Liu Bei immediately ordered Liao Hua to lead 5,000 troops to camp near Ziwu Road to stop the possible Qin army reinforcements. He himself cooperated with Guan Yu and others to lead the main force back to attack Hanzhong.

In the dark night, a large army arrived outside the eastern city gate of Hanzhong. Seeing this, the officers and soldiers on the city gate immediately became nervous. A general came out of the army outside the city and shouted loudly: "I am Wei Yan, the general under the command of the King of Qin! Open the city gate quickly!" Everyone on the city gate tower heard that the Qin army had arrived, and all looked happy. A general immediately clasped his fists and said, "I have seen General Wei! Please wait for General Wei, and the last general immediately went to invite Lord Zhang to welcome the general!" Wei Yan nodded.

The general hurriedly said to an officer beside him: "Go and report to Lord Zhang quickly. General Wei Yan under the command of the King of Qin led his army to arrive!" The officer replied and hurried away.

Not long after, Zhang Lu came up to the city gate with his children and confidants. Seeing that a general outside the city was waiting on the horse, Zhang Lu immediately knew that it was Wei Yan. He couldn't help but be happy and clasped his fists and said, "I'm downstairs Zhang Lu, I've seen General Wei! I don't know that General Wei is missing and welcomes him at this moment, please forgive me!" Wei Yan clasped his fists and said, "Mr. Zhang, don't have to be too polite! We are just following the orders of the King of Qin! Lord Zhang, open the city gate quickly!"

Zhang Lu hurriedly said, "General Wei forgives his crime. Now is an extraordinary time. I still need to confirm General Wei's identity. Please forgive General Wei!" Wei Yan didn't care at all and nodded, "This is also the right thing to do. Lord Zhang does not need to apologize." Then he took out a roll of bamboo slips from Ma An's bag, held them high, and sang: "This is the letter written by the King of Qin, please read it." Then he handed the letter to a general beside him and signaled him to send it over. The general took the bamboo slip and ran under the city wall and put it into a bamboo basket that was rolled down from the city wall.

The bamboo basket quickly pulled the wall, and an officer took out the bamboo slip and ran to Zhang Lu, presenting it with both hands. Zhang Lu quickly took the bamboo slip and opened it to read it. Seeing that the content on it was the content that promised to give him high officials and generous salaries in addition to the content that comforted him. Zhang Lu was very happy, but for the sake of caution, he quickly asked Zhang Qiying to take out the handwritten letter sent by someone Lu Bu to him, and the two carefully compared them. Seeing that the handwriting on the two letters was exactly the same, even the subtle details were the same, and he couldn't help but be completely sure that this was Lu Bu's handwritten letter, and Wei Yan outside the city was definitely Wei Yan himself.

Zhang Lu quickly clasped his fists at Wei Yan and said, "General Wei is forgiven! I will order someone to open the city gate immediately!" Then he asked the city gate captain to open the city gate quickly. The city gate captain Yingnuo said, and ordered the officers and soldiers under his command. The officers and soldiers immediately raised the door bar and opened the two heavy city gates!

When Wei Yan saw the city gate open, he immediately led his army into the city gate. At this time, Zhang Lu had already led his subordinates to welcome him at the city gate. Seeing Wei Yan coming, he immediately smiled and bowed, "General Wei has worked hard all the way!" Wei Yan rode to Zhang Lu, looked at Zhang Lu, and asked, "You are Zhang Lu?" Everyone was stunned. Zhang Qiying, who was standing behind Zhang Lu, looked at him, and looked unhappy, only to think that Wei Yan was too arrogant! Zhang Lu came to his senses and smiled and bowed, "It's Zhang Lu below!"

Wei Yan suddenly raised his sword and slashed at Zhang Lu! The matter was hasty and became a climax, and Zhang Lu didn't react at all! Zhang Qiying was still quick-witted. Seeing the other party's sword light raised, he subconsciously grabbed his father's back and pulled his father back. Almost at the same time, the sword cold light slashed in front of Zhang Lu and slashed on a Zhang Lu's confidant! The blood suddenly surged, and the confidant screamed and fell to the ground!

Zhang Qiying thrust a spear to protect her father. Zhang Lu was shocked and couldn't help but burst into anger and shouted loudly: "Wei Yan! What are you doing?"

'Wei Yan' laughed loudly and said sarcastically: "I'm not Wei Yan! I am Liu Feng, the general under the command of the chariot general!" Zhang Lu and others were shocked when they heard this, and then they realized that they had been fooled. At this moment, Liu Bei's army, who had entered the city, had launched a fierce attack on Zhang Lu's army. Zhang Lu's army was caught off guard and was defeated by Liu Bei's army. Liu Feng pointed at Zhang Lu with a big knife and shouted: "Zhang Lu! Today is your death date!" Then he waved his big knife and walked forward, waved a knife to slash a personal soldier in front of him, rushed straight towards Zhang Lu, and raised the sword in his hand and slashed hard towards Zhang Lu! Zhang Lu was so scared that he took a step back. At this critical moment, Zhang Qiying raised his spear and held the sword that the other party slashed, and a loud bang!

Zhang Qiying was hit by this force and couldn't help but retreat backwards, and then stopped in his father Zhang Lu's arms! Liu Feng could not help but stop when Zhang Qiying blocked him. Zhang Qiying shouted sternly: "Stop them!" The personal soldiers shouted, and rushed forward to stand together with Liu Feng and his troops. Zhang Qiying took advantage of this time and rushed to the north city gate with his father.

