However, he said that Liu Bei sent Sun Qian to talk to Ma Chao about the conditions, and his attitude was very clear, so I Liu Bei could send troops to attack Cao **, and this general could also accept it, but Ma Chao was asked to support 200,000 pounds of grain and grass and 100,000 catties of fine iron, and postponed it to half a month to prepare.

This condition is quite reasonable, Ma Chao agreed after a little contemplation, of course he knew that Liu Bei could not be truly obedient to him, but it was an eventful time at the moment, and it was not appropriate to start a war on multiple fronts.

Sun Gan saw that Ma Chao agreed so happily, and his heart was also happy, and he hugged his fists and said: "Yanzhou is the land of the plains, the most suitable for cavalry galloping battles, the general controls the northern land, and there are countless good horses in his hands. ”

Ma Chao was secretly annoyed in his heart, but he said quietly on his face: "Ten thousand good horses is not a small number, as far as this general knows, Liu Bei only has 50,000 miscellaneous soldiers in his hands, and there is no inch of land, how can he afford to raise so many cavalry?" This general holds the land of the four northern states, and the cavalry is less than 50,000, and you have 10,000 good horses when you open your mouth, and your appetite is too great! ”

Sun Qian said: "Definitely! Cao thieves have collected hundreds of thousands of yellow turban thieves, and their troops are far superior to those of my lord, if there is no cavalry advantage, wouldn't it be an egg to hit a stone? Now that my lord has taken refuge in the imperial court, he is a minister of the Han Dynasty, and the general commands the soldiers and horses of the world, how can he favor one over the other? Supporting my lord and ten thousand good horses is no different from strengthening one's own armament! ”

Ma Chao secretly sneered in his heart, this big-eared thief really took Lao Tzu as a wronged man, and look at what else he wanted? At the moment, he said quietly: "Ten thousand good horses are not difficult for the general, since Liu Bei is sincerely obedient, why not send him ten thousand war horses?" ”

Sun Qian was overjoyed, hugged his fists and said: "Thank you for the general's care!" My lord will serve the general wholeheartedly, don't doubt it! However, as far as I know, the soldiers under the command of the general are all paid, well-equipped, and have been trained for a long time, and my lord does not ask for military salary support, but the soldiers fighting, should take their own surnames and lives as the priority, and hope that the general will support a batch of ordnance! With the power of the army! ”

Ma Chao smiled and said: "But I don't know how much armor Liu Bei plans to let Ben General support him?" Can there be numbers and categories? ”

Sun Gan said: "It's just 50,000 sets of chain mail and black iron helmets, and as for the weapons, my lord will prepare them by himself!" ”

Ma Chao was slightly impatient, and said in a deep voice: "What else do you want?" If you say your surname once, you will try your best to be satisfied! ”

Sun Qian saw that Ma Chao's expression was not good, and he didn't dare to open his mouth again, he also knew the truth of stopping in moderation, if he angered Ma Chao, he would not get any benefits. After hesitating for a while, he hugged his fists and said: "Back then, the general attacked the Tiger Prison Pass with Xiangyang cannons, which shocked the world!" My lord has been famous for a long time, and now that he has been under the command of the general, I hope that the general will give the drawings to my lord. Attacking Cao thieves, it is indispensable to attack the city and pull out the village, if there is Xiangyang artillery to help, it will get twice the result with half the effort! ”

Ma Chao smiled slightly, and pretended to be generous: "Xiangyang cannon is not easy to make, even if the drawings will be dedicated, it will not be possible to make a large number of them overnight!" The military situation is urgent, Liu Bei is not only committed to serving under the command of this general, but the general will never be disadvantaged, how about immediately transferring a hundred large Xiangyang cannons to Xiaopei? War horses and ordnance can also be in place within ten days! I only hope that Liu Bei will not break his promise and send troops to Yanzhou as soon as possible! ”

"With the help of the general, my lord will be able to make contributions to the imperial court!"

Ma Chao nodded, turned around and instructed the lord Bo Zhuge Jin: "Ziyu can make a list of the things that the general promised, the treasury is not enough, you can temporarily mobilize from the army, and after ten days, General Wenpin will personally escort it to Xiaopei and hand it over to Liu Bei!" ”

Zhuge Jin nodded and said, "Jin has already finished recording, and I invite the lord to take a look!" "With that, hand over a list.

