Three Kingdoms King of the North

Seeing someone rushing out from the opposite formation, Zhang Xiu yelled: "Good time!" Waving the silver spear in his hand, Zhang Xiu rushed forward and fought with Cheng Yin.

Cheng Yin, like Liang Xing, was known as Han Sui's Eight Great Generals, but his martial arts were far inferior to that of Zhang Xiu, who was known as the "Northern Spear King".After standing for less than five rounds, the weapon in his hand was knocked flying by Zhang Xiu, and then Zhang Xiu shot his helmet flying.

Seeing how powerful Zhang Xiu was, Cheng Yin hurriedly turned the horse's head, put his body on the horse's back, and rushed towards the main formation.He shouted loudly: "Major General, save me!"

Seeing that Cheng Yin was in a critical situation, Hou Xuan immediately roared and rushed forward, brandishing his weapon.But he was still no match for Zhang Xiu. In just three rounds, Zhang Xiu pierced his left rib with a single shot and knocked him off the horse.Just as he was about to step forward and shoot him to end his life, he heard someone shouting: "Ma Chao and Ma Mengqi from Xiliang are here again, the thief will look at the gun!"

Zhang Xiu stopped the gun in his hand, looked up in the direction of the sound, and saw a young man riding a white horse, with a silver helmet and a silver gun, rushing towards him.He sneered, pointed at Ma Chao, and said, "Which doll is this? Don't you know that swords and guns have no eyes on the battlefield? You don't have to step back quickly, or the steel gun in my hand will be fixed on you." Make seven or eight holes."

Ma Chao is proud and arrogant, and the enemy general he sees is only in his early twenties, but he speaks old-fashioned, like an adult.He snorted heavily and stabbed at the opponent.

Faced with Ma Chao's spear, Zhang Xiu lightly blocked it with his long spear. After the loud bang of "Dang", he felt that his tiger's mouth was almost shaken open, and only then did he realize that although the young general opposite him was still young, his martial arts were far superior to his own.

If he was going out to fight, he probably would have left by now.But now he was transporting food and grass back to Chang'an to cover Zhang Ji, so he could only bite the bullet and fight Ma Chao.Although Ma Chao was skilled in martial arts, he didn't have much time on the battlefield, so he couldn't help Zhang Xiu all of a sudden.

Zhang Xiu secretly groaned in his heart, and said that if he knew that there was such a difficult character among the reinforcements who came, he would have agreed to his uncle's proposal and burned all the rations he had robbed.But at this moment, riding a tiger is hard to get off, so I can only bite the bullet and fight on.

Although Cheng Yin and Hou Xuan's martial arts were not as good as Ma Chao and Zhang Xiu's, they had fought against foreigners at the border for many years and had rich experience.They saw that the other side had fewer troops than themselves, and that the general was entangled by Ma Chao, how could they let go of such a good opportunity, and quickly swung their troops to kill them, fighting with Zhang Xiu's soldiers and horses.

The soldiers and horses brought by Zhang Xiu saw that Zhang Xiu was gradually at a disadvantage in the contest with Ma Chao. When they were frightened, they saw that the opponent had already waved their troops to hide and killed him, so they could only bite the bullet and fight.

Zhang Xiu's soldiers and horses were small, and they only lasted for two sticks of incense, and lost more than half of them.At this time, Zhang Xiu was also in a panic, his helmet was knocked off, and he was shot more than a dozen times. If it wasn't for Ma Chao's lack of experience, he would have been dead on the ground.

Seeing his soldiers and horses fleeing in all directions, he knew that if he continued to fight, his life would be ruined here, so he quickly feinted his gun, pulled the horses and fled, and rushed to join Zhang Ji who was escorting the grain and grass.

Chapter 264 The Ambush at the Banquet

Although Ma Teng ordered the troops to retreat, everyone knew that the Xiliang army had 8 or [-] troops, so naturally they could not simply retreat.If they leave the camp in a hurry, they will inevitably fall into chaos. If the troops of Li Jue and Guo Si come up again, they will lose the soldiers and horses of the establishment, and they will be lambs waiting to be slaughtered outside the city.

