"But what?"

"Guan Yu is the governor of the northern part of Nanyang, Liu Xuande should not have transferred him to Guanzhong, and it is not easy for Meng Qi to find him to fight."

Ma Tengyan shook his head slightly, he knew that his son was brave, but there was no need to directly challenge Guan Yu.

And he has no grudge against Liu Bei, let alone fight with him.

Ma Chao didn't think so, and said seriously:

"It doesn't matter if Guan Yu is not there, that Zhang Fei should be in Guanzhong, the child will fight him first, and it can be speculated that Guan Yu is two catties."

"Do you really want to go to Chang'an?"

Ma Teng stared at Ma Chao and confirmed it repeatedly.

Ma Chao nodded solemnly, "Since the imperial court has an edict, it is impossible for the father not to send troops, and it is okay to let the child harass him a little, and Liu Bei's forcible occupation of Guanzhong is also a threat to us, and it must be lifted."

"Well, it's okay."

"Thank you, father."

Seeing that Ma Teng had to agree, Ma Chao clenched his fists excitedly.

Ma Teng then raised three fingers and said: "Now that the climate has turned cooler, it is already winter in Guanzhong, I can't let the soldiers suffer at this time, I can allocate you at most 3,000 cavalry." ”

"Three thousand is enough, and the child is not really going to attack the city." Ma Chao happily agreed.

Ma Teng bowed slightly, and continued to instruct: "That Zhang Fei is also an enemy of ten thousand, if Meng Qi finds that the enemy can't be defeated, don't be strong, forget it, I'll let Ling Ming go with you." ”

"Oh"

The border areas of Liangzhou are mixed with Hu and Han, and the situation is chaotic, and there are often rebellions in the state.

During the period of Emperor Ling, the assassin Shi Geng was a traitor, which led to the intensification of national contradictions, and then produced a large-scale rebellion.

It was at this time that Ma Teng joined the official army, but unfortunately the rebellion was not yet quelled, and Geng was killed by his subordinates. (187 years)

The assassin was killed, the officials and bandits each supported the army to occupy the territory, and Liangzhou became a pot of porridge from then on.

Soon after, Emperor Ling died and Dong Zhuo was in turmoil, resulting in a vacancy for the chief official of Liangzhou for 12 years, and it was not until the fourth year of Jian'an (199) that the imperial court appointed Wei Duan as the pastor of Liangzhou.

(Note: In 193, Chang'an, the capital of the Han Dynasty, appointed Shizhong Chong Shao as the assassin of Liangzhou, because he joined forces with Liu Fan Ma Teng and Han Sui to attack Li Dao and Guo Yan, and was finally defeated and killed and could not go to the post; In 194, in the same year that Chongshao was killed, the four counties of Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan and Dunhuang in Liangzhou were divided and Yongzhou was newly established.

When Wei Duan was appointed as the state pastor, Liangzhou had already formed a pattern headed by Ma Teng and Han Sui, with dozens of large and small warlords, so he could only play the role of a peacemaker, and he was usually active in governing Ji County, and he did not have the ability and courage to pacify the whole state.

Ma Teng occupies Longxi, Han Sui occupies Jincheng, although the two are the strongest warlords in Liangzhou, but the number of troops under their command is only 20,000 or 30,000, and the rest of the warlords gather about 10,000 or more people, and no one can easily annex anyone, so it is not a small amount to give Ma Chao 3,000.

In the early winter of October, Ma Chao and Pang De led 3,000 elite horses, first out of Longyou and then into Hanyang, through the mouth of Longgu Valley north of Jieting, and drove straight into the land of Guanzhong.

Ma Chao is famous for his bravery in the northwest, and he was in the state of Muweiduan in Hanyang County (Tianshui), and when he saw the Longyou cavalry passing in front of him, he knew that the other party's destination must be Chang'an, so instead of sending troops to stop him, he wanted officials along the way to provide supplies.

Because Cao Cao's envoy not only went to Longyou and Jincheng, but also went to Hanyang to find Wei Duan and asked him to assist in dealing with Liu Bei.

Liu Bei occupied Chang'an for half a year, and began to control the counties and townships in Guanzhong one after another, but due to the relatively short time, he temporarily controlled the entire territory of Jingzhao, the southern part of Zuo Fengyi, and a small number of areas in Youfufeng.

