The small town of Qixian County at the end of the ninth lunar calendar has just ushered in the first winter snow of this year. The temperature dropped sharply. The Ma Teng army cavalry who were recovering from the wounded were in great pain and started to burn fire.

Qi County is located in the western part of Shaanxi in later generations, slightly northerly, so the climate is close to Ningxia, so it is not surprising that it snows at the end of September of the lunar calendar. If it reaches the Western Regions, where the temperature difference between day and night is larger, even the extreme weather of "snow will fall in August" can occasionally occur.

It can only be said that autumn in Guanzhong is indeed relatively short. More than a month after the autumn harvest begins, the trend of entering and entering and entering and entering and leaving winter is revealed.

Ma Chao himself is also among the wounded. Although the wound he was cut by Guo Si did not hurt his bones and internal organs, it was impossible for him to completely recover within half a month.

The wound was not deep, but it was very long. It was bleeding a lot at that time, and Ma Chao's back bandage was tightly tied. People who were still in the recovery period of hematopoiesis are always particularly afraid of the cold, and Ma Chao could only surround the fire to raise it. Young people make blood quickly. As long as the nutrition can keep up, they can return to their full state of full qi and blood in ten days.

A creaking sound of walking on the snow at the county government gate came from the sound of the creaking sound. It was not the sound of stepping on the thick snow, but the slimmer thin snow that melted into thin ice as soon as it was stepped on.

When Ma Chao looked up, it turned out that it was Pang De, who was responsible for helping him in charge of defense these days. Ma Chao didn't get up and nestled beside the fire and asked: "Has Yang Ding calmed down? Guo Si had been evacuated for several days, and no one supervised him. He still attacked the city every day?

Alas, Guo Si left, which is a good thing for us, but not a good thing for my father. I wonder if the tens of thousands of thieves took advantage of the breakthrough of Jieting and our army's rear was empty and attacked Wuwei."

A person's temperament is developed based on the environment of growth. Ma Chao, who was eighteen years old, has not yet reached such a cold state later, has never been a warlord, and has not developed the sense of being the only one. He is still quite filial to his father by nature, especially when his father was willing to recognize his military talents when he was so young, and gave him more than 10,000 main cavalry, which made Ma Chao very grateful.

However, after being surrounded in Qi County for a few days, I calmed down and reflected every day. The gratitude became a little weaker, and Ma Chao gradually came back to his taste:

Although my father did not sell him, he also handed over the task of going forward and going forward. He may not have the idea that "the coach cannot take risks easily. Even if there is only a little uncertain danger, it is best to let the pioneer and side-level experts explore the way and trample on the pit."

But no matter what, trust is true, and entrusting military power is true. Ma Chao's filial piety to his father gradually faded slightly from the opening of September 1 before sending troops to the opening of August 2, with a little loosening.

Pang De did not notice Ma Chao's inner drama at all. He was five or six years older than Ma Chao and had richer experience in the battlefield. Dong Zhuo joined the army during the rebellion. He was more concerned about the current problems from a purely military perspective.

Pang De sat down by the fire, dusted the snow, and commented: "Yang Ding finally calmed down again yesterday. This snow gave him a good excuse. I think the follow-up will be to surround him and not fight.

However, it was the first snow of this winter. I saw the clouds in the sky gradually dissipating, and it was estimated that it would clear tomorrow and start to turn snow the day after tomorrow. Three days later, I don’t know whether Yang Ding will continue to pretend to attack the city. Let’s see if anyone else urges him.

In addition, after it started to snow yesterday, I took advantage of Yang Ding's surrounds to send scouts to find out further away, and maybe I could get some new enemy situations."

Ma Chao kept listening quietly, until Pang De said that Yang Ding not only suspended the siege, but also took advantage of the snow to withdraw the siege, and then felt a little surprised and strange: "It's better if he doesn't attack the city, why dare to withdraw the siege? Aren't he afraid of us breaking through?"

