“Can a strategist really not ascend to the throne?”
Chapter 158: Face Off in the Saddle
Ma Chao, feeling all cocky due to his skills in Liangzhou with bow and horse, thought it wouldn’t be too hard to intercept Qiao Yan midway.
If he could win, they might have some wiggle room in Longxi County; if not, he’d still have to come out smelling like a winner, or at least a fighting loser.
He couldn’t trust Han Sui from the north at all.
Just like what he told Ma Teng, Han Sui had a record of betrayal.
Baizhang, who joined the Liangzhou rebel forces with Han Sui, ended up as collateral damage in their power struggles.
Because of this, if they were equally matched with Han Sui and shared a common enemy, they could collaborate. But in a desperate situation, he couldn’t rely on Han Sui.
With Bingzhou’s leader so ruthlessly pursuing Liangzhou’s threat and revealing such terrifying heavy crossbows, if the enemy truly breached the city gates, they wouldn’t last long. Rather than siding with Han Sui, switching sides to the opposition seemed better.
But despite Ma Chao being young, his ambitions were sky-high.
That Qiao Hou, who was a count at eleven and a provincial governor at fourteen, had been the only one to send the Qiang people fleeing into the mountains since the campaign began. No one had managed to block her way.
She had slaughtered Pang De without batting an eye, so what position would he and his father get if they surrendered before she could take action?
At the very least, he needed to secure a position as one of the commanders under the Bingzhou governor to honor his father… no, his own prowess!
Ma Teng understood his son’s fighting capabilities and, after a moment’s hesitation, decided to go along with his plan.
Let Ma Chao give it a shot; even if it didn’t work out, they could explain it away as Ma Chao’s defiance towards Qiao Yan, a little rebellious stunt.
Anyone who could read between the lines of their thoughts might just sigh and think, “Ah, the classic dysfunctional father-son bond!”
Of course, on the surface, Ma Teng’s soldiers saw him personally outfitting Ma Chao and sending him off with instructions: “If things turn sour, pull back quickly; preserving your life is the priority.”
Ma Chao accepted his orders and mounted his horse, leading the troops away.
After scouts reported Qiao Yan’s movements, he led his men into the forest.
The terrain in Liangzhou and Bingzhou was mostly the same, and the rivers snaked through with mountains on either side, just like the Tao River.
But Liangzhou was cooler than Bingzhou; even in summer, the temperature there was about half of what it was in Bingzhou. Not to mention the current weather was particularly chilly.
No surprise really; as he led his troops to ambush, beyond that ridge was the Gannan mountainous region sitting at an altitude of over a kilometer, with some snow still visible in the clouds above.
This was also the source of the Tao River.
Regardless, even during the Han Dynasty’s heyday, they failed to annex that high terrain.
Theoretically, those areas no longer belonged to Liangzhou and were home to aggressive and robust Qiang tribes like the Canlangqiang and White Horse Qiang, who thrived in high-altitude environments. If conditions were poor for grazing, they’d invade Wudu or raid Longxi County along the Tao River.
Since Ma Teng stationed troops in Longxi County, Ma Chao had fought them plenty of times.
Thanks to those victories against the Qiang, Ma Chao believed he understood just how good his horsemanship was.
Sure, the Bingzhou army were fierce, but had they truly fought in this kind of terrain for long?
While lost in thought, he maneuvered his horse along the mountain path.
Liangzhou’s grassland horses were famed all across the land, and naturally, the horses used by Ma Teng and Ma Chao were top-notch; they glided through the forest with ease.
Upon hearing some movement ahead, Ma Chao quickly reined in his horse, seeing scouts dart out from the bushes, he asked, “What’s going on up ahead?”
The scout responded, “They’ve passed Longsang City.”
Estimating the distance, Ma Chao figured they weren’t too far off and instantly got pumped.
Due to the harsh conditions at the border, coupled with a poverty-stricken populace, in Longxi County, soldiers outnumbered civilians.
Spreading their forces would bear no significance, hence Longsang City had no stationed troops—it was practically a ghost town.
This might give the enemy the signal that they’d abandoned their defenses, allowing him a chance to strike.
He gestured to his men to climb higher along the mountain to avoid detection by the Bingzhou forces.
The chill in the air made it feel like he was riding on a layer of frost, but his armor kept the cold from biting too hard.
The prospect of facing the Bingzhou army instead of the Qiang, who usually wielded wooden shields and bamboo swords, set Ma Chao’s blood on fire.
Once at a chosen ambush spot, he hopped off his horse and moved a bit further down to ensure their concealment, then returned to their hiding place.
Confirming that from this slope, they could make a swift charge down, he finally settled in.
