Wandering the Heavens

In fact, Ma Chao and Zhang Liao were not on the same level at all. Zhang Liao was from Bingzhou and had fought against the Xiongnu cavalry in Bingzhou for many years. His expertise in cavalry combat was no less than that of Ma Chao.

What's more, Ma Chao was at most a general, while Zhang Liao was a commander, a cavalry commander, so no matter how you look at it, Ma Chao had no chance of winning.

After a round of charge, half of Ma Chao's 3,000 men were shot dead by the rain of arrows, and the remaining ones who were still able to move had basically lost their combat capability. However, the Yizhou army's formation kept changing, and their crossbows never stopped firing.

By the time the cavalry reached the attack range, they were already at the end of their strength. Ma Chao's personal bravery did not give him any advantage in the face of the large-scale combat.

Finally, Ma Chao rushed back to his own camp with only a hundred or so cavalrymen left, and then attacked again with 3,000 cavalrymen.

It is estimated that he has been fighting against the Qiang people in Xiliang for a long time, and he has been so used to bullying the weak that he has forgotten to learn the art of war.

The three thousand cavalrymen were once again wasted, and in the end it was Ma Chao who led nearly a hundred cavalrymen to break out of the encirclement of the Yizhou army. Then he led the remaining troops and fled eastward, leaving behind the empty Chang'an City and his father and brothers who were waiting for his triumphant return.

If Zhang Liao and Fa Zheng did not chase him immediately, Ma Chao would not be able to escape from Guanzhong. He and the Xiliang army had become rootless duckweed. The most important thing now was to quickly enter Chang'an and recapture the capital.

Ma Teng and his sons were captured by the Yizhou army.

After arranging all the affairs, Fa Zheng reluctantly took the time to visit the family in the prison. When he entered the prison and saw everyone with disheveled hair, he felt more and more annoyed.

"Ma Shoucheng, you have conquered Chang'an twice, have you ever thought about today?"

"Who are you?" Ma Teng was tied to a pillar. He didn't know who this person was or what his identity was.

"I am Fa Zheng from Yizhou, and I'm the military advisor to the Northern Expedition Army." Fa Zheng felt that there was nothing he couldn't say.

"I've never heard of it. The winner is the king and the loser is the bandit. If you want to kill, just kill. Why say more!" Ma Teng said with a stiff neck.

"I came here today because I want you and your son to write a letter of surrender to Ma Chao in Tongguan. If you can persuade Ma Chao to surrender to the court, we will plead with His Majesty to give you a way out." Fa Zheng was too lazy to argue with him and stated his purpose directly.

This is just a piece of cake. The father and son of the Ma family captured Chang'an twice. The first time, the emperor's whereabouts were unknown. The second time, he announced to the world that he was emperor. Basically, he had no way to survive, but they didn't understand.

"Really? Do you keep your word?"

Before Ma Teng could say anything, his sons became excited and rushed to say they wanted to write letters.

"Of course, a man of honor should stick to his word." Fa Zheng nodded in response.

Can't the whole family just fight the Qiang people in Xiliang? Why do they have to get involved in politics and attack Chang'an twice? This situation is even worse than Lu Bu's back then.

In order to survive, the father and son of the Ma family wrote a letter of surrender that silenced men and moved women to tears. Fa Zheng asked a surrendered general of the Xiliang Army to deliver it to Ma Chao, telling him to surrender quickly and stop struggling, because he could not defeat the imperial army.

No matter how much he planned, he didn't expect Ma Chao to overturn the table. He cried for a long time holding the letter of surrender, and then gathered his soldiers together.

He said that his father and brothers had died at the hands of Zhang Liao and Fa Zheng, and now he forged a letter to persuade them to surrender, but in fact he wanted to murder the soldiers. After that, Ma Chao publicly declared himself the King of Liang and gave his father Ma Teng, who was still imprisoned in Chang'an Prison, the posthumous title of King Wu of Liang.

