There is a water at the source of Langjia Ridge in Minshan Mountain in Wudu County, which is called Qiang Water. Qiang water bends and flows southeast to the territory of Yinping, which is called Baishui by Di people, and then Baishui goes southeast to Yizhou Guanghan and merges into the Western Han River (Jialing River).

Since Ma Chao, Jiang Wei, and Ma Dai planned to attack Yinping, within a few days, the soldiers and horses in Wudu were urgently mobilized.

After some turnaround, it was finally decided that Ma Chao's 2,000 Xiliang Iron Cavalry, Ma Dai's 800 Tu Cavalry Battalion and Jiang Wei's 3,200 Qiang Cavalry, a total of 6,000 cavalry, would form a coalition army to go to Yinping; Pang Hong, Ke Shisan, and Yadan defended the defense, and Liu Yin and Yue Ji defended Luoyang.

On the third day of the ninth month, the combined forces of Ma Chao and the Qiang people went down the Qiang River; Two days later, in the early morning of the fifth day of the first lunar month, the coalition forces had already traveled more than 300 miles, and were about to arrive at the Baishui Bridge at the junction of Wudu and Yinping in half an hour.

The army will cross the river here, and from then on officially enter the territory of Yinping.

The morning of this day was very fresh and beautiful, the sky was slightly bright, the sun seemed to coat the earth with a layer of gold, and the air carried the unique fragrance of plants and trees in the morning.

A mixed and neat cavalry of Hu and Han was lining up in a long line, walking quickly along the riverside path.

On both sides of the road, the grass is abundant, and the wild grass grows unscrupulously in this midsummer season, and the grass blades hold crystal clear dewdrops, which seem to be about to slide down the leaves, but before they can slip down, they are immediately stepped over mercilessly by the iron horse, crushed into mud, and dust.

At this time, Ma Chao and Jiang Wei were in the middle of the cavalry, sitting on their respective mounts and slowly riding their horses.

After two days of non-stop, both of them were stained with a layer of wind and frost, but the big battle was imminent, and the two of them were full of fighting spirit.

For Ma Chao, killing the strong end can not only justify his name as General Shenweitian, but also avenge the dead Wu Lan and Lei Ding, and wash away the shame of defeat in the outpost battle of the Hanzhong Campaign.

For Jiang Wei, once Yinping was taken, it would mean that the northwest of Shu Han was completely pacified, and the imperial court could establish a new order in Xitui at the lowest cost, so as to achieve the greatest benefits in the Hu-Han trade.

It is worth mentioning that the occupation of military capital can be used as a springboard for the Northern Expedition in the future; And mastering Yinping can plug a big loophole that is unknown to Yizhou - in history, Deng Ai followed the Yinping trail to take the Jiangyou Pass in the hinterland of Yizhou, and then shocked the Shu Han Baiguan and Liu Chan were forced to surrender.

The two of them had their own thoughts, and they were speechless all the way, but they kept urging the cavalry forward.

Just when there were still more than 20 miles away from the Baishui Bridge, the sound of horses' hooves in front of him suddenly sounded, and after a while, the figure of Ma Dai appeared in the dust.

Ma Dai, as the forward of this trip, is responsible for finding out the news in the front, opening roads in the mountains, and building bridges in the water, which is a great responsibility.

When Ma Chao saw him coming in person, he knew that there was a major military situation ahead, so he asked anxiously: "Brother Dai, what's the matter?" ”

Jiang Wei also cast a concerned eye.

Ma Dai took a breath, his face was embarrassed, and he arched his hand and said: "Brother, Boyo, I saw with my own eyes at Baishui Bridge, the Di people have a camp on the other side of the river, and they are waiting for it at the moment, it seems that the strong guy has already gotten the news!" ”

Ma Chao slapped his thigh hard and said angrily: "I'll hurry up and hurry, I don't want to leak the news!" Which bastard did it! ”

In fact, whether it is the Qiang water at the source or the white water in the middle and lower reaches, because this section of the waterway runs between the mountains and mountains, the water potential is quite turbulent, and thousands of troops want to cross the river, which takes a lot of twists and turns; If someone on the other side of the river had laid out a defense in advance, it would have been ten or a hundred times more difficult for the army to cross the river.

The two of them emphasized the speed of the soldiers, and deliberately chose to cross the river in the early morning of this day, so as to avoid the Di people receiving the news in advance and preparing early, so that the coalition forces would be able to take the strong end by surprise.

But it is clear that this plan has failed.

Everyone didn't expect that the escaped Muba would defect here, after all, there was an inextricable blood feud between the Wolf Qiang and the Baima people.

After guessing for a while, the speed of the cavalry team was greatly reduced, and many unknown soldiers turned their heads to look in their direction.

Seeing this, Jiang Wei suggested: "As the so-called boat is naturally straight to the bridge, it is better to go and see it first." ”

Ma Chao had no other way: "That's all it can be." ”

The two of them suddenly accelerated their ride, and under the leadership of Ma Dai, they quickly arrived at the Baishui Bridge, which was twenty miles away.

There are very few Han people in Yinping, and the Qiang and Di people do not have the technology to make large bridges, so although the name of this place is called Baishui Bridge, in fact, it is not because there is a bridge here, but because when Baishui flows through here, it is located in the valley area between the two peaks, the riverbed widens, the water flow slows down, and the water surface is only half a horse high when the water is shallow, which can be used by people, so it is named Baishui Bridge, or Baishuitan can better express this meaning.

