Han Dao world

Without a war horse, no matter how brave Ma Chao is, it will be useless.

"It's really Xianbei." Pang De followed up, holding the spare horse in his hand. "I just don't know who it is. It looks like a big shot."

"Whoever he is." Ma Chao jumped on the spare horse. "Kill him and it's over!"

Pound didn't say much, and jumped on the spare horse, changed a bow, and took a bag of arrows.

"Go!" Ma Chao kicked his horse to speed up, and rushed towards the Xianbei who had just reacted and started to speed up.

The Xianbei general on the opposite side obviously didn't expect Ma Chao's combat effectiveness to be so strong, he defeated his forward Qianqi with a single charge, and appeared in front of him.Before he had time to think about it, he ordered his personal guards to speed up and face Ma Chao.

With an order, dozens of guard knights in iron armor rushed to his front, or drew bows, or held knives and spears, ready to fight.

Ma Chao repeated his old trick, ordered Pang De to cover, and charged with a spear himself.

The two sides fought fiercely, and Pound shot several people one after another, but because the opponent was protected by iron armor, he was unable to shoot on the spot. Instead, he was aroused and roared towards Ma Chao.

Ma Chao was unafraid, charged in with his spear, stabbed left and right, and killed several people in a row.

He himself was hit twice by a knife and a spear.

Protected by iron armor, the opponent's saber failed to cause substantial damage to him, but the spear opened his leg armor, leaving a deep scar on his thigh, with flesh turned out and blood dripping.

But Ma Chao didn't feel it at all, his eyes were fixed on the other general's Xianbei general, and he yelled to kill him.

General Xianbei saw with his own eyes that Ma Chao killed several of his own guard knights with high martial arts skills one after another. He was shocked and turned pale. He didn't have the courage to confront Ma Chao head-on, so he subconsciously pulled his horse away and ordered more guard knights to face Ma Chao.

"Coward!" Ma Chao cursed disdainfully when he saw that the other party avoided fighting, but there was nothing he could do.

The horse flew by, and several Xianbei knights rushed over and blocked him, and he had no chance to turn around.

Forcibly turning will expose one's side to the opponent, which is tantamount to death.

In a rage, Ma Chao stabbed with a spear, killing three people in a row.

Pang De turned around on his horse and shot two arrows at the Xianbei general who was several steps away.

A Xianbei guard knight stepped forward and blocked an arrow.

Another arrow hit General Xianbei in the back, General Xianbei grunted and lay down on the horse's back.

Pang De couldn't see the position of the general Xianbei, so he turned his target on the bannerman, and shot through the throat of the bannerman with an arrow.

The flag bearer turned over and fell off his horse, and the battle flag in his hand also fell down.Although a Xianbei knight kicked his horse to catch up, took over the fallen battle flag, and erected it again, it still caused a lot of confusion.

The Xianbei people saw that the battle flag was wavering, and they were flustered for a while. Facing the oncoming Ma Chao and others, they also became hesitant to take action, and many people chose to avoid it.

Ma Chao took advantage of the situation to attack, once again smashed through the Xianbei's position, and rode his horse up a sand dune.

Most of the knights rushed up the sand dunes. After a rough look, they lost more than a hundred riders, and many of the remaining people were wounded.

Ma Chao and Pang De exchanged a look.

"Major General, where are you going?" Pound asked.

There is a huge disparity in the strength of the two sides, and the opponent's generals are very cautious, and it is impossible to give them another chance to make a surprise attack.

"Go to Jimingsai." Ma Chao said with a sneer, "take his back and see who can last till the end."

Pound felt reasonable.

The enemy is outnumbered, it is better to run after the front, lead the opponent by the nose, and then look for opportunities to counterattack.

In cavalry combat, the initiative is a matter of life and death.

"Major General, you go first, I'll be the last."

"Okay, be careful, don't force yourself." Ma Chao said, rode his horse down the sand dunes, and ran towards the northwest.

Chapter 303 Unexpected Merits

The Xianbei people never expected that this cavalry of the Han army, which numbered less than a thousand, was so brave. Facing the roundup of more than ten times their strength, not only did they not escape, but they also pierced their large formation head-on, appeared behind them, and cried to the cock Go in the direction of plug.

After receiving the report from the rear, the Xianbei generals turned pale with fright, and quickly ordered to pursue them.

