Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

Ma Teng wanted to attack the Bingzhou army from both sides, but Zhang Mo had been thinking about how to cut off his retreat and rob his food from the very beginning. Therefore, she deliberately let Li Su's army in Heyang go in order to create the appearance of defeat, paralyze Ma Teng, and lure his army across the river to fight. Only then would Zhang Yan have the opportunity to capture Linjin City.

Linjin City had not closed its gates since yesterday. After Ma Teng's soldiers successfully crossed the river, the city had been transporting war horses, weapons and some food to the ferry. So in the early morning, when Zhang Yan's team suddenly attacked, the soldiers and civilians who were transporting things were dumbfounded.

Zhang Yan ordered a thousand men to seize the city gate, and he himself led 4,000 men to kill the Liangzhou army and civilians who were escorting the supplies.

Five thousand against three thousand, another surprise attack, the battle to capture the city went very smoothly. Zhang Yan asked people to transport the things on the road back to the city, leaving two thousand people to guard the city. He took three thousand archers to the river bank to seize the boats for crossing the river.

News of the loss of Linjin City quickly reached Ma Teng's army, leaving them stunned. How could the enemy be so fast? The army had just crossed the river last night, and the city was already lost this morning? Why hadn't anyone warned them of their approach? Where were the scouts? Where were the sentries along the way?

"I knew it wouldn't be that simple, and it's true! It's true! That woman is good at surprise attacks. Her ambush wasn't arranged on the road, but behind our army. We're done..."

Li Su, the first to react, looked at the few remaining boats by the river, his face pale as he muttered to himself, "There must be ambushes in that camp. We only have so few boats now. Our retreat is cut off. How can we, an army of 20,000, get back?"

"What are you going back for?"

Ma Teng recovered from his shock and anger and shouted, "Are you going back to die? I finally managed to get the army across the river. Even if I die today, you must take down that camp for me."

From the time he started his rebellion to the present, Ma Teng has served as an officer and soldier, and also as a rebel for many years. He has experienced countless battles and has been chased into desperate situations. The reason he is still alive today is not only due to his personal bravery, but also his composure in the face of danger and his command.

With his retreat cut off, the food supplies here could only last for four days at most. Only by making every effort to capture Gao Shun's camp and capture a city could he have a foothold and avoid being trapped to death on the riverbank by the enemy.

Therefore, even if there are ambushes in the camp, we must attack it today.

Seeing the panic on the faces of the surrounding officers, Ma Teng continued to encourage them, "This time, the Bingzhou army is fighting on both the eastern and western fronts. Forty thousand troops have been deployed to Jizhou alone. They also have to leave some men in Yanmen to guard against the Hu people. After deducting the over ten thousand troops stationed in Hongnong County, I suspect the maximum number of troops stationed in Hedong will be no more than ten thousand."

"Now that five thousand Bingzhou troops have appeared in Linjin, the only ones left here are those in Gao Shun's camp. If we boost the morale of the soldiers, it will be easy to capture this camp. Then our army can march south to Fengling Ferry and reach Huayin. Together with Wen Yue, we can attack Duan Wei from both sides. Then, Hongnong County and Hedong County will fall into our hands."

"But if we all retreat, we'll truly be doomed. By cutting off our retreat, they're also boosting our morale and encouraging us to advance!"

"The general is right. There is no way to retreat. We can only charge forward! Kill all the Bingzhou troops!" A deputy general echoed first.

"Kill all the Bingzhou troops! Kill all the Bingzhou troops!" The generals shouted.

"Kill all the Bingzhou troops! Kill all the Bingzhou troops..."

The soldiers also roared, their morale was unprecedentedly high, and the thunderous sound pressed towards Gao Shun's camp with overwhelming force.

"Burn your boats and fight to the death, this is what I am most worried about!" Gao Shun said solemnly as he listened to the shouts coming from the riverbank.

