Chapter 69: Liao Xi's Initial Stability

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  At the end of October, a series of battles that took place in Liaoxi, which had been calm for a long time, stirred up the entire Youzhou prefecture of the Great Han, especially having a great impact on the counties of Liaodong, Liaodong subordinate states, Liaoxi, Youbei Ping, Guyang, and Shanggu.

  Liaodong Commandery's Riding Colonel, Ma Xian, who was in charge of defending the White Wolf Castle, joined forces with the Suli tribe from western Liaoxi and launched a surprise attack on the old lair of Wudaihan King Wuyan, Pinggang, under the cover of night. They captured or killed over 5,000 people and plundered tens of thousands of cattle, horses, camels, and sheep. Wuyan escaped with less than 100 riders and temporarily took refuge in Dai Commandery, seeking protection under the wing of Liu Yu, the Governor of Youzhou. The city of Pinggang was occupied by Suli.

  On the same day, Tian Yu, the commander of White Wolf, led a thousand-strong army of cavalry and infantry to attack Wencheng, the territory of the able minister of Wudaihan. Just as the two sides were engaging in battle, a thousand Qiang horsemen suddenly emerged from behind the Wudaihan people and launched a pincer attack, defeating the able minister's forces. The able minister was killed in the chaos, and his troops' property was divided between Tian Yu and Mijia. Wencheng became Ma Xian's possession.

  Ma Hu's series of dazzling actions completely caught all the forces in Liaoning off guard. No one had expected that a newly emerging force, which had just settled down for less than two months and had only over a thousand men, could actually overthrow Wu Yan, an old warlord!

  Ma Xian's move severely damaged the interests of the three counties of Wudan, but as the alliance leader, Datou only sent a messenger to protest in front of Bailing City and did not take any practical action. There were many reasons for this: Firstly, the weather was not suitable for war, and Datou would not risk being blocked by heavy snow on the way to Bailing City; secondly, the military strength of Bailing City could not be underestimated, and there was also help from Liaoxi Xianbei; thirdly, Ma Xian's reputation and bravery were also daunting to Datou; lastly, and most importantly, Ma Xian's attack on Wudan was not a provocation, but a revenge. Who let you Wudan attack Hanjiazhuang first? On the grassland, there is no one who dares to say three or four, occupying the name of justice. Therefore, Datou's messenger did not even dare to condemn, and only protested.

  The Hu Wuwan Prefecture also received a written explanation from Tian Yu, although there was no response, and even rumors that they intended to be unfavorable to the White Wolf City. However, Ma Yuan's overbearing manner quietly subsided after a single strike on Pinggang. It wasn't until several months later that the new Hu Wuwan Prefect (history had changed, it was no longer Yan Rou taking office) and Youzhou Mu Liu Yu together dispatched a group of envoys to mediate the dispute between White Wolf City and Wuyan Department. Ma Yuan, who had already eaten his fill, naturally welcomed this development. As for Wuyan's strong demand to return Pinggang, he threw it to Su Li to worry about, and let Wuyan off the hook that day. Wasn't it just letting them tear each other apart in the future?

  The most satisfied one is Gongsun Du, the Taishou of Liaodong. This Ma Yuan is really a thorn in his side. No, simply put, he's a troublemaker. As soon as he was sent to Liaoxi, he stirred up a big mess. However, this mess was stirred up well, and anyway, it wasn't him who had to clean it up. He just kept stirring fiercely! Stirring until the Wuhuan people were in pain, that way they wouldn't dare to have any ideas about invading Liaodong.

  Ma Huan's thunderbolt move delighted his superiors, frightened his enemies, made his wicked neighbors retreat and brought benefits to his own family, achieving four gains with one move.

  When Ma Xian led the army to escort more than 2,000 prisoners and drive away the spoils of over 100,000 cattle, sheep and horses, they returned to Bailing Castle for only two days. The heavy snow fell from the sky, and overnight, the snow was thick and deep, and the mountain roads were closed. The shock brought by Ma Xian also froze due to the heavy snow, and everything temporarily came to a standstill.

  ……

  In the third year of Chuping (192 AD), at the end of the year, after a snowfall and the first clearing, the thick cloud layer rarely leaked out a few strands of sunlight. The snow had melted a lot, but the road surface was still covered with thin ice, and one leg slipped on it as soon as it stepped on it. It was even colder after the snow, and although the cold wind was not as sharp as before, like an icy knife cutting through the skin, the icy needles piercing the skin were just as unbearable.

  Just when everyone thought that Ma Feng would not come out, Ma Feng and Taishi Ci led a team of White Wolf Cavalry to the west coast of Liaodong Bay. This place is less than 100 miles away from Wencheng, if the snow melts, it will take half a day by horseback. Taishi Ci was originally following Ma Feng on an inspection tour of Wencheng, but unexpectedly, in this cold winter month, the city guard had such a good interest and ran over 100 miles to see the sea.

  But... where is the sea?

  All that can be seen is a vast expanse of whiteness, elegantly described as "silver armor and white wrapping", or more crudely put, it's like the white fur on a yellow dog, or the swelling on a white dog. The sea has also frozen over.

  The Liaodong Bay coastline, every December, will have sea ice, thick layers of ice, stretching for miles or even tens of miles. Especially on the west coast, it can be used as a battlefield, pulling out thousands of troops to fight a battle.

  Ma Xun's determination to take down Wen Cheng, apart from eliminating the threat and rebuilding the Liao West Iron Triangle, was mainly aimed at opening up a sea route.

