Under the firelight, I saw a scarecrow in the tent, with a broken helmet hanging on a wooden stake.
"You've fallen into the trap, retreat quickly!" Ma Chao was shocked, turned his horse's head and rushed out of the camp.
Just when he turned around, he heard the sound of drums all around. The ambush troops came from outside the camp and fired random arrows. Large pieces of the Han army fell down.
Ma Chao was so frightened and furious that he led his cavalry to charge around, calling for the soldiers to retreat, while looking for Guo Huai to join him.
At this time, the Han army was rushing around, with shouts of killing everywhere, and fireworks were going off. They couldn't hear the order at all, so they were attacked by the ambush and ran away.
Guo Huai heard the sound of drums and knew that he had been tricked. He quickly led his troops to retreat to the camp gate to meet him. When he saw Ma Chao coming, he shouted: "General Ma, this is an empty camp."
"Bo Ji goes first, someone will come and stop the rear!" Ma Chao shouted, reined in his horse and stopped, looking around for Xu Huang.
Suddenly, there was a drum sound on the way, and Guo Huai was stopped by someone. He raised his ax and sneered, "You guys can't escape today."
"Xu Huang, the dog thief!" Guo Huai's eyes were slightly gleaming, and he immediately stepped forward to fight.
The ambush troops surrounded them from the left and right. At this time, the Wei army also set up their own camp and chased them out, surrounding the Han army in the middle. The two armies were fighting in a melee.
Guo Huai caught Xu Huang and started fighting. When he was struggling, Ma Chao rushed over and yelled: "Xu Huang, take your life!"
Xu Huang snorted coldly and abandoned Guo Huai to fight Ma Chao. Several lieutenants entangled Guo Huai. He set up a heavy siege here specifically to deal with the cavalry. As long as he persisted for half an hour, Ma Chao's troops could be wiped out.
Listening to the screams from all around, Ma Chao saw the Xiliang army falling continuously, and couldn't see how many enemy troops there were in the darkness. He didn't dare to fight anymore, so he yelled to force Xu Huang back, and overturned the two people surrounding Guo Huai.
The two men joined forces. Relying on the strength of the Xiliang army, Ma Chao fought in front and opened a bloody path. Guo Huai then responded and rescued some soldiers and horses and retreated along the river.
"Don't leave, horses!" Xu Huang's whole army was in hot pursuit, and the cavalry could not cross the river. As long as Ma Chao was eliminated tonight, the Han army in Hanoi would not be afraid.
When the two men were retreating in embarrassment, suddenly there were torches on the shore ahead. Ma Chao was shocked and said: "Is there an ambush here?"
"Come quickly, General Ma!" Just when I was nervous, I heard someone calling. Under the firelight, I saw clearly that the people coming were Han troops, carrying banners with Chinese characters.
"It's General Zhang!" Guo Huai finally breathed a sigh of relief and hurried forward to join him.
Ma Chao also became energetic, turned his horse's head, stood on the river bank with his spear horizontally, and shouted: "Thieves Xu Huang, come and die!"
Xu Huang was chasing the Han army when he suddenly saw firelight on the shore in front of him. He had already ordered his men and horses to stop at a distance. When he saw Ma Chao deploying reinforcements, there were countless soldiers and horses on the shore. He did not hesitate to fight and retreated in time.
"You've taken advantage and still want to leave?" Ma Chao was furious and wanted to chase after him, but Guo Huai persuaded him to stop him.
Ma Chao dismounted and clasped his fists, saying: "The two generals arrived just in time. Thank you very much for the rescue. I wonder what the military advisor has planned?"
Zhang Yi said: "The military advisor expected that Xu Huang must be prepared and it would be too late to rescue him, so he ordered me and I to assist the general here."
"I regret not listening to Yuan Zhi's words!" Ma Chao looked ashamed and thanked them again.
Everyone got on the boat one by one and crossed the Jishui River. It was already bright in the east. They counted the men and horses and found that more than 3,000 people were lost. The entire infantry army led by Guo Huai was wiped out.
"The army was defeated against orders, and thousands of people were killed. It's all my fault!" Guo Huai stood on the shore, suddenly drew his sword, and was about to commit suicide to apologize.
"Wait!" Ma Chao grabbed the sword and said sternly: "I am responsible for sending troops, it has nothing to do with you."
Guo Huai sighed: "With such a disastrous defeat, how can I face the military advisor?"
