Cao Zhang and Ma Chao led their troops to travel day and night, and it took four days to return to the Chang'an camp.
Cao Zhang knew very well that there was very little time left for him to break the city, so without any delay, he immediately ordered everyone to gather together for a discussion to discuss how to break the enemy.
Not long after, Xu Shu, Duan Xuan, Xu Huang, Xia Houba and others all arrived at the Chinese army's tent.
Cao Zhang briefly introduced them to the results of the Tianshui trip and introduced Ma Chao to them.
Xu Shu and others were overjoyed when they heard that Ma Teng had accepted the offer and immediately sent a large army to assist in the battle, and even sent people to escort Zhong Yao to recruit Han Sui and others.
"Congratulations, coach. With the assistance of Ma Teng, Han Sui and the princes of Guanxi, we will definitely be able to break through Chang'an and annihilate Li Jue!" Duan Yan took the initiative to congratulate Cao Zhang.
Xiahou Ba also echoed very excitedly: "Coach, you are so awesome. You settled the matter as soon as you stepped out, and you brought reinforcements in such a short time. I really admire you!"
Xu Shu looked at Cao Zhang and didn't say much. Although Cao Zhang tried to simplify his story and did not deliberately talk about the repeated battles with Ma Chao.
But Xu Shu knew very well that Cao Zhang's trip to Tianshui was not easy. He must have gone through many hardships before he finally got what he wanted.
"Thank you for your hard work, Master." Although Xu Shu only said this simple sentence, his eyes were full of understanding and distress for Cao Zhang.
Cao Zhang looked at Xu Shu and saw the other party's understanding of him. The two of them understood each other and no longer needed too many words.
"Yuan Zhi, you have worked hard too. How are we and the enemy doing in the past few days since I left?" Cao Zhang responded to Xu Shu calmly, and then asked about the situation of the battle with concern.
"Reporting to the young master, since we surrounded the four gates of Chang'an, Li Jue has been trapped in the city by us and has not dared to come out to confront us. According to your instructions, we did not rush to attack the city, but adopted a tight defense. Maintain the stalemate between the two sides. Moreover, I have also sent people to Xudu to report to Cao Sikong the news of our previous victory and the news that the young master personally went to recruit General Anma." Xu Shu spoke very quickly to Cao Zhang Reporting.
When Cao Zhang heard the news, he nodded with satisfaction. He knew that Xu Shu and others strictly followed his orders, kept the battle situation stable, and notified Cao Cao of their situation in a timely manner, which also made Cao Cao feel at ease.
Xu Shu then handed over another letter: "Master, here is a letter from Sima Boda to you."
Cao Zhang took the letter and opened it. The letter mainly reported that Cao Pi proposed marriage and Guo Zhao used ointment to deceive him.
Cao Zhang secretly rejoiced that he had made preparations in advance, otherwise Cao Pi would have stabbed him in the back.
"Yuanzhi, you have done a good job. Now we have the princes of Guanxi to join us. When all the troops and horses arrive, we can attack with all our strength and capture Chang'an!" Cao Zhang praised Xu Shu and others, expressing his manner.
Ma Chao listened to Cao Zhang's words, but was unwilling to just wait for others to arrive. He stepped forward and asked for a fight: "Commander, please allow me to go to the city to call for battle tomorrow! If Li Jue dares to go out of the city to challenge, I will kill him with one shot." His life!"
Cao Zhang looked at Ma Chao in front of him, showed a smile, nodded and responded: "Brother, if you go to the city to call for formation at this time, you are telling Li Jue that all the princes in Guanxi have begun to unite with me. This is very important to him and the defenders in the city. It will definitely be a great shock. Okay, I will allow you to go to the city to call for formation tomorrow!"
"Thank you, coach!" Ma Chao happily accepted the order.
"However, I have a few words to remind my brother. When you get to the city, you can state the situation of our coalition forces. But there is no need to provoke Li Jue too much. Instead, we should try our best to persuade them to surrender. Tell them that as long as they surrender in Kaicheng, they will be spared the war. The city's officers and soldiers will not die!" Cao Zhang made his final explanation to Ma Chao.
After listening to Cao Zhang's words, Ma Chao looked confused, obviously not fully understanding Cao Zhang's intention: "Coach, why is this?"
