"Your Highness the Crown Prince!"
Xun Yu said, "Zhang Liao's army is tired from afar. It is advantageous to fight quickly. Do not develop strength. When the enemy is approaching, you can send people to attack the camp at night."
Cao Pi spread his hands and said: "Zhang Liao is the general of Jingguo, how can he be unprepared?"
Xun Yu said with a smile: "This night attack is different than the night attack. The purpose is not to defeat Jing's army, but to harass them so that Jing's army can't rest peacefully and recover its physical strength. This will delay the army for a long time. This is a strategy to slow down the army."
Cao Pi suddenly understood and said quickly: "Okay! Just follow the prime minister's plan."
"Your Highness," Xun Yu continued, "the Jing army is coming from afar and cannot hold power for long. We can send General Zhu Ling to lead 15,000 elite troops to garrison outside the city to form a cornering force. If the Jing army attacks the city, General Zhu will Then we can lead our troops to strike at its back. If we attack the camp, we can lead our troops to rescue it. If reinforcements arrive in a few days, we will be able to defeat it with a single drum."
Cao Pi was overjoyed when he heard this, "Just follow the Prime Minister's words!"
Immediately, Cao Pi ordered Generals Zhu Ling and Lu Zhao to lead their troops to a hillside ten miles outside the city and use the terrain to set up camp. Ye Jingcheng also began to actively prepare things to defend the city and began to prepare for war.
After capturing Jingxingkou, Zhang Liao led his soldiers and horses to rush towards Yejing at great speed. All the cities he passed were looked down upon by the wind. He was invincible along the way. Anyone who stood in the way would be attacked with trebuchets and heavy crossbows to defeat the city at the fastest speed. Finally, in only fifteen days, Zhang Liao's army reached thirty miles away from Yejing.
The army hurried all the way and was already exhausted, so they camped outside a village. In order to prevent the Wei army from taking the opportunity to attack the camp, Zhang Liao ordered Ma Chao to personally lead a patrol of 3,000 troops.
That night.
Xun Yu personally went to Zhu Ling's camp and asked him to lead three thousand soldiers and horses. After arriving three miles away from Jingjun's camp, he planted more military flags. The moonlight was not very bright. Looking from a distance, I could see that the Wei army was densely covered with military flags, making it impossible to tell how many troops there were.
At a distance of three miles, the enemy's approach could be detected by the intensive and vibrating sound of horse hooves without the need for detection horses. Ma Chao immediately made defensive preparations and ordered Detective Horse to go out to investigate the enemy's situation, but what he received made him frown.
The enemy's flags were so densely packed that it was impossible to distinguish the enemy's situation, and there was a fear of an ambush in the dark. Therefore, Ma Chao decided to hold on to the camp and remain unchanged in response to any changes.
"kill--!"
Soon, the sound of horse hooves shook the ground and rumbled, killing cries resounded throughout the fields, and the drums were deafening, as if they were afraid that the enemy would not know that they were about to attack the camp.
Zhang Liao, who was tired from the journey, had just fallen asleep when he suddenly woke up when he heard the killing cry outside. He quickly put on his armor and rushed out of the tent. There were already guards waiting with horses.
Zhang Liao got on his horse and led hundreds of personal guards to rush towards the front camp. The soldiers and horse generals from the left and right camps responded one after another, and the camp was noisy.
As soon as they arrived at the front camp, they saw Ma Chao looking outside with his spear raised, but saw no enemy soldiers or generals. Zhang Liao stepped forward and asked doubtfully: "General Ma, didn't the enemy attack the camp?"
Ma Chao was also puzzled: "I only heard the beating of war drums outside, and the sound of killing was loud, but no soldiers and horses were seen attacking the camp. The scouting horses came to report that the enemy's flags outside were covering the sky, and the enemy's situation could not be ascertained."
"Let the people from the horse camp get closer!" Zhang Liao ordered without question. "Be sure to find out the enemy's situation. The entire army will never leave their saddles, their soldiers will not take off their armor, and they will always be ready for battle."
"Here!"
Ma Chao accepted the order and immediately sent out people from the probing camp to spy on the military situation.