Ma Teng said to Han Sui: "Appointment, I plan to divide the soldiers into three teams and retreat one by one, so as not to be noticed by Li Jue, Guo Si and others in Chang'an City."

"Shoucheng, why don't you lead an army to withdraw first." Han Sui waited for Ma Teng to finish speaking, and then offered: "My nephew and I will stay behind to intercept the pursuers of Li Guo and other thieves."

"It's not right, it's better to ask the leader to retreat first." Ma Teng said calmly, "I am the commander-in-chief of the army, so naturally I want to stay behind."

"Impossible, Shoucheng, since you are the commander-in-chief of the first army, there is no reason to stay behind." How could Han Sui let Ma Teng stay and take risks, and continued to stubbornly say, "Let me stay."

While the two were arguing endlessly, a soldier came in from the outside, knelt down on one knee in front of Ma Teng, and reported, "The two generals, Liang Xing and Cheng Yi, are back!"

When Han Sui heard that his two generals had returned, the stone hanging in his throat fell to the ground.But when he thought that both of them had lost the food and grass they were escorting, he became very angry and quickly ordered the soldiers: "Bring the two of them up."

A moment later, Liang Xing and Cheng Yi, who were tied up with ropes, knelt down in front of Ma Teng and Han Sui and pleaded guilty: "You two generals, my subordinates owe you a great trust, and the bandits robbed you of food and grass. , and now I’m here to lead you to death.”

Han Sui stood up and shouted outside: "Come here!"

Looking at the soldiers rushing in from outside, Han Sui pointed at Liang Xing and Cheng Yi with his hand, and said in a tone of hatred, "Drag these two men out and behead them, and hang their heads on the gate for three days. "

"Wait!" Seeing that the two soldiers were about to go out with Liang Xing and Cheng Yi in custody, Ma Chao hurriedly stopped him: "Uncle Han, it is certainly a capital offense for Liang Xing and Cheng Yi to lose their food and grass, but now When it comes to employing people, it is better to save their lives and let them stay in the army to perform their crimes and make meritorious deeds."

"Yes, Yue." Ma Teng, who had been silent all this time, heard his son pleading for Liang Xing and Cheng Yi, and knew that if he didn't stand up and say a few words, it might damage the brotherhood between him and Han Sui.Then he got up and said, "Li Jue and Guo Si have counselors like Jia Xu to help them, not to mention that they are escorting the grain and grass. Even if my family Meng Qi goes there, I'm afraid they can take care of the grain and grass. In my opinion, let's forget it." .Let the lives of the two people be spared, and let them stay in the army to perform crimes and make meritorious deeds."

Seeing that Ma Teng was unwilling to be the first to lead the retreat, Han Sui put forward a new plan: "Since Shoucheng is unwilling to lead the troops to retreat westward first, it is better to let Meng Qi's nephew lead me, these ineffective men, to retreat first." ,how?"

Just when Ma Teng and Han Sui were discussing to withdraw their troops, Li Jue, Guo Si and others in the city already knew that the food and grass of the Xiliang Army had been robbed.Jia Xu said to the two: "The two generals, Ma Teng and Han Sui, have lost their internal support and their rations have been robbed. I am afraid they will not last long in the city, and they will withdraw their troops soon. Please, the two generals, quickly organize your troops. As soon as the Xiliang army withdraws, we will take advantage of the situation to cover up and kill them. If we are lucky, we can also take the heads of Ma Teng and Han Sui."

Considering that Zhang Ji's uncle and nephew had just returned from leading the army from outside the city, Li Jue said to Zhang Ji: "Your uncle and nephew have just returned not long ago, and they must have been exhausted on saddle horses. You should stay in the city to rest and send troops to chase after the Xiliang army. , don’t bother you.”

