Chapter 34: War Book

Cao Chong, Jia Xu, Pang Tong, Fa Zheng, Deng Ai, and Niu Jin sat in a circle, watching Sun Shao and Jiang Wei put a few small statues of knights holding halberds on the map, indicating the current situation of the troops. Sun Shangxiang sat a little farther away, Guan Feng held the sword in his hand and stood beside her. Sima Yi sat quietly, without saying a word, lowering his head, as if he was thinking about a problem, and as if he was sleeping. His position was very special, and if he didn't pay attention, he would almost never notice him.

"At present, Shangji City is the core, and the army of Ma Chao is surrounded outside is surrounded by 30,000 Ma Sui's 10,000 troops in Lueyang, confronting General Wei. However, they are relatively close to Shangji and are cavalry, so they can also be considered as part of the encirclement of Shangji City." Sun Shao stopped and looked at Cao Chong, and his eyes swept across Sun Shangxiang's face. Sun Shangxiang smiled and nodded with satisfaction, expressing his gratitude for his current performance.

Sun Shao blushed, then withdrew his gaze and pointed at Anding and Jincheng and said, "Jincheng, Licheng, Jieting and Meiwu are the third Circle. Han Sui in Jincheng has more than 10,000 people, and 20,000 people are in Changli. He is currently entangled with the leading generals. Their number is slightly superior. Our army has a slight advantage in combat. It should not have any major impact on the situation here in the short term. Master Zhong, the captain of Sili, sent a message that Yang Qiu gathered all his men and successfully defeated General Wu who guarded Qi County. He has now advanced to Chang'an, but he did not ask for reinforcements. There are 5,000 troops in Chang'an City and 30,000 military farming soldiers. There should be no problem in defending Chang'an."

Cao Chong shook his head and smiled faintly: "It seems that the war is still very vague. Both sides are in a stalemate, it depends on who can open the situation first. Once the victory or defeat is determined, it will soon be affected. What do you think? Let me discuss it."

Everyone looked at each other, and Fa Zheng stood up and said, "General, now there is no contact between Mengda's troops and Li Yan's troops. In the direction of Wudu, there are only 3,000 Hao Zhao's troops. Ma Chao took 20,000 troops to Licheng. I think Hao Zhao's troops cannot compete with him. The leading general was entangled by Han Yin's troops. Even if he can escape the danger, he may suffer a lot. It is not easy to block Ma Chao's road to the west. In my opinion, this siege strategy may not be feasible. Although there are more than 8,000 guards in Shangji, General Deng's troops suffered serious damage in Yangshugou last time. Most of them were newly added new soldiers. Only 5,000 troops from the general's troops can fight. Although Shangji City has been renovated, the city wall is not high. It is difficult to block Ma Chao."

Cao Chong was a little unhappy. He glanced at Fa Zheng and lowered his face: "What should I do with the view of filial piety and integrity?"

Seeing that Cao Chong was unhappy, Fa Zheng hesitated for a moment, and then continued, "I thought that when General Zhang, who was transferred to the Jinwu, came to support him, why not... please ask the general to retreat just in case."

Cao Chong burst out laughing, with some disdain in his laughter: "Ma Chao is a hundred miles away and will arrive tomorrow morning tonight. I am afraid that my military order has been surrounded by people before it has been delivered to Meiwu. Xiaozhi, your idea is safe, but it has been said too late."

Fa Zheng choked and retreated back to his seat in a bad mood, lowered his head and stopped talking. Cao Chong glanced at everyone, and said in a bad tone: "As for asking me to retreat to make a plan, this is even more unfeasible. Everyone, Shangqian City is small, but it is a gate to Guanzhong. If you lose this city and Ma Chao drives straight into Guanzhong, then all our hard work over the past six months will be wasted. There are nearly 10,000 soldiers in the city, and Ma Chao has only 30,000 people. It is not so easy to take Shangqian City.

