The pursuers retreated again and discussed countermeasures around the campfire. They had just gone to the river bank to observe and found that there were no ships in the harbor.
Although Ma Chao was brave, he would never guard the pass with dozens of men. If they could leave, they would have left long ago.
These people are already trapped in a jar, with such a huge achievement in front of them, no one is willing to give up.
The fire at the foot of the wall was still burning, the corpses were burning, making sizzling sounds, black smoke continued to rise, and the torches at the gate were swaying, illuminating the figures of the defenders, who were swaying like ghosts.
Ma Chao stood proudly on the top of the city wall with a bow in hand, patrolling his territory like a wolf. Any enemy who dared to approach him would be hunted down by him.
Pang De saw those people sitting together and not making any movement, and he was worried, "Could they have sent someone to report the news and wait for reinforcements?"
Xu Shu smiled and said, "Although the pursuers are coming quickly, they must be exhausted after a long journey. In addition, it is getting late, and several leaders have been killed. They all want to make merit, so no one will be willing to leave the battlefield at this time."
Ma Dai nodded and said, "Sir, you are right. The enemy army is leaderless now, so they are unable to make decisions. I think we should hold off one more round of attacks until their morale is exhausted and they have run out of tricks. Then we can wait until dawn."
Xu Shu was already thinking about retreating, and said to Ma Chao: "General Liu must have arrived in Hanzhong by now. He will lead the troops from the two Sichuan provinces out of Wudu and out of Qishan, and divide the troops in Dazhong to support us. Han Sui knows that we are heading south, and tomorrow there will be a large army chasing us. After we cross the Tao River, we must march out of Longxi County without stopping. There are many Qiang and Di tribes here. Has Mengqi contacted us?"
Ma Chao's voice was already a little hoarse, and he said in a deep voice: "As long as we cross the Tao River, we can go to Fuhan first. The King of the Di people in Xingguo and I are quite friendly, so we can ask him for help."
"That couldn't be better!" Xu Shu nodded slightly.
The reason for planning to take this risky route was that Ma Le said that Ma Chao was very famous in this area, and that the mighty general intimidated the Qiang and Hu people. If this reputation was not made known, then they would be in real danger of death.
Ma Leyan said: "I wanted to see the Di King first, but the situation was urgent, so I had to come to rescue my brother first. I didn't ask him in advance. Now that we are out of power, I wonder if the Di King is willing to help us."
"Don't worry, everyone. The people I, Ma Chao, have made friends with are all friends worth their lives!" Ma Chao smiled proudly, "I once helped Xingguo to repel the White Dog Qiang hiding in the South Mountain. They will repay this favor."
Ma Le nodded and said, "That's the best. I will go ask King Di for help tomorrow."
While they were discussing, the enemy troops outside the pass mounted their horses again and divided into three teams. The first team approached the city with bows and arrows, ready to suppress the enemy again. The other two teams retreated and disappeared into the darkness.
Everyone was wondering, but soon they saw the horse teams turning back, with some horses carrying cloth bags and some carrying wooden stakes and stones, coming in groups.
Seeing this, Xu Shu's expression suddenly changed slightly, and he said in a deep voice: "The enemy wants to fill the city wall with wood and stone."
Ma Dai was also surprised: "There are more than a thousand people outside the city. If they carry wood, stone and sandbags, they can fill the city wall in two hours at most. What should we do?"
Xu Shu thought for a moment and ordered: "Tear down the houses inside the pass and pile up the trees and firewood on the shore to the top of the city."
At this time, the cavalry outside had begun to rush over, and arrows were fired indiscriminately. Everyone simply gave up their defense and went down the city wall to prepare.
Ma Chao picked up a handful of arrows from the ground and shouted, "Come on, you bastards!"
A man hid in the corner tower, drawing his bow and shooting arrows, specifically targeting the soldiers in command. Screams could be heard from the bottom of the city from time to time.
