Can I get to the other side?.

Chapter 399: Ma Chao: Traitor! Traitor! Evil thief! Rebellious thief!

"How come it's here so fast!"

Inside the city gate tower, Ma Chao slammed the railing hard, his face full of shock and anger.

He had originally thought of withdrawing the soldiers from the southern suburbs military camp back to Chang'an City, but the speed of the enemy army's attack in the distance far exceeded his imagination.

At this rate, the enemy would probably have already reached the city before he could withdraw all his soldiers back into the city!

But if we order the city gates to be closed now, it would be equivalent to abandoning the 30,000 people in the southern suburbs military camp and leaving them to face the enemy's blade!
"Major General, what should we do now?"

"Please make a decision quickly. The enemy is about to reach the city. If you don't close the city gate, it will be too late!"

Seeing that the enemy troops outside the city were getting closer and closer to Chang'an City, the guards beside Ma Chao couldn't help but urge them, looking extremely anxious.

Ma Chao held onto the railing tightly, struggling internally, but he finally gritted his teeth and said, "Close the city gate!"

Even though he was so heartbroken that he almost bled, his reason told him that closing the city gates and defending Chang'an was the best option.

This was because he had no idea about the enemy's strength and origins, and many soldiers were drunk tonight. If he rashly led his troops out to fight the enemy, he would surely be defeated, and might even lead to the loss of Chang'an City!
There are still 40,000 troops in the northern suburbs military camp. These people have plenty of time to withdraw back to the city through the north gate. As long as these troops are there, he still has hope of turning the tables!

"Close the city gate! Close the city gate--!"

Upon hearing this, the guards immediately shouted loudly towards the city wall.

Soon the city gates were shut heavily, locking out many soldiers from the South Suburbs military camp who had not yet had time to enter the city.

Many soldiers had just arrived outside the city after receiving the news to retreat into the city. When they saw the fallen city gate, they were all terrified.

"Don't close the gate! Don't close the gate!"

"We haven't gone in yet!"

"Open the door quickly! The enemy is coming!"

"Which son of a bitch closed the city gate?"

Many soldiers rushed outside the city and banged on the city gate, because at this time the enemy troops in the distance had already reached the southern suburbs military camp!

"No killing for surrendering your weapons! Kill all who resist!"

Lu Bu was the first to rush into the southern suburbs military camp, killed several Xiliang soldiers who were surrounding him with one halberd, and then shouted loudly.

Upon hearing this, many other Han soldiers also shouted the same slogan and engaged in a fierce battle with the Xiliang army.

There is no suspense about the outcome of this battle.

The sudden fire had already thrown the Xiliang Army into chaos. Now facing the Han army that was charging at them recklessly, they had no time to fight back!

Of course, the most critical problem is that there is no one to take charge.

The 30,000-strong army was like a headless fly. Even though they had strong combat effectiveness, they were unable to gather together to launch an effective resistance.

Therefore, the battle lasted only about an hour before it ended. More than 10,000 of the 30,000 Xiliang soldiers were killed for their resistance, and many were buried in the sea of ​​fire and trampled by the chaotic army. The remaining soldiers chose to lay down their weapons and surrender.

The casualties on the Han army side were minimal.

After all, they had all the advantages, and with generals such as Lu Bu, Zhao Yun, and Zhang He personally leading the troops and commanding the battles, it was impossible for them to suffer a defeat.

By dawn, only the Han army was left outside the city, cleaning the battlefield and setting up camp, with flags being erected in the cold wind.

During this period, Ma Chao stood on the city gate tower and watched. He watched his elite troops being slaughtered and captured, but he could do nothing.

This made him so heartbroken that he wanted to go crazy!

But what made him even more shocked and angry was that he saw the flags erected by the enemy army outside the city were the "Lu" flag and the "Zhang" flag!
These are actually the troops of Lu Bu and Zhang Liao!

"How is it possible? Weren't Lu Bu and Zhang Liao defeated by Pang De? How could they possibly break through Tongguan and reach Chang'an?"

"Where are the defenders of Tongguan? Where did they go?"

Ma Chao found it unbelievable. How could Zhang Liao and Lu Bu gather their troops and capture Tongguan in such a short time after their defeat?
Could it be that they had faked their defeat before?
All kinds of speculations flashed through Ma Chao's mind, but at this moment he suddenly heard the shocked voices of his guards beside him.

"Young, Young General, look outside the city!"

Upon hearing this, Ma Chao looked up towards the outside of the city, and then his eyes widened involuntarily.