Yes. Please put away the complete strategies in your heart and think carefully about how to defend Shangji City and wait for a turnaround in other places. Shangji City is full of food. Hanzhong just sent 30,000 stones of grain two days ago. Everyone has seen it. It should be fine for us to defend the city for two months. Ma Chao has 30,000 people, but he may not be able to take Shangji, and he can't spend so much time with us here. Three days, I think he will attack for at most three days, and he will retreat in a hurry."

Sima Yi, who was sitting in the distance, was stunned, showing a look of shock. He didn't know where Cao Chong's confidence came from. Before the battle had been fought, he insisted that Ma Chao could only attack for three days. This was too much of a joke. He secretly looked at the others, and saw Fa Zheng and Pang Tong looking at each other, and seemed not to believe it. Jia Xu lowered his eyes and remained silent. He could not tell what he had. Deng Ai frowned slightly, stretched out his hand and rubbed his nose without saying a word. Niu Jin lowered his head and remained silent. He could not see his face. Sun Shangxiang's face looked normal, and seemed to be very confident in what Cao Chong said.

"Zhongda, tell me what you think." Cao Chong seemed to be in a bad mood and his tone was very stiff.

Sima Yi was shocked, quickly withdrew his eyes, bowed his hands and said, "I think the general's judgment is quite reasonable."

"Oh?" Cao Chong was a little surprised, his tone suddenly eased a lot. He smiled and said, "Why are you doing sitting so far? No one has eaten you, so get closer to speak."

Sima Yi quickly moved forward and continued, "General, there are many military tactics. Ten will surround him and five will attack him. Now Ma Chao has only 30,000 people, and he is mainly cavalry. He is rushing to attack, and the military rations will inevitably be insufficient. How can he fight at the city for a long time? The general leading the army is brave, and he will definitely defeat Han Yin's troops, return to the rescue quickly, and cut off Ma Chao's retreat. Han Sui is about to die. If he dies, Jincheng will be in chaos. Jincheng will be in chaos. Then Han Sui's troops in Lueyang will be in panic and have no support, and will definitely be defeated by General Wei. Therefore, his subordinates think that the situation in Shangji looks dangerous and others are very safe. Since the general raised his army, he has been invincible and invincible. How could Ma Chao resist?"

Cao Chong smiled and shook his hand and said, "Zhong Dayan is an exaggeration. I am also an ordinary person. I am lucky and won some battles, not as brave as you said. By the way, Zhu Yuanming went to Wangyuan and gave the two thousand troops he left behind to you. Can you keep Ximen with confidence?"

Sima Yi was overjoyed. He felt Cao Chong's dissatisfaction with everyone in Cao Chong's tone, and also heard Cao Chong's arrogance brought by his youthful ambition. With this pride, he would definitely not leave Shangqi. Now that he handed over Zhu Shuo's two thousand people, the future situation will be even more changed. He suppressed the ecstasy in his heart and bowed to him: "Thank you, the general, for your respect, my subordinates will be loyal and die together with Shangqi."

"Okay, it's like this when fighting." Cao Chong praised: "Don't think about abandoning the city and leaving." As he said that, he glanced at Fa Zheng intentionally or unintentionally, and Fa Zheng lowered his head with a flushed face.

"But..." Sima Yi continued: "I just took over and it is really difficult to defend the Ximen, which is of great importance. I think it is more appropriate to let other generals guard the Ximen, and I will guard the East or South Gate?"

"Haha, Zhongda, you're too careful." Cao Chong smiled for two days, thought for a while and said, "What you said makes sense, let's do it, go to the south gate, Shizai, come and guard the west gate."

"General, no." Deng Ai jumped up and shouted loudly. He said, and felt something was wrong. He quickly lowered his voice and said, "General, my subordinates were seriously damaged last time, and Xu Yi's troops were basically completely lost. Although some new recruits were added, they had not yet formed combat power. Besides, I have been guarding the South Gate. Now Ma Chao is about to arrive at the city, and I suddenly transferred to the West Gate. I don't have enough time to adapt to the situation. I am afraid that I will be in a hurry and will miss the big thing. Please think twice."

Cao Chong looked at Deng Ai unhappily, his brows frowned and his face looked very bad. Deng Ai was a general he trained, but now he refuted him in front of so many people, which really made him feel a little unhappy. He glanced at the others and said in a deep voice: "Do you think this is inappropriate?"

