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“Can strategists not ascend the throne?”
Chapter 157 – Young Ma Chao
After Pang De was shot and fell off his horse, nobody on his side dared to make a move for quite a while.
Why could that crossbow arrow, shot from over a thousand paces away, hit so accurately? It wasn’t just the question Pang De wanted to ask before he died; everyone else on his side was wondering the same thing.
The Han Dynasty had indeed made significant progress in the art of using bed crossbows and other bows.
These heavy crossbows played a remarkable role in repelling the Xiongnu’s invasions.
But even a six-hundred-pace crossbow relied merely on its sight for aiming, just ensuring it shot as straight as possible in one direction.
In the recent chaos along the borders, suitable crossbows for warfare had become quite rare.
Compared to using crossbows, using bows and arrows was more suited to the battlefield’s needs.
However, that crossbow bolt flying towards them didn’t give anyone a chance to react, completely shattering their perceptions!
Pang De was still wearing the sturdy armor gifted by Ma Teng, but it couldn’t stop the penetrating force of the arrow.
It was like Qiao Yan’s Bingzhou army suddenly attacking at the gates of Longxi County; it felt as if ghostly spirits were aiding them.
As the cavalry and chariots pushed forward, Pang De’s bodyguards finally snapped back to reality, hurriedly lifting his corpse onto a horse, fleeing chaotically towards Zhang County.
When they sent someone to inform Ma Teng of Pang De’s death, they hurriedly closed Zhang County’s gates and climbed back up to defend the walls, only to see a distant troop standing ominously just eight hundred paces from the city wall.
Zhang County was named to mean “western border fortress,” and its purpose as a defensive city remained intact.
Even with Pang De’s death, these soldiers, out of loyalty to Ma Teng, started operating the crossbows on the city wall to prepare for Qiao Yan’s assault.
But six hundred paces was already the typical range for common crossbows; at that distance, they had no chance of hitting their opponents!
Just when they felt hopeless against their enemy, another crossbow bolt flew through the air, smashing the Pang flag atop the city wall.
The flag slowly fell, leaving the man standing under it too scared to move.
Frozen in place, he barely felt a strong wind pass overhead, reminding him of the perilous situation he was in.
When he looked towards the Bingzhou army, he saw several other bed crossbows being pushed into position.
He couldn’t help but gasp in shock.
How could they fight this?
How could they even begin to fight?
With those heavenly bolts raining down, anyone daring to peek over the city wall would surely become a casualty of the bed crossbows.
With these bed crossbows, the Bingzhou army could use their firepower to create opportunities for a siege.
If the first arrow hitting Pang De had a chance of being a fluke, what about the one that struck the flag?
Clearly, it demonstrated the shooting capabilities of the opposing crossbows!
In such a situation, they could never last until Ma Teng arrived for support.
This wasn’t just alarmist talk.
Right at that moment, a voice loud enough for them to hear came from below.
“Your Lord commands—open the gates, do no harm!”
The soldiers atop the wall exchanged glances.
This shout, coming from multiple soldiers on the other side, resonated in their ears, and in light of the devastation caused by the two crossbow bolts, it certainly wasn’t just because their opponents had more men.
It was a clever exploit of the situation.
Someone quipped, “How about we just surrender?”
If they still had a commander capable of making decisions, perhaps they could have restrained this inclination towards surrender.
However, with Pang De’s premature death, the defense of Zhang County was completely thrown into disarray, and these soldiers from Liangzhou, who were accustomed to obeying the strong, leaned towards surrender rather than defense.
Especially since, upon closer inspection, both Ma Teng and Han Sui were considered traitors of Liangzhou; they only gained their titles due to Dong Zhuo’s rise to power.
The Bingzhou governor and General Huangfu accompanying him were the real Han Dynasty forces!
Easily surrendering could be seen as being swayed by the righteous force against the rebels.
Better to just surrender!
Qiao Yan hadn’t yet ordered a third bolt to be fired when they saw the drawbridge over the moat being lowered, and the gates of Zhang County opening before her.
Then, the defending soldiers exited the gates in an orderly fashion.
These men removed their armor and weapons, executing a perfectly adequate surrender.
Qiao Yan waved her hand, signaling the troops to step back from the bed crossbows.
With no losses and capturing Zhang County, she had truly set a great precedent for entering Longxi County!
This couldn’t help but bring a smile to her face.
“Your Lord’s first strike was indeed formidable,” Xun You remarked as he rode into the city.