Ma Chao didn't look at it, and handed it directly to Sun Gan, saying: "The list is here, after ten days, Ben Jiang will send someone to send all the materials to Xiaopei!" ”

Sun Gan read it again, his heart was ecstatic, and he secretly sighed that Liu Bei was clever, but at the same time regretted that he said too little, judging from Ma Chao's attitude, it was possible to agree if he said twice as much. After a few greetings, he picked up the list and rushed back to Xiaopei to return to Liu Bei.

As soon as Sun Qian walked on the front foot, Ma Chao's subordinates on the back foot, such as Huang Zhong, Xu Huang, Wen Ping, Zhang He and others, were angry. Huang Zhong hugged his fists and said: "Why does the lord need to be so accommodating to Liu Bei? That Liu Bei is just a weaver and a peddler, only 50,000 soldiers and horses, if he dares not to let out Xiaopei, send troops to destroy it! It's not about the big picture at all! ”

Zhang He has been in the Bohai Sea for a long time, and he is also familiar with Liu Bei, frowning and said: "Although Liu Bei has 50,000 soldiers and horses, he is full of rabble, and he hopes that the lord will take back his fame, and he is willing to lead 30,000 elite soldiers and break it in one fell swoop!" ”

Ma Chao shook his head and said, "You don't know anything!" Liu Bei is very good at buying people's hearts, and the two righteous brothers Guan Yu and Zhang Fei both have the courage to be unstoppable! On the occasion of Beihai, Liu Bei also temporarily pulled Donglai Tai Shi Ci into his camp, which must not be underestimated! But Ben did this with other intentions, and it was just that."

Everyone was overjoyed when they heard this, and they were all gearing up and excited. Ten days later, on the occasion of Liu Bei's wedding, Ma Chao personally came to 20,000 elite soldiers and 10,000 cavalry, and rushed to the outside of Xiaopei City with 500 carts of baggage. At the same time, Huang Zhong and Xu Huang were sent to lead 20,000 troops from Pengcheng to an ambush near Jiuli Mountain.

Liu Bei wanted to go out of the city to greet him, but Ma Chao had no intention of entering the city to deliver supplies, and as soon as he arrived outside the city, he ordered the sergeants to assemble the Xiangyang cannon, and there was no grain and grass in hundreds of carts, except for the parts of the Xiangyang cannon, which were all mud pellets the size of a human head.

Liu Bei panicked when he saw this, and urgently ordered Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Tai Shici and others to lead troops to prepare to defend against the enemy, and he personally climbed to the top of the city, shouting: "Liu Bei, the general of Dangkou, is here, and I hope that the general will come out to answer!" ”

Ma Chao took a few steps forward and shouted: "Liu Bei Pifu! Since you call yourself the general of Dangkou, why don't you respect the edict of the Son of Heaven and send troops to Yanzhou? In vain, I will treat you with sincerity! How do you know that you are actually delaying the military situation for a woman, and now this general will lead the army to ask for it, what else can you say? ”

Liu Bei frowned, and said: "I will wait for the general to agree to send troops in half a month, why delay the military situation?" Could it be that the general wants to regret it? ”

Ma Chao sneered: "When will Ben agree to this month's period?" It's just wishful thinking! Now that he has led his troops to ask for it, this matter must not be good! "Now, Ma Chao doesn't want to get used to Liu Bei, leaving him will be a scourge sooner or later, it is better to annihilate Yuan Shao's army before it arrives.

Liu Bei's face turned pale, and he was anxious when he saw that the five-person Xiangyang cannon was about to be set up. Sun Qian was also out of order, no wonder he said that when he negotiated with Ma Chao, he wanted to give something, and he only wanted to stabilize Liu Bei, and then he was taken by surprise and attacked him unprepared, and his intentions were extremely sinister.