Everyone didn't say anything, Sun Shangxiang scratched his head and said in a little embarrassed manner: "It seems that it's not good. So many Tianshizai are at the South Gate. He is most familiar with the situation at the South Gate. He suddenly changes to the West Gate, and of course he will be a little uncomfortable. Ma Chao is about to arrive. Is the time to adapt to this adaptation too short?"

"What the lady said is exactly." Fa Zheng also echoed.

"I... think it's better not to change it," Pang Tong pondered.

Seeing so many people objecting, Cao Chong was very unhappy. He snorted, stood up, and left with his sleeves. Everyone was stunned on the spot, not very understanding. After a while, Jia Xu stood up and walked out. Pang Tong and Fa Zheng shook their head helplessly, and shook their heads away with a little discouraged look. Then Niu Jin also left, Deng Ai stood there blankly, either in or out, Sun Shangxiang sighed and said to him: "Shizai, don't be angry. The general has a bad temper these two days, it will be better in a few days. Don't worry, I'll go and persuade him again."

Deng Ai nodded and turned around to leave. Sima Yi stopped him apologetically: "General, I'm so embarrassed. It's all because of my words that the general was punished."

Deng Ai smiled bitterly, shook his head and said frustratedly: "It has nothing to do with adults, so don't worry about it. Ai also wants to go and see the city defense of Ximen and take the lead."

"I'll accompany the general." Sima Yi hurriedly followed. He accompanied Deng Ai on the wall of the Ximen City, explaining in detail the preparations Zhu Shuo made at that time. Deng Ai's brows gradually loosened, and he seemed to be very satisfied with the preparations made by Zhu Shuo. However, he was still a little worried. He held the wall and looked at the mountains in the distance, silent. The afterglow of the setting sun reflected on his fish scales, shining with a soft glow. His young face and closed lips were like a knife carving.

Sima Yi looked at Deng Ai with some jealousy. Although Deng Ai is also a descendant of the Deng family in Nanyang, everyone knows that if he had not followed Cao Chong, with his already poor family background and his identity as a side branch, he would not have been able to reach this point so young. And Sima Yi, a child of the Wen County clan in Henoi, is now in his thirties, but he is still a military plan that is not valued. Moreover, because he was unable to be a human being between Cao Pi's brothers, he could at least be valued at Guanzhong. Now

Under Cao Chong, he had no chance at all. Although Cao Chong was happy just now, he handed over Zhu Shuo's two thousand men, but in a blink of an eye, he followed his words and transferred him to the south gate. At the fourth gate of the 4th gate of the magistrate, the west gate was facing Jicheng, the north gate faced the Weishui River, and the east gate was the retreat path if the war was unfavorable, and these three gates were not allowed to be involved in these three gates. Only the mountains were not far from the south gate, Ma Chao could not attack the city from here. Deng Ai guarded the south gate as a reserve team, and he guarded the south gate, which was a real idle waste.

He was not surprised by these. When Cao Chong forced him out of the mountain, he had the idea of ​​killing him, and later he was very cold with him. After arriving in Guanzhong this time, Sima Yi always felt that Cao Chong was guarding himself. Of course, he didn't like Cao Chong, and he was very disdainful of his practice of introducing those strange and lewd things into the academy as a serious academic teaching. In his opinion, only the saint's sutras are things that should be put into effort. No matter how smart other people are, they are still craftsmen, or the laborers mentioned by Mencius. When Ming Jing became an official, this is the right way. He brought those carpenters, doctors, and merchants to be officials. This is simply a slander of the official position.

However, what made him feel helpless was that with the emergence of the Xuan paper and the printing workshops made in Xiangyang, the classic books that were regarded as treasured by various families are no longer so precious now. In Xiangyang, even ordinary people who can only maintain food and clothing can send a son to the academy to study. Although they will have the opportunity to read the scriptures in the third year, there are many bonuses and opportunities to make money in the Xiangyang Academy. Only those who are willing to endure hardships and work hard, and even the poorest children can have the opportunity to study. Reading the scriptures is no longer the only right for children from aristocratic families like him. What is even more terrifying is that understanding the scriptures is no longer the main means of being an official, but has gradually become a purely academic thing. While making old masters like Dong Yu ecstatic, it also makes Sima Yi feel angry that the scholars who want to enter the official career through the Ming Jing are resentful.

