Chapter 117 Weibei Ma Chao
Gan Ning's attack was so fast that it exceeded everyone's expectations.

No one expected that Zhong Yao's Guanzhong was so weak!

When Hei Xiong arrived at Shangluo with the Qingzhou soldiers, the vanguard Gan Ning's 800 men had already entered Lantian and sent someone to deliver the head of the Lantian County Magistrate.

There was no resistance along the way, including the ruined city of Chang'an!

In Black Bear's memory, when Zhong Yao was managing Guanzhong, he collected materials from the ruins of Chang'an City and rebuilt a small Chang'an City nearby.

Unfortunately, his memory was distorted and confused.

It was also this year, after Zhong Yao defeated Yuan's western offensive, that he barely gained prestige in Guanzhong and moved the seat of government from Hongnong to Chang'an City.

Before this, Zhong Yao's base camp had always been Hongnong Huayin. He had not entered Guanzhong and naturally had no conflicts with the various generals in Guanzhong.

Therefore, the empty Chang'an City just lies before us.

Faced with the merit and honor of regaining Chang'an, Gan Ning held back. He stationed his troops on Bailuyuan and waited quietly for the main force.

After another three days of marching, when Sima Zhi took office as the magistrate of Shangluo County, Hei Xiong and Gan Ning joined forces.

Everyone was confused for a moment. They all came here to fight, but ended up killing Zheng Shou, the magistrate of Lantian County.

This person was not even killed by our side, but was a token of surrender from Liu Xiong, the commander of Lantian.

Standing on Bailuyuan, you can overlook the slightly lower Longshouyuan to the north, and Mount Li and Bashangyuan across the Bashui River to the east.

Across Mount Li is Xinfeng.

With the map in front of him, Gan Ning, who had sent scouts to investigate, pointed to Xinfeng and said, "Zhang Shi, the Jingzhao Yin, is stationed in Xinfeng. He is not worth mentioning. What we need to pay attention to is Zhang Ji, the Xinfeng magistrate. He is from Gaoling, Zuofengyi. Gaoling and Xinfeng are separated by the Wei River."

Gan Ning had also asked the elders and officials nearby in the past two days, summarized it, and continued to explain to Black Bear: "Zhang Ji was born in a poor family, his family was wealthy, he became a county official at the age of 16, and was famous for his integrity. In the first year of Jian'an, he refused Cao Cao's call for a job. Later, Zhong Yao was appointed as the Inspector of the Imperial Guards, and he recommended Zhang Ji as a filial and honest official, and promoted him to the magistrate of Xinfeng. In the past few years, Zhang Ji's performance in government has been ranked first among the three prefectures."

Xinfeng County was under the jurisdiction of Jingzhao Yin, so Zhang Ji, a native of Gaoling, Zuofengyi, could serve as the magistrate of Xinfeng County on the other side of the Weishui River.

Gaoling on the north bank of the Wei River and Xinfeng on the south bank were integrated and bound by Zhang Ji alone.

Black Bear understood what Gan Ning meant. Zhang Ji had the qualifications to be a great general, but he gave up and chose to take another path.

Looking down at the cowhide map, the number of garrison troops and garrison commanders in Xinfeng and Gaoling were marked on it.

There were more than a thousand soldiers guarding Xinfeng, and the commander was Zhang Ji himself; the commander of Gaoling was a familiar face to him, Ma Chao, who commanded three thousand soldiers.

After thinking for a while, Black Bear smiled and said, "In the second year of Jian'an, Guo Si was killed by his subordinates in Meiwu. The following year, in the third year of Li Jue, he was executed in Fengyi. Zhang Ji is really powerful. The turmoil in Guanzhong did not hurt him at all."

He also saw that the trees on Bailuyuan were sparse, and Gan Ning had only settled in an abandoned village nearby.

His eyes fell on the Lishan area on the other side of the Bashui River on the east side of Bailuyuan: "Today we will collect wood to build boats, and tomorrow we will cross the Bashui River. I will set up camp at the foot of Lishan Mountain. Xingba, you will take charge of the garrison for the time being, and I will go to scout Xinfeng and see when that Ma Chao will cross the Weishui River."

If possible, try to reach out to the other party to see if you can come to an agreement.

Guanzhong is not the Guanzhong of Ma Teng and his son. Ma Teng and his son do not have complete control of Guanzhong at present, so there is still room for negotiation.

Now that we are approaching Xinfeng and Gaoling, we are actively inviting war.

Let Ma Chao see our fighting skills first, and then we will have the opportunity to discuss calmly.

It is also very necessary to set up camp in Mount Li, otherwise the Ba River will block the way, and there will be no bridges or ferry crossings in Guanzhong now.

If you want to attack Xinfeng, it is best to cross the Ba River in advance and set up a camp on the opposite bank.

Only Mount Li has enough forests. Bailuyuan, Bashangyuan and Longshouyuan generally lack rain and have no large tracts of forests. Instead, they do grow large tracts of low vegetation.

