Zhao Yun was half a day behind Cao Zhi, and he began to speed up when he received Ma Yan's order, but unfortunately he still couldn't catch up.

There are still ten miles away from the battlefield, Zhao Yun received a report from the scout, Ma Jian has been defeated by Cao Zhi, the army of eight thousand has completely collapsed, the Wei army is chasing and killing the rout, Hongmen is bleeding and drifting, and corpses are everywhere. After the great victory, Cao Zhi did not continue to retreat, he occupied Ma Tan's position, received the ordnance baggage that Ma Tan had not yet used, and was arraying to prepare for another battle.

Although Zhao Yun was mentally prepared, when he heard the news, he couldn't help but gasp.

Cao Zhi attacked too fiercely, and Ma Jian was defeated too quickly.

Ma Jian was defeated, and Jihua, who joined forces to attack Cao Zhi, naturally failed. Zhao Yun now only had 8,000 men, and he had no advantage in the face of the Wei army, which had just won a big victory and received heavy supplies. Hastily engaging in a battle will not change the situation, but may cause too much loss and lose the ability to maneuver.

Without the mobile forces led by Ma Tan, Zhao Yun's force became the only Liliang near Chang'an that could be mobilized. In last year's battle, Wei Yan of Tongguan and Deng Zhi of Shangluo suffered a lot of losses because of the fierce attack of the Wei army, and they had to defend the city and could not withdraw, only Zhao Yun had not fought and remained intact.

Now, he has to take on the role of central dispatch, and he also has to guard the passes in the north, so as not to take advantage of Zhang He's weakness. If he is brave for a moment and has a bloody battle with Cao Zhi, even if he wins, it will be a tragic victory, and he will no longer have Liliang to stop Zhang He.

Zhao Yun reined in the reins of the horse, ordered to stop the advance, and lined up on the spot. His men hurried in. It takes time to recover and prepare for the position before engagement. In this way, if Cao Zhi is forced to invite a fight, he will have the strength to fight and have a slight upper hand.

Even if they are all positional battles, there is still a big difference between offense and defense. The defending side is defending the position, and it has to take advantage of a lot in the formation and ordnance, and the attacking side wants to advance, so it is naturally impossible to carry large ordnance, and it is impossible to maintain a strict formation like the defending side.

Zhao Yun, who has been fighting for many years, knows these details well. He made the decision that was most beneficial to him in the shortest possible time.

It was learned that Zhao Yun stopped advancing. Cao Zhi did not return to invite the battle, he rested on Ma Yan's position, and let the soldiers have a full meal, singing and dancing. Celebrate your just-won victory. Obtained the baggage supplies left by Ma Tan. It is undoubtedly a shot in the arm for Wei Jun. And the defeat of the 8,000 main force of the Shu Han army in the first battle undoubtedly made a good start to Cao Zhi's journey.

At this moment, the enemy they faced was only 8,000 people led by Zhao Yun. But they were not afraid. They had the advantage of troops and high morale, and they were not afraid of another battle with Zhao Yun at all, and they even longed for Cao Zhi to order an attack on Zhao Yun. After defeating Zhao Yun, only the two lonely cities of Tongguan and Shangluo were left in the eastern part of Guanzhong, and whether they went west or eastward were under their control.

But Cao Zhi didn't give any orders, just let the soldiers have a good rest. He went round the battalions as usual, until all the soldiers had slept peacefully, and then he returned to his tent, and rubbed his sore legs in contemplation against the map.

……

Ma Jian took Xie Guanglong and more than 20 other personal guards, and galloped to Zhao Yun's camp.

"General Zhao, I'm really ashamed." Ma Jian hugged his fists, sat opposite Zhao Yun, and was not polite, took a sip of water from the water cup on the case, let out a long breath of turbidity, and said straight to the point: "The situation in Guanzhong is very dangerous now." ”

Zhao Yun looked at Ma Jian silently. Although Ma Tan was very embarrassed, his expression was quite calm, and he did not mess up. This made him very relieved, it is not terrible to lose the battle, but it is terrible to lose and chaos. The last time Ma Tan was spurned in Longyou Weishenme, it was because he was distraught after the defeat, and he fled shamefully, losing a good opportunity to save the battle. Now, although he has been defeated again, he can remain calm, and that is progress.

"Youchang, what jihua do you have?" Zhao Yun asked calmly.

"Cao Zhi came too quickly, and he disrupted our jihua all at once. We must adjust our deployment and eliminate this problem in the heart. "Ma Jian obviously has a jihua for a long time, slowly speaking, it is clearly organized." Although I am defeated, there are still more than 1,000 soldiers under my subordinates, give me two or three days to gather the rout, there should be four or five thousand people, plus your subordinates, the strength of the two sides is about the same, and there is still the strength to fight. However, we can't take the initiative to attack, and the battle for the moment is to entangle him, protect Chang'an City, and the workshops outside Chang'an City. If those workshops fell into the hands of Cao Zhi, it would be even more terrible than losing Chang'an City. ”

Outside Chang'an, the workshop on the bank of the Weishui River was established when Wei Ba occupied Chang'an, and the ordnance used by tens of thousands of horses in Guanzhong was produced and assembled there, especially the stone bullets used in the powerful ballista and thunderbolt car, all of which had to be supplied by the workshop. The current advantage of the Shu Han army in armaments is these two, the shape is regular, the huge output of stone bullets is the secret that the Wei State wants to obtain at any cost, and the shadow of the Wei army's meticulous work can be seen almost every day around the workshop. If these secrets fell into the hands of Cao Zhi, the Shu Han army's advantage in armaments would be gone.

