After Tai Shi Ci collected his troops and returned to Pingxiang, he ordered people to count the soldiers and horses, and there were not many losses in this battle, plus the rout army that fled back from Zhao Cen's side, there were still more than 3,000 people, but if the losses on Zhao Cen's side were counted, this battle was full of nearly 2,000 people and horses.

Ma Chao's loss should be more, but Tai Shi Ci brought the elite of Guanzhong, but the opponents were all Qiang soldiers, even if Ma Chao lost nearly half, Tai Shi Ci would feel that it was his side that lost, after all, it was an ambush, and Ma Chao was indeed ambushed.

"Strategist, since the ambush is no longer effective, why do we have to stay here in Pingxiang?" Tai Shi Ci looked at Xun You, who was sent by Chen Mo to help him, and asked.

"This battle is not only to frustrate that horse's super sharpness!" Xun You took a sip of the water handed by the guards and said: "That Ma Chao is known as the first military general in Xiliang, according to the detailed report of our army, not long ago, he fought with Han Sui's cronies Yan Xing and Cheng Yi in Jincheng, and the relationship between the two families was not harmonious. ”

Tai Shi Ci nodded, at this point, Chen Mo also specially showed these materials to the generals, but what does this have to do with them?

"Whether in terms of itinerary or army, Ma Chao's army should be regarded as a vanguard, this time he was ambushed and lost his soldiers, which would have damaged Ma Chao's prestige, if he couldn't set up camp for the army before the army arrived in Ji County, I didn't have to wait for anything to do, then Han Sui's generals would squeeze Ma Chao, the general may understand?" Xun You smiled and said, if it is just a war, Tai Shi Ci is enough, why let yourself follow Tai Shi Ci on this trip again.

"If it weren't for that Zhao Cen to light the enemy, our army might have won!" Beside Tai Shici, several lieutenants of the military academy were dissatisfied.

"Not necessarily." Xun You shook his head and said: "Judging from the news brought back by the rout, Ma Chao obviously detected Zhao Cen's ambush in advance, it is precisely because Zhao Cen lost this battle that we can so easily ambush Ma Chao, if our army directly sets up an ambush, it may not be wiped out, but it may not be able to give Ma Chao a serious sore." ”

Tai Shi Ci nodded, judging from the news obtained from the rout, Ma Chao obviously realized that something was wrong, deliberately divided the troops into an ambush, and then lured Zhao Cen out of the savage crossing, and then counter-ambushed, replaced by himself, he may not be able to do better than Zhao Cen in the ambush, it is precisely because Zhao Cen ambushed first, so that Ma Chao lost his vigilance, and his second ambush can be successful, but unfortunately there are too few people, and Ma Chao does have some ability, and he failed to completely defeat it.

"Now this Ma Chao has not much more troops than our army, and it is not difficult to defend the city." Tai Shi Ci pondered: "Why don't I take the opportunity to attack at night?" ”

"Everything can no longer be done, at this time Ma Chao has just suffered a loss, it is the most vigilant time, if it is a night attack, the general may not be able to take advantage." Xun You shook his head and said, "On the contrary, the general should guard the city, and Ma Chao may take advantage of the night to sneak attack." ”

Tai Shi Ci nodded when he heard this, indeed, if he was himself, he was successfully ambushed, I am afraid that he would be wary of the other party's sneak attack again, and it is indeed not easy to rob the camp tonight.

"What the military advisor said is very true, and Cihui will pay attention." At that moment, Tai Shici got up to say goodbye, arranged for the defense of Pingxiang, and also arranged for people to rush to Ji County overnight to report the situation to Chen Mo.

Ma Chao's army has arrived in Pingxiang, and Pingxiang is only two hundred miles away from Ji County, and the Ma-Han coalition army on Di Dao's side doesn't know when it will arrive, but Chen Mo's side had better prepare early.

That night, Ma Chao really sent people to attack at night, but Tai Shici had already prepared and failed to succeed, and he didn't dare to attack, so he could only return in vain.

Early the next morning, Ma Chao led his troops to fight outside the city.

