The Three Kingdoms: I asked you to save Guan Yu, not to destroy Sun Quan.

Chapter 528 Where did Ma Su go?

Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei never imagined that their life of battles would end like this, and for a moment they looked at each other in silence.

But when they heard Zhuge Liang ask the question, they instinctively looked towards Guan Xing. Although they already knew that the Three Kingdoms had been unified by the Jin Dynasty, they still wanted to know the details.

Guan Xing said, "Although the Wei and Wu armies have retreated, Yong Kai in the south has killed Yijiang Governor Zheng Ang and rebelled. The strategist used a strategy of sowing discord to strike at the bandit leader in the south, while recuperating and rebuilding. Several years later, he led his troops south, crossed the Lu River in May, and went deep into the barren lands to attack Meng Huo."

"Meng Huo rebelled in response to Yong Kai's call, but by the time of the southern expedition, Yong Kai had already been killed by the strategist, and Meng Huo became the leader of the barbarians. After the strategist marched south, he easily captured Meng Huo, but released him in order to maintain stability in the south."

"Uh..." Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei all looked at Zhuge Liang, somewhat puzzled.

Zhuge Liang had not yet captured Meng Huo, so he was unaware of the circumstances and therefore did not understand the purpose of his actions. He simply kept quiet and waited for further developments.

Guan Xing said, "Meng Huo was not convinced and attacked again. The strategist captured and released him seven times in a row. After the seventh time, Meng Huo was finally completely convinced and swore to guard the south for the Han Dynasty and never rebel again. The strategist then returned to the capital."

Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei were all stunned. The strategist had captured Meng Huo seven times in a row. He was too patient and wise!

Capturing an enemy general is difficult enough, but capturing the same enemy general seven times is not a difficult problem at all; that's just a pipe dream.

Because enemy generals are also improving, no one will fall into the same trap twice. After a failure, they will definitely learn from their mistakes. But Zhuge Liang captured Meng Huo seven times in a row. What kind of wisdom does that require?

Guan Xing continued, "I learned how to capture Zhang Cheng twice from the strategist. I originally wanted to capture him six or seven times for fun, but Zhang Cheng didn't have Meng Huo's ability to withstand pressure. He only captured him twice and then stopped coming."

Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhuge Liang: "..."

Listen to what you're saying, is that even human language?

Guan Xing continued, "After pacifying the southern regions, the strategist led his troops north to launch the first Northern Expedition, which was also the Northern Expedition with the highest success rate and the most likely to rewrite history, because at that time Cao Wei's defensive focus was on Eastern Wu, and the defense of Longxi was extremely weak."

"Therefore, the Northern Expedition went very smoothly in its early stages, with several counties in Longxi surrendering one after another. As long as we could hold Jieting and withstand the Wei reinforcements, the strategist could recover Longxi, eye Chang'an, and gradually nibble away at Cao Wei's territory. Unfortunately..."

Upon hearing that the Northern Expedition had succeeded, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei were very excited. However, when they heard the word "regret," their hearts skipped a beat, and they asked with worry, "The Northern Expedition failed? Jieting was not defended?"

Seeing Guan Xing nod, Liu Bei quickly said, "That's not right. You just said that as long as we hold Jieting, that means Jieting was already in the hands of the strategist, and we didn't need to attack, we just needed to hold it, right?"

“I’ve been to Jieting. It’s a strategic location with two mountains flanking a narrow passage. It shouldn’t be too difficult to hold the pass. Besides, we don’t need to hold it for long. As long as the strategist stabilizes the situation in the counties of Longxi, he will come to our aid.”

Guan Xing smiled wryly and said, "It's no wonder that Prime Minister Zhuge is far inferior to Your Majesty in judging and employing people. The strategist should never have sent Ma Su to guard Jieting."

"The strategist appointed Ma Su to guard Jieting, with Wang Ping assisting him. What could have been resolved by simply setting up camp along the road was instead handled by Ma Su, who was both incompetent and ambitious. Ignoring Wang Ping's advice, he insisted on garrisoning his troops on the mountain, intending to deliver a heavy blow to the Wei army at Jieting. However, the northwest region was short of water. After receiving news of the emergency from Longxi, Cao Wei rushed to its aid. Zhang He marched at breakneck speed and arrived at Jieting in just a few days. He almost died laughing when he saw Ma Su garrisoning his troops on the mountain. He then surrounded the mountain and cut off the water supply, easily trapping Ma Su on the mountaintop. Without water, the Shu army had no choice but to descend the mountain to break out."

"What makes us, the later generations, speechless and even cursing every time we mention it is that during the breakout, Ma Su actually abandoned the army and fled alone. If Wang Ping hadn't rallied the remaining troops and fought desperately to stabilize the formation, even the strategist would probably have been killed in Longxi."

