A few days later, Xu Huang reorganized his troops, took enough weapons and food, and marched towards Wuguan in a mighty force.
When they were about to reach the pass, Xu Shang in front urged his horse to turn back and shouted, "General, something terrible is happening!"
Xu Huang raised his axe and asked, "Why are you so panicked?"
Xu Shang pointed to the front and said, "General, please go and see it yourself."
Xu Huang was puzzled and urged his horse forward. When he arrived in front of the army, he was speechless: "How... How is this possible?"
I saw a high wall suddenly appeared out of nowhere on the cliff in front of me. It was about three or four meters high, as if half of the cliff had extended out of thin air, blocking the road.
"This is an ice wall!" Xu Shang was also shocked. "They used sand and water to build a wall. It is indestructible."
Xu Huang's face turned pale. Although this newly built ice wall was extremely uneven, with potholes and crooked shapes, it looked more like a cliff, especially with the ice hanging on it, which made it look more like a glacier formed by a waterfall.
This ice wall is twice as high as Wuguan Pass, so it must be extremely thick inside. In addition, there is an ice slope about three or four feet wide under the wall, extending from the bottom of the cliff to the edge of the cliff. If you stand on it carelessly, you will slide into the ravine.
The defenders continued pouring ice along the cliff, and the ice slope became higher and higher, like a moat. If they wanted to destroy it, the defenders on the high ground would surely fight back, and many soldiers would be killed before they reached the ice wall.
What makes Xu Huang even more helpless is that these ice walls will melt and collapse in the spring. It is not worth sacrificing human lives for them.
While he was observing, a basin of cold water was suddenly poured on his head, and Xu Huang hurriedly spurred his horse to avoid it.
"Hahaha, Xu Gongming, how about taking a look at Wei's masterpiece?"
Wei Yan stuck his head out from the ice wall, holding a wooden basin and laughing.
Xu Huang looked up and cursed, "Wei Yan, you bastard, do you dare to come down and fight me?"
Wei Yan hooked his finger: "Come up if you can!"
Xu Huang was so angry that he was about to yell at them, but when he saw a dense crowd of defenders on the high wall, he quickly retreated again.
All the soldiers were carrying wooden barrels, and some were piling up large stones and ice blocks. At such a high distance, the arrows had lost their power, but a stone as big as a fist could be fatal if it fell down. Even if a basin of cold water was poured on their heads, the soldiers could not withstand it.
Looking at Wei Yan standing on the cliff with his hands on his hips, Xu Huang stood in the wind for a long time, gritting his teeth and cursing:
"Wei Yan, fuck your ancestors—"
…
Liu Qi's surprise attack on Wuguan not only caused shock inside the pass, but also focused the attention of the whole world on Chang'an to observe the movements of Cao's army.
Ma Teng stationed his troops in Chencang. He was originally ordered to attack Hanzhong, but when he heard the news, he did not take any action. He used the winter snow as an excuse to postpone the expedition until the next year.
On this day, I was checking the stable with Ma Tie and his son. Xiliang is mainly composed of cavalry, so the war horses must be taken good care of, especially in winter. If there is not enough fodder and the horses are not fattened, they will not be able to fight the next year.
Ma Xiu came hurriedly and whispered, "Father, Liu Qi of Jingzhou sent an envoy to visit."
"Oh?" Ma Teng rolled his eyes, nodded and smiled, "Liu Qi made a stunning debut outside the Great Wall and defeated Cao Cao. It is really admirable. He must have come here for a purpose. Please come to the study quickly."
After returning home to wash and change clothes, he came to the study and saw a fifty-year-old farmer sitting by the fire and drinking tea. Ma Tie introduced him as Sun Qian, the envoy from Jingzhou.
Sun Qian saluted and said, "I have heard of your great name for a long time. Seeing you today, you are indeed very majestic."
Ma Teng clasped his fists and said with a smile: "Sir, you followed the emperor's uncle and worked hard for the Han Dynasty. I have heard about it. It's a pleasure to meet you."
After sitting down again, Ma Teng ordered people to serve wine and banquet, and said straight to the point: "Uncle Liu was unfortunately killed. I heard that Liu Qi of Jingzhou inherited his ambition to revive the Han Dynasty and defeated Cao Cao, which made people applaud. Today I am sending you to Guanzhong to give you some advice."
