Sima Yi released the captives and ordered Han Hao to guard the stockade and light torches. When the Western Liang army arrived, he turned off the fire and retreated. When he heard the shouting and killing in the stockade, he turned back and set fire to the grain carts without fighting.
He also ordered General Liu Zhu to set up an ambush at the foot of Mount Hua, dig many pits, and use archers to ambush the troops of Tongguan. When the enemy's army arrived, he would retreat into the mountains and head east to take Tongguan after daybreak.
After all the instructions were ready, Sima Yi and Xu Huang led their troops back to the Weishui River and continued to sail westward.
It was already night, the moon rose over the eastern hills, and the river meandered like a jade belt into the distance. When it reached Chang'an, the men and horses disembarked and sent scouts to gather information.
Not long after, scouts came to report that a large group of Xiliang cavalry had headed eastward half an hour ago. There were so many people and horses, and the sound of horse hooves was like thunder, which alarmed the people and caused everyone along the way to talk about it.
Sima Yi ordered: "General Xu, lead the troops to ambush near Mount Li, and wait for Ma Teng and his son to return, then kill them. There is no need to fight to the death, just kill some of the Xiliang troops."
Xu Huang was shocked by Sima Yi's arrangement at this time. He moved step by step calmly and cautiously, not at all like a Confucian scholar who had never led troops. He took the order and led his troops away.
Sima Yi looked up at the bright moon that looked like a half jade plate, took a deep breath, and led the remaining 3,000 elite soldiers straight to Chang'an City. Success or failure, fame and honor depended on this one move, and he could not afford to make any mistakes.
In Tongguan, Ma Teng and his son were arranging their defenses when suddenly the defeated army came to report that their food and supplies had been robbed by Cao's army.
Ma Teng was horrified. Tongguan had been taken. Where did Cao's army come from
While he was discussing with Ma Xiu, another prisoner was released and told him what Sima Yi had said.
Ma Teng was so angry that he cursed: "What a thief Cao, he actually used such a trick. Who is Sima Yi?"
Ma Xiu said: "Sima Yi is a nobody, so he is not worth worrying about, but I don't know who will attack Chang'an."
Ma Teng's face was gloomy, and he said anxiously: "Chang'an is in danger, we should send troops to rescue it immediately."
Ma Xiu said, "It's getting dark. If we send out troops now, there might be an ambush on the road."
Ma Teng gritted his teeth and said, "Tens of thousands of troops are in Tongguan. How can they stay there without food and grass? If Chang'an is lost again, you and I will have nowhere to go. Cao's army has quietly crossed the Wei River and must have few men and horses. Only by sending out all the elite troops and destroying them can we save Guanzhong."
Ma Xiu nodded and said, "I will lead the elite troops in the front, and father will follow. We will take care of each other. We would rather give up Tongguan than let Chang'an fall."
Ma Teng immediately ordered a military force to be mobilized, leaving only 3,000 soldiers to guard the city. The rest of the troops were divided into two teams and marched towards Chang'an overnight.
Ma Xiu led 20,000 elite cavalrymen in advance and sent out 3,000 vanguards to explore the way. The Xiliang cavalrymen galloped wildly under the moonlight, like a pack of wolves out to look for food, with an astonishing momentum.
As soon as they arrived at Huashan, there was a sudden chaos in the front army. People shouted and horses neighed. The cavalry were crowded together and trampled on each other, making the whole army a mess.
Ma Xiu rushed forward to check and saw a huge pit dug in the middle of the road, blocking the road. Both people and horses fell into it, causing countless casualties.
Just as they were preparing to order people to fill the road and move forward, suddenly arrows were shot down from the mountain and ambushes appeared. The men and horses were in chaos, and they quickly divided their troops and formed battle arrays to prepare to resist the enemy.
Cao's army rushed down the mountain and took advantage of the chaos to fight. At this time, Ma Teng's army had also arrived and retreated into the mountains.
Ma Xiu was about to send troops to pursue them, but Ma Teng said, "There are only a few ambushes, so don't worry. They are just trying to delay our rescue time. Let's head to Chang'an quickly."
The soldiers cleared the road and Ma Xiu continued to lead his troops forward. This time, the men and horses were cautious and moved slowly. After they bypassed several mountain passes, scouts came to report that there was a large camp of Cao's army ahead.
