The Three Kingdoms become stronger when they get treasures

Chapter 513 Ma Chao's Death
Cao Pi was a little confused. He had only been emperor for a few years, how could the situation have deteriorated to such an extent?The once extremely powerful Wei State was in danger of being destroyed, and he, the Emperor of Wei, had to consider whether to move the capital.After Wudu County and Guangling County were lost, Cao Pi didn't feel anything. The Wei Kingdom was still the country with the largest area, the most population, and the strongest strength.

But in just two years, Wei State not only lost Liangzhou and Yongzhou one after another, even Xuzhou and Qingzhou on the east coast were also precarious.The military strength of the Great Wei suffered a serious blow. Many famous generals either died of illness or died in battle. There were not many clan generals left, and only two of the five good generals remained.

The most important thing is that Wei's army no longer dared to engage in field battles with Chu's army, and even if they went out to fight, they would not be able to win.

In fact, there are many reasons for this situation.

The first reason is that the economic strength of Chu State has far exceeded that of Wei State. Cao Pi only saw that he occupied a larger territory than Zhang Wu. He occupied nine of the original thirteen prefectures of Han Dynasty, while Zhang Wuzhi occupied four.However, Cao Pi did not see Zhang Wu's colonial expansion and overseas trade in the South China Sea. Zhang Wu brought back a large amount of resources, food and minerals from these places.

Money is what fights in wars, and Zhang Wu has more money than Cao Pi, so he constantly consumes the strength of Wei.Since the occupation of Hanzhong and Huainan, the Chu army has launched several offensives on the east and west lines almost every year. Later, after the navy took shape, it continued to harass the coastal areas of Wei State.

Although most of the attacks were feints, Wei couldn't pretend not to see it, what if it was true?Therefore, the pressure on Wei's annual arms expenditure is really too great, especially in Wudu and the eastern coastal areas, where money is spent faster than water.

Economic strength can be transformed into military strength. The Chu army's logistics supplies, weapons and equipment, welfare benefits, etc. are also much higher than those of the Wei army, so the Chu army can continue to fight against the Wei army.

The second reason is that after the Chu army has improved its cavalry, coupled with well-equipped and well-trained infantry, coupled with various new weapons, it has been able to completely defeat the Wei army in field battles.Moreover, there is an unequal situation between Wei and Chu, that is, the Chu army can hold the city, but the Wei army cannot hold the city under the power of gunpowder.

The reason why the defending side was able to exchange less losses for greater losses on the attacking side was because of the tall city walls, the attackers shed all their blood before crossing the walls.However, the Chu army was able to blow up the opponent's city wall as an attacker, and the Wei army lost this advantage, and the defense of the city finally turned into a hand-to-hand battle.

The third reason is that Zhang Wu is a time traveler. In terms of wisdom or knowledge, Zhang Wu may not be as good as Cao Pi, but in terms of insight and vision, how can Cao Pi be comparable to college students in the new era?For example, Cao Pi didn't realize the importance of the navy, so he fell behind, and he was going to be beaten, and he couldn't fight back.

If a country is forced to move its capital by an enemy, it is not far from being destroyed. Moreover, Luoyang is not only the capital of Wei, but also the capital of Han.Chang'an and Luoyang, one is the capital of the Western Han Dynasty and the other is the capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty, their political significance is extraordinary.Now that Chang'an has fallen into the hands of Zhang Wu, if Cao Pi gives up Luoyang again, then Zhang Wu will have a faint symbol of destiny.

While Zhang Wu received the good news of the great victory in Nanyang in Xiangyang, he also received the sad news that Ma Chao, who was stationed in Longyou, died of illness.

In fact, Ma Chao was also injured in the Battle of Guanzhong, because in such a fierce confrontation, it was difficult for the general who charged ahead not to be hit by the opponent's cavalry.It's just that Ma Chao's riding skills are superb and his force is superb, so he was not seriously injured. In addition, Ma Chao is only in his 40s, which is still at his peak, so he didn't take it seriously.

But when Ma Chao fought against Cao Cao, he was tricked by Yang Fu once in Jicheng, and his whole family was killed.Seeing his wife and children being hacked to death and thrown down from the city wall one by one, Ma Chao almost fainted from anger on the spot. In addition, he was defeated repeatedly and had no hope of revenge. From then on, Ma Chao became sick with worry and anger in his heart.

Later, after Ma Chao took refuge with Zhang Wu, he remarried and had children. But Ma Chao was also a human being. How could he not miss his former wife and young son?It's just that Ma Chao has always kept this depression in his heart, and has always relied on his desire for revenge to support him.

After killing Yang Fu who killed his whole family with his own hands, Ma Chao's vengeance was avenged in half. Later, Cao Zhang was seriously injured and died in the Battle of Guanzhong, and he died indirectly at the hands of Ma Chao, and Cao Zhang belonged to Cao Cao. Son, so Ma Chao's vengeance has been avenged in half.

Many people seem to be very strong on the surface, but they are actually living on a belief and a persistence. Once their mood is affected, they may step down.Although Ma Chao was not seriously injured in the Battle of Guanzhong, it aroused the hidden wounds accumulated in his heart, and his body suddenly collapsed.

Ma Chao's death was like breaking Zhang Wu's arm.Half of the reason why Zhang Wu was able to form a cavalry unit so smoothly and quickly captured Longyou was because of the prestige of Ma Chao and the Ma family in Liangzhou.Later, in the battle with the Wei army, Ma Chao led the cavalry to fight bravely, and he was the sharpest knife in Zhang Wu's hand.

Ma Chao was the most outstanding cavalry general under Zhang Wu, so Zhang Wu left Ma Chao to guard Longyou to intimidate Liangzhou and ensure the stability of the western front.It's a pity that the fate of some people seems to have been determined, and Ma Chao still left so early.

In recognition of Ma Chao's merits, Zhang Wu promoted Ma Chao's Marquis to the hereditary replacement, which was inherited by his eldest son. At the same time, he bestowed Ma Chao's younger brother Ma Dai as Marquis.

Zhao Yun took over as the governor of the former military governor's mansion, and Pang De was promoted to the deputy governor of the former military governor's mansion.

Order Pang De to temporarily replace Ma Chao in guarding Longyou, with Ma Dai as his assistant.Although Pang De is fierce, he does not have the prestige of Ma Chao in Liangzhou; although Ma Dai is also from the Ma family, he is not brave enough to deter all the warlords in Xiliang.Therefore, Zhang Wu asked the two of them to sit in Longyou for a while, and make arrangements later.

The second of the five tiger generals has gone, and the rest, Guan Yu is 60 years old, Zhang Fei is 55 years old, and Zhao Yun is over 50 years old.Historically, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei also passed away in the past two years. Now that the course of history has been changed by Zhang Wu, maybe they can change their fate and live a few more years.

But even in modern society, over 26 is considered an old man who should retire, not to mention in the Three Kingdoms era where the average age was only 77 years old.Of course, there are also many birthday stars in the Three Kingdoms. For example, Cheng Yu, who was killed by Zhang Wu not long ago, lived to be 72 years old; Sima Yi, who became king in the end, lived to be 96 years old.There are also Liao Hua, Zong Yu and others, who all started in the 97s. Lu Dai of Soochow lived to be [-] years old, and Lai Min of Shu Han lived to be [-] years old!

However, those in their 70s like the veteran Huang Zhong are extremely brave. After all, they are a minority. Generally, after the age of 60, their health will gradually fail.

Unknowingly, everyone is getting old, and even Zhang Wu feels that sometimes he is not as good at certain things as he was when he was young!

(End of this chapter)