Cao Zhang smiled and said nothing, and looked at Xu Shu, hoping that he would explain to Ma Chao.
"General Ma, my young master is using this to alienate people." Xu Shu explained to Ma Chao and everyone present with a smile.
"Young master asked General Ma to announce that as long as he surrendered, all the officers and soldiers in the city would be spared death. There was something mysterious in what he said. Everyone would be spared death, but Li Jue was not mentioned here."
"According to what we know about Li Jue, he is an extremely selfish person who is afraid of death. He will never sacrifice himself for the life and death of his officers and soldiers, and will definitely fight to the end."
"But in the current situation, everyone can see that Li Jue's army will be defeated. How many of his officers and soldiers are willing to follow Li Jue to death when they know that surrender can save them!? There must be someone who wants to surrender. Li Jue If they insist on fighting hard, conflicts will arise between them, and the morale of the military will be shaken even more. Wouldn't this be more beneficial to us?!"
Xu Shu explained Cao Zhang's true intention to everyone in detail.
After listening to this, Ma Chao was suddenly enlightened and admired in his heart that his sworn brother's scheming was really amazing. He just said a simple sentence to himself, but it contained such profound meaning.
"I understand, coach, don't worry, I know what to do!" Ma Chao said to Cao Zhang.
Cao Zhang looked at Xu Shu and Ma Chao and nodded with satisfaction...
Early the next morning, the thunderous sound of war drums sounded outside the east gate of Chang'an. The camp gate of Cao Zhang's army opened, and three thousand cavalry lined up neatly and quickly formed in the open space under the city.
Accompanied by the sound of advancing drums, three thousand horsemen advanced slowly and completed their formation below Chang'an City.
Each of these three thousand cavalrymen held spears and looked majestic. In the center of the team, they erected a large flag with the word "horse" written on it.
The cavalry team neatly opened a passage to both sides, and Ma Chao slowly passed through the middle of the team and came to the front of the team.
Today, Ma Chao is sitting on a tall horse, wearing wolf fang armor and holding a spear, like a god of war descending into the world.
He held a spear in his hand, pointed the tip of the spear at the Xiliang army on the tower, and shouted loudly: "I am Ma Chao, please call Li Jue to come to the city to talk!"
Ma Chao's name resounded throughout the northwest, and the Xiliang army in the city had heard about it for a long time. When they heard that he announced his home, they hurried to report to Li Jue in panic.
Li Jue, Li Ying, Li Huan and others had already heard the sound of war drums outside the city. They were wondering why Cao Zhang's army had stopped watching for a few days and then suddenly formed a formation again to call for battle. When they heard the defenders reporting that Ma Chao was under the city.
Li Jue and others were shocked at how Ma Chao could appear, and they did not dare to neglect them. They quickly climbed up the tower together, looked down, and saw that it was indeed Ma Chao at the bottom of the city.
Ma Chao was sitting on a tall horse, looking majestic. He saw Li Jue and others appearing on the tower.
Ma Chao glanced at the people on the tower coldly, and then said in a sonorous and powerful voice: "Li Jue, do you still know your young master?!"
Li Jue saw Ma Chao clearly outside the city and cursed angrily: "You little thief, we managed to escape last time and failed to take your life. You still dare to come to the city and make noise today. Are you tired of living?" "
Ma Chao shouted angrily: "You are the one who is impatient! Let me tell you, now my father has been named the governor of Yongzhou by the imperial court, and ordered me to be a vanguard and come to help Mr. Cao in the battle. He has personally led an army of 20,000 and will arrive soon. ! All the princes in Guanxi have accepted the imperial court’s call for peace, and they will all arrive with their troops in the near future.”
Ma Chao's voice echoed throughout the city, like a thunderous thunder that reached everyone's ears.
In fact, the moment they saw Ma Chao appear, Li Jue and others realized that something was wrong, and something must have happened to the princes of Guanxi.
When Li Huan, Li Ying, and the Xiliang garrison at the top of the city heard Ma Chao say that the Kansai princes would soon arrive with their armies, they all felt chills in their chests and felt a huge crisis.
"Brother, did you hear what Ma Chao said? The princes of Guanxi have already accepted the imperial court's recruitment! Your so-called letter, the truth of lips and teeth is of no use at all!" Li Huan said to Li Jue anxiously.
