The power competition between the Yuan and Cao families is a later story.

Yan Xing garrisoned Luoyang City, and after confirming the situation of Yuan Shao's retreat, he ordered Xu Huang, Ma Lin and others to hold the border city, and he began to refocus on the situation in Guanzhong, which had reversed again in the past two months.

Those who took advantage of the chaos in Guanzhong to gather troops and divide the territory were strong, and after the intervention of the foreign forces that were eyeing each other, they were weak and could not resist the army, and they inevitably went to the road of defeat.

In June, Li Wei of Huangbaicheng and Wang Cheng of Chiyang were wiped out by Ma Teng's army.

In the same month, Zhang Heng, who was raising the flag in Zheng County, was extinguished by Duan Xuan's army.

In July, the Ganling army, which crossed the river from the east of the river, returned to the old land of Xihe and pacified Feng Yiqiang, who had rebelled with the tribal lord Mengji.

Subsequently, Ganling sent Wulou Thorn, Quan Qu Evil and other Qianghu righteous servants to Shangjun, appeased many Qianghu tribes in Shangjun, lured them with money, silk, salt and iron and other materials, and recruited their Qianghu cavalry to come to Zuo Fengyi to assist his army in fighting and strengthen the momentum of Hedong soldiers and horses.

And when the Hedong army was singing and winning, there was also a large force of soldiers and horses that unexpectedly collapsed.

The soldiers and horses of Lou Gui sent by Liu Biao were accidentally broken in Wuguan, and were led by a small group of men and horses led by Wang Zhong, who was known as a good cannibal, and lost their armor and fled in defeat.

At present, Wang Zhong, who had gathered his troops and horses, occupied Wuguan, cut off Liu Biao's tentacles stretched into the pass, and confronted Liang Xing, who had transferred from Lantian and avoided Ma Teng's army and turned to march into Shangluo, and the two sides won and lost each other.

Leaving aside these small forces, the next step is the struggle between the big foreign forces.

Ma Teng's army, which had previously sent troops to defeat Li Dao and became the largest force in Guanzhong, had already made a precarious situation after the second increase in troops in Hedong.

Ma Teng, who built a camp on the front line of Baling to block Duan Xuan's march to Chang'an, began to be threatened on the flanks after Ganling's army entered Zuo Fengyi, and Chang'an City behind it was even more likely to be attacked by Ganling's light cavalry.

In the offensive and defensive battles of the frontal camp, Ma Teng's army gradually became overwhelmed.

First, when the army was in short supply, Duan Xuan began to launch an offensive against the camp of Ma Teng's army.

In the past two or three months, Duan Xuan led the army to confront Ma Teng, and ordered the army to build a large number of catapults to deal with the barracks built by Ma Teng's army.

Now that the reinforcements have arrived, the morale of the army has risen greatly, and the scouts have detected the military situation of Ma Teng's army running out of food and grass and planning to retreat, Duan Xuan, who has always adhered to the strategy of confronting the tired enemy, finally chose to take the initiative to attack, and ordered all the troops and horses under his command to move forward, move the camp and advance, and drive directly to the Ma Teng army in Baling.

After more than two months of confrontation in Ma Teng's army, the grain and grass have been exhausted under the chewing of the horses, and the rangers sent out to collect food have also gained little, so Ma Teng began to order a reduction in the daily supply of military rations in the army.

Although this move can alleviate the dilemma of food shortage in the army, it has also caused the situation of discontent among the soldiers and the gradual instability of the army's morale.

In this case, Ma Teng had actually had the idea of retreating, and where did he dare to fight a head-on battle with Duan Xuan's army, he could only order his soldiers and horses to hold the camp tightly, trying to rely on the camp fence built before to resist the attack of Duan Xuan's army and dampen their offensive spirit.

However, Duan Xuan, who had expected this, immediately ordered the soldiers in the army to push the many catapults that had been made in the past few months to the front of the battle, and bombarded the camp of the Ma Teng army in turn.

