On the north bank of Mengjin, Xu Huang saw that the Han army was in great momentum and Ma Chao was commanding the troops, so he hurriedly went to the bank to dispatch his troops and horses.
After waiting for a long time, they saw enemy warships lingering on the water, but did not come to the shore. The two armies beat drums to demonstrate, and in the evening they turned around in a circle and slowly retreated.
Xu Huang was wondering when his son Xu Gai came to report: "When will my father mobilize the Heyang garrison?"
Xu Huang frowned and said, "I have never mobilized troops."
Xu Gai said: "The Heyang reinforcements have arrived outside the camp and have been ordered to come to help. I haven't received the general's order, so I don't dare..."
Xu Huang's face changed drastically when he heard this, and he lost his voice and said: "No, I'm afraid Heyang will be lost."
Xu Gai asked doubtfully: "How can you see it?"
Xu Huang paused and said: "Ma Chao is bluffing here. He must be using the strategy of attacking from the east and attacking from the west to lure the Heyang defenders out, and other soldiers and horses will take advantage of the opportunity to attack the city."
Xu Gai cursed: "This bastard Shen Gu has not received the general's orders. Who told him to launch an army privately?"
Xu Huang said in a deep voice: "Bring the leader of the army to see me."
Not long after, a captain came into the tent and said that he had seen messengers in the city asking for help. Shen Gu mobilized troops and sent them to help in the battle.
After hearing this, Xu Huang gritted his teeth and cursed: "This must be Shengu's rebellion. There is no room for failure in Heyang. Before Ma Chao has crossed the river, I went to seize the city myself."
Then Xu Gai was ordered to defend the city, and Xu Shang was the vanguard. He led five thousand troops and rushed to Heyang overnight. Although Heyang was not as important as Mengjin, it was located in the upper reaches of the river. If it was lost here, Luoyang people and horses would continue to transport food and grass.
The Han army had already crossed the river, but Xu Huang did not dare to march straight in. He sent many scouts in front of him. It was already dawn when we arrived in Heyang, and there were no ambushes to intercept him along the way, so Xu Huang became cautious.
Xu Shangyan said: "The general has always used his troops to attack thousands of miles, penetrate deeply into the enemy's territory, and be invincible. This time he is rescuing Heyang, and Ma Chao is in Mengjin, so why did he hesitate to move forward?"
Xu Huang sighed: "In the past, when we used troops, someone would be the vanguard, and there would be a large army to support us, so we would have no worries. Now I am ordered to guard Hanoi. I have a heavy responsibility and no reinforcements. How can I tolerate any mistakes?"
Xu Shang was also silent for a while. Since the battle in Nanyang, the strength of the Wei army has been deteriorating, and the wars in various places have been unfavorable. Xu Huang was plotted several times by Zhang Fei and Pang Tong, and he lost the might of the past.
The two groups of scouts reported that there was no movement in the front. Xu Shang said happily: "I guess Shengu must have betrayed temporarily. Luoyang soldiers and horses have not arrived yet, and there are not enough troops in the city, so they dare not divide their troops outside. This is the time to capture the city."
Xu Huang was also unable to make a decision, so he ordered Xu Shang to lead the troops first, and then he would lead his own army to respond. If there was an ambush ahead, it would be nice to have someone to take care of him.
Xu Shang led his troops straight to the city, and saw that there were not many defenders on the city. He went to the city to persuade Shen Gu and asked him to open the city and plead guilty, so as to avoid death.
Shen Gu cursed loudly: "The thief Cao's usurpation is comparable to that of Wang Mang. I am a minister of the Han Dynasty, how can I associate with the thief?"
Xu Shang was furious. He pointed his gun at Shen Gu and shouted, "Do you dare to go out of the city to fight?"
Shen Gu held the city wall in his hand and said loudly: "I don't dare, what can you do to me?"
Xu Shang yelled and scolded, but when he saw that Shen Gu was not coming out, he expected that there were not many defenders in the city, so he sent someone to report the news to Xu Huang, and retreated three miles to prepare to attack Heyang.
The front army retreated, and when the rear army was turning around, suddenly there was a loud sound of drums on the city, and the defenders suddenly beat the drums. When the city gate opened, a group of people and horses came out.
Dong dong dong——
Before the suspension bridge could be secured, Ma Dai had already leapt across on horseback. The Xiliang cavalry was like a tiger coming out of its cage, following closely behind to attack the Wei army.
Xu Shang was shocked when he heard the sound of the drums. When he looked back, the Han army had already rushed out of the city and cursed: "Despicable, sneak attack!"
