Thirty-Six Qiang

Niyang, horses leapt on the big tent.

Ma Teng and his eldest son Ma Chao, from his son Ma Dai and second son Ma Xiuhou set up a tent. Because he had been running for life, Ma Chao's injuries had not healed. His face looked a little pale at this time, but his energy and spirit had completely recovered. At first glance, he still looked very lively.

When Ma Teng was waiting anxiously, a heavy footsteps sounded outside the tent. At the curtain lifted, a majestic general came in straight under the escort of two evil men like evil men. Ma Teng's eyes instantly met the general. When he saw clearly that the other party was so young, Ma Teng couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

The person who came was nothing but Ma Yue.

Ma Yue walked straight to Ma Teng and stared at Ma Teng without saying a word. There was neither joy nor anger in his eyes. Ma Teng's expression was suffocated. When he was about to turn over and bow down, Ma Yue reached out to support him.

"Uncle Teng!" Ma Yue held Ma Teng's big hand tightly and said in a voice, "You are tired!"

Looking at this junior who had never met but belonged to the same clan, Ma Teng was in a complicated mood and didn't know what to say for a moment. The most important thing was that he didn't know how to call Ma Yue? In terms of identity, Ma Yue was the governor of Liangzhou, appointed as the governor of the emperor, and was also the son-in-law of Princess Liu Ming of Yiyang, and Ma Teng was just a rebellious person.

But in terms of seniority, Ma Yue is just Ma Teng's junior.

Fortunately, this embarrassment did not last long, so Ma Yue took the lead in breaking the deadlock. Ma Yue's eyes passed over Ma Teng and fell on Ma Chao, and asked, "Uncle Teng, this person~~"

"Oh~~" Ma Tengru woke up in his dreams, hurriedly led Ma Chao, Ma Dai and Ma Xiu from behind, and said to Ma Yue, "Chaoer, Daier, Xiuer, this is Brother Ma Yue whom my father often mentions to you, the great hero of our Maoling Ma family, and the pride of the entire clan. Why don't you come forward to meet your brother quickly?"

Ma Dai, Ma Xiu glanced at Ma Yue, but did not dare to step forward. He hid behind Ma Teng timidly. Only Ma Chao's eyebrows showed unconcealed excitement, and bowed to Ma Yuena's head and said aloud: "My brother Ma Chao~~Keep him to brother."

"Yeah." Ma Yue nodded and asked Ma Teng, "My brother is so majestic and heroic. He will be a talented general in the future."

Ma Teng said ashamedly: "I just learned the skills of three-legged cats, so I kept clamoring to go to the battlefield. A while ago, I was seriously injured by Yan Xing, and I almost lost my life. I really lost all the face of our Ma family."

Ma Chao remained silent, but his face turned red with shame.

"You can't say that. Chao brother is finally young after all, and it is reasonable to lose to the mighty Western Liang general Yan Xing." Ma Yue looked back at Dian Wei and Xu Chu, and said in a deep voice: "Dian Wei, Xu Chu."

Dian Wei Er took a step forward, clasped his fists and said, "The last one is here."

Ma Yue said: "If you have the opportunity, you must carefully teach Chaodi's martial arts skills and not neglect it."

Dian Wei's second general said proudly: "The last general will obey the order."

Ma Chao fell to the ground again and shouted: "Thank you brother."

"Lord, there is an emergency military situation."

Ma Teng and uncle and nephew Ma Yue were talking, a figure outside the tent flashed, and Jia Xu had already stepped inside quickly. Ma Yue took the opportunity to introduce to Ma Teng: "Uncle Teng, this Jia Xu, Jia Wenhe, from Wuwei, Liangzhou, is the little nephew who has the help of his arm."

Jia Xu clasped his fists and said, "Xu meets with the general."

Ma Teng replied, "Sir, please give up the gift."

Ma Yue turned his eyes to Jia Xu and asked in a narrow voice: "Wenhe, what are the urgent military information?"

Jia Xu took a breath and said, "Lord, I just wrote a detailed report that was very unfavorable."

"Oh?" Ma Yue said in a deep voice, "I hope to hear the details."

"For a detailed return, Xu Rong mobilized nearly 20,000 troops and advanced towards Niyang. Five thousand cavalry were divided into two routes, cutting off our army's retreat to the east and north." Jia Xu's eyes were solemn, and then said, "Xu Rong is worthy of being the number one general under Dong Zhuo. He is extremely experienced in using troops. This person's intention is very obvious, that is, to trap our army to death in Niyang City."