But after all that, two whole hours passed before the Bingzhou army finally showed up.
Hearing their marching sounds from afar, Ma Chao couldn’t help but grumble, “They’re moving so slow.”
However, considering their ranks included more than just cavalry, calling them slow was probably a bit unfair, so he kept his mouth shut.
His eyes scanned the gaps in the trees, rapidly searching for his target for this attack.
From his elevated position, he could only see a long black line approaching but not much more than that.
Luckily, the clear weather helped him quickly spot a flash of a distinctive color.
That was a striking, fiery red steed!
Recognizing horses wasn’t hard, and he had quite the eye!
Even though he could only see the horse’s head, it was striking enough to determine it was a real beauty among the Liangzhou horses.
He muttered, “Triangular head, tall stature, well-built—this is a top-tier horse! The one riding it must be the Bingzhou governor.”
For Ma Chao, to make a name for himself, he had to confront the most powerful person!
If he wanted to turn the tide, he had to capture the leader first!
Based on either of those thoughts, he should pursue the Bingzhou governor.
And as for how to find her—
He figured his logic was spot-on.
Just like the horses he and his father had ridden—the finest captured from the battlefield—Qiao Yan, the Bingzhou governor, would definitely be riding the best, making perfect sense.
Looking around, the soldiers had stepped back a bit, allowing their leader some room to move. This confirmed to Ma Chao that the person he spotted must be in charge.
As Ma Chao eagerly gripped his long spear, a soldier nearby chimed in, “General Shao, don’t you think that figure looks… a bit on the taller side?”
Sure, armor can obscure gender, but the target Ma Chao was eyeing was taller than the rest, not just because of the imposing mount.
“What’s the problem with that?” Ma Chao retorted, “Qiao Yan could pacify two provinces by age ten, so she must’ve been tall and strong even back then. She can hold her own in Bingzhou and crush the border tribes; you bet she can stand up to those Hu people as well. I heard she also burned the Qiang in Liangzhou to ashes recently; she’s pretty fearsome.”
The more he spoke, the more convinced he became of his solid reasoning.
What’s wrong with being a bit taller?
Thinking about it, that same governor was capable enough to breach Luoyang, shooting arrows at Dong Zhuo—when Ma Chao imagined it, it was like two Dong Zhuos squaring off in an arena.
Seeing the “Qiao of Bingzhou” approaching the ambush location, he quickly signaled to his men for silence.
“Alright, no more chatter. Once we spring into action, only the cavalry with me will charge ahead; the rest will start shooting arrows to create an opening for us.”
As the moment to strike drew near, the battle fervor swelling within him made Ma Chao even more cautious, watching every move from the enemy.
To him, the Bingzhou army’s ability to capture Gaoping City was definitely not just due to a sudden attack.
Right now, the summer sun glinted off their chain mail, dazzling him, and the light tumbled over that rare red steed, resembling a fiery cloud.
This made it hard for Ma Chao not to feel like he’d already lost the first round in terms of gear.
Luckily, with the enemy blind to his movements, and him having the high ground, he didn’t feel too defeated!
Trusting his instincts as a warrior, he issued the command to attack right when the moment was ripe.
His experience maneuvering in mountainous battles allowed the soldiers to rapidly respond to his orders.
Some Liangzhou soldiers drew their bows and aimed downward, while others expertly charged down the mountainside, all in perfectly coordinated harmony.
But what he didn’t know was that among the marching ranks below, the first group of soldiers was hidden inside a specially designed cart resembling a supply wagon, using binoculars to survey the mountainside.
To him, what he thought was subtle movement was, to them, a blatant signal, which they promptly reported to Qiao Yan.
With Qiao Yan’s orders relayed through her troops, they snapped into alert and defensive mode.
This was far from what Ma Chao assumed was a defenseless position!
And so he failed to notice that soldiers clad in strong armor had already positioned themselves alongside the shield soldiers, alternating as part of the whole formation to ensure a solid defense.
Of course, in today’s productivity level, shields wouldn’t be enough to cover the whole army at once.
Thus, Dian Wei, leading the heavy armored soldiers, and Lü Bu, commanding the cavalry, were both ready to charge straight up into the enemy’s ambush at any moment.
But Qiao Yan also had her surprises waiting.
“Charge!”
At Qiao Yan’s command, the attack was launched, and to everyone’s surprise, the enemy rushed down the hill all on their own.
Guess who they were aiming for? Lü Bu!
The little general in silver armor and wielding a silver spear looked extremely impressive as he galloped forward, looking all fired up while arrows rained down from above.