Uncle and nephew Zhang Ji had suffered from Ma Chao outside this time, and was thinking about how to avoid confrontation with the Xiliang army.Hearing what Li Jue said at this moment, he felt as if he wanted to fall asleep and someone gave him a pillow, so he quickly replied: "Since General Zhiran said so, the subordinates just obey."

Guo Bang was in a good mood, and even joked with Zhang Ji: "When we are not in the city, you must guard the city well. Don't wait until we come back, and the city will change its owner."

"General Guo, please don't worry." Although Zhang Ji knew that Guo Si was joking, he also guessed that the other party would have his own suspicions, so he hurriedly replied: "As long as my uncle and nephew are here, Chang'an City will be solid."

Although Ma Teng, Han Sui and others were good at fighting, it was a pity that they were only generals and not counselors. Therefore, when they withdrew, they could not do some fake moves to deceive people like those famous military advisers and counselors.Instead, after dawn, they pulled out of the camp step by step.

Since the retreat was divided into three groups, Ma Chao led Cheng Yin, Liang Xing, Cheng Yi, Li Kan and others, and went ahead with [-] soldiers and horses as well as food and grass; Han Sui led the second group of soldiers and horses to set off in the afternoon; The soldiers and horses they led had to wait for Ma Chao and Han Sui to go far away before leaving the camp.

The soldiers on the top of the city found that the Xiliang army outside the city was pulling out their camp, and hurriedly came to report to Li Jue: "General Qi, the Xiliang army outside the city is pulling out their camp, and they seem to have plans to withdraw their troops."

Hearing the soldier's report, Li Jue, Guo Si and others rushed to the west gate and stood on the gate tower looking down.After seeing Xiliang soldiers and horses pulling out of their camp in the distance, they were slowly heading towards the distance.Seeing this scene, Li Jue turned his head and said to Jia Xu: "Mr. Ruo is really good at predicting things. He said that Ma Teng and Han Sui were going to pull out the camp and retreat, and now they are really starting to retreat. Come here, set up troops and horses, and prepare to go out of the city to pursue !"

"Wait a minute, general!" Seeing that Li Jue, Guo Si and others were about to go out of the city to pursue them now, Jia Xu hurriedly dissuaded him, "Today, only [-]% of Xiliang's soldiers have left the camp. We’re afraid we’ll suffer a lot.”

"In your opinion, what should we do?" Li Jue asked.

Jia Xu looked outside the city for a long time, and said, "General Zhiran, don't be impatient. The Xiliang army outside the city is still wary of us, so we can't act rashly for now. But if they withdraw after the second wave of troops, The rest of the soldiers are unavoidably panic-stricken, and we will get twice the result with half the effort if we attack at that time."

"That's right, that's right." Guo Si agreed with Jia Xu's statement: "When the Xiliang soldiers want to return, they will have no intention of fighting. As long as our troops attack, they will be defeated at the touch of a finger."

At noon, Jia Xu saw Han Sui leading his troops away from the tower, while the rest of the soldiers in the camp were a little restless. They were all looking west, as if they were waiting for themselves to leave the camp and retreat.Seeing this situation, Jia Xu immediately said to Li Jue: "General Zhiran, the time is ripe, you can open the door and hunt down."

"But," Li Jue pointed to the camp in the distance, and said to Jia Xu, "Thirty percent of their soldiers have not left. If we attack now, we will definitely fall into a melee."

"General Zhiran, please rest assured," Jia Xu said confidently, "Although there are still tens of thousands of soldiers in the camp, they have no intention of fighting because of their hearts. As long as our army attacks, they will surely collapse without fighting."

"Okay, since I told you so, the general will lead the attack." Li Jue said, called Guo Bang, and left the tower to order troops out of the city.

"Shoucheng, why don't you lead an army to withdraw first." Han Sui waited for Ma Teng to finish speaking, and then offered: "My nephew and I will stay behind to intercept the pursuers of Li Guo and other thieves."

"It's not right, it's better to ask the leader to retreat first." Ma Teng said calmly, "I am the commander-in-chief of the army, so naturally I want to stay behind."

