The setting sun was as red as blood, and countless war horses raised their heads and neighed, full of murderous intent. There were more than two thousand of them, and he didn't know the situation inside the pass, so he shouted to open the door.
Shi A Zheng pretended to be a defending general and used the same words they had used to deal with Ma Le before, but the enemy general was obviously impatient and shouted loudly with the command arrow in his hand.
Xu Shu sighed and said, "The reinforcements came so quickly. It seems that Han Sui also expected that we would cross the Tao River and the pursuers would come in an endless stream."
Ma Chao found that the gate was blocked by corpses and debris, so he climbed up the tower, tightly grasped his spear and said in a deep voice: "Why don't we clear the gate? I will lead the troops to rush out and kill this group of people."
"Be at ease!" Xu Shu said to the crowd, "You are all good generals of the time. Even if you perish together with the enemy, it is of no use. A real man can bend and stretch. You should keep your body useful to avenge the humiliation and build a career in the future."
Ma Chao gritted his teeth and said, "The pursuers are numerous and powerful. If we don't take the initiative to attack, once the city is breached, won't we just sit and wait for death in this small place?"
Xu Shu added: "We are guarding the pass. The pursuers will see that we are few in number and will surely covet the reward and attack us. If we charge out, even if a few generals can defeat them, the deserters will report the news overnight. Once the other side gets the news and the ships don't come, the situation will be critical!"
Ma Dai nodded and said, "Sir, you are right. Although the pursuers are coming fast, they are all cavalry and cannot attack the city. As long as we defend the city wall, we will be safe."
Xu Shu looked up at the setting sun and said, "We have the advantage of the terrain. We only need to hold out for two hours!"
Pang De clenched his fist and said, "We can defend a place like Wuquan Mountain for two months. The wall of this pass is more than two meters high, so two hours is not a problem."
At this time, the enemy generals outside the city were already furious. Shi A saw that he could not deal with them perfunctorily, so he had to do the same thing. He put down the bamboo basket and asked them to put the command document in it. He would only open the door after inspection.
Ma Dai and Pang De immediately split up and moved all the bows and arrows and supplies from the treasury, while the others went to the kitchen to find iron pots, oil, water, etc., in preparation for defense.
Shi A picked up the token and saw Xu Shu nodding secretly, and shouted: "Your token is fake!"
"Asshole, you are blind!" The man was furious and urged his horse to come forward: "If you don't open the city, be careful... ah—"
Before he could finish his words, he suddenly let out a scream, his body leaned back, and he fell off the horse.
The pursuers were in an uproar. When they moved closer to take a look, they saw an arrow stuck in the man's forehead, his eyes were wide open, and he looked ferocious and terrifying.
In the panic, Ma Chao stood on the top of the city wall with a spear in hand and shouted, "Ma Chao is here, come up if you are not afraid of death!"
Buzz—
The city was in an uproar in an instant, with everyone looking at the tall and unruly figure under the last rays of sunset. There was a commotion.
Ma Chao was very famous in Xiliang, and he was even more ostentatious when he went out. Many soldiers had seen him and were all shocked.
The setting sun seemed to fall in an instant, the sky and the earth became dark, and Mati Pass was silent. No one expected that Ma Chao would be inside Mati Pass.
"Kill! Capture Ma Chao alive and you will be rewarded with a million gold coins and be granted the title of Marquis of Qianhu!"
"Ma Chao's head is worth a thousand gold!"
Someone in the crowd shouted, startling the flock of birds in the nearby forest and causing them to fly up and cry in panic.
After a brief moment of shock, the pursuers became excited again, as if they had been injected with chicken blood, and they marched towards the city in an entire team.
There will always be brave men when there is a huge reward, not to mention that Ma Chao's head is more valuable. Seeing that there are only a few sparse figures on the top of the city, everyone's confidence increased greatly.
Ma Chao shouted: "This is horse archery, be careful of arrows!"
Everyone hid at the foot of the wall, picked up bows and arrows and prepared to fight back. Tonight would usher in another brutal battle.
