Five thousand Shu soldiers marched with their heads down.
Ma Su looked at the two generals who were rushing to the forefront and had extremely high morale, and he grinned with relief.
It is better to send a general than to invite a general, and to invite a general is worse than to motivate a general.
Zhuge Da, I understand.
I understand your method of using Wei Yan!
It really works!
"General..." Xu Shen, the captain of the personal guard, looked at Li Sheng and Zhang Xiu in front of him; then at Ma Su, who was smiling. He hesitated to speak, but at the same time, he suddenly became alert.
Our army is deep behind enemy lines and is about to face a near-death battle.
At such a critical moment, in such a severe situation, General Ma smiled so strangely...
Don’t you already have your heart set on Wei? Now you are going to lead everyone to throw yourself into a trap and use these five thousand Shu soldiers as a qualification for advancement?!!
Xu Shen quickly shook his head to get rid of this terrible thought.
Even though he was from Guanzhong, and even though he was the captain of Ma Su's bodyguard, he still had respect and admiration for the latter after the two battles in Jieting...
But he is Prime Minister Zhuge's man.
He was also loyal to Shu Han until death, and his loyalty can be seen in the sun and the moon.
Back then, all his tribesmen and family members died in the war between Ma Chao and Cao Cao for hegemony in Guanzhong. To be precise, they all died under the iron hoof of Cao Jun.
In order to survive, his mother was forced to take his young son across the Qinling Mountains, fled to Hanzhong, and fled to a foreign land.
On the way, the mother and son were stared at and followed by a small group of wild wolves.
In order to protect him, his mother's arm was bitten off by a wolf and she almost died in the mountains.
Even so, his mother still endured the pain of a broken arm and stood firmly in front of the young boy, screaming loudly to prevent the wolves from approaching.
He was only six years old at the time, and at this life-or-death moment, he was as weak as an ant.
There is no other option but to wait for death.
At the critical moment, a group of soldiers exploring the terrain rescued them. A kind-hearted Confucian scholar enthusiastically bandaged the mother to stop the bleeding, brought dry food and water, and sent soldiers to escort the mother and son to Yangping Pass before leaving.
Xu Shen will never forget the way the Confucian scholar wore a turban on his head and held a feather fan in his hand in the winter.
Personable and gentle.
At that time, when he was young, he secretly vowed that one day, he would repay his life-savior - although he did not know the name of his life-savior.
I will definitely meet him in the future, I will definitely... so the young Xu Shen thought, and settled in Hanzhong with his mother, relying on the relief provided by the Five Pecks of Rice Sect's "Yishe" to survive.
Just a few years after the peaceful days, his mother died of an injury, and Liu Bei and Cao Cao began to compete for the ownership of Hanzhong.
Xu Shen was twelve years old at this time.
He hid in the mountains and did not leave Hanzhong with Cao Cao's migrating people to Guanzhong.
He didn't want to return to his sad hometown, and he didn't want to become a citizen under Cao Wei's rule. He hated Cao Wei so much.
He stayed and changed from the Hanzhong people under Cao Wei's rule to the Hanzhong people under Liu Han's rule.
Although the monarchs he belonged to changed again and again among Ma Chao, Cao Cao, Zhang Lu, Cao Cao, and Liu Bei, Xu Shen's desire to find his savior remained as firm as before. He buried that kindness deep in his heart, longing for his own happiness
Let's grow up, find that person, and repay the favor.
Seven or eight years passed in a flash.
Xu Shen finally met the man who never let go of his hand.
At the same time, he also learned the name of the man. His surname was Zhuge, his given name was Liang, and his position was Prime Minister of the Shu Han Dynasty.
The prime minister went north to Hanzhong to recruit troops to attack Wei.
In the beginning, Xu Shen was just a new recruit under Wei Yan. It didn't take long for him to be selected into the ranks of soldiers because of his excellent physical fitness, and was personally led and trained by Prime Minister Zhuge.
Xu Shen gained the respect of Prime Minister Zhuge in a very short period of time. At the same time, he was impressed by the latter's demeanor and became the prime minister's confidant.
In this Jieting battle, Xu Shen came to serve as the captain of Ma Su's personal guard with the Prime Minister's request.
There are two instructions in total from the Prime Minister.
One is to protect Ma Su, and the other is to "protect" Ma Su.
The first is to protect Ma Su from any external harm, and the second is to protect Shu Han from harm from Ma Su.
At this stage, in the entire Shu Han army, except for Wei Yan, the personal guard captains of all other generals were arranged by Prime Minister Zhuge.
This is the practice of the Shu army.
This is also one of the reasons why Prime Minister Zhuge can deeply control the army.
