Chen Xu's caution did not work, it should be said that from beginning to end, the Qiang cavalry never appeared.

In fact, this situation is not the best outcome.

But what Chen Xu didn't expect was that in the next five days, the Guanzhong Army saw the wolf smoke rising into the sky three times in a row.

However, when Zhao Yun led the army to kill again and again, he did not see a single Qiang except for the traces of the Qiang people stationed in this place.

For a while, Guan Zhongjun seemed to be being led by Ma Chao.

"It's the third time."

When Chen Xu led the crowd to arrive at an oasis and saw the mess in front of him, his face became extremely pale.

For five days, the Guanzhong cavalry were unable to plunder supplies, and every time they arrived at the oasis along the wolf smoke, they would be left with looted ruins.

Without the object of plunder, the Guanzhong army could only consume the dry food they carried.

Zhao Yun's face was a little solemn, and he came to Chen Xu and said, "Lord, you can't go on like this." ”

"Ma Chao relied on his familiarity with the terrain, and he has been leading us by the nose during this time, and he has lost the object of plunder, or it will not be long before the grain and grass in the army will be exhausted."

Ma Chao's strategy was simple and crude, he kept exposing his whereabouts, but relying on his familiarity with the desert, he was able to grasp the traces of the Guanzhong army in advance.

In this way, as long as Ma Chao keeps slaughtering and plundering the foreign tribes along the way, and sweeps away the supplies inside, the Guanzhong army, which cannot be supplied, will eventually collapse without a fight.

In order to lure the enemy deeper, Ma Chao even left his own traces in every place where wolf smoke was burned, and also exposed the strength of the Qiang army unabashedly.

Ma Chao believes that as long as Chen Xu gets the news of him, he will always follow him to take revenge.

Moreover, the 25,000 Qiang cavalry is almost all the main force of the Qiang people, which is definitely a great temptation for the Guanzhong army.

Aren't you going to take revenge, aren't you going to destroy the Qiang?

Now your enemy Ma Chao and the main force of the Qiang people are in front, if you want revenge, come after me.

This is not only Ma Chao luring the enemy deep and wanting to cut off the source of food and grass for the Guanzhong army, but also a fair provocation.

Zhao Yunnai is a battlefield general, and after a few experiences of being led by the nose, he roughly guessed Ma Chao's intentions, so he felt worried.

Today's Zhao Yun, although he still insists, is not the young man with a strong sense of justice before.

Even if he was unwilling to slaughter foreign people, he would not point fingers at Lu Bu's actions, which was also a manifestation of Zhao Yun's gradual maturity over the years.

It will be a success, let alone in the cruel environment of the desert.

If you don't plunder, if you don't massacre, you will die.

When Chen Xu heard Zhao Yun's words, he suddenly smiled, and he smiled happily.

After laughing, he said to the generals: "The horses are not afraid to lift a stone and shoot themselves in the foot when they have an axe in front of me. ”

In the puzzled eyes of everyone, Chen Xu gave an order that made everyone feel incredible.

Feeling the doubts in everyone's hearts, Chen Xu said with a smile: "Ma Er thought that I would be carried away by hatred, and I would always follow him and chase him desperately. ”

"It's a pity that he underestimated me too much."

"During this time, we have caught enough good guides, and the horses don't want to bully me anymore."

With Chen Xu's order, the Guanzhong cavalry suddenly left this oasis and threw themselves in another direction.

……

In the Qiang camp, Ma Chao, as usual, waited for the scouts to come back to report the news of the Guanzhong army.

But after waiting for a long time, there was still no scout coming back at the appointed time, which couldn't help but make Ma Chao feel a little uneasy.

"Could it be that something is wrong?"

Ma Chao was extremely bored in his heart, walking back and forth in the camp with a spear, and kept looking in the southeast direction.

Just when Ma Chao was waiting impatiently, a scout covered in blood came to the Qiang camp and staggered to meet Ma Chao.

He shouted in horror: "Great King, the Guanzhong army did not continue to chase our army, but went directly to the direction of the royal court. “

Ma Chao was shocked when he heard this, and shouted: "How is it possible? ”

There was an enemy and a big bait in front of him, Ma Chao couldn't figure out why Chen Xu could give up so happily.

It must be known that even if Chen Xu can destroy the Qiang royal court, as long as Ma Chao and this Qiang cavalry are still there, the threat of the Qiang people will not be lifted, and Chen Jing's hatred will not dissipate.

"Will you be saved if you attack it?"

Although Ma Chao has a somewhat irritable personality, he has also read some art of war, and in a hurry, he has already thought of Chen Xu's plan.

