noffsinger Chapter 460 The Girl Who Vows to Kill Ma Chao! Tiger Steps into Guanzhong, Waiting in Ward!
Chapter 460 The Girl Who Vows to Kill Ma Chao! Tiger Steps into Guanzhong, Waiting in Ward!
When Ma Chao ordered the captured soldiers to be burned.
Tianshui County.
In a branch city that had been occupied by Ma Chao's army
A graceful young woman, taking advantage of the terrain, outmaneuvered several Qiang soldiers.
Listening to the incompetent curses of several Qiang soldiers.
The girl quietly climbed onto a rooftop, took three throwing knives from her pocket, and hurled them at the heads of several bewildered Qiang soldiers!
"Pfft!"
Two throwing knives hit their targets, while one missed.
The Qiang soldiers were furious, but they still couldn't catch the agile young girl.
After wandering around and shaking off the Qiang soldiers, the girl arrived at an alley.
There were several little children with dusty faces in the alley.
Upon seeing the girl return, he quickly approached her and asked with concern:
"Sister, sister, are you alright?"
The girl patted the heads of the little children and sighed:
"Sister, it's okay."
"Those fools are no match for my sister."
"But your sister didn't find much food today, so you might go hungry."
The children were not discouraged; instead, they smiled and comforted the girl.
"If it weren't for my sister, we would have starved to death long ago."
"Sister Food, you can keep it for us, we're not hungry."
After saying that, the little children tugged at their bellies, pretending they weren't hungry.
But their empty stomachs didn't cooperate and made a "grumbling" sound.
The girl turned around, tears streaming down her face.
She is not the biological older sister of these little children.
The parents of these children were mercilessly killed by the Qiang, Di, and Jie people when Ma Chao's army breached this outpost.
She took in these little babies.
However, the city's supplies had been almost entirely looted by the Qiang, Di, and Jie people.
Her individual efforts were barely enough to keep these little children from starving.
Thinking of Ma Chao, the culprit behind everything, the girl took out a dagger and carved several words heavily on the ground:
"Ma Chao, I will surely kill you!"
……
Tianshui border
Xiahou Yuan led Cao Cao's cavalry, charging forward with lightning speed.
"Father...Father...Take a rest."
"I really can't hold on any longer."
Xiahou Ba, who had just completed his coming-of-age ceremony, was panting heavily as he spoke to Xiahou Yuan.
Normal horseback riding isn't that tiring.
However, Xiahou Yuan's forced march mode left both men and horses exhausted!
Before he could finish speaking, Xiahou Yuan slapped him across the face!
"Bastard!"
"If we rest now, what will happen to the people of Tianshui?"
"If you can't handle this kind of forced march, I'll use Ziyi's connections to get you a menial job in the Minister's mansion!"
Hearing his father's curses, Xiahou Ba shuddered and almost peed himself on the spot!
Xiahou Ba could distinguish between working hard for a few more days and working hard for a lifetime.
Looking at the devastation on the border, Xiahou Yuan's eyes were filled with sorrow.
Ma Chao and his men's atrocities were not without resistance.
The soldiers in the branch city who were unwilling to retreat, as well as some civilian groups, such as镖师 (bodyguards/escorts), were all resisting.
But against Ma Chao and his army of over 30,000 Qiang, Di, and Jie soldiers, they were like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
Xiahou Yuan had never hated anyone like this before.
Ma Chao is the first one!
……
Jichengwai
Ma Chao looked with great interest at the corpses of the soldiers he had ordered to be burned to death.
If prenatal checkups existed in the late Han Dynasty, Ma Chao would definitely be one of those naturally born super-male babies—no, he should be described as a mutant among super-males, the king of super-males!
The leaders of the Qiang, Di, and Jie tribes, while admiring Ma Chao, were also apprehensive about his ruthlessness.
Just then, an untimely report rang out.
"Report!"
"Reporting to my lord."
"News has come from the border that Xiahou Yuan has led over ten thousand Cao army cavalry to break through the border!"
Ma Chao turned around in a daze.
Then, to the astonishment of the guards, Ma Chao kicked him in the chest!
"Pfft"!
The guards fell heavily to the ground, their ribs broken in countless places.
But Ma Chao didn't need a reason to attack him; his bad mood was the biggest reason.