Because the Han army outside the city had regrouped and was advancing towards Chang'an City, and among the generals standing in front of the Han army, Pang De was among them!
Pang De rode out alone and shouted, "Ma Chao! You have committed treason and rebelled against the court. Now your death has come!"

"Now that the imperial army has arrived, why don't you give up resistance and leave the city to surrender!"

"This way, the body can still be preserved intact!"

Hearing Pang De's shout, Ma Chao felt dizzy and had to hold on to the railing to stand firmly.

At this point, how could he not understand what was going on!

What about defeating the imperial army and killing Lu Bu and Zhang Liao so badly that they fled in panic? These were all Pang De’s lies!

This guy has secretly defected to the imperial court!

"No wonder he had volunteered to guard Tongguan before, no wonder he returned to Chang'an after only ten days, no wonder the military camp suddenly caught fire, no wonder the enemy suddenly attacked us!"

"It's all because of him!!"

Ma Chao roared in a low voice, veins bulging on his hands that were grabbing the railing, and the surging anger almost drowned him!
Then he turned around, snatched a bow from the back of a soldier nearby, bent the bow, drew an arrow, and shot an arrow at Pang De who was challenging him outside the city!

"Traitor! Give me your life!!"

Ma Chao had amazing arm strength and excellent archery skills. After a loud roar, he shot an arrow straight at Pang De's head!

However, Pang De was still some distance away from the city wall, and his martial arts were not bad either, so he easily dodged the arrow.

After he stood up again, Pang De was filled with anger and scolded, "Ma Chao! You must stop being so stubborn!"

"You imprisoned your own father and deceived the entire army with lies, causing so many people to lose their lives. Don't you feel any shame at all?"

"If you still have a trace of conscience, quickly release the old general and leave the city to surrender!"

"Otherwise, the day the city is captured, you will die without a burial place!"

Ma Chao was furious and pointed at him and yelled, "Pang De, shut up!"

"You are a traitor, a traitor, a villain, and a rebel!"

"I swear to eat your flesh and sleep on your skin! I will grind your bones and scatter your ashes to vent my hatred!"

How could Ma Chao possibly compromise and surrender? Not to mention that he still had more than 40,000 soldiers at his disposal, just based on his hatred for Pang De, there was no way he would surrender!
Moreover, the crimes he committed could never be forgiven. He would die whether he surrendered or not, and he would die standing!
Seeing that it was useless to persuade them to surrender, Pang De retreated back to the camp.

He said to Sima Yi with a look of regret: "It's a pity that I failed to capture the traitor alive last night. I failed to complete my mission."

If we had captured Ma Chao alive last night, we wouldn't have had to go through the trouble of attacking the city.

Sima Yi smiled and said, "General Pang, there is no need to blame yourself. It is all your credit that we were able to eliminate nearly half of Ma Chao's troops this time."

He turned to look at Zhang Liao and said, "General Zhang, we have gained such a great advantage with the help of General Pang. Now it is time to show the strength of our Han army."

"Do you have the confidence to capture Chang'an and kill the traitor Ma Chao?" Zhang Liao laughed and said, "I've been waiting for your words. I can't let the military advisor and General Pang take all the credit!"

"Prepare to attack the city--!"

At Zhang Liao's command, the army began to change its formation.

"Woo-"

"Woo-"

"Woo-"

As three horns representing the attack sounded, the army officially began to attack Chang'an City!

Catapults were pushed out one after another, and with a few "bang bang bang" sounds, the catapults in the front array took the lead in launching an attack, hurling stones at the city walls.

The huge rocks weighing over 100 kilograms smashed into the city walls and the city, making a deafening sound and an astonishing explosion.

"It looks like Ma Chao intends to defend the city."

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Chen Gong frowned and looked at Chang'an City in the distance. He couldn't help but remind Zhang Liao: "Chang'an City is the most powerful city in the world. It may not be easy to capture it by force."

Chang'an City, as the imperial capital, is the most majestic and solid city in the world. It is extremely difficult to break through, and the best strategy is to surround it instead of attacking.

Zhang Liao nodded to indicate that he understood.

Of course he knew that Chang'an City was not easy to capture, but the soldiers of the Xiliang Army had drunk a lot of wine last night to celebrate their "victory" and had been terrified by the enemy's attack all night. Now was a good time to attack.

If they are lucky, they may be able to capture Chang'an in one fell swoop, avoiding several months of time-consuming and laborious siege.

The army was divided into two groups and attacked from the east gate and the south gate respectively.

Zhang He was responsible for attacking the east gate.

The South Gate was the battlefield commanded by Zhang Liao. Under his command, an army of 10,000 took the lead in attacking the south city wall.

However, they did not rush to the city of Chang'an all at once, but held up their shields and moved towards Chang'an step by step.