Ma Chao frowned and thought for a long time, then suddenly sneered: "The Guanzhong Army only has 15,000 cavalry, and although the current Qiang royal court is not impregnable, it is not so easy to break. ”

"As long as I plunder all the nearby tribes and lose the logistics and supply of the Guanzhong army, it will not be long before it collapses without a fight."

The Qiang royal court is not a simple camp, but like a city standing on the shore of the Stygian Lake.

Of course, this so-called city is too far away from the city in the Central Plains, and it is not even comparable to the lowest county seat.

However, the current Guanzhong army is all cavalry, and does not carry siege equipment at all, and most importantly, the Qiang royal court has all kinds of perfect defensive measures.

Moreover, in addition to the 3,000 blonde and blue-eyed foot soldiers, plus the tribe because of their age, they were not taken out by Ma Chao and the Qiang men, and the Qiang royal court could also gather 10,000 soldiers who could fight.

Although the combat effectiveness of these 10,000 soldiers and horses is worrying, if they only defend the Qiang royal court, it will be difficult for the 15,000 Guanzhong army to conquer.

At that time, Ma Chao led the Qiang cavalry to harass from the side, and it would not be long before the Guanzhong army would be in a desperate situation.

Ma Chao summoned a confidant and said to him: "You lead a small team of men and horses back and tell the generals who are guarding the village that no matter what happens, you can't go out to fight the Guanzhong army." ”

"As long as we can hold the royal court for a while, we will win."

Hearing this, the henchmen gladly accepted the order, and did not delay too much time at all, so they took a small group of cavalry and rushed to the direction of the royal court under the stars.

Seeing this group of cavalry leave, Ma Chao summoned several Qiang generals and said to them: "Each of you will lead a thousand cavalry and attack everywhere. ”

"We must loot all the oases that the Guanzhong army can find, and as for the aborigines inside, they are willing to accept the lives of those who are co-opted and those who resist die."

The wilderness in the desert is so cruel and even more vicious.

The cruel object is those plundered oases, but the vicious object is the Guanzhong army, if there is no supply outside the fortress, no matter how powerful the army will eventually perish.

5,000 cavalry were assigned to plunder everywhere, and Ma Chao still had 20,000 soldiers and horses under his command, but he led these Qiang cavalry to rush to the Qiang royal court without hurry.

He didn't want the war to spread there, but he couldn't help it today.

However, it was not a wise move to confront the Guanzhong cavalry head-on now, so Ma Chao just followed behind the Guanzhong soldiers without hurrying.

Just when Ma Chao was far behind Guan Zhongjun and slowly rushed towards the Qiang royal court, he got several news that shocked him one after another.

It turned out that the five teams of men and horses sent out by Ma Chao were actually intercepted and killed by the Guanzhong army, and the Guanzhong army completely crushed the Qiang cavalry with superior forces.

The 5,000 Qiang cavalry that were sent out to plunder supplies were almost completely annihilated, but the losses of the Guanzhong army were very small.

The casualties of 5,000 cavalry are an immeasurable loss for the current Ma Chao.

It was only at this time that Ma Chao knew that he had fallen for Chen Xu's tricks.

……

On the other hand, Wei Xu, Cheng Lian, Cao Xing, Dianman, and Guan Ping led 1,500 cavalry respectively and returned with a great victory.

The combat ability of the Guanzhong army was originally stronger than that of the Qiang cavalry.

Moreover, it is not surprising that the Guanzhong army was outnumbered by the crowd, and it was calculated or unintentionally that it was able to destroy the remaining five Qiang cavalry.

The most important thing is that when the five teams returned this time, they all plundered a lot of supplies, which were enough for the Guanzhong army to use for a long time.

This is the first time that he has led a battle alone, and the joy on his face can't be hidden. He was also the last of the five teams to come back.

Coming to Chen Xu, Dian Man asked excitedly: "Lord, how did you expect that Ma Chao would divide his troops to raid the nearby oasis?" ”

"Also, it's incredible to be able to destroy one-fifth of the opponent's men and horses without losing any of the enemy's troops when the enemy is outnumbered."

Looking at the overexcited Dianman, Dian Wei felt that Dianman had embarrassed him, and his old face couldn't help but darken, staring at his son unkindly.

But Dianman didn't seem to see it, and he was still dancing and gesturing. Not only was it full, but the rest of the people were also curious.