Then he beheaded the envoy in public and led his troops westward, intending to break through Guanzhong and return to Xiliang. As long as he returned to Xiliang, he could make a comeback with the help of Han Sui.

Then the two groups of people collided in a field thirty miles north of Chang'an.

The officers of Xiliang were dumbfounded when they saw the people being held in front of the Yizhou army. Didn't the King of Liang say that his father and brother were killed? Who were the people on the other side?

"Rebellious son, do you want to kill the entire Ma family?"

Ma Teng was so angry about his own son's behavior that he wrote a letter asking him to surrender, but he actually killed the messenger who delivered the letter and proclaimed himself king. This would be fine, I was still alive and well and was given a posthumous title, but if I could move freely now, I would have to chop him to death.

"Father, I am an unfilial child!"

Ma Chao's voice was heartbreaking, but he was riding on his horse fine, holding the spear tightly in his hand, and he was too lazy to even bow.

"Rebellious son, are you going to surrender or not?" Ma Teng's liver hurt even more.

"Father, there is no turning back. I will bring the soldiers home," Ma Chao shouted, raising his spear.

"This child is hopeless. Bring Ma Teng and his sons back!" Zhang Liao sighed helplessly.

"You bastard, you rebellious son, you evil son, you unfilial son!" Ma Teng cursed these four words desperately when he was taken back to the rear army.

I guess he regrets having this son. He might as well have stuck him on the wall.

The battle of Beiyuan, or rather, there was no battle at all, the Xiliang army saw that Ma Teng was still alive and well, and surrendered without any fighting spirit. Ma Chao saw that he was deserted by his friends and relatives, so he could only lead more than a hundred loyal soldiers to charge into the battle like a moth to a flame, but was shot to death in the battle.

Personal bravery is really not that important in large-scale military operations.

After Ma Chao's death, Guanzhong was pacified, and the Xiliang army was incorporated, Fa Zheng stayed in Chang'an and sent people to Chengdu to meet the emperor and ask the emperor to choose a day to move back to the capital. Zhang Liao led his troops to attack Bingzhou in the east and completed the siege of Yecheng.

As mentioned earlier, Zhang Liao was from Bingzhou and had fought against the Huns in Bingzhou for many years. Now he returned to his hometown with an elite army. It would be too easy for him to fight such a battle.

Yu Jin and Xun You had not even built a defense line on the Yellow River when Zhang Liao had already crossed the river. Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the two had no choice but to withdraw their troops from Bingzhou and head to Yecheng.

The pressure was on Cao Pi. Time passed too quickly and the situation changed even faster. From the time Yizhou issued the proclamation to punish the disloyal, it had only been half a year, and all the princes in the world had died or surrendered. Now he was the only one left in the Central Plains, becoming the most hated one.

I have only been the county magistrate for a few days, and I guess King Ziying of Qin had the same mentality back then!

It's said that we will perish together with the imperial army. It's a very idealistic idea, but the reality is that the meat is on someone else's chopping board. They haven't started yet, so they are probably considering whether to braise it or steam it...

To be honest, Cao Pi felt that it would be easier for Yu Jin and Xun You to bring back the 50,000 troops from Bingzhou than for them to join Zhang Liao.

Because at this moment Yecheng had assembled more than 100,000 troops, and the tents stretching to the horizon looked spectacular, but Cao Pi felt a shudder when he saw it.

This is not an army, it's clearly a volcano that can erupt at any time.

The daily consumption of 100,000 troops is an astronomical figure, but Yecheng is already stretched to the limit. Seeing that the food in the warehouse and in the book was getting less and less, Xiahou Yuan, who was in charge of logistics, wanted to jump off the building.

Once the food supply is cut off, these 100,000 troops will quickly get out of control and turn Yecheng and even Hedong County into a living hell. There's no telling how many tragedies will happen, and he himself will be torn to pieces by the chaotic soldiers, leaving no trace of his body.