The appearance of Ma Chao became the last straw that broke Guo Huai's mind.
If Liu Bei's group does not have cavalry, Guo Huai can rely on the speed advantage of the cavalry to return to Pingxiang County to reorganize his team, boost morale, and go south to confront Liu Bei's group again.
But now, what Guo Huai needs to consider is whether the five or six thousand cavalry and less than four thousand infantry left in his hands can escape Ma Chao's pursuit.
After all, this is the mighty general Ma Chao, who was invincible across Yongliang in his early years, and made Cao Cao exclaim, "If the horse doesn't die, I will have no place to bury him."
Even Guo Huai could imagine that even if he was lucky this time and could return to Pingxiang County in defeat, he would not be able to summon the Qiang and Hu Yi to follow him again. The defeated "god" was no longer a god, but the "general mighty god" "He is still the "Mighty General".
Therefore, Guo Huai made a quick judgment and immediately turned around and retreated to the east before Ma Chao could approach his team.
Under such circumstances, it no longer makes sense to return to Pingxiang County. Liangzhou's gains and losses are no longer in Pingxiang County.
Guo Huai is now preparing to withdraw eastward and take the initiative to join the reinforcements sent by Cao Hong. He must at least hold the Longshan Pass and create opportunities for Cao Hong to advance.
A key point of the Longshan Route is Shanggui.
Guo Huai now plans to retreat to Shanggui City and defend the city.
And Ma Chao. Ma Chao is very anxious now.
Because he encountered heavy snow and blocked the road, his marching speed was too slow and he almost missed the opportunity for the decisive battle in Liangzhou.
When arriving at Tianshui County, Ma Chao made another misjudgment and planned to go to Xi County to meet Liu Bei first. Liu Bei was furious and sent an envoy to intercept Ma Chao on the way, asking Ma Chao to quickly lead the Qiang and Hu cavalry to Ji County to attack Guo Huai and relieve Ji County. County siege.
Ma Chao suddenly realized that Guo Huai had been besieging Ji County for ten days, and the defenders of Ji County were following the original deployment, desperately holding back Guo Huai's main force, creating opportunities for Ma Chao to flank the Liangzhou Army.
Ma Chao quickly turned around and marched straight to Ji County. He marched in the snow all the way. He spent two days running to death and crippled countless Qiang and Hu horses. He traveled more than 140 miles and hurriedly Those who hurried slowly finally arrived at the battlefield of Ji County before Guo Huai was about to retreat.
But Ma Chao did not completely stop Guo Huai after all, because Guo Huai also led cavalry, and Ma Chao arrived a little late, so he could only bite the rear wing of Guo Huai's cavalry and bite off a piece of meat, but in the end However, Guo Huai fled eastward with more than 3,000 cavalry.
Despite this, in terms of the number of enemies killed in the entire Jixian battlefield, Ma Chao still had the largest number of enemies killed. Combined with his infantry and cavalry, Ma Chao killed more than 3,000 people and captured more than 4,000 people.
It's just that things on the battlefield really can't be judged by the number of enemies killed. In Zhang Fei's words, even without Ma Chao, Guo Huai would have been defeated today.
Well, it's Zhang Fei after all. He really doesn't need to give Ma Chao this face, and Zhang Fei actually doesn't think much of Ma Chao. The relationship between the two is very average.
In fact, Zhang Xi doesn't like Ma Chao either.
On the one hand, this product arrived too late. If it had arrived two days earlier, Zhang Xi would not have to take great risks to go out of the city to find Guo Huai for a decisive battle, and he would not have to risk human lives to win despite knowing that his troops are inferior. A battle. In the field battle, 40,000 people fought against 17,000 people. The defenders of Hebei County added Zhang Fei's army, but it took a total of nearly 10,000 casualties to defeat Guo Huai.