At this time, Liu Bei's army was already like a city. Under the fierce attack of Liu Bei's army, Zhang Lu's army was like dead branches and leaves floating in the wind, and could not organize effective resistance at all!

...

Ailang led Ma Chao, Dian Wei and other generals to lead the eight thousand war cavalry across Wudang and followed the Han River all the way westward to Hanzhong. However, he received an urgent report from Wei Yan and learned that Wei Yan's army was ambushed by Liu Bei's army near Ziwu Road and suffered heavy losses and had retreated to the west city. Ailang was very annoyed and immediately led his army to drive straight to the west city.

Not long after, Ailang arrived in the west city. After Wei Yan welcomed Ailang and others into the lobby of the inner capital, he knelt in front of Ailang and apologized with shame: "The last general is incompetent, which has caused our army to lose its troops. Please punish the King of Qin!" Ailang looked at Wei Yan. Although he was annoyed, he went to Liu Bei and said: "I already know the situation of this battle. You are cautious enough. It is really that Liu Bei's bastard is too cunning! But after all, it is defeated. I will deduct your annual salary to be demoted to the first level to show punishment! You will still stay in your original position and make meritorious service." Wei Yan said: "Thank you for the grace of the King of Qin!" Then he stood up and stood at the bottom of the generals.

Ailang asked Wei Yan: "How is the loss of our army?" Wei Yan clasped his fists and said: "Seven thousand people were lost, all the supplies were lost..."

Ma Chao said: "It's pretty good. When he was ambushed, he actually saved most of the army." Wei Yan smiled bitterly, not knowing what to say. He wanted to take this opportunity to show his face among the famous generals under the King of Qin, but he didn't expect that he would not show his face, but he showed his pi shares. Although he saved most of the army and did not have the shame to see others, this battle was one of the few defeats in the Qin army in history, which was really embarrassing.

After a pause, he thought of something and quickly clasped his fists and said, "King of Qin, our army has suffered a severe blow. Liu Bei will definitely seize Hanzhong. We have to find a way to support Hanzhong!"

Ma Yunlu said angrily: "Who doesn't know about this kind of thing? But all the food, supplies and supplies were lost, and I couldn't continue to move forward!" Wei Yan was very angry when he saw Ma Chao's girl robbing him. However, after all, it was his defeat that caused such a result, and he could not refute the other party at all.

Ma Chao asked Ailang: "Brother, the food and supplies we have in hand can ensure the need for three thousand war cavalry to fight for three days. Why not let me lead three thousand war cavalry to help Hanzhong first?" Wei Yan hurriedly said: "This is probably not easy. According to the scouts sent by the last general, Liu Bei left Liao Hua to set up a camp near Ziwu Road, which had cut off the passage for our army to rescue Hanzhong. If our army wants to rush to Hanzhong, we must defeat Liao Hua first."

Ma Chao sneered: "What's the point of just Liao Hua!" Wei Yan was so angry that he couldn't say anything.

Ailang thought for a moment, thinking that it would be better to let Ma Chao and the others fight first. Even if they could not defeat Liao Hua, it would still involve Liu Bei's attention, which would definitely be beneficial for Zhang Lu to defend Hanzhong. At this point, he said to Ma Chao: "Meng Qi, you can command the three thousand war cavalry under your command to fight Liao Hua! It's best to be able to fight, and don't force it if the situation is not good! The purpose of your attack is to restrain Liu Bei's attention so that Zhang Lu can defend Hanzhong!" When Ma Chao heard this, he felt that his elder brother underestimated him a little, smiled, clasped his fists and said, "Don't worry, brother, I will never disappoint you!" Then he led his brother and sister down.

Ailang watched Ma Chao and the others leave, then asked Wei Yan: "Wei Yan, have you sent someone to send me a message to Old Xu?" Wei Yan clasped his fists and said: "Report to the King of Qin, the last general has sent someone to send me a message to Lord Xu and requested the transfer of food and grass support." Ailang nodded, thought and murmured: "Now, we can only wait for the food and grass supplies to come up before we can move."

Ma Chao led his brothers and sisters out of the capital, stepped onto the war horses, and ran straight towards the military camp outside the city. Later that day, Ma Chao ordered his three thousand cavalry and left the military camp and marched westward, and went straight to the camp where Liao Hua was stationed near Ziwu Road. Ma Chao and his brothers and sisters had a special situation in the Qin army. Since Ma Chao had accepted the official position of the Han court before, and after joining Ailang, Ailang maintained his official title, so the official rank was very high, so it was difficult for Ma Chao to arrange for him to serve in various armies, so he and his brothers and sisters were considered to belong to Ailang.

Lang, the general of the Qin King, usually only has personal soldiers, and when he goes to the expedition, Ailang temporarily allocates some of the troops to command them. In fact, Ma Chao's situation is not special, and the situations of other major legions are similar. The commanders of each army, unless Ailang grants the power of expedition and defense on the one hand, such as Zhang Liao, and other generals, even the commanders of various legions, such as Xu Huang and Zang Ba, cannot mobilize the army, and must obtain the authorization of Ailang's tiger talisman. In this regard, Ma Chao's situation is no different from other generals.
Chapter completed!