Xu Shen was very happy.
In fact, strictly speaking, even Wei Yan, the prime minister, had backup options.
Late one night a few months ago, Xu Shen saw with his own eyes Ma Dai quietly entering the prime minister's tent, and the prime minister talked with him for a long, long time.
Ma Dai was Wei Yan's general.
…
With his thoughts turning around, Xu Shen looked directly into Ma Su's eyes and asked the most worrying question in his heart.
"General, you won't betray the Prime Minister, will you?"
Although Xu Shen did not understand military aircraft, he was not a fool. Previously, Ma Di's military order inciting soldiers to sneak attack Chang'an and even Chencang was contrary to the prime minister's deployment.
The prime minister's military order was: After completing the defensive mission, all Jieting troops should withdraw to Hanzhong.
There is no such thing as a surprise attack behind enemy lines.
It can be said that when Ma Su issued the military order to "attack Chang'an", he had already violated the prime minister's intention.
According to the Prime Minister's instructions, Xu Shen actually had the right to respond.
But he endured it.
After seeing the military prowess displayed in the two battles at Matsu Street Pavilion, Xu Shen decided to wait and see.
When Ma Di just changed the military order of "sneak attack on Chang'an" to "sneak attack on Chencang".
Xu Shen held back again.
He believed that General Ma Su really wanted to attack Chencang secretly, instead of leading his army to surrender to Wei.
If he really wanted to vote for Wei, he could do so at the street pavilion. There was no need to travel more than a thousand miles.
However, after seeing Ma Su's "weird" smile, Xu Shen became uneasy.
He chose to ask directly.
Ma Su was stunned by this extremely sudden question. He paused and asked in surprise: "What do you mean by this?"
Xu Shen didn't know how to answer for a moment. He shouldn't have asked such a question about something without evidence.
But he is a man from Guanzhong, with a straightforward and transparent personality. He can hide hatred and kindness in his heart, but he cannot hide doubts.
So Xu Shen felt a little embarrassed at this moment and could only hint hesitantly:
"General, the Prime Minister treats you well."
Ma Su suddenly reacted and looked at Xu Shen in surprise: "Do you suspect this general of treason?"
"I...I...I didn't!" Xu Shen looked unnatural, and the hand holding the sword was so nervous that it trembled slightly.
Ma Su wanted to get angry on the spot and scold Xu Shen. But somehow his mind changed and he laughed silently. Looking at Xu Shen's young but resolute face, he patted the latter's broad shoulder and gave him a bite.
Reassurance:
"Don't worry, even if there are only two people left in Shu Han, I will not betray the Prime Minister."
That's good... Xu Shen breathed a sigh of relief, quickly changed the topic, and reminded:
"General, this place is not far from Chencang, about less than a hundred miles."
Ma Di nodded, raised his hand to stop the army from moving, and ordered the soldiers to take out some of the "secret weapons" they were carrying and replace them one by one.
As for the remaining "secret weapons", they have other great uses.
Xu Shen knew these "secret weapons" and knew that relying on them, he might be able to easily capture Chen Cang.
Ma Su had already explained this information to him, Li Sheng and Zhang Xiu before.
Everyone agreed.
But at this moment, seeing everyone put on secret weapons and looking at Ma Su in Wei-style equipment in front of him, Xu Shen couldn't help but think more.
The five thousand Shu soldiers were transformed into five thousand Wei soldiers.
Ma Di, the general of Shu, suddenly changed into Ma Di, the general of Wei.
Yes, these "secret weapons" are the 20,000 sets of armor, clothing, and some military flags scattered by the Wei army in the street pavilions.
These things can be described as weapons in sneak attacks!
Xu Shen tightened the hilt of the knife and followed Ma Su closely, never leaving.
After changing their equipment, the five thousand Shu army...oh no, the five thousand Wei army continued to march towards Chencang.
During the march, Ma Su always felt a little chilly on his back. When he looked back, everything behind him was as usual, and the guard captain Xu Shen looked around.
When I turned around, my neck felt a little chilly.
Ma Su suddenly panicked.
He simply stopped again, stared at Xu Shen suspiciously, and emphasized:
"You have to believe in me, general, and never betray a traitor!"
"If you don't believe it, I can swear to heaven!"
Xu Shen nodded and looked straight over, as if he was waiting for an oath.
Ma Su had no choice but to raise his hands, pointed three fingers to the sky, and swore a super, super vicious oath.
It can be summed up in one sentence: Those who betray the Han will not die well!
After swearing the oath, Ma Su was almost too ashamed to find a crack in the ground and crawled in.
Fortunately, this oath works very well.
The cold feeling hanging around my back disappeared.