy didn't capture the cities along the way?"

Zhang Xiu nodded and said, "Exactly."

Zhang Ji's eyes were fixed, and he said: "Luo Zheng's ambition is not small, this is to attack Chang'an with one blow!"

Zhang Xiudao: "It's not so easy to break Chang'an. Guo Si fought for more than a year before breaking Chang'an. Luo Zheng wanted to break Chang'an with a surprise army. That's a dream. Now Guo Bang has led the army to Chang'an."

Zhang Ji asked: "Where is Luo Zheng's army now?"

Zhang Xiu said: "There is no news yet."

Zhang Jin thought for a while before saying: "Since Luo Zheng had planned it long ago, it seems that this guy exchanged golden rice seeds with me for ten thousand jin of refined iron, which is clearly out of good intentions. The group of horse bandits who robbed Baling before , and most of it was done by Luo Zheng."

Zhang Xiu hates the toothache, "Uncle, Luo Zheng is too hateful."

Zhang Ji said with a dark face: "That fellow Luo Zheng hasn't used a weapon for two years. Since he sent troops this time, he won't retreat easily if he doesn't take Chang'an. If Guo Si can't keep Chang'an, I'm afraid Hongnong will also Changed masters."

Zhang Xiu was stunned and said, "Why did uncle say that?"

Zhang Jidao: "That guy Luo Zheng is aggressive by nature, since he used troops in Guanzhong, how can he be satisfied with taking Chang'an, as long as he defeats Guo Si, he will definitely move his troops eastward, take advantage of the situation and take Hongnong, in order to occupy the dangerous area of ​​Hangu. "

Zhang Xiu nodded again and again: "Uncle's words are reasonable, but Guo Si still has tens of thousands of troops, and there is Chang'an strong city to defend, Luo Zheng wants to break through Chang'an, I am afraid it will not be so easy, uncle don't have to worry!"

Zhang Ji said worriedly: "Uncle, I can't help worrying, that guy Luo Zheng is really not a good person, although he has the lowest qualifications in the Xiliang army, but if he is good at fighting, I and other old Xiliang generals can't match it! There are [-] men resting, and they have been furiously mobilizing their troops. How can they be unprepared for this time to attack Guanzhong with a large army. Besides, there has been great chaos in Guanzhong in the past two years. Although Guo Si has tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, the soldiers have long been tired of fighting after repeated battles. If the armor is not repaired, and the food and grass are not enough, it is really hard to say whether we can hold Guanzhong."

Zhang Xiu said in a deep voice: "Then what should I do, do you want uncle to join hands with Guo Si to repel Luo Zheng's army?"

Zhang Ji thought about it for a long time, then shook his head dejectedly, and said: "Forget it, Guo Si may not believe that Uncle, maybe if Luo Zheng provokes him again, it will cause bad things. Sticking a cold butt, besides, Luo Zheng is full of tricks, and Jia Xu, the counselor under the account, is not a kind person, he is the best at sowing discord, and I am afraid that if he is not careful, he will suffer."

"Hey!"

Zhang Xiu couldn't help but waved his arms bitterly, feeling very depressed.

Chang'an, Guo Si camp.

"General!"

Some generals hurried into the commander's tent and bowed their hands to Guo Bang.

Guo Si waved his hand irritably, and asked, "Have you ever found out the movement of Luo Zheng's army?"

The general said in a condensed voice: "Report from the scout, Luo Zheng is leading the army to attack Yongxian, Duyang, Meiyang and other counties. It seems that he is going to attack the counties west of Chang'an first, and finally join forces with Gao Shun to attack Chang'an .”

Guo Si frowned, and asked, "Where is Gao Shun's army, what's going on?"

The general replied: "Gao Shun's army has deep trenches and high fortifications, and they can't hold out."

"Damn!"

Guo Si scolded angrily, gritted his teeth and said: "Luo Zheng is too much of a bully. In Luoyang, this guy was pushed out by others. This general has sent troops to help many times. I don't want this guy to take advantage of others' danger. When the general attacked Hongnong, he raised his troops to commit crimes. It is really a ungrateful thing. If I knew this, I would have let Li Jue, Li Ru and others fight together, and it would not be a disaster today."

