After hearing Cao Rui's question, Sima Yi, who was closest to the emperor, suddenly coughed lightly.
Cao Rui seemed to remember something and looked at Yang Fu, the attendant not far away. As Cao Rui expected, Yang Fu's eyes were wide open and he was obviously very excited.
After getting off his horse, Yang Fu walked a few steps quickly to Cao Rui, clasped his hands and said loudly: "Ma Dai should be executed along with his entire family! We must not allow this man to live in disgrace in this world!"
As he spoke, Yang Fu's face became more earnest: "Your Majesty, in the past, Emperor Wu killed all of Ma Teng's clan in Yecheng, leaving only Ma Chao and Ma Dai to cause trouble in Yongliang. They gathered Qiang and Hu, conquered cities, killed innocent people, and defected to Liu Bei... All these things are too numerous to mention!"
Cao Rui and Sima Yi looked at each other, Sima Yi nodded slightly as a hint, and Cao Rui understood.
Yang Fu became more and more excited as he spoke, not caring about the spit spurting out of his mouth. He ignored the surprised looks of the people around him and said, "Your Majesty, when Ma Chao gathered the Qiang and Hu to capture Longyou, seven of my brothers died in the battle, and countless casualties were also caused by other families and clans! Your Majesty is powerful throughout the country, and all the generals of the Shu army can be used by Your Majesty, but they do not include people like Ma Dai who have committed such a heinous crime!"
"Minister Yang..." Cao Rui said softly, trying to interrupt Yang Fu's speech.
Yang Fu seemed not to have heard and bowed deeply: "Now that Ma Chao is dead, the people of Longyou all want to kill Ma Dai! Your Majesty, please do not let this thief go!"
Not far from the emperor's presence, generals such as Sun Li, Huan Fan, Dian Man, etc., who had just been excited about the battle, became solemn.
This battle is certainly to quell the rebellion, but the blood and tears of the people of Longyou cannot be ignored!
"I heard everything. Yang Shizhong, stand up!" Cao Rui sighed softly and called over another person from Longyou: "Boyue, you and Yang Shizhong are both from Ji County. When Ma Chao and his brothers were causing chaos in Longyou, were there any casualties in your family?"
Jiang Wei dismounted and walked quickly to the front of the carriage. He bowed and said solemnly, "Your Majesty, my cousin, the former General Fuyi, Jiang Xu, once fought against Ma Chao together with Yang Shizhong, but Ma Chao killed his mother and brother, and he died of grief and anger."
"The relationship between my family and Minister Yang's family is not uncommon in Tianshui County."
Cao Rui sat on his horse and looked towards the army formation not far away. He said, "Minister Yang, Ma Dai is over there. I will see what you do. I will let Sun Li assist you."
Upon hearing this, Sun Li bowed slightly to Yang Fu.
Yang Fu bowed to the emperor, then mounted his horse and went to the front of the army with Sun Li, and sent someone to persuade Ma Dai.
Yang Fu's instructions to the envoy were also very clear: Your Majesty, when you personally lead the army here, do not act like a mantis trying to stop a chariot. If Ma Dai orders his men to give up resistance, only Ma Dai will be held responsible. If Ma Dai does not surrender, the Shu soldiers around him, who number less than 4,000, will only be slaughtered.
Knowing that the Wei emperor was here, the Shu soldiers, whose fighting spirit was at its lowest, had already begun to drop their spears and ring-handled swords. With one man, there was a piece of land, like the wind blowing wheat waves, the Shu soldiers were already kneeling on the ground.
Before a quarter of an hour had passed, the pale-faced Ma Dai was dragged out of the battle formation by the knights under Sun Li and brought before the emperor.
Cao Rui calmly observed everyone present, then pointed a finger at Sima Yi and said, "Sikong, come and judge this man's crime!"
Ma Dai knew that there was no chance of survival and was about to open his mouth to curse, but was seen by Sun Li who was standing to the side in front of him. Sun Li quickly gathered up a handful of dry grass from the ground and stuffed it into his mouth. Ma Dai could only be pressed to the ground and struggled, making whimpering sounds.