Tai Shi Ci and Xun You came to the city wall to watch the battle, and before seeing the army formation under the city, Ma Chao was already standing in front of the formation, and was shouting the battle: "Tai Shi Ci, yesterday I attacked me with a conspiracy, and today Ma Chao is here, can you dare to lead the army out of the city and fight with me in a dignified manner!?" ”

Tai Shi Ci stood at the head of the city, looking at the Ma Chao army formation, it was good for the Qiang people's troops to be able to form a military formation, and it would be a luxury to let them line up like the Guanzhong army.

Xun You on the side saw that Tai Shi Ci was eager to try, and hurriedly dissuaded: "The general must not be impulsive, although the Ma Chao troops are chaotic, they are not a rabble, they are subordinate to each other, and their strength is still above our army, at this time, it is a victory and a tragic victory, this time the lord has not many soldiers and horses, and he has lost two thousand yesterday, if there is another loss, it is a victory, and in terms of the overall situation, it will also be unfavorable to the lord." ”

Chen Mo wants to win more with less, and he must be at a disadvantage in terms of troops, in this case, the more miscellaneous the enemy, the better, and the more internal contradictions, the better, which is also the reason why Xun You suggested that Tai Shi Ci Shou block Ma Chao in Pingxiang, the longer it drags on, the greater the blow to Ma Chao's prestige in the Malaysia-Korea Alliance, and it is not easy to eliminate Ma Chao in terms of yesterday's battle, especially when the troops are not superior.

When Tai Shi Ci heard this, he could only give up his plan to fight, and said aloud to the army in the distance: "If you have the ability, you can attack the city, why talk nonsense?" I now have a strong city, but I want to give up the benefits of the city to fight a decisive battle with you outside the city, are the people of Xiliang so resourceless in fighting!? ”

Although he is not ready to fight, he must not be cowardly in his momentum, and he has to despise the other party's IQ.

A flash of anger flashed on Ma Chao's face, he looked at the city wall that was only two feet high, and sneered: "Just an earthen wall, you also want to stop me?" Besiege! ”

The Qiang soldiers and horses were already ready to go, and with Ma Chao's order, a number of ladders, ramming rams and other improvised siege weapons rushed towards the city wall under the impetus of the soldiers.

Although they are all temporary siege equipment, but Pingxiang is far from being a strong city, less than two zhang of rammed earth city wall, the city wall can accommodate up to four people in parallel, even the arrow array can not be opened, Tai Shi Ci divided the defenders into two columns, take turns to shoot arrows under the city, and at the same time move the rolling wood and stone that were done overnight on the city wall, the people of Pingxiang were moved to the area of Ji County by Zang Hong as early as after the autumn harvest, and now in addition to the defenders in this Pingxiang city, only some old and weak are still in the city and do not want to leave, and now the war has begun, These old and weak who remained in the city were also called up to serve as porters.

The city wall is not high, but after all, there are still some advantages, plus Tai Shici is properly dispatched, with the help of a small amount of boiling oil and torches, a lot of battering rams have been burned, as for the ladder, it is not a cloud ladder specially made for siege, although there is a barb in one section, but it can still be easily pushed down.

The two sides fought for a day, and Ma Chao saw that it was difficult to break through the city, so he had to withdraw his troops in a depressed Mingjin.

In the next few days, Ma Chao will try to attack the city every day, but Tai Shici will defend a soil city without leakage, no matter how Ma Chao storms, it is difficult to break through this city, although there is an advantage in troops, but the advantage is not too big, so for ten consecutive days, both sides have suffered a lot of losses.

Ma Chao saw that the damage of his subordinates was getting more and more serious, so he had to postpone the siege.

"This is too Shi Ci, it's really hateful!" Back in his tent, listening to the wails from time to time in the barracks, Ma Chao kicked off a stake in the tent with some irritation.

"Big brother, I'm afraid that our army is about to arrive in Ji County at this time, why don't we wait and go around the city?" Ma Dai looked at Ma Chao and asked.

