After Han Sui and Ma Chao were alienated, they were no longer the same. When retreating, they were also guarding each other and doing their own things. Han Sui took the Hetao and retreated to Xiping.

It was originally a shortcut for Ma Chao to go to Wuwei through Hetao, but because he had defenders in Tongguan and Chang'an, he retreated and went to Huashan Fortress. After joining in Chang'an, he was preparing to retreat to Tianshui to consolidate his army. If Cao Cao continued to attack, he would retreat to Wuwei.

But Ma Chao still underestimated Cao Cao's determination to wipe out him. Cao Cao almost let Han Sui ignore it. Along the way, the generals took turns to lead troops to follow Ma Chao to chase him, without giving him a chance to breathe.

When he arrived at the Huashan Fortress, Ma Chao was unable to meet with Pang Rou who had retreated from Tongguan. He had to wait for a few days, but because Xiahou Yuan had already chased him up, he had to continue to flee to Chang'an.

The remaining guard at Chang'an was Zhao Yue, the deputy general under Ma Chao. When Ma Chao retreated outside Chang'an City, he had already raised all the troops in the city to pick him up. Ma Chao wanted to enter the city to replenish supplies, but the city gate was closed.

Fortunately, Zhao Yueying had a lot of food and grass. After a night of rest, Ma Chao passed around the city and retreated to Tianshui.

It turned out that Yang Fu, a military officer in Liangzhou, heard that after Ma Chao occupied Chang'an, he left Zhao Yue to guard the city and led his troops to Tongguan. The Yang family's foundation was also in Chang'an. He was afraid that Ma Chao would rob Chang'an City when he retreated, so he discussed with his friend Zhao Ang:

"Ma Chao rebels against the court and stalemates with Prime Minister Cao in Tongguan. He will sooner or later be defeated. When he comes back, he will inevitably cause trouble for Chang'an. If Prince Zhao Yue is now the governor of Chang'an, he will definitely become a scapegoat. If Prime Minister Cao blames him, it will be difficult for your whole family to save!"

When Zhao Ang heard what Yang Fu said was reasonable, he was shocked and hurriedly asked Yang Fu for advice.

Yang Fu said to Zhao Ang:

"You can go to Chang'an in person and convince your son Zhao Yue to bring enough food and grass, garrison troops waiting outside Chang'an City, and hand over the city defense to the private soldiers of major families. After Ma Chao was defeated, the private soldiers of the aristocratic families immediately closed the city gate, so that they can ensure the safety of Chang'an!"

After hearing Yang Fu's plan, Zhao Ang was worried that his son Zhao Yue would be killed by Ma Chao after he lost Chang'an, so he did not dare to agree. Yang Fu asked Zhao Ang to tell Zhao Yue that he had already received the news of Ma Chao's retreat and went to the outside of the city to avoid disaster!

Zhao Ang then sent someone to tell Zhao Yue that he would act according to his plan.

Cao Cao personally led his troops to Chang'an. He saw that Chang'an was completely unfair. He knew it was Yang Fu and Zhao Ang's contribution, so he rewarded them very much!

In Chang'an, Cao Cao personally led his troops to Anding, knowing that Ma Chao was far away, and Yang Qiu just led the remaining troops back to Anding City and was surrounded.

Yang Qiu was weak and unable to resist, so he asked Cao Cao to surrender.

Cao Cao wanted to Anxiao and fulfill his promises to restore Yang Qiu's title, so that he could leave him to appease the people of Anding County.

Cao Cao withdrew his troops and returned to Chang'an, celebrating the victory with all the generals. During the meal, all the generals gathered.

After drinking for several rounds, all the generals praised Cao Cao. Only Cao Hong knew Cao Cao's intentions and asked for advice:

"Prime Minister, this time he fought with the Xiliang army, and the bandit army occupied Tongguan. Weibei did not send troops to guard it. The Prime Minister did not attack Fengyi from Hedong, but instead attacked Tongguan, which was heavily guarded by heavy troops, and was delayed for a long time. Then he crossed north and tried his best to establish a camp to defend it. What is the reason?"

Cao Cao's plan this time was profound and defeating the brave and war-friendly Xiliang Alliance, and he was very proud, but he could not tell the mystery by himself, and he was unbearable to feel itchy.

Cao Hong’s ability to be favored by Cao Cao is not unrelated to his understanding. This time, he asked for advice and touched Cao Cao’s itchy spot, which made him feel relaxed, and answered:

"If the Xiliang army occupied Tongguan, if I took the road to Hedong as soon as I came, the Xiliang coalition would have to divide the troops to guard the crossings, and Hexi could not cross the river! Therefore, I deliberately placed heavy troops under Tongguan and sent Han Sui and Ma Teng to lead all the troops to Tongguan to fight to the decisive battle, but Hexi was not prepared, so Xu Huang and Zhu Ling got the crossing. Xu Huang and Zhu Ling collected food and grass in Hexi, strengthened the walls and cleared the fields, so that the Xiliang army could not replenish the food and grass. I then led the troops north, connected the carts and trees to form a corridor, built an ice city, stalemate with the Xiliang army, consumed their food and grass, and showed them to be weak, and arrogant, and made it unprepared. Then I skillfully used the counter-essay strategy, occupied the power of the soldiers, and defeated them with one blow, and chased them relentlessly. As the saying goes, the thunder and lightning were not enough to cover up. The changes in the war were not the same."