Ma Yue's eyes flashed and he said in a deep voice: "Dian Wei, map."

"Affect the order."

Dian Wei agreed and quickly took out a map from his arms and spread it on the table. Ma Yue ordered Xu Chu to take Ma Chao and his three brothers down first, and then waved to Ma Teng. Jia Xu said, "Uncle Teng, Wenhe, you all come here."

When Ma Teng and Jia Xu approached, Ma Yue pointed to the map and said in a deep voice: "This is Niyang, and our army is currently stationed here."

"This is Linjing, and Xu Rong's 20,000 troops were originally stationed here." Ma Teng's eyes were dull after speaking, and pointed to a little north of Linjing, saying, "This is Peng Yang. Uncle Yu's defeated troops were originally stationed here, but unfortunately he was trapped in Xu's traitor and not only lost the city, but also ruined Ling Ming in vain."

Ma Yue advised: "As the saying goes, Taoist cannot be resurrected when he dies, Uncle Teng doesn't have to worry about it."

Jia Xu reached out and drew a semicircle in the northeast of Niyang, saying: "Now Xu Rong's five thousand cavalry have divided into two groups, cutting off the retreat route to the east and north. General Shoucheng (Ma Tengbo's character)'s subordinates are now infantrymen, and most of them are injured, which is not conducive to movement. If you forcefully break through the siege, you will inevitably take advantage of the enemy."

Ma Yue said in a voice: "Yes, Niyang is a plateau with hundreds of miles in a radius of hundreds of miles. The terrain is flat and uninhabited. Once you abandon the city and leave, you will not only be unable to raise food and supplies, but it will also be difficult to escape the pursuit of Xu Rong's army! In other words, our army has to defend Niyang to the death and has no choice but to do so!"

"No, absolutely not!" Ma Teng advised excitedly, "It can only be a dead end to defend Niyang! Uncle Yu must not drag you down Bo Qi! Bo Qi can quickly evacuate the iron cavalry, and Niyang will be handed over to Uncle Yu to guard. Your thousand subordinates are all iron cavalry, and Xu Rong wants to stop him, but he is afraid he can't stop him."

Ma Yue suddenly stretched out his hand and said in an unquestionable tone: "My nephew has made up his mind, so Uncle Teng doesn't need to say much."

“Uh~~”

Ma Teng was suffocated when he heard this, and he really didn't dare to say anything more.

"There is no way to defend Niyang to the death." Jia Xu sighed and whispered, "It's a pity that the Niyang city wall is only one meter high and most of it is destroyed, which is not enough to make a profit! If our army wants to seize the city and defend it, it must build a city wall at least two meter high before Xu Rong's army arrives."

Ma Yue said, "Then build a city!"

"The lord doesn't know, the situation is much worse than expected." Jia Xu shook his head, "The soil of Niyang is soft, it will fall when it is built, and it will scatter when it is piled up. It is impossible to gather sand into a wall."

"Oh, there is such a thing?" Ma Yue frowned, "Let's go, Uncle Teng, why not check it out together."

On the official road to Niyang in Linjing, Xu Rong's army was moving slowly forward like a winding dragon, with iron armor as clouds and golden swords as forests. The flags were almost covering the setting sun in early spring. In the central army, Xu Rong was surrounded by Hu Zhen, Zhang Heng, and the candidate generals and walked slowly.

The general, Houxuan, said with lingering fear, "The heavy armored iron cavalry of the horse butcher is too powerful, and our army cannot resist it! The general sent two light cavalry to cut off the east and retreat to the north. Is this too risky? Why not wait for General Li to urge his army to return from Zhangye and then join forces to attack Ma Yue?"

"It's okay, although Ma Yue's heavy armored iron cavalry is powerful, it's only a few more than 200 cavalry after all." Xu Rong turned around and said confidently, "The generals don't have to worry. I have thought of the cracking technique. If Ma Yue dares to send heavy armored cavalry again, I will definitely tell him that there will be no return."

"Oh?" Hu Zhen said in a narrow voice, "The general has thought of the cracking technique?"