Guan Yu looked at Ma Chao riding majestically on the Sudden Thunder Barge, and suddenly remembered the humiliation of the hero, and hugged his fists and said: "Big brother, Ma Chao's thief really didn't have a good intention, it's better to let me lead the army out of the city to meet the battle, otherwise once the thief's trebuchet is ready, it will be even more difficult to resist!" ”

Zhang Fei said: "That's right, even if we quit Xiaopei, we must not let Ma Chao have a good time!" ”

Liu Bei stared at the Xiangyang Cannon for a while, and he really didn't know the bottom in his heart, but Ma Chao had used this thing to break through the Tiger Prison Pass for half an hour, how could Xiao Peicheng compare with the Tiger Prison Pass. After thinking about it, he said: "In this case, the second brother and the third brother must be careful, if they can burn the Xiangyang cannon, they will not be afraid of Ma Chao attacking the city, and I will wait for you to plunder the formation at the head of the city!" ”

"No!" After the order, the two were overjoyed, and rushed down to the city to gather 20,000 soldiers and horses to kill Xiaopei City.

Ma Chao led the five generals surnamed Dian Wei, Gao Shun, Wen Ping, Chen Dao, and Cao to wait for a long time, and the 10,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry troops were all brightly armored, the drums were loud, and the horns were sounding in unison.

Guan Zhang and the two led troops out of the city, and most of the 20,000 parts were dressed in leather armor, and the cavalry was only hundreds, and the weapons were mainly spears, including bamboo bows, scimitars, wooden sticks and other weapons. Compared with the two armies, in terms of equipment, they are not at all the same level.

When the sergeant of Ma Chaojun saw the equipment of Liu Bei's miscellaneous army, his morale increased greatly, and the shouting of killing shook the heavens and the earth, and he couldn't wait to rush up immediately to earn a few heads back.

When Guan Zhang and the others saw this formation, they were envious and jealous, and Zhang Fei said in a low voice: "Second brother, let's sweep the formation for me, if you can kill Ma Chao in the formation, it will undoubtedly be a great achievement!" ”

Guan Yu nodded, looked coldly at Ma Chao, who was in his golden helmet and golden armor, and admonished: "Today's Ma Chao is by no means comparable to the past, and the third brother must be extremely careful!" ”

"I know!" Zhang Fei was very warlike, and as soon as he slapped his horse, he came to the front of the two armies and shouted: "Ma Chao thief, Yanren Zhang Yide is here, dare to fight me to the death!" The sound was like thunder, and tens of thousands of people in the two armies could hear it clearly.

Ma Chao laughed and said: "The defeated generals, dare to speak up?" After that, he turned around and said: "Lao Dian is willing to fight this person, if he can win, he will add you ten years of military rank!" The bounty is one hundred, and the Marquis of the Pavilion of the Crown! ”

As soon as these words came out, Gao Shun, Chen Zhi, Cao surnamed and others were all envious and couldn't help but be eager to try. Dian Wei's face was solemn, but he was also slightly excited, and he hugged his fists and said: "But please Lord Raid the formation, Dian Wei will come when he goes!" With that, he picked up two large iron halberds, and slapped his horse to meet the front of the two armies.

Zhang Fei saw that Ma Chao did not play, and he was inevitably disappointed, he was killed by Ma Chao with a meteor hammer in the hero fight, and he has been humiliated in his heart, and he has been practicing martial arts for several years, hoping to win back a game one day. He didn't know Dian Wei, and he didn't take Dian Wei in his eyes at the moment, and shouted: "Come and get a name, I won't die under the spear and the nameless ghost!" ”

Dian Wei slammed the big iron halberd, and said angrily: "You are Zhang Fei?" I am Chen Liuren Dian Wei, today I am here to take your head for war merits, if you know each other, you will obediently dedicate your head, lest your grandfather do it himself! ”

"Wow! Where did the madman come from, and he died quickly! Zhang Fei was immediately furious, slapped his horse and raised his spear and killed him, and the nearly four-meter-long snake spear went straight to Dian Wei's throat.

"Good time!" Dian Wei didn't dare to underestimate him, so he roared, and the double halberd went up, allowing Zhang Fei's spear to return in vain. The two horses staggered, and Dian Wei swung a halberd out of his right hand and slashed at Zhang Fei's neck, like lightning. Zhang Fei's spear was not conducive to close combat, so he quickly dodged with a short body. (To be continued.) )