Not long after Zhao Xing led the main force of the Protector Army to the north to conquer the aliens, Dong Zhuo, who had received accurate information, immediately set out to launch a conquest war against Ma Teng in Xiliang.

Judging from the capture of the combat timing, it is undoubtedly desirable and feasible for Dong Zhuo to immediately launch an attack on Ma Teng by taking advantage of the gap between the Jin State and the main forces to the northeast.

In order to ensure that this dispatch of troops can be victorious, Dong Zhuo put all his capital into it, a total of 60,000 troops, he mobilized 50,000 to Wuwei, and only 10,000 people remained to guard Laowo Didao. According to the estimation of the military advisor Li Ru, Ma Teng was only close to 20,000 soldiers and horses at best, and he could not resist the thunderous blow of the 50,000 army.

This time, the generals who accompanied Dong Zhuo on the expedition to Wuwei were: Changshi Li Ru (also a military division), vanguard general Zhang Xiu, left general Hu Zhen, right general Duan Xuan, former general Fan Chou, later general Li Meng, partial general Wang Fang, and Zhong Hu army Dong Min. Those who stayed behind in Longxi Di Dao were Dong Zhuo's son-in-law Niu Fu, clansmen Dong Huang, Dong Yue, and general Zhang Ji.

It can be seen from the personnel matching of Dong Zhuo's expedition that the generals under the command of the Xiliang Legion who can fight well are becoming scarce day by day, except for Zhang Xiu and Duan Xuan, who are still available, the rest are some third-rate goods. Guo Yan and Li Dao were beheaded by Guan Yu and Lü Bu, Li Su was stabbed to death by Dong Zhuo with a sword, and Ye Xiong surrendered to Zhao Xing, causing Dong Zhuo to lose four generals at once.

Of course, the cause of today's situation is also Dong Zhuo's own fault. If he didn't deliberately calculate Zhao Xing and only send a small number of men and horses to follow Huangfu Song like Ma Teng, he would have avoided the huge losses of the original soldiers.

Dong Zhuo led the army of Macha to take the oath in Di Dao, and stationed the army twenty miles north of Lingju, the closest to Wuwei County, along the route of Yuzhong, Jincheng, Zhiyang, Yunjie, and Lingju. It is only 200 miles away from Guzang City, where Ma Teng's Huqiang Captain's Mansion is located, and it only takes two or three days to reach it by fast horse.

Dong Zhuo learned the lesson that the army under Zhao Xing's command was good at relying on the defense of the city, and attached great importance to the preparation of siege operations, and among the 50,000 troops, there were 30,000 foot soldiers specially equipped with all kinds of siege equipment and equipment such as horses and deer bars to protect the cavalry from attacking. According to the predetermined battle plan, Dong Zhuo's army first had to take the three small cities on the periphery of Guzang City, including Luanniao, Jici, and Cangsong, and formed an encirclement posture in the shape of "Pin" to Guzang City, and then concentrated its forces to take Guzang City in one fell swoop.

Dong Zhuo's side has already laid out the carriages and horses, and the army is pressing the border, Ma Teng's side naturally does not dare to take it lightly, and he is also stepping up all kinds of preparations to defend against Dong Zhuo's attack.

Because the Wuwei area is sparsely populated and the land is barren, Ma Teng has accumulated 20,000 soldiers and horses over the years, of which 3,000 have stayed in the Jin Kingdom with Ma Chao, so there are only about 17,000 people and horses that can be used.

Ma Teng's generals, the first in line is naturally the general Pang De, and there are eight people such as Liang Xing, Hou Xuan, Cheng Yin, Li Kan, Zhang Heng, Cheng Yi, Ma Wan, Yang Qiu, etc., known as the "Eight Generals", which sounds very similar to the "Eight Warriors" under Lu Bu back then.

The second in Ma Teng's tent was Han Sui, who originally led the Qiang rebellion, and he also had a fierce general Yan Xing under his tent, and a strategist Cheng Gongying.

