Chapter 412: The Emperor of Qin was fooled by Liu Bei again? I will take your head as a sacrifice to the spirits of my father and brother in heaven!
Three thousand Han cavalry followed Ma Chao and rushed towards the wide-open Jiguan city gate.

The top of Jiguan city.

Cao Tai was trying to remain calm, and ordered his soldiers to climb the city walls and prepare for battle, ready to defend Ji Pass to the death.

The Han army in front was already a hundred steps away, and there was still chaos below the city gate, and the city walls had not been closed yet.

"What does Yang Qiu do for a living? Why doesn't he close the city gate?"

"Is he planning to wait for the Han dogs to come in and kill us all?"

Cao Tai was furious. He jumped on his horse and headed straight for the city.

In his opinion, those vendors must have fled into the city, blocking the city gates and making it impossible to close them in time. The only way was to use thunder and lightning to kill those vendors and forcefully close the city gates.

But when Cao Tai went down the city, he was completely stunned.

The Qin soldiers guarding the city fled into the city like a flock of frightened sheep.

The city gate had been blocked by dozens of Han soldiers.

"Han...Han army?"

Cao Tai exclaimed in surprise, and was so shocked that he thought he was dazzled and had seen it wrong.

He rubbed his eyes and looked carefully again, and indeed the city gate had been captured by the Han army.

He took a breath and exclaimed in a trembling voice:
"Where did the Han army come from? How did they suddenly attack our pass and seize the city gate?"

"This...this, this is impossible!"

Just as he was stunned and dazed, the soldiers who had fled back had already fallen at his feet.

"General, those merchants were disguised as Han soldiers. They suddenly attacked and seized the city gate."

"General Yang was beheaded by a Han general named Ma Dai!"

Cao Tai's body shook violently, and the long sword in his hand almost fell out of his hand.

In an instant, the truth struck him like thunder, waking him up.

He finally understood.

The Han cavalry outside the city did not appear by chance. They must have come here on purpose to raid Jiguan under the order of Liu Bei.

In order to successfully seize the city gate, the Han army disguised themselves as merchants in advance, so that when the cavalry attacked, they could suddenly attack and prevent them from closing the city gate.

All of this was planned by the Han army!
"Could it be that the Emperor and Father Marshal have fallen into a trap?"

"That big-eared thief didn't want to attack Jingxing Pass, but wanted to take Ji Pass by surprise, enter Hedong from Henei County, and seize Bingzhou from the south, not the east?"

After all, Cao Tai was the son of a general, and when things got to this point, he finally figured out the truth.

"Damn it! The emperor was fooled by the big-eared thief!"

"We fell for his double-strategy of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west. The big-eared thief is actually heading for my Jiguan!"

"This is the real front line!"

Cao Tai slapped his thigh and groaned inwardly, he was both shocked and panicked, and for a moment he was at a loss what to do.

In front.

The Han cavalry had rushed within thirty steps and were about to break into the city gate.

The Qin soldiers on both sides were in a panic and had begun to prepare to flee in all directions.

The situation has reached a life-or-death level.

At this moment, the Cao family blood in Cao Tai burst out, and he unexpectedly calmed down.

"If Jiguan is lost, Liu Bei's Han army of more than 100,000 will be able to easily invade Hedong. General, your father has limited forces and is powerless to stop them!"

"Besides, Hedong County is flat and has no strategic locations to defend. Hedong will definitely be lost!"

"Once Hedong is lost, the big-eared bandits can march straight in and seize Puyang, block the Yellow River, and cut off the connection between Guanzhong and Bingzhou."

"By then, wouldn't Father and I, Bingzhou, become an isolated enclave, left to be besieged by hundreds of thousands of Han troops?"

"Father, the commander-in-chief, and my Bingzhou army are all doomed to die?"

Cao Tai immediately thought of the most terrible consequence, and the fear in his heart quickly turned into fighting spirit.

"Jiguan must not be lost!"

Cao Tai shouted loudly, raised the long sword in his hand, and shouted:
"Listen, soldiers of the Great Qin. Jiguan is related to the survival of Bingzhou. We must not lose it!"

"Follow me, fight our way up, take back the city gate, and stop the Han dogs from retreating!"

Cao Tai rode his horse forward, brandished his sword, and charged forward.

Inspired by his shouts, the Qin guards barely mustered up the will to fight and charged towards the Han army at the city gate.

Ma Dai frowned.

It was originally thought that after killing Yang Qiu, the mentality of the Qin defenders in the city would collapse and they would be defeated without a fight.

However, unexpectedly, at this moment, they still had the will to resist.

"Cao's soldiers are indeed elite troops..."

Ma Dai secretly admired it, then with the silver spear in hand, he shouted:

"Ma family men, defend the city gates to the death and do not retreat even a single step!"

More than thirty Han soldiers immediately formed a battle formation and blocked the city gate.

A few breaths later, the Qin army collided and the two armies fought in a group.

The Qin army had as many as 800 men, nearly twenty times the number of Ma Dai's troops. The disparity in military strength was extreme.

But the thirty people under Ma Dai's command were all soldiers from Xiliang. They were elite soldiers of his Ma family army who had survived hundreds of battles and had followed their brothers for many years. Each of them was capable of fighting ten people at once.

Moreover, relying on the narrow terrain advantage under the city gate, the Qin army, although large in number, could not deploy its forces and could not exert its military advantage.

Although the Qin army was large in number, it did not gain the upper hand for a while, and the Han army refused to retreat by guarding the city gates.

In this brief moment, the Qin army lost the last chance to retake the city gate and turn the tide.

Outside the city, three thousand Han troops had rolled in, rushed across the suspension bridge and rushed into the city gate.