On the basis of the original stone thrower, the catapult improved by Hedong craftsmen, whether it is the range or the power, has made significant progress, if it is against the rammed earth thick city wall, the effect may not be obvious, but it is used to deal with the barracks and fences of the Ma Teng army, but it is very powerful.

All of a sudden, the front camp of Ma Teng's army was flying in the sky above the column of Duan Xuan's army, and wherever the stone bullets went, they destroyed the fence and overturned the military tent, and the front camp of Ma Teng's army was in a mess, and the army's heart was suddenly in chaos, and they all wanted to retreat to the rear camp in a hurry.

Seeing this, Ma Teng, who was in the camp, knew that no matter whether he was fighting or defending, or retreating, he could not let the situation deteriorate like this, so he decisively dispatched the elite cavalry around him to drive the front army back to the formation, and went out of the camp to attack the enemy.

Outside the camp, Duan Xuan saw that the catapult in front of the formation showed its might, not only broke through the front camp of Ma Teng's army, but also forced Ma Teng's army out of the camp for a decisive battle, and he was overjoyed, but he still maintained a calm demeanor, calmly commanded the catapult in front of the formation to retreat, and all the troops and horses lined up to meet Ma Teng's army.

The battle was commanded by Duan Xuan, and the fierce battle process was based on steady pushing, and the soldiers of the two armies attacked in formation, like two rocks colliding together, and there was a earth-shattering sound of fighting on the battlefield.

After the menacing Duan Xuan army forced the Ma Teng army out of the camp at this time, it was no longer in a hurry to take the initiative to attack, but fought steadily, and the army rode men and horses together, and the various departments maintained the formation and engaged the Ma Teng army, without giving the Ma Teng army in the army any opportunity to intersperse and detour.

The Xiliang cavalry under Ma Teng marched forward bravely, and with the cooperation of the foot soldiers, they constantly attacked Duan Xuan's army formation, and sent scattered cavalry to make a roundabout guerrilla attack in an attempt to disrupt the front lines on both flanks of Duan Xuan's army formation and create opportunities for the elite cavalry assault in the army.

Duan Xuan followed the tactics of his predecessor Duan Gong's "Zhang Yan sharp blade, triple spear, strong crossbow, and light cavalry as the left and right wings", and ordered the soldiers in the army to line up and set up spears to resist the impact of the cavalry in the Ma Teng army, and mixed the Zhang Shi and the cavalry troops and arranged them on the two wings, while maintaining the line on both wings, while constantly killing and injuring the roundabout rangers of the Ma Teng army, as for the brisk knife and axe hands, as a surprise soldier in the formation, they can respond to support anytime and anywhere.

In this big battle, the two armies were evenly matched. From the afternoon to the sunset, the soldiers on both sides were either brave and fierce, or trained in an orderly manner, and after falling into a stalemate stage of fierce battle, there was no winner for a long time.

But as the sun was approaching, the Ma Teng army, which was forced to fight a decisive battle, was unable to repel the enemy for a long time, and the army's heart was unstable, and the Ma Teng army's position began to waver, and the entire battlefield was slowly pressed by Duan Xuan's army, and Ma Teng's Chinese army faintly had a tendency to be outflanked and defeated by Duan Xuan's two wings.

At this dangerous situation, Ma Chao, who commanded the left wing of Ma Teng's army, made a decisive decision, did not report to Ma Teng, simply lost the command to Ma Dai, personally led a thousand cavalry, did not retreat but advanced, gave up the faltering front on both wings, and took Duan Xuan's Chinese army directly from the oblique stab with a ferocious offensive.

Ma Chao, who is in silver armor and white robe, has always been known for his reputation as the brave champion of the three armies in the army, and at this moment he personally led the troops to break through the formation, and the momentum is naturally not comparable to that of the ordinary enemy cavalry generals leading the cavalry to break through the formation.

What Ma Chao picked was the gap in the formation between the two soldiers of Hanoi's generals Yang Chou and Zhenggu.

