"At least 150,000." Yuan Xi said: "I immediately wrote a letter and sent it to Ma Teng, so that he didn't have to rush to attack Chang'an. With the military and political yamen, 150,000 grains were transferred and transported to the front line in Chang'an. Then from the two counties of Ha Dong and Hanoi, the siege equipment was mobilized. I should go to Chang'an to supervise the battle and swear to break Chang'an! ”

"In this way, Cao Cao will be defeated!"

Gao Ran looked at the other battle report in Yuan Xi's hand: "Lord, what is this battle report?" ”

"It's a battle report from Jingzhou, guess what? What is the situation in Jingzhou? Yuan Xi asked with a smile.

"Liu Biao has 300,000 soldiers, Cao Cao is only 200,000, and his army should not have reached Jingzhou yet. At this time, the battle situation in Jingzhou should be Liu Biao taking the initiative, and Cao Cao's vanguard is difficult to advance. Gao Ran said.

"No!"

Yuan Xi shook his head and said, "You guessed wrong. Cao Cao's vanguard had already conquered Xiangyang, the capital of Jingzhou. Liu Biao's 300,000 troops were vulnerable, and after the defeat, they retreated to Jiangxia. ”

"What?!"

The generals in the tent were shocked.

Liu Biao's 300,000 army was defeated silently?

Wen Chou snorted: "This is too cowardly, right?" 300,000 troops, can't beat tens of thousands of troops? ”

"We have 700,000, haven't we fought Cao Cao's hundreds of thousands of troops? Fighting a war does not depend on a large number of soldiers, but on strategy. There are few generals under Liu Biao who can fight well, and Cao Cao sent them are all fierce generals and elites. In fact, I was worried about this for a long time, but I didn't expect that Liu Biao would lose so quickly. Yuan Xi threw the battle report to everyone: "Take a good look." Cao Cao's army is getting stronger and stronger. ”

"Hmph." Wen Chou said: "That's because he didn't meet us." In the battle of Hedong, didn't Cao Ren lose to Yan Liang? ”

After reading the battle report, Gao Ran said: "Jingzhou is already in Cao Cao's pocket, and his main force is likely to advance westward to aid Cao Ren." The lord should go to Yan Liang and tell him to deal with it carefully. ”

Yuan Xi nodded and said, "The general's vision is extraordinary." ”

"The lord praises it."

"I'm going to go to Chang'an in person and meet Cao Cao for a while. The matter here is left to the generals, or Gao Ran commands the whole army, marches east to Baimajin, and then attacks Puyang. But remember, this attack on the Central Plains is just to test Cao Cao's strength and contain Cao Cao by the way. If you can't capture Puyang, it doesn't matter, return to Liyang immediately. Yuan Xi commanded.

"Yes."

The crowd stood up and bowed their hands.

A few days later.

Cao Cao's army arrived at Wuguan and garrisoned it to rest.

Yuan Xi also rode the four phases, and took the giant beasts along the east of the river and Hanoi to Chang'an.

At this time, Yan Liang and Ma Teng's iron cavalry was still on the west bank of the Wei River, and it was difficult to advance an inch.

On the banks of the river.

Ma Teng said to Yan Liang: "The Wei River is turbulent and difficult to cross. My iron cavalry is invincible in the field, but not in water warfare, can the general have a strategy to cross the river? ”

If there was a way to cross the river, Yan Liang would have said it a long time ago.

"I have a navy in Liyang, but it's too far away to be transferred. We'll just have to collect a few more ships and make another charge. This time I want to go in person, I don't believe it, my 250,000 iron cavalry will be blocked by Cao Ren's 20,000 soldiers? ”

Yan Liang's heart was very aggrieved.

I think that when he fought with Cao Ren in Hedong County, he had the advantage and defeated Cao Ren. And now in the Wei River, he has suffered setbacks again and again, and hundreds of thousands of iron horsemen have been deployed along the river, but they can't cross it.

Yan Liang led the army back to the camp.

Ma Teng followed.

