Three Kingdoms

Enough is a rare quality, but it is a pity that many people do not understand this. In other words, when they are bystanders, they can see clearly and know how to exercise restraint, but when they are personally involved, they are inevitably confused. Bewildered.

Ma Tie thinks that he is a clear bladder, um, a bystander, so he has a relatively clear view of Ma Chao's urinary properties...

"Brother is good at everything, but he can't stop when enough is enough..." Ma Tie sat on a tree stump and said to Pound beside him, "The original plan was quite good. It was to lure the enemy deep and encircle them on three sides. Once the expedition to the west is ambushed, it will definitely be defeated. Even if you don't die, you will be disabled... But now, look, Zheng Xi is not there, we are almost disabled..."

This place was supposed to be a forest, and then people from nearby came to cut down the trees for firewood. As the freeze line of the Little Ice Age moved further and further south, in order to resist the severe cold, people cut down trees more and more frequently, and lost After reaching the appropriate limit, all that is left in this forest are some tree stumps that have not completely rotted, and the gradually degraded forest grassland. Perhaps in more than ten years, this place will become a piece of yellow sand, without any trace left. green.

Pang De suddenly coughed twice.

"...You do the math, we ran here from Jincheng for five days, and then went to Tianshui for another two days. We didn't repair properly when we got to Tianshui... Well, if looting the manor can be considered repairing, Even if it's just repairs...it took another three days before and after, and then two and a half days to go back..." Ma Tiepa pulled his fingers and said, "Tell me, the legs of these people running around have become thin... Is this really good? The horsepower is a bit lacking... Once Zhengxi retreats, my eldest brother will still have to chase..."

"...Then you mean you won't pursue him anymore? You won't avenge Brother Dai?" Suddenly a voice sounded from behind Ma Tie, who was so frightened that Ma Tie fell to the tree stump with a thud.

Ma Tie jumped up from the ground in a hurry, with a smile on his face and said: "Ah...brother, why are you here..."

Ma Chao's face was as dark as water, and he sat down on the tree stump where Ma Tie had been sitting: "Tell me, it's rare to find that you are quite capable of thinking... Tell me, I'm listening, speak boldly..."

Ma Tie hesitated, slurping and not daring to speak.

Regarding Ma Dai's death, Ma Tie actually didn't feel as pained as Ma Chao. One was that Ma Dai was of Qiang descent and was relatively close to Ma Chao. The other was that Ma Dai usually followed Ma Chao and hung out with Ma Chao. Ma Xiu and Ma Tie are not very close, so Ma Tie naturally doesn't feel much pain.

"Speak!" Seeing Ma Tie's hesitation, Ma Chao couldn't help but get angry and yelled at Ma Tie, "I told you to speak! Did you hear that?!"

Ma Tie trembled, his heart skipped a beat, and he simply said: "Yes! I just don't understand why the eldest brother is so urgent! Zhengxi retreated, so he retreated. What are you chasing him for? Just force him to return to Hanzhong, and we can go all the way Cruise beyond Yangping Pass and go all the way to Guanzhong! If Zhengxi wants to return to Guanzhong, he can only climb the Qinling Mountains again. When he climbs out, maybe we have already taken Guanzhong..."

The more Ma Tie spoke, the more relaxed he became. Pointing to the country and the mountains, he continued with some passionate words: "At that time, we will occupy the land in Guanzhong, with three hundred miles of fertile land for farming, and connect it to Longyou in the west, with thousands of hectares of grassland. It can be used for grazing, it needs people and horses, and it needs horses. Wouldn’t it be fun to look for opportunities to compete for the world?!”

Ma Tie finished speaking in one breath, and then he didn't dare to look at Ma Chao's face anymore. He lowered his head and waited to face the violent storm, but he didn't expect...

"Pah, pah..."

After hearing this, Ma Chao's anger gradually disappeared, and then he applauded Ma Tie's words.

Ma Tie was a little confused.

"Come, sit down." Ma Chao pointed to the tree stump beside him with a pleasant look.

"Brother..." Ma Tie didn't understand.

Pang De looked around, took a breath, raised his hands and said, "Well... I still have some chores to do..."

"It's okay for Ling Ming to stay! We're all brothers, don't be so polite!" Ma Chao waved his hand and said with a smile, "Ling Ming, you can also sit down! Just treat it as our brothers chatting, no need to be restrained!"

Pang De looked at Ma Chao and felt that he was not being sarcastic, so he thanked him and sat directly on the ground without looking for any more tree stumps.

Ma Chao patted Ma Tie on the shoulder and said: "Third brother, you are starting to use your brain. Brother, I only have joy in my heart. How can I blame you? Don't worry... what you just said is not wrong, but there is one thing you still have to say. Not thoughtful enough…”

Ma Tie couldn't help but ask: "Excuse me, brother, what's the matter?"

