Chapter 14 Mengda guards the gate
Since Ma Chao failed to attack Cao Cao, he retreated to Xiliang and began to rectify his troops and prepare to fight again to avenge his father. But unfortunately, the second time Ma Chao was wiped out by the army plotted by Wei general Yang Fuquan before he even saw the Chang'an city wall. Even Ma Chao's wife Yang was killed by Yang Fu. Unfortunately, Ma Chao had to take the remaining defeated generals to Zhang Lu in Hanzhong.
Speaking of which, Zhang Lu still valued Ma Chao very much. He once wanted to marry his daughter to Ma Chao. After all, there are not many top-notch generals like Ma Chao. No matter who catches one, he will naturally be a treasure for him.
Since Ma Chao followed Zhang Lu, he has not made any achievements and has not yet been on the battlefield, so Ma Chao hopes to take this opportunity to perform well.
When Yan Pu heard Ma Chao ask for a fight, he frowned. At that time, Ma Chao surrendered to Zhang Lu, he was forced to surrender, and he did not really surrender. So from the bottom of his heart, Yan Pu still distrusts Ma Chao very much. Now that Ma Chao leads his troops alone, Yan Pu is really worried.
Thinking of this, Yan Pu said, "Lord, I recommend General Yang Bai as the military supervisor and go to war with General Ma!"
As soon as Yan Pu finished speaking, everyone knew Yan Pu’s intention, to supervise the army, to put it bluntly, he was monitoring the commander. Yan Pu was worried that Ma Chao led the troops alone, so he sent Yang Bai as the military supervisor.
Ma Chao sighed softly. Speaking of it, it was normal for Zhang Lu to be worried that he would lead the troops alone, but this military inspector Yang Bai gave Ma Chao a headache.
Yang Bai is the younger brother of Zhang Lu's adviser Yang Song, and Yang Bai and Ma Chao have been resentful for a long time.
When Ma Chao was defeated and defected to Zhang Lu, Ma Chao's wife Yang had been killed by Yang Fu. In order to win over Ma Chao, Zhang Lu prepared to marry his daughter to Ma Chao.
Ma Chao has a nickname called "Jin Ma Chao". Speaking of appearance, there are probably few people in the world who can compare with Ma Chao. When Zhang Lu's daughter saw Ma Chao's handsome appearance, she naturally would not object to marrying Ma Chao.
Zhang Lu's daughter is also in her 20s and 20s. She is as beautiful as a flower and jade. She is known as the number one beauty in Hanzhong. There are many people who admire Miss Zhang in Hanzhong, and Yang Bai is one of them. If Yang Bai had not had a wife, she would have proposed marriage to Zhang Lu long ago.
Although polygamy was in ancient times, Yang Bai already had a wife. Zhang Lu was his lord after all, so he couldn't let his daughter be a concubine for him. So, although Yang Bai liked Miss Zhang for a long time, he could only bury this thought in his heart.
When Yang Bai heard that Miss Zhang was going to marry Ma Chao, he couldn't stand it anymore. Ma Chao was better at martial arts than himself, famous than himself, and handsomer than himself. If he married Miss Zhang again, he would definitely gain Zhang Lu's trust. Then Hanzhong would not have his own foothold.
So Yang Bai united the soldiers of Hanzhong to oppose the marriage between Ma Chao and Miss Zhang. Seeing that the soldiers under Zhang Lu opposed the marriage, he had to give up the marriage.
Since then, Ma Chao and Yang Bo have become enemies.
Now, as Ma Chao's military supervisor, Yang Bai will definitely cause trouble for Ma Chao everywhere, so Ma Chao is very unhappy.
...
Jiameng Pass.
After Huo Jun defeated the Fu Ban last time, he counted the soldiers and only 700 soldiers who could fight were left. Seven hundred people guarding Jiameng Pass, which was too few.
So Liu Bei sent Meng Da, who had just surrendered, to lead two thousand troops to support Jiameng Pass.
Meng Da and Fa Zheng are fellow villagers, both of whom were Fufeng. When the two came to Yizhou to join Liu Zhang, they did not do well. Speaking of which, Meng Da was still better than Fa Zheng. Fa Zheng was just an ordinary civil servant under Liu Zhang. Although Meng Da was a local official, he still had some military power.
Meng Da looked about forty years old, not tall, and not strong. He had a small beard on his mouth slightly raised, and his eyes were shining with brilliance. No matter how he looked, he looked like a civil servant rather than a military general.
Speaking of which, Liu Chan always felt that Meng Da was a very contradictory person. Before Liu Bei entered Shu, Meng Da secretly surrendered to Liu Bei. After Liu Bei occupied Yizhou, he gave Meng Da a lot of officials, second only to Yan Yan, Huang Quan and others. When Lu Meng crossed the river in white clothes to attack Jingzhou, Liao Hua went to Shangyong for help. It was precisely because Meng Da and Liu Feng refused to send troops that Guan Yu was defeated and left Maicheng and was finally killed. Later, Meng Da was afraid of Liu Bei's punishment and surrendered to Wei, but he always retained the military power in his hands. Later, Zhuge Liang went out of Qishan, and Meng Da betrayed Wei again and surrendered to Zhuge Liang. Unfortunately, Meng Da's betrayal this time was not very good. Before Zhuge Liang's army came, Sima Yi came first. In the end, Meng Da was killed by Sima Yi.
It is said that Meng Da is capricious, but Liu Chan's opinion is that Meng Da is more like playing infernal Affairs, but he is not lucky and has been discovered by Sima Yi.
After the news of Ma Chao's attack on Jiameng Pass came, Meng Da immediately sent someone to ask Liu Bei for help and took defensive measures. In Liu Chan's opinion, Meng Da's arrangement was perfect, at least much stronger than Huo Jun's arrangement. No wonder Liu Bei sent Meng Da to guard the important land of Shangyong later.
Looking at Meng Da who was busy on the city tower, Liu Chan sighed, who said that there was no general in Shu? Meng Da was just a talent, at least it was much better than the support of the ban, Xiang Cun and others! Liu Zhang really didn't know how to use it well!
Jiameng Pass is the first barrier to Hanzhong entering Shu, so over the years, Liu Zhang built him with extremely strong and majestic city walls and dangerous terrain, it can be said that Jiameng Pass is now the first barrier to Shu.
The terrain of Jiameng Pass is dangerous, especially when facing Hanzhong. The road is rugged and narrow, and there is no decent open space in front of Jiameng Pass, so it is not suitable to set up camp at all, so Ma Chao had to retreat ten miles to get out of the camp.
Ten miles are a long distance, and it takes less than half an hour for a person to walk, so as long as Ma Chao goes out to attack the enemy, Meng Da at Jiameng Pass has enough time to prepare.
The wall of Jiameng Pass is dozens of feet high. Standing on the gate, you can see it for dozens of miles away, so you can't hide any moves in Ma Chao's camp.
Now that Mid-Autumn Festival is over, the plants and trees have already withered and yellow, which is very unfavorable for the attacking side. Because the autumn is clear and the air is dry, the dry grass on the ground will easily be ignited, Ma Chao was even more cautious when going to the village, and specially selected some plains without grass, for fear that Meng Da would attack with fire.
Meng Da had already been preparing to attack with fire, but seeing Ma Chao so cautious, he had to give up. However, Meng Da was still covered with dry grass on the ground one mile in front of Jiameng Pass. Once Ma Chao attacked the city, Meng Da would immediately ignite the dry grass in front of the pass and use the fire to block the enemy.
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Chapter completed!