Three Kingdoms

  Chapter 936 The luck of the first battle

  Wuzhangyuan.

  The confrontation between the two armies has been going on for some time, and both sides can't help but feel a little anxious. They both want to break the deadlock first and achieve a breakthrough in stages, so they both started some mutual tentative attacks.

  This kind of tentative attack is mostly handed over to the cavalry, because only they can maneuver at various large angles more quickly and seek the best attack opportunity during the pull.

  But not every cavalry attack has good luck...

   As the sun rose, Ma Chao led 300 cavalry to patrol and cruise along the Wei River.

Although the Weishui River is currently relatively strong, it does not mean that it is impossible to cross the river, and war horses are born to swim. As long as the water flow is not too fast, war horses can even lead people to swim across rivers that are not wide. Of course, Riding is not allowed, but you can hold the horse rope, so patrolling back and forth along the Weishui River has become a necessary measure to prevent the enemy from sneaking around and attacking.

  Ma Chao is only sixteen years old this year, which is the age that makes people feel the most youthful. Now Ma Chao's face has just shed its innocence, but it has not yet reached the bottom of maturity. His spirit is flying high, and his gaze is full of vitality. Perhaps because he is a little bored, he is holding a long gun and waving it on the horse's back. .

The spear used by Ma Chao seems to be the same as that of Ma Yan’s family. It looks like a dagger with a long handle, and the blade is longer and flatter. "This type, because once the flat and long blade is stuck into a hard object, it is more difficult to pull out, and if the angle of force is wrong, it is easy to damage the blade, so it is also a relatively peculiar and difficult to use type of spear.

   But Ma Chao seems to be very used to it, and even has a bit of liking in his expression.

   This long gun was a birthday present given to him by his father Ma Teng just this year, and it also represents the recognition that Ma Chao means becoming a warrior. The finely crafted spear is brandished, and the figure of the Suzaku spreading its wings is outlined with gold and silver threads at the position of the gun under the blade, and it is shining in the sun, as if it is about to flap its wings and fly, just like Ma Chao. current mood. For so many years, he has always hoped that he can lead the army like his father, and come and go like wind and thunder. Now, he can finally spread his wings and fly high...

   "Woo—" Ma Chao lightly pulled the reins, raised his spear, signaled the whole army to stop, and then slowly reined in the horse.

The war horse stopped slowly, shook its head, swiped its tail left and right a few times, then shook the fur on its neck to shake out the sweat stained on the fur, and snorted a few times in dissatisfaction. It’s like telling Ma Chao why he stopped shortly after he started running, it’s really uncomfortable...

  A war horse is actually like a child. When it starts running, it often has a lot of fun.

   Ma Chao habitually bent down and patted the war horse's neck to calm down the war horse's little emotions. The war horse likes to run, but as a rider, it is necessary to maintain the horse's physical strength at all times and not use it excessively. Ma Chao played with his father on horseback when he was young. Although there is nothing written about cavalry, Ma Chao still learned a lot from his father.

  Suddenly, Ma Chao seemed to see something in front of him, and immediately called two people to have a look.

  The two subordinates followed the direction of Ma Chao's finger, but saw nothing. The two couldn't help but looked at each other, and then walked forward slowly suspiciously.

   Ma Chao saw it, his expression changed slightly, but he didn't say anything. This was his first time leading the army alone, and it was an opportunity he had begged his father for a long time, so these soldiers didn't know him well, and it was inevitable that they hesitated about his orders...

Sometimes opportunities do not come again and again, and they are often fleeting. If Ma Chao cannot show the qualities that a qualified commander should have, then maybe he will lose the opportunity to lead the army alone next time. There will be no such opportunities in a short time.

  The soldiers who went to investigate soon returned, with a hint of surprise, they stepped forward and reported: "Young Commander, there are water marks and horseshoe marks ahead!"

   Ma Chao suddenly regained his spirits. This time he led the army alone, but unexpectedly encountered a situation. Such an opportunity must not be missed. He immediately waved his hand and led the people to the said imprint.

  Perhaps in the eyes of ordinary people, this place is just a messy water mark, and there is no reason to see it, but in the eyes of skilled scouts, they can easily tell that there are actually people crossing the river...

  Fortunately, it was early in the morning, and the sun was not strong, but even so, as long as one or two more hours passed, this imprint would disappear under the sunlight.

