Xu You bowed and said: "Since there are difficulties, I should make suggestions, but my lord must be worried, otherwise I will write a letter and please take it with you." Ma Chao nodded and agreed, so Xu You came I wrote a letter with pen and ink, packed it up, and sent it to Yuyi camp by a messenger sent by Ma Chao.
After Xu You and Ma Chao observed the surrounding strategic arrangements, they commented: "The land in Chang'an City is very hard and the water is alkaline and cannot be drank. In addition, there is not much firewood. It has been besieged for ten days and cannot be captured. The soldiers and people in the city are starving. , why don’t we retreat first, and then do this, then Chang’an can be conquered!”
After hearing this, Ma Chao sighed: "This strategy is very good!" So he sent a flag with the word "order" to all the ministries, asking them to retreat first, and Ma Chao himself stopped the rear, so that all the ministries retreated.
Zhong Yao climbed up the city wall on the second day and saw that the enemy had retreated. He thought it was because they had run out of food and was very happy. However, he was very cautious and feared that it was the enemy's plan, so he sent someone to inquire about the situation. When he learned that the enemy had really retreated, he , then he felt relieved and let the soldiers and civilians in the city come out to chop wood and collect water, open the city gate, and operate normally.
On the fifth day, someone reported that Ma Chao's troops had arrived again, and soldiers and civilians rushed into the city. Zhong Yao ordered the city gates to be closed tightly and held fast as before.
Zhong Yao's younger brother Zhong Jin was assigned to guard the west gate. After another ten minutes, a fire suddenly broke out in the city. Zhong Jin rushed to rescue him. Suddenly, a man appeared on the edge of the city, holding a machete, and shouted loudly on horseback: "Pang De is here." this!"
Zhong Jin took no hasty measures and was killed by Pang De with a sword. The general retreated, cut off the door lock, and put the troops of Ma Chao, Han Sui and others into the city. Zhong Yao knew that the west gate was breached, He decisively gave up Chang'an City and left.
Ma Chao and Han Sui captured Chang'an City and rewarded the three armies. Ma Chao was amazed by Xu You's strategy.
At this time, the envoys sent by Xiliang also came to Yuyi's camp. Yuyi opened Xu You's letter, which read: The Xiliang army has been trapped in Chang'an for a long time, and Ma Chao left me to conspire. Now our army is at Tongguan Stationed outside, if Chang'an is not defeated and Tongguan is not lost, our army's westward path will be cut off. I will try my best to assist Xiliang in taking Chang'an and Tongguan, and personally welcome the young master into the city.
After reading the letter, Yu Yi knew Xu You's intention and said to the messenger: "Express my gratitude to your Lord for me." After that, he personally sent the messenger out of the camp.
Zhong Yao lost Chang'an and could only retreat to Tongguan. At this time, he also obtained Yuyi. Ten thousand troops were stationed near Tongguan. The situation was critical, so he sent people to report to Cao Cao quickly.
Cao Cao knew that the city of Chang'an had been lost and that the matter was serious, so he could only shelve his previous plan to go south, and called Cao Hong and Xu Huang to give instructions: "You first bring 10,000 troops to assist Zhong Yao in guarding Tongguan. If Zhong Yao loses his power within ten days, Once we reach Tongguan, I will behead you all. If it is ten days away, I will not do anything to you. My army will come soon."
The two took the order and left, heading towards Tongguan overnight.
Cao Ren advised: "Cao Hong has a very impatient personality. I'm afraid it will delay things."
Cao Cao said: "You and I escort the food and fodder, and follow behind to pick up the supplies."
A spy had reported this situation to Yu Yi. Yu Yi called for everyone to discuss. Huang Shumin suggested, "Xu Huang and Cao Hong's 10,000 troops will definitely pass by our location. With the number of our troops, we can Annihilate them all!”
Lei Chunze was already eager to give it a try, and said: "Young Master, please let me be the vanguard. There has been no fighting recently, and my hands are itching!"
While everyone was waiting for Yu Yi's order to attack, Yu Yi stopped the attack and said: "Although Cao's army came from afar, it still has good combat effectiveness. We can indeed annihilate the opponent, but we will also have to pay a lot of effort." It’s a huge price to pay, as we can easily spend all our capital.”
After hearing this, Lei Chunze was very disappointed and said, "Are we just going to watch them pass by and not take any action?"
Yu Yi did not answer the question directly, but asked Huang Shumin on the side: "How is Sima Yi doing there?"
He replied: "He has led his soldiers across the Yellow River and is coming to Tongguan."
Yu Yi said: "If Sima Yi's army and Cao Hong and others join forces, then it is possible to completely annihilate each other!"
Huang Shumin nodded and said, "Now we are in danger of being surrounded on three sides. What should we do?"
Yu Yi spread out the map and said: "After Sima Yi's army crosses the river, it will definitely march towards Hongnong. Cao Hong and Xu Huang's army will come out from Xudu and march overnight, and will definitely pass by Lushi. I think we can station them there." The location is moved slightly to the south and stationed near the Lu family. We are not aiming to annihilate all the enemies. We are just setting up some ambushes. The focus is to search for their belongings and food to replenish our army. Let the others go as long as they can."
Wu Chenggong understood Yu Yi's intention and said with a smile: "Young Master wants to use the Xiliang soldiers and horses to destroy Cao's army and preserve our strength!"
Yuyi nodded and immediately made arrangements.
Cao Hong and Xu Huang's soldiers and horses were marching all the way. They got news from Zhong Yao and knew that Yuyi's troops were near Hongnong, so they ordered Sima Yi's troops to hold them back while they headed towards Lu's direction. When they just passed by, Suddenly there was a sound of cannon, and two groups of people came out and surrounded them.
The leader was Yu Yi. He was riding a war horse and holding a spider-painted halberd in his hand. He pointed at Cao Hong and said, "Young thief, I've been waiting for you here for a long time and you still haven't dismounted and surrendered!"
Cao Hong was impatient. When he saw a young boy coming out to provoke him, he immediately prepared to fight.
Xu Huang advised: "We have traveled a long distance and were ambushed. We should not get too entangled. It is important to fulfill the prime minister's instructions first."
Cao Hong waved his hand and said, "You lead the army forward, and I will stop the rear." After saying this, he ignored Xu Huang's dissuasion and came out to challenge Yu Yi.
The two horses met, and Yu Yi and Cao Hong fought together. After more than thirty rounds, Cao Hong began to fall into a disadvantage due to his strength. At this time, Yu Yi's troops continued to pour in, and Cao Hong could only retreat steadily. Fortunately, Xu Huang was afraid of Cao Hong's loss, so he came to rescue him. Yu Yi led the army and lost it. The armies led by the two men were retreating steadily. They did not bother to pack up some supplies and quickly headed towards Tongguan.
Yu Yi ordered the sergeants to focus on collecting strategic supplies. The pursuit was very loud, but the pursuit was very slow. Soon Cao Jun broke away from Yu Yi's encirclement and entered Tongguan.
Cao Hong and Xu Huang entered Tongguan with their troops and horses. According to the plan, they began to hold on to the pass and did not go out to fight. At this time, Ma Chao also brought his troops and horses to the pass. Seeing that the other party did not come out, he scolded all three generations of Cao Cao. Cao Hong was very angry and wanted to go down to the pass to fight.
Xu Huang advised: "Ma Chao wanted to provoke the general to fight. We were ambushed by Yuyi and had to travel a long way to attack. We can no longer fight. I hope that when the Prime Minister's army comes, there will be a better way."
