In the territory of Yalan, on a hill.

"Meng Qi, you just let these enemy horses retreat!"

Zhiyuan stroked the mane of the horse under his crotch with affection, glanced at Ma Chao who was fighting from afar, and the fox asked.

"I heard that the captain who led the army was still the general of your Ma Jiajun before, why, there was pity on the battle array, and I want to let them go?"

Ma Chao didn't move his gaze, he paid attention to the retreating enemy army in a chaotic formation, and shook his head gently.

He knew that it was impossible for him to establish a strong prestige among the Qianghu tribe in a short period of time by himself.

But after the battle of Zhangye, they should respect themselves like gods.

"You're thinking too much! Pang De and Yang Feng, they are all veteran generals in the army, and they are also good at besieging the city and sending reinforcements, you see that although they are coming towards our backs, the scouts sent along the way are still cautious and far away, and our ambush men and horses can't hide from them at all. ”

"Then you still let our men and horses endure the cold and starve, spend so much time, and lie in ambush for so long!"

Zhiyuan heard Ma Chao's words a lot, and there was a little more complaint in his words.

Ma Chao turned his face at this time, looked at Zhi Yuanduo, who was stroking his beloved horse, and said with a smile:

"Zhiyuanduo, you don't understand. Everything I did before was to hold back Yang Feng's soldiers and horses, give us enough time to break through each and defeat the enemy army of the third lieutenant in the east first. ”

"Oh?" Zhi Yuanduo was suspicious, he looked at Ma Chao and asked:

"So, let our men throw the corpses into the river, send the elite cavalry to plunder the messengers, and today's wasted ambush to delay Yang Aruo's advance?"

"That's right." Ma Chao took the trouble to explain, "If we are attacked by the eastern and western armies at the same time, even if our men and horses get the help of soldiers, horses, grain and grass and other Qianghu tribes, we will not be able to resist their attack." ”

"But if you deal with them one by one, the situation is very different. The disaster of the three armies began with suspicion. I asked you to throw the corpses, wreckage, and debris into the weak water, just to make the soldiers of the marching army under Yang Feng's command feel timid when they see it, thinking that Delete Dan and other places have fallen under our control. ”

"It was not wrong for the two armies of the east and west to flank Zhangye and echo each other's support. But the most lethal thing about this kind of split attack is that there is no communication between the two armies, and if the two armies are not able to maintain the communication on a daily basis, then this kind of joint attack is very likely to become a separate battle. We are in the middle, and if we divide a small group of elite men and horses to intercept those messengers who sneak through the battlefield, Yang Feng will not be able to get the military report from the east in time. ”

"In the end, this ambush that was not a success was to tell Yang Feng that we already had a defense behind us, which made him scruple and did not dare to let go of the attack. In this way, with the above three kinds of suspicions, Yang Feng's march will not be fast, which will give us enough time to break through each and defeat the enemy army of the three captains in the east first. ”

"Hahaha, Meng Qi, you are really a natural general!"

When Zhi Yuanduo heard this, he also had to sincerely admire Ma Chao's military talent, he praised Ma Chao while continuing to lower his head and stroke the fur of his mount, and said:

"What a warhorse! In the past, when we were cows and horses, such cool horses were only for the sake of watching, but now that we have stood up and become human again, the horses have naturally returned to our side. Meng Qi, thank you so much! ”

Zhi Yuanduo was still talking, but Ma Chao had already beaten the horse and slowly went downhill.

His eyes didn't just fall on the horses in the cool land. He helped Yi Jian's concubine and Zhi Yuanduo defeat Yang Feng and the third lieutenant, not just to prove that he was a natural general, what he wanted to do was to be the leader of the Liangzhou coalition army and the true master of this vast land.

···

In the spring of the fifth year of Jian'an, Yang Feng, Bao Chu and other generals led their armies to advance from east to west to suppress the Hu rebels who were ravaging Zhangye, but they unexpectedly suffered defeats.

After Ma Chao led the Hu people to delay Yang Feng's march, he quickly turned east and joined forces with the Qianghu tribe led by Yijian's concubine in Rile City, and jointly met the army of the three lieutenants who were besieging the city.

The two armies immediately launched a big battle at the foot of Yanzhi Mountain, on the battlefield led Hu Cai's horse to show his might, rushed left and right, no one could stop him, and successively killed Jiang Mo, Yang Yue and other generals, and once led the troops to rush to the vicinity of Bao's general banner.

In the fierce battle, Bao Zhu, who commanded the battle, was unfortunately wounded by an arrow, but he still held on and finally repelled the cavalry that broke into the formation.

After nightfall, the two armies retreated, and the army was taken over by the adjutant general Wang Zhong, seeing that the situation on the battlefield was unfavorable, Wang Zhong could only order the withdrawal of the army, and retreated to Fanhe City to hold on.

Yang Feng, who failed to launch an attack in time, could only retreat with hatred after learning the news of the defeat of the third lieutenant under Yanzhi Mountain, and retreated back to the city.

It's just that the situation in Liangzhou is no longer as simple as losing a few cities and losing one or two battles.

In order to find pasture and food, their tribesmen and horses circled around the grasslands and the Gobi, and when they heard that something had happened in Hexi, they dragged their families back into Juyanze.