Ignoring the guards who had been kicked to the ground, several Qiang, Di, and Jie leaders surrounded Ma Chao and asked him:
"General Divine Might, what should we do?"
"I've heard that Xiahou Yuan is one of Cao Cao's trusted generals, especially skilled in commanding cavalry and long-distance raids!"
"This person was able to travel from Wuwei to Tianshui in a very short time, which shows that he is quite capable."
Ma Chao sneered:
"A thousand-mile raid?"
"In my opinion, this is the biggest joke!"
"If he pursues speed, how much morale will his elite soldiers have left?"
"Moreover, he only has a force of over ten thousand men, while our army still has no less than thirty thousand soldiers!"
"With just two-thirds of our forces, we can utterly defeat them!"
"General Shenwei is wise!"
Several Qiang, Di, and Jie leaders quickly offered fresh and hot flattery.
Ma Chao was also full of energy.
He could roughly guess Xiahou Yuan's thoughts, which were nothing more than hoping to rescue Jicheng as soon as possible.
Ma Chao scoffed at this.
Rescue? Rescue my ass!
What's the point of caring about these ordinary people?
For someone like Ma Chao, slaughter is the only way to maximize profits.
In order to avenge his previous defeat, Ma Chao decided to personally lead 20,000 troops to confront Xiahou Yuan.
The siege of Jicheng was left to Ma Dai to continue.
……
When they were about a hundred miles away from Jicheng, Xiahou Yuan suddenly ordered the entire army to cease operations and set up camp on a high slope.
Xiahou Ba asked in confusion:
"Father, weren't you anxious to rescue Jicheng? Why have you stopped now?"
"Snapped!"
Another slap came down.
Xiahou Yuan said angrily, "You are not competitive enough!"
"Are you really stupid or just pretending?"
"If Ma Chao weren't a fool, he would have received news of our army's breakthrough at this moment."
"I only brought over ten thousand cavalrymen with me this time. The rest of the army is with your Uncle Zilong and Uncle Zihe."
"If Ma Chao knew the true strength of my troops, what do you think he would do next?"
Xiahou Ba had a sudden inspiration. While rubbing his stinging face, he said:
"If our troops join forces with the garrison of Jicheng, their morale will surely soar."
"To avoid such a situation, Ma Chao is very likely to launch a surprise attack while our army is exhausted!"
Xiahou Yuan nodded and said:
"You're still somewhat salvageable, kid. I won't actually have to pull strings to get you into the Minister's mansion!"
Xiahou Ba scratched his head sheepishly:
“This is a similar example I saw in your military treatise, Father.”
Xiahou Yuan suddenly realized.
The military treatise that Xiahou Ba mentioned was the one that Su Yu had given to Xiahou Yuan before.
Of course, Su Yu didn't have the time or inclination to write his own military treatise.
He got it from Xun You; it was Xun You's own twelve ingenious strategies.
Moreover, Xun You hasn't been paid copyright fees yet.
They claimed it was to promote Xun You.
Even so, Xun You showed delight and was extremely grateful to him!
In the end, it was the honest man who bore the brunt of it all.
Among the twelve ingenious strategies, one is "to wait in ease for the enemy to tire themselves out."
Xiahou Yuan was using this very move at that moment.
After receiving news that Xiahou Yuan had made a hasty march and broken through the border, Ma Chao would surely assume that Xiahou Yuan and his troops were exhausted.
However, Xiahou Yuan chose a favorable terrain and prepared his troops in advance, waiting for Ma Chao to arrive.
The contrast between Cao Cao's army after their rest and Ma Chao's army, which was forced to rush to defeat Xiahou Yuan, was stark.
In comparison, it was Ma Chao who was the one who was exhausted.
Xiahou Yuan, with his mastery of military strategy, took his ability to command troops to a whole new level.
What Xiahou Yuan didn't know was...
Historically, he died precisely because of Fa Zheng's strategy of waiting for the enemy to tire themselves out.
Exhausted from the march, he and his personal guards were ambushed by Huang Zhong and he died on the spot at the foot of Dingjun Mountain.
But now, Huang Zhong has joined Cao Cao's camp.
Xiahou Yuan himself also learned to wait for the enemy to tire themselves out.
If someone were to use the strategy of waiting for him to tire himself out in the future, one can imagine how badly they would end up shooting themselves in the foot!
……