Ma Chao was silent, the meaning of going around the city is not as simple as bypassing Pingxiang, it is also equivalent to giving up the logistics baggage, and the grain road here is equivalent to being cut off by Tai Shici, of course, Pingxiang will also become a lonely city.

But if you don't go, this Tai Shi Ci will be flat and not leaking, Ma Chao wants to break the city, unless Tai Shi Ci is cut off from water and food, but first, it takes time, and second, Tai Shi Ci is not without the strength to fight with himself, if Tai Shi Ci is desperate, even if he wins in the end, how many soldiers and horses can he take away.

Since Ma Chao became famous, Tai Shi Ci was the first enemy he had ever met in chess, but it didn't feel good.

This is just a general under Chen Mo's command, I heard that Chen Mo's fierce generals are like clouds, I don't know how many people are like Tai Shici?

This battle is hard to fight!

Ma Chao stood up a little irritated and said: "Just as Bozhan said, set off on the third watch tonight, let the soldiers bring enough food rations for three days, and don't worry about the rest, send someone to notify my father to pick it up." ”

From here to Ji County, more than 200 miles, it is a rapid march, and it will take at least three days to arrive, and if you want to bypass Pingxiang, the logistics here cannot be used.

"Whoa!" Ma Dai agreed, took his leave, and went to inform the soldiers of each battalion to prepare.

That night, at the time of the third watch, Ma Chao took the Qiang soldiers to abandon the camp and went straight to Ji County.

Early the next morning, Tai Shi Ci sensed that something was wrong, and when he sent scouts to the enemy camp to investigate, he found that Ma Chaoda's camp had already become an empty camp.

"According to the news from Ji County, the Malaysian-Korean coalition army has arrived in Luomen three days ago and confronted the lord in Luomen." Xun Yu said with a smile: "The general has dragged Na Ma Chao for more than ten days, which is enough to reduce Na Ma Chao's prestige." ”

Luomen is the western gateway of Ji County, more than 70 miles away from Ji County, three rivers converge, surrounded by mountains on both sides, it is a place where soldiers must fight, Chen Mo is the battlefield is here, just to block the army of Ma and Han.

"If the army is in Luomen, then Ma Chao can directly attack Ji County!" Tai Shi Ci frowned when he heard this: "Without further ado, I will also set off as soon as possible and rush back to Ji County!" ”

"Since the lord knows the situation here, he will guard against Ma Chao coming around the city to attack." Xun You smiled and said, "I'm not in a hurry to rush back at this time. ”

"The meaning of the military advisor is ......," Tai Shici looked at Xun Yu puzzled.

"Once the Mahan coalition army reaches Luomen, its rear will inevitably be empty, and it can take advantage of the situation to attack and disturb, that is, it cannot cut off the food route of the thief army, and it can also lead the Mahan coalition army to be unstable, and it is difficult to fight the lord with all his strength!" Xun You smiled.

Tai Shi Ci looked at the map, Pingxiang is closer to Longxi than Ji County, one hundred and seventy or eighty miles away, and if you march quickly, you can reach it in three days.

But if it is really according to Xun You's words, his army will become a lone army, and if he can't succeed in snatching some grain and grass, then this army will be finished.

"Strategist, now our army is only 2,000, and it may be difficult to attack the city!" Tai Shi Ci frowned.

"Collect some military uniforms from the corpses of the Xiliang army, and it will naturally be difficult to break through the city by storming, but if you attack it with a strange strategy, the defenders behind it may not be able to stop the general!" Xun You said with a smile, Ma Chao left in a hurry, many corpses were not cleaned up, and there were also a lot of baggage in the barracks that were not taken away, which was just a good use.

"Got it down!" Tai Shi Ci's eyes lit up when he heard this, this strategy was quite feasible, and he nodded at the moment, anyway, his group of men and horses was already crippled, even if he went back, he wouldn't be able to help much, it was better to make a detour behind enemy lines, Chen Mo gave Tai Shi Ci a considerable amount of autonomy, and even sent Xun You to let Tai Shi Ci be able to adapt to the situation and maximize the role of this team.