I rode and slashed unparalleled in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 770: Ma Teng’s Threat Approaches
In the first year of Kaiyuan, in early summer, in Henei County.

Su Yao stood on the city wall, surrounded by a crowd of people, gazing at the fields and mountains in the distance, but what he was thinking about in his mind was the situation in the neighboring Hedong County.

Hedong County, located northwest of Luoyang and east of the Yellow River, is famous for its rich iron ore resources and salt ponds. It has been an important salt and iron producing area in China since ancient times, providing a steady stream of wealth to its controllers.

During the Warring States Period, the State of Wei had the capital to dominate the world because of its control over the salt mines in Hedong, and it established the world-famous Wei Wuzu.

After the Han Dynasty unified the country, it also attached great importance to Hedong. It specially seized the Hedong County located in Jin and made it a separate place directly under the jurisdiction of Sili. It can be seen that Hedong was very important to the court.

However, in recent years, due to the rampage of the Baibo Army, the situation in Hedong County has become turbulent. Although the prefect Wang Yi held Anyi City, he was unable to completely put down the rebellion in the face of the siege of the Baibo Army, resulting in a complete interruption of Hedong County's taxation and material supply, which put tremendous pressure on the court's finances.

Su Yao knew very well that if the problem of Hedong County was not resolved as soon as possible, the court's financial crisis would be difficult to alleviate, and it would be impossible to provide sufficient support for the next military expedition.

"General, the situation in Hedong County is not the same as in Hanoi."

Sima Lang stood beside Su Yao and gave cautious advice.

As a native of Henei, Sima Lang also had a certain understanding of the situation in the neighboring county of Hedong. At the same time, as an entourage appointed by Su Yao this time, he had done his homework in advance and knew that the rebellion there could not be resolved overnight.

The leader of the Baibo Army, Guo Tai, is a former subordinate of the Yellow Turban bandit Zhang Jiao. Not only is he brave and good at fighting, he also has a deep hatred for the imperial court. Su Yao had previously thwarted their attempt to invade Taiyuan. The two sides are hostile to each other.

This is completely different from Wang Kuang of Hanoi who was indecisive and did not openly rebel until the last moment, giving Su Yao an opportunity to take advantage of.

"Hedong, we have to fight a tough battle."

Sima Lang frowned and suggested Su Yao to take his time:

"Now that the general has recovered Henei, we have regained a valuable grain and food area for the court. The stored grain and grass are enough to support the capital until after the autumn harvest."

"In my opinion, we don't need to worry."

"Regarding the supply of Zhonghe and Hanoi, after this year's bumper harvest, we should be able to gather enough supplies to last the army for half a year."

"By then, if the general leads the army to attack again, wouldn't it be easier to conquer Hedong?"

Su Yao nodded slightly, expressing his understanding of Sima Lang's analysis.

Since ancient times, war has been a battle of logistics.

Without sufficient logistical and food support, even an army of one million would be like a handful of chickens and dogs and unable to withstand a single blow.

During the Battle of Guandu, the key reason why Cao Cao was able to defeat the powerful Yuan Shao with a smaller force was that he launched a surprise attack on Wuchao and burned Yuan Shao's food and supplies.

The most critical problem that Zhuge Liang failed in his six expeditions to Qishan was that it was difficult to transport grain to Shu, which could not sustain his long-term combat, and he had to retreat when the food ran out.

There are countless examples like the above in the history of war, and this is also the norm in war.

There is no endless war. After a certain period of fighting, everyone will suddenly calm down to farm for a while and store up military supplies in preparation for the next battle.

This is the case in real wars, and this scenario is also reflected in many real-life strategic games. In addition to being more realistic, the main reason is to limit the player's rapid expansion and snowball-like development in the early stages, slow down the game rhythm, and extend the life of the game.

Su Yao naturally knew all this clearly.

The safest approach now would be to slow down and farm, store up enough military rations, then launch another strong push in two years, consume a few forces and big cities, and then continue farming.

This is a normal game rhythm.

However, Su Yao doesn't want to do that now.

"Suppressing the rebellion in Hedong is urgent!"

