Zhao Yun was about to fight, but was interrupted by Liu Bei behind him:

"The sword has no eyes at night, and you can't show your martial arts in a night battle with fire, so it's better to quit your troops first, and then fight tomorrow?"

"Fight again tomorrow?"

When Ma Chao frowned and hesitated, Pang De stepped forward and reminded in a whisper: "You can promise to come down, Huaili is already Liu Bei's territory, if he and the defenders in the city are combined, we may suffer a big loss, it is better to find a place to rest before it is completely dark." ”

"Makes sense."

Ma Chao adopted Pang De's suggestion and agreed with Liu Bei to fight again in the north of the city tomorrow, and watched the soldiers of the two armies for an afternoon, and then slowly withdrew from the battlefield.

When the night completely covered the earth, Liu Bei was placed in the Huaili County Mansion to rest.

I don't know if Yuan Qi prepared in a hurry, or if Liu Bei had something on his mind, and the food tripod sent to him didn't move for a long time.

Yuan Qi listened to the sergeant's report, and his heart instantly went up and down, and he said in his heart that he didn't do anything right?

When he was entangled, Zhuge Liang came from outside.

Yuan Qi hurriedly greeted him, and reported in a low voice: "Strategist, you came just in time to send dinner to the lord, but he didn't move his chopsticks for a long time, did the last general do something wrong?" ”

"It has nothing to do with General Yuan, the lord is thinking about something else."

Zhuge Liang waved his hand and signaled: "The general will go to the front hall to accompany Zilong and Wenchang, and I will discuss something with the lord." ”

"Yui."

Yuan Qi turned around and left.

Zhuge Liang walked into the inner hall, only to see Liu Bei staring at the roof, and the food on the table was out of heat.

"Lord, what are you thinking?"

"The military advisor is here? I was thinking about the fighting generals in the afternoon, I didn't expect there to be such a fierce general in Liangzhou, Ma Chao and Pang De are not idle people, especially that Ma Chao is very brave, I really see Lu Bu's shadow in him. ”

"Hehe, is the lord taking a fancy to Ma Chao?"

Zhuge Liang walked to the side and sat down, his tone relaxed and cheerful.

"What's the use of it? He is the son of Ma Shoucheng."

Liu Beiyan shook his head slightly, and then frowned and sighed: "I thought that all the generals in Liangzhou were rabble, but I didn't expect that there would be such a strong general under Ma Teng, I was worried that according to the original plan of the military division, Hanzhong would be taken first, and Ma Teng and others might take the opportunity to sneak attack Guanzhong, who would be able to prevent Ma Chao and Pang De at that time?" ”

"Since the lord is worried, why don't you go and capture the second general tonight?"

Before Zhuge Liang finished speaking, Liu Bei, who was originally lazy, sat up straight like an electric shock, and asked with a surprised face: "The military advisor didn't joke with Bei?" ”

Zhuge Liang shook his head slightly, then swung the tableware on the table, pointed to the wine glass and began to make an analogy.

"Just after the return of the horse, Ma Chao camped in the north of Wuli, where there is no city as a screen, it is better to take advantage of its unstable foothold and send troops to attack at night."

"Ma Chao are all cavalry, we are all foot soldiers, wouldn't the night attack be a sheep into the mouth of a tiger? Besides, Ma Chao is alone, and he must be heavily guarded at night, and it is difficult for our people to get close."

Liu Bei shook his head lightly according to common sense.

Zhuge Liang responded with a smile: "In winter, the night wind cuts your face, no matter how strict the guard is, it will not be invulnerable, we can wait for the second half of the night, when the enemy army is asleep and tired, and then sneak attack." ”

"Even in the second half of the night, thousands of soldiers and horses are moving at the same time, and the movement will not be small."

Before Liu Bei finished speaking, Zhuge Liang fiddled on the table again, he surrounded the plates and saucers in the middle of the wine glass, and said with a little playfulness:

"The night is long and the north wind is howling, the lord can send hundreds of people to carry drums, divide them into dozens of squads to disperse and surround them, and then ambush heavy troops on the west side of this place and wait;

In the second half of the night, all the feints and attack points were clamoring for fire at the same time, Ma Chao did not know the enemy's situation at night, if he fled, he would panic and break through to the west, and it was very likely that he would not dare to raise fire;

The three thousand cavalry rushed in panic, and the accidental injury alone was immeasurable, and if they unfortunately broke into the ambush point halfway, they could not be completely annihilated but could be severely damaged, and how much could they be left until dawn?

