Chapter 257 Death of Ma Teng
He died before leaving the army, which made the hero burst into tears. ----------"The Prime Minister of Shu" by Du Fu of Tang Dynasty
Zhang Lu listened to Yan Pu's words and decided to send out surprise troops to return to Yangping Pass. It has to be said that Chen Long, Xun You, and Zhou Buyi all underestimated Yan Pu's determination and courage to take the risk. They believed that Zhang Lu would only deploy heavy troops in the Nanzheng area or defend the Han stronghold, ignoring the Han River waterway and Mian County's defense.
Zhang Wei led Yang Ang, mobilized 20,000 soldiers and horses, seized the warships, and marched along the Han River to Yangping Pass without any fanfare. Yang Ren, who was released by Chen Long, led three thousand troops and rushed to Yangping Pass along the road of Mian County. He set up suspicious soldiers to attract the attention of Ma Teng's soldiers. Zhang Lu, Yan Pu, and Yang Song commanded the remaining 30,000 Hanzhong soldiers to abandon the defense of Nanzheng and set up numerous archery towers along the Han River between Nanzheng County and Hanzhong County, preparing to take advantage of the natural dangers of the Han River to control the crossing of the Qinglong Army. The route of the Yangtze River prevented Chen Longjun from crossing the Yangtze River smoothly and achieved the goal of defending Hanzhong. Once Zhang Wei successfully captures Yangping Pass, no matter how strong Chen Long's troops are, they will turn into a trapped beast and starve to death in the Hanzhong Basin. There are still more than 100,000 members of the Five Dou Rice Sect, who, under the banner of protecting the leader, vow to defend Hanzhong to the death.
Ma Chao's vanguard troops were focused on the predetermined assembly point and met almost no resistance on the way. The regular army was nowhere to be seen and all the local armed forces surrendered. Surprisingly, the people did not panic and flee. According to Chen Long's order, Ma Chao's army did not commit any crimes. Everywhere they went, they set up their own camps and did not seize civilian residences.
Pioneer Pang De rode quickly and reached the Han River first that day. When you go to the riverside and look up, you will see that not far across the river are numerous villages and mountains built along the water. Further back you can see the silhouette of a corner of the towering Hanzhong City Wall.
Pang De dismounted, stepped on the sandbank on the shore, and took a closer look at the camp on the opposite side. This section of the river is very soothing and beautiful. The calm river water is like a piece of jasper. Except for the thin water plants floating on the water, there seems to be no wrinkles. The sun is setting, and the Han River is shining with black and red waves. The trees and grass on both sides of the river have given the Han River a layer of dark green. The thick green and the nourishment of the sunset make the entire Han River shine with beautiful and mysterious colors.
Pang De chose this section of the Han River to observe, of course, in order to prepare for the battle across the river. The gentle water surface is conducive to the erection of pontoon bridges. If the width is sufficient, the cavalry can pass side by side, greatly increasing the speed of crossing the river. The most important thing is that the camps on the opposite side are sparse and the defense seems to be relatively lax. It is expected that the resistance will not be too strong, which will help the troops crossing the river to quickly gain a foothold and cover the subsequent troops crossing the river.
Pang De's troops occupied a forest on the river bank, felled trees suitable for building bridges overnight, and contacted Ma Chao's troops to follow up. The battle of crossing the river has begun under the operation of the famous general Pound. However, he did not notice that in a river bay farther upstream, many warships were gathering, carrying soldiers full of ships, heading upstream in the direction of Yangping Pass.
Zhang Wei and Yang Ang's troops had already sailed up the Han River in warships under the cover of night, heading straight for the countryside near Yangping Pass. The planned landing operation site is only a few dozen miles away from Yangping Pass, and the troops can reach the pass in a matter of hours.
The battle plan drawn up by Yan Pu was to use Ma Teng to underestimate the enemy and paralyze him, so that he might be able to easily succeed in a surprise attack after a successful landing. At this moment, Ma Teng really thought he had nothing to worry about. He only arranged several shifts of soldiers to patrol at the top of the city every day. There were no reconnaissance cavalry on the waterside outside the gate, but only a few groups of soldiers were arranged to conduct daily patrols in the direction of Mian County.
Suddenly one day, the patrol reported that dust was flying in the direction of Mian County, and a group of Hanzhong soldiers appeared, numbering about a few thousand people. When Ma Teng heard this, he laughed loudly and said: "This suspicious soldier wants to deceive me into not knowing the art of war? Zhang Lu was afraid that our army would attack from two directions, so he sent people to pretend that there were troops stationed in Mian County. When I fired up the Xiliang cavalry, Destroy this bandit army!"
Unfortunately, there was no insightful military advisor around Ma Teng to persuade him. Ma Teng mobilized 5,000 soldiers and horses, leaving only a few hundred to guard the pass. Array against circle. Ma Teng relied on his own strength and fought with Yang Ren for dozens of rounds. Yang Ren pretended to be defeated and rode away from the formation. Ma Teng then led his troops to attack, but Yang Ren fought and retreated. His performance was very unbearable. Within a few days, he had retreated hundreds of miles away.