"How dare I!" Sun Qian clasped his fists and said, "The eldest son has been keeping a low profile and forbearing for many years. He was originally going to work together with the emperor's uncle, but fate has done so. He saw that the general's name was also on the imperial edict, so he specially ordered me to come and visit him to discuss strategies to curb Cao."
"Oh?" Ma Teng twirled his beard and pondered, "I have also heard about the battle of Nanyang, but Prime Minister Cao persuaded me to fight against Han Sui, which was a favor to me. If I turn against him, wouldn't I be laughed at by others?"
Sun Qian snorted coldly, stood up and said sternly: "The Han Dynasty is unfortunate. The traitor Cao is monopolizing power and deceiving the emperor. He is even worse than Mang Zhuo. The general is the descendant of a loyal and righteous man, and he is in the position of Mu Bo, but he is willing to be in the same party with the traitor. There is no loyal and righteous man in the world who can support the emperor. How sad!"
"Wait a minute, sir!" Seeing Sun Qian was about to leave, Ma Teng hurriedly stopped him and said with a fist: "Sir, you have come all the way here, so you must have some advice. I would like to hear your opinion."
Sun Qian sat down again and sighed, "The Han Dynasty is declining, and the people are exhausted. As a relative of the Han Dynasty, Mr. Liu should unite the loyal and good people, wipe out the kingly way, and kill the villains. It is because I think that you and the emperor's uncle have received the secret edict to support the Han Dynasty together, so I came to discuss the matter of killing the traitors."
Ma Teng sighed, "I am the descendant of General Fubo, how can I not serve my country? However, Cao is powerful, and there is an imperial decree. If I do not obey, I will be killed. It is not a pity for me to die, but how can I bear to implicate my family and more than 100,000 Xiliang troops?"
Sun Qian sneered, "People have no intention of harming tigers, but tigers are harmful to people's hearts. Even if Cao Cao surrenders to Cao, how can he tolerate the general? He is just afraid of the general's strong army and horses, and because Hebei is not settled, he dare not move rashly. This time he encounters obstacles in the south, he will definitely use troops to the west."
Ma Teng narrowed his eyes slightly: "Why do you think so?"
Sun Qian said, "The traitor Cao is trying to persuade you to make peace with Han Sui in order to take Liang Province! Now you are trapped in Chencang, and you were summoned to the court earlier. Once you step out of the pass, you will be at the mercy of others. What can you do?"
Ma Teng laughed loudly and said, "I have already seen through Cao's plan. My father and I have been active in Xiliang for decades. How could we easily leave our base?"
Sun Qian added: "When Cao Cao's plan failed, he came up with another one: ordering the general to attack Hanzhong, which was actually a plan to drive the tiger to devour the wolf."
Ma Teng was puzzled and said, "Cao Cao promised me the land of Hanzhong and has already appointed me as the governor of Hanzhong. Zhang Lu is just a bandit who is defending himself. It will be easy for me to defeat him. Why should I worry about him?"
Sun Qian said with a smile: "The Xiliang cavalry roamed the world and was invincible. Dong Zhuo used this to gain merit and suppress his subordinates and intimidate the princes. Now the general also has 100,000 elite cavalry, so Cao Cao is naturally afraid of him. But if we fight in the mountains, the cavalry is nothing to be afraid of. Yangping Pass is very dangerous and deep in the mountains. How can the Xiliang soldiers capture it?"
Ma Teng frowned and nodded, saying, "Sir, you are right. If it were not for this, I would have sent troops long ago. It is only because we do not have enough troops and weapons to attack the city that we have delayed until now."
Sun Qian stroked his beard and said, "Even if Cao Cao fails to attack Hanzhong with this plan, it will still cause the general to lose soldiers and generals. As a second choice, it is a plan to kill someone with a borrowed knife. Once the general loses power, he will be killed."
Ma Teng was startled and slammed the table and cursed: "Cao thief, I, Ma Teng, will never coexist with you!"
Ever since they refused to enter the court to assist the emperor, Ma Teng and his son had been feeling uneasy, fearing that Cao Cao would reprimand and retaliate.
Unexpectedly, Cao Cao not only did not blame him, but sent envoys to appease him. Since Ma Teng was unwilling to enter the court, he let Ma Teng serve the country, sent troops to attack the rice thief Zhang Lu, and recommended him as the prefect of Hanzhong.
The father and his two sons could not guess Cao Cao's thoughts, so they kept hesitating. It was only then that Sun Qian pointed out the secret and they realized it was a vicious plot.