Zhao Yun asked directly: "Sun Tzu Youyun: Ten are encircled, five are attacked, and multiple is divided, the enemy can fight, if there is less, he can escape, and if not, he can avoid it." ”

This sentence roughly means: if the force exceeds the opponent, it is necessary to destroy the enemy according to various circumstances; If the forces are almost the same, it is necessary to find ways to disperse the enemy's forces and then break them with superior forces; If the force is less than the opponent, you must be able to dodge and dodge, and if you can, you must dodge.

Chen Xu's expedition to the outside of Cyprus this time was already at an absolute disadvantage in his own troops. In this case, Chen Xu dared to divide his troops to kill the Qiang people, which was simply bold.

If he was discovered by Ma Chao behind him, and led the crowd to attack desperately, how could Chen Xu, who had only 7,500 soldiers and horses left, be able to resist the army of 20,000 Qiang people?

Chen Xu smiled indifferently, stroked his beard and said: "Sun Tzu also said: Those who are good at fighting are not responsible for others. ”

"Too few troops is our disadvantage, but we can't complain about it, but create a situation in our favor."

"Ma Chao is brave and diligent, and under normal circumstances, he will definitely lead the soldiers and horses on a rampage, and he will definitely not go through such a lot of trouble."

"Through Ma Chao's abnormal behavior, it can also be seen that this person is very jealous of me and my subordinates, so that the troops obviously have an advantage, but they still want to play tricks."

Speaking of this, Chen Xu sneered twice and said, "If the horse abandons all his worries and leads the army to fight me head-on, I will still retreat." ”

"If you want to play tricks with me, you really don't know whether you are alive or dead!"

"I pretended to directly lead the troops to attack the Qiang royal court, and if the horses still did not hurry and chased behind, they would definitely divide their troops to attack the rest of the oases, in the hope of cutting off my source of food and grass."

"I will only then make a plan, and quietly send five teams of cavalry to raid the scattered Qiang team, but I am bluffing and confusing the horses."

"If my expectations are correct, the horses will be furious when they learn that the soldiers and horses of the Five Routes have been broken and our army has captured a lot of supplies, and they will be furious and ready to lead the army to fight me to the death."

As soon as Chen Xu's words fell, he heard a rapid sound of horses' hooves, but a scout came with a rush.

"Lord, Ma Chao has exhausted his army and is rushing to this side."

When everyone was admiring their lord's divine calculation, they saw Chen Xu laughing twice and said, "He wants to fight, but I don't fight with him." ”

Under Chen Xu's command, although there are nearly 15,000 Guanzhong soldiers, 5,000 of them are newly recruited troops, and their combat effectiveness is not very strong.

If it confronts the Qiang cavalry head-on, the Guanzhong army will definitely suffer heavy casualties, and even if it is lucky to win the final victory, it will not have the strength to conquer the Qiang royal court again.

From beginning to end, Chen Xu never thought of confronting the Qiang cavalry head-on.

He raised the spear in his hand and shouted: "March at full speed and run to the Gobi region." ”

Hearing this, the generals' hearts moved, and then a bright smile appeared on their faces.

If the Qiang cavalry can be led to the Gobi, the Guanzhong army will rely on the advantage of horseshoes, which is completely enough to consume the enemy army to death.

However, he said that Ma Chao was extremely angry and was ready to fight with the Guanzhong army first, but he got the news that Chen Xu led his troops to escape.

Ma Chao had some doubts in his heart, and he didn't think too much about it, so he led 20,000 cavalry to chase after him.

The two sides chased after me, passing through the terrain of deserts, oases, and careful grasslands, and finally arrived at a piece of Gobi.

Macroscopically, the Gobi terrain also includes deserts, but in general, the Gobi refers to the kind of land full of sand and gravel.

The sand and gravel here are neither big nor small, but the lethality of war horses is very huge.

After Ma Chao saw the Guanzhong cavalry and rushed into the Gobi desperately, he hesitated and didn't know what to do.

Seeing this, a Qiang general couldn't help but sneer: "The thief general doesn't know the cavalry tactics, and he dares to enter this kind of terrain, he really doesn't know whether he is alive or dead." ”

Someone else said: "No matter how elite the cavalry in Guanzhong is, they don't want to surpass us in horsemanship, they are not afraid of the Gobi terrain, what are we afraid of?" ”

"I also ask the king to give an order for the whole army to enter the Gobi and fight to the death with the Guanzhong army."

Although the Gobi terrain is extremely lethal to cavalry, as long as the riding skills are excellent, they can also dodge one or two.

The Qiang people have lived on horseback since childhood, and they believe that they will definitely do better than the Guanzhong cavalry in this kind of terrain.