He didn't like Cao Chong, so of course he didn't like to see Cao Chong pacifying Xiliang in one fell swoop and making great contributions.

But everything doesn't matter. Ma Chao will come soon. Shangri-Britain City is only two meters high. Ma Chao will definitely use the abundant woods in the mountains and forests next to it to build siege equipment. It should not be difficult to take Shangri-Britain City. Moreover, when the city wall was renovated last year, Zhu Shuo left a flaw under the city wall. A trace of sinister flashed in his eyes on the city wall under Sima Yi's feet.

"General Zhu is very prepared. It seems that the general is a little..." Deng Ai said halfway and immediately stopped it. He glanced at Sima Yi alertly. Sima Yi didn't seem to hear clearly, and was looking at the Wei River outside the city. Deng Ai breathed a sigh of relief, turned the topic and said to Sima Yi: "Mr. Sima seems to be very interested in the Wei River?"

Sima Yi smiled and said, "The kind of people enjoy mountains, and the wise people enjoy water. Although I am not a wise person, I also like water. I also said that the best is like water. My grandson said that the military shape is like water, and everything is related to water. Look at the water more often, and the Wei River here is still calm and quiet. Once you leave Guanzhong, it is a vast ocean and spread thousands of miles. This great road of heaven and earth is really of great use."

Deng Ai smiled: "I see that the adults are like the Wei River. They are quiet now. Once they soar into the sky, they will soar thousands of miles."

Sima Yi was stunned for a moment, shook his head and said, "General Deng has been too rewarded. I just learned from the good and learned from the best. How dare I have such lofty ambitions? Only young talents like the general can soar up to 90,000 miles."

"It is not necessarily a good thing for a young man to become famous." Deng Ai sighed softly, looked at the Weishui in the distance and said to himself, then covered up his smile: "If you like to watch the water, you should take a look at it now. When Ma Chao comes, he will have no chance to see such a quiet Weishui again." After that, he bowed, turned around and left the city wall with his personal guards.

Sima Yi watched Deng Ai down the city humbly. It was not until Deng Ai disappeared into the city that he stood up and looked outside with the city wall, as if he was looking at the Wei River, but his flashing eyes revealed his uneasiness. He thought carefully about what Deng Ai said just now, suddenly curled his lips and turned to get off the city.

Outside the city, a cavalry rushed over.

The scout sent great news. Xiahou Yuan and others forced Han Yin to surrender in Niutougou, adding 20,000 cavalry. Now they have divided the troops. Xiahou Yuan and more than 20,000 infantry and cavalry are galloping towards Shangri City, which is to reach Shangri City in four or five days. Cao Chong was overjoyed when he heard the news and patted his chest at the generals and sweared at the general that he must capture Ma Chao alive under Shangri City this time to see how this defeated general will be the general in the future.

Sima Yi was disdainful, but he pretended to be heartbroken on his face. He flattered him silently, making people feel that he was trying to please Cao Chong, and he didn't even want his face. The look he looked at him was a little contempt.

Sima Yi laughed it off and looked at it as if he hadn't seen it.

———

Ma Zong took 10,000 people out of Jicheng and attacked Wangyuan. Although there were 3,000 soldiers in Wangyuan City, they were not the opponent of Ma Zong. In less than an hour, Ma Zong broke through the city wall guarded by Zhu Shuo, opened the city gate, and the cavalry rushed in. Seeing that the situation was not good, Zhu Shuo fled in panic and hid in the mountains next to him. Shuo, who was still fighting, saw that he could not beat his hands, so he had to give up Wangyuan City, and then fled with Zhu Shuo with his remaining soldiers. Ma Zong did not chase him, leaving a thousand people to defend the city, and went straight to Shangji. Just two hours after Shuo Zeng sent a scout who reported the news to arrive at Shangji City, he rushed to Shangji City and set up a camp. In the middle of the night, Ma Chao brought 20,000 troops to the city.

