Analyze the lessons of the disastrous defeat of the Xiliang Army under Dong Zhuo in the Second Battle of Gaonu. It's easy to overlook, but it's crucial.

If Dong Zhuo hadn't received an urgent report from his hometown in Longxi, he wouldn't have worried that the rebel Qiang people would hit Longxi Didao and occupy his nest, and as long as Dong Zhuo didn't worry about the safety of his hometown, he wouldn't have left the control of Lu Zhixi's army and went south in advance, then Guan Yu and Lu Bu's well-designed ambush would not have been realized, and the result would not have been so heavy, there were 80,000 troops when he went, but only more than 20,000 were left when he fled back to Longxi.

After Dong Zhuo returned to Longxi, he found that the so-called rebel Qiang people attacked Di Dao, which was purely a joke. These Qiang people seemed to have been instructed by a certain force to rush from Jincheng and Wuwei in a vigorous manner, but they went around the city a few times and then went back, and did not attack Di Dao at all.

After tracking and investigating, Dong Zhuo learned that it was Han Sui, a subordinate of Ma Teng of Wuwei County, who instigated the rebellion against the Qiang people to come to Longxi this time.

We all know that Dong Zhuo is a person who must be revenged, and even a warlord with a very heavy hooligan habit. He couldn't beat Zhao Xing, he could hide in Lu Zhi's army like his grandson, and escape back to Longxi with gritted teeth all the way. But when he knew that he was given a hand by Ma Teng, who was not as strong as himself, his nature of bullying the soft and fearing the hard was immediately revealed.

Dong Zhuo was ready to retaliate and repair Ma Teng fiercely. As for the extent of revenge, it depends on whether Ma Teng knows each other or not. In Dong Zhuo's opinion, Ma Teng at least had to leave Weiwu, either go back to his hometown to farm, or flee to the Jin Kingdom to hug Zhao Xing's thigh. In a word, Liangzhou can no longer tolerate the forces of the Ma family. As long as Ma Teng is driven out of Liangzhou, Dong Zhuo can recuperate for a period of time and gradually recover.

Since Dong Zhuo's debut, he has always bullied people, like this time when he was cleaned up by Zhao Xing twice or three times, he has never encountered it. Although his losses were huge, and there were only more than 40,000 of the 100,000 soldiers and horses left, in his opinion, it was enough to attack Ma Teng with 40,000 soldiers and horses. Ma Teng now only occupies most of Wuwei County, and his ability to maintain a force of 20,000 men is the limit.

After returning to Longxi, Dong Zhuo immediately reorganized the remaining troops, and after eliminating some soldiers who were more seriously wounded, Dong Zhuo ordered the Zhenxi General's Mansion to recruit 20,000 soldiers from the five counties of Hanyang, Anding, Wudu, Longxi, and Jincheng, and restored the total number of troops to 60,000.

Dong Zhuo, who had learned the power of the black-armored iron cavalry, did not arm all 60,000 people into cavalry this time, but divided the army into two, 30,000 cavalry and 30,000 infantry. The main purpose of the 30,000 infantry was to attack the city, and the 30,000 cavalry was a mobile force used to fight against Ma Teng's cavalry.

Dong Zhuo was so unscrupulous about preparing to use troops against Ma Teng, didn't he worry about being attacked by Zhao Xing because of the emptiness in the rear when he attacked Ma Teng?

In fact, Dong Zhuo is now letting go of the last fight, and he is betting that Zhao Xing will not dare to blatantly attack Liangzhou. Dong Zhuo, who lost his red eye, still has a card in his hand that has not been played, that is, the fourth prince Liu Qian is holding in his hand. Since Zhao Xing can hold the third prince Liu Rong hostage and claim hegemony in Bingzhou, Dong Zhuo also dares to bargain with the court under the banner of the fourth prince.

If the Jin division attacked Liangzhou without a name, not only would he not be able to explain to the imperial court, but he would also not be able to explain to the people of the Jin State. Dong Zhuo led the army to attack Bingzhou, but he was responding to the call of the imperial court, not a personal grudge, and Zhao Xing could not count this bill on Dong Zhuo's head.