Qiao Yan responded, “It’s thanks to Strategist Xun’s insight that, given the situation in Longxi County, the defenders of Zhang County would never remain solely focused on their own defense, fearing we might take another route.”
Pang De was indeed a prominent figure among the Liangzhou generals, but when Qiao Yan was launching an attack against Ma Teng and Han Sui, needing to establish both reputation and deterrence, whether he would grow into a fearless and exceptional warrior in her assessment had become less significant.
What mattered was the effectiveness his death could bring.
She exchanged smiles with Xun You, instinctively reflecting that having a strategist who could analyze the situation and judge the enemy’s movements between battles, coupled with advancements in weaponry, would yield results far beyond simple addition.
Even if that bed crossbow was still just a half-finished product.
Yes, a half-finished product.
The one thousand two hundred paces shooting range of the bed crossbow, made from Han Dynasty heavy crossbow materials, inevitably faced challenges such as requiring many operators and significant vibrations in the crossbow mechanism.
Equipping the bed crossbow with a sight wasn’t an easy feat.
Ma Jun and Ma Lun had been considering this for quite some time, and all they had managed to produce was this one crossbow; the others remained as they were, merely for show.
And even with sights installed, achieving accurate hits still wasn’t straightforward.
It was similar to gunners at sea bombarding enemy ships; only experienced hands could hit critical parts.
Ever since this more precisely calibrated bed crossbow with a sight was developed, the seven soldiers trained with it had consistently focused on how to accurately hit the enemy.
Today marked over six months of training, and they had finally launched two arrows in their first real engagement.
But these two arrows were more than enough!
Unless Qiao Yan said otherwise, no one was going to specifically ask how many bed crossbows, capable of becoming game-changers against the enemy, they actually had.
Having completed its task of killing Pang De today, might it exhibit its prowess at other times as well?
No matter how fierce the warriors of Liangzhou were, they had to fight within the range of bows and arrows or up close to show these traits.
Before the looming threat of the heavy crossbows, they inevitably felt a primal fear.
The rapid charge of the cavalry would effectively reduce its accuracy.
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“But who can say if today Qiao Yan will employ this aggressive tactic, or if she’ll whip out another surprise tomorrow?”
She glanced at the corpse of Pang De that was being carried by the soldiers and said, “Let’s give him a proper burial.”
Most men from the borderlands took up official positions in the counties when they were young, and Pang De was no exception, just like Zhang Liao and Zhang Yang.
He was still just a young man in his early twenties.
But once he chose to side with Ma Teng, he had already become her enemy.
How to deal with enemies—
The initiative had to be in her hands!
But I can’t help but wonder how Ma Teng is reacting right now…
Little did Ma Teng know that Qiao Yan’s sudden military action wasn’t aimed at Han Sui, to whom she had declared war!
There was bad blood between Han Sui and Fu Gan, and in the minds of the people of Liangzhou, Qiao Yan sending Fu Gan was clearly about settling accounts.
On the surface, Ma Teng expressed camaraderie with Han Sui, but once he returned to his territory in Longxi, he couldn’t help but think he might just sit back and watch as Han Sui had his fun.
If Han Sui could leverage the terrain of Kuiyuan Gorge to exhaust Qiao Yan’s forces just like he had against Sun Jian and Zhou Shen years ago, wouldn’t that give him an opportunity to swoop in and profit?
Who would have guessed that while news of Qiao Yan charging straight towards Jincheng hadn’t reached him, he’d already heard about her attacking Zhang County?
Ma Teng’s hand instinctively slipped, sending his wine cup crashing to the ground.
Whether Han Sui might lose his head over that earlier joke remained uncertain, but Ma Teng had to prepare to contend with the Bingzhou army!
Facing off against an army that could capture Gaoping City in a single night and silently reach Longxi!
He grabbed the messenger by the collar and demanded, “What did Ling Ming say? How many men does he need for support?”
Pang De’s command ability was among the top under Ma Teng, and before he even had a proper face-off with Qiao Yan, he felt quite confident in Pang De’s judgment.
But he quickly realized his actions were too aggressive and pulled his hand back.
The messenger replied, “According to the intel from General Pang, Qiao’s Bingzhou forces are around 13,000 strong, with over 3,000 cavalry. The detailed strengths will be reported soon. General, please send men to guard Weiyuan to prevent them from splitting their forces and launching an attack.”
“Right, we need to be cautious…” Ma Teng pondered, “Get Mengqi over here!”
