Chapter 379: Riding Outside the Great Wall

One month later, in the north of Yinshan Mountain.

"I said, General, we have been luring the enemy for half a month, what on earth can we do to fight?" Zhang Fei looked at Ma Chao casually, somewhat disdainful of Lu Bu's son-in-law. Then Dianwei will also take this horse Er's praises were overwhelming, but now it seems that he is just a pretty boy who relies on women to get to the top.

"General, why should you be anxious?" Ma Chao was looking at the map. He said calmly when he heard this. He seemed not to have heard the contempt in the other party's words. If it were different before, he would probably have to fight Zhang Fei first to establish his authority before talking.

"It's not that the general is anxious, it's just that the army has insufficient food and has no achievements to make, so it goes back like this. The general is a deputy general, so he has nothing to fear, but the general has worked in vain. When he returns to the court, there is no one in front of the Taiwei. Looks good." Zhang Fei snorted coldly.

"Thank you, General, for reminding me." Ma Chao nodded and thanked him.

Zhang Fei: "..."

It feels like a punch on cotton. People ignore your provocation at all. What can you do?

"General, a large number of Xianbei tribes are gathering here. According to the numbers reported by various scouts, dozens of tribes north of Yinshan Mountain are participating in the battle, and the number is probably no less than 50,000!" The scout leader rode back and saluted Ma Chao. .

"Fifty thousand?" Ma Chao made an estimate in his mind after hearing this.

Zhang Fei said disdainfully: "Isn't the general going to run away again?"

Ma Chao shook his head: "Fifty thousand is the limit that the new army can bear. Send us military orders and prepare for war!"

"Not leaving?" Zhang Fei looked at Ma Chao in shock.

Ma Chao didn't explain anything. He looked at Guan Yu who was resting with his eyes closed and said, "General Guan."

"Here!" Guan Yu opened his eyes and looked at Ma Chao expressionlessly.

"When I was in Nanyang, I heard about the general's reputation. He was very good at leading troops, but I didn't know how good he was at commanding cavalry?" Ma Chao was used to the rudeness of the two brothers. Compared with the looks he received when he was a beggar, this What kind of? Everything is about achieving the goal.

"Maybe not as proficient as Marquis Wen, but when it comes to cavalry commanders in the army, there shouldn't be many who can defeat the last general." Guan Yu stroked his beard and said.

"Okay!" Ma Chao nodded with satisfaction, pointed to the northwest and said: "Please ask the general to lead two thousand light cavalry to surround the enemy's rear. There is no need to conflict with the enemy head-on. Keep a distance of sixty steps from the enemy. Two thousand soldiers will shoot in the air. Immediately retreat after three arrow boxes. If the enemy army is defeated, join forces with the main force to pursue them. If our main force fails to defeat the enemy army, shoot all the remaining seven boxes of arrows empty!"

Guan Yu closed his eyes and meditated for a moment, then opened his eyes and looked at the terrain in front of him. He looked at Ma Chao with some surprise, cupped his fists and saluted: "The last general takes command!"

"Second brother..." Zhang Fei looked at Guan Yu in astonishment, who turned around and left after receiving the order, and opened his mouth. He didn't seem to have any reason to stop him.

"General Zhang." Ma Chao looked at Zhang Fei again.

"The general is here!" Zhang Fei groaned. His second brother had already accepted the order. He seemed to have no reason to refuse, so he could only clasp his fists reluctantly.

"You and I each lead three thousand men and horses, and form an arrow array here. With a team of one thousand people, I will shoot with one thousand people first. After shooting a box of arrows empty, the general will immediately replace it with a team of one thousand people. This cycle repeats. When the enemy retreats, he will send his troops to pursue him. If the enemy does not retreat, he will shoot ten boxes of arrows until they are empty!" Ma Chao looked at Zhang Fei and said solemnly.

"Take the order!" Zhang Fei took a deep breath. He also knew that the battle was approaching and it was not easy to quarrel with Ma Chao as the leader. He immediately took the order and left, and he and Ma Chao each led a group of troops and separated.

Soon, the Xianbei cavalry surged in, and the 50,000-strong army came from all directions. The only 6,000 men and horses left here seemed a bit weak in front of this 50,000-strong army.

Ma Chao came to the front of the formation on Pegasus and raised his spear in his hand. The cavalry had dismounted and formed a square formation. A thousand people dispersed and raised their crossbows to point forward.

Ma Chao didn't knock down the spear until the Xianbei army entered the hundred-step range.

"咻咻咻~"

Ten thousand arrows were fired in just ten breaths, and then the archers quickly retreated to replace the arrow cases. Zhang Fei had already directed the second row of archers to step forward. Before he could stand still, the arrows had already come out of the crossbow cases and shot through the air. When it comes out, there is almost no gap between the front and back, and so on.

But seeing the Xianbei cavalry charging fiercely falling in pieces under the continuous rain of dense arrows, and screaming, it was too late even if they wanted to turn around and leave.

Guan Yu also led his troops to attack at this time. Two thousand cavalry circled the edge of the enemy's army and quickly emptied three arrow boxes.

The Xianbei people were deceived. You must know that for a month, the Han army only destroyed their tribes. When they encountered the Xianbei elites, they ran away immediately. They ran faster than rabbits. It was precisely because of this that dozens of Xianbei tribes gathered together. Want to annihilate this Han army.