Xiahou Yuan asked Cao Cao again:

"Whenever the Prime Minister hears that the thief adds troops, he will be happy. What is the reason?"

Cao Cao replied:

"If the thieves are far away in Guanzhong, if they are under the dangers, they will not be able to be reconciled in one or two years. Now they are all gathered together. Although there are many people, people are different and they are easy to disagree. They can be destroyed in one fell swoop: in addition, there are too many people and food and grass to consume more, and the thieves cannot fight for a long time, so I am happy."

All the generals were convinced and exclaimed:

"The Prime Minister's plan is beyond his reach!"

Cao Cao smiled and said:

"This is not my own merit, but all the power of civil and military officials." He then rewarded the troops with great reward.

The next day, Cao Cao discussed with the generals about his plan to advance, and suddenly Xiahou Dun sent someone to ask for help.

It turned out that while Cao Cao and Ma Chao were confronting Tongguan, Pang Rou and Ma Su used strange troops to attack Wuguan, Wancheng, Xinye, and Xiahou Dun in the lonely city in Xiangyang, so he had to abandon the city and leave. Fortunately, he took advantage of the situation to recover Wancheng and Xinye, and had a place to settle down. However, Wuguan was still occupied by Ma Su and could not be captured many times, so he asked Cao Cao for help!

When Cao Cao heard this, he was afraid that Xuchang would make a mistake, so he stopped attacking Ma Chao and left Xiahou Yuan to station troops in Chang'an. The surrendered troops he received were allocated to various units.

Zhang, under Han Sui's attack, tried hard to protect Tongguan and gained the attention of Xiahou Yuan, and recommended him as the Jingzhao Yin and guarded Chang'an together.

Yang Fu, a military officer in Liangzhou, heard that Cao Cao was going to return to the court, so he came directly to see Cao Cao.

Cao Cao asked, and Yang Fu replied:

"Ma Chao has the courage of Lu Bu and is deeply loved by the Qiang people. If the Prime Minister does not take advantage of the situation to suppress the enemy, he will develop strength in the future. The counties in Longshan will not be able to restore the country. I hope the Prime Minister will not return the troops first."

Cao Cao asked Yang Fu to come in, and he was determined to hand over Liangzhou to him to guard, so he said to Yang Fu:

"I was going to leave troops to conquer them, but the Central Plains is in trouble, and the south is not settled, and there is another change in Jingzhou, so I can't stay for a long time. Han Sui and Ma Chao have turned against each other. If I force them too quickly, they may join forces to resist, and it will be difficult to separate. After I return to the army, please guard Liangzhou for me."

Yang Fu promised to support Wei Kang as the governor of Liangzhou and lead troops to station in Jicheng to prevent Ma Chao.

Cao Cao returned to the capital, and Emperor Xian arranged the imperial carriage to welcome him. The imperial edict said, "I praise the name of the court and do not go to the palace, and my swords and shoes will go to the hall"; like the story of the Han prime minister Xiao He.

...

...

After sending someone to send a letter to Ma Su, Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang were still not relieved. They sent Huang Zhong and Wei Yan to lead 1,000 troops to station troops on the Xiangyang border and make an attack on Xiangyang. In fact, they were testing the reality of Xiangyang. Liu Bei actually wanted to capture Xiangyang very much.

Huang Zhong and Wei Yan bluffed their voices, thinking that they were suspicious of their troops, so they blocked Cao's army and were wary of their guards day and night, which was unbearable!

Huang Zhong and Wei Yan, since surrendered to Liu Bei, have not made any achievements and have been training troops in the mountains. This time they were sent to the Xiangyang front line, eager to make achievements and do their best.

On this day, Huang Zhong and Wei Yan were discussing a strategy for attacking Xiangyang in the camp, and suddenly surrendered Hou Feima to report:

"The Cao army guarding Shiqiao Pass in front all retreated overnight!"

Huang Zhong and Wei Yan were very surprised and hurriedly led their troops to check in front of the gate. The door was wide open and there was no soldier or soldier on the gate.

When Wei Yan was overjoyed, he wanted to rush to seize the pass, but was stopped by Huang Zhong.

Huang Zhong was old and harsh, afraid that it was Cao's army's plan, so he reported to Liu Bei to Liu Bei and asked him to decide.

Liu Bei didn't know what to do, so he asked Huang Zhong and Wei Yan to send many spies to inquire about the news.
Chapter completed!