   So it is really Ma Chao’s luck.

"Young Commander, there are at least three or four hundred horses, maybe five hundred, maybe there will be more..." Because the water stains are gradually drying up and disappearing, even if Ma Teng specially sent them Ma Chao's experienced personal guards couldn't tell exactly how many people sneaked across the Wei River and went around to the rear of Ma Teng and Han Sui.

   "Five hundred riders..." Ma Chao sat on the horseback, looked at the surrounding terrain, and then looked in the direction where the water traces disappeared, frowning.

In the Han Dynasty, as a commander in the field, there was no such thing as a GPS locator, not even a compass. Everything was done by experience, memory, and personal judgment. It can be said that if People who have the physique of road idiots in later generations, if they really came to command the soldiers in the Han Dynasty, I am afraid that they would really end up like Li Guang.

   Ma Chao needs to quickly combine the terrain here with the impression in his mind, and then judge where the cavalry who circled behind are probably going in the hidden direction...

First of all, one thing that is certain is that you will never hide too far, because if you run too far, it will lose its strategic significance, so it must be repaired in some river valley, either to prepare for the next ambush, or It is to cooperate with the soldiers on Wuzhang Plain to carry out surprise operations.

   So now we must find this cavalry as soon as possible!

   Ma Chao's personal guards were half asking, half suggesting: "...Young Commander, should we... go back to the army first and make a decision after reporting to the Grand Commander?"

The cavalry fought around the back road. Although they carried rations, they must not last long. Therefore, it can be basically judged that the Xiliang soldiers in Wuzhangyuan must have made some moves in the past two days, so they returned to the army immediately and informed Ma Teng and Ma Teng in the camp. Han Sui is also a reasonable thing.

Moreover, when Ma Teng asked Ma Chao to lead the army, he only asked Ma Chao to patrol the river and check the situation in the back road. He did not ask Ma Chao to fight. If it was not a last resort, who would ask a 16-year-old child to go out under the condition of adequate preparations? Just go to the battlefield to fight?

  But Ma Chao didn’t think so.

After thinking for a while, Ma Chao found two people and ordered them to return to the camp to report such a discovery. Then he turned to his guards and said, "Take fifty cavalry and find a place to hide around. Since you can cross here once If there is still a large group of people crossing the river, you will send someone to report to the commander immediately; if there is a small group of people, you will kill those who can be intercepted!"

   "Wei!" Seeing that Ma Chao's words were reasonable, the personal guards promised loudly, then hesitated, and said, "... so young commander you..."

  Ma Chao looked up to the sky and smiled, "Haha, so... naturally I want to meet these guys!"

  After speaking, he turned the horse's head and followed the direction of the water trail without waiting for the guards to react...

"Young Commander! Young Commander!" The guards yelled twice anxiously. Seeing that Ma Chao was walking forward without looking back, he arranged people to hide nearby, and at the same time led the rest of the people to chase after Ma Chao's figure. go.

  In a valley, Li Li was sitting leaning against a stone wall, straightened his legs, beat him lightly with his hands a few times, and hummed comfortably.

   This time, they brought four hundred cavalry around from the back of Wuzhangyuan, just to solve the big trouble of Ma Teng and Han Sui's coalition forces.

  Although there are not many four hundred cavalry, if they appear behind Ma Teng and Han Sui at an important moment and launch a surprise attack, the effect will be very fatal.

In order to hide their figure and not be discovered by the troops of Ma Teng and Han Sui on the opposite side of the Weishui River, Li Li and the others went out day and night to prevent the smoke and dust from the march from being discovered by the opponent's scouts, and to not expose their figure as much as possible. For the sake of safety, they didn't even dare to start a fire at will. Only in this kind of valley terrain, surrounded by all sides, would they stop for a short rest and light a fire to make some hot rice and hot soup to eat.

   Li Li is a member of Li Jue's clan. If counted according to blood relationship, Li Li is Li Li's uncle, but there is not much difference in age. Li Li is about two or three years older than Li Jue...

  But an uncle is still an uncle, and an elder is an elder, so no matter what Li Li thinks in his heart, he still has to do a good job as a junior in front of Li Jue.

   This time when he came to Wuzhangyuan, Li Li originally thought that he could flex his muscles and finally be able to lead the army alone, but the reality is that Li Jue asked him to be only Fan Chou's lieutenant general...