  From Wencheng along the Fendagang River south for over 30 miles, then turning east again, less than 50 miles away is the western coast of Liaodong Bay. On the surface of the sea not far from the coastline, there is an archipelago with an area of more than ten square kilometers. Ma Feng's main purpose this time was to come and see this island. In the eyes of Taishi Ci, Tian Yu, and others, it was a small island that didn't matter much, but in Ma Feng's eyes, it was extremely important. He had to personally land on the island to investigate and understand thoroughly, so as to decide on the next plan. Because this island is the largest island in Liaodong Bay - Juehua Island.

  Qinghua Island, this is the name given to it by later generations. During the Three Kingdoms period, it was not called by this name. Ma Yun asked the local people and because there was a peach forest on the island, the locals called it Peach Blossom Island. Apart from birds and snakes, no one lived there. The distance between the island and the mainland is about 15 miles, if you ride a fast horse, you can get there in an instant. However, at this time when the sky is cold and the ground is frozen, if you tread on ice, it's best not to ride a horse, otherwise, it's easy to break its hooves.

  Ma Huai had already tied a circle of grass ropes around his boots, which could increase the friction and prevent slipping. In fact, according to Ma Huai's idea, if he were alone, he would rather whittle two pairs of skates and slide on the ice. This vast plain was naturally a ski resort! Fifteen miles away, it would take only a moment to arrive, no slower than galloping horses. Unfortunately, only he knew how to skate, while Taishi Ci and others had never seen such things before.

  Fifteen miles isn't far, but it's hard to walk on the ice. The strong sea wind blows like a whip, slapping against their faces. Even with Ma Han and others applying thick layers of oil to their hands and faces, wrapping themselves up like mummies, the cold wind still finds its way into every seam of their clothes, making them feel suffocated. As Taishi Ci would say, their faces aren't even their own anymore.

  It took a whole hour for the group to struggle ashore. At this time, the sky and earth were desolate, forget about peach blossoms, but there were some thorny locust trees, pine trees, mulberry trees, elm trees, etc., which were also withered at this season.

  As soon as he landed on the island, Ma Huan felt that the island was indeed very large, almost as big as ten White Wolf Cities. The island is shaped like a long calabaza, with two wide ends and a narrow middle, stretching from northeast to southwest, twelve miles long, and two to seven or eight miles wide from north to south. In the middle of the island, there is a small valley that divides it into two parts: east and west, with the east being larger than the west. The eastern part has rugged terrain, mostly consisting of cliffs and precipices, with a peak nearly 200 meters above sea level, which would later be known as Da Jia Mountain. The western part is a hilly region, with rocky reefs standing upright along the coast of Lingxi North Sea. Along the southern coast of Tunhai, there are towering rocks and dark reefs standing in rows.

  Ma Xun was more satisfied with the western part, where a hidden camp could be set up, and a harbor could be built on the beach. If they sailed south from here, they could enter Bohai Bay from Liaodong Bay, and land at Huang County in Laizhou Bay, which was Taishi Ci's hometown, avoiding You and Ji provinces, and reaching Qingzhou, deep into the Central Plains.

  Ma Mian narrowed his eyes. He couldn't be isolated from the Central Plains for a long time, like Gong Sun Du, who was isolated for too long and became a turtle, no longer having the heart to compete for the world, only shrinking in one corner of the map to indulge himself. In the end, he would still be cleaned up by the Sima family.

  It's not surprising that Gongsun Du didn't have the courage, this guy was blocked by two powerful men, Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao, from going south, unless you can defeat them, otherwise just stay at home and be a vassal, Central Plains is not a place you can come to.

  Ma Xun faced the same situation as Gong Sun Du, his southward path was also blocked, and it was even more difficult than Gong Sun Du's, at least the other side had more troops. Since the land route was not possible, he took the sea route, which was more convenient and took less time. The road is created by people walking, Ma Xun didn't believe it, relying on his understanding of the earth, he could still block the way for these two ignorant people who only knew that the sky was round and the ground was square!

  Ma Chao had thought out a plan to break through the enemy's lines, when he turned his head and saw Taishi Ci standing on a high reef that jutted out of the ice, cutting like a knife through the wind that struck his face, silently gazing into the distance.

  Ma Chao leapt onto the reef and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Taishi Ci: "Missing home yet?"

  Tai Shi Ci let out a mouthful of mist, narrowed his eyes, and was slightly red, it's unknown whether it was the wind or something else, his voice trembled: "The end of the sea and sky is my home. After three years of wandering, only my family and old servant were left behind, the bandits in Qingzhou are rampant, and the war has caused chaos, I don't know how they've been doing all these years... Filial piety is not enough!"

  Ma Xun patted his shoulder: "Zi Yi will go back, and if it's suitable, maybe I'll accompany you to see Aunt Bo."

  Tai Shi Zi looked at Ma Yuan with some surprise, his lips moved slightly, wanting to say something, but ultimately held back and remained silent.

  Ma Xun said in a low voice: "I hope you can understand two things. Firstly, White Wolf Castle is my Ma Xun's White Wolf Castle, and Gong Sun Sheng can only put up a flag on the city wall, nothing else can be done. Secondly, every mother hopes that her son will return home with glory, the longer he is away from home, the more he should bring surprises to his parents."

  Ma Huan said, turned around and jumped down from the reef, waved his hand to the surrounding white wolf riders: "Let's go, back to Wen Cheng."

  "Defend the city!" Taishi Ci suddenly turned around, his expression firm and resolute, as if he had made some major decision.

  Ma Chao raised his hand to stop him from speaking, took out an object from his bosom and flung it at Taishi Ci.

  Tai Shi Cai took it with a bewildered expression, turned his wrist to take a look, and found that it was a copper token. The words "White Wolf Camp Riding Commander" were prominently displayed in Han script.

  Tai Shi Zi tightly grasped the copper token in his hand and gave a heavy fist bump to Ma Han. Their eyes met, and they burst into loud laughter, their voices carrying away with the wind, heard by all on the coast.