In the eyes of outsiders, although Ma Teng's eldest son Ma Chao is brave and extraordinary, compared with Zhang Xiu, the former pioneer of Dong Zhuo's account, he can definitely compete, but it is a pity that he was detained by Zhao Xing as a hostage in the Jin Kingdom.

Just looking at Dong Zhuo and Ma Teng's generals, it is really half a catty and eight taels, on par. Zhang Xiu is brave and extraordinary, Pang De is also a strong general; Li Ru is scheming, Han Sui is not far behind; Duan Xuan is familiar with military books, and Yan Xing has military armor......

Even if Dong Zhuo and Ma Teng are compared, it is difficult to distinguish between high and low. Dong Zhuo is like a brother to the Qiang people in Longxi and has courage, while Ma Teng has a close relationship with the Wuwei Qiang people and has martial arts.

On the surface, Dong Zhuo's advantage lies in his large territory and large number of troops, while Ma Teng is relatively at a disadvantage. However, if the 13,000 soldiers and horses led by Ma Chao who were quietly rushing to Wuwei are counted under Ma Teng's account, plus one Guo Jia, the balance of victory and defeat in this game will immediately return to the middle, and it will be difficult to distinguish the strong and the weak.

This is the situation arranged by Zhao Xing after careful calculation. Dong Zhuo and Ma Teng must be killed, and when both sides are exhausted, Zhao Xing will send troops to Liangzhou, take Dong Zhuo in one fell swoop, appease Ma Teng, and finally realize the plan to annex Liangzhou.

According to Han Sui's suggestion, after Ma Teng found that Dong Zhuo's garrison was north of Lingju, he took the initiative to give up the three cities of Luanniao, Luci, and Cangsong, and transferred all the thousands of soldiers originally stationed here to Guzang, putting on a posture of defending Guzang City.

After Dong Zhuo's army rested for a few days in Lingju, he sent the vanguard general Zhang Xiu to lead 10,000 cavalry to the area of Cangsong and launched a tentative attack. As a result, after Zhang Xiu came to Cangsong City, he found that there was no Ma Teng soldiers stationed here, just an empty city, so he hurriedly reported to Dong Zhuo. When Dong Zhuo learned of this, he immediately ordered Fan Chou and Li Meng to command 5,000 troops each and go to the two cities of Luanniao and Jici respectively, and the result was that they took the two empty cities without much effort.

After successfully achieving the goal of the first stage, Dong Zhuo adopted Li Ru's suggestion, leaving only a few infantry stationed at the nearest point to Guzang City, while the army continued to march north, heading straight for Guzang City. Because the infantry carried a large number of siege equipment, Dong Zhuojun's movement was relatively slow, and it took seven days to rush to the city of Guzang from the time.

During this period, Ma Teng once sent a small group of cavalry troops to lurk on both sides of Dong Zhuo's marching road, intending to disturb the march of the large army, but was blocked by the cavalry led by Zhang Xiu and made no achievements.

When Dong Zhuo's army approached the city of Guzang, Ma Teng, who was standing at the head of the city and observing the military situation, felt nervous. Even Han Sui, who had always been confident, looked at the dense siege vehicles, ladders, wells, catapults and other large-scale siege equipment under the city, and his face was pale, revealing a look of worry. Only Guo Jia, who was pretending to be a small soldier, looked at Dong Zhuo's army that was gradually approaching the city with an expressionless face, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

Dong Zhuo's army, which had already set up camp ten miles outside Guzang City, now has everything, and just wait for Dong Zhuo's order, it will launch a fierce attack on Guzang. However, before launching a large-scale siege battle, Dong Zhuo also needed to have a verbal battle with Ma Teng, in order to show the justice of his own war and deter the opponent's soldiers.

The person sent out by Dong Zhuo to scold the formation and fighting generals was the vanguard general Zhang Xiu, which was also the idea of the military advisor Li Ru. Because Zhang Xiu's martial arts skills are excellent and articulate, it is perfect for this extremely challenging job.