Pang De took a sip of the light and turbid wine cooked on the fire and smiled bitterly: "Break through? Where can I go to break through? If I use military force, I will be the same as Yang Ding, even three or one missing.

We were able to find Qi County to settle down in a hurry because the battle between the two armies broke out suddenly and our army sneaked into the enemy's back. Therefore, the counties behind the enemy still didn't know that the general of the Western Expedition was no longer with Li Jue and Guo Si, so it was not surprising that the county town they controlled was willing to open the door to work hard.

Now the sneak attack has ended. After half a month of war, Anding County and Youfufeng counties, who don’t know that Han and Ma’s troops are enemy troops? If we give up Qi County, where is Angelica? Yang Ding is eager to lead our army out of the county town, and then in the coming cold winter, we will starve our army to death.

Or hold our army back, wait for our army to be hungry and exhausted, and then wait for Li Jue to assemble the main force and annihilate us in field battles. Field battles are easier to fight than siege."

After listening to these analysis, Ma Chao was poured a basin of cold water on his head.

Yes, the case of Qiduoqi County cannot be copied twice. The diplomatic cover of "Ma Teng obeyed Li Jue" can only be used once. Now Yang Ding is of course not afraid that he wants to change his family, because he can't change it at all.

And let alone stealing, even if you want to attack a certain county, Ma Chao cannot do it, because after winter comes, it will be unfavorable to the attacking party of any camp. It will be more difficult for Yang Ding to attack Qi County, and of course Ma Chao will become difficult for him to attack other counties.

"Oh, I'm really unwilling to accept it. It seems that I have to stay here this winter. Yang Ding has obviously withdrawn, but he can't do anything before the more intense winter snow comes. Next time there is heavy snow, I basically can't leave." Ma Chao finally found out in disappointment.

The two of them drank boiled wine dullly and ate the roasted hamsters caught by the soldiers from the granary, supplementing with rare protein, and the atmosphere was once depressed.

People in the late Han Dynasty also knew that eating mice was not clean, but the besieged county towns had no source of meat. The rats caught in the granary were relatively clean. They were bleeding and purified when slaughtered, and then roasted them thoroughly on open fire. This was acceptable for military personnel. Ordinary soldiers didn't want to eat them yet.

The dinner was almost the same and it was almost dark (don't work or fight, two meals a day, so the supper was eaten before dark in the afternoon). The scouts sent by Pang De came back one after another, and there were even some uninvited guests.

A scout officer came to the county government office and reported to Pang De about the inquiry in front of Ma Chao. Ma Chao listened aside and was shocked:

"Fa Zheng, under the command of King Hanzhong, actually captured Ji County? Is this the army of King Hanzhong cooperated with us to launch the Northern Expedition? Now Li Jue and Guo Si are finished! God helps me!

God saved the Han Dynasty. The Hanzhong King's army has accumulated energy for several years, so it must be strong. We have never heard of him sending troops before, nor have we seen any abnormal movements from Yang Ding's men.

Now the news of sending troops was reported at the same time as the news of breaking through Mei County. It can be seen that the strength of its army must be like thunder. I think Mei County is also a vital place. Even if there are no ten thousand people stationed, there will always be seven or eight thousand. It is unimaginable that the city guarded by seven or eight thousand people can be captured within three days."

Ma Chao was half talking to himself and half analyzing with Pang De, and he had already made Liu Bei's army extremely powerful.

The scouts waited for them to discuss and continued to report: "Major General, Fa Zheng came to envoy, saying that if our army needs rescue, then break through the encirclement and go south to Wuzhangyuan to meet them."

Ma Chao was stunned: "Let our army give up Qi County and go south to Mei County to join them? Since they have begun the Northern Expedition, why give up the territory they have obtained? As long as they fight to the level, our army will support the king's army."

What Ma Chao was worried about was whether Liu Bei took the opportunity to annex his troops. No matter what he said, at least he still had more than 5,000 elite Wuwei cavalry, so how could he give it to him for nothing?

