Twenty-four years after Jian'an (219), the Three Kingdoms era gradually came to an end, and Guan Yu of the Northern Expedition beheaded Pound. However, he lost Jingzhou and was killed by Eastern Wu, and zhang fei was killed by his subordinates not long after. At this time, Liu Bei could be said to have suffered a double blow, perhaps he really wanted to avenge Guan Yu, or perhaps an excuse. All in all, Liu Bei planned to go north, and which generals to take with him became a difficult problem.
In fact, at that time, there were not many generals under Liu Bei's hands, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were killed, and Huang Zhong had long since died.
Among the five tiger generals, only Zhao Yun and Ma Chao were left, although it was said that capturing Eastern Wu would make the situation in the Shu state better, but the situation obviously would not allow Liu Bei to easily capture Eastern Wu. Zhao Yun and Zhuge Liang realized this and tried their best to persuade Liu Bei to suspend the cutting of Wu, while Sun Quan on the other side did not want to fight with him. Envoys were specially sent to ask for peace, but Liu Bei did not listen, and Zhuge Liang's brother Zhuge Jin specially sent a letter. The result only caused Liu Bei to be more disgusted, without any effect, and insisted on going his own way.
He asked Zhuge Liang to guard Yizhou and Zhao Yun to guard Jiangzhou, and he personally marched with a bunch of new people to cut down Wu. However, Liu Bei left one of the Five Tiger Generals, but the other did not show any expression and did not take Ma Chao with him. This battle was known as the Battle of Yiling, and Sun Quan sent Lu Xun while repairing books and making friends with Cao Pi. Lu Xun is also a character, a man of deep foresight, both wisdom and courage, literary ability to govern the country, and martial ability to secure the country. By the way, it was he who designed to kill Guan Yu, and what he was best at was to endure humiliation and bear the burden.
When Jingzhou was seized by chance, Lu Xun took advantage of Guan Yu's arrogance and arrogance to write a letter praising Guan Yu in humble words, causing Guan Yu to lose his vigilance. This time, he will also be Liu Bei's opponent, retreating into the advance and attacking from behind. First, despite the criticism of his subordinates, he voluntarily gave up a large area of land, and then skillfully attacked with fire. Liu Bei lost, Feng Xi, Zhang Nan, Fu Wei, Cheng Qi, Ma Liang and others were killed in battle, and Huang Quan was intercepted and surrendered to Cao Wei because of his retreat.
Liu Bei himself crossed the mountains and hid in Yong'an City (White Emperor City). The whole battle situation seemed that the Shu army was almost completely destroyed, because of the defeat of Yiling, Liu Bei could not afford to fall ill, and the White Emperor City became his final destination. Although Ma Chao alone could not change the overall battle situation, he was a big general, and Zhao Yun did not bring him, so why didn't he take him? In fact, this may be related to Ma Chao's origin, he is indeed brave and fierce, but his character is really not very good.
Liu Bei accepted his surrender, but he did not necessarily reuse it, and Ma Chao entered Shu for seven years, almost without any effect. The first few times have not been reused, this time without Ma Chao seems to be more normal, and then there is Ma Chao's body. At that time, Ma Chao was in his forties and his health was not good, and years of anxiety had dragged him down. He had fallen ill before the war, and forcing him into the battlefield was tantamount to hastening his death, and not long after the Yiling War, Ma Chao died of illness.
From these two points of view, there is no difference between him taking Ma Chao or not, and there is no need to bring it. The reason why he said that he was smart in taking a bunch of new people to war was because he was cultivating reserve forces for the Shu kingdom. Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Huang Zhong, and others died one after another, and Shu Han also weakened, and it was inevitable to cultivate the next generation. This war is also an opportunity to give those young generals a chance, a chance to temper themselves. Later, during Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition, these people came in handy and made many contributions.
Reference: Romance of the Three Kingdoms