"Because of Ma Su's reckless actions, the Prime Minister's first Northern Expedition ended in failure, with heavy losses and a difficult retreat back to Hanzhong. Upon his return, Ma Su was executed, and everyone involved in the battle, including the strategist, was demoted. Only Wang Ping was promoted for his merits."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei's faces were filled with murderous intent. Zhuge Liang slapped his thigh in regret and sighed helplessly, "What a pity. After this battle, the Wei army will definitely strengthen the defense of Longxi. I'm afraid there will be no chance to take Longxi again. It seems that we can't let Ma Su command the army anymore. An incompetent general can cause the death of the entire army."

Guan Xing spread his hands and said, "That's right. Where is Ma Su? We've been in Jiangling for so many days and we haven't seen him."

Jieting is one of the most unfortunate places for Shu Han fans. Guan Xing had long vowed that if he ever saw Ma Su, he would definitely find a reason to beat him up and vent his anger. However, he had been in this world for so long and it seemed that he had never seen Ma Su before. Not to mention that he had seen him, he couldn't even remember him if this matter wasn't mentioned.

Hearing this, Liu Bei was also puzzled and asked in confusion, "After the Northern Expedition ended, I sent him to deliver a message to Ma Chao. He refused to be the governor of Yuexi County, but surely sending him on a errand shouldn't be a problem. Why hasn't he returned yet? Does it take this long to deliver a message?"

Zhuge Liang's expression changed slightly, and he quickly asked, "Yes, judging by the time, he should have returned long ago. Could he have been detained by Ma Chao? What does Ma Chao want?"

Liu Bei shook his head and said, "We'll find out later by sending someone to Longxi. There's no rush. Anguo, you continue."

Guan Xing said, "After the Prime Minister's first Northern Expedition failed, he had no more opportunities to leave Sichuan. However, the Prime Minister remembered the King's instructions and still launched five Northern Expeditions. He made six expeditions to Qishan, and no one in Cao Wei dared to resist him. In the end, he could only send Sima Yi to defend and wear down Cao Wei. Sima Yi was suppressed by the Prime Minister throughout the entire campaign. Can you believe that Cao Wei, which possessed the land of nine provinces, was forced to defend the entire campaign by the Prime Minister with only one province?"

Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei all looked at Zhuge Liang again. They had always treated their strategist like Zhang Liang and Xiao He, but they never expected that their strategist would also have the abilities of Han Xin.

Zhuge Liang smiled bitterly and said, "What's the use? We still failed. And what happened afterward?"

Guan Xing said, "The chances of success for the sixth Northern Expedition were also very high. The Prime Minister used all his skills and finally trapped Sima Yi in Shangfang Valley and set it on fire. Once the fire started, it could burn Sima Yi and all his Wei troops to death in the valley, and then march straight to Chang'an. At that time, Sima Yi was in despair and was about to commit suicide with a sword to his neck, but..."

Upon hearing that Sima Yi was trapped in Shangfang Valley, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhuge Liang were once again on edge. But when they heard the word "result," they cursed in anger.

Damn it, where did all these plot twists come from?

Guan Xing sighed, "As a result, it suddenly rained in Shangfang Valley. A torrential downpour extinguished all the fire that the Prime Minister had managed to start, and Sima Yi was saved."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei nearly spat out a mouthful of blood. How could it rain at such a crucial moment?

Zhuge Liang sighed sadly, "It seems I have no chance against Heaven."

Guan Xing comforted him, "Actually, it's not your fault. Later scholars have studied it and said that rain in Shangfang Valley was an inevitable result. Whenever a fire breaks out in that place, it will definitely rain."

Zhuge Liang asked in astonishment, "Why is that?"

Guan Xing said, "Because this involves knowledge of aerodynamics. A fire will cause the air in the valley to heat up, expand and rise, resulting in a decrease in ground air pressure. The air will then condense when it cools down during the ascent, forming precipitation. In other words, you set the fire, Prime Minister, and you also caused the rain. If you hadn't set the fire, there wouldn't have been this rain."

Is there another saying?

Zhuge Liang, like Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, almost spat out a mouthful of blood, and asked with a frustrated expression, "And then what happened?"

Guan Xing said, "Later, the Prime Minister stationed troops at Wuzhangyuan, where he cleared land and planted grain to prepare for a long-term standoff with the Wei army and wait for the right opportunity. Unfortunately, the talents of Bashu were dwindling. In the years after the King's death, the Prime Minister had to stabilize the internal affairs and lead the army on a northern expedition. He personally handled everything for many years, which caused him to fall ill from overwork. Not long after, he passed away at Wuzhangyuan, having died from exhaustion."