Survival Three Kingdoms

Chapter 538 Encountering Tongguan
Cheng Yu said with a smile: "People can't make fakes, and the only way to mobilize others is by sea. No matter how powerful his navy is, he can't be as flexible as land, and the risk is extremely high. As long as others mobilize, we will Know."

"What Zhongde said is true." Liu Ye agreed. "Thus, if Zhou Weiguo wants to use troops, he will only raid Xudu, rob the emperor, and cut off my way back to the east! Moreover, he is very likely to join Sun Quan and Liu Bei to seek the land of Huainan."

The more Cao Cao thought about this possibility, the more it was possible to dispatch troops from Xuzhou to Liaodong. Not to mention Lu Yuan, the entire army would be wiped out in a storm. Zhou Cang would not take such a risk.There are no generals in Liaodong, and they are still busy with the war between Jeju and Japan, so they can't mobilize many soldiers and horses.

"Send an envoy to visit Xianbei, reward Shanyu Ke Bineng heavily, and order him to send people to harass Xuantu. Then send an envoy to see Zang Ba, reward him with a thousand taels and a hundred pieces of silk and satin, and order him to keep an eye on Liaodong's movements."

"Order Cao Ren, Cao Xiu, Li Tong, and Wenpin to strengthen the defense against Fancheng, Lujiang, Shouchun, and Jiangxia, and firmly defend the four counties and not easily go to war."

"Ling Yujin is the chief general, Lu Zhao is the deputy general stationed in Rencheng, Xiahou Dun is the chief general, and Feng Kai is the deputy general stationed in Dongmou. Each of the two armies with [-] soldiers will pay close attention to Xuzhou's every move."

"Order Cao Zhen, Xia Houshang, and Mao Jie to lead an army of [-] to guard Xudu, and strictly prevent anyone from illicitly communicating with Xuzhou."

Cao Cao issued several orders one after another, adopting harassment tactics against Liaodong, while heavy troops were in the direction of Xuzhou and Huainan.

"I intend to send [-] troops to Guanzhong after the autumn harvest, with Cao Hong as the vanguard, Zhang Liao as the deputy general, Zhu Ling, Li Dian, and Le Jin as the second line, Han Hao as the central guard, Zhao Yan as the central leader and follow me. In the third route, Cao Chun led the tiger and leopard cavalry to go out together. Gongda and Wenhe were the military advisers, Yang Xiu was the chief secretary, Zhong De was the long history, and Dian Fei, the captain of Dianjun, was the governor of the food and grass."

"Ling Zihuan stayed at Yedu, Dong Zhao, Liu Ye, Wang Lang, and Sima Yi were assistants. Wen Ruo, Simpi and others stayed at Xudu, Gongda, how is Wen Ruo?"

"Returning to the lord, there are good times and bad times, and I haven't recovered."

"Wen Ruo, alas!"

Cao Cao was making intensive preparations, and Ma Chao acted faster.In July, Ma Chao and Han Sui reached an alliance. Ma Chao worshiped Han Sui as his adoptive father, and rallied the other eight tribes to raise the banner against Cao. A total of [-] people from the headquarters quietly crossed the Wei River as the vanguard, while Han Sui raised [-] troops and the remaining eight troops gathered in Tongguan one after another.

Ma Chao ordered Pang De to persuade Lantian Liu Mingxiong to fight against Cao Cao together, but Liu Mingxiong refused.Ma Chao abandoned Chang'an in disregard, and led the crowd to Huayin.In the city of Chang'an, Zhong Yao, Xia Houyuan, Zhang Ji and others shrunk their troops to defend Chang'an and wait for Cao Cao's reinforcements.

In early August, Ma Chao conquered Huayin and arrived at Tongguan in mid-August. Tongguan fell three days later, and Guanzhong was in turmoil.Ma Chao occupied Tongguan and wanted to return to the army to besiege Chang'an with Han Sui. Cao Hong and Zhang Liao's troops came and forced Ma Chao to stick to Tongguan. Surround Chang'an.

When Cao Hong arrived, seeing that Tongguan had fallen, he jumped into a rage. Worried about Xia Houyuan's safety, he immediately ordered to attack the key, but was dissuaded by Zhang Liao. Tongguan was strong and easy to defend, and his own troops were insufficient. Don't wait for Cao Cao's army in the pass.