After being suppressed by the rain of arrows, the cavalry from the rear came quickly. When they approached the city, they threw the stones, wooden stakes and sandbags in their hands into the corner of the wall and quickly left from the other side.
Although Ma Chao's archery skills were never wrong, it was just a tickle for more than a thousand people and did not affect the enemy troops who were desperate to break the city.
Later, the enemy ran out of arrows and simply gave up suppressing the enemy. The three cavalry teams took turns carrying supplies, and soon a slope was formed under the wall.
Ma Chao mechanically bent his bow and drew his arrow. Now he could hit the enemy just by shooting with his eyes closed, but his expression became more solemn.
After all, this is just a pass, not comparable to a city wall. As long as the slope reaches more than half of the pass wall, the cavalry can directly leap up and rush into the Ma Ti Pass.
Another bloody battle was about to begin, so Ma Chao had to give up archery and save his energy for the fight.
Xu Shu came over, wiping the sweat off his face, and said with a smile, "Don't worry, Meng Qi. The pursuers are exhausted now. They will not be able to fill the soil continuously. They will definitely rest later."
Ma Chao was skeptical. Just as he turned around, he saw those people retreating in unison as if they had heard Xu Shu's words. Each of them was like a persimmon hit by frost. They dismounted from their horses and lay limply on the ground, lying in all directions and gasping for breath.
"Sir, you are truly a god!" Ma Chao was stunned.
Xu Shu said, "We rested at noon and have been guarding the pass since then. We are already tired, let alone them."
Ma Chao clenched his fists and twisted his arms, wondering, "Why don't I feel tired yet? Instead, I feel strong all over?"
Xu Shu shook his head and sighed, "In this world today, there is only one person like Jin Ma Chao!"
Ma Chao was startled and could not help laughing loudly towards the sky. The sound spread far away and attracted the pursuers to look over, but they all lay on the ground, too lazy to move.
Xu Shu also signaled everyone to rest, and said with a smile: "The pursuers have come all the way here, and although we have come up with strategies, we have not had a drop of water since arriving at the city, and we were not aware of the fighting just now. Now we are all exhausted, so there is no need to be afraid of us."
Ma Dai nodded and said, "Even if the people can hold on, the horses are already exhausted. It looks like these bastards are going to fail."
Everyone lay on the wall, enjoying the night breeze and falling asleep amid the sound of waves, and soon snoring could be heard one after another.
A full hour passed, nearly four o'clock in the morning, before the troops outside the pass recovered their strength a little and began to move again.
Although they had not yet recovered their strength and their legs were even still sore, they felt it would be a pity to give up when they saw that the city wall was only half filled.
If they wait until dawn and the reinforcements arrive, all their hard work in the middle of the night will be in vain. They can only grit their teeth and fight one more time.
The firewood on the wall of the pass had already filled up a row, and people continued to pile it up. Ma Chao no longer cared about the enemy outside the pass, and ran to the top of the city wall carrying a roof beam as thick as his waist.
"Brother, the ship, the ship is coming!" When everyone was busy, Ma Le shouted, which made everyone excited and looked towards the port together.
At this time, the east was already getting light, and on the sparkling water, three huge black shadows were seen slowly approaching.
Xu Shu immediately ordered: "Light the firewood!"
Everyone dropped what they were holding, ran to the top of the city wall, picked up the remaining oil and clothes, and stuffed them all under the firewood along with the torches.
Thick smoke rose from the city wall, and flames flew under the blowing of the morning breeze. In a blink of an eye, the entire city wall turned into a wall of fire.
The enemy troops who were rushing back and forth outside the pass were horrified when they saw this. The horses on the slope saw the ten-foot-high flames and turned around and ran away. For a moment, the people and horses on the slope were crowded together, rolling and trampling, with countless casualties.
The enemy army completely collapsed. Some were in panic, some collapsed to the ground, and some even rolled on the ground crying.
Ma Chao stood on the tower, watching this scene with great relief, and laughed wildly, "Tell Han Sui that I, Ma Chao, will come back for revenge!"