Yang Chou and Zhenggu, who advanced with the army, fought for a long time, and originally thought that they could take advantage of the momentum of the two wings to outflank Ma Teng's Chinese army, and they could also make a great contribution, but they did not expect that after being ordered to attack, they ran head-on into Ma Chao, a thousand cavalry who suddenly counterattacked.

The sound of iron and gold and the clash of flesh and blood exploded in the dusty field!

Once the battle was met, the unprepared Yang Chou and Zheng Gu were suddenly torn apart by Ma Chao's cavalry, and the cavalry under Ma Chao's command was also damaged, but Ma Chao did not care about Yang Chou and Zheng Gu, who had not yet been completely defeated, but continued to order to continue to move forward, with an indomitable momentum, and launched a desperate charge against Duan Xuan's Chinese army.

The sword and axe hand who was a surprise soldier in the later section of the simmering formation, and the flank support of the Zhang Shi were soon scattered by Ma Chao's cavalry after two charges.

Ma Chao's cavalry was bloody, but still under the leadership of Ma Chao, who was in silver armor and white robe, he still had to attack Duan Xuan's army.

Duan Xuan, who followed the advance of the army, but was still as cautious as ever, also saw this fierce cavalry continuing to break through the formation, and rushed towards the direction of the Chinese army where he was with the momentum of seeing death as home, and he also specially asked the officials around him, who was the white-robed general who led the cavalry to rush and kill in front?

When he learned that this person was Ma Teng's eldest son, Ma Chao, Duan Xuan couldn't help but sigh.

I don't know if he lamented that Ma Teng's son was so young and brave, or whether he was lamenting that his incompetent sons and nephews could inherit his inheritance.

After Duan Xuan sighed, Ma Chao suddenly approached him again, and the rumbling sound of horses' hooves sounded as close as if Ma Chao's fist was pounding heavily on Duan Xuan's chest.

Duan Xuan, who was holding heavy soldiers, hesitated for a moment, looked at the thousand Hongnong soldiers around him, and finally ordered the guards around him to wave their flags and blow the trumpet, and the Chinese army's "Duan" character Daxu inevitably stopped.

This is the enemy commander ordering to suspend the advance and shrink the forces on both flanks!

Ma Chao, who broke into the formation of Duan Xuan's army, finally stopped when he saw that there was still a short distance in front of him, and finally showed a smile on his cold face.

And Zhang Liao, who had already galloped on his prancing horse, ready to take the cavalry to intersperse and cut off Ma Teng's Chinese army, heard the horn of his own Chinese army, but couldn't help frowning tightly.

If the Chinese army that has been broken through the first line can hold on for a while longer, the cavalry on his side will be able to disperse the rout of Ma Teng's right flank in front of him, and complete the encirclement of Ma Teng's middle army with wavering feet.

At that time, the cavalry will attack back and forth, and the Chinese army where Ma Teng is located will not be defeated, and in addition to such a strong enemy, the land of Guanzhong will be decided!

When Zhang Liao frowned and reined in his horse, Song Xian, who followed the battle, also noticed the wavering in his heart.

"General Zhonglang, why don't we continue to make a detour and win this great achievement of cutting the generals and breaking the army first, and don't take care of the soldiers and horses of Hongnong!"

Note: 1, "Three Kingdoms Zhiwu Emperor Ji" Pei Note quoted "Wei Luo" and said: (Wang Zhong) followed the south to Wuguan. Lou Zibo sent northern guests to Jingzhou; Loyal and unwilling to go, because of the rate and other counter-attacks, take away its soldiers.

2. The land of the West River (Hexi Three Cities) where Ganling was stationed in the text refers to the three cities of Linjin, Heyang, and Xiayang, and it is also the West River where Wu Qi's Wei Wushu was stationed, which is commonly known as the opposite of Hedong County, and the three cities on the west side of the river. It is not the same place as Hexi Corridor and Xihe County.