"Your Majesty," Sima Yi said loudly, "Ma Dai is guilty of three crimes: helping the traitor Ma Chao to establish his own regime, recruiting Qiang and Hu people to cause trouble in Longyou, wantonly slaughtering innocent people, and helping the two traitors Liu Bei and Liu Chan to establish their own regime and rebel against the Wei Dynasty."
"The crime deserves the death of the entire clan."
Cao Rui looked at Ma Dai expressionlessly, nodded and said, "Let's execute the law! Let Qian Zhao gather the surrendered soldiers here, and Cheng Xi, Sun Li, and Dian Man will march west with me!"
After saying this, he turned his horse and headed westward without stopping for a moment.
Since the people of Longyou had a deep blood feud with Ma Chao and Ma Dai, it didn't matter if he died. It was no longer the era when Cao Cao and Lu Bu were fighting for supremacy and Zhang Liao had to be saved.
Following Cao Rui's order, most of the Wei army advanced westward.
Only Xiahou He and his 3,000 cavalry were left to surround the army of Wei Yan and Ju Fu, which had a total of more than 2,000 people. They trapped them at the foot of the mountain southeast of the stream, isolating them from the battlefield and making them almost unable to move.
The terrain where Wei Yan stood was higher. Seeing most of the Wei army heading west, he gritted his teeth and said to Ju Fu, "The cavalry can't charge straight in from here. Use the foot of the mountain for protection and hold out for half a day. The Prime Minister's reinforcements will arrive in half a day!"
"If we can hold off until night, we can retreat to the mountains even if the Prime Minister doesn't come!"
Ju Fu nodded repeatedly: "I will follow the general's orders."
……
The cavalry advanced towards Zhao Yun's camp from west to east, and the orderly pace of the Shu army's retreat to the southern plateau suddenly accelerated.
A knight galloped from the south gate of Lueyang City towards Cao Zhen's army.
"Reporting to the general, the tower on the city wall can clearly see that the imperial army in the east is coming west after its victory, and the Shu army is in the camp and heading towards the plateau in the south!"
Fei Yao said anxiously, "General, His Majesty must have won the battle to come here! When should we move?"
Cao Zhen said calmly, "What do you think Zhao Yun is waiting for, since he is so confident?" "I am waiting for Your Majesty, but Zhao Yun did not retreat along the Longshan Road guarded by Wang Ping's camp, but instead went to the plateau to defend it? Is he waiting for Zhuge Liang's reinforcements?"
Without waiting for Fei Yao to reply, Cao Zhen suddenly drew out the sword from his waist, pointed it to the east, and sternly ordered: "Let Wen Qin's troops retreat to my side, Chen Ping will demolish the Shu army camp from north to south, and Zhang He will lead his 6,000 infantry to attack Wang Ping's camp in the south!"
"Tell Zhang He that when Xu Huang was in Fancheng, he pulled out ten layers of Guan Yu's antlers. Now he is facing only Wang Ping's four or five thousand men."
"As for you and me," Cao Zhen looked at Fei Yao solemnly, "Today I will personally lead 5,000 cavalrymen from the central army, dismount and charge the camp with Zhang He. If we fail, I, the general, and he, the governor of Yongliang, will both lose their positions!"
Fei Yao was stunned for a moment, then he nodded in agreement and immediately went to arrange his troops in formation.
The messengers dispersed, and the Wei army, which was located near Lueyang and had been holding back for more than half a day since early morning, also began to attack urgently.
As the sky gradually darkened and the sun was setting, Zhang He and Cao Zhen, with a total of more than 10,000 people, worked together to break through Wang Ping's camp at Duanshankou.
But after observing the terrain south of Duanshankou, Cao Zhen gave up the idea of trying to encircle the plateau where Zhao Yun was stationed from the west.
The plateau is a type of landform unique to Yongliang, with a flat and wide top and surrounded by steep valleys.
