Wei Xiaobao's Three Kingdoms Adventure

Chapter 165 Ambush in the Valley
Ma Tie, who was stationed in Chencang, was surprised to hear that his sister Ma Yunlu and her fiancé Wei Xiaobao had returned after only a few days. Ma Tie was studying the defense and attack of Hanzhong in his military tent when he heard the news of their arrival. He hurriedly went out of the tent to greet them.

Upon seeing Ma Yunlu and Wei Xiaobao, Ma Tie immediately asked the question that had been on his mind: "Brother, the attack on Anding has not yet yielded any news of victory. Why have you two suddenly returned?"

Wei Xiaobao was also direct: "Have you received any news from Hanzhong?"

Ma Tie ushered Wei Xiaobao and Ma Yunlu into the military tent, shook his head and said, "Although my father disagreed with attacking Tianshui, I have never given up. The scouts in Chencang have been monitoring Hanzhong day and night, but have not detected any movement."

Wei Xiaobao thought to himself, "They're about to steal your lair, and you're still sitting here as steady as Mount Tai. With your Ma family's intelligence capabilities, the fact that you still have a place in Xiliang can only be attributed to the contrast with your opponents."

Ma Yunlu's face was grim, and he said irritably, "Third Brother, you can kill all your scouts. Zhang Lu has already mobilized his army and is preparing to attack Tianshui."

Ma Tie's face showed an incredulous expression, and he looked at Ma Yunlu and Wei Xiaobao with an embarrassed look: "Impossible, right? The scouts I sent are monitoring Yangping Pass every day, and I also have spies in Hanzhong City. If Zhang Lu makes any move, it will not escape their eyes."

Seeing that his third brother still refused to believe it, Ma Yunlu was utterly humiliated in front of Wei Xiaobao: "General Zhao Yun's scouts had already sent word that we were in dire straits, yet we were completely unaware."

Upon hearing that the news was delivered by Zhao Yun's scouts, Ma Tie had no choice but to believe it and immediately panicked: "What should we do? Has General Zhao Yun already devised a countermeasure? Has the army from Chang'an already set off? Was sending you to Chencang first to make way for General Zhao's troops?"

Wei Xiaobao chuckled inwardly: "Just two days ago you thought it was a disgrace to your Ma family army to rely on my elder brother to attack Anding. Now that you hear Tianshui is in trouble, why is your first thought to be to send my elder brother to rescue you?"

Ma Yunlu said, "General Zhao Yun will not send troops to aid Tianshui."

"Oh no! That's terrible! Zhang Lu dared to attack Tianshui at this time; he must have conspired with Han Sui to launch a pincer attack. Without General Zhao Yun's assistance, Tianshui definitely won't hold!"

Having had his fill of the farce, Wei Xiaobao finally spoke up: "Not sending troops to Tianshui doesn't mean we won't aid Tianshui. According to news from Hanzhong, Zhang Lu's army has already entered the plank roads. If we send troops to Tianshui from Chang'an now, it might be too late."

Ma Tie was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, pacing back and forth in the military tent: "What should we do? What should we do? I'm leading the troops back to defend now, and I'll leave this place to you two to guard."

Ma Yunlu stopped Ma Tie, who was wandering around like a headless fly: "Third Brother, don't be in such a hurry, let Xiao Bao finish speaking."

Reminded by Ma Yunlu, Ma Tie immediately realized, "That's right, you two must have come up with a plan. General Wei, stop keeping me in suspense and tell me quickly."

Wei Xiaobao continued, "The plank road is narrow and rugged, making marching slow. If we can outflank and launch a surprise attack on Yangping Pass, Zhang Lu will definitely have to return to defend it."

Ma Tie shook his head: "If we occupy Yangping Pass, and Zhang Lu returns to defend it, won't we have nowhere to retreat?"

