My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 542: Exterminating the Father and the Son
Cao Cao originally planned to arrive at Chencang in mid-April, and then when the Qinling ice flood ended in late April, he would lead his army across the Qinling Mountains through the Chencang Valley Road and enter the Hanzhong Basin in May.

According to this timetable, Cao Cao had to go north from Xudu to Luoyang in late March.
Then from Luoyang, through the 600-li Xiaohan Road, through Hangu Pass and Tongguan, through Hongnong and Huayin, you must arrive in Chang'an in early April, and then you can reach Chencang in mid-April.

In order to get the Ma family to send more troops to help, Cao Cao also took Ma Teng with him on the journey west. On the way from Xudu to Luoyang, Cao Cao and Ma Teng almost rode in the same car and ate the same food, and they were treated very courteously.

But Ma Teng could not refuse Cao Cao's kindness, because Cao Cao did not openly refuse Ma Teng's return to Xiliang. In fact, when he went west this time, he told Ma Teng that "when the army sets out, my dear brother Shoucheng can return to Tianshui to guard the area and protect the Qiang for the court."

In other words, Cao Cao wanted to release Ma Teng in exchange for the Ma family sending 30,000 troops to follow Cao Cao south to attack Liu Bei.

Although the Ma family's army is not large in absolute numbers, its elite troops are elite enough. After twenty years of fratricide, the Xiliang army that once dominated the world is now left with only Ma Teng's army, especially the Xiliang army with many war horses and cavalry.

Cao Cao asked him to send out 30,000 troops, but at least 20,000 cavalry would be required before Cao Cao would be satisfied.
The tacit understanding implied by Cao Cao's words was "sending troops with one hand and releasing people with the other hand". The day when the Ma family's army was handed over to Cao Cao's command was the day when Ma Teng personally gained freedom in his life.

It’s just that Cao Cao was very vague in his words and never showed any tension between him and Ma Teng on the surface, always maintaining a superficial harmony between the brothers.

Ma Teng had no ambition to dominate the world. He only wanted to keep his power, wealth, fame and reputation. Faced with such a situation, he was powerless to struggle.

However, just because Ma Teng himself doesn't struggle doesn't mean others won't struggle.

Those who opposed Cao Cao, after observing his movements, of course knew that their window of opportunity to act would not last long.

If we want to take action, we must do it before Cao Cao and Ma Teng return to Guanzhong, otherwise we will be giving away our lives in vain.

……

Also in March of that year, Cao Cao, Ma Teng and Pang De returned to the west one after another.

In Tianshui of Longxi, Ma Chao also gathered Liang Xing, Cheng Yi, Yang Qiu, Hou Xuan and other Xiliang generals who were affiliated with the Ma family to discuss whether to help Cao Cao fight Liu Bei.

Originally in history, when Ma Chao started his army in Xiliang, he gathered Han Sui and other so-called "Eight Generals of Guanzhong". Most of those people were once scattered warlords in Liangzhou, and they were not very dependent on Ma and Han.

In this life, because history has been changed beyond recognition, even Han Sui was killed and no longer exists, and of course many of the so-called Eight Generals of Guanzhong have also died.

In a nutshell, Ma Chao can only gather these few people at the moment.

In addition, his cousin Ma Dai was still very young and stayed in his hometown in Xiliang. He could follow Ma Chao around and discuss things with him. However, given Ma Dai's age in the 11th year of Jian'an, he was obviously unable to fight in the battlefield.

Faced with Cao Cao's call to arms, coupled with the false information that he had recently learned and spread by Zhuge Jin, it was inevitable that Ma Chao would waver.

Ma Chao found an opportunity and said to all the generals, "Cao Cao has always liked to kill those who are dissidents! Zhang Xiu, Zhang Lu, and the surrendered soldiers of the Yuan family, who has had a good ending in these years! Now he is holding my father hostage, just to purge our Liangzhou generals!

Which of the princes who first fought against Dong Zhuo, Yuan and Cao, would really believe in people like us from Xiliang? In the eyes of those Guandong noble families, we Xiliang people are wolves and beasts! This time, he asked us to follow him to the south to attack Liu Bei, so that he could let us fight Liu Bei to the death first and reap the benefits! "

Ma Chao's words made the generals agree deeply, but they also felt that this problem seemed to have no solution.

Liang Xing was the most senior general among them. When he served under Li Jue and Guo Si, he held a relatively high position. So he was the first to ask:

"But now the old general is under the control of Cao Cao. I heard that when they were in Xudu, they ate at the same table and drove in the same car, and Xu Chu drove the car. Even if we knew Cao Cao's plot, we would be powerless to resist if we didn't want to die in vain against Liu Bei."

After Liang Xing finished speaking, the candidates with relatively good status also echoed and added a few words.

Finally, it was Cheng Yi and Yang Qiu's turn to express their opinions. Especially Yang Qiu, he was originally a general of Han Sui, and was just defeated and forced to surrender when Ma Teng destroyed Han Sui last year, so he had the lowest status and had no say.

Ma Chao saw that the reason for the generals' hesitation was that they were worried about Ma Teng's safety. He knew that he had to take the lead and express his attitude on some issues. If he didn't speak up, others would not have the courage.

Ma Chao could only grit his teeth and said fiercely: "For the tens of thousands of soldiers and hundreds of thousands of civilians in Xiliang, how dare Chao be stingy with his family's private interests? As long as what we do is right, there is no need to worry about my father!"

Liang Xing and Hou Xuan were shocked and it took them a while to react. But soon, a new problem was thrown in front of them.

