Speaking of this, Ma Chao asked again: "Is there a letter from Brother Dai?" ”

Zhang Xiu said excitedly: "Yes, Brother Dai said in the letter that there are twelve cities in Longxi, nine of which are in his hands, and he is waiting for you to do it, brother." ”

The four generals were all very happy, only Ma Chao frowned and said, "Nine cities? With so many cities, his 30,000 people were stationed separately, and his troops were scattered, how to intercept the rushing momentum of the Jiuqu Yellow River? ”

When Zhang Xiu heard this, he didn't answer immediately, but first showed an expression of surprise and reverence. Zhang Xiuxi said: "Brother is really a god!" ”

Ma Chao said in surprise: "What's wrong?" ”

Zhang Xiu said with a smile: "Brother Dai also explained in the letter that he was afraid that his troops would be scattered and would not be able to defend the city, so he gathered heavy troops to garrison the important three cities of Caohan, Baishi, and Didao. These three cities, all garrisoned by 8,000 cavalry, will definitely be able to defend the city for more than several months under the onslaught of Han Sui's 30,000 cavalry! ”

Ma Chao suddenly realized that the most important cities in Longxi County, and the cities that connect Jincheng, are Caohan, Baishi and Didao. As long as Han Sui broke through one of them, it would be enough to open the way back to Jincheng. Otherwise, he would have to go west to Qiangzhong to escape. However, it took longer to return to Jincheng in Qiangzhong, and Han Sui couldn't escape Ma Chao's pursuit at all. Therefore, as long as Han Sui had the option of attacking the city, maybe the city would be down in one day, and then he could escape back to Jincheng more quickly.

Zhang Xiu said again: "Xiugang wanted to tell my brother, but I didn't expect my brother to think of the embroidery, my brother is really like a god!" ”

Ma Chao smiled: "Okay, don't shoot the sycophants for the time being!" Tell me, is the three cities where Brother Dai is stationed under the onslaught of Han Sui? ”

Zhang Xiu scratched his head and said: "Not yet, Caohan, Baishi and Di Dao have not yet started a war, and even Shouyang, Zhangxian and other cities with a garrison of only one or two thousand have not started a war. ”

When Ma Chao heard this, he suddenly became a little puzzled. It stands to reason that Han Sui should attack the city as soon as possible and flee back to Jincheng as soon as possible, why did he flee from Ayang for two days, but he has not yet made a move to attack the city? Isn't Han Sui afraid that he will lead his army westward and surround Han Sui in a small area of Jicheng together with Ma Dai?

Ma Chao's heart was full of doubts, could it be that Han Sui planned to defend Jicheng and rely on a small area of Hanyang County, Tianshui County, and Wudu County west of Weishui to resist his attack?

Ma Chao quickly vetoed this possibility in his heart, Han Sui was such a cautious person, he would never dare to be so big, vainly trying to resist the power of 100,000 iron horsemen and thunder based on the three counties.

Ma Chao soon came up with another conjecture, could it be that Han Sui was desperate and planned to take advantage of the situation to get out of Sanfu from Dasanguan? However, Ma Chao vetoed this possibility by himself, Chen Cang was heavily garrisoned by his father Ma Teng, how could Han Sui dare to gamble with his life on whether he could break through Chen Cang's strong city? Besides, even if Chen Cang was breached and Sanfu's west gate was opened, Han Sui would fall into a confrontation with him and the imperial court. With Han Sui's unparalleled wisdom, he shouldn't know that fighting on two fronts is self-defeating, right?

Vetoed this, Ma Chao immediately thought of another possibility: Could Han Sui know about the existence of Yin Ping Dao and want to break into Bashu Yizhou? However, as soon as Ma Chao thought of it, he immediately vetoed this possibility. Yin Ping Dao, if Ma Chao hadn't come from the later generations and knew the history of Deng Ai's destruction of Shu from this Dao, he wouldn't have known. Han Sui didn't know if Yin Ping Dao said two things, even if he knew, his iron cavalry would be trapped between the mountains and mountains, and it would be strange if he was not defeated.

But in addition to these three choices that could not be adopted by Han Sui at all, Ma Chao couldn't figure it out even after racking his brains, what reason did Han Sui have for not attacking the city and escaping as soon as possible?

Ma Chao asked again: "What is Han Sui's movement?" ”

Zhang Xiu said: "He is gathering the rout, just on the bank of Weishui, and the garrison has not moved. ”

Hearing this, Ma Chao quickly figured it out and smiled slightly. Pang De said suspiciously: "Young master, why is Han Sui's garrison?" He won't defend Jicheng or flee to Sanfu, right? ”

Ma Chao shook his head and said, "No." If what I expected is right, Han Wenyue should still hope to break through the castle on the road back to Jincheng. If he wants to defend Jicheng, why doesn't he cross Weishui and return to Jicheng? If he wanted to escape to Sanfu, why didn't he flee to Dasanguan as soon as possible? As for the Qiang, it is even more self-defeating. Therefore, I expected that Han Sui had no choice but to attack the city and return to Jincheng. ”

Pound said puzzledly: "Since this is the case, our army has not yet approached, why doesn't he break through the encirclement that our army and Ma Dai's army are about to form as soon as possible?" It must be known that if we wait for our army to open up and form a stronger encirclement the day after tomorrow, it will be more difficult for him to break the siege. ”

Ma Chao smiled and said, "He's waiting." ”

The fourth general was even more unclear about Han Sui's thoughts, and when he heard Ma Chao's words in the clouds, he was even more puzzled.

Zhang Ji asked, "Wait?" So what is he waiting for? ”

Ma Chao said: "Think about it, what are the cities that are in front of Han Sui and can escape back to Jincheng by only one conquer?" ”

Duan Xuan thought for a moment and exclaimed, "Baishi, Di Dao, Caohan and Pingxiang!" ”

"Not bad. If Han Sui wants to break the siege, he must choose one of them. And if he hastily attacked the city now, his goal would be exposed. Once I receive the information, I can quickly determine his way of life, and then my 80,000 people can completely block his way of life and teach him to die!

Therefore, when our army had not yet opened and formed an encirclement with Ma Dai, Han Sui did not dare to move lightly. He must wait for me to move first, and when the encirclement is completed, I must disperse my 80,000 horsemen to Pingxiang, Xianqin, Chengji, Luoyang, Longxian, Yuzhong, and the seven cities of Yongfan. Because of these seven cities, Han Sui may also attack, some can return to Jincheng once they are conquered, and some will disrupt all my deployments once they fall, and lose my rear. ”

Pound suddenly realized and said, "Oh! The last general understands! Han Sui was waiting for the young master to divide his troops and divide his troops into these seven cities to form an encirclement. In this way, although the encirclement is formed, the 80,000 troops under the command of the young master have to divide tens of thousands of troops, and the troops that can directly threaten him are only about 40,000 or 50,000!

Therefore, the young lord could only choose such a strategy: together with the little general Ma Dai, he would defend ten cities with about sixty or seventy thousand people, and wait with about four or five people; When Han Sui revealed his intention to attack one of the cities, the young master could use this to determine his intentions, and then gather his forces and annihilate him. Ten cities means that our army has only a 1 in 10 chance of successfully annihilating Han Sui, and Han Sui will also have a 9 out of 10 chance of escaping! ”

After speaking, Pang De's eyes widened in surprise, and the other three generals also gasped.