Zhao Xing wants to fight Dong Zhuo, and he does have many scruples. But if Ma Teng is changed to attack Dong Zhuo, it will be none of Zhao Xing's business.

If it weren't for the blind and foolish, the only thing that didn't lose anything in the Western Route Army's campaign to attack Zhao was Ma Teng! Don't tell Dong Zhuo that Ma Teng's army also lost 3,000 cavalry and a grand prince? This is not a loss at all, but just a trick to deceive oneself and others. After the end of the Great War of Bingzhou, news came out from Crouching Tiger City, saying that Ma Chao was now training in Wuyuan City with 3,000 guards.

What does Ma Chao want to do when he trains his troops? Prepare to attack Zhao Xing in the future? Since it is not for the purpose of attacking Zhao Xing, the potential opponent seems to be only Dong Zhuo left.

Dong Zhuo really has no way back now, if he sits idly by and let Ma Teng continue to develop in Wuwei, and let the Wuwei cavalry change to the equipment produced in Crouching Tiger City, what will be used to stop it at that time?

Dong Zhuo, who has been forced into a corner, has fought hard this time, and there is already a bit of a broken jar in it. If Zhao Xing sent troops to support Ma Teng at that time, Dong Zhuo would coerce the imperial court to send troops to attack Zhao Xing. If the imperial court did not agree to send troops, Dong Zhuo would support the fourth prince Liu Qian as emperor in Longxi, and simply make things a mess.

In fact, Dong Zhuo was not enthusiastic, and he made the decision to attack Ma Teng as soon as his mind was hot. Li Ru, the chief military advisor, once seriously analyzed the current situation for Dong Zhuo, and he believed that if Dong Zhuo wanted to firmly control Liangzhou in the future, he must open the road from Liangzhou to the Changshi Mansion of the Western Regions, and control all the areas of Liangzhou and the Western Regions. Ma Teng's Wuwei Huqiang Captain's Mansion happened to be stuck in the throat of Liangzhou to the west, and it was inevitable that Dong Zhuo would be regarded as a thorn in the eye and a thorn in the flesh.

There are many benefits after solving Ma Teng, at least two of which Dong Zhuo is extremely covetous. First, after opening up the passage between Liangzhou and the Western Regions, Liangzhou will have great strategic depth; second, once Dong Zhuo completely occupies Liangzhou and gains a firm foothold, the next step can also be generously asked by the imperial court to crown Liu Qian as the king of Liang, and the fief as the Liang State, so as to compete with the Jin State in the future.

From the perspective of the balance of power, once Liangzhou has the strength to compete with the Jin State, the imperial court should not mind having one more king. The advantages of this are obvious, in the future, the Liang State and the Jin State should be wary of each other, but the threat to the imperial court will be reduced.

Now, Dong Zhuo and Ma Teng are both racing against time. If Dong Zhuo can quickly defeat Ma Teng and completely occupy the land of Liangzhou, then Dong Zhuo will be able to achieve the goal of dividing the territory of the feudal territory; if Ma Teng can complete the refitting of the troops as soon as possible and prepare for attacking Dong Zhuo, then Liangzhou may be the territory of the Ma family in the future.

Zhao Xing has been paying attention to the situation in Xiliang, and even deployed Guan Yu's vanguard army and Lu Bu's Crouching Tiger army in the closest place to Liangzhou, in order to put pressure on Dong Zhuo.

Now it seems that Zhao Xing's goal has basically been achieved. Dong Zhuo, who was forced by Zhao Xing with red eyes, finally couldn't hold back the anger in his heart, and was ready to make a break with Ma Teng. It's just that Dong Zhuo still doesn't know that Zhao Xingzheng is looking forward to him doing it as soon as possible, so as to realize the first step of his huge plan to steal the sky.

Dong Zhuo is sharpening his knives in Longxi, and what is Ma Teng busy with in Wuwei?