On the other hand, Zhang Xi didn't think highly of Ma Chao's character when he was in Jingzhou. Now even if he meets the real person, although Zhang Xi feels that he deserves to be called "Xiliang Jin Ma Chao", he still doesn't like him very much.
But after all, Zhang Xi is not the kind of person with an obvious personality, and he doesn't want to cause unnecessary trouble, so he still complimented Ma Chao to save face, "If General Zuo hadn't led his troops here, Guo Huai would have inevitably made a comeback one day. Here. Fan completely defeated Guo Huai's troops, and General Zuo was the first to do so!"
This was said very skillfully. Even Ma Chao himself knew that Zhang Xi was the real contributor to this victory in Hebei County, but at least Ma Chao thought it sounded good to say it this way.
But what happened next, Ma Chao felt that this Zhang Xi was somewhat ignorant.
After defeating Guo Huai, Zhang Fei, Ma Chao and other generals also entered Ji County. Ma Chao had a bad face towards Jiang Xu, Yin Shang and others, and they didn't like them no matter what.
But considering that these two people were the major contributors to the King of Hanzhong's occupation of Hebei County and the great victory in Hebei County, and Ma Chao himself had figured out a lot over the years, Ma Chao just didn't give these two good looks, but he didn't take advantage of them either. Machine trouble or something.
But after the Zhao family entered the city, Ma Chao went straight to the Zhao family's residence, and took his younger brother Ma Dai, his general Pang De, and his own three hundred personal guards with him.
As a result, he was blocked by a little kid guarding the door.
"Please forgive me, General Zuo. General Zhang said in the past that Zhao's crime should be punished by the King of Hanzhong!"
The little kid gave Ma Chao a soft nail lukewarmly, but it made Ma Chao furious.
"Who are you?! How dare you stop me?!"
Really, if this little kid hadn't mentioned Zhang Xi, Ma Chao wouldn't have asked this question at all.
Zhang Xi still gives himself a lot of face, and Ma Chao has to give Zhang Xi some face.
As a result, the little kid bowed and said, "I don't dare. I'm Tianshui Jiang Wei, whose name is Boyue."
As soon as Ma Chao heard the name, he immediately pulled Jiang Wei away and rushed inside without even thinking.
Why, the Jiang family of Tianshui was also one of the families who tricked him in the first place. That Jiang Xu was the one who directly raised an army to rebel against him. It was already good that he could bear not to attack the Jiang family. How dare you, the Jiang family, come? Minding Zhao's business? !
Who is Ma Chao, a mighty general who is still in his prime, and Jiang Wei is a nineteen-year-old boy, even if he practices martial arts diligently, he is not? ! Actually blocked? !
Yes, Jiang Wei blocked Ma Chao's pull. Although it seemed a little difficult, he still forced a smile on his face and said to Ma Chao, "If General Zuo insists on breaking in, Wei dare not stop him. Please show me your Zhang." The general gives the order, otherwise the young general will not be able to bear the consequences."
Ma Chao laughed angrily, stretched out his other hand, pushed Jiang Wei away with both hands, and said, "I am General Zuo, and Zhang Yuanchang is just General Xinghan, why do I need his order?! "
Jiang Wei took two steps back, steadied his body, but still stood in front of Ma Chao, and said, "General, forgive me, but the general also knows that there are only laws in the army. We, General Gui Xinghan, are restrained and naturally we dare not disobey military orders. "
Ma Chao narrowed his eyes, looked at Jiang Wei, and asked, "Not even me?!"
Jiang Wei lowered his head slightly, did not speak or answer, but still blocked Ma Chao's face with his body.
Ma Chao's eyes widened and he stood in front of Jiang Wei for a long time. Finally, he snorted and called his personal guard, asking him to take his name card and invite Zhang Xi to come to the scene.
Ma Chao didn't believe it. Who in Liangzhou didn't know the hatred between his Zhao family? If he wanted to take revenge, who would dare to stop him? !