Even though the first wave of arrows didn’t quite achieve the desired effect, getting mostly blocked by shields and armor, and the enemy formation remained largely intact, his grip on the long spear was surprisingly steady, forming a spearhead with the cavalry behind him to break through the formations.
But still, one fact remained unchangeable: he had seriously picked the wrong opponent.
“What was he thinking?” Qiao Yan couldn’t help but rub her forehead and asked Xun You, who stood nearby.
Based on intel they gathered from Ma Teng’s subordinate who defected from Zhang County, Xun You agreed with Qiao Yan’s judgment about the two parties—
The chances of them holding on to their defenses were slim to none.
Even without Ma Chao’s recent confidence boost from dealing with the wolf Qiang, and given Ma Teng’s rise from the Liang Province rebels, he wouldn’t just sit idly.
As they approached Lintao, the risk of enemy attacks only increased!
So, this elongated convoy moving through the river valley might look easy to scatter, but in reality, it was anything but.
She wasn’t just guarding against arrows from the forest; she also had to consider the cavalry, which the Liang Province troops specialized in.
Duang Jiao had previously provided strategies to deal with the Liang Province cavalry, particularly the Qiang cavalry.
Shields and spears at the front, crossbows and bows at the back; using spears to halt charging horses and high-arching shots to inflict damage on them was the best defensive line.
The convoy along the bank of the Tiao River was exactly in this formation.
Qiao Yan even contemplated her own safety.
Lengthening the marching column would naturally weaken the protection around her, so if it weren’t for her high combat skills, she wouldn’t dare charge headlong into the Liang Province heartland like this.
If Ma Chao truly planned an ambush on the way, she had to be extra cautious.
For that, she even outfitted her horse, Zhutaan, with armor and armed herself from head to toe.
Xun You was also tightly secured by her side, to guard against any unexpected engagements.
But then again, Ma Chao was quite an intriguing character…
He charged straight at Lü Bu, the strongest warrior here!
Xun You calmly replied, “He might be scared of leaving the Junhou’s troops with too many casualties and getting on the Junhou’s bad side.”
“…” Qiao Yan found it hard not to suspect that Xun You had caught the cynical spirit that seemed to be infecting Leping.
But then again, their opponents were the ones being mocked, so there was no reason to feel sorry for them.
This was Lü Bu in his prime!
Whatever you say about war spirit, Lü Bu had that in spades.
Even during the siege of Gaoping City, he had tossed himself into battle first, yet he still felt unsatisfied and rather miffed at how the battle against Ayang had turned into a bloodless affair.
He had no choice but to wait for an opportunity to contribute when capturing Ma Teng and Han Sui came up.
Luckily, once the Liang Province was secured, they could move on to attack Chang’an.
Letting Dong Zhuo get away during the last battle in Luoyang had already left Lü Bu frustrated, and he was itching for action now.
As for his gear, let’s not get started.
His full set of chain mail, including the helmet to ward off stray arrows, had been completely remade before this campaign into the Liang Province.
Even his Fangtian Huaji had been freshly sharpened.
And at this moment, because he had slain the Qiang chieftain during the siege of Gaoping City, Qiao Yan had even permitted him to ride his prized horse, Chitu, for the battle.
Lü Bu was practically glowing with pride over the last part.
So when Qiao Yan armored her Zhutaan for protection against hidden arrows, he strutted like he was the star of the show.
According to him, even if there were hidden arrows, he would just clear the way with his weapon first.
Now that Ma Chao had picked him as his target, he was running headfirst into the toughest wall imaginable.
Ma Chao wasn’t exactly dimwitted, though—when he reached Lü Bu and felt his Fangtian Huaji cut violently through the barrage of arrows, he quickly realized he had miscalculated.
The arguments he used to convince his subordinates earlier obviously fell apart during this most direct clash.
But realizing it at this point was just a tad too late.
Riding Chitu, Lü Bu really deserved the title of the greatest warrior of the age.
As Ma Chao’s long spear thrust met Lü Bu’s raised halberd, the spear tip got cleverly caught on the halberd’s prongs.
With Ma Chao’s robust strength, the clash nearly caused his long spear to slip out of his grasp.
He quickly steadied himself, tightened his grip, and attempted to regain some control.
But Lü Bu might not be a master at strategy, yet he possessed a natural talent in such melee exchanges that few could match.
While his peripheral vision caught Qiao Yan signaling him to capture rather than kill, his halberd immediately switched to a constraining position.
This complete shift in his weapon’s motion relied on the fact that he was genuinely stronger than Ma Chao.
If Ma Chao attacked, he cleaved down to suppress.
If Ma Chao retreated, he controlled the fight to keep Ma Chao trapped!