Seeing his brother coming, Ma Dai heaved a sigh of relief and shouted:
"My cavalry has arrived, get out of the way!"

More than 30 soldiers who had fought to the death all felt relieved and moved to the two wings of the city gate.

The cavalry behind him did not slow down, and rushed straight towards the oncoming Qin army in a mighty force.

The sky collapsed and the earth cracked, ghosts cried and wolves howled.

Not to mention eight hundred Qin soldiers, even eighty thousand Qin soldiers could not withstand the attack of three thousand cavalry at this moment.

In an instant, the eight hundred Qin soldiers were like paper, torn to pieces and killed to the point of screaming and howling like ghosts.

The collapse begins!
Even the elite Qin soldiers were instantly crushed in this situation. The last bit of resistance from the surviving Qin soldiers collapsed, and they fled in all directions like frightened birds.

"No retreat!"

"Jiguan must not be taken by the Han dogs. Fight to the death!"

Cao Tai's eyes were bloodshot, he was shouting angrily, and the long sword in his hand was waving wildly.

All the Han cavalrymen who were charging towards him were chopped to the ground by him.

In vain.

Even if Cao Ren was here, he would be powerless to save the situation at this moment and could not suppress the soldiers' collapse, let alone himself.

The Qin soldiers on both sides ignored his shouting and continued to flee towards the interior like ants whose nests had been broken.

Cao Tai gritted his teeth and was caught in a dilemma.

The Han cavalry had already rushed in, the morale of the army had collapsed, and the fall of Jiguan was inevitable.

At this point, abandoning Guanxi and fleeing is the wisest choice.

If it were someone else, they would have run away by now.

But he is Cao Ren's eldest son.

As the son of the Qin General's Cavalry, he had such a high status and position.

If he failed to defend Jiguan and was invaded by the Han army into Hedong, resulting in the loss of Bingzhou, how could he face Cao Ren?

If Bingzhou is lost again, wouldn't he become a sinner of the Qin Dynasty?

"No retreat!"

"How can a man of the Great Qin be a coward who is afraid of death?"

"Anyone who dares to retreat will be subject to military law!"

Cao Tai shouted angrily, swung the long sword in his hand, and even killed several fleeing soldiers with his own hands.

To no avail.

The Qin soldiers were mentally broken, with only the thought of saving their lives in their minds. They had forgotten all about being loyal to the country and the bloodiness of the Qin men.

The collapse still could not be stopped. No soldier was stupid enough to take Cao Tai's threat seriously.

"General Zi'an, the situation is hopeless. We can no longer defend Jiguan. Let's retreat."

"If you don't leave now, not only will we lose the city, but you, General, will also die here!"

"You are the eldest son of the General of Cavalry. How can you give up your life so easily?"

The guards beside him tried to persuade him almost in tears.

Cao Tai's heart trembled, and his remaining fighting spirit collapsed at this moment.

"That's right. I am the son of the General of the Cavalry. I want to be a pillar of the Qin Dynasty in the future. I cannot die here."

"I have to save my life and ask my father for help, so that I can have a chance to retake Jiguan!"

Cao Tai changed his mind, turned his horse around, and wanted to escape.

It's too late.

Just as he turned around, a sharp roar like thunder sounded behind him.

"Ma Chao is here!"

"You bastard Cao, where are you escaping to!"

Cao Tai's body was shocked and he looked back suddenly, only to see a general in brocade robe, as mighty as a god of war, rushing towards him with a bloody spear in his hand.

“Ma…Ma Chao?”

Cao Tai's face changed drastically.

How could Cao Tai not know the name of Xiliang Jin Ma Chao?

The Battle of Weishui almost cost Cao Cao his life.

Among all the generals of Cao Qin, even the strongest Dian Wei could only barely tie with Ma Chao.

Cao Tai never expected that the commander of this Han cavalry would be Ma Chao.

This ruthless man who has a great grudge against the Cao family and is invincible in courage!
How could I be his opponent!
"Stop him, I will stop him--"

Cao Tai suffered a mental breakdown and screamed in a trembling voice.

The dignity of being the son of a general of cavalry and a member of a royal family were all replaced by fear at this moment.

While ordering his personal guards to block Ma Chao, he turned his horse and fled.

Ma Chao, however, was like a killing god, waving the bloody spear in his hand wildly, chopping down all the Qin soldiers that stood in his way like chickens and dogs.

Just when Cao Tai increased the speed of his horse and had no time to gain distance, a man and his horse appeared behind Cao Tai like an iron tower.

"You bastard from the Cao family, do you think you can escape?"

Amidst the sarcastic and disdainful shouts, Ma Chao filled the blood spear in his hand with all his strength and stabbed wildly, carrying with him the hatred of genocide.

Cao Tai had no way to escape, so he had to steel himself, and with all his strength he swung the sword in his hand to block the attack.

"throat!"

There was a loud bang as if the sky was collapsing.

The long sword flew down.

Cao Tai screamed, spurting blood, and flew into the air like a kite with a broken string, and was knocked off his horse.

"boom"

There was another loud crash.

Cao Tai's body slammed heavily into a wall, blood spurting out when he landed, and it was unknown how many ribs were broken.

"I can't even handle one of his moves?"

Cao Tai, lying on the ground, felt more terrified than in pain from his injuries.

He knew that Ma Chao was strong, but he didn't expect him to be so strong.

After all, he is the son of Cao Ren, but he can't even take a single move from Ma Chao!
"Cao Tai, your uncle Cao Cao killed my father and brothers. Today I will take your head as a sacrifice to the spirits of my relatives in heaven!"

Ma Chao's face was filled with rage for revenge, and he slowly raised the silver spear dripping with blood in his hand.

Cao Tai, who was originally filled with grief, anger and horror, panicked at this moment.

(End of this chapter)