This is somewhat different from the black bear's impression of dry yellow soil everywhere. It is probably because there has been no human habitation in Bailuyuan for many years, and no one grazes cattle and sheep here.

So the vegetation can be restored, making this place look green.

This layer of green is very fragile. If it doesn't rain for a month in summer, it may all be sunburned to death.

But it is not that exaggerated. There are many rivers nearby. If it were not extremely dry, the surface water that evaporates and condenses at night would be enough for vegetation to survive tenaciously.

The only thing that has left this place barren is the people who have been tirelessly squeezing out every bit of potential for thousands of years.

Gan Ning did not dissuade Black Bear. He did not think Zhang Ji and Ma Chao had the ability to stop Black Bear.

After taking the red, blue and white long flag from Black Bear as a token of command, he watched Black Bear and the divine general Lu Bu riding on their Yin Gan horses and heading north along the Chidao.

To the south of Longshouyuan in the north, there is an east-west highway, one of which passes through Bailuyuan and leads to Wugu Pass.

When the black bear came down from Bailuyuan, he saw that there were more and more trees everywhere on the ground, and even the low shrubs became much denser.

The highway in Guanzhong is very distinctive, with various broken bones and fragments on both sides of the highway.

Out of curiosity, Black Bear led Lu Bu to Longshouyuan, and when they stood on Zhumayuan, they looked at the outline of the Han Chang'an City and were stunned.

It felt more like the corpse of a giant was lying in front of him. He was already dead, with the flesh and blood peeled off, leaving only a huge skeleton.

There was a vague illusion that the dark magic power that he had accumulated for thousands of years was being released towards Chang'an City at this moment.

Then countless corpses will stand up, and the dead who are about to die due to decay and corrosion will also be able to have the form of mummies under the influence of black magic.

On Longshou Plain, the black bear stopped his horse in silence.

Staring blankly at the sky above the dead city of Chang'an, it seemed as if there were countless human figures entangled together there.

After a moment, he looked back at Lu Bu, who was standing like a statue. What kind of world would the world be like if this guy had defeated Li Jue and Guo Si back then?
He couldn't help but think of Wang Yun. He wished he could find this guy's corpse, summon him out, and soak him in the toilet in the military camp!

It is said that civil harmony is the root of military chaos. If Wang Yun had not forced him, why would Jia Xu have come up with such a vicious plan that would result in mutual destruction?

Wang Yun forced Cai Yong to death simply because of a sigh. Even a good friend was killed in this way. How could the people of Liangzhou possibly hope for luck?

The truly vicious and incompetent person was Wang Yun, and it was Wang Yun who chose all this.

What is the difference between Wang Yun and that group of people in the late Ming Dynasty?
He is probably just a little more courageous than Qian Qianyi, and that's the only advantage he has.

Feeling inexplicably moved, Black Bear drove his horse down Longshou Mountain and headed towards Chang'an City.

This is a dead city. As we get closer, we find that large areas of the yellow mud on the city walls have fallen off, and some walls have collapsed.

The moat was blocked and dry. When you got closer, you could see all kinds of dead bones buried in the wide and deep ditch.

The city gate had already been burned down, and the corpses in the corridor of the city gate had been cleared out and piled up randomly near the city gate.

This should be the reason why other troops cleaned up the corridor to facilitate vehicles to enter and exit Chang'an City after Li Jue and Guo Si were killed. When entering Chang'an City, there were no complete buildings in the city, and there were broken eaves and broken walls everywhere.

He climbed up the slope of the horse racing track to the city wall, where there were many dried corpses.

Looking from this high place, all the houses and courtyards within sight have been burned by the fire.

If there really is a Lord of Mount Tai, he must like the current Chang'an City very much.

He dismounted and came to the city wall.

The tower was also set on fire, leaving only ruins. He picked up a piece of charcoal and wrote a line of words on the remaining wall: "At the end of July in the seventh year of Jian'an, a black bear occupied Chang'an!"

Throwing away the charcoal, Black Bear got back on his horse, no longer attached to the city of death, and rode down the city wall.

He left the city and entered the highway. He and Lu Bu rode their horses one after the other and jumped into the warm Ba River in the afternoon. Soon they reached the other side.

Xinfeng City is densely populated.

County Magistrate Zhang Ji was guarding the west gate, looking at the two knights approaching from afar. The volunteers and militiamen on the city wall were also looking on eagerly.

A dozen crossbowmen trusted by Zhang Ji had already placed their powerful crossbows on the battlements and were waiting quietly.

Gradually approaching until they were a hundred steps away, Black Bear dismounted and rolled up his leather armor and swung it forward.

He took out the tools used in the crime and stood in the middle of the road, letting the defenders in Xinfeng City get away.

As soon as he jumped into the Ba River on his horse, he wanted to let go and endured for seventeen or eighteen miles.