Amidst the galloping horses and whirlwind of weapon clashes, Lü Bu maintained a calm confidence that showed he had the upper hand.
Meanwhile, Ma Chao was already sweating bullets.
Fortune favored him, though; he wasn’t too slow on his feet either.
Most average warriors would find themselves losing their weapons multiple times under such a swift onslaught from Lü Bu, but this young lad clung tightly to his long spear, searching for a chance to counterattack. Qiao Yan couldn’t help but commend him on his effort.
Warriors’ might was highly dependent on talent and state.
Ma Chao had talent in spades but was short on time.
He could see the distance between him and this opponent and cursed why there wasn’t some bored artist who could draw a clear portrait of Qiao Yan along with her troops and send it into Liang Province.
He also realized another fact—
With a fierce commander like Lü Bu blocking his way, not to mention the Bingzhou army closing in around him, escape was simply off the table!
If he wished to return safely to Lintao without getting slaughtered or captured in the most humiliating manner, he had only one road left to take.
A glimmer of resolution flashed in his eyes.
Qiao Yan herself also wielded a spear, and it was clear to her the potential Ma Chao displayed in that moment of crisis.
Amidst the difficult exchange between him and Lü Bu, his silver spear almost seemed to leave an afterimage with its sharp thrusts. Seizing this moment of focused attack, he suddenly turned his horse to dash diagonally, heading straight for the Tiao River to escape.
This was the only place that still offered him a glimmer of hope.
Into the water!
Fortunately for him, the duel against Lü Bu and Qiao Yan’s order to capture rather than kill meant he hadn’t also had to duck flying arrows at the same time.
He raised his long spear and stabbed back at Lü Bu in pursuit.
But it was more of a wild flail than a proper stab.
That sweeping strike was launched almost as if he was desperate to complete his goal of delaying Lü Bu for a brief moment.
Just around the same time, Ma Chao used his left hand to draw the dagger from his waist, thrusting it into his horse’s flank, spurring it into the deeper waters.
Yet Lü Bu was sharp as a whip and clearly saw Ma Chao’s little game.
The fierce Chitu wouldn’t let any horse run ahead of it.
As Ma Chao’s long spear suddenly missed, before he could leap into the water, a sudden heavy blow landed squarely on him, sending him crashing toward the riverbank.
He went into the water, alright, but it was more that someone pinned him down beneath the surface.
As the Fangtian Huaji rested on his neck, soldiers on the bank quickly rushed over with ropes to bind him securely.
It was over.
Ma Chao lamented inwardly.
Riding Chitu, Lü Bu approached, pulling the freshly fished-out Ma Chao along, finally stopping right in front of Qiao Yan.
Though Lü Bu fought like a wild stallion, he didn’t dare to act recklessly in front of Qiao Yan; he dismounted and bowed in salute, signaling he had completed his task.
“Pang Xian and Chitu really complement each other well,” Qiao Yan praised, “Make sure no one races ahead of you to take down that old thief Dong Zhuo.”
Lü Bu’s eyes lit up at the implication of her words, and he declared loudly, “Rest assured, Junhou, I will make sure no one gets that chance.”
“……” Ma Chao watched this conversation that had nothing to do with him and found himself questioning his existence.
The mighty tiger who had been so bold just a moment ago now seemed more like a lapdog in front of the Bingzhou governor.
Yet how ridiculous was this whole situation!
Here he was, captured and yet they were talking about Dong Zhuo—it was utterly absurd.
Fortunately, Qiao Yan’s gaze soon shifted from Lü Bu to him.
But whether it was his imagination or not, it would probably be more fitting to say she was gazing directly at his face.
To Qiao Yan, he had a face that perfectly suited the name “Jin Ma Chao.”
On this still-developing youthful visage, the traits of both Han and Qiang peoples showed prominently, along with a hint of beauty in his striking features.
Unfortunately, he was just dragged out of the Tiao River, his wet hair sticking to his side of the face, combined with a stubborn expression that anyone getting a beating would wear—it looked comical in every sense.
Qiao Yan couldn’t help but laugh aloud. “The former general’s son certainly has a unique way of greeting this lord.”
Ma Chao’s face stiffened.
This composed tone from the Bingzhou governor, combined with what he had sworn to his subordinates earlier, made him feel like he was about to pass out from embarrassment.
Yet Qiao Yan was in no mood to cater to Ma Chao’s feelings at that moment. She continued with a grin, “I originally thought that the Liang Province’s harsh terrain wouldn’t allow that Liang Province rebel to bring any sort of gift, but behold—”
“This gift has just been personally delivered to me!”
