Ma Chao, also spelled Mengqi, was once a separatist force in Western Liang and was a figure who could compete with Cao Cao. Unfortunately, after Ma Chao submitted to Liu Bei, he was idle and depressed, and died of illness in 222 AD. Some people think that if Ma Chao did not die early, lived to the time of Zhuge Liang's conquest of Wei, gave Zhuge Liang the vanguard, charged into the battlefield, and could unify the Central Plains and revive the Han Dynasty, is this true?
Personally, I believe that even if Ma Chao did not die early, he would not necessarily be able to succeed in cutting Wei, and according to the relevant content in the interpretation, the analysis is as follows.
First of all, the era of Ma Chaowei shaking the West has long passed.
Ma Chao was a descendant of the Fubo general Ma Yuan, who had taken over his father Ma Teng's army and rebelled against Cao Cao with his uncle Han Sui. Within a few days, he occupied Tongguan and approached Chang'an. Cao Cao personally led the army and fought a big battle with Ma Chao to achieve a difficult victory. At that time, Ma Chao was a leading figure in Xiliang, with more than 100,000 cavalry under his command, and he was mighty. The Qiang people had great respect for Ma Chao and honored him as the "Divine Mighty Heavenly General".
Now, Ma Chao had already set over the Western Mountains, his father Ma Teng, his two brothers Ma Xiu, and Ma Tie were all killed by Cao Cao, his wife and children Yang Shi, Dong Shi, Ma Qiu and others were also killed, and even the deputy general Pang De submitted to Cao Cao, leaving only his cousin Ma Dai. The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and the Biography of Ma Chao record the following:
Linwu Shangshu said: "The more than two hundred mouths of the Chenmen Sect have been exhausted by Meng De, and only from di Dai, as the successor of the Wei Sect's blood food, deeply trust His Majesty, yu has no words." ”
Although Ma Chao still has a certain prestige in Xiliang, after all, he didn't even have an army, and people also submitted to Liu Bei, and the deterrent power against Xiliang dropped to the freezing point. The era that belonged to Ma Chao had long passed, and now, he could only guard the border pass as a member of the Shu Han General, one of the Five Tiger Generals.
Secondly, Ma Chao is also more than half a hundred years old, old and weak, and can no longer fight.
Although Ma Chao was the youngest of the Five Tiger Generals, he was also 47 years old when he died of illness in 222 AD. If he were still alive, he would soon be 50 years old, and in ancient times, this was already an elderly man. Even if he was young, no matter how capable and brave he was, it was sunset at this time. When Ma Chao was young, he bravely championed the three armies, and at the age of seventeen, he followed his father Ma Teng on a campaign and beheaded Dong Zhuo's old generals Wang Fang and Li Meng, making the world's eyes and ears new.
Later, in the Battle of Tongguan, he killed Cao Cao to the point of abandoning his robe, and the Battle of Weishui shot Cao Cao to seize the ship and avoid arrows. Ma Chao's most proud thing is that he singled out Xu Chu, the first warrior under Cao Cao, and defeated Xu Chu in the "naked" state, laying the foundation for supreme prestige. He was still in Ye Mengguan and fought Against Zhang Fei, which was also the pinnacle of the Three Kingdoms period. However, these are the glorious deeds of Ma Chao's youth and prime-age period. Now Ma Chao, almost 50 years old, has long passed the golden period. At this time, Ma Chao, riding a horse, is not necessarily Sharp, and it is difficult to continue the conquest.
In the end, Ma Chao's own strength could not influence the outcome of Zhuge Liang's failure to defeat Wei.
Even if Ma Chao was strong, he was only one person, unable to influence the war situation between Shu Han and Cao Wei. For example, Zhuge Liang first cut Wei, went downwind, and hit Cao Wei by surprise. Zhuge Liang sent Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi to Jigu to pretend to attack Cao Wei as a surprise soldier. In fact, he attacked Qishan and successfully captured the three counties of Tianshui, Nan'an, and Anding. However, after Cao Wei reacted, the Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui sent Zhang Guo to seize the military stronghold of Jieting.
Zhuge Liang's guard at the street pavilion will be a "paper soldier" Horse Mo, who will camp on the mountain, and is besieged by Zhang Gao, cutting off the water source. In the end, Zhang Gao successfully captured the street pavilion and won a great victory, Zhuge Liang saw that the street pavilion was lost, and had to retreat, this time wei, although there was no Ma Chao, but there was Zhao Yun, who was not inferior to Ma Chao, who fought, and did not change the situation of the war. In this battle, although Shu Han did not suffer major losses, he mobilized the masses, but he worked hard and failed, that is, he failed.
Even if Ma Chao is alive and participates in Zhuge Liang's this time to cut Wei, it will be difficult to change the outcome of Ma Mo's loss of the street kiosk and helpless retreat. The influence of a general on the war situation is very small, and only the commanders of the first army such as Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi can have a great impact on the war situation and influence the war situation. Another point is that the comprehensive national strength of the Shu Han at that time was too different from that of Cao Wei, which led to Zhuge Liang cutting down Wei many times, and his labor was fruitless.
Summary: Even if Ma Chao did not die, lived to Zhuge Liang to fight Wei, and went to war with the army, he was also a veteran general like Zhao Yun. Although Ma Chao had a great influence on the Qiang people and Xi Liang, it was also gone at this time. Xi Liang had been following Cao Wei for many years, but he would not follow Ma Chao and rebel against Cao Wei.
At this time, Ma Chao's role was the same as Zhao Yun's, the spiritual significance was greater than the actual role, and the glory had long belonged to the past tense, and it was no longer possible to play a greater role on the battlefield. Therefore, even if Ma Chao did not die, the role he could play on the battlefield was at most equal to that of Zhao Yun, and he was not necessarily stronger than young generals such as Guan Xing and Zhang Bao, and Zhuge Liang would not necessarily succeed in cutting wei.