Zhuge Liang's intentions are obvious, he needs to be steady and steady when he first arrives, and the stall is too big to take care of, but first of all, he must ensure the safety of Tongguan, so when he learned that Ma Chao appeared in Yixian, both Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei were very surprised.

Liu Bei brought 30,000 soldiers to Chang'an, mainly the troops of the Yongshen family, because there were garrisons in all counties in Guanzhong, and there were only 10,000 soldiers left in Chang'an, and most of them were foot soldiers.

Although Ma Chao's soldiers are not many, they are all cavalry that come and go like the wind, if the guerrilla attack method is used against Guanzhong, Liu Bei is worried that the people who have just gained peace will suffer from the flames of war.

From the last years of Emperor Ling to the present, the rulers of the Sanfu region have changed more frequently than other places, and there are few people left who have moved out, and if they are ravaged by Ma Chao's iron cavalry, even if they are all in Guanzhong, they will be empty shells.

Thinking of these troubles, Liu Bei had to pay attention to Ma Chao and hurriedly found Zhuge Liang to discuss.

"Ma Chao's cavalry has arrived in Yixian, and it is estimated that it will arrive in Chang'an in a few days, how do you think the military division should deal with it?"

"At this time, it is already winter, Ma Chaoyuan is short of supplies, and there will be looting everywhere he passes, fortunately, these places have not been taken over, so they will inevitably harm the people in the jurisdiction, and the lord should take the initiative to attack and lead the troops to Huaili to resist the enemy."

"What the military advisor said is exactly what I want."

Regarding Zhuge Liang's analysis, Liu Bei nodded again and again when he heard it, and then said worriedly: "Ma Chao must be fighting for Cao Cao, and all the cavalry he brought is it, I am worried that he will bypass Huaili and go directly to loot Jingzhao, which will be a little tricky."

Zhuge Liang shook his head lightly: "The generals of Liangzhou have their own troops, although they show friendship with Cao Cao, but they may not be willing to die for Cao Cao, Ma Chao must be here to test us, I think he will not go deep alone, if the forage of the war horse in winter has no place to supply, it will be trapped in the pass." ”

Liu Bei asked: "The military advisor calculates that Ma Chao will come to the test, will there be a next time?" ”

"It's hard to say, it depends on how Ma Chao is trying, if you think we don't have the strength, the follow-up will unite with the generals, and it is not yet known." Zhuge Liang's expression was solemn.

Liu Bei frowned instantly after hearing this, and said to himself with a serious face:

"Then you must give him a dismount."

"Liangwen Ma Chao is very brave, I went to Huaili with the lord to defend against the enemy."

As soon as Zhuge Liang's words fell, Liu Bei asked curiously: "In that case, do you want to call Yide back?" ”

"Yide Town guards the important place of Tongguan, who will transfer him back to make up for it? I'm afraid that the generals of Chang'an are not suitable, don't forget that Cao Xiu is in Hongnong. Zhuge Liang shook his head slightly.

"I knew earlier, I would have left Gan Xingba."

Soon after Liu Bei took Tongguan, under Zhuge Liang's suggestion, he transferred Gan Ning back to Liu Qi to listen to it and train the water army to fight Zhang Lu.

Zhuge Liang smiled and quipped: "There is no general in Xicheng, the lord must send a helper to Ziyang, otherwise it will be difficult to contain it in Hanshui at that time." ”

"That's what I said, yes"

Liu Bei suddenly had an idea, and asked whimsically: "Last month, Wei Wenchang, who came from Nanyang, looked quite heroic, and asked him to temporarily replace Yide?" ”

"Wei Yan?"

Zhuge Liang couldn't help but be stunned when he heard this, and a person similar to Guan Yu appeared in an instant, and then persuaded him euphemistically: "Since this person can be recognized by Yun Chang, it should be good to come to martial arts, but he is shallow to come to the sun, and he is afraid of provoking others to take up important positions."

"Makes sense, too."

Liu Bei asked again: "How about I let Junyi (Shiren) be the main and Wenchang (Wei Yan) as the auxiliary?" ”

(End of chapter)