When the Han army advanced from Chiyang along the Xiaoguan Road, thousands of Wei troops also walked out of Xiaoguan under the command of Xiahouba and camped at the back of the pass.

Xiahouba's move aroused the unanimous opposition of all the generals, and they all felt that Xiahouba wanted to take revenge and wanted to go crazy.

On the opposite side is Ma Yan, who has never been defeated in the southern and northern wars for many years. Not to mention Xiahou Ba, even if Sima Yi comes, he has to shrink up and be a turtle.

As a result, now Xiahou Ba not only does not intend to defend the pass according to the danger, but also leads his troops out of the pass, preparing to face the Han army head-on, which is completely crazy.

But in this regard, Xiahou Ba did not have any reply, and still insisted on leading troops out of the city. Under the orders of Xiahou Ba, the generals could only reluctantly lead their troops out of the city, form a formation under the city, and wait to confront the Han army.

Of course, Xiahouba obviously didn't want to die by doing this. Although his level is not as good as Cao Zhen, he is not so confident that he thinks he can fight Ma Zhen to the death.

Under the deployment of Xiahou Ba, the Wei army coordinated the formation of cavalry and shield men, and quickly established three lines of defense under the city. There is space in the front and rear military formations, crisscrossing as a precaution.

The crossbowmen were arranged at the head of Xiaoguan City, deployed condescendingly, echoing the Wei army under the city.

Such an arrangement could not resist Ma Tan's advance, but it was enough to entangle the vanguard of the Han army.

That's enough.

"You are defending here, no matter how fierce the Shu army's offensive is, at least you must block the time for the vanguard of the Shu army to burn incense!" Xiahou Ba summoned his generals, and after arranging the deployment, he gave everyone a death order.

"Don't try to run away, as soon as the battle begins, I will order Xiao Guan to close the gate. Either go forward and defeat the Shu army alive, or die here! ”

After giving the death order to the soldiers, Xiahou Ba also gave the order to the crossbowmen at the head of the city. If a soldier escapes, you can shoot first, no need to ask!

After giving the death order to these soldiers, Xiahou Ba then personally led more than 1,000 elite soldiers forward. A trench was dug about a mile in front of the Wei army, covered with shields, and covered with sand, soil, grass and trees.

Xiahouba's plan was to personally lead thousands of elite soldiers and lie in the trench under the shield when the battle began. All of them were armed with spears, and at the same time they hid a hundred strong crossbows, so as to surprise Ma Yan.

It is worth mentioning that it has been a year since the appearance of the stirrup and horseshoe of the Han army in the Battle of Nanyang. Cao Wei is not a rice bucket, and he has long figured out the principle of stirrups and horseshoes.

As for the armored cavalry of the Ma Tan headquarters, it has long been no secret.

It's just that because the Han army's northern expedition was too fast, there was no time for the Wei army in Guanzhong to prepare. As a result, most of the cavalry of the Wei army in various divisions were still assault cavalry, and even the heavy cavalry had no time to be formed.

However, there is no return, and the defects of the armored cavalry of the Han army have long been discovered by Cao Wei's side. Such heavy armor, although extremely powerful, lacked endurance and was simply unable to fight for a long time.

Therefore, Xiahouba also made certain deployments.

Because he had fought with Ma Jian in Meridian Valley, Xiahou Ba knew that Ma Jian was the one who would charge forward every time he fought. And he didn't care about his prestige at all, he took the initiative to attack, and thought that Ma Jian would personally lead the heavy cavalry to charge forward.

Xiahou Ba didn't think that his thousand pikemen could stop Ma Tan's armored horsemen. Those iron cans may not be able to kill even if they have a strong crossbow against their faces, and Xiahou Ba will not take this risk.

However, after the passage of the Han military armor and armored cavalry, the equipment of the light cavalry behind was not so good. And without Ma Jian to lead the team, the Han light cavalry was actually not so intimidating.

Xiahou Ba is planning to imitate the way in which Lu Yi dealt with Gongsun Zan at the boundary bridge in the past. The elite armor crouched behind the shield, put Ma Tan himself and the armored cavalry that could not be stopped at all, and then suddenly killed from under the shield, giving the light cavalry of the Shu army behind him a surprise.

The original narrow and steep Xiaoguan Road will offset the impact of the cavalry to a certain extent. In addition, the light cavalry of the Han army was relatively thin, and there were horses leading the troops at the front, so there would definitely be no precautions.

Xiahou Ba estimated that he would lead his soldiers to kill and cooperate with the shouting of dust, and at the same time fire a strong crossbow, he would definitely be able to severely damage the Shu army. At that time, the armored cavalry that has lost its stamina will also be surrounded and blocked, and victory will be within reach.

He didn't need to make too many gains, even if he could thwart the offensive of the Shu army and break the myth of Ma Yan's invincibility, his goal would be achieved!

Although this is indeed a big risk, Xiahou Ba feels that he can gamble. If it happens, he will avenge his uncle and father.

Plan to pass! Now it's time for Ma Jian to take the bait!

…………

…………

…………

When Xiahou Ba was calculating Ma Jian and constantly deploying troops to prepare to meet the Han army, Ma Jian also led his soldiers and horses to the vicinity of Xiaoguan.

Because the goal was to conquer Xiao Pass, the main part of Ma Tan's belt was the Wudang Flying Army, with only 3,000 cavalry as the vanguard.

When the army arrived at Xiaoguan for more than ten miles, the Han army scouts also reported the detailed arrangements of the Wei army. Seeing this battle, Ma Yan's brows furrowed suddenly,

"Xiahouba, what the hell is this idea? Such a battle is not like a decisive battle with our army at all, but rather a rush to delay time......"

Ma Tan sensed that something was wrong, and his instincts from years of fighting made him feel that something was wrong.

"General, why don't you let me lead the troops into battle this time, I will ensure that Xiahou Ba will be captured for the general!" At this time, Jiang Wei suddenly stood up and confidently asked Ma Jian for battle.

"Huh?" When Ma Tan heard this, his expression suddenly became a little subtle.

Xiahouba was the general of the Northern Expedition in the late Shu Han Dynasty in the original history, and he was Jiang Wei's golden partner. Unexpectedly, things have developed so far, Jiang Wei has become an opponent with Xiahou Ba.

Well, that's funny (Sociology +3)

"In that case, then this time Boyo will be responsible for leading Long Wuyi to charge into battle." Ma Yan groaned for a moment, suddenly changed his mind, and nodded in agreement with Jiang Wei's invitation to fight in an extremely rare manner.

"I will personally lead most of the cavalry to follow you, and if there is any ambush for the Wei army, I can also support it in time. If the Wei army's target is somewhere else, I can respond in time. ”

Because of the hardships of Xiao Guandao and Xiahouba's arrangement, Ma Jian really didn't understand, so Ma Jian finally chose to be safer.

It's just that Ma Jian doesn't know that his arrangement will give a certain Xiahou junior a surprise.

In short, after Ma Tan's sudden change of attention, the Han army quickly adjusted its deployment. Jiang Wei wore heavy armor and led the elite of Ma Tan's headquarters in front, while Ma Jian followed closely with 3,000 light cavalry.

The last is Deng Fan, who commands the Wudang Flying Army for Ma Tan, if he is encountering a crisis that even Ma Tan can't handle, Deng Fan is leading the troops to go up.

Deng Fan took over the task, but his eyes couldn't help but flicker.

He seemed to have a bold idea......

(End of chapter)