This year, Ma Chao was already 15 and known for his bravery, so if they were to split forces, he’d surely be the top candidate.
But before Ma Chao could arrive, the second batch of messengers from Zhang County had already arrived.
Seeing their distraught faces, still shaken, Ma Teng had a bad feeling even before they spoke.
Before he could inquire about what had happened, one of them trembled and replied, “General Pang… General Pang was killed by Qiao Yan. A crossbow bolt came flying from 1,200 paces away and struck him down on the spot.”
In the most extreme cases, heavy arrows from a heavy crossbow could reach a length of two meters, but the kind Qiao Yan used for speed was only about one meter long.
But the devastation caused by this kind of projectile was worlds apart from that of ordinary arrows.
Ma Teng could hear the peculiarities of this weapon in how Pang De met his end.
He instinctively took a step back, falling back onto his previous seat, his face showing a hint of helplessness.
The messenger’s panic was genuine; nobody would joke about something like this.
Even though Ma Teng felt the decisive choices he made to rise to this position aligned with a formidable leader’s spirit, he couldn’t help but be overcome with confusion.
Qiao Yan’s sudden arrival and Pang De’s unexpected death!
This left Ma Teng with no time to mourn for his right-hand man before having to worry about his own head.
1,200 paces! What does that even mean?
Finally remembering something else, he asked, “What about Zhang County?”
The messenger replied, “Before I left, the soldiers had closed the gates and were defending the city. The defenses of Zhang County might not have been breached yet. If the general can hurry, we might still save it.”
But before he could finish, someone interrupted, “No! Zhang County must have already fallen.”
Ma Teng turned towards the voice, asking, “Mengqi, why do you say that?”
The newcomer had an impressive appearance, still a youth but exuding an air of authority. Meeting Ma Teng’s gaze, he replied resolutely, “Since Qiao Yan could use such a heavy crossbow to kill Ling Ming, she must also be capable of crushing the morale of the defenders in Zhang County. If Ling Ming were still alive, perhaps the county could hold out until our father’s reinforcements arrive; but with Ling Ming gone, there’s no one left to stop Qiao Yan. Given the situation, it’s better to prioritize our own safety!”
The one speaking was none other than Ma Chao!
Ma Chao’s suggestion of self-preservation laid bare the thoughts of Liangzhou people.
Ma Teng wasn’t unaware of this logic, but if Zhang County fell, the Bingzhou army would charge through uncontested.
If they could traverse Hanyang, they would have resolved the local Qiang troubles and established a clear path of movement from Gaoping to Hanyang.
This didn’t mean she was simply probing into Liangzhou but rather coming in with a definitive elite force.
Now, he had two choices:
Hold out at Lintao.
But given Qiao Yan’s progress in reclaiming territory around Gaoping, if Ma Teng stayed holed up in the city, she likely wouldn’t withdraw due to supply issues after two months of siege. Instead, she would devour Longxi County until only Lintao remained.
Or he could directly go seek refuge with Han Sui.
Uniting forces there would mean guarding the Tao River flowing into Jincheng while also holding Kuiyuan Gorge, perhaps ensuring his own survival.
But this meant he’d be under someone else’s roof, possibly being forced all the way to Huangzhong to escape Liangzhou.
In the face of Qiao Yan’s powerful advance, both choices felt like a joke.
Ma Chao could tell his father’s tone was utterly wavering when he laid out these options.
He asked, “Based on your thoughts, which one should we pick?”
“Choose neither!” Ma Chao replied.
Under Ma Teng’s questioning gaze, he continued, “My father’s relationship with Han Sui needs no elaboration; if we find ourselves with nowhere else to turn, what good can it bring us?”
Though Ma Teng didn’t answer, his silence spoke volumes about his stance.
It was likely that they wouldn’t join forces but would instead get gobbled up by Han Sui.
Just like how he had earlier done to Bian Zhang and Beigong Boyu.
Ma Chao then asked, “How much enmity do you hold against Qiao Yan?”
None.
Ma Teng could confidently reply.
When Fu Xie died, he had only just been forced to turn to the bandits in the chaos within Geng Bi’s camp; it had nothing to do with him.
He tentatively inquired, “Do you mean we should go straight to Qiao Yan?”
“No! We can’t go directly!” Ma Chao’s youthful arrogance was evident in this statement. “Since she’s heading to Lintao, there’s still some distance. Please, father, give me 2,000 cavalry. I want to intercept her along the way!”
