Wei Xiaobao's Three Kingdoms Adventure

Chapter 153 Female Soldiers Can Also Be Useful
After listening to Wei Xiaobao's explanation, Ma Yunlu's expression became solemn and he did not speak for a long time.

The mutton on the rack had already been roasted black, and Ma Yunlu finally came to his senses. He kicked out the charcoal fire and slowly said, "You will sleep in the side room tonight. I have already arranged everything."

Wei Xiaobao originally thought that he could follow Ma Yunlu back to his room, but this sudden change caught him off guard.

Wei Xiaobao didn't sleep well the whole night. From Ma Yunlu's expression and attitude, he could easily find that Ma Yunlu could not fully accept the fact that he was from the Qing Dynasty.

For several days, Wei Xiaobao didn't see Ma Yunlu, and the other party seemed to be avoiding him.

One day, Wei Xiaobao was still waiting for news in his room when Ma Yunlu's voice came from outside the door: "My father asked you to come over."

Wei Xiaobao got up from the bed and went out, but he didn't see Ma Yunlu. Thinking she must have gone ahead, he hurried to chase her.

It was only when I chased him to the gate of Ma Teng Affiliated Hospital that I saw Ma Yunlu.

Wei Xiaobao took two quick steps to catch up: "Why have you been avoiding me these past few days?"

Ma Yunlu had no expression on his face and said in a flat tone, "I have been busy training the troops and have not been hiding from you."

"Training? Are you ready for war?"

Ma Yunlu didn't answer him and just walked towards the inner courtyard.

Wei Xiaobao didn't get an answer, so he didn't ask any more questions. When he arrived at the inner courtyard, he saw Ma Teng pacing back and forth in the hall with his hands behind his back.

Seeing the two of them, Ma Teng stepped forward, took Wei Xiaobao's hand and said, "General Wei, things are not going well."

Wei Xiaobao asked, "Han Sui doesn't agree to form an alliance with you? Doesn't this guy understand the principle of lips and teeth being interdependent?"

Wei Xiaobao learned a lot of words from Diao Chan and Mu Jianping, and finally thought of an idiom, so he quickly showed it off.

Ma Teng sighed and said, "Han Sui has defected to Cao Cao, and Yang Qiu, whom I sent, has also become a traitor!"

"What?" Wei Xiaobao couldn't believe his ears. "Yang Qiu told Han Sui all about your plan?"

Ma Teng nodded and said awkwardly, "Han Sui must have been worried that I would settle accounts with him after I drove Cao Cao away, so he chose to join Cao Cao and attack me first."

Wei Xiaobao also began pacing the hall, muttering to himself, "It seems Han Sui is determined to serve Cao Cao like a dog. This isn't just bad, it's extremely bad! No wonder you've already started training your troops."

Ma Teng was surprised and said, "Training is a daily military task. I only learned of Yang Qiu's rebellion and Han Sui's defection to Cao Cao this morning. I didn't dare to delay for a moment, so I quickly called you in to discuss countermeasures."

After listening to Ma Teng's words, Wei Xiaobao confirmed two things. The first was that Han Sui and Cao Cao had not yet sent troops to attack Tianshui, and the second was that Ma Yunlu was indeed hiding from him.

At this critical moment of life and death, Wei Xiaobao had no choice but to put aside his romantic feelings. He also noticed that someone was missing from the hall, so he asked Ma Teng, "Why don't I see General Ma Chao?"

Ma Teng said, "I'm worried about a surprise attack from Cao Cao, so I've arranged for Meng Qi to lead his troops to camp in Chencang to counter it."

Wei Xiaobao asked, "Does your mansion have a map of Xiliang?"

Ma Teng said, "Military affairs are all in the front hall. General Wei, please move forward."

Since Han Sui had already defected to Cao Cao, Wei Xiaobao no longer needed to hide his identity and followed Ma Teng to the front hall.

The three of them stood in front of the map and observed it for a long time. Wei Xiaobao pointed to Anding City on the map and asked, "Who is guarding this place now?" Ma Teng said, "After Guo Si surrendered to Cao Cao, he was sent by Cao Cao to guard Anding."