"Yeah." Xu Rong nodded and said in a deep voice, "The heavy armored iron cavalry is wearing heavy armor, holding a tensor in his hand, and is hard to match our cavalry head-on, but the animal power is sometimes poor. If you carry such a weight and gallop, you will not last long, and the speed is particularly slow. Our army can attack light cavalry and not kill close to each other. In this case, the enemy cavalry must be weak and lazy, and then it will be easy to break it."

"Mysterious." Hu Zhen suddenly realized, "If I had known this, I would have been defeated for a long time!"

"The light cavalry of the butcher is also extremely powerful." The candidate said worriedly, "especially their guns are enough to penetrate the strong horses. How should our army deal with it?"

"That's okay." Xu Rongchengzhu said in his heart, "The spears of the light cavalry of Ma Yuejun are indeed powerful, but the number is limited after all. And as long as our army does not take dense formation charges, the lethality of the enemy's spears can be greatly reduced! Our army has an absolute advantage in force, which is enough to offset the threat of spears from the enemy."

Zhang Heng suddenly said: "When the general said this, the general was impatient to fight with the butcher Ma, for fear that the butcher Ma and Ma Teng had already escaped in advance."

"No." Xu Rong said confidently, "I predict that they are still in Niyang."

Zhang Heng said: "The general is so sure that they will guard Niyang and wait for our army to join the encirclement?"

Xu Rong said coldly: "The reason they chose to defend Niyang is because they have no choice! Unless the Ma Butcher was willing to abandon the Ma Teng rebels and flee alone, as long as Ma Teng's rebels are still there, the Ma Butcher would never be able to abandon the city and leave! Because Niyang is surrounded by empty plateaus, within a radius of hundreds of miles, there is only one city in Niyang to defend. If you were Ma Butcher, would you choose to defend the city? Or would you choose to fight with our army?"

Zhang Heng said without hesitation: "Of course, it is to defend the city."

A trace of ferocious murderous intent appeared in Xu Rong's eyes, like a cunning wild wolf showing bloody fangs, and said in a grim voice: "That's it, even you Zhang Heng can think of it. How could a butcher as cunning as a horse not expect?"

Anyi, Dong Zhuo’s official residence.

Zhang Ji, Zhang Xiu's uncle and nephew fell to the ground and said respectfully: "Zhang Ji (Xu) meets the lord."

"Hahaha, please get up quickly, Uncle and Nephew Xian." Dong Zhuo stepped forward and helped Zhang Ji. Zhang Xiu up, and laughed with his beard. "I am now receiving the help of Uncle and Nephew Xian, and I can be said to be like a tiger with wings."

Zhang Ji said respectfully: "Ji is not talented, and he is willing to serve as a small soldier in front of Dong's horse."

"Okay." Dong Zhuo said loudly, "Since that's the case, Yuan Du (Zhang Jibiao's name, fabricated) can still be the prefect of Hongnong. How about letting your nephew Zhang Xiu stay in front of this general's tent to listen to the order?"

Zhang Ji, Zhang Xiu'er bowed again and said respectfully: "Thank you lord."

Li Su took a step forward and said without any chance: "Congratulations to the lord for adding another general, and hegemony is expected."

Dong Zhuo smiled and said, "I will remember the achievements of Zi Yan (Li Su's name) in my heart, and I will receive many rewards in the future."

Li Su smiled and said, "Thank you lord."

Li Ru went out and said, "Lord, now General Zhang Ji has been under the lord's command. Although Feng Fang has 8,000 troops, it is not worth fearing. The threat from the south has been eliminated. Moreover, General Guo Si's 40,000 troops have arrived in Anyi. Now it is time to concentrate its forces to defeat all coalition forces in the north."

"Yes." Dong Zhuo nodded, "Wen Xiu (Li Ru's name is a prose character) thought how to defeat the Northern Alliance?"

Li Rudao: "It is said that it is better to attack than to defend. Why not attack instead of attack? Use a force to defend Anyi to attract the main force of the coalition forces to attack. Then he secretly condemned a general to lead heavy troops to fly across Wangwu Mountain. The gods did not know, and the ghosts would go around the side of the coalition forces and raid Jinyang. If they could capture Taiyuan County in one fell swoop, it would be like a sharp knife to penetrate the vital points of the coalition forces!"

"Oh?" Dong Zhuo's expression moved and he said in a calm voice, "Go straight to Taiyuan?"