"General Yan, our army is about to run out of food, and it is really not suitable to fight for a long time. If I don't win again, I have no choice but to lead my army back to Xiliang. Don't blame it. Entering the tent, Ma Teng said.

"I still have some grain and grass in my army, which I can share with you." Yan Liang said.

"How long can the food in your army support 250,000 iron horsemen? No matter how much food the general has, it is impossible to fight for a long time. Besides, my roots are far away in Xiliang, and I have been away for a long time, and I am afraid that the Huns will attack.... ”

Ma Teng has already retreated.

Yan Liang snorted: "The Huns dare to attack, I will help you retreat from the enemy!" As for the grain .... My lord has nothing else, but there is a lot of food, and when I send a message back to Yecheng, I will transfer 50,000 stone grain, which is enough to attack Chang'an? ”

Fifty thousand?

Ma Teng said with a smile: "I know that General Yuan is rich and prosperous, and he doesn't have to worry about food and salary, but... Is he willing to give 50,000 stone of grain? It must be known that after Chang'an was captured, it was far from General Yuan's Hebei, and it was impossible for him to occupy it. ”

"Don't worry, my lord is determined to resist Cao, why don't you care about the grain and grass?"

Yan Liang immediately wrote a letter and prepared to send someone back to Yecheng.

At this time, a messenger came into the account: "General, someone has sent a letter from the lord." ”

"Bring it quickly." Yan Liang opened the letter and looked at it, laughing: "General Ma, look at the letter." He handed the letter to Maarten.

Ma Teng was shocked when he saw it: "150,000 stone grain? This.... ”

"What? Intimidated? Yan Liang was very proud, looking at the princes of the world, except for Liu Biao in Jingzhou, only Yuan Xi could have such a big hand, and he took out more than 100,000 stone grains casually, just to ask Ma Teng to contain Cao Cao.

If there is no food, although Ma Teng is willing to fight, he cannot do anything.

It can be seen that the role of food is sometimes better than a million soldiers.

"The lord said in the letter that we will go to the Wei River in a few days, and before that, we must cross the Wei River, and we must not always be on the west bank of the Wei River, how can I face the lord?"

"Rest assured, General..."

Ma Teng got up and said, "As long as there is food, I vow to attack Chang'an." I will go back and gather Han Sui, Cheng Yin, candidates, etc., to form an elite force of strength in the Wei River, and when the general's ships are ready, they will cross the Wei River. ”

"Okay."

Yan Liang nodded in agreement.

When Ma Teng returned, he gathered the leaders of all the forces. In addition to Han Sui, Cheng Yin, candidates, etc., there are more than a dozen Qiang soldiers. When Ma Teng told them that Yuan Xi would come to Chang'an in a few days and give 150,000 stone grain to help the war, they were all willing to fight.

"This Yuan Xi is really generous, as soon as he opens his mouth, it is 150,000 stone grain. In the end, it is a rich land in Hebei, far from being comparable to our Xiliang. Han Sui said with a smile.

"This has nothing to do with whether Hebei is rich or not, the main thing is that Yuan Xi is willing to take it out, which is commendable." Ma Teng's eldest son, Ma Chao, said.

"Hmm."

Ma Teng nodded and said: "I think my Ma family is loyal and good, now the Han family is unfortunate, Huanggang is unified, and the Son of Heaven was imprisoned in Xuchang by Cao Cao, we are Hanchen, so we should share the worries for the Son of Heaven." Since I have 150,000 stone grains to help me beg for thieves, I will break Chang'an! Ladies and gentlemen, quickly prepare the soldiers and horses, and when the ships are collected, we will fight with me across the Wei River!" ”

"No..."

The people answered.

"Father, Yuan Xi helped 150,000 stone grains, does he want to occupy Chang'an?" Ma Teng's other son, Ma Tie, said.

"I don't know. However, I don't expect him to occupy it, because Chang'an is too far away from Hebei to govern. Furthermore, with us in Xiliang, we can attack Cao's back, and Yuan Xi occupies Chang'an, what is the use? Ma Teng said.