Wei Xiaobao said, "Anding City is between Wuwei and Chang'an. No matter if Chang'an or Wuwei is attacked, if the other side sends troops to rescue, they will have to pass through Anding City."

Ma Teng asked, "This is obvious, but what does it have to do with dealing with Cao Cao?"

Wei Xiaobao smiled and said, "Cao Cao is a very clever man, but unfortunately he is too suspicious, especially towards those who voluntarily surrender. If Chang'an City is attacked and Han Sui does not send troops to rescue it, Cao Cao will definitely doubt Han Sui's sincerity."

Ma Teng was even more puzzled: "Are we going to attack Chang'an? Then how can Wei Xiaobao be sure that Han Sui will not send troops to rescue?"

"Even if we attack Chang'an, it's just a feint. We just need to make Cao Cao think we're going to attack Chang'an, so he'll dispatch Han Sui's troops to defend it. As for how to stop Han Sui from sending troops, that's not the important thing. As long as Cao Cao thinks Han Sui hasn't sent troops, that's the key. Stability is the key!"

Ma Teng thought about it for a while but still couldn't figure it out, so he had to continue asking Wei Xiaobao: "General Wei, what's your plan?"

"Have Ma Chao lead his troops in a feint attack on Chang'an, while I will lead my troops to ambush Han Sui outside Anding City. If Han Sui encounters an ambush outside Anding City, he will undoubtedly think that Guo Si has taken the opportunity to attack him, and he will certainly contact Cao Cao by letter. Cao Cao knows that Guo Si will not attack Han Sui by surprise. As long as Cao Cao believes that Ma Chao's troops are the main force, he will not think that we attacked Han Sui by surprise, and this will make him suspicious of Han Sui.

They both had their own agenda, and neither wanted to deplete our forces first. These days, whoever commands the most troops is the boss; they both understood this principle. It was precisely this principle that made Cao Cao suspicious of Han Sui.

Ma Teng said, "This plan is indeed brilliant, but where can we get so many soldiers? If we really have so many soldiers, I am confident that we can capture Chang'an."

Wei Xiaobao said, "It's not the quantity of soldiers that counts, but their quality. How many soldiers can Wuwei City have now?"

Ma Teng replied, "When Han Sui attacked Wuwei, he only had 20,000 soldiers, and many were killed. Even after recruiting more than half a year, there are no more than 20,000 soldiers at this time."

"What about Tianshui City?"

"That's about 20,000."

"How many cavalry and infantry are there?"

Ma Teng calculated and said, "There are 13,000 cavalry, 3,000 archers, and the rest are spearmen."

Wei Xiaobao turned to look at Ma Yunlu: "How many female soldiers are there?"

Before Ma Yunlu could reply, Ma Teng spoke up: "General Wei, are you going to send those girls to the battlefield?"

Wei Xiaobao nodded.

Ma Teng quickly said, "Oh, that won't do. Yunlu trained these girl soldiers for fun. They've never been on the battlefield."

Wei Xiaobao said, "I've seen quite a few female soldiers these past few days. Although they're not as strong as the male soldiers, as long as they have good riding skills, they can be of great use."

Ma Yunlu said coldly: "Among the three thousand female soldiers I trained, not a single one was bad at riding."

"That's great! General Ma, select two thousand elite cavalrymen for me, and have General Ma Chao lead the rest of the troops to attack Chang'an. Remember, we must camp fifty miles outside the city. If Cao Cao comes out to fight, we must retreat quickly. Once Cao Cao retreats back into the city, we can continue our advance and set up camp."

Ma Teng nodded in agreement, but immediately began to worry again: "If Han Sui sends troops to rescue Chang'an, he will have at least 10,000 soldiers and horses. Your cavalry, including the female soldiers, only have 5,000 men. Can you stop them?"

Wei Xiaobao smiled mysteriously: "How can we know if we don't try?"

(End of this chapter)