Chapter 165 Chapter 26 Tu Shu Divides Han Sui (1)

Ma Chao 156 After Cao Cao was laughed at by Shang Yao in Taiyuan, he spent a month of depression. In March, Cao Cao's mood was peaceful.After thinking hard for a month, he also felt that some of Shang Yao's words made sense.So it was decided to immediately take Hanzhong from the west, and then take Guanzhong. After the two places were cleared up, they would go south and continue their hegemony of unifying the world.On this day, he inscribed two poems on the whitewashed wall of the study, thinking that he would warn himself. Later, he ordered Xia Houyuan and Xu Huang to go to Fenyang City, and soon ordered Zhong Yao, the captain of Sili School, to join forces with Xia Houyuan and Xu Huang's army, seeking to destroy Zhang Lu's Taoist army in Hanzhong.

Advisor Gao Rou saw that Cao Cao seemed to be impulsive, fearing that it would not be good to act too hastily, so she remonstrated: "The prime minister now wants to destroy Zhang Lu in Hanzhong, and the army passes through Guanzhong. How can we not prevent the army in Guanzhong from fearing our army will win? Then attack him, but the rebellion will not follow?" Cao Cao felt that Gao Rou's words were reasonable.Then he said, "Should we just use the name of defeating Zhang Lu and take Ma Teng as the truth? Anyway, Guanzhong will change sooner or later?" Gao Rouxi said: "It's very good, but in this way, the Prime Minister's existing arrangements will have to be changed accordingly."

So Cao Cao ordered Zhong Yao, Xia Houyuan, and Xu Huang to collect intelligence in Guanzhong and monitor Zhang Lu's movements. The tyrant in Guanzhong, surnamed Ma and named Teng, styled Shoucheng, was born in Maoling, Fufeng, and was the descendant of General Fubo of the Shu Han Dynasty.His father's name was Su, and his courtesy name was Zishuo. He was a lieutenant of Lan County in Tianshui County during the reign of Emperor Huan. Later, due to loss of office, he was exiled in Longxi, where he mixed with the Qiang people. He married a Qiang girl and gave birth to Ma Teng.Ma Teng was tall and burly, with a gentle disposition, and was admired by the people of the time.In the last years of Emperor Ling, many Qiang people rebelled, so Ma Teng recruited brave men from the village to quell the rebellion. In Chuping's middle age, he calmed Xiqiang and was named General Zhengxi by the court.He had a friend whose surname was Han and whose name was Sui. The two worked together to quell the chaos. Han Sui also had military merits and was named General Zhenxi by the court.The two became brothers with different surnames.

Ma Tengsheng has three sons.The eldest son Ma Chao, styled Mengqi, the second son Ma Xiu, the third son Ma Tie; and the eldest son of the Ma Teng brothers, Ma Dai.Together with Han Sui, the four assisted Ma Teng; Ma Teng died of illness a year ago, and Ma Chao succeeded him.There are also eight soldiers and horses under him, namely Yang Huo, Li Kan, Cheng Yi, Hou Qian, Cheng Yin, Zhang Heng, Liang Xing, and Ma Yuan. They have a total of 100,000 troops and horses, entrenched in Guanzhong, and regard Tongguan as a natural danger. Sure enough, as Gao Rou expected, the generals in Guanzhong saw Cao Cao's army coming, and concluded that it was just an excuse to attack Zhang Lu.So a joint meeting was held to discuss the future fate of Guanzhong.

Compared with his father Ma Teng, Ma Chao was taller and rougher, and his temperament was more violent. At the beginning of the meeting, he said loudly: "My father had expected that Cao Cao would come to spy on me in Guanzhong, and Liu Bei would be interested in Hanzhong. Yesterday Cao Cao sent an envoy to submit a letter, saying that the Shang Yao Rebellion was established, because he thought that Zhang Lu in Hanzhong also used demonic words to confuse the people, fearing that a catastrophe would gradually arise, and he wanted to take advantage of my Guanzhong road to conquer Zhang Lu, so as to There will be no future troubles. Cao Cao’s heart is in Guanzhong, but luckily his late father told him about it. What do you guys think, how should we get rid of it?”

Han Sui coughed and said: "In terms of the overall situation, if we show weakness to Cao Cao and let him go, but he really uses the road to attack Zhang Lu, then Shang Yao will be equal, Zhang Lu will be determined, and Cao Cao will be defeated by Sun. He and Liu Zhi only regarded us as a thorn in the eyes of the heroes of Guanzhong. At that time, he returned to the army with a victorious army and attacked us. The situation we waited for was worthy of worry. "If he enters our territory under the pretext of borrowing a road, his army will penetrate into my hinterland, and it goes without saying that he will cause serious trouble. Therefore, we must not lure wolves into the house.