"Impossible, Shoucheng, since you are the commander-in-chief of the first army, there is no reason to stay behind." How could Han Sui let Ma Teng stay and take risks, and continued to stubbornly say, "Let me stay."

While the two were arguing endlessly, a soldier came in from the outside, knelt down on one knee in front of Ma Teng, and reported, "The two generals, Liang Xing and Cheng Yi, are back!"

When Han Sui heard that his two generals had returned, the stone hanging in his throat fell to the ground.But when he thought that both of them had lost the food and grass they were escorting, he became very angry and quickly ordered the soldiers: "Bring the two of them up."

A moment later, Liang Xing and Cheng Yi, who were tied up with ropes, knelt down in front of Ma Teng and Han Sui and pleaded guilty: "You two generals, my subordinates owe you a great trust, and the bandits robbed you of food and grass. , and now I’m here to lead you to death.”

Han Sui stood up and shouted outside: "Come here!"

Looking at the soldiers rushing in from outside, Han Sui pointed at Liang Xing and Cheng Yi with his hand, and said in a tone of hatred, "Drag these two men out and behead them, and hang their heads on the gate for three days. "

"Wait!" Seeing that the two soldiers were about to go out with Liang Xing and Cheng Yi in custody, Ma Chao hurriedly stopped him: "Uncle Han, it is certainly a capital offense for Liang Xing and Cheng Yi to lose their food and grass, but now When it comes to employing people, it is better to save their lives and let them stay in the army to perform their crimes and make meritorious deeds."

"Yes, Yue." Ma Teng, who had been silent all this time, heard his son pleading for Liang Xing and Cheng Yi, and knew that if he didn't stand up and say a few words, it might damage the brotherhood between him and Han Sui.Then he got up and said, "Li Jue and Guo Si have counselors like Jia Xu to help them, not to mention that they are escorting the grain and grass. Even if my family Meng Qi goes there, I'm afraid they can take care of the grain and grass. In my opinion, let's forget it." .Let the lives of the two people be spared, and let them stay in the army to perform crimes and make meritorious deeds."

Seeing that Ma Teng was unwilling to be the first to lead the retreat, Han Sui put forward a new plan: "Since Shoucheng is unwilling to lead the troops to retreat westward first, it is better to let Meng Qi's nephew lead me, these ineffective men, to retreat first." ,how?"

Just when Ma Teng and Han Sui were discussing to withdraw their troops, Li Jue, Guo Si and others in the city already knew that the food and grass of the Xiliang Army had been robbed.Jia Xu said to the two: "The two generals, Ma Teng and Han Sui, have lost their internal support and their rations have been robbed. I am afraid they will not last long in the city, and they will withdraw their troops soon. Please, the two generals, quickly organize your troops. As soon as the Xiliang army withdraws, we will take advantage of the situation to cover up and kill them. If we are lucky, we can also take the heads of Ma Teng and Han Sui."

Considering that Zhang Ji's uncle and nephew had just returned from leading the army from outside the city, Li Jue said to Zhang Ji: "Your uncle and nephew have just returned not long ago, and they must have been exhausted on saddle horses. You should stay in the city to rest and send troops to chase after the Xiliang army. , don’t bother you.”

Uncle and nephew Zhang Ji had suffered from Ma Chao outside this time, and was thinking about how to avoid confrontation with the Xiliang army.Hearing what Li Jue said at this moment, he felt as if he wanted to fall asleep and someone gave him a pillow, so he quickly replied: "Since General Zhiran said so, the subordinates just obey."

Guo Bang was in a good mood, and even joked with Zhang Ji: "When we are not in the city, you must guard the city well. Don't wait until we come back, and the city will change its owner."

"General Guo, please don't worry." Although Zhang Ji knew that Guo Si was joking, he also guessed that the other party would have his own suspicions, so he hurriedly replied: "As long as my uncle and nephew are here, Chang'an City will be solid."