Behind them, soldiers, under the cover of shield soldiers, pushed several two-meter-high chariots to the front of the battlefield.

In addition, catapults were constantly throwing huge stones, suppressing the defenders on the city walls so that they dared not show their heads, allowing the Han army to continue to approach the city.

Ma Chao on the city wall was squatting under the parapet to avoid the attack of the catapults, and from time to time he looked up at the enemy outside the city with a grim expression.

In his mind, his Xiliang Army could be regarded as the most elite army of the time, but the Han Army in front of him gave him the feeling that it was no less than his own Xiliang Army.

Even worse!

These can be seen mainly from two aspects. On the one hand, it lies in the Han army's grasp of the rhythm of the attack and the coordination among the soldiers.

This is the strength that only an army that has experienced a hundred battles can possess!

At this time, the vanguard of the Han army had entered the shooting range of the archers on the walls of Chang'an City.

Upon seeing this, Ma Chao immediately gave the order: "Shoot! Shoot!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of bowstrings rang out on the walls of Chang'an City, and tens of thousands of arrows shot towards the vanguard of the Han army.

However, Zhang He was prepared for this and gave the order: "Attack with arrows! Raise your shields!"

Hearing this, the Han soldiers squatted down one after another, and raised their shields in front of their bodies to block the rain of arrows.

For a while, there was an endless stream of tinkling sounds.

After the rain of arrows ended, Ma Chao was shocked to find that this wave of arrows did not cause much casualties to the Han army!

Either they were blocked by their shields or by the armor they wore. Only a few unlucky ones were shot in the joints and gaps in the armor.

"How can their armor be so strong!"

This scene shocked Ma Chao deeply, because it was the first time for him to engage in a head-on battle with the emperor's army in Yecheng, which completely overturned his previous impression of the strength of the imperial army.

Although the defenders were hit by a heavy rain of arrows, the Han soldiers did not lose their composure at all and continued to advance the front line in an orderly manner.

Such a scene made Ma Chao on the city wall feel even more threatened.

Calm, too calm in fact.

The Han army in front of them seemed to be accustomed to enduring the enemy's rain of arrows. Almost no one disrupted their formation in the face of this rain of arrows, even when they saw their comrades falling down.

Once someone falls down, someone else will immediately take his place, and the whole process is coordinated with great tacit understanding.

"Prepare to advance!"

When the rain of arrows ended, Zhang Liao would immediately command more soldiers to take advantage of the opportunity to move closer to the city wall and shorten the distance.

But Pang De said at this time: "Wait a minute, General Zhang! This is just Ma Chao's trick to lure the enemy. He will launch a second arrow attack next!"

"what?"

Zhang Liao was shocked. Archers and crossbowmen needed to be rotated and reload their arrows and crossbows. They had just survived several waves of arrow rains, so they should take advantage of this gap to advance quickly.

But before he could ask any questions, he saw the defenders on the city wall once again firing a large wave of arrows towards the outside of the city, just as Pang De had said!

If the Han army had relaxed its vigilance and advanced forward rapidly, many soldiers would have been killed or injured. It can be said that Pang De perfectly predicted the enemy's actions.

Seeing Zhang Liao and the other generals looking at him in surprise, Pang De said, "I know Ma Chao. This is his usual tactic."

"He used this tactic when attacking a city in the past. He would wait until the enemy's archers had finished shooting their arrows before entering the battlefield and only using half of them to start shooting."

"When the enemy's crossbowmen have loaded their arrows and are ready to fire back, the remaining half of the crossbowmen will estimate the time and launch a volley of fire when the enemy is off guard."

Pang De paused for a moment and continued, "There are many people in the Xiliang army who are good at bows and crossbows, which is different from ordinary armies."

"The general needs to be careful."

After hearing Pang De's reminder, Zhang Liao's understanding of Ma Chao and the Xiliang Army deepened, and he immediately became extremely vigilant.

After all, if he was careless, the price he would pay would be the lives of his soldiers!

After waiting for a long time, the rain of arrows finally ended.

And just when the rain of arrows from the Xiliang army stopped, the Han army began to charge forward fiercely, rushing towards the city walls of Chang'an.

The original advancement speed was therefore accelerated!

At the same time, the Han army archers who were originally advancing slowly also quickly rushed to the shooting point and launched wave after wave of arrow rain attacks towards Chang'an City.

For a moment, arrows rained down from the southern wall of Chang'an City, and the defending soldiers on the wall were suppressed and could no longer maintain their shooting.

The Han army also took this opportunity to advance to the city of Chang'an!

(End of this chapter)