If you have no name or separation, you will neither be appointed as an official and make a wish nor explain how to cooperate. You will be uneasy in your heart.

Of course, the scout didn't know why, so he had to ask Ma Chao to bring Fazheng's people to the interview.

There was no extra gain in the interview. Fa Zheng's statement was nothing more than that Liu Bei's northern expedition was aimed at Chang'an. Once Chang'an was taken down, the counties of Anding County would be settled without fighting. Liu Bei did not need to maintain the road to attack Chang'an along the Jing River, but just concentrate on the road to attack Chang'an along the Wei River.

This is also a reason. After all, the Jinghe River Basin is too far away for the army entering Shaanxi from Shu and cannot be transported, which is a complete waste. The Jinghe River is only valuable to the warlords who entered Shaanxi from Gansu and Ning.

Ma Chao finally asked a question that he was unwilling to accept, that is, after going to Liu Bei's place, he would succeed in the future and he would retain any official positions in the court. However, the messenger did not give a clear reply, saying that the King of Hanzhong was not in the army and that the pioneer Fa Zheng had no right to promise to be appointed as an official, but he could ensure that Ma Chao's troops were retained and that the troops would not be dismantled.

Ma Chao thought about it again and again. Although he was not as dangerous as he had to surrender to Liu Bei, as it snowed in winter and if he didn't make a decision now, he might not be able to leave in the future.

Once the Qinling Mountains in the south were also blocked by heavy snow, Ma Chao doubted how Liu Bei's Northern Expedition military rations were transported to the front line. Will this Northern Expedition be thundering loudly and raining less. He took a vote and temporarily retreated because of insufficient military rations... In short, there are many doubts.

Forget it, let's put the bag first.

Since he had made a decision, Ma Chao did not forget to say beautiful words: "My father was originally a loyal and righteous man from the Han Dynasty. Seeing that Li Jue and Guo Si deceived the king and did not do anything, he worked hard to help the king. He was an ally with the King of Hanzhong, but now he was not very good at serving us. He packed up our army overnight, broke through tomorrow morning, and arrived in Mei County. The envoy would rest for a night and returned with our army tomorrow."

Then he sent the people sent by Fazheng to entertain him.

There are actually quite a lot of food and grass in Qi County, at least enough to eat until the beginning of spring. But since Ma Chao broke through, he couldn't take it away. However, he did not do anything to destroy it. He just asked each soldier to carry a ration bag on the horse's back, which was enough for him to eat for half a month, and then he rushed to the road.

He left the city early in the morning on September 21st. During the process of leaving the city, he was also intercepted by Yang Ding, who was slow to react, but he was easily killed by Ma Chao.

Yang Ding didn't know that the southern Mei County had fallen, and he didn't want to resolutely block it from the beginning, for fear of forcing Ma Chao back to the city. So he just delayed symbolically, and then chose the tactic of "staying in the middle, hitting the tail, not blocking the head". After driving Ma Chao out of the city, he took the opportunity to snatch back to Qi County. After clearing the city, he continued to divide his troops and bit Ma Chao's tail and chase him.

While recovering Qi County, Yang Ding also gave Li Jue a war report to Chang'an, describing his army "how he fought hard and attacked Qi County first. Ma Chao could not resist and abandoned the city and fled. Only a small number of remaining enemies broke through, and he had become a rootless bandit."

Yang Ding took on such merits and did not work hard, but Ma Chao arrived in Mei County without any effort, but he was stunned as soon as he arrived.

At the request of Fazheng, the county magistrate of Mei County carried the treasury military rations into the boats on the Weihe Wharf in the south of the city. The ships on the Weihe River were constantly traveling, and they were transported to Wuzhangyuan, thirty miles west.

Mei County looks like she is just taking it down and giving up.

Ma Chao looked confused: Didn’t he agree to take advantage of the victory and pursue it? Who did I join?

However, he can no longer go back.
Chapter completed!