"If the lord takes Taiyuan, even if Ding Yuan is not dead, he will be in chaos. Taking Bingzhou will be like taking things out! If the lord belongs to the lord, the Hetao Ma Yue, Youzhou Gongsun Zan and Jizhou Han Fu are all under the threat of our army. In this way, all the coalition forces will return to their troops to save themselves, and the coalition forces will retreat without fighting, and the threat from the north will disappear."

"Okay!" Dong Zhuo slapped the table, "According to Wen Xiu's plan, this general should personally lead a large army to seize Jinyang, but who can stay in Anyi?"

Dong Zhuo's son-in-law, Hu Ben's general Niu Fu, stepped out with a high position, clasped his fists and said quickly: "The son-in-law is willing to guard Anyi."

Li Ru stroked his beard and smiled, "With General Niu Fu's presence in Anyi, the lord can go to war with confidence."

"Yeah." Dong Zhuo nodded, "Since that's the case, Niu Fu is the main general, Yang Feng and Fan Chou are the deputy generals, and Li Su is responsible for military affairs! Xu Huang, Zhang Xiu, Yang Qiu, Li Kan, and Cheng Yin are all obedient to the tent. The generals need to work together to guard Anyi well. If there is any mistake, they should be severely punished."

Yang Feng and Fan Chou all stepped out behind Niu Fu and said in unison: "The last generals will receive the order."

Dong Zhuo said again: "Where is Hua Xiong?"

Hua Xiong stepped out and replied: "The last one will be there."

Dong Zhuo said: "Leading 5,000 elite troops as vanguards, opening roads when they meet mountains and building bridges when they encounter water. We must break out a road in Wangwu Mountain!"

Hua Xiong said: "Abide by the order."

Dong Zhuo's eyes finally fell on Li Ru, and he said in a deep voice: "I will personally lead 20,000 elite troops and Wen Xiu then set off, crossing the natural danger of Wangwu Mountain, and taking Bingzhou Shangdang!"

Liangzhou, Niyang.

Ma Yue appeared outside the city surrounded by Ma Teng, Jia Xu, Xu Chu and Dian Wei. In the bitter north wind, a group of soldiers were nervously digging the soil to build the city. But as Jia Xu said, the soil in Niyang was extremely loose, and often a basket of mud was scattered as soon as it was poured up.

The soldiers worked hard for a long time but could not build a city wall that was more than three feet high. At first glance, there were only piles of loose soil scattered among the broken walls of the old city wall.

Jia Xu said with a serious expression: "My lord, please see, the soil in Niyang is extremely loose, which is not conducive to building a city."

Ma Yue walked to the city wall without saying a word, reached out to pat the ruins built before, frowned and asked, "Then how did the Niyang City be built before?"

Jia Xu said: "According to the dictionary records, this city was built by transporting clay from the Jingshui River. At that time, General Li Guangli, the second-class general, did not hesitate to waste the people and suffered money. He chose to build a city here because he was attracted by the unique loose soil quality of this place, because once a city was built here, he would not be afraid of the enemy's attack with the art of accumulation of soil."

Ma Yue still didn't believe it and said, "Is the soil here really not suitable for building a city?"

"Bang~~"

Just at this moment, a crisp sound came into Ma Yue's ears. Ma Yue turned around and saw a famous gang leader picking up two large pots of potted water not far away. One of them accidentally hit the city wall and suddenly shattered. The hot boiling water in the gang leader splashed all over, and the gang leader screamed when it was hot.

"I have it!" Ma Yue's eyes suddenly lit up and he said quickly, "I know how to build a city!"

"oh?"

"Um?"

Jia Xu and Ma Teng's eyes were surprised at the same time, only Dian Wei and Xu Chu's expression was as usual, with a look of being too lazy to be surprised even if the sky fell. When facing Jia Xu, Ma Teng's unbelievable eyes, Ma Yue smiled and said, "Wenhe, Uncle Teng is a little restless. When Xu Rong's army arrives, our army will be able to build a city that will not break through."

On the official road from Linjing to Niyang.

The general elected general said: "General, our army hastily set out and did not carry the necessary supplies and weapons for siege, such as rushing cars, catapults and ladders, etc. with the army. If the horse butcher can repair the Niyang city wall within two days, our army will probably have to pay a considerable price to conquer Niyang."
To be continued...