Ma Xiu rode his horse to a high place to look, and saw torches forming a circle and vehicles lined up on the road. The captive who led the way pointed to the fire and said that was where the food and grass were robbed.
Ma Xiu ordered them to stop and rest, and when Ma Teng caught up, he said, "Cao's army has seized food and grass, and is setting up camp on the road. They must be waiting for my father's reply."
"Humph, the Cao army actually doesn't take me seriously?" Ma Teng was furious and said in a deep voice: "I, Ma Teng, am the descendant of a famous general of the Han Dynasty. How can I be associated with a traitor who usurps the throne? Kill—"
Ma Xiu was also concerned about the situation in Chang'an at this time. The fact that Cao's army had set up camp here meant that they had sent troops to attack Chang'an early in the morning. There were only 20,000 defenders there, so they had to be rescued as soon as possible.
After some discussion, the father and son divided the cavalry into three teams. They took advantage of Cao's unpreparedness and rushed into the camp at lightning speed, killing the defenders and lifting the siege of Chang'an.
The Xiliang army launched three simultaneous attacks and charged straight at Cao's camp. By the time the defenders heard the sound of horse hooves and hurriedly beat drums to warn them, it was too late. The cavalry poured into the camp like a torrent, and their momentum was unstoppable.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Cao's army fled with torches in hand. The camp suddenly became dark, and Ma Teng had to divide his troops to pursue them.
Ma Xiu said: "Cao's army set fire and fled, which must be a trick to lure the troops. I can't rescue Chang'an with all my strength. We can divide our troops to guard the food and grass, and go straight to Chang'an to kill Cao's army, and then these ambushes will leave."
"My son, what you said makes sense!" Ma Teng agreed with him and was sending troops to guard the camp.
Suddenly, there was the sound of horse hooves in the west camp, followed by a few sharp screams, and soldiers and horses had already rushed into the camp.
Ma Xiu shouted, "This must be an ambush by Cao's army. If we chased the enemy just now, we would have fallen into their trap!"
Ma Teng secretly thought that he was lucky and shouted, "We must kill them before we can save Chang'an."
After the order was passed down, the officers and soldiers of the Xiliang Army rushed forward one after another. There was a melee between the two armies in the camp. Both sides were cavalrymen, galloping back and forth, killing people and horses, and screaming in agony.
The troops that stormed the camp were the Chang'an reinforcements led by Ma Tie. Upon hearing that the food supplies had been robbed, Cao's army had cut off the road to Mount Hua, and Ma Teng was trapped in Tongguan, Ma Tie hurriedly led his troops to rescue him overnight.
When they arrived at the place where the food and grass were robbed, they saw that Cao's army was deploying defenses and organizing troops, so they rushed in without saying a word. The advantage of cavalry lies in surprise attack, and they cannot hesitate for a moment.
Ma Tie's martial arts was second only to Ma Chao. He charged into Cao's camp, knocked down more than a dozen people in succession, and headed straight for the central army tent.
A general came to kill him, raised his gun to stop him, and shouted angrily: "Die, you bastard!"
Ma Tie was startled when he heard the man's voice sounded very familiar, but the moonlight was dim and the general was wearing a helmet, so his face was obscured by the shadow and he could not see it clearly.
While he was distracted, the man stabbed again with his spear. His move was very sharp and contained a fatal move, which turned out to be the fatal move of Ma's spear technique.
“Second…” Ma Tie was shocked and quickly turned his horse to avoid it.
"You're just an idiot!" the man on the opposite side shouted and stabbed at him again with his spear.
"Second brother, it's me!" Ma Tie finally recognized that the person coming was Ma Xiu and shouted hurriedly.
Matthew was also surprised. After several ambushes tonight, he was already blood-thirsty. He was so focused on killing the enemies that he didn't pay attention to what the person who came looked like.
When he saw that it was Ma Tie, he realized that he had been tricked and shouted, "Stop, stop, we are one of you..."
Ma Tie also raised his gun and shouted, ordering the soldiers behind him to retreat. The two brothers urged their horses to retreat in the chaos.
The Xiliang army fought each other for a while, and finally stopped gradually with the shouting of the two brothers.
Ma Teng was guarding the food and grass in the back to prevent them from being burned by Cao's army. For the Xiliang army, food and grass were their lifeline.
Suddenly, I heard shouts from the front, and the sound of killing gradually subsided, but the soldiers and horses were still confronting each other. I hurried over and asked, "What happened?"