Han Sui, who had not been seen for a long time in the Great and Small Elm Valleys, smelled the opportunity to make a comeback, and he was not willing to be lonely, he led a Qiang coalition army into the territory of Jincheng, and fought with the armies of Li Biao and Li Yue.

Zhang Lu of Hanzhong sent troops to attack Wudu County, and he and Han Sui who reappeared seemed to have some kind of connection, and the goal of the two armies was the same, that is, one west and one south, to fight to Hanyang County to achieve the division.

In the spring of the fifth year of Jian'an, Liangzhou seemed to have turned into an inflection point, and the situation took a sharp turn in a short period of time, as if a new storm had appeared, with Hexi as the center, the storm was constantly expanding, as if to tear apart all the people in the land of Liangzhou.

···

Chang'an, Hussar General's Palace.

Spring is coming, and it's busy farming time. In the past, official documents related to agricultural affairs in various places would be piled up on the desk, waiting for Yan Xing's signature and approval, but now, these official documents Yan Xing have all been pushed to Changshi Yanzhi.

Because, with the warm and cold spring, the bad news of the cool land has come.

Yang Feng, who retreated all the way to Lufucheng to join Zhao Hong, wrote a letter to ask for guilt, and asked Yan Xing to reinforce his troops and allow him to mobilize the elite soldiers of the Zhang family in Dunhuang, so that the merit would be atoned, and the unified army continued to quell the rebellion of Ma Chao, Lu Shuihu, and Xiding Ling.

"You and the third lieutenant sent ordnance, food, and war horses, these are all things that the Qianghu tribe lacks, and they want very much, and when you inquire clearly about what Ma Chao and they still lack, it will not be too late for you to do it."

Yan Xing asked Fu Gan to tell Yang Feng his words as they were, and at this time, he no longer expected Yang Feng and the others to be able to quickly quell the rebellion.

Hanyang's Yulu document also came, but Jia Xu did not ask for soldiers and food, he analyzed the situation of Han Sui, Zhang Lu's soldiers and horses, and Liangzhou, and brought a picture of two tigers and swordsmen.

Yan Xing only glanced at it, and then put the painting away.

Ma Teng also asked the Ma family's nephews to carry him, and he came to see Yan Xing in a hurry. Although the news of the chaos in Liangzhou was blocked by the Hussar General's Mansion, many people learned the news for various reasons, and Ma Teng was one of them.

Looking at this haggard old man with sunken eye sockets and little time, he kowtowed and pleaded guilty, while crying that he had no way to teach his son.

He originally pleaded for mercy to let Ma Chao go to Yang Qiu's camp to make meritorious contributions, but he didn't expect that it would cause such a big result.

He begged Yan Xing to cut off his own head, pass on his head to the cool land, and crusade against the disloyal and unfilial Ma Chao.

Yan Xing looked at the blood on his forehead, but waved his hand to take him back to the mansion.

If the head of Liangzhou can quell the rebellion, then Yan Xing doesn't mind cutting off a few more heads, but for now, let's store the heads on his neck first.

At night, in the lobby, the candles are lit.

The hussar general Yan Xing and the summoned civil and military held a military meeting in the hall.

A huge map was hung in the hall, and Liangzhou on the map was divided into two parts, Longyou and Hexi, and now these two places have more red signs, symbolizing the turmoil.

Xiding Ling, Lu Shuihu, Ma Chao, Han Sui, Zhang Lu, north to Juyanze, south to Wudu, west to Jiuquan, east to Wuwei, the fire of this rebellion has spread all over Liangzhou, raging.

"It's burning."

Many people whispered silently in their hearts, and some generals volunteered to go to Liangzhou to quell the rebellion, but Yan Xing only analyzed the current chaos in Liangzhou with Zhu Wenwu, and arranged matters such as the quartermaster and baggage for the army to be pulled.

Until Zhu Wenwu retreated outside the hall, Yan Xing did not appoint a general with troops and a specific strategy for quelling the rebellion, which couldn't help but make some Wenwu feel worried.

"Xun Gong, look at this matter, general-"

Yang Fu, Yan Wen and the others approached Xun You's side and asked in a low voice.

They are all Liangren, and the turmoil in Liangzhou is closely related to their families, and the current form is imminent, but the hussar general Yan Xing is unusual, and seems to have lost the vigorous and resolute style of doing things in the past.

When heaven and earth come together, the heroes are not free.

This made them worry in their hearts, whether the hussar general was undecided, and even messed up.

Xun You looked at the worried Yang, Yan and the others, smiled as usual, and comforted everyone softly.

"You don't have to worry too much, the hussar generals are strategizing, the kings in the palace are tireless, and there are many civil and military people in the cool land, this situation will not collapse."

"But today's general's actions—"

Yan Wen said cautiously.

Xun You shook his head, "The general is just waiting for news from the envoy, all the kings belong to Cao's subordinates, do their best to serve, and don't be impatient." ”

The others were still to ask again, but Xun You smiled and said nothing, had already separated the crowd, said goodbye and left, Meng Da, who had been staying behind the crowd, poked the thoughtful Fa Zheng beside him and asked:

"Xiaozhi, the messenger that the military advisor said, where is the messenger?"