"If we don't conquer the west, there will be no chaos in Guanzhong! If there is no chaos in Guanzhong, what chance will you and I have to take control of Guanzhong?" Ma Chao looked into the distance and said slowly, "The land of Guanzhong has been initially determined to conquer the west. Although it is unstable, If the expedition to the west is not defeated, even if we drive our troops straight in, the Guanzhong soldiers and horses in the expedition to the west will most likely retreat to Zuo Fengyi. Where will we defend then? Yangping Pass? Long Pass? Wuguan? Or Baoxie, Ziwu and other crossings? Or Pujin Ferry? Diaoyin? At that time, the little thief who conquers the west only needs to move left and right, pointing east and west, and he can drag our troops to death in Guanzhong..."

Ma Tie and Pang De had a look of surprise on their faces.

"If you want to take Guanzhong, you must kill Zhengxi! There is no other way!" Ma Chao lowered his face and gritted his teeth and said, "There are also rumors about Zhengxi's name in Longyou, so if we kill him The bones of the little thief from Zhengxi can be used to boost the reputation of our Ma family! Therefore, the little thief from Zhengxi must die here! So, third brother, Ling Ming, do you understand?"

"I never thought that my eldest brother would be so far-sighted. I'm really ashamed..." Ma Tie said with his hands in hand, "I just made such nonsense. I hope that my eldest brother will understand..."

Ma Chao laughed, patted Ma Tie on the shoulder, and said: "We are all brothers, just say whatever you want! Why do you need to be so polite! This place is only more than a hundred miles away from Xiabian... Third brother, please take a hard trip. Send the order, let everyone rest for half a day, and set off early tomorrow morning!"

"Wei!" Ma Tie accepted the order, and Pang De quickly accompanied him.

Ma Chao looked at the retreating figures of Ma Tie and Pang De, and his original smile slowly faded away. The reason he told Ma Tie and Pound was naturally irrefutable on the surface, but deep down in Ma Chao's heart, there was another reason that was not convenient to mention in front of Ma Tie or Pound.

Ma Teng is dead. He died inexplicably.

Although Ma Chao was the eldest son, he was a concubine.

Although it is said that it was Li Jue who killed Ma Chao and he took revenge, and he has the right to lead the Ma clan today, but it is not clear whether Han Sui added fuel to the flames or did nothing to save him in this matter. It's hard to say, but one very important thing is that after Ma Teng's death, the relatively balanced situation in Xiliang has changed.

Although there are many warlords in Xiliang, they are scattered all over the place. Their power is not very big, and they all have their own thoughts. Even if they get together once, they will inevitably have all kinds of friction and fights, let alone join forces to form an alliance with centripetal force. Under such circumstances, Han Sui must be the dominant family. If he cannot take advantage of this opportunity to strangle Zhengxi to make the Ma family famous again, maybe in a few years, the Qiang people who originally followed the Ma family will also Well, regardless of the warlords in Xiliang who are friends with him, Han Sui will inevitably drag him over...

By that time, no matter how talented Ma Chao is, no matter how many ideas he has, he will not be able to use them.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, on the one hand, we can strangle Zhengxi and promote the name of the Ma family. On the other hand, we can also use the fat meat in Guanzhong to attract and consume the troops of Han Sui and the warlords of Xiliang, so as not to let these evil The wolf set its sights on the Ma family whose wounds had not healed!

Taking a step back, even if he cannot kill Zhengxi and complete the overall strategy, Ma Chao will still take this opportunity to encourage the Xiliang tribes to attack Guanzhong!

Without weakening Han Sui and the various warlords in Xiliang, how could Ma Chao feel at ease?

In fact, Ma Chao also suspected that Han Sui had seen part or even all of his plan, but for Han Sui, weakening the strength of the Xiliang warlords was also quite beneficial, because Ma Chao knew that Han Sui was also thinking about these Xiliang warlords. The ministries have been working together for a long time, so Han Sui was so cooperative now.

However, as of now, no one knows who will have the last laugh...

"Young Commander!" A soldier ran over and said in a panic, "Young Commander, our horse is suddenly restless for some reason... It seems... It seems like another female horse has reared its tail... "

"What? The female horse's tail is erect?!" Ma Chao stood up suddenly and said, "How is it possible? How many months is it now? How could such a thing be possible? Besides, aren't the females all in the rear? How could it be possible here? Is there a female horse?”

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, after Zhao Guo's Hufu riding and shooting, the proportion of war horses in wars gradually became more and more important. However, for a long time, even in the Tang Dynasty, the horses that actually went on the battlefield were basically It's a stallion.