"I'm not deaf, I can hear!" Li Jue scolded Li Huan angrily.
"No wonder they haven't moved in the past few days. It turns out that they are going to attack Ma Teng, Han Sui and other villains!" Li Jue cursed angrily.
He didn't expect that the situation would change so much in just a few days, and what he was most worried about happened.
If all the Kansai princes really sent troops, together with Cao Zhang's original troops, they would be able to gather at least 70,000 to 80,000 troops, which would be several times his number, forming a huge gap in strength. It would be a disaster for the Xiliang army, which was already demoralized.
Brother, what should we do now? ! "Li Ying was also very aware of the crisis he was facing and asked Li Jue anxiously.
Before Li Jue had time to answer him, Ma Chao's roar rang out again from the city: "Listen, people in the city, quickly open the city and surrender! Mr. Cao said that as long as you surrender, all the officers and soldiers in the city except Li Jue will be spared." Death; if you are stubborn and stubbornly resist, when the princes of Guanxi arrive and break the city together, I will kill all of you traitors and leave no one behind!"
Ma Chao's words had a great deterrent effect. The expressions on the faces of the city defenders changed instantly, and they were obviously worried about their own fate.
When Li Jue heard these words, he was furious. He felt that he had been greatly insulted. Except for me, everyone else was saved from death. That means they clearly want to kill me. So what nonsense is there to say? !
Li Jue reached out and grabbed a hard bow from the archer on one side, bent the bow and nocked an arrow, aiming at Ma Chao not far from the city.
When Li Huan and Li Ying saw Li Jue's actions, they felt something was wrong and wanted to stop him, but it was already too late.
collapse!
With the sound of the bowstring, Li Jue let go and shot an arrow at Ma Chao at the bottom of the city at high speed.
Everyone in the city couldn't help but hold their breath and watched the sharp arrows flying towards Ma Chao.
Ma Chao watched the sharp arrow fly in front of him, waved the spear in his hand, and knocked the arrow down.
Then Ma Chao pointed his spear at Li Jue on the tower and shouted loudly: "Li Jue, it seems you are planning to fight to the end!? Do you dare to go out of the city to fight?!"
Li Jue snorted coldly: "I won't compete with you, a brat!"
"Okay, just wait. In a few days, the heroes of Kansai will arrive. We will join forces to break the city and kill all those who resist to the end!" Ma Chao's voice was sharp and majestic, like a thunder, shocking The officers and soldiers in the city had numb eardrums.
After Ma Chao finished speaking, he stopped talking nonsense, turned his horse's head back to the main formation, and gave the order to retreat.
The three thousand cavalrymen quickly withdrew to Cao Zhang's army's camp like a huge wave at ebb.
Li Jue's face was ashen, and he looked at Ma Chao who was retreating, his face full of anger and unwillingness. He cursed in a low voice, "Shu Zi, how dare you be so arrogant! I want you to see what you are capable of and how you can break through my iron-walled Chang'an City!"
After Li Jue finished cursing, he became even more angry and said no more. He just shouted angrily at the soldiers on the city: "Take strict precautions against me and never give Cao Jun any chance!"
After saying that, he quickly rushed towards the bottom of the tower.
Li Huan, Li Ying and others did not dare to say anything. They could only retreat silently, not daring to make the slightest move, and watched Li Jue leave.
When Li Jue disappeared from sight, Li Huan, Li Ying and other officers and soldiers on the city head turned to look at Ma Chao's retreating troops in the distance. At this time, their hearts were full of uneasiness and worry. They all knew Ma Chao is extremely brave. Once all the heroes from Guanxi gather together, the situation in Chang'an will be in danger.
Li Huan said worriedly: "Ma Chao is a formidable opponent. If the heroes of Guanxi gather together, they will be even more powerful. In this battle, we are really in a desperate situation and have no chance of winning!"
Li Ying looked at Li Huan and remained silent. He understood in his heart what Li Huan said, but Li Jue had already expressed his attitude of fighting to the end, so what could he do?
The guards on the top of the city silently exchanged glances, their moods fluctuating at this time.
They all understood that Li Jue's tough behavior just now was bound to anger the enemy. If, as Ma Chao said, the heroes from Kansai arrive and launch a siege together, it is impossible for them to withstand it, then there is really only a dead end...
