Longxi County had a wide jurisdiction in the late Han Dynasty, and the Hexi Corridor and the Silk Road both passed through Longxi. Located in the Loess Plateau, the terrain is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, there is a husband when the pass is not open, since ancient times it is the place where soldiers must fight.

Looking at the majestic city wall built by the mountains of Longxi, as well as the vague figures of those Longxi soldiers patrolling back and forth on the city wall, Ma Chao sighed helplessly: Another one will not descend!

Ma Chao sent troops in April, and it was already May, and the weather was getting hotter, and attacking the city and fighting in such a hot season was tantamount to a difficult challenge for the Ma family army who came from afar. And if this last Longxi County cannot be attacked, the previous strategic deployment can be said to be in vain.

In Longxi County, Ma Chao did not work in the shadows, nor did he know the people in the county, and what was even more odious was that because the terrain here was high and far away from the Dongqiang tribe, the Dongqiang men did not come here to harass. The morale of Longxi is much stronger than that of the previous four counties.

It is said that Ma Chao even went down to the four counties, and Longxi may also flee from the wind. But in fact, after Ma Chao came, he found that the county guard of Longxi County did not seem to be a mediocre talent: according to Jia Xu and Fa Zheng's predictions, his army would attack Longxi County, which was almost the end of the light crossbow, and he desperately needed to rest. In fact, looking at those Ma Jiajun who had traveled long distances and their morale was already a little low, Ma Chao had to admit that he was indeed in an embarrassing situation.

And the county guard of Longxi County, or just relying on this, dared to clear the wall, waited for work, and wanted to consume himself in Longxi County.

Originally, Ma Chao also wanted to take advantage of the situation, and wanted Han Sui to shake a little bit and be a suspicious soldier. But Han Sui replied, saying that his troops were concentrated on the north side, and Longxi on the south side has always been a difficult bone to gnaw......

Ma Chao had a taste at that time: no wonder this old guy agreed so readily to attack Longxi. It turned out that it was because Han Sui's teeth were not good, and he was afraid that he would break his teeth!

At this moment, there is another thing that makes Ma Chao the most troublesome. That is Yan Xing's army, and there has been no news so far!

Since Yan Xing captured Anding County, he rested in Anding, and after Ma Chao took Tianshui County, Yan Xing still did not come to converge. At this time, Ma Chao already had a sense of foreboding towards Yan Xing's army, but he could only comfort himself in his heart: Meng Da is not a vegetarian either, although he likes to rebel in history. But after coming to Ma's house, there was no incentive to rebel at all, and it was impossible to follow Yan Xing to pick a son. And as long as Meng Da doesn't pick a pick, with Meng Da's cleverness, Yan Xing won't make a big wave.

After thinking about it, Ma Chao dealt with Longxi, in addition to a headache, he still had a headache: if he said that he tried his best to attack, it was not that he couldn't attack. But at present, the only Mingmian troops in his hands are the 30,000 Xiliang Army. It's not worth it to fight in Longxi County. What's more, the new four counties may appease the guards, if the Ma family fights too much here, it will undoubtedly be extremely detrimental to future development.

There was no watch in this ancient period, Ma Chao could only feel that it was about five o'clock in the morning, and the camp was brightly lit, but Ma Chao, who was standing outside the big tent, blinked twice, only to find out that he was actually because of this Longxi County...... Insomnia. Seeing that the soldiers were eating breakfast in an orderly manner, Ma Chao sighed again and lined up to receive breakfast like the soldiers.

Since coming to this era, Ma Chao has always had a big opinion on the issue of eating in the army. He would never have imagined that as the group with the greatest physical exertion, the army would only serve two meals a day, one meal at about ten o'clock in the morning and then one meal at night, and the quality of the food was very poor, which was really a bit inhumane.

It is no wonder that later generations said that Cao Cao could win Yuan Shao, because Cao Cao implemented the tuntian system, ensured grain and raised elite soldiers, and the soldiers of Yuan Shao in Jizhou had to pick mulberries when they were fighting...... This battle between a full stomach and a war with no food can fight two or three of them.