Although it is not impossible to ride a mare, a mare spends several months of the year either with her cubs or nursing. Therefore, normally, for the sake of the reproduction of the horse herd, she will not ride a mare unless there is an emergency or special situation. Most of those on the battlefield will stay in the rear.

As for geldings, although they exist now, there are not many of them. Moreover, in the Han Dynasty when the horse iron palm did not appear, the life span of a war horse was often not too long. Often after a fierce battle, the war horse would either be physically injured or If the horse's shoe is damaged, it cannot continue to fight.

These injured war horses often become horse meat jerky and horse bone soup without treatment conditions...

Therefore, during this period when war horses are replaced and consumed very quickly, basically no one would go out of their way to gelding a horse. Moreover, after gelding a horse, it will take several months to recover from the wound, plus retraining is required, which consumes a lot of time. It takes up to a year and cannot migrate immediately. This is almost impossible for nomads who often need to chase water and grass.

Therefore, until the Tang Dynasty, people were still accustomed to bringing unhorsed stallions to the battlefield, which led to many interesting things. For example, Li Guangbi in the Tang Dynasty used a group of smooth-haired young mares to seduce a large group of skilled horses. A stallion that thinks with its lower body...

Normally, in May, war horses enter the peak period of breeding and estrus. At this time, the horse farms are basically full of erect-tailed mares. At this time, herdsmen will take special care of some horses with strong bloodlines, while other ordinary horses will be allowed to mate. , and after June, it basically stopped, and the mare no longer accepted the teasing of the stallion. If the stallion wandered behind her butt, she would have to lift her hoof and give her a hard kick.

After passing this point, the signal smell emitted by the female horses decreased, and the male horses gradually settled down and stopped biting and attacking each other...

This time Ma Chao led his troops to march eastward, deliberately missing the estrus period of his war horses, and there were no mares in the army. How could he encounter such a thing here?

By the time Ma Chao arrived at the scene, the scene was already chaotic.

Although horses are gregarious animals, they still have some hierarchies among each other, and male horses have a more violent temper. It is normal to have some quarrels and bites from time to time. Therefore, at the beginning, Ma Chao's subordinates, regardless of It didn't matter whether it was Xiliang soldiers or Qiang people, but later I found that the situation was getting worse and worse.

Not only were the untied stallions biting each other, but even the tied horses were pulling on the reins and rushing out, completely ignoring the bloody marks on their necks...

When people have sperm in their brains, they sometimes lose their minds, let alone a war horse?

After holding in the stallions for a long time, I suddenly smelled the scent of a female horse with its tail raised...

Horses are highly short-sighted creatures. One can tell the gender of an individual by sound, and the other by smell. The sudden release of a large amount of the female horse's tail erect smell made these stallions go crazy.

Didn't I say that for three years, I didn't even let the sheep go? The situation now is probably similar.

The soldiers and Qiang who stepped forward to separate the tumultuous stallions were trampled upon by the irrational horses, kicked and broken, and even bitten with their teeth. Dozens of people were directly injured, and more than ten others were directly injured. The person was seriously injured and could not survive before his eyes.

The madness among the war horses was even worse. Because there was no female horse to vent their anger, these irrational horses jumped around randomly, causing the entire herd to fall apart...

"Young Commander! Be careful!" A frothing war horse broke free from the encirclement of several Qiang people and rushed towards Ma Chao and others in a daze.

Ma Chao turned sideways to get out of the way of the war horse, and immediately pulled out his sword and chopped down the mad war horse with one strike. The horse's blood spurted out and splashed all over Ma Chao's head and body!

"What are you doing standing still! Kill all the crazy ones!" Ma Chao raised his sword and howled.

As the horses whined, the thick smell of blood filled the air, covering up the aura that drove the stallions crazy. The restless horses finally calmed down, leaving only a mess and people looking at each other...

…………………………

On a small slope away from Ma Chao's camp, three or four heads were huddled in the grass, watching quietly.

In this camp, there are people from Xiliang, Qiang people who have been with the Ma family for a long time, and people from the Yakniu Qiang and Qingyi Qiang who are not very familiar with each other and even have some hatred. In addition, this place was originally Ma Chaoyuan. The bait was destined for Fei Qian, so he didn't care. There was no fixed subordinate, and there was no full-time patrol post. This provided Ling Jie with an extremely convenient hiding space...

"Let's go... It seems that the collected mare urine is really effective..." Ling Jie retracted his head lying on the slope and called to his men, "Let's go, the show is over... Go to our Kurama place...be careful when you move..."

"You think the general knows how to do this...that's amazing..."

"How else to call the general? Stop talking nonsense and leave quickly while they are still in confusion..."