Unexpectedly, the Han army, which had never fought back and only escaped, suddenly showed its fangs at the height of its momentum. The continuous rain of arrows blinded the Xianbei people. Under the rain of arrows, almost no one could rush within fifty steps. Seeing the compatriots around them lying in a pool of blood like mowing grass, with people and horses being shot, many Xianbei people had already begun to turn around and escape to the side.

Guan Yu's joining can be said to be the last straw that broke the Xianbei people's back. Although the Xianbei people were large in number, they were a mob of dozens of tribes. When faced with a fierce counterattack, it would be difficult for them to fight to the death like the Han army. If not The opponent's crossbow arrows were too fierce, and it was impossible for a man to flee before he died.

By the time Guan Yu had emptied three arrow boxes, the Xianbei people had already begun to flee in confusion. Ma Chao, who had always chosen to avoid fighting, showed his cold-blooded side this time. With an order, all the soldiers mounted their horses and chased the Xianbei people. He pursued them all the way, this time, for hundreds of miles. It was not until late at night that Ma Chao stopped the pursuit and sent out a signal for the Han army to assemble.

In this battle, Ma Chao's majesty was not only established on the grassland, but also established in the Han army.

The ensuing war was uneventful. Ma Chao's battle almost destroyed all the pride of Xianbei in the central region, and then it was almost a one-sided war. At least in this expedition, there were not too many twists and turns.

The cavalry of the Han army used rattan armor as protective gear and were basically invulnerable. Moreover, they were all cavalry on this expedition. One person rode in two, one horse pulled the supplies needed for the cavalry, one horse rode, and the other person carried crossbows, swords, and long swords. spear.

Whether it was the training of the soldiers or the equipment, the Han army was far superior to the Xianbei. In the first battle, the Xianbei cavalry was almost killed and defeated before the Xianbei cavalry could approach.

In this battle, Ma Chao's style was obviously much more stable than before. He was not aggressive. Instead, he determined the opponent's position and selected a strategy before taking action, either to lure the enemy deeper or to attack separately. Ma Chao led Eight thousand new troops fought all the way from Yinshan to Junchou River, killing countless Xianbei people. It took three months until winter snowfall before they led the army in triumph.

Countless cattle and sheep were captured in this battle, and several Xianbei tribes surrendered directly to the Han and moved to the Hetao. After this battle, there was almost no trace of the Xianbei people in Yunzhong and north of the Hetao.

As Lu Bu expected, Ma Chao took advantage of this battle to gain a foothold in one fell swoop!

Although Ma Chao had meritorious service before, after all, he did not lead the army alone, either with Lu Bu or Gao Shun. This time he led the army alone, and he led the new army. In the eyes of most people, this was Lu Bu paving the way for his son-in-law. , want the son-in-law to take over.

But what kind of virtue is Ma Chao? Many old people in the court know that he has the ability, but his impulsive personality, at least not yet, is not suitable to be the commander of an army. The Battle of Nanyang can actually illustrate the problem.

But since Lu Bu wanted to praise his son-in-law, they would not stop him, hoping that something would happen to Lu Bu.

But Ma Chao's performance in this battle shocked everyone. He was well-founded in his advance and retreat, brave and resourceful. Are you sure it was Ma Chao who fought and not Lu Bu? Who secretly sent someone to help?

But apart from the eight thousand recruits who accompanied the army this time, the only ones who stood out were Guan Yu and Zhang Fei who followed Liu Bei.

These two people are capable, and they are also generals, but can Ma Chao defeat these two people?

Now it seems that Ma Chao can at least make these two people obey orders. In this battle, judging from the battle reports returned, there are basically no major flaws in Ma Chao's deployment, and there is no sign of underestimating the enemy's advance.

Transgender?

Many people don't understand why Ma Chao can suddenly change his character in a short period of time and play so steadily. However, the expectations of Lu Bu's jokes now seem to be difficult to achieve.

"Congratulations, Taiwei." Several Jiuqing officials expressed their congratulations to Lu Bu with a smile. Lu Bu's power is still there. Generals such as Zhang Liao, Gao Shun, Xu Rong, and Hua Xiong have not aged yet, and the new generation of commanders has also Ma Chao's ability in this battle was enough for him to secure his position as the commander-in-chief of the younger generation.

How unfair is God? Why is there so many capable men and generals around Lu Bu, a national thief?

Ma Chao's victory over Xianbei not only made the old party forces in the DPRK and China mourn, but also shocked the princes.

After all, Lu Bu has basically never fought with foreign countries in the past few years, except for dealing with Cao Cao because of his dishonesty. This time he suddenly fought against Xianbei and beat Xianbei so badly. Does it mean that Lu Bu is going to take action against the princes of Guandong?

Yuan Shao, who had close ties with Xianbei and Wuwan, was the most nervous. He immediately sent additional people to defend the junction of Daijun and Yanmenguan. At the same time, he contacted Wuwan to prevent Lu Bu's cavalry from bypassing the wall and coming in.

However, Lu Bu obviously didn't have so many extra thoughts. This time it was really just to train new recruits. After Ma Chao hit the Junchou River, he had run out of crossbow arrows. He had already saved enough along the way. If he had time, he would basically I tried my best to recycle it, but it still couldn't withstand use. Finally, I left a line on the edge of Danhan Mountain saying that General Fubo, Ma Chao, was here for a visit, and then left with his troops.

The losses of the new army were not much, but they were there after all. However, the power of the new army and Lian Nu completely opened their eyes to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. They finally understood why the coalition army was defeated so miserably...