Hou Xuan asked, "Even if we can ignore the old general, we only have 30,000 soldiers and horses mobilized in Xiliang. If we recruit all the local militia and herdsmen, there will only be 50,000. How easy is it for these 50,000 people to start a rebellion in Guanzhong and stop Cao Cao? I heard that Cao Cao has already planned to mobilize 200,000 troops to Guanxi."

Faced with this question, Ma Chao was not angry. He knew that the generals had been convinced by him in principle, which was a good thing. They were willing to start asking about tactical deployment, which meant that the major issue of whether to rebel or not had been tacitly accepted.

Ma Chao immediately spoke out the strategy he had been thinking about for a long time to reassure the people: "As long as you are united with me, you don't have to worry about the specifics of how to fight! Over the past month or so, I have inquired about the situation from many sources and have already made a plan.

Aren't we being recruited by Cao Cao to lead troops to help in the war? Then we should pretend to be friendly troops from the beginning, not showing any hostility, and pretend to be going to Chang'an to join Cao Cao.

When the day of the meeting is approaching, but Cao Cao has not yet arrived in Chang'an and Tongguan, if we arrive in Chang'an a few days in advance, I'm sure Zhong Yao will not doubt it. After all, my father is still in Cao Cao's hands, how could Zhong Yao expect us to attack at this time?
However, we must master this time well, and not meet up too far in advance, otherwise it will easily arouse suspicion. Once we settle down near Chang'an, it would be best if we can camp in the city, but it doesn't matter if we can't. In short, we should find a time when Zhong Yao is unprepared, launch a sudden attack, and seize Chang'an!

Then, with lightning speed, we should immediately divide our forces to seize Tongguan. As long as we block Tongguan, it doesn't matter even if Cao Cao has 200,000 troops. I heard that Liu Bei has defeated Xiahou Yuan in Baxi. Xiahou Yuan's troops have been killed and wounded, and he is no longer able to fight.

Therefore, as long as we start the rebellion and delay it for a month or two, and contact Liu Bei to occupy Chencang Road and support us, we can ask Liu Bei for money, food, and military equipment, and even borrow some soldiers, and let Liu Bei's troops come to Tongguan to block Cao Cao.

In this way, our Xiliang armies can gradually withdraw and no longer get involved in these bloody battles. We can also sign an alliance with Liu Bei. As long as we let him enter Guanzhong, he will promise us to stay in the northwest forever and not participate in his war with Cao Cao.

Liu Bei's loyalty is always more reliable than Cao Cao's, and he has never betrayed his allies and made them serve as vanguards to consume his troops. Only in this way can we save the lives and property of our brothers in Xiliang!"

Liang Xing, Hou Xuan and others nodded frequently after hearing this. They admitted that if Liu Bei was really willing to agree to these details, Liu Bei's credibility would definitely be more reliable than Cao Cao.

Even if Cao Cao had said "don't let the newly surrendered troops be cannon fodder", no one would have dared to believe him as he had done too many bad things in this regard.

Liu Bei's army had no historical bad record in this regard and its record was relatively clean.

However, after nodding, Liang Xing and the others also thought of another question: "But once we take action first, there will be no way out. Will Liu Bei agree to such generous conditions at that time? What if Liu Bei sees that we have no way out and threatens us to lower the conditions?"

This worry is not without reason. It is true that Liu Bei is trustworthy and can do what he promised. But this does not mean that Liu Bei will agree. If he does not agree at the beginning, there will be no betrayal.

Ma Chao was also stumped for a moment, but he thought that now that he had revealed his cards, he absolutely could not retreat. Otherwise, what if one of the four generals present betrayed him in the future?
Once you say something, you have to stick to it. Even if you think you are not completely sure, you have to take the risk and push forward.

Ma Chao felt the blood rushing to his head for a while, and suddenly he thought: "We surrender to Cao Cao, but we are only relying on him for our original territory, and we have no other merits. If we surrender to Liu Bei, we will reverse the situation and help Liu Bei break out of the Qinchuan natural barrier. How can Liu Bei not agree to such a small condition? I have made up my mind, who among you objects?"

When Ma Chao asked the three words "Who objects?", his hand was already on the hilt of the sword, ready to deal with the rebels at any time.

He knew the situation was like this, and the arrow was on the string and had to be shot. Now that it had come to this, whoever withdrew would be a traitor and must die.

Ma Chao's "attack method" swordsmanship is a unique skill in the world, and it is still recorded in later generations thousands of years later.

The key is that in indoor close combat, the sword can be drawn very quickly, and the attack can be launched in an instant. If ordinary people are not prepared in advance, it is impossible to resist.

Fortunately, the four generals of Xiliang did not resist anymore. After listening to what Ma Chao said, they all expressed their willingness to follow him.

So Ma Chao immediately mobilized the Xiliang Army to "respond to Cao Cao's western expedition", raised the banner of obeying his father's orders, and led his troops to Chang'an.

Because Ma Chao is still a friendly army and Ma Teng is also in Cao Cao's hands, the civil and military officials in Guanzhong will certainly not be too wary of their own people.

Even Zhong Yao, Zhang Ji and other important officials in Guanzhong who were responsible for restraining Ma Chao did not expect Ma Chao to make any unusual moves.

On March 20th, Cao Cao left Luoyang and headed for Hongnong.

Ma Chao, who had just arrived in Chang'an for two days, took advantage of the opportunity when Zhong Yao was away on patrol to deal with other affairs and suddenly launched an attack.

(End of this chapter)