Wei Xiaobao shook his head: "It's not about occupying Yangping Pass, but about destroying it. Burning down Yangping Pass and the entrance to the plank road will leave Hanzhong and Tianshui with no way to advance or retreat, and the crisis will naturally be resolved."

Ma Tie didn't consider the consequences at all. Upon hearing that Tianshui was safe, he urged, "Then what are we waiting for? Quickly urge General Zhao Yun to send troops. Although Chencang has few troops, it still has enough food and supplies, which can definitely guarantee logistics."

Ma Yunlu was so angry that she rolled her eyes. Although the final result could not be changed, she kept cursing in her heart for her third brother's stupidity and ignorance, who had not noticed Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang's scheme.

Now that both sides had reached an agreement, Wei Xiaobao immediately notified Zhao Yun to send troops. Zhao Yun, Wei Xiaobao, Ma Yunlu, and Ma Tie led their troops from Chencang to Yangping Pass.

Zhang Lu thought he had fooled the scouts and spies in Tianshui, and marched his army valiantly towards Tianshui. By this time, his army had already entered the plank road.

A scout suddenly reported: "Report! An army has suddenly appeared in the valley on the flank. Their uniforms are mixed, and there are even many farmers among them."

After ascertaining the enemy's marching direction, Zhang Lu discussed with his younger brother Zhang Wei: "The forces in Chencang are insufficient. Could the army that suddenly appeared here be Zhao Yun leading his troops?"

Zhang Wei said, "Zhao Yun is the commander of Liu Bei's cavalry, how could he lead a ragtag army? Since there are farmers among them, could they be bandits from the mountains?"

Zhang Lu nodded and said, "Chang'an still needs to guard against Cao Cao's sneak attack, so Zhao Yun certainly wouldn't dare abandon the city and raise troops to attack Hanzhong. Since they are bandits, you lead the troops to wipe them out. After you're done, return to the unit as soon as possible and don't linger."

Zhang Wei accepted the order and learned from the scouts that there were about two or three thousand troops in the valley, so he led ten thousand troops to surround and annihilate them.

The leader of the ragtag army in the valley was none other than Wei Xiaobao.

This trick was also devised by Wei Xiaobao, precisely to mislead Zhang Lu.

Wei Xiaobao led three thousand soldiers, wearing the military uniforms left behind by Cao Cao when he was defeated, and borrowed some Xiliang military uniforms from Ma Tie. When they were still not enough, they had to wear civilian clothes. This time, they put together a ragtag army.

To convince Zhang Lu completely, Wei Xiaobao also ordered all the weapons of the gentry to be hidden in their baggage wagons.

Zhang Wei retreated from the plank road and circled around to the top of the mountain. Looking at the rabble below, he couldn't help but laugh. He said to his deputy, "This group doesn't even have any decent weapons. They must be bandits from the mountains. My brother has always looked down on my ability to lead troops into battle. Today, I'll show you how I can easily take down this band of mountain thugs."

Zhang Wei looked around and then said, "Killing these scum won't show my ability. Today, I must annihilate this band of mountain bandits to show my ability! This valley is suitable for an ambush, but once we make a move, the people below will escape through the valley entrance. If we want to wipe them out, we need to design a trap."

So Zhang Wei divided his troops into six thousand and assigned them to his deputy general, ordering him to go around to the valley entrance and ambush them. He was to wait for them to launch a surprise attack and drive the bandits out of the valley, where they would naturally fall into the ambush at the valley entrance. He would then catch up and finish them off!

The lieutenant flattered Zhang Wei: "General, you are indeed well-versed in military strategy and adept at using terrain to launch surprise attacks."

Zhang Wei chuckled: "Such strategies are not worth mentioning."

The deputy general led his troops to ambush the enemy. Zhang Wei kept a close eye on the movements of the troops in the valley. When the enemy reached the middle of the valley, he suddenly ordered a surprise attack.

In an instant, four thousand members of the aristocracy rushed down the hillside and headed straight for the valley!

(End of this chapter)