He suddenly felt much better. He jumped on the spot, got back on his horse, and raised his hand to wipe Lu Bu's cloak.

On the Xinfeng city wall, neither the defenders nor the volunteers thought it was strange.

According to their experience and imagination, it was normal for the White Goose Bandits who invaded Guanzhong to capture nearby civilians and drive them to attack the city.

They could also imagine that the enemy scouts would capture a few civilians and perform beheading and archery performances under the city.

But it is a bit strange to let it go so lightly.

Zhang Ji's face was tense. Objectively speaking, putting aside personal feelings, he really hoped that these White Goose Bandits scouts would capture the people of Guanzhong and kill them one by one outside the city, so as to strengthen the determination of the volunteers to defend the city.

If he was not from Gaoling on the north bank, he would not have been the magistrate of Xinfeng County for many years.

He really wanted to arrange manpower and make some necessary sacrifices.

While Zhang Ji was thinking, the chief clerk beside him raised his hand and pointed to the Wei River in the north: "County Lord! Look!"

Zhang Ji turned his head to look, and saw the pushboats from the camp on the north bank being launched into the water. A knight leading a horse stood on each boat, and more than thirty boats were coming towards the south bank one after another.

There were other knights waiting with their horses on the north bank, and it seemed that more knights were going to be deployed.

Contrary to everyone's expectations, the two knights outside the city did not turn back the same way, but retreated to the left side of Mount Li.

One knight retreated, leaving only a cavalry commander holding a strange double-edged halberd.

On the north bank, the twenty-six-year-old Ma Chao stared with his piercing eyes at the cavalry general holding the Fang Tian Ji on the south bank's road.

The enemy did not attack the river bank and allowed the first group of knights to cross the river.

Seeing this, Ma Chao said to Ma Dai beside him: "That should be the hero of Bowangpo, Taishi Wengong. It is reported that this man is extremely brave, but it seems that he has a defect in his teeth and cannot speak."

Ma Dai had also heard Ma Teng's warnings. Ma Teng was afraid that his nephews would be too proud of their bravery and would clash directly with Tai Shi Wen Gong.

Ma Teng also has connections. Although he is old, he is still very interested in Tai Shi Wengong's military achievements.

The battles of Bowangpo and Xiangyang took place not long ago, and Taishi Wengong's achievements were too shocking, so they spread quickly among the people and officials.

Seeing that Ma Chao was eager to try, Ma Dai quickly said, "Brother, don't be careless. The two armies are fighting now. If you fail, won't the White Goose Bandits take advantage of you for nothing?"

"How could I not know that?"

Ma Chao raised his hand and pointed at the great general Lü Bu on the south bank of the road: "The enemy has come to attack us, and Zhang doesn't dare to fight. If I just stand by and watch, how can the soldiers in the camp maintain their morale?"

"This……"

Ma Dai felt something was wrong, so he whispered, "Taishi Wengong is extremely brave, so if you can't win, it's not a good thing. Besides, how can a general go out to fight the enemy?"

"If Lü Wenhou and Guan Yu can do it, why can't I do it?"

Ma Chao asked in return, took the silver-gilt helmet from his personal guard, put it on, and calmly tied the bright red, thick woven helmet strap.

Without waiting for Ma Dai to try to stop him, he led his horse towards the shore.

Seeing that he was walking away, Ma Dai didn't want to shout to keep him, as it was a relatively cowardly act after all.

With my brother's bravery, even if he can't defeat Tai Shi Wengong, it will be no problem for him to escape safely.

The other side only sent two knights, and my brother has ridden more than a hundred horses across the Wei River. Even if the other side can win, they won't go to extremes, right?

Soon Ma Chao reached the south bank of the Wei River and nimbly mounted his horse.

He also wore armor modified from the Black Light Armor. After being silver-plated, the most distinctive feature of his armor was the basin collar that prevented decapitation.

Perhaps because he had a psychological trauma from being stabbed in the neck by Yan Xingyi's spear, Ma Chao's basin-collar armor was slightly larger in shape.

From a distance, Black Bear could see the basin collar structure clearly, which reminded him of the one the cat had used after surgery.

Therefore, the full name of Ma Chao's armor should be Mingguang Penling Armor.

He wore a bright red robe under his armor, a bright red cloak on his back, and even the top of his helmet had two clusters of bright red feathers.

Considering the maroon Xiji horse under his seat, the whole person can be said to have the maximum fire attribute, with a strong Han army fire virtue style.

Even the battle flag beside Ma Chao was a small red flag with a white background and a red border, with the words "Supervisor General" written on it.

On the road, Taishi Wengong wore a white robe and golden armor, and his horse armor was also silver and white. Except for the exposed hooves and tail of his warhorse, which were black, the only thing black was the handle of Fang Tian Ji.

At the foot of Mount Li, two or three miles away, the black bear stopped his horse and watched.

It’s a pity that the great general Lu Bu is a mute, otherwise he would have been able to provoke Ma Chao.

(End of this chapter)