Green warhorses roared, ten thousand riders surged like storm clouds, and across a thousand li of Pingyang the dust of the Hu rolled in choking waves.
Han soldiers sang long songs, their spirit piercing the heavens. Upon the walls of Xiangling, Han banners snapped and fluttered in the wind.
"I heard Dexin praise Gongheng's talent many times before. I never quite believed him."
On the walls of Pingyang, Ma Chao rested one hand on the battlements, gazing north toward Xiangling, Gaoliangyi, and Yang County, three strongholds whose banners had already changed hands. He threw back his head and laughed.
"Only now do I see the truth. What Dexin said did not amount to even one tenth of the reality."
Standing beside him, Huang Quan only smiled at the praise, though inwardly he was still somewhat astonished.
Back when Liu Zhang governed Yi Province, his feud with Zhang Lu of Hanzhong had been known to all. Even then, Liu Zhang had more than once considered allying with Ma Chao to drive one tiger against another.
Because of this, Zhang Lu had also tried repeatedly to win Ma Chao over, and Huang Quan had heard plenty of rumors about the famed general.
Aside from the fact that part of Ma Chao's blood came from the Qiang tribes, the stories most often repeated were that the so-called Brocade General was arrogant, disdainful of others, cold, and vicious in temperament.
So when Huang Quan, after long years of training troops across Yi Province and Guanzhong, heard that he would accompany Ma Chao on campaign as part of the northern army, his heart had skipped a beat.
But military orders were like mountains. There was no refusing them.
Fortunately, after marching together, Huang Quan's opinion of Ma Chao had changed greatly.
When they first entered Hedong, although they had thousands of fine cavalry and tens of thousands of troops, Ma Chao had ridden alone into the city and spoken amicably with the Hedong governor appointed by Cao. In the end, Hedong had fallen without a fight, and the governor had even promised to supply over a thousand laborers to support the army's logistics.
When Huang Quan later asked about it, Ma Chao made no attempt to claim credit. He simply said that this was General Guan's homeland, and the local people all revered the name of Guan Yunchang.
At Pingyang, the situation of one city supported by three surrounding strongholds had been troublesome. Huang Quan and Ma Zhong discussed it and decided the best plan was for Ma Chao to lead elite cavalry to cut the connection between Pingyang and the three forts, after which Huang Quan would lead infantry to break them one by one.
It had been the most reliable strategy, though Huang Quan himself had felt awkward proposing it, as if he were trying to seize merit. Yet Ma Chao had shown not the slightest displeasure and had readily agreed.
And now Pingyang Commandery had fallen.
Which meant the next step was…
"Drive east. Strike straight at Shangdang. Press toward Ye City and shake Cao to his core!"
Before Huang Quan could finish his own thoughts, Ma Chao had already shouted the objective aloud.
Yet Huang Quan saw clearly that even as he spoke, Ma Chao's gaze still stretched northward. He was not looking east at all.
Huang Quan knew why.
From Pingyang northward, the land opened into broad plains. Xihe, Taiyuan, Jiuyuan. Beyond that lay Yanmen Pass, and past it the steppe beyond the frontier. The whole route was the kingdom of cavalry.
Huang Quan had seen Ma Chao command horsemen in battle. To him, the man's might nearly rivaled that of General Zhao Zilong, who had once broken through ten thousand with only three hundred riders at Langzhong.
Yet there was a difference.
Zhao's cavalry was like a peerless blade, anything it touched collapsed, anything it struck shattered.
Ma Chao's Qiang riders moved differently. When they surged, thousands rode with tens of thousands, like wolves hunting in the wild. Huang Quan had even heard that when Ma Chao captured Cao's famed general Zhang He, he had pursued him relentlessly for nearly a full month.
For a commander like this, yearning to unleash cavalry might upon open plains and carve out glory was only natural.
"Shangdang will not be easy," Huang Quan said honestly.
During the Pingyang campaign, the northern army had never stopped sending scouts toward Shangdang, so by now they had a rough grasp of the situation there.