In addition, we have a clairvoyant mirror, and at that time, Ma Chao will lead the remnants to flee and be tired and hungry, but I am afraid that I will not be able to get out of the pass. ”

Liu Bei pondered for a moment, then pointed to the wine glass and asked: "If Ma Chao does not move, how will the military advisor prepare to deal with it?" ”

"It's easy." Zhuge Liang smiled leisurely, "Let the feint sergeant make noise every half an hour, do you guess that Ma Chao can sleep when he is alone?" ”

Liu Bei frowned and asked: "Is this a plan of the military advisor?" ”

"Both suspicious and tired, if Ma Chao does not react at night, let the army deployed in the west directly launch a night attack, I am sure that it will be a big victory, and Ma Chao can still be captured."

Zhuge Liang nodded confidently after speaking.

"This"

Liu Bei hesitated and did not answer, Zhuge Liang continued: "If Ma Chao and Pang De are captured, you can use coercion to coerce Ma Teng to return to obedience, and then there will be Ma Teng as an example, and the generals of Liangzhou will follow suit one after another, and the lord will be able to easily take Liangzhou, but"

"But what?"

"This plan is a little impatient, it is difficult to get the place and it is difficult to retract its heart, Ma Teng is capricious, only afraid that there will be a rebellion in the future, and all parts of Guanzhong need to leave heavy troops to defend, which will hinder the future of the deer."

After listening to Zhuge Liang's analysis of the advantages and disadvantages, Liu Bei finally made up his mind, and Zhengse said: "The so-called people do not stand without trust, since I have promised Ma Chao to continue tomorrow, it is a breach of trust to sneak attack at night, and in addition, using hostages to threaten Ma Teng to submit, which is contrary to my concept of acting, or doing things in a dignified manner." ”

"The Lord is true and benevolent."

Zhuge Liang nodded appreciatively, and then reminded with a serious face: "Zilong and Ma Chao are on par, plus the other party is all cavalry, so there is no way to stay, if the tiger returns to the mountain this time, they will definitely go and return in the future."

"The military advisor doesn't need to persuade anymore."

Liu Bei said with a serious face: "I have always been able to convince people with virtue, although I love Ma Chao's bravery, but if you can't make him return to his heart, there is no point in capturing him, so I still act according to the agreement." ”

"Since the lord has made up his mind, I will go and tell the soldiers to rest."

Zhuge Liang nodded his head in response with a condensed expression, walked to the door and suddenly turned around and added: "It is also good to be upright, it is better to take the momentum a little later, it seems that Ziyang needs to exert his strength in Hanzhong, otherwise it is just empty talk to welcome back the Son of Heaven."

Years of failure have taught Liu Bei a truth, what is not enough to get is not necessarily stable, or to sleep steadily and with peace of mind, so he is not in a hurry at all now, compared to the displacement after the failure in Xuzhou, the current situation is much better.

Liu Bei wanted to be a gentleman, so he did not transfer a soldier out of the city at night, but Ma Chao was very vigilant outside, and he arranged sergeants to be on guard all night.

During the day, they had seen Zhuge Liang's strategy, and Ma Chao and Pang De were surprised that Liu Beijun did not attack at night, and soon after dawn, they led their troops south to Huaili to invite battle.

After a night's rest, Ma Chao and Zhao Yun were full of energy, they fought more than 100 times from morning to noon, and changed horses to drink water halfway to continue the competition.

If you really meet the good and meet the opponent.

Until the afternoon fight reached two lilies, Liu Bei was worried that the two were tired and injured, so he took the initiative to recall Zhao Yun and agreed with Ma Chao to fight again the next day.

When the two armies retreated, a rush of horses' hooves suddenly sounded in the east, and more than a dozen horsemen were seen galloping from a distance.

Liu Bei and Ma Chao stopped to observe at the same time, and a familiar figure was getting closer and closer.

Zhang flew in.

(End of chapter)