The general was not easy to answer, so he had to keep silent.

Guo Bang scolded for a while, and the anger in his heart dissipated, and asked: "How many soldiers and horses do we have?"

The general replied cautiously: "Less than [-]?"

"what?"

Guo Bang was stunned and said, "Where are the rest of the troops?"

The general said: "I don't know, the general, except for the soldiers and horses stationed in Qixian, Chencang, Meiyang, Sanguan and other places, Chang'an originally had an army of 1, but since the beginning of summer, many soldiers have fled. This time the general attacked Hongnong, and when he retreated in a hurry, some soldiers fled in the chaos, and with the casualties, only less than [-] soldiers and horses came back."

Guo Si's face turned blue with anger, and he was speechless for a while.

Luo Zheng is aggressive by nature, and none of the neighbors around is unprepared.

Although Guo Si thinks that his qualifications in the Xiliang Army are much higher than that of Luo Zheng, a grassroots junior, he never dares to underestimate Luo Zheng, and has always been on guard against Luo Zheng, so he is in Chencang, Meiyang, and Qi County. Station heavy defense.

Now that Luo Zheng is aggressively attacking, Chencang, Qi County and other places bear the brunt, and these soldiers and horses are naturally all in vain.

This time, they attacked Hongnong and lost a lot of soldiers and horses.

Right now, except for the remaining tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in Chang'an City, it can be said that there are no soldiers left.

Think about how powerful the [-] army was when they entered Guanzhong westward.

But now, there are only more than ten thousand soldiers and horses in Chang'an City left.

Guo Si never thought that one day he would face such an unfavorable situation, and he didn't feel that sadness came from it. He gritted his teeth with hatred for Luo Zheng, the culprit who caused all this, and wanted to send troops to resist the enemy, but he didn't dare to act rashly.

Gao Shun's [-] troops were stationed outside the city, not just for decoration.

If he dared to act rashly, Gao Shun would definitely take advantage of the situation and attack Chang'an without thinking about it.

Guo Bang sadly found that the only thing he could do was to stick to Chang'an, and stared at Luo Zheng's capture of all the city passes west of Chang'an without doing anything. This feeling made people feel depressed and wanted to vomit blood.

Nanzheng, Hanzhong prefect's mansion.

"Lord!"

Yan Pu hurried into the inner hall, cupped his hands to Zhang Lu and said, "Luo Zheng has sent troops!"

"Luo Zheng sent troops?"

Zhang Lu was startled, but he still didn't react.

Yan Pu condensedly said: "Xizuo sent back news from Guanzhong that Luo Zheng sent troops suddenly when Guo Si raised his troops to attack Hongnong, and ordered his general Gao Shun to lead [-] soldiers from the field to go south and attack Qi County in one fell swoop, killing them within seven days. Under the city of Chang'an. If Guo Si hadn't gotten the news and rushed back with his army, if it took another three to five days, Chang'an would have been captured by Gao Shun."

"what?"

Zhang Lu was taken aback, "There is such a thing?"

Yan Pu nodded, and said: "Luo Zheng personally led an army of [-] out of Long County. After defeating Chencang, he did not march eastward in a large scale. Instead, he sent troops to attack the counties west of Chang'an. It seems that Guanzhong is bound to be won, otherwise it will definitely not be possible. Attack city by city."

Zhang Lu's face was dignified, and he said after a while: "Luo Zheng is really aggressive!"

Yan Pu took it seriously and said: "My lord's words are very true. This guy is an unfamiliar wolf. As long as his minions are sharp, he will inevitably invade his neighbors. My lord also needs to take precautions as soon as possible to avoid being taken advantage of by him."

Zhang Lu nodded again and again, "What Zimao said is very much to my liking."