"I will rush back to Chang'an immediately to protect the workshop, and the responsibility of delaying Cao Zhi will be handed over to the general." Ma Jian stared at Zhao Yun's eyes and said word by word: "General, don't take the initiative to engage him, just take him with you." I have sent someone to Fangling to ask for help from General Checai, as long as we can hold out for a month, the reinforcements from Hanzhong will be able to enter Guanzhong through the Meridian Valley. ”

Zhao Yun bowed slightly: "Ma Changshi, don't worry, I will do everything possible to hold Cao Zhi back." ”

"That's good." Ma Tan breathed a sigh of relief: "In addition, the various passes in Hengshan must strengthen vigilance, and Zhang He must not be allowed to take advantage of the situation, otherwise, the pass will be in danger." ”

Hengshan refers to the mountain range that lies in the north of Guanzhong, separating the Guanzhong Plain from the Ordos Plateau, which has always been the southern boundary between the Central Plains and the nomads. When the Central Plains Liliang was insufficient, it was a line of defense for the Zuihou of the farming people. To the north of Hengshan, there are Beidi, Anding and other counties that originally belonged to Liangzhou, and now they are within the control of Zhang He. On the Hengshan Mountain, there is the Great Wall that has been built since the Warring States period, and there are many passes, which are the focus of Zhao Yun's current defense.

"I've arranged it." Zhao Yun said: "It's just that the troops are insufficient, if Zhang He really comes, we won't be able to support it for too long." ”

"I know." Ma Tan sighed: "If Zhang He really comes before the reinforcements arrive, the general will go to guard the pass, and I will come to deal with Cao Zhi." This time the defeat was sudden, the sin is unforgivable, and the only way to atone for the sin is to atone. ”

Zhao Yun nodded with satisfaction and didn't say anything more.

It was in Zhao Yun's tent that Ma Jian wrote a few letters, arranged for someone to send them out, and then left in a hurry.

……

Wei Yan stood up suddenly, knocking over the table in front of him, and there were rice dishes scattered everywhere on the cups and plates on the table. Wei Yan's face was full of disbelief and surprise, he looked at the letter in his hand, and then looked at Xie Guanglong who had a dusty face.

"Ma Changshi is really defeated?"

"Defeated." Xie Guanglong nodded embarrassedly: "Cao Zhi is like a madman, he attacked as soon as he came up, and those Wei troops also seemed to be crazy, and they actually used their bodies to impact the spear array, and they forced the spear array to break through a gap." They were not cavalrymen, but they thought of themselves as war horses. ”

Wei Yan raised his eyebrows: "Interesting, I didn't expect this shaft to be a madman." Ma Changshi is a humble gentleman, and if he wants to fight against a madman, he is indeed a little unable to deal with it. ”

Xie Guanglong didn't speak, he couldn't figure out whether Wei Yan was explaining for Ma Jian or laughing at Ma Yan.

"Okay, I got it. You report back to Ma Changshi, let him guard Chang'an, and deal with Cao Zhi, and leave it to me and General Zhao Zilong. ”

"The general wants to leave Tongguan?" Xie Guanglong was taken aback.

"Ma Changshi didn't say that he wouldn't let me leave Tongguan." Wei Ba shook the letter in his hand, and glared at Xie Guanglong with some unhappiness: "Okay, you go eat something, rush back as soon as possible, and bring my words to Ma Changshi." ”

Xie Guanglong didn't say anything more. He knew very well that Wei Yan was very unhappy about his interference in the military. Wei Ba was polite to him, that was polite to Ma Yan, and Wei Yan didn't care much about a swordsman like him from the bottom of his heart.

Seeing Xie Guanglong away, Wei Yan walked to the map, his eyes narrowed, and his eyes were as sharp as an eagle. After a while, Wei Wu strode in. Although he was only seventeen years old, he was tall and fierce, and when he stood with Wei Yan, except that his face was a little immature, he was almost carved out of a mold.

Among Wei Yan's several adult sons, the one who is most like him is Wei Wu.

"Daddy, what's the matter?"

"Prepare for tomorrow's attack."

"Sortie?" Wei Wu's eyes flashed, and he suddenly became excited: "Where to fight?" ”

"Fight Cao Zhen's camp." Wei Yan clenched his fists and knocked on the location of Cao Zhen's camp marked on the map, "Play with me and see if I don't beat you all over the place." ”

Wei Wu's face was dazed, and he felt that his father's words seemed to be a little out of bounds. Wei Yan glanced at him and pouted: "Cao Zhi led 20,000 cavalry into Guanzhong and defeated Ma Changshi in Hongmen, Cao Zhen's camp is empty, let's get him a guy, and come back to clean up Cao Zhi." He smiled: "Hehe, I was worried that I couldn't find a chance to kill him, and he actually came to the door by himself." ”

Wei Wu picked up Ma Yan's letter and glanced at it, and couldn't help but be overjoyed: "Hey, Daddy, this is really a good opportunity." ”

"Nonsense, do you still need you to remind Lao Tzu?" Wei Yan's eyes widened, and he raised his leg and kicked: "Go and prepare." ”

"Whoa." Wei Wu jumped away with a brisk step, covered his buttocks, and ran away as if flying.

The next morning, Wei Yan left Chen Xiang to lead more than 1,000 people to guard Tongguan, and he left Tongguan City with 3,000 people and killed Cao Zhen's camp twenty miles away. Wei Wu led five hundred soldiers as the vanguard, as if he was afraid that someone would rob him of his credit, and galloped all the way...... (To be continued......)

PS: The monthly pass situation is not good, the rivers and lakes are in emergency, ask for a monthly pass!