Han Sui sighed heavily and said, "Since the city of Qide has been captured, it seems that the entire Zhangye County has also fallen. ”

Cheng Gongying said: "The city is in the westernmost part of Zhangye County, and Jinma Chao is attacking from east to west. And Zhangye and Jiuquan are the most essence and core of the whole Hexi, and Dunhuang and Juyan are vast and sparsely populated, so they are not worth mentioning at all. Jin Ma Chao's capture of Zhangye is equivalent to losing half of our strength. In addition, Yan Xing surrendered with 30,000 troops, and we only have 50,000 paces to ride. My lord, everything is very bad for us! ”

Han Sui was still impatient and walked around, saying, "The old man doesn't know. Boying, what are your ideas? ”

Cheng Gongying said: "At present, there are only four cities in Lufu City, including Biaoshi, Anmi, Lejun, and Huishui, as barriers. Only by guarding the four cities can the lord defend Lufu City and Jiuquan County. If Jin Ma Chao can't attack the four cities, it will be difficult to attack Lufu City. According to the conjecture of his subordinates, since Jin Ma Chao is a surprise attack, it is difficult to carry too many siege equipment. Moreover, Hexi is thousands of miles away from Jincheng, and it is also very difficult to transport grain and grass. Therefore, Jinma Chaoli is fighting quickly, and I am holding on to it. ”

Han Sui nodded and said, "Yes, when Jinma is exhausted, he will have no choice but to retreat, and then pursue it again, so that he will have a chance of winning." ”

Cheng Gongying said again: "Jin Ma Chao is even more afraid of Huangfu Song. The lord can send someone to infiltrate Liangzhou to make Huangfu Song aware of this. Huangfu Song will take the opportunity to attack Liangzhou, and we will have a breather. ”

Han Sui nodded and said, "Okay, since that's the case, the old man will send more garrisons to the four cities." ”

At this moment, there was a sudden sound of footsteps outside the door, and Cheng Gongying went out to see, it was a guard, and he immediately collided with Cheng Gongying.

Han Sui said angrily: "What are you doing in a panic? ”

The guard said uneasily: "The lord's big thing is not good, the beacon fire shows that the tribe of Jinma Chao has surrounded the Cousin City!" ”

Han Sui immediately glanced at Cheng Gongying, and both saw the panic in each other's eyes.

……………………………………………………

At the same time, at daylight the next day, Ma Chao was also in full swing to attack the city of Biao's city.

There is also a beacon fire in the city of Omote, and the news of the fall of the city has long been known. The defender of the city is the horse play who has fought with Ma Chao.

Although Ma Wan didn't know whether it was Yan Xing's rebellion or Ma Chao's attack, he immediately increased the defense of Biaoshi City. There were 6,000 people in the city, and Ma Wan decided to hold on until Han Sui sent reinforcements to rescue them.

Ma Chao ordered 30,000 iron cavalry to surround the city, and because there were no siege equipment, Ma Chao did not dare to act rashly. Ma Chao saw that many defenders had gathered in the city, and they were waiting for the battle with bows and crossbows.

Ma Dai on the side said: "This city is well guarded, and the defenders will be no less than thousands, so it seems that it is difficult to take it." ”

Ma Chao looked at the Cousin City and couldn't think of any good ideas for a while. There are no siege equipment, and there are no trees around to build, and it is impossible to climb the city walls with cavalry, not to mention anything else, not to mention that the defenders will strike condescendingly. In this way, the casualties must be heavy.

Zhang Xiu said: "Brother, you can get an idea." If we can't take this city in a hurry, our army's advantage will be gone. ”

Ma Chao looked at the Cousin City, which was located on a small plain in the Hexi Corridor, with a wide plain as far as the eye could see, and only a lonely city stood alone on the plain.

Suddenly, Ma Chao seemed to think of something, and called Zhang Xiu: "Bring the map." ”

"Whoa." Zhang Xiu took a sheepskin map from the guard's hand and handed it to Ma Chao.

Ma Chao unfolded the map and shouted, "Where is Yan Xing?" ”

"The end will be." Yan Xing was behind Ma Chao.

Ma Chao looked at the map, there is a river next to the city of Biaoshi, called "weak water". Weak water originates from under the Qilian Mountains, and the water source should be the ice and snow melt water of the Qilian Mountains; After flowing out of the mountain, it passes through Zhangye County and half of Jiuquan County in the northwest direction, and then changes the direction of the flow in Jiuquan County, flows north through the subject country of Juyan, and finally flows into Juyanze.

But what made Ma Chao feel a pity was that the weak water was too far away from the Epithet City, and he couldn't use the water to attack it, and he couldn't cut off the water source of the Epithet City. But Ma Chao's mind is not on water attack.

Ma Chao pointed to the map and asked Yan Xing: "Can you bypass Biaoshi City and attack Lechuan City and Huishui City?" ”

Ma Chao was thinking that since it was difficult to capture the Biao City in a short period of time, it was better to bypass Huishui City and Lejun City. Anyway, the iron cavalry brought enough grain and straw, and replenished a lot in Zhangye County, and used the surplus war horses to carry enough grain and grass to eat for twenty days, so there was no grain road, and the defenders of Biaoshi City could not cut off his supplies; Moreover, the defenders of Biaoshi City are only a few thousand people, and it is difficult to form an encirclement with Han Sui. Therefore, Ma Chao decided to boldly bypass Biaoshi City to see if Huishui City and Leyun City had a chance to win.

Yan Xing pondered for a moment and said: "Lechuan City is not good, the Cousin City is on the main road to Le Chuan City, unless you capture the Cousin City, you can only reach Le Chuan City by crossing the mountains and mountains." ”

Ma Chao had already expected this, most of the ancient cities were built on the main transportation routes, and if you wanted to advance and capture other cities, you had to take the front city.

In addition, it is related to the safety of the grain road and the smoothness of the back road; And because the city is located in the middle of a region, it has the function of radiation, and only by taking the city can the entire area be ruled;

And because the city often gathers the vast majority of the manpower, material and financial resources of a region, hoards grain, grass and money, and can defend the city, so in history, there are often hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses who die in a city, suffer heavy losses, and take too long to die. For example, Zhang Xun guarded Suiyang, and if the Anshi rebels did not take Suiyang, they would not be able to take Jianghuai, the tax center of the Tang Empire, so they could only keep fighting Zhang Xun.

Ma Chao said: "What about Huishui City?" ”

Yan Xing said: "If you follow the weak water, you can reach Huishui City, the way is relatively flat, but it is suitable for the young master's iron horse to gallop vertically and horizontally." ”

Ma Chao is very satisfied, remembering that the river will generally choose a flat place, not a high place, because the terrain is not easy to break through, so the terrain on both sides of the river is generally low and flat.

Ma Chao said: "Okay, then bypass the Cousin City, and our army will attack the Water City." ”

Zhang Xiu said with a smile: "Brother is wise, and he is flexible in using soldiers!" ”

Jia Xu said: "Slow! The subordinates have a plan, and they may be able to take the city of the Cousins. ”

Ma Chao said: "It will be better if we can take this city." What's the strategy? ”

Jia Xu said: "The young master can make a big show and let the defenders of Biaoshi City see that our army wants to bypass Biaoshi City and attack Huishui City." The defenders will definitely go out of the city to stop them. ”