Although there were still 5,000 Black Mountain soldiers behind them, the total strength of their own side was less than 10,000, while Ma Teng's side had 20,000 soldiers with high morale. In this case, it was not impossible for 20,000 people to fight with the momentum of 40,000 people.

Zhang Mo was also a little panicked. In this plan, this link had the greatest risks and changes. If they were not careful and the enemy broke into the camp, the Liangzhou army could march straight into Hedong County.

However, if they could defeat Ma Teng and his men, and then send troops from Linjin to go around Han Sui's army from the rear, and attack from the front and back with Lu Bu, this battle would wipe out the two major forces in Liang Province.

Seizing food is secondary; her ultimate goal is to kill Ma Teng and Han Sui in one fell swoop.

Zhang Mo remained calm and said, "As the art of war says, 'The first attack is strong, the second is weak, and the third is exhausted.' His morale rises quickly, but it will also fall quickly. We only need to hold on for two days. If we still can't take the city on the third day, their morale will collapse. If we then have Zhang Yan's troops on the other side withdraw to Linjin City, some will inevitably rush to escape across the river. I suspect Li Su will be the first one to do so."

She gazed at the vanguard of the Liang Province troops from afar, pointed at the young general and said, "If my guess is correct, this man is Ma Chao, son of Ma Teng. He fought like a fool yesterday, always wanting to charge forward, desperate to charge into our camp. He's quite skilled in martial arts, but he's too young and impulsive. Zhongkang can find an opportunity to subdue him later. Capturing him alive would be best, but if that doesn't work, we should kill this fool first to dampen the enemy's morale."

Xu Chu responded, "No problem!"

Zhang Mo warned, "That guy is not simple, you must not underestimate him."

The fight between Ma Chao and Xu Chu in Romance of the Three Kingdoms did not result in a winner. Zhang Mo did not know who was stronger between the two men written by Mr. Luo. But judging from their age, Xu Chu was at the peak of his potential as a man, while Ma Chao was still a teenager under 20 years old. He was far inferior to Xu Chu in terms of physical fitness. Then there was the combat experience. Not to mention that Xu Chu had been trained by Lu Bu for several years, even in terms of actual combat, he was much more experienced than Ma Chao. As long as Xu Chu did not underestimate the enemy, he should have no problem defeating him.

Zhang Mo then said to Gao Shun, "The Black Mountain troops in the rear should hold off on attacking for now. Wait until the Liangzhou soldiers feel they are about to breach the stronghold, then charge out and cut off their hopes, which will further undermine their morale."

"understand!"

Gao Shun responded and sent someone to the rear to convey the order.

As the sun rose in the east, the 5,000-strong vanguard of Liang Province, led by Ma Chao, began to move towards the camp, and Gao Shun's soldiers also formed up in front of the camp.

Since Linjin City was taken away by Zhang Yan, the Liangzhou Army had limited war horses and weapons transported. Except for some generals, the soldiers all fought on foot, and there were not many shields and arrows.

Ma Chao arranged the wooden shields in front into three long rows, advancing forward layer by layer like waves, with spearmen following closely on the left and right of the shields, and archers behind them.

Due to the lack of shields, except for the first three rows, there was no protection at the rear of the entire formation. In contrast, in Gao Shun's formation, those shields were like tortoise shells covering it, protecting the soldiers firmly.

After the Liangzhou soldiers entered the shooting range, both sides began to shoot arrows. However, Gao Shun's soldiers cooperated very well. The shield soldiers could always seize the gap between two waves of arrows to open the tortoise shell. Once the arrows were released, the tortoise shell would automatically cover itself again, allowing them to attack while protecting themselves. The Liangzhou army fired three rounds of arrows without any effect. Instead, the archers in the rear lacked shield protection and many of them were knocked down.

Ma Chao was furious watching from behind and immediately ordered his soldiers to move forward.

His decision was not wrong. In this situation, it was indeed more appropriate to rush forward quickly and engage in a melee. However, if he wanted to engage in a melee, he had to break Gao Shun's tortoise shell formation first.