   Lieutenant General.

  There is only one chief general in an army, but the lieutenant general, hehe...

Therefore, when he got the opportunity to lead the army alone this time, Li Li was really overjoyed. You must know that if this battle goes well, then he may no longer be the lieutenant general of an army in the future, and he will always only be sent by the general. Only when you have the right to lead the army, you will really become a general with the personal guard and the right to command the army!

The surrounding soldiers didn't care what Li Li was thinking. They crossed the river in the middle of the night and crossed the bank before dawn. They had to find this hidden valley. Whether it was a man or a horse, they were exhausting, especially when they were dressed in a suit. The wet clothes always have to be taken off to dry or dry, so in the valley, a lot of bonfires have been raised, although there are simple sheds built with branches to cover the smoke from the bonfires , but when there were more fires, the smoke and dust gradually increased. Although it was not obvious at first, after a long time, the smoke became obviously heavier than other places.

  While Li Li was thinking about it, the soldiers in charge of the lookout rushed over, screaming hoarsely: "Cavalry! Cavalry!"

  Li Li trembled all over, jumped up quickly, and said, "What cavalry? Where did the cavalry come from?! How many are there?"

  The soldier on duty pointed his hand out of the valley, swallowed a mouthful of saliva and said, "Many, many cavalrymen are coming from afar!"

   "I know the cavalry is coming!" Li Li almost yelled, "I was asking you how many came?!"

  The soldier rolled his eyes: "This...no...don't know..."

   "You trash!" Li Li couldn't bear it anymore, kicked the **** to the ground, and then shouted, "There are all of them, hurry up! Get ready to fight!"

The other soldiers who were waiting around the pot to eat, couldn't help but turn pale with fright when they inquired. They hurriedly grabbed their weapons, some of their horses and some of their horses. They were in a mess for a while. Although they were veterans who had been in battle, However, they suddenly encountered such a situation in a hurry, and they still felt a little flustered, and they didn't know how many pots and stoves they kicked over in a hurry, so they barely formed a formation.

  But they were still slow after all. When they had just lined up and were about to rush out of the valley, they heard a rush of horseshoes outside the valley, and the opponent had already arrived near the valley...

...

Just when Li Li wanted to confirm the number of cavalry coming from the opposite side, the troops outside the valley had already ignited a lot of rockets, and they rushed towards the position of the valley entrance, throwing some who didn't know where to pick them up. The dry grass and firewood were crumpled into a ball, lit and thrown in. Some horse manure was even stuffed into these hay balls. Not only were sparks flying everywhere, but a lot of smoke was emitted!

When Li Li chose this valley, he was interested in its concealment. If it wasn't for the fact that there were more bonfires lit, it would have been difficult to find this valley, but now the advantage of concealment has become It became a nightmare for Li Li and others.

  The burning horse dung ball exudes disgusting thick smoke, and the thick smoke billows in the valley immediately, making it very difficult for people and horses to breathe...

   "Ahem! Charge! Charge...cough...charge out!" Seeing that the momentum was not good, Li Li gave the order to charge without thinking about anything else.

  The soldiers, who had already been smothered by the thick smoke intolerable, rushed towards Taniguchi in a panic when they heard the order, and completely lost their formation!

"Damn it! Keep... cough cough... Paul... cough cough cough cough..." Li Li couldn't help but want to shout loudly when he saw this, but he didn't expect that he was choked by the thick smoke just after taking a breath, and he coughed repeatedly for a while. It will be impossible to say any formed words, let alone issue orders.

The Xiliang cavalry, who had completely lost their formation, had just rushed out of the thick smoke. Before they could take a deep breath and regain their chaotic vision, they collided head-on with the arrows shot from the opposite side. Shout out and fall to the ground...

  The Xiliang cavalry who rushed out one after another couldn't see what was going on in front of them at all, and they didn't understand what was under their horse's hooves from time to time.

Ma Chao, who was standing outside the valley, was sitting on his horseback leisurely, commanding his soldiers to shoot one after another deadly arrows at the shadowy figure of Taniguchi, although it was still Such a young face shone with an inexplicable light, and even the eyes were excited, like a wolf who had bitten the throat of its prey for the first time and tasted the sweet taste of blood...

  (end of this chapter)