Indeed, according to the current etiquette system, if Ma Chao wants to seek revenge from the Zhao family, even Liu Bei, the king of Hanzhong, can't stop him. Liu Bei may be able to persuade him, but whether he accepts it or not is Ma Chao's business.
If Ma Chao accepts it, everyone will probably praise Ma Chao for his magnanimity, but if Ma Chao doesn't accept it, then the world won't say anything.
On the contrary, if Ma Chao retreats today and does not take revenge, the world will think that Ma Chao is a coward who can give up the hatred of his wife and children. It is really not in line with the mainstream values of this era.
Although, Ma Chao's reputation is indeed not that good, but Ma Chao really can't retreat from this matter.
Zhang Xi actually knew this, so after entering the city, Ma Chao took his personal guards to Zhao's house. Although Zhang Xi wanted to stop him, he had no legitimate reason to do so.
The same goes for the Jiang family, the Liang family, and the Yang family. It's not that they don't want to keep the Zhao family. When it comes to facing Ma Chao, the Zhao family actually has a similar position to them, but they really have no excuse to do so.
Although everyone rebelled against Ma Chao at the beginning, at least there was a righteous cause. Ma Chao acted unfairly and killed Wei Kang. Everyone used the banner of revenge for Wei Kang, which was reasonable and legal. But you Zhao family wanted to kill Ma Chao's whole family.
You really thought Ma Chao couldn't come back to Liangzhou, right? !
It's okay now, even if they want to save, everyone has no excuse for Ma Chao to kill Zhao. It may not be legal, but it is polite.
These days, the Gongyang Sect's influence is not low. A gentleman's revenge can be avenged even if it lasts for a hundred generations.
In addition, Liangzhou is a place where you kill me today and I will kill you tomorrow. Except for some wealthy families, no one will pay attention to etiquette. If Ma Chao insists on not following etiquette, there is nothing you can do. .
Even the Zhao family, after hearing that Ma Chao had entered the city, Zhao Xiong led his tribe to wait for death in the house. Who knew that there was a foolish boy at the door who wanted to fight with Ma Chao.
Therefore, Zhang Xi received Ma Chao's name card and was a little confused after hearing what happened. When did I send Jiang Wei to guard the Zhao mansion, and he couldn't enter without his own warrant? !
But let's just settle the matter with Jiang Wei later. The current situation is a bit difficult to handle.
If I were to tell Ma Chao directly that I had nothing to do with it and it was all Jiang Wei's own decision, would Ma Chao be able to spare Jiang Wei? !
By the way, he doesn't seem to have a good reputation for himself either. He seems to be afraid of Ma Chao.
So, Jiang Wei's move of killing first and telling the truth later forced Zhang Xi to come in. Zhang Xi had to consider whether to help Jiang Wei cover up his lie.
One is Tianshui Qilin'er, and the other is General Shenwei Tian who cheated on his father, his wife, and his son. Zhang Xi felt that from a personal emotional point of view, he didn't have to think about anything.
From another perspective, there is no need to consider it from the perspective of group interests and team harmony.
Who is Jiang Wei? He is someone who can fight for the cause of the Han Dynasty all his life without even meeting Liu Bei. Who is Ma Chao? !
Just little Lu Bu.
In terms of personal relationships, apart from Ma Chao having a good relationship with Ma Dai, Pang De and other members of his own family, his relationship with Zhuge Liang cannot be said to be very good.
Zhuge Liang is already a very talkative person. If this is not good for the relationship, then
Well, it didn't matter whether Zhao died or not, but Zhang Xi still decided to give Jiang Wei this face.
As for whether Zhang Xi would offend Ma Chao by doing this, he would just be offended. What does it matter?
I, the majestic General Xinghan, the real commander-in-chief under the King of Hanzhong, need to be afraid of General Zuo, who only has a name? !
Besides, do you think you, Ma Chao, have a high status in the heart of the King of Hanzhong? !
(End of chapter)