Ma Chao went out to challenge several times. Cao Hong wanted to fight, but Zhang Liao stopped him and couldn't hold out.Ten days later, Han Sui, Zhang Heng, Cheng Yin, Liang Xing, and Cheng Yi arrived. Ma Chao wanted to storm Cao Ying, but at the same time that Zhu Ling, Li Dian, and Le Jin arrived, the two armies faced each other at Tongguan. .

In mid-September, when Cao Cao's army arrived outside the customs, Cao Hong, who had long been unable to restrain himself, sued Zhang Liao in front of Cao Cao. Instead of punishing Zhang Liao, Cao Cao praised him for his handling.Cao Hong was very angry: "Miaocai's life and death are uncertain, but we are stuck here and can't advance or retreat."

Cao Cao said with a smile: "Ma Chao can reach Tongguan so quickly, he must have never confronted Miaocai, so Miaocai is safe and sound in Chang'an."

"Even so, I'm afraid it will be bad for me in the long run." Cao Hong still didn't give up. "Ma Teng is now in Yedu, why not send someone to take his father and son and bring them to the front of the army. Even if Ma Chao cannot be forced to retreat, he can return Xia Houyuan in exchange."

Cheng Yu agreed, "General Zilian is right."

Jia Xu was shocked: "Duke Ming still needs to think carefully. A mere Ma Chao is insignificant. It is not appropriate to deal with Ma Teng if the northwest is uneven. With Ma Teng's remaining prestige, the Qiang and Hu people still have the heart to fight rats. If Ma Teng is not around, Qiang and Hu will fight against Ming. Bloody battle to the end."

"I think what Wen He said is reasonable. With Miaocai and Yuanchang's ability, Chang'an can be kept. Ma Chao's rebellion has already disregarded his father's life, and Ma Teng's life is threatened. Ma Teng may not get what he wanted. Ma Teng Hu Guang has prestige in Qiang Hu Guang, and now only two or three out of ten are willing to follow Han Ma to rebel, if Ma Teng beheaded, then seven out of ten rebels, this is exactly Han Sui's trick." Xun You said: "My lord , our army has just arrived, and we need to fortify Xiliang to rob the camp."

Cao Cao thought about it and said, "Give Zihuan an order to surround Ma Teng's mansion and not allow one person to enter or leave. We will deal with it after the war!"

That night, Ma Chao discussed with Han Sui and attacked Cao Cao's camp at night while Cao Cao's camp was not stable.Han Sui ordered Cheng Yi to lead 5000 cavalry as the outpost, Pang De, Cheng Yin, and Zhang Heng each led [-] cavalry to attack, and Ma Chao and Ma Dai led [-] cavalry as the rear team.

Although Cheng Yi was an outpost, he refused to give his life. He just killed the defenders outside the camp and reported that Cao Ying was unprepared. Run to Cao Cao's army.

When Pound entered the camp, he realized something was wrong: the camp was too quiet, and there were no patrolling soldiers.Just as he was about to stop the horse's hooves, he heard shouts of killing coming from all around, and then three generals from the middle camp blocked the way: Zhu Ling, Li Dian, and Le Jin.

The six generals fought against each other with swords and guns in hand. After a few rounds of fighting, Le Jin couldn't resist Pang De's back and fled. Zhu Ling and Li Dian followed suit.Pound was suspicious, and he didn't want to chase after him, but he heard a plopping sound, and Cheng Yin and Zhang Heng, who were chasing after him, fell into the trap one after another.

"Rescue Second General Zhang!" Pang De rode his horse forward, and after a few steps, he felt his body sinking, and there was another trap!What a Pound roared, put his feet on the horse's back and jumped out of the horse trap!

At this time, the lights in Cao Ying were brightly lit, and ambush was everywhere, Zhu Ling, Li Dian, and Le Jin turned back again: "Hahaha, you fell into Prime Minister Cao's plan!"

Xiliang iron cavalry suffered a great loss. In addition to being trapped in the horse pit, the cavalry in the Cao camp fell off the horse one by one, and many of them fell to their deaths. Cheng Yin and Zhang Heng who fell into the pit were all shot and killed by Cao Jun.Pang De cheered up, opened his sword and started the infantry battle. After the battle, he collected the remnants and withdrew from the Cao camp. No one could approach Cao's army.

Cao Cao immediately stood on a high place, "What a great general!"

(End of this chapter)