The cavalry outside the city were divided into five teams, galloping back and forth along the wall. The soldiers on horseback kept shooting arrows at the wall, and the arrows flew onto the top of the city like a rainstorm.
There was a buzzing sound overhead and the air was filled with the sound of breaking wind. Everyone hid under the wall. No one could be injured at this time, especially not seriously injured. Once someone was unable to move, they would have to be abandoned.
Bang, bang, bang—
There were bursts of muffled noises coming from outside the wall. After the defenders were suppressed by the cavalry and archers, the pursuers actually attacked the wall with horse hooves, knocking on the gate like a sledgehammer. This is also a common way for cavalry to attack the city.
Wooden doors often cannot withstand the impact of cavalry and will soon shatter, but this time they miscalculated, the door cracked, and blood seeped out.
Countless corpses were piled up and blocked the door. The entire passage had been blocked. The pursuers were all stunned and shouted loudly.
Ma Chao shouted loudly, and everyone stood up, drew their bows and arrows, and shot arrows at the city. Immediately, screams were heard.
Ma Chao and Ma Dai were very good archers, and they specifically aimed at the cavalry generals. Even if they were wearing armor, they could still accurately hit them in the face, causing them to fall to the ground one after another.
The enemy troops panicked and retreated to a point beyond the arrow's range. They huddled together to discuss countermeasures, and looked at the sparse figures standing on the city wall with reluctance.
Now, in their eyes, Ma Chao and his men were like a golden bounty. As long as they succeeded, even if they had to share it among two thousand people, they would never have to worry about food and drink for the rest of their lives.
It just so happened that several main generals were killed, and they shared the credit equally, and everyone could be promoted. This was a rare opportunity. If they waited for the reinforcements to arrive, they wouldn't even be able to get a sip of soup.
The sky had completely darkened, the bright moon rose over the eastern mountain, the sky and the earth were hazy, torches were lit on the city, and the figures became more and more alluring.
After a brief discussion, the enemy army formed a battle formation again, lit several bonfires on the open space outside the pass, making it as bright as day, and launched another attack.
The cavalry came galloping and fired another round of arrows. The arrows covered the sky like locusts, suppressing the people in the pass and preventing the defenders from showing their heads.
At the same time, a row of cavalrymen rode to the foot of the city wall, then stood on horseback and tried to insert their swords into the cracks in the stones and climb up to the top of the wall.
The wall of this pass is built with a mixture of river stones and sand, with huge gaps in the middle, so as long as you can find a place to stand, you can climb up.
When Ma Chao heard the sound, he turned around and looked to see what was going on. Suddenly, an arrow flew towards him. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and dodged it, and the arrow flew away, brushing past his ear.
Xu Shu said: "The enemy army should use battering rams first before climbing the city wall."
Everyone squatted under the chopping wall, picked up the piled up battering rams and threw them down over the battlements, and immediately heard screams.
After Xu Shu confirmed it, he ordered again: "Light the fire!"
The firewood that had been prepared long ago and the wooden sticks wrapped with tattered clothes had been dipped in vegetable oil. They were taken out and lit with torches, and a big fire was immediately started and thrown down along the city wall.
The defenders outside the city were drawing their bows and arrows on their horses, suppressing the top of the city walls. Neat rows of human walls were climbing up the city walls, as black as ants.
Just as the people at the top were about to reach the top of the city wall and everyone was holding their breath, suddenly flames fell from the sky and countless people were burned and fell down with screams.
This is not the most important thing. The horses standing under the city wall were frightened and ran away, and the soldiers standing on their horses fell one after another.
In an instant, all the soldiers who had climbed up the city wall fell down like mud on a rainy day. Some died on the spot, while others were burned by fire and screamed in agony.
The frightened mounts ran wildly and collided with the cavalry in the distance, and the entire formation was thrown into chaos. The shouts of people and the neighing of horses drowned out the sound of the waves.
Ma Chao stood up, drew his bow and drew his arrow, and shouted angrily, "Shoot for me!"