He thought it was a sure-fire ambush, but he didn't think about the possibility of the opponent's counterattack at all. The cattle, sheep, grain and grass carried by the army were all in the crowing plug.Although there are more than a thousand people staying behind, but facing this group of Han army desperadoes, who can guarantee that they can hold on?

The horns sounded one after another, and the Xianbei people were in a mess.The two thousand commanders received the order and led their troops to chase.

Pound led more than a dozen knights to break the rear, riding and shooting, trying to slow down the speed of the Xianbei.

The Xianbei tried to outflank several times, but they were all thrown off by Pang De, and nearly a hundred people were lost instead.

The loss is not too great, and the morale blow to the Xianbei people is very serious.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Ma Chao took the first step and rushed to the vicinity of Jiming Fortress.

After receiving the warning, the Xianbei people who stayed behind gathered their troops to fight.

It was found that there were only a few hundred people in Ma Chao, and the Xianbei people did not go all out, so they sent 500 people to attack, intending to slow down Ma Chao's speed and wait for the main force to come and round up.

This decision gave Ma Chao a rare opportunity.

Seeing that the opponent's troops were limited, Ma Chao immediately launched an attack, taking the lead and rushing into the enemy's formation.

In one confrontation, two centurions, eight centurions, and more than twenty knights were killed.

After successfully defeating the Xianbei people who were facing the battle, Ma Chao led his troops into the Xianbei camp, started setting fire, and searched for food and meat that could be taken away, and then defeated the Xianbei people who came to encircle them. Before the main force of the Xianbei people arrived , fled.

Seeing the camp that was on fire and in chaos, the Xianbei general was furious and ordered to pursue him.

In any case, these Han troops must be killed.

-

Ma Chao meets Pound.

Finding that Ma Chao was injured, Pang De was very worried.

Ma Chao disagreed.Taking advantage of the gap in the battle, he simply bandaged it with his battle robe, the bleeding had stopped, and he didn't feel any pain.

"These Xianbei people seem to be here to rob," Ma Chao said. "These Xianbei dogs are too arrogant. They come and go whenever they want. This time they meet Lao Tzu, they are unlucky, and let him come and go."

Pound was surprised. "Is the Major General not withdrawing?"

"Withdraw what?" Ma Chao stared. "Have you forgotten why we came here?"

Pound smacked his lips and said nothing.

They came to Tu Shenze to break the back of Baima Tong, but now something happened, they didn't see the tribe of Baima Tong, but they met Xianbei people, and there were a lot of them.

This is no longer something they can handle.

Pound said: "The enemy is outnumbered and the terrain is unfamiliar. A long battle is not good for me. We need to change our tactics."

Ma Chao felt reasonable.As long as Pound doesn't persuade him to retreat, it's fine.

"You said, how should we fight?"

"Walk along the river. As long as we don't leave the vicinity of the big river, we won't get lost, and we don't have to worry about finding water sources. Where there is water, there will be herdsmen, and it will be easy to raise food."

Ma Chao thinks so. "Xianbei dogs are here to rob. Instead of being robbed by them, it is better to help us, which can be regarded as contributing to the court."

Before Pound could figure out how to answer Ma Chao, a warning horn sounded from behind, and the Xianbei people came after him.

Ma Chao and Pound looked back, and said in unison: "There is something wrong with the Xianbei dog."

It was unusual for the Xianbei to ambush them here.Now that the Xianbei people have suffered a loss, they refuse to give up, and even send people to hunt them down, which is even more unusual.

They have dealt with Qianghu all the year round, and they know the habits of the tribes on the grassland best.Winning or losing is a common matter for military strategists, and life and death are also predestined by heaven, and no one will be obsessed with it.

A shepherd would never insist on killing a wolf just because the wolf killed his sheep.

Chasing and killing a wolf on the grassland will only make him pay a greater price.

Unless the wolf had a reason they had to go after it.

"Do they know who I am?" After thinking about it, Ma Chao thought it was the only reason.

"It's possible." Pang De followed Ma Chao's words: "It may be that the Huns who escaped from Xiu Tuze came here and told them."

Ma Chao curled his lips and ordered to fight and retreat, keeping a distance from the Xianbei people.

The two sides started a chase on the grassland, and the skirmishing almost never stopped.

Finally, they got the news from a prisoner.