Therefore, during the military reform, Ma Chao resisted the opposition of the generals and Meng Da to carry out reforms, and according to the rules of later generations, three meals a day, of course, this decision was resolutely supported by the soldiers. As a result, Ma Chao, who was standing in the ranks, also made those soldiers stand tall and raise their heads even when they were receiving food.

During this period of time, Ma Chao has always insisted on sharing weal and woe with the soldiers, and repeatedly visited the grassroots level, during which in order to win people's hearts and boost morale, of course, he and the soldiers ate a pot of steamed buns, drank a pot of soup, and lived in a tent. And he never cut in line, let alone make a few small stoves in particular. When other generals and middle-level officials saw Ma Chao like this, they were naturally very honest.

However, no one can play too many tricks in this kind of thing, Ma Chao got it, it was nothing more than a set of disgusting things like pushing food and undressing, fortunately, most of the officers and soldiers are simple children, although these things are very old-fashioned, but they are still moved to tears. Here, the simplicity of the young master's life has left a deep impression on many people, and I believe that many years later, there should be a lot of touching articles such as "I ate that bowl of rice with the young master" or "The young master covered the quilt for me".

This time, in the face of Longxi County, which was like a turtle shell, Ma Chao's appetite was not very good, so he hastily took a few bites and threw away the dishes and chopsticks, and rushed to the front line with his own Chinese soldiers.

Jia Fox, Yang Fu, and Fa Zheng, the three henchmen of his subordinates, were also frowning at this time, staring at the city wall of Tianshui County in a daze, not knowing what they were doing.

"Young master, a certain and Jia Hu...... Mr. Jia's plan was originally to capture Tianshui County. This is really a bit reluctant to attack Longxi with the strength of tired troops. If it is hard to conquer it, it will cost a lot of money in pensions, and even a series of problems such as recruiting and training soldiers will come one after another, which will ......"

Jia Xu didn't bother to care about Fa Zheng calling himself 'Jia Fox', but said to Ma Chao: "Chao'er, the Ma family uses the power of three counties to connect the four counties and put them on the fourteen states of the Han Dynasty, which is also a miracle, why do you have to capture Longxi?" ”

Ma Chao shook his head, too lazy to explain to Jia Xu that war is just a crude means to achieve economic goals, and it is a continuation of political games and other nonsense, and after holding it in his mouth for a long time, he spit out two words: "Money, power." ”

After Jia Xu heard this, he sighed leisurely: "Sure enough, but now that the Ma family is at its peak and its strength is advancing by leaps and bounds, why don't you want to go step by step and move the world in one battle?" ”

Hearing this, Ma Chao glanced at Jia Xu and said leisurely: "But I can't wait, these days, I always have a feeling of restlessness, as if something big is going to happen." ”

"Young Master, are you worried about Yan Xing's troops?" At this time, there was no need for Jia Xu to point out the matter of Yan Xing, and Yang Fu had already realized that there was something wrong with Yan Xing's troops. However, he really couldn't figure it out, if Yan Xing wanted to rebel, where could he go?

On Han Sui's side, Yan Xing had no place to stand; Dong Zhuo's piece, the Ma family and Dong Zhuo are still in an ambiguous relationship; Surrender Zhang Lu? The county is governed by religion, and Yan Xing sneers at it; Finally, wandering outside the plug? It's better to mix in the Ma family. Moreover, the Jincheng Yan clan has all moved to Fufeng, doesn't Yan Xingmo want to abandon the entire family?

After thinking about it, Yang Fu couldn't think of Yan Xing's motives and whereabouts for rebellion. And Ma Chao is also at a loss, but what he is most worried about is not Yan Xing, but that his father will be connected with Chang'an......

Jia Xu and Fa Zheng, the old and little foxes, also rolled their eyes and didn't know what they were thinking. Anyway, when the morning sun rose, all the soldiers of the Ma Jiajun saw that their four wise and resourceful masters stood on this hill all morning......