Su Yao's gaze was firm and deep, as if it could penetrate the distant clouds and mist and look directly at the turbulent land of Hedong County:
"What Boda said is true. It is indeed safer to send troops after the autumn harvest."

"However, the current situation does not allow us to hesitate or delay."

Sima Lang was slightly stunned when he heard this. He didn't expect Su Yao to be so determined.

"General, is there any reason why you must attack quickly?" Wang Ling asked. Su Yao smiled slightly: "As expected, Yan Yun knows me well."

Yanyun is the pen name of Wang Ling.

Wang Ling just turned eighteen this year, so it is not yet time for him to choose a name.

However, because he had followed Su Yao at an early age, the young Wang Ling's official career skyrocketed, and he was promoted to the third-rank Jinyi Zhonglang Jiang before he was even twenty.

At this moment, the Wang family was so surprised that they had to step forward to give him a title and a name in advance.

After talking about Wang Ling, let’s get back to the present.

Wang Ling knew that Su Yao's every word and action always had deep meaning, and this time was no exception.

Su Yao was eager to take over Hedong. Besides the fact that he wanted to play a fast attack rhythm, there was another more crucial reason.

"Ma Teng???"

Wang Ling and Sima Lang exclaimed in unison.

"That's right, Ma Teng!"

Immediately afterwards, Su Yao took out a secret letter from his arms.

This was reported by Ma Jia, who specialized in grassland trade routes.

The letter stated that Ma Teng of Xiliang had previously led 30,000 troops and marched directly to Bingzhou via the grassland.

It was not until this time that everyone suddenly remembered that there seemed to be such a past event.

When Dong Zhuo was about to fall, he distributed official positions to people all over the country, especially promising various titles to local princes, asking them to join forces to attack Su Yao.

Ma Teng was appointed as the governor of Bingzhou by Dong Zhuo himself.

However, Dong Zhuo was defeated so quickly that no one took it seriously.

But obviously Ma Teng did not take it as a joke.

We can talk about attacking Su Yao from both sides later, but the official seal of the Governor of Bingzhou is real.

So, while Su Yao was hunting down Dong Zhuo and was busy with the affairs of the two capitals, Ma Teng also set out at the same time.

"The governor of Bingzhou was ordered by the traitor Dong, but Ma Teng of Xiliang actually took it seriously. He doesn't take our new court seriously!"

Sima Lang frowned, with a hint of indignation in his tone. He knew very well that Ma Teng's move was not only a blatant provocation to the court, but also a direct threat to Su Yao's authority.

"General, Ma Teng's move is unwise." Wang Ling took over the conversation and said in a deep voice, "He actually dared to attack Bingzhou at this time. It is clear that he does not take the general seriously and even more so, he is contemptuous of the court."

Su Yao nodded slightly, with a hint of coldness in his eyes: "Ma Teng is an ambitious man who has long wanted to establish his own regime. The reason why he accepted Dong Zhuo's appointment was just to use Dong Zhuo's power to expand his own power."

"Now that Dong Zhuo is dead, he thinks the court is unable to take care of Bingzhou, so he wants to take the opportunity to seize Bingzhou and realize his ambitions." Su Yao's tone was firm, revealing an unquestionable determination, "However, he made a wrong calculation. How could I, Su Yao, let him succeed!"

Sima Lang felt relieved after hearing this. He knew that Su Yao was both wise and brave. Since he was so determined, he must have had a plan to deal with it.

"General, how should we respond?" Wang Ling asked, with anticipation gleaming in his eyes.

Su Yao smiled slightly, glanced at everyone, and said in a deep voice: "Since Ma Teng dares to invade Bingzhou, I will make sure he never returns!"

As he spoke, Su Yao took out a map from his arms, spread it out in front of everyone, pointed at Bingzhou and Hedong County on the map and said:

"You see, Bingzhou is adjacent to Hedong County. If Ma Teng takes Bingzhou, he can move eastward and threaten Luoyang."

"Therefore, we must put down the rebellion in Hedong County as soon as possible, stabilize the rear, and then march north to fight Ma Teng!"

(End of this chapter)