The leader of these Xianbei people is called Fu Luohan, who is the younger brother of the former Xianbei King Chief, and the elder brother of the current Xianbei King Budugen.

After Kui Tou's death, Xianbei split internally, and Bu Dugen was the strongest and became the new king.But Fu Luohan's strength is not weak, and he is not very convinced by Bu Dugen, often disobeying Bu Dugen's orders and doing things on his own.

The reason for entering the fortress this time is that last year there was a disaster on the grassland, and the life of the tribes was not easy.

The commander killed by Ma Chao is called Lou Man, Fu Luo Han's favorite son.

Only then did Ma Chao know that he had killed a big man inadvertently.

I am afraid that this battle will not end so easily.

Ma Chao was inexplicably excited.

-

After two days of fighting with the Xianbei, Ma Chao encountered scouts and learned that Ma Teng had arrived with his troops, and the distance between the two armies was about fifty miles.

What made him even happier was that Yang Xiu also followed.

Ma Chao then joined Ma Teng.

When the two sides met, they were happy, but Ma Teng was very angry, and grabbed Ma Chao and scolded him.In a fit of rage, Ma Chao was slapped across the face.

The wound on Ma Chao's thigh had already festered. If he didn't heal in time, his leg might be useless, and his life might even be endangered.

Ma Chao covered his face, but still didn't take it seriously.When Ma Teng wanted to blame Pound, he also took the responsibility.

Yang Xiu saw it and was very interested.

He had never seen such a peer.His social circle is full of children from aristocratic families who are knowledgeable about books and etiquette, all of them are gentle and elegant, but few are so brave. Not only do they not take other people's lives seriously, they seem to not take their own lives seriously.

After carefully weighing the pros and cons, Yang Xiu said with Ma Teng and Ma Chao, I suggest that you do not rush to fight the Xianbei people, especially here.

Ma Chao was puzzled.

He had wanted to kill Fu Luohan a long time ago, but the strength gap between the two sides was too great for him to swallow.Now that Ma Teng arrived with Wanqi, the troops of both sides are close, and this is a good opportunity to kill Fu Luohan, why wait?

The baggage he was carrying had long been exhausted, and now he could only support his battles by fighting, relying on the plundered spoils to fight with Fu Luo Han.Ma Teng has thousands of riders, it is impossible to support war with war, and the right way is to fight quickly.

"Are you sure that the Wanqi you met is the full strength of Fu Luohan?" Yang Xiu asked, "What if it's only a part? What if more troops arrive in the past two days? Are we here?"

Ma Chao frowned.

Yang Xiu said again: "Even if he only has ten thousand cavalry, there are only two or three thousand people fighting with you. The others are just waiting for work. Our army has come from a long way, and we will fight immediately. What do you think the chances of winning are? Even if we win, it will be miserable Let's win."

Ma Teng took it for granted, and looked at Yang Xiu with satisfaction. "From the point of view of a servant, what should I do?"

"Advance along the river and meet the Son of Heaven."

"Why don't you go south and ask Uncle Wen Yue to come and meet you?" Ma Chao couldn't help asking. "As long as Uncle Wen Yue comes, we will have both reinforcements and supplies, enough to repel Fu Luo Han."

Ma Teng glanced at Ma Chao, flexed and stretched his fingers, his hands were a little itchy.

Chapter 304

After careful consideration, Ma Teng accepted Yang Xiu's suggestion and planned to go east along the river to meet the Son of Heaven.

It is closer to the south and farther to the east, but this distance has little effect.

But he would rather believe in the emperor who was further away than Han Sui who was closer.

There is another benefit to going east.

Although the imperial court had given up control of this area, the good water and soil conditions along the river attracted a large number of household registrations, both Han Chinese and Hu people. They could collect enough supplies along the way, but they didn't need to owe favors to anyone.

In contrast, Han Sui has already regarded Lingzhou as his personal trophy, even if it is a sheep, this favor will be repaid in the future.

After making the decision, Ma Teng sent Ma Chao and Pang De as envoys to Meiji to meet the emperor, and at the same time to scout the way for the army and collect food and grass.

Ma Teng kept Yang Xiu and asked him to advise him.

Yang Xiu readily agreed.

Although Ma Chao was reluctant, he couldn't resist Ma Teng, so he had to accept the order.

Before leaving, he received the latest news.