"The current plan is to keep Cao Cao at the door. As for the envoy he sent, you might as well take it up and kill it to show our military might. Brother Teng has passed away, and he is old and incapable. I would like to share with all my nephews Reject Cao Cao and imitate the virtues of Shang Yao, even if you die, you will have no regrets!" After saying this, his long beard fluttered, and he looked forward to Zixiong. Ma Chao and the generals couldn't help clapping their hands at the same time.I only listened to Yang Qiu's suggestion: "Tongguan is the first pass in the east of the middle of my pass. It is extremely steep, and there are Weishui and the Yellow River as the basis. It is enough to keep Cao Cao's army out of the gate. The final general is willing to lead his elite soldiers to defend Tongguan."

Immediately, six generals including Cheng Yin, Hou Qian and Liang Xing expressed their willingness to guard Tongguan together. Ma Chao said: "With the danger of Tongguan, I am afraid that so many soldiers and horses will not be needed. Only three elite soldiers, Yang Qiu, Liang Xing, and Cheng Yin, are sufficient for this task. The rest of the soldiers and horses should be gathered on the banks of the Wei River and the Yellow River to guard against Cao Cao. If you can't attack Tongguan, attack and cross the river." After the discussion, Ma Chao ordered the envoys to be beheaded to prepare for battle against the enemy.

Not one day after May 7, Meteor Tanma reported to Yecheng the news that Xiliang's alliance of generals had rejected Cao and killed the envoy, and Cao Cao was furious.At that time, Sun Quan suddenly wanted to move on the southern line, and Liu Bei also entered Yizhou. Cao Cao focused his energy on analyzing Sun and Liu's movements.Hearing that Ma Chao beheaded the envoy he sent, he suddenly thought that Sun and Liu would make a big move at any time, but the time has not yet come.If the time is right, there will be Ma Chao on this side, wouldn't it distract me.Taking advantage of Sun and Liu Wei's big moves, Ma Chao will not be destroyed, when will we wait? Therefore, the determination to march westward has been strengthened.

On the same day, Cao Hong was ordered to lead the army to go south, change defense with Cao Ren's troops, and station in Xiangyang to contain Sun Quan.Sun Quan didn't know why Cao Cao made such a move, so he stopped crossing the river.And Cao Ren led his troops westward and went straight to Tongguan.Cao Cao appointed him General Anxi, and put Xia Houyuan, Xu Huang's armies, and Zhong Yao's troops under Cao Ren's unified command. Cao Ren led an army of 100,000 and arrived at Tongguan.That Tongguan is really steep.Cao Ren's subordinates Xu Huang and Xia Houyuan fought many times, but Yang Qiu, Liang Xing and others in the city just ignored them; once Cao Ren ordered the soldiers to attack the city with ladders, countless bows and arrows, rolling stones, etc. fell from the city wall, and the soldiers were quite miserable. There is damage.Cao Ren and others had nothing to do, and the confrontation lasted for three months.

It was summer, the weather was hot, and the terrain in Tongguan was humid and miasmatic. Many soldiers contracted serious diseases, and food and grass were also quite a problem.Cao Ren convened a discussion, and everyone agreed that it would be better to withdraw the troops first, and Xu Tuo made a good strategy. Cao Cao agreed to Cao Ren's request and ordered the army to rest properly.In the second month, Cao Cao convened a military meeting in Yecheng to discuss the matter of breaking Tongguan.The civil and military officials who participated in the meeting included Cao Hong, Cao Ren, Xia Houyuan, Xu Huang, Xu Zhu, Zhang Liao, Le Jin, Xun You, Bing Yuan, Cheng Yu and Jia Xu. Among them, Jia Xu was furiously detained in Jiangling by Cao Cao because of disagreement with Cao Cao before the Battle of Chibi; back. At the beginning of the meeting, Cao Cao first spoke: "The enemy of Tongguan blocked our army from outside the gate by virtue of natural danger; our army originally wanted to take the counties in Guanzhong in one fell swoop, but it was blocked at this first hurdle, which made me deeply worried. ...However, looking at the overall situation, I still insist that the initiative in this war is in our hands. If the enemy is completely passive, it is only a tactical problem. I wonder who can solve it?"