Ma Chao didn't care about rest, so he washed a little quickly and immediately met Ma Shishi who came out of the city. Ma Shishi told Ma Chao very directly that Shangri-Zhi City had been closed and he could only stay in Ma Chao's camp from now on. The news he brought to Ma Chao was also the last news: "The general led Han Yin in Daxia City, and then forced nearly 20,000 troops to surrender Han Yin's troops in Niutougou. He divided his troops into two groups, one by Xiahou, and the other by 25,000 infantry and cavalry were led by him personally, and he was rushing here from Longxi County. He calculated the time, and he would be able to arrive at Shangri-Zhi City in four days." Ma Shishi revealed the latest situation he had obtained.

"In other words, I only have three days?" Ma Chao frowned and said hesitantly. Han Yin's 20,000 troops, plus the 5,000 Ma family troops led by Ma Dai, were actually forced to surrender by Xiahou Yuan. Han Yin is too incompetent. Even if Cheng Gongying, the think tank, was seriously injured, he would not be defeated so cowardly.

Ma Shi nodded and said, "Yes, if the general cannot defeat Shangji City within three days, he will immediately retreat to Jicheng to defend the city, or go directly to Wudu to retreat to Qiang land. The latest news says that Mengda's tribe and Xiahou Yuan are together, and there are only more than 3,000 Hao Zhao in Wudu. If the general wants to leave there, there should be no problem."

"Three days, is the time too short?" Ma Qian hesitated a little.

"It's not short. Ximen is now guarded by Cao Chong's beloved general Deng Ai. He has four or five thousand men under him, but some of them are newly added soldiers." Ma Shi smiled and smiled proudly: "Besides, the city wall of Xicheng has been secretly tampered with each other. The general will attack for one day tomorrow. Practice his hands and feet first. At midnight, the city wall will collapse. The general can drive straight in. At that time, he will be sure to go 30,000 generals into the city to fight more than 10,000 soldiers and infantry, right?"

Ma Chao and Ma Zong were stunned. They looked at Ma Master in disbelief, obviously not believing the news. If the Ximen City Wall could be defeated without attacking and letting 30,000 of them rush into the city, even if Cao Chong had great skills, he would be powerless. One night, Ma Chao was confident that he would be able to enter the city and capture Cao Chong alive in just one night.

The traitor is indeed more terrifying than the enemy. Ma Chao was so excited that his mouth was dry and his heart beat violently. He looked at Master Ma with some disbelief: "What you said seriously?"

Ma Shi smiled and asked him: "General, do you think I dare to joke about this? Besides, the general is outside the city, and the city wall does not fall, and the general doesn't enter the city. There is still enough time to leave. There is no danger to the general. Why should the general be suspicious of our sincerity?" He thought for a while and said: "I think what the general should pay attention to now is not whether the city wall will fall, but whether the general can seize the opportunity to enter the city directly and succeed in one fell swoop. If Cao Chong ran away, it would be a waste of effort."

"No, as long as the city wall collapses, I will enter the city immediately, and I will never give him a chance to escape." Ma Chao waved his hand and said confidently.

"It's so good." Master Ma nodded and said with satisfaction: "My business is over. I'll wait here to see the general show his power, break Shangji City, and build a great achievement."

"Don't worry, just rest in my camp for a few days. When I get my job done, I will never forget your benefits." Ma Chao stood up excitedly and arranged for someone to take the horse master down to rest, and the wine, meat and women were waiting for him. When the horse master left, he turned around and said to the same excited Ma Zong: "Brother, if you capture Shangji City this time and save your father and the others, you will be a great achievement."

Ma Zong was so happy that his mouth was trembling. He thought there was a fierce battle under Shangri-style city, but he didn't expect that someone had already done his tricks in Shangri-style city. Could it be that God wanted to help them? He could have captured Cao Chong so easily. Haha, the famous chariot general who was sitting on the edge of the cliff, and he was having an unhappy relationship with his subordinates. God really abandoned him. It seems that becoming famous by the young may not be a good thing.

