Xu Huang led his army to cross the river again by a familiar route. Thousands of people arrived at the south bank of the Weishui River and worked all night. They followed Lou Gui's method of filling sand and soil with water to build walls.
The next morning, a solid sand city rose from the ground. Now these simple earth walls can completely withstand the impact of the Xiliang cavalry.
After receiving the news, Cao Cao summoned his troops and assembled one after another towards the location where Xu Huang crossed the river.
At dawn, all the tribes in Guanxi on the south bank of the Wei River were in commotion. Cao Cao on the north bank was making a big move.
It was freezing cold at the beginning of winter, and the food supply in various tribes in Kansai was almost cut off. In Ma Chao camp, cattle and horses were killed to serve as meat to keep out the cold.
Ma Chao drank wine and ate meat last night, and was sleeping soundly in the camp. Suddenly, the curtain of the main tent opened wide, and a gust of cold wind poured into the barracks. The cold made Ma Chao shiver. When he opened his eyes, he found that it was his younger brother Ma Dai.
"Bozhan, why are you so panicked?" Ma Chao asked.
Ma Dai said anxiously: "Brother, Cao Jun crossed the river in Li Kan's defense area last night..."
Ma Chao didn't take it seriously, "Why are you asking me about this kind of thing? If Li Kan can't hold on, we can help the battle as usual. We just need to use cavalry to attack the Cao thieves while their foothold is not stable. If we can capture more War horses and military supplies may survive this winter.”
"Brother, Cao Jun built an earthen city inexplicably. Our cavalry can't rush in. The main force of Cao Jun has already assembled at that location. It is estimated that they will start crossing the river soon..."
Ma Chao stood up in shock with his upper body naked, and asked with disbelief: "Where can you get a city from earth? Can you build a city with sand alone?"
Ma Dai nodded and said affirmatively: "It's true, and it was all done last night..."
"Could there be help from ghosts and gods?" Ma Chao said to himself.
"It's just too strange. Governor Han and several other generals have already passed by..." Ma Dai reminded.
"Let's go take a look too."
After finishing speaking, Ma Chao jumped up from the couch, and then put on his inner shirt, winter coat, and outer armor layer by layer. The less he wore at night when the weather was too cold, the warmer he would be if he slept under the quilt.
Ma Chao and Ma Dai led their troops to Cao Cao's Weinan camp, and sure enough they found a long earth wall surrounding a building near the river. There were guards on the wall every two feet.
At this time, the warm sun was shining on the earthen wall to the east, reflecting a dazzling white light. Han Sui, Cheng Yi and others had already arrived ahead of them.
"General Li, when did this happen? Why did this Tucheng suddenly appear?"
Han Sui frowned and asked, while Cheng Yi, Yang Qiu, Ma Wan and others looked suspicious.
Li Kan quickly explained: "This place was still sandy yesterday evening. I don't know why Cao Cao was able to build the city overnight..."
"General Li also used sand and soil to build a camp overnight?" Cheng Yin didn't believe it at all.
"This is absolutely true, how could I deceive the generals..." Li Kan felt that he was full of words and couldn't explain clearly, but suddenly his eyes lit up, he pointed to the back and said excitedly: "General Ma can do it for me I testify that his troops often come to my defense area to assist in defense, and they even came yesterday..."
"Meng Qi is so enthusiastic. He often comes to my defense area." Yang Qiu nodded in agreement.
Ten generals in Guanxi, Zhong Zhangheng, were killed at the Hexi Ferry. Now the remaining nine troops are scattered on the south bank of the Wei River to set up defenses. Among them, Han Sui and Ma Chao are the strongest.
In troubled times, there are few enthusiastic actions, and they are all driven by interests. Ma Chao helped Li Kan and Yang Qiu in the left and right defense areas to assist in the defense because the Cao army crossing the river carried military supplies, and most of them were infantry. With the help of solid fortifications, the Xiliang cavalry rushed into the battle like a beast.