The plateau where Zhao Yun was stationed was about five miles long from north to south, more than two miles wide at its widest point and less than one mile narrowest. To the west of this nameless plateau was the road from Lueyang to Shanggui.
If Zhao Yun still had 10,000 soldiers left on the plateau, and if he dispatched soldiers along a width of five miles to try to encircle the enemy, it would undoubtedly be a good opportunity for Zhao Yun, who was in a dominant position.
Therefore, Cao Zhen immediately made a decision and quickly ordered people to occupy and repair the remaining camp of Wang Ping.
The Duanshankou Camp, Lueyang City, and new camps were built to the north of Zhaoyun Plateau. The three Wei army camps relied on each other and temporarily confronted the Shu army on the plateau to the south.
Throughout the afternoon, except for the less than 4,000 remaining infantrymen of Ma Dai's army who surrendered, Wei Yan, Ju Fu, Wu Ban and others failed to successfully survive until nightfall at the foot of the mountain.
Under the repeated attacks of Xiahou He's cavalry and Cheng Xi's troops who came to assist, Wei Yan had no choice but to order his troops to retreat to the mountains behind. By dusk, less than a thousand people had managed to escape to the plateau where Zhao Yun was.
The rest of the soldiers either dispersed or surrendered to the Wei army.
In the evening, inside the central military tent that originally belonged to Zhao Yun.
Yang Fu hurriedly walked in from outside the tent, clasped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, General Zuo has an urgent report. Four miles south of the camp at Duanshan Pass, a Shu army is marching from south to north, and it seems that they are about to get closer to Zhao Yun's army."
Cao Rui asked: "Another Shu army has arrived? Is it Zhuge Liang or Wu Yi?"
Yang Fu replied, "I don't know about this yet. But General Zuo said that it is getting dark now, and the mountain road south of Duanshan Pass is narrow, and in some places it is less than half a mile wide. It is not realistic to encircle the plateau from the west."
Cao Zhen interrupted and said, "Your Majesty, the area south of Duanshan Pass is more like a valley than a road. It is long and narrow, and the army should not be allowed to enter."
Cao Rui chuckled: "General, are you trying to persuade me with the Left General? Although I want to win, I am not so anxious as to let the soldiers fight the Shu army in the valley at night."
Yang Fu hesitated for a moment, but still asked, "What if this Shu army joins forces with Zhao Yun?"
Sima Yi stood up and bowed to Cao Rui, saying, "Your Majesty, the various armies have been fighting hard all day since early morning today. We should take a long-term view on this matter. At least we should talk about it tomorrow."
Cao Rui nodded slightly: "I understand. How are the battles of each unit? Have you figured it out?"
Cao Zhen also asked, "Yes, Your Majesty, how many casualties have been suffered by the various units?"
Sima Yi replied: "Your Majesty, I have just summarized the battle situation of each army and have roughly come to a conclusion."
"Sikong, please tell us." Cao Rui looked at Sima Yi.
"Since the armies have successively advanced to Lueyang, the troops under General Zhenxi Qian Zhao have suffered the most casualties and fought the hardest."
"In the western part of Qianzhen, there were 6,000 casualties. Captain Pan Yi was killed in the attack on Wei Yan's camp, and six Sima and Qu Junhou were also killed. The rest of the troops are extremely exhausted and need to be reorganized. They can't fight again in the short term."
"Left General Zhang He's troops lost 300 of their 2,000 cavalry and nearly 2,500 infantry casualties."
"The general is in charge of the two central armies, Fei Yao and Wen Qin. Wen Qin's 3,000 cavalry have not yet joined the battle, and Fei Yao's cavalry suffered nearly a thousand casualties when they attacked the camp."
"As for the 16,000 cavalrymen led by Your Majesty, the loss was about 1,000, half of which were killed and wounded during the afternoon attack on Zhao Yunyuan by Dian Man's troops."
"As for prisoners of war, about 3,600 Shu soldiers surrendered from Ma Dai's army, and when they were chasing Wei Yan and Wu Ban, nearly 2,000 Shu soldiers surrendered." (End of this chapter)
