I rode and slashed unparalleled in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 810: Yanmen Pass is difficult to conquer, Ma Teng fled upon hearing the news
"Something's wrong, something's wrong!"

A few days ago, outside Yanmen Pass, Ma Teng’s military camp.

Just as the imperial examination in Luoyang was in full swing, some changes also took place in Yanmen Pass.

"Xu Huang is definitely not an ordinary person. Although we have fought each other in the past, he has never been so timid. Recently, he suddenly stayed indoors and did not come out. There must be something strange going on."

Ma Teng frowned and paced back and forth in the tent, unable to hide the worry in his eyes:
"Do you think that guy is up to something bad and is planning to do something bad to us secretly?"

Ma Teng's concerns are not groundless.

When he first besieged Yanmen, Xu Huang, who had moved here from Youzhou, gave him a big blow.

While Ma Teng was advancing rapidly and becoming complacent, Xu Huang pretended to open the gate and surrender, but in fact he sent out all his troops in ambush, which caught Ma Teng off guard and caused heavy losses. He retreated thirty miles from the gate in one breath, and it took him seven or eight days to gather his defeated troops and stabilize the situation.

From then on, Ma Teng became extremely wary of Xu Huang and dared not be careless again.

Later, while Ma Teng requested support from Liu Yu and Han Fu and contacted the noble families in the Central Plains, he gradually regained the offensive and launched a siege on Yanmen Pass with superior forces.

However, since the lesson of the first defeat was too tragic, Ma Teng did not dare to set up camp too close to the gate. Instead, he camped more than ten miles away to leave space for the army to react in case he was caught off guard again.

After all, the army he led was mostly composed of knights from Liangzhou, and they were not afraid of fighting in the wild at all.

However, this distance also gave Xu Huang an opportunity at the same time.

Since the battle resumed, Xu Huang never gave up the opportunity to launch a counterattack on their camp outside the city.

Every few days late at night, Ma Teng and his men would be harassed by Xu Huang's small cavalry unit near their own camp.

Led by Xu Huang himself, these cavalrymen moved like the wind, coming and going without a trace. They often suddenly appeared when Ma Teng's army was a little off guard, robbed food and grass, burned tents, and then quickly withdrew.

Although Ma Teng was furious every time, he had no way to deal with these agile cavalrymen. The best he could do was to discover them in time and disperse them.

"Horse riding!"

"This is simply unreasonable!"

"My Liangzhou Iron Cavalry is unrivaled in the world, how could we be teased by that Xu guy?!"

Facing the furious Ma Teng, the military officer explained that the knights sent by Xu Huang were all Youzhou Hu cavalry. Those Xianbei and Wuhuan followers were particularly good at launching attacks. Although their own Qiang knights were not inferior to them, they were always inferior to those who took the initiative to attack by simply passively defending.

So, in the past few days, Ma Teng's Xiliang knights and Youzhou knights have been fighting wits and courage outside Yanmen Pass. Both sides have won and lost, and the battle situation has come to a stalemate.

Both Xu Huang and Ma Teng wanted to seize the opportunity to severely damage the enemy's cavalry force in one fell swoop and win space for themselves to take the initiative in combat.

However, now, seven days have passed, and Xu Huang in Yanmen Pass is like a dead person, no longer coming to fight him, which makes Ma Teng, who has set a trap and is waiting for someone to fall into it, extremely annoyed. He keeps pacing back and forth in the tent:

"What on earth is Xu Huang up to? Has he noticed our plan and is therefore afraid to act rashly?"

Ma Teng gritted his teeth and said fiercely:
"Or is that guy planning to do something bad to us secretly?"

"Sir, I think Xu Huang is an experienced military commander. He is calm but flexible, and is good at seizing opportunities."

Master Jun analyzed:
"Such a person is definitely not the type to stay in an isolated city. He must have some evil intentions if he suddenly stays indoors. There are only two possibilities."

"First, he has already noticed our plan, so he is holding back and waiting for us to reveal a flaw before taking action. Second, he is secretly preparing a large-scale offensive to catch us off guard."

"A large-scale offensive? With just the few troops he has in Yanmen Pass? Impossible, how is that possible?" Ma Teng denied it immediately.

At this time, Ma Xiu, who was with the army, stood aside and expressed his own opinion:
"It's true that the defenders in Yanmen Pass are not strong enough to launch a large-scale counterattack." "But what if he has reinforcements?"

"Reinforcements? Impossible, that's even more impossible!"

Ma Teng then shook his head:

"Our army values ​​speed, and Yanmen Pass is located at the border of Bingzhou. Where will Xu Huang's reinforcements come from?"

"The troops of You and Ji have been restrained by my strategy. It would be a blessing if they don't turn against him. Su Yao himself is also fighting against the enemy in Hedong and cannot be separated for the time being. Who else in the world can come to support Xu Huang?"

Although Ma Teng was anxious, he still believed that the current predicament was temporary and he still had plenty of time to besiege Yanmen.

The source of this confidence was the message he received from the Hedong family a few days ago.

The letter said that after Su Yao entered Anyi, he went to war with Bai Bo again and crossed the river to suppress the bandits. He wanted to use the power of the great victory in suppressing the bandits to strike at the local wealthy families, and asked Ma Teng to quickly attack Yanmen to relieve their pressure.

At that time, Ma Teng and others who received this letter were overjoyed.

They have been waiting for the Central Plains families to rebel against Su Yao, and now they finally see hope.

So, after receiving this letter, Ma Teng immediately set about setting traps and defenses, preparing to severely injure Xu Huang when he attacked again, or even capture him in one fell swoop, thus completely resolving the major concern of Yanmen Pass.

But who could have thought that Xu Huang stayed indoors for seven days, completely disrupting Ma Teng's plan.

"Your Excellency, please don't be careless."

At this time, Master Jun stepped forward and said:

"Yanmen Pass is blocked, and there are wars in the You and Ji directions, so transportation is difficult."

"Therefore, our grasp of information from the Central Plains must be lagging behind. Even if the things mentioned in the letter from the Hedong family are true, we don't know how long ago they happened, so we can't rely on them completely."

"hiss--"

Ma Teng stopped and frowned:

"Then according to what you said, the man surnamed Su won't really come here, right?"

"Maybe he will come, maybe he won't."

Fu Gan saw Ma Teng's eyebrows raised, as if he was about to curse, so he quickly explained:

"General Su Yao has made great military achievements. The little bandit Bai Bo may not be able to match him. Moreover, he can quell rebellions in many places with lightning speed. I believe it won't take too long to suppress the bandits in Hedong this time. If he goes north immediately after suppressing the rebellion, he will arrive within a month. It shouldn't be a problem."

"However, according to the Central Plains nobles, Su Yao pacified Hedong in order to solve the court's financial problems and implement new policies. He faces many internal obstacles, so it is hard to say whether he will personally lead the troops here."

"This is possible, that is possible, so what do you think we should do?"

"what?!"

"Ma Teng withdrew his troops?"

At Yanmen Pass, Xu Huang was stunned when he received the report. He had never expected that Ma Teng's army would run away. He said hurriedly:
"Quick, report to the general!"

(End of this chapter)