When the three of them arrived, they saw tens of thousands of soldiers and horses lined up on the other side of the river about ten zhang wide, lined up with goose wings south of Baishui, and looked from afar, the spears were like forests, the flags were like clouds, and the black pressure was pressed for more than ten miles, spreading more than ten miles in Henan, and it did not give the Han and Qiang coalition forces a chance to take advantage of it.

"Sun Tzu's Art of War" cloud: "Don't welcome it in the water, let it hit it halfway." "It's exactly the truth of half-crossing. The so-called "half-crossing and attacking" is a battle between the two armies, one side wants to cross the river to fight, the other side has to attack when the opponent's army has spent half of the time, at this time part of the army has gone ashore, the other part is still not landing, you attack, the other side can not open the formation, the army is easy to chaos!

Jiang Wei looked at the appearance of the strict defense on the other side, regretful, and couldn't help but say in his heart, this strong end is still a bit level, no wonder he can dominate Yinping in just a few years, and he is also led by the Qiang people as a big trouble.

Ma Chao was furious and was about to drive forward.

Seeing this, Ma Dai was in a hurry, grabbed the reins of the horse, and persuaded: "Brother, stop!" If you go up further, you'll be within range of the enemy's bow and arrows! ”

Ma Chao turned a deaf ear, broke free from Ma Dai's obstruction, rode his horse to the riverside, raised his gun and shouted angrily across the river: "Liangzhou Ma Chao is here!" What's the strong end? ”

After all, it is the name of a person, the shadow of a tree, Ma Chao has been shaking and hanging west for many years, and suddenly heard this name on the other side, and there was a big uproar, Jiang Wei was separated by more than ten zhang of the river, and he could also hear the movement from a distance.

After a short time, the army on the opposite bank surged, and the soldiers took the initiative to retreat a road like cutting through the waves; Immediately afterwards, a black figure rode quickly to the river and settled down.

"Ma Chao, the strong end is here! I ask you, why did you violate my border without a reason? ”

Ma Chao took two more steps forward and shouted in the wind:

"Strong end! You are also a hero, can you dare to put on a battle, and I will be upright and upright, and fight the winner? ”

Qiang Duan raised the whip and pointed at the opposite side, sneering, "Hahaha...... Ma Chao! In order to maintain your power, you are willing to kill your father and brother, you are really a fatherless villain! Although I am a strong man, I am ashamed to be with you! If you retreat quickly, you may be able to leave a small life; If you still bark here, you will have to suffer a little! ”

When the southeast wind was rising, Jiang Wei took advantage of the wind to hear Qiangduan's words clearly and unmistakably, and couldn't help but doubt in his heart.

The strong end received the news in advance, and blocked the place where the river was crossed for a few days, and forced Ma Chao to retreat; But as the saying goes, hitting people doesn't slap people in the face, and scolding people doesn't expose their shortcomings.

Ma Chao is a proud character, and he is angry with insults in public, doesn't it force Ma Chao to break the kettle and fight to the last soldier? In this way, what good is it for him to force himself?

Jiang Wei pressed the question in his heart, raised his eyes to look around on the other side, and at this look, he really found a change.

But seeing the smoke and dust rising from the military array behind Qiang Duan, it seemed that hundreds of cavalry rushed to the riverside, and when they came to the front row, they could see that the cavalry had a bow and arrow, and they aimed at Ma Chao in the river from a distance.

At this time, Ma Chao was already trembling with anger, and the river had almost reached the calf of the mount under his crotch, but he didn't realize it, just stared at the black figure, his shoulders shrugged slightly, and his eyes seemed to be about to erupt fire.

The river is more than ten zhang wide, but it is only about fifty paces, and it is within the killing range of archers.

Jiang Wei suddenly realized: "It turns out that the strong guy is deliberately provoking General Ma and attracting his positive attention, but secretly arranging archers to sneak attack!" ”

Ma Chao is the main general of this trip, if he dies, there is no need to fight this battle.

Jiang Wei was in a hurry, and shouted loudly: "Be careful with the bow and arrow!" "While striding forward; Ma Dai also saw the clues on the other side, and kicked the horse to protect it.

It's just that before his words fell, a wave of arrow rain had been shot out on the other side, because there were too many arrows, after a breath, the heavens and the earth were first quiet, and then the sound of breaking the sky and shaking the ears was endless, and the arrows were like a storm, covering the sky and the sun.

Jiang Wei and Ma Dai wanted to rescue, but it was too late, and the two stared intently at the scene in front of them, only to feel their hearts pounding, and they were about to jump out of their throats.

At this moment, seeing Ma Chao shouting violently, he only relied on his legs to control the horse and turned back, twisted the wolf's waist, and held the tiger head Zhan golden spear three feet long with both hands, and struggled to make it into a circle about three feet long, tightly protecting the people and horses.

His speed was so fast that the shadow of the spear was almost unsightly to the naked eye, but the tinkling sound was incessant, and after three breaths, all the arrows were ready to be disrupted.

It is the red sun rising in the east, Ma Chao lion helmet and beast belt, silver armor and white robe, holding a spear, one person and one horse standing on the riverbank, the end is majestic, unparalleled in the world.

In the face of such unbelievable bravery and majesty, the tens of thousands of troops on the other side were silent and silent, and even forgot to take advantage of the gap to attack again.

Jiang Wei and Ma Dai arrived and stayed on both sides of Ma Chao, escorting him and slowly retreating.

At this time, Ma Chao had already regained his calm, just clenched his fists, turned around and swept the other side coldly, and said: "I, Ma Mengqi, swear here, that I will teach Qiangduan to fight to the death without a place to be buried!" ”