If he wanted to spy on the military situation, how could Xun Yu let Zhang Liao do so? In order to prevent Jing Jun's probing horses from approaching, Xun Yu specially ordered five hundred elite cavalry to surround the periphery, in groups of ten. Whenever they encountered Jing Jun's probing horses, they would immediately join forces and kill them. As a result, Jing Jun's probing horses suffered a lot of losses, but they were still unable to get close. , accurate information cannot be obtained.
Half an hour later.
Zhang Liao sat outside the front tent with a cold face. The fires around him were burning wood and crackling, illuminating the entire camp. Countless soldiers stood on the left and right with their swords in hand, quietly waiting for the intelligence of batches of scouts.
Three groups of Tanma have been sent out, but no news has come back.
"Lieutenant!" Ma Chao said, "The enemy is well prepared, and continuing like this is not an option. This must be a trick of the Wei army. Why don't you let me lead my own troops to attack, and we will be able to break it."
"No!" Zhang Liao said, "There is a counselor Xun Yu in the Wei army. He is very resourceful and should not be underestimated. The enemy situation outside is unclear, so we should not rush to send troops, otherwise it will be too late to regret."
"Captain!" Zhuge Liang thought for a moment and said with confidence, "I guess this is Xun Yu's plan to disturb the enemy. Our army is approaching from afar and is short of men and horses. We need to recharge our batteries and strengthen our strength." The city can be broken. The enemy's troops are small and they have no immediate reinforcements. They can only disturb our rest by disturbing the enemy, and cannot concentrate on attacking the city. In this way, they can delay the time to wait for reinforcements."
Zhang Liao nodded, considered carefully for a moment, and immediately agreed with Zhuge Liang's view, so he said: "Ma Chao, Yang Bai, Li Yan listen to your orders!"
The three of them shouted in unison: "The general is here!"
"I order you three to each lead 3,000 soldiers and horses to fight out from three directions, and be sure to annihilate them all!"
"Here!"
The three of them took the order and quickly led their troops into battle.
Due to the long journey in recent days, Jing's army was exhausted. Zhang Liao was afraid that the battle would be lost, so he ordered Qian Chun to accompany the army with five heavy ballistae to conquer the city.
Then, the camp gate opened.
Kecheng's heavy ballistae was in front, and the army followed behind, heading towards the enemy.
Xun Yu did not expect that the enemy would see through his plan and would have the courage to send troops at such a night when the military situation was unclear. When Jingguo's army came to attack, Xun Yu was stunned. Immediately he heard the almost roaring sound of arrows. This was the sound of arrows from Jingguo's heavy crossbow to defeat the city.
Xun Yu was horrified and hurriedly ordered the army to retreat in an orderly manner.
But for Ma Chao and the others, this was simply a victory that came to their doorstep. They immediately became energetic and accelerated their charge to kill the enemy. Due to the sudden arrival of Jing's army, the Wei army was unprepared and fell into chaos. Coupled with the difficulty of distinguishing the road at night, a serious stampede occurred, disrupting the Wei army's retreat.
Ma Chao took the lead, as if he were in a deserted place.
The Xiliang cavalry followed Ma Chao and chased Xun Yu as fast as lightning. In the darkness, they saw Xun Yu's black cloak dancing in the wind. Ma Chao shouted: "The one wearing the red cloak is Xun Yu! Who can shoot him?" Reward a hundred gold coins!”
Xun Yu in front was shocked and hurriedly took off his cloak and threw it away.
Ma Chao could see clearly from behind and shouted coldly: "The one with the long beard is Xun Yu!"
Xun Yu panicked and took out his sword and cut off his beard.
Ma Chao shouted again: "The one with the short beard is Xun Yu!"
After Xun Yu heard this, he quickly tore off the military flag next to him, wrapped it around his chin and neck, and fled.
Ma Chao sneered and shouted: "The one with the head is Xun Yu!"
Xun Yu was so frightened that he suddenly felt something wrong and was so frightened that he broke into a cold sweat. He glanced at the saber in his hand and quickly threw it away.
Ma Chao's wild laughter came from behind.