Ma Chao said: "Everything will be dealt with by military law. You are not allowed to apologize on your own. We should go back to the camp first."
Zhang Ni and Samoko also persuaded Guo Huai, and they led the remaining soldiers back to the camp. Xu Shu was already waiting in the central army tent in the left camp.
Ma Chao saw that Xu Shu's face was as dark as water, and Ma Dai and others were looking anxious at the side. He laughed dryly and clasped his fists and said, "Commander, I was the one who insisted on sending troops last night. I had nothing to do with Bo Ji. I hope you can forgive me."
"Bold Ma Chao!" Xu Shu slapped the case and shouted coldly: "I have repeatedly issued orders that each battalion is not allowed to send troops privately. If you violate our military laws, what crime should you be punished for?"
"Uh-" Ma Chao was startled, but he didn't expect Xu Shu to change his face. Seeing that the generals on the left and right had their heads lowered, he suddenly felt his face burning, and he forced a smile and said: "Military advisor, victory or defeat is a common thing for military officers, there is no need to..."
"Insolent!" Xu Shu said in a deep voice: "Don't you hear that there is no joke in the army? In front of the three armies, you are a general, and you broke my law first, how can I spare you? Come, push Ma Chao out of the tent and behead him!"
"No..." Ma Chao's eyes widened and he looked at Xu Shu in disbelief: "Military advisor, are you serious?"
Xu Shu snorted coldly: "Military orders are like mountains. If you don't punish me, how will I lead the army in the future? I will kill him without mercy!"
Ma Chao didn't take it seriously at first, but when he saw Xu Shu's lack of mercy, his face darkened. He stared at Xu Shu and said slowly: "Military advisor, do you really want to kill me?"
Guo Huai hurriedly stepped forward and said: "Military advisor, this plan is mine. I have nothing to do with General Ma. I am willing to shoulder the responsibility."
Xu Shu said coldly: "I ordered you to join the army and help General Ma to guard the left camp. He violated the military order. You should have remonstrated with him. Instead, you offered your advice and sent troops instead. Thousands of people died in vain. This messed up the morale of our army and lowered the prestige of our army." . You are the one who caused the figurines and should have been executed. Who are you qualified to intercede for him?"
Guo Huai's face turned red, and he knelt down and said, "Guo Huai... is willing to accept the crime."
Ma Chao was dumbfounded when he saw Guo Huai kneeling on the ground. Xu Shu was his savior and had always treated him as a brother and never treated him as an outsider.
I thought that this time the military expedition failed, and it would be over if he came back to talk about personal matters. I didn't expect that Xu Shu was so ruthless that he even wanted to behead himself, and he couldn't express his plea for mercy.
In the daze, Xu Shu took a deep breath, waved his hand and said: "First push Guo Huai out of the camp gate and behead him to correct military law."
"Wait a minute!" Ma Chao pushed away the approaching soldiers, clasped his fists at Xu Shu and said, "Commander, this matter really started because of me. If you want to kill me, you will kill me. There is no need to implicate Guo Huai."
Xu Shu looked at Ma Chao coldly: "Military law is ruthless, do you think I dare not kill you?"
Hearing this, Ma Chao's blood surged up, his head swelled, and he looked up to the sky and laughed: "Hahaha, Ma Chao's life was originally saved by the military advisor. If someone else kills Ma Chao, I will definitely refuse to accept it. If he dies in the hands of the military advisor, I will die." No regrets!”
Xu Shu looked pained and said: "I killed you in accordance with military law, not for personal reasons! This defeat and the loss of thousands of people are all your fault! If you don't understand the military law, what will happen to me in the future? To convince the public?"
Pang De hurriedly knelt down and begged: "Xiliang's tens of thousands of soldiers and horses are all listening to Meng Qi's orders. If we kill him, there may be a mutiny. Please think twice!"
Ma Dai also knelt down and said: "Brother Nian is the first offender. Please forgive me. My brother is the only one who can defeat Xu Huang in the army. It is better to keep him useful and make meritorious service."
"In the past, I risked my life to save the three of them, but now how can I bear to behead them? However, the military law is ruthless, but we have to..." Xu Shu looked up to the sky and took a deep breath, his eyes turned red, and finally shook his head and said: "Meng Qi, let's go. !”
Ma Chao said in shock: "Where to go?"
"Where are you coming from, where are you going!" Xu Shu couldn't help but shed a few tears, turned his back, and said slowly: "Take your Xiliang army and let's go!"
