During the Three Kingdoms period, countless famous generals and strategists emerged, leaving a brilliant light on the historical starry sky like stars. Although life is like a drama, long and wonderful, but time runs away, the stories of famous generals always have a time to end. Therefore, the ending of many famous generals will make people feel sorry, such as the loyal Dianwei, when Zhang Xiu rebelled and chased with a large army, he only took a dozen of his cronies to meet the enemy, and finally died for the escape of the protector Cao Cao.
However, it is said that the death of a military general on the battlefield is also the highest honor, and the real grievances are those generals who are obviously capable but cannot show their style on the battlefield. For example, Ma Chao, one of the "Five Tiger Generals", is obviously known for his bravery and martial arts, and his combat effectiveness can be called the top level of the Three Kingdoms, but after he surrendered to Liu Bei, he has not been able to exert his talents, and he died depressed at the age of only 47.
When Ma Chao was fighting against Cao Jun, Xu Chu had said that he would capture Ma Chao every day. It should be known that Xu Chu was known as the "Tiger Marquis" in cao jun's camp, and his bravery was well known to the world and deeply trusted by Cao Cao. However, when Cao Cao heard Xu Chu's words, he looked solemn and said: "Ma Chao is heroic, and he must not take the enemy lightly." The next day, when Ma Chao and Xu Chu fought, Cao Cao stood under the military flag to watch, and said to his generals: "Ma Chao was brave enough to fight lü Bu in that year." In this way, Xu Chu and Ma Chao fought for a long time and could not distinguish between victory and defeat. Due to the lack of horses, the two had to go back to the camp to change horses and fight again, but it was still difficult to solve, Xu Chu simply removed his armor and went to battle shirtless. Cao Cao was afraid that Xu Chu would have something to lose, so he quickly sent Xiahou Yuan and Cao Hong to attack Ma Chao, which ended the battle.
Cao Cao once commented on this: "Horses do not die, and I have no burial place." It was not difficult to find out how far Cao Cao's jealousy of Ma Chao had reached. Later, when Ma Chao attacked Ye Mengguan, Liu Bei took a few looks at the pass, then sighed and said, "Jin Ma Chao is indeed worthy of the name!" Zhang Fei was not convinced, ready to go down to meet the battle, Liu Bei was anxious to jump up immediately to stop it, thinking that it was not appropriate to fight, it was best to avoid its sharp edge and frustrate its sharpness. It was not until the afternoon that Liu Bei saw that Ma Chao's predecessors were sleepy and tired, so he released Zhang Fei, who had been pressing for a long time, out of the city to meet the battle. Even in this unfavorable state, Ma Chao did not lose to Zhang Fei, and it was still difficult to solve the fight for a long time.
In fact, Ma Chao is not only personally brave and martial, but also has a noble birth. He was a descendant of the Eastern Han Fubo general Ma Yuan, who, as the founding father of the Eastern Han Dynasty, had served the imperial court for generations, and the status of the Ma clan in the Eastern Han Dynasty was much higher than that of Liu Bei, a former distant branch of the dynasty. Therefore, when declaring Himself King of Han, Liu Bei directly put the General of Pingxi and Hou Machao of Duting in the first place.
Because Ma Chao had commanded the Western Liang Iron Horse in that year, he enjoyed a high reputation in Guannei. Therefore, after Liu Bei obtained Ma Chao, if he could make good use of his reputation, it was very likely to recover Xiliang and the Qiang area. Moreover, at that time, Xi Liang was too defensive of Han Sui, and the Ma Chao family was a family friend, which was Said to be Ma Chao's uncle, and if Ma Chao came forward, it would not be too difficult to convince him. After obtaining the Western Liang region, with the local fierce soldiers and horses as a backup, you can directly take Guanzhong, and even further conquer the Central Plains. Unfortunately, Liu Bei, a generation of male lords, was always wary of this brave and fierce general, and after receiving his subordinates, he only gave him the false title of a hussar general, and he remained in Chengdu like a prisoner and was never reused again.
Ma Chao sent people under the fence, and could only watch as the Western Liang Iron Horse was split. Unable to exert his fists and feet, Ma Chao became more and more depressed and eventually died of fear. After Ma Chao's death, Liu Bei completely lost the opportunity to control the situation in Western Liang, so that during Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition, the Shu Han army could not break through the resistance of the Western Liang Iron Horse and the Qiang people, and it was difficult to achieve the desired results. From this point of view, as soon as Ma Chao died, it meant that Liu Bei never had the opportunity to unify the Three Kingdoms again, and failing to reuse Ma Chao was liu Bei's worst mistake.
bibliography:
Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Volume 36, Shushu 6, Biography of Guan Zhang Ma Huang Zhao