He quickly ordered to form a formation to meet the enemy, but at this time the troops were retreating, the formation was scattered, and the morale of the army was slack. How could the order be heard?
When the rear army heard the sound of drums and saw the cavalry galloping towards them, they ran away. However, the front army followed Xu Shang and turned around, huddled together in front and behind, and before the enemy army could reach them, their own horses and horses were in chaos.
The cavalry were extremely fast and arrived in a blink of an eye. They rushed into the chaos with smoke and dust. Ma Dai took the lead and slashed several people with his sword, making him invincible.
Xu Shang was anxious and angry in the chaos, but he had no choice. Before forming a formation, Ma Dai had already broken through the obstruction of his soldiers, rushed forward, and slashed with his sword: "Suffer death!".
"Shameless——" Xu Shang was furious. He saw that the general was very strange and had never seen him before. He roared and raised his gun to fight.
Wherever the brilliant sword light flashed, a stream of blood sprayed into the air, and Xu Shang's head flew into the air.
When the Wei army saw this, they became more and more panicked. They abandoned their armor and defected and fled back. This was the first battle of the Xiliang soldiers entering the Central Plains. They all took the lead bravely and destroyed everything, leaving corpses everywhere they passed.
Ma Dai took advantage of the victory to pursue, but the Wei army was defeated and fled. He chased for four or five miles. When he saw the dust on the road, he knew that Xu Huang's reinforcements were arriving, so he withdrew his troops and returned to the city.
Xu Huang received a message from Xu Shang and was coming with his troops when he suddenly saw the front army fleeing in chaos. The defeated army reported that Xu Shang had been attacked and died in front of the battle. They could not help but be furious and chased them to the city.
Ma Dai had already lined up and was waiting. He pointed at the corpses on the ground and laughed and said: "I have heard for a long time that Xu Huang is good at training troops. From a certain perspective, it is nothing more than this."
Xu Huang's face was livid. Seeing that this cavalry team was well-organized, he knew it was unusual and said in a deep voice: "Come on, the general will be named!"
Ma Dai stood up with his sword drawn and said proudly: "I am Ma Dai from Xiliang. Do you dare to fight?"
When Xu Huang heard Ma Dai's name, he knew that it was related to Ma Chao. If he wanted to recapture Heyang, he had to get rid of this cavalry first. Without saying a word, he raised his ax and killed him.
Ma Dai first followed Ma Chao to pacify Xiliang, and when he returned to Guanzhong, the situation had long been controlled by Liu Qi. Wei Kang, the governor of Liangzhou, surrendered, and the Wei army was defeated and retreated to the east of Hedong. Although they entered the Central Plains, they have not yet fought against famous generals.
When I met Xu Huang at this time, I couldn't help but get high-spirited and started fighting with my sword. Xu Huang's ax was calm and sharp, and actually forced his sword back. The two of them fought for more than ten times, each of them was frightened.
Xu Huang was also greatly surprised. He didn't expect that besides Ma Chao, there was such a person in the Xiliang army. He fought for more than ten times. He was annoyed, shouted and attacked fiercely with his ax, intending to chop him under the horse.
Although Ma Dai was not bad at martial arts, he still found it difficult to encounter a general like Xu Huang. After thirty rounds, he gradually lost the battle and was on the defensive. The Wei army also saw that Xu Huang had the upper hand and raised their weapons to cheer.
"You are indeed worthy of being Cao Cao's trusted general!" Xu Shu was watching the battle on the city. He nodded slightly, but was not in a hurry to withdraw his troops. Instead, he ordered the soldiers beside him: "Raise the flag!"
On the sentry tower on the left, the defenders waved red flags to signal, and then they heard drums beating loudly on the hillside outside the city. An ambush came from the flanks. They were Zhang Yi and Samoko. They had been in ambush outside the city for a long time.
The Wei army was cheering for Xu Huang and was preparing to take advantage of the victory to attack. Unexpectedly, there was an ambush behind him.
Xu Huang also didn't expect that there were so many Han troops. He didn't care to continue fighting with Ma Dai and forced him back with an axe, then turned his horse and left.
"Xu Huang, please leave!" Ma Dai regained his energy and led the cavalry to charge.
Although Xu Huang led his troops well, he was defeated like a mountain and the soldiers fled in rout. There was no way to stop him, so he had to be defeated in the chaos.
At this time, Guo Huai also led the garrison in the city to fight out. The morale of the Han army was greatly boosted, and the four generals showed their majesty. They followed the Xiliang cavalry and chased them back for more than ten miles, collecting countless weapons along the way.