Yan Pu said again: "More importantly, once Luo Zheng captures Guanzhong, he will be sitting in Guanzhong for a thousand miles of fertile fields and Liangzhou. With Luo Zheng's temperament, he will inevitably use troops against his neighbors as long as he has enough food and supplies to rule. And Hanzhong is the first to bear the brunt. Therefore, I think that the lord should send troops to Xiegu and join forces with Guo Si to repel Luo Zheng in order to protect himself."

"This……"

Zhang Lu was stunned for a moment, and immediately hesitated.

At this moment, soldiers from outside the hall came in, claiming that Ma Chao was begging to see him.

"Let him in!"

Zhang Lu waved his hand, and the soldiers immediately led away.

Not long after, the heroic and extraordinary Ma Chao came in a hurry, and before he could salute, he asked loudly: "Master, I heard that Luo Zheng raised his troops to attack Guanzhong, I wonder if it is true or not?"

Before Zhang Lu could speak, Yan Pu frowned and said in displeasure, "Ande doesn't know how to be polite?"

Ma Chao's handsome face turned red immediately, and he bowed to Zhang Lu hurriedly.

Zhang Lu nodded and said, "If there is such a thing!"

Ma Chao said excitedly: "Long County must be empty when Luo Zheng sends troops to Guanzhong. I exceed my wish and lead a partial branch to attack and break Long County. One will avenge the blood of my father, and the other will take Long County for the division. Liangzhou Ten counties can be determined!"

Zhang Lu frowned suddenly and remained silent.

This is really ignorant, how can Luo Zheng be so easy to provoke.

When your father was powerful in Liangzhou, he even died in Long County, and was wiped out by Luo Zheng.

Now Luo Zheng is ruling Liangzhou, and his soldiers are full of fine food, and it is too late for him to hide, how can he provoke that wolf, this Ma Chao just wants to avenge his father all day long, and he also wants to drag himself down, it is really annoying .

Yan Pu looked at Zhang Lu's face and said, "Master, this is an opportunity."

Zhang Lu waved his hand and said in displeasure: "Zimao needn't say much, the people of Hanzhong finally had a stable life, so how can they use their swords again. Even if Luo Zheng captured Guanzhong, it would be so easy to invade Hanzhong. Hanzhong Yi It is difficult to defend, so we only need to divide our troops to defend the dangerous points, and Luo Zheng's army of [-] soldiers will not be able to enter, so there is nothing to worry about!"

Yan Pu sighed, knowing that things must not be violated, so he bowed his hands and retreated.

"Master!"

Ma Chao is still waiting to persuade, he is very unwilling to let go of such a good opportunity.

"Okay, back off!"

But Zhang Lu was too lazy to listen to Ma Chao's talk, waved his hand, got up and went into the back hall.

Ma Chao clenched his fists hard, a trace of ferocity flashed across his handsome face, he wished he could raise his head to the sky and roar.

Ever since he escaped from Long County and was cast under Zhang Lu's tent, he has been thinking about how to avenge his father all the time in the past two years. Ma Chao couldn't help but bleed when he thought of his father's death in Long County.

But Luo Zheng's two slaughters, Xiutu Gehu and Xiqiang, are so fierce that no one in the surrounding neighbors wants to provoke them.

Even though Ma Chao had the ambition of revenge, he had only a few hundred generals under his command, so he was powerless at all.

He wanted to take revenge with Zhang Lu's hand, but Zhang Lu saw him through, and he didn't want to provoke Luo Zheng at all.

Ma Chao also gradually realized that Zhang Lu only wanted to stay in peace, he had no ambition to compete for the world, and he did not dare to provoke Luo Zheng, who was famous and fierce. He wanted to use Zhang Lu's hand to avenge him, so there was no hope at all.

Instead of continuing to wait in Hanzhong, it is better to find another place.

Suddenly, Ma Chao had the idea of ​​leaving Zhang Lu behind.

However, the mother and siblings are all in Hanzhong, so it may not be so easy to leave.

Moreover, even if you want to abandon Zhang Lu, you have to rely on a prince who is not weaker than Luo and adjacent to Luo Zheng's territory to have a chance to take revenge. Counting and counting, none of the warlords and princes around Luo Zheng It is worth relying on yourself.

(End of this chapter)