Half an hour later, only 500 of the 2,000 guards led by Yueji hurriedly retreated from the barbican.
Yueji was nearly cleaved by the broadsword, but the surrounding guards fought desperately to protect him and he managed to escape.
"Marshal Yueji, let's retreat immediately!"
"If we don't retreat now, all 20,000 of us who came from the Huangshui River will be wiped out!"
The remaining centurions, terrified, urged Yueji to withdraw his troops.
Of the 15,000 Qiang cavalry who attacked, it is estimated that half have fallen by now.
The remaining half were all demoralized.
They couldn't outshoot him with arrows, nor could they win in close combat; even Yueji's personal guards were almost completely wiped out.
If this fight continues, they might all die here.
Even for the sake of the Huangshui Grassland and the survival and reproduction of the Qiang tribes, there's no need to work so hard.
What use is this grassland now that everyone is gone?
If everyone dies, wouldn't we be doing all the work for someone else?
Yueji was quite frightened and it took him a while to come to his senses: "Retreat, quickly retreat back to the camp!"
"Also, quickly report to General Lü that we have suffered heavy losses and cannot continue fighting."
The person next to him said, "General Lü has already led his army and left this place long ago."
"Isn't General Ma Teng's 10,000 men stationed here with us?"
Yueji said angrily, "Then let Ma Teng handle the attack on the city. We'll never fall for this idiot's trick again."
The retreat bugle has sounded!
The Qiang cavalrymen breathed a sigh of relief and retreated like a tide without the slightest hesitation.
If it had been even a fraction later, I would have lost my life here.
After retreating three miles, Yueji counted his troops and found that only seven thousand were still breathing.
He was heartbroken and turned back to the camp, but no tears came.
Meanwhile, Ma Teng, with a thousand Ma family cavalry, had already arrived at a high ground behind Yue Ji's army.
He watched the battle from afar and naturally saw the crossbow bolts shooting a thousand paces from the city wall, which amazed him.
They then discovered that large numbers of Qiang cavalry had stormed into the city, and assumed that Yueji had captured it.
Just as he was about to scoff at Ma Chao's naive deduction that he had almost believed, he realized that Ma Chao had actually believed it himself.
At this moment, Yue Ji and his men came rushing towards them dejectedly. Ma Teng was extremely surprised and went to meet them.
"Marshal Yueji, what... what's going on? I clearly saw you storm into the city, but... why are you retreating?"
Yue Ji rolled his eyes, his face turning ashen: "General Ma, don't talk nonsense. Of my 15,000 troops, more than half have been lost."
"The Han army in the city is really too fierce!"
"Don't talk to me anymore, I'm in a very bad mood right now."
After saying this, Yueji ignored Ma Teng and led his remaining troops back to camp without looking back.
Ma Teng watched as the Qiang cavalrymen filed past him, each one dejected, dispirited, and utterly dejected.
A storm was brewing in his heart.
On the one hand, they were amazed that with only 4,000 soldiers in Zhangye City and the 2,000 heavy cavalrymen not even appearing, 15,000 Qiang cavalrymen had lost half of their troops.
On the other hand, he was even more surprised that his son Ma Chao, although only eight years old, had such insight.
“Father, the Qiang people have been defeated. What should we do?” Ma Xiu asked from the side.
"What else can we do? Hold the camp and wait for news from Wuwei," Ma Teng said sheepishly.
Firstly, it was inconvenient for them to attack the city, and secondly, they were shocked by the Qiang people's crushing defeat, so Ma Teng dared not think of anything else.
"This King of the Clouds is truly extraordinary!"
"Did I make the wrong choice by following Ding Yuan?"
Ma Teng's mind was in turmoil.
......
It was inconvenient for Lü Bu to openly attack Liu Wei.
However, he wanted to use the Qiang people to get rid of Liu Wei, a prince who had overstepped his bounds and interfered in Liangzhou affairs, for his adoptive father Ding Yuan.
He led Han Sui, Gao Shun, Wei Xu, and 25,000 troops, bypassing Zhangye City, and entered Jiuquan from the northern foothills of the Qilian Mountains along the south bank of the Shandan River.
Speed is of the essence in war, and Lü Bu advanced very quickly.
Officials from the four counties of Biaoshi, Huishui, Leguan, and Anmi in Jiuquan were all bewildered.
First, a wave of Xianbei people came, followed by a force of three to four thousand well-equipped cavalry, claiming to be the army under the command of the King of Yunzhong, who were heading to Dunhuang to chase after the Xianbei cavalry.
Now, troops from the Liangzhou Prefectural Governor's Office have arrived, claiming they're here to take over Jiuquan and Dunhuang!
What exactly is going on? The King of Yunzhong and the Governor of Liangzhou are both from the Han Dynasty, so why are they fighting?
However, for the local officials in these counties, it doesn't matter who comes.
They continue to hold their official positions and dance as usual; they're just trying to exploit the people anyway.
So when Lü Bu's 25,000-strong army arrived, officials from various counties in Jiuquan immediately donated grain and money, ensuring that Lü Bu would not have to worry about supplies for the time being.
Xue Rengui led 1,800 Xuanjia cavalry and 6,000 auxiliary soldiers, setting off ahead of them, each on two horses, heading straight for the Sanwei Mountain and Kunlun Pass near Dunhuang.
This is where he met up with 3,500 white-robed cavalrymen.
Lu Bu was going to take over the city on the way, leaving some troops behind to guard it, so he naturally wouldn't run into Xue Rengui.
at the same time.
After Liu Wei achieved a great victory over the Qiang cavalry in Zhangye, beheading more than 8,000, he rested briefly and left Geng Chun and Li Siye to guard the area, awaiting Di Qing's arrival to take over.
He, along with Shen Lian and a hundred guards, quietly set off to pursue Xue Rengui's army.
This victory terrified the Qiang people, who became fearful of them from then on.
Furthermore, Ma Teng's 10,000 troops dared not make any rash moves.
With Di Qing about to arrive and take charge of military affairs, and with the support of Juyan Lake as a major rear base, Lude will surely be as solid as a rock, becoming a strong thorn in the side of the Hexi Corridor.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