Ma Teng was so proud that he wrote a letter to express his merit to Chen Long. After the messenger left, Ma Teng ordered the whole army to drink to celebrate the victory. The Xiliang cavalry were already greedy for wine. Under the night, the village was full of people singing and laughing, all indicating that the battle would be successful tomorrow and the troops in front of them would be annihilated. No one noticed that behind them on the Han River, a unit had quietly completed the landing and set off overnight towards Yangping Pass.
In the early morning of the next day, the few hundred remaining garrison troops in Yangping Pass were still sleeping. Zhang Wei and Yang Ang's troops set up ladders and swarmed up, and they re-captured Xiongguan without any bloodshed. The Xiliang soldiers who luckily escaped ran all the way and finally informed their commander of the thunderous news.
Ma Teng was shocked by the news and immediately ordered the entire army to retreat. Many soldiers were still hungover and were staggering on their way back, running crookedly all the way. The troops had no fighting spirit. Ma Teng was so anxious that he did not stop all the way and hurriedly rode back to the pass. Suddenly, a cold arrow came as fast as a spark. Ma Teng was caught off guard and was shot through the shoulder. Ma Teng let out a scream and almost dropped his saber. The horseman stood up, hearing the sound of horns all around, and unexpectedly rushed out of countless ambush troops. Ma Teng knew that he was ambush, and regardless of his serious injury, he shouted: "There is an ambush!" He led his troops with arrows to fight against the ambush, and the surrounding area was surrounded by arrows and rocks like rain.
It turned out that Zhang Wei and Yang Ang had succeeded in seizing the barrier and had already left ambushes on both sides, waiting for Ma Teng to come back to rescue the barrier. At this moment, Yang Ang was standing on the top of a nearby hill, holding a strong bow, watching his men fight with the chaotic Xiliang soldiers. The arrow hit by Ma Teng just now was a sneak attack by Yang Ang. Hanzhong's soldiers were several times larger than Ma Chao's soldiers, and they came unexpectedly. Although Ma Teng was brave, he was seriously injured.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Ma Teng had no choice but to retreat with his troops. Unexpectedly, Yang Ren led troops from behind and blocked the Xiliang soldiers' retreat. Ma Teng led his troops in a deadly battle, carved a bloody path through the diagonal stabs, and fled straight towards the Han River. After turning two hills, the sound of pursuit behind him continued. Ma Teng looked back and saw that there were only two to three hundred personal guards left following him. He couldn't help but let out a long sigh of despair. He was furious and regretful. He thought of Chen Long's thousands of reminders and ten thousand people before he left. Instructions: Guard yourself at Xiongguan, beware of sneak attacks, and do not listen to the words of the Marquis of Nanxiang! He couldn't help shouting wildly, the arrow sore burst open, and blood surged like a fountain. He fainted immediately and fell under the horse.
When you woke up, you saw a rippling blue river in front of you. The green mountains on the opposite side were picturesque. The reflection dyed the river water green. The dusk sunlight shone on the sparkling water, forming an orange-red ribbon. The scenery was beautiful. Regardless of his serious shoulder injury, Ma Teng slowly sat up and saw that there were only five people left around him. They were all sitting around him to protect him. Everyone was covered in blood.
Ma Teng insisted on standing up with his sword stationary, standing like a javelin, shaking hands and hugging the guards around him one by one. Everyone looked sad. Ma Teng looked at these young faces and couldn't help but shed a drop of heroic tears, knowing that today he would die or not.
Facing the beautiful scenery of the river, Ma Teng slowly sat on the sand dunes on the bank of the river. The wound on the shoulder was simply bandaged, but it was already stained red with blood. The saber in his hand had already been cut and curled, so Ma Teng gently inserted it aside. Surrounded by guards, he also faced the beautiful scenery of the river.
The pursuers behind him were approaching, and arrows rained down on them. Several people were hit by arrows in an instant, but they all stood upright against the wind, tightly surrounding Ma Teng. Ma Teng looked at the orange-red river and the blood-red sunset. He seemed transfixed by the scenery and remained motionless until the arrows were inserted into his majestic back.
Yang Ang held a long bow and slowly approached the hedgehog-like circle of people by the river. Yang Ang believed that these people were dead long ago, so he pushed lightly with his long bow, and the circle of people fell down like dominoes, revealing Ma Teng who remained seated in the middle. Yang Ang walked around to the hedgehog-like Ma Teng and saw that his eyes were wide open and seemed to be still staring at the beautiful scenery in front of him. Yang Ang stretched his hand to his nose and felt that he had no equipment and his tentacles were cold. He had been dead for a long time. With a gentle push from Yang Ang, the hero of the Xiliang generation slowly fell on the beautiful shoal of the Han River. He did not close his eyes until death, as if calling his beloved son, who was brave enough to defeat the three armies, to avenge him.
If you want to know what happens next, listen to the explanation next time.