Ma Chao's troops have been frequently assisting in the defense recently. Not only have they not run out of food, but they also often kill cattle and horses. The enthusiasm of the soldiers is quite high.
"My dear nephew, did you hear what General Li said? Is it really so bizarre?" Han Sui asked with a frown.
Ma Chao nodded, "General Li is right. I asked Bozhan just now. He came here personally to inspect yesterday. I don't know what tricks Cao Cao's traitors used..."
After hearing this, Han Sui nodded slightly to Li Kan. Ma Chao's testimony cleared away the suspicion.
"If all Cao's troops cross the river, the barrier of the Wei River will be gone..." Cheng Yin said worriedly.
"Let's all organize elite forces to attack Cao's army while it's not yet stable. I don't know if Cao's thieves are stable," Han Sui said.
Li Kan hurriedly waved his hand to stop: "This earth wall is as hard as iron. I sent troops to attack it this morning, but..."
"Is it possible that this traitor knows magic? I heard that he once entertained the demon Zuo Ci. Could it be that he has acquired some magic?" Ma Chao asked doubtfully.
Han Sui shook his head and said: "What my nephew said is half true and half false. Mr. Wujiao used immortal magic to fool the thief Cao in his early years. Later, he was captured by Cao Cao and escaped. How could he come here to help the thief..."
"This...then let's join forces to attack again. If all Cao's thieves are allowed to cross the river, it will be the same as the situation in Pubanjin..." Ma Chao suggested.
After Ma Chao finished speaking, Liang Xing and Cheng Yi turned green when they saw Han Sui. Before Xu Huang crossed west from Pubanjin, Ma Chao proposed to attack immediately, but was dragged into a deadlock by Han Sui.
Seeing that Ma Chao brought up the old matter again, Han Sui said awkwardly: "That's fine, let's also fight a 'siege war' with our coalition forces."
The nine Kansai tribes gathered 30,000 elite troops and launched an attack on the Weinan camp guarded by Xu Huang. Without siege equipment, the cavalry was inferior to the infantry in attacking the city. In the first round of the attack, 2,000 cavalry were lost and fell on the warship. The dead and injured horses became Cao Jun's trophies.
It was a blessing in heaven, and the generals in Kansai, especially those under Ma Chao, returned a lot of the horses they had plundered before.
With such high battle losses, the Kansai Allied Forces gave up the storming of the Weinan camp. They each sent their own generals to invite battle in front of the camp. However, Xu Huang ignored Cao Cao's instructions.
Later, after all the main force of Cao's army crossed the river, the Kansai Allied Forces thought they could usher in a decisive battle. However, Cao Cao still adopted the strategy of holding on.
The generals in Kansai were as anxious as ants on a hot pot. They all gathered in Han Sui's main camp. Cao Cao's move was obviously to kill them.
"Captain, please think of a way quickly. My camp will soon be without food..." Cheng Yi said.
"Immediately? I still have enough military rations for one day. This is all the result of reducing the rations, otherwise there would have been a mutiny..." Ma Wan said with a wry smile.
When Liang Xing took over Zhang Heng's troops, he asked with surprise: "You actually still have food in stock?"
Everyone is complaining, but they actually all have some food, but they can't hold on for a few days. At this time, if you want to say that you have enough food, the result is quite dangerous.
"Does my nephew have enough military rations?" Han Sui asked meaningfully.
"Meng Qi recently defeated many of Cao's troops crossing the river, and also captured a lot of military supplies, cattle and horses..."
Li Kan suddenly felt a chill on his back while he was speaking. He turned around and found Ma Chao looking at him coldly, so he immediately shut his mouth and said nothing, as if he had not spoken just now.
Ma Chao frowned for a moment, thinking that if you complain, complain, but you must seek truth from facts.
A cow is a cow and a horse is a horse, so you can't use your brain?
How can anyone march and fight with cattle across a river?
At this time, Ma Chao burped because of the cold in the morning, and the smell of meat came out of his mouth.