"The terrain is steep and twisted. Narrow goat-track paths everywhere. Marching through it is already difficult, let alone attacking it."
Ma Dai and Ma Zhong stood behind Ma Chao. Hearing this, Ma Dai immediately frowned.
"The men of Yong and Liang are brave. Even on foot, they lose none of their courage."
Before Huang Quan could answer, Ma Zhong shook his head.
"Cao must have fortified passes there. Assaulting uphill would cost us dearly. To strike with our weakness against his strength would not be wise."
"Dexin speaks sense!" Ma Dai switched sides smoothly.
"Then what do you think we should do?"
Ma Zhong shook his head slowly and said, word by word,
"I ask the General to lead the cavalry north."
North?
Ma Dai froze. Even Ma Chao, who had been silent until now, turned back, a trace of irritation on his face.
"Dexin. Who commands Shangdang?"
Ma Zhong recalled briefly, then answered without hesitation.
"The governor of Shangdang is Yang Dao. He has a reputation for virtue and enjoys strong support among the people."
"The son of Yang Xu, the famed incorruptible governor. Yes, I know of him."
Yang Xu's legend of hanging fish to refuse bribes had earned lasting renown, giving his clan enduring prestige.
Years ago, when Cai Yong fled political persecution, he had taken refuge with the Yang family at Mount Tai. At that time Yang Dao's wife had died, and Cai Yong had married his second daughter to him. That daughter was said to be named Cai Zhenji. Such alliances of great clans only strengthened their standing.
Ma Chao sighed. Shangdang suddenly seemed even more troublesome.
It reminded him of the words Zhuge Liang and Lord Xuande had spoken before he left Chang'an.
The northern army was meant as a supporting front. Taking Shangdang was not essential. What mattered was to raise a great clamor and make Ye City feel threatened.
Ma Chao understood the reasoning. The Qiang troops were fierce, but their strength lay in cavalry. Shangdang's complex terrain favored the defenders and worked against mounted forces. That was why such instructions had been given.
The objective itself was not difficult.
But Ma Chao was unwilling to settle for that.
People spoke of the Ma clan of Fufeng as descendants of General Fubo, and even his father had taken pride in that lineage. Ma Chao himself did not see it that way.
General Fubo had once been nothing more than a desperate wanderer, yet he had crossed many lands and ultimately forged achievements unmatched in his age.
Now the world was in chaos, a worthy lord had already emerged, and the mysterious light curtain had given them an opportunity unseen in a thousand years.
Why should he, Ma Chao, not surpass General Fubo?
A true man should die on the frontier, wrapped in horsehide for burial. Those words of the great general still rang in his ears. Now, standing on campaign against rebels, how could he seek only safety?
Besides, the fate shown in the light curtain, the ending of that other "Ma Chao," was something he could never accept.
The name of Jin Ma Chao should blaze through history beside his ancestor's, not fade away coughing blood on a sickbed.
So this time, Shangdang had to fall, no matter what.
"What else?" Ma Chao asked.
Ma Zhong's expression grew more intrigued.
"The troops in Shangdang are divided into two forces. One was assigned personally by Cao, led by a man named Bao Shao."
"The other is made up of surrendered Hebei troops. Their commander is someone the General knows very well…"
Before he could finish, Ma Chao had already guessed.
"Hebei's famed general, Gao Lan?"
As expected, Ma Zhong saw the Brocade General's fighting spirit surge.
"In the past, General Guan Yunchang slew Yan Liang and broke the siege of Baima. Wen Chou also fell."
"I once captured Zhang He alive and presented him to Lord Xuande. And now I meet Gao Lan."
"Could it be that the four great generals of Hebei will all fall to General Guan and me?"
Huang Quan scratched his head, unable to see how the connections had leapt that far.
But Ma Chao had already cast aside his earlier hesitation.
This Gao Lan, he would capture him for certain.
Ma Zhong, however, remained unmoved. The smile in his eyes only deepened.
"If that is so, then it becomes even more necessary for the General to ride north first."