"Don't attack fiercely tomorrow. I will lead 10,000 people to attack. You will take the rest with others. Once the city wall collapses, we will enter the city immediately." Ma Chao turned around a few times, looked up at the tent, and said decisively to Ma Zong: "If...if... if the city wall does not collapse the morning after tomorrow, we will withdraw immediately. Don't waste time and be surrounded by others, that would be too great."

"Here." Seeing that Ma Chao had not lost his mind by this time, he had no remaining worries in his heart. He immediately stood up and replied loudly. After thinking about it, he asked again: "Would you like to make some siege equipment?"

"No need. If the city wall does not collapse, we will suffer a lot of losses as long as 30,000 of us will attack Shangji City. We cannot afford it." Ma Chao firmly rejected Ma Qian's proposal: "There is no way to attack. If you want to prepare combat equipment, the soldiers will not be able to rest tomorrow. If you don't have enough physical strength to defeat the defending enemy in the city in one fell swoop, it will be inappropriate. If you want to prepare, prepare more pine branches and prepare for night battles. By the way, Cao Chong wrote me a letter of war last time, and I will also write a letter of war for him today. He dared not to go to Jicheng. I came to Shangji to see if he dared to go out of the city to fight. Humph, how could he bully me?

Ma Zong shook his head with a smile, feeling that Ma Chao was a little childish. He was still worried about not daring to fight after receiving Cao Chong's letter of war last time. Now he wants to find an opportunity to get his face back. But this is fine. Anyway, sending a letter will not waste time. If Cao Chong is afraid, he might win without a fight, although it is impossible to think about it.

"Just follow the instructions of my brother." Ma Zong sat down, picked up the pen himself, wrote a letter of war, picked it up and blew the ink marks, held it in front of Ma Chao in both hands, Ma Chao lifted it up and looked at it, and smiled: "Have fun, please send it to him like this."

In the city.

Cao Chong looked at Ma Chao's war book, curled his lips and threw it to Jiang Wei, whose eyes were swollen: "Boyue, reply to him, and said that I would beat him to the bruised nose and swollen eyes in Shangqi City this time, and from now on... I won't lift it."

Jiang Wei responded, took Zhan Shu and pondered for a moment. He quickly wrote a few words behind Zhan Shu and handed them back to Cao Chong. Cao Chong took them and looked at him. Seeing that he had only written the words "The decisive battle in the future will never stop until death", but he could not write his vicious words. He couldn't help but smile. Although Jiang Wei hated Ma Chao so much that he wanted to eat his flesh and drink his blood, he still couldn't say such suspected dirty words. He stuffed Zhan Shu back into Jiang Wei's hand, patted his shoulder and said, "Boyou, don't worry, your Jiang family's blood debt will definitely be recovered this time."

Jiang Wei's eyes were shining with tears. He had cried several times since the news of Hao Zhao came, but when he heard Ma Chao's name, he couldn't help but cry. He gritted his teeth and fell to the ground: "Please let General Ensure Jiang Wei go to the battlefield to kill the enemy."

"A real man, treat him as an enemy of thousands of people, how can he show off his courage?" Cao Chong advised him with some embarrassment. He advised Jiang Wei not to think about fighting alone and to look farther. In fact, he was thinking of Jiang Wei's body, just like himself back then. He probably couldn't stand Ma Chao's slinging legs. He didn't want to treat a general in the future as half an unqualified assassin.

"Don't be childish, go and call Ma Deheng (Ma Jun) to me." Cao Chong kicked Jiang Wei who was kneeling on the ground with his toes. Jiang Wei had no choice but to respond, stood up, and hurried out. Sun Shao looked at his back and sighed with some pity. Cao Chong glanced at him: "What are you sighing? The hair is not growing yet, why are you pretending to be mature? Go and call your aunt for me. I have something to ask her."

Sun Shao's face turned red by his words and hurriedly left.
Chapter completed!