In that troubled era of heroes, Ma Chao, a famous general of Xiliang, was famous for his strong martial arts and unruly character. However, it is not easy to make such a proud Ma Chao recognize the strength of others.
In the long history of the Three Kingdoms Struggle for Hegemony, who can enter Ma Chao's eyes and become the jealous opponent in his heart?
In the era of the Three Kingdoms, there are indeed some brave and warlike generals, and they seem to have some kind of predetermined fate with Ma Chao, so that the two are inextricably linked, which is also the topic we want to discuss today.
Let's explore who are the opponents he admires and fears the most in Ma Chao's mind!
Zhao Yun, whose name is Zilong, was once the fierce general of Xiliang Ma Teng. After Ma Teng's death, Ma Chao inherited the leadership of the tribe, and Zhao Yun became Ma Chao's right-hand man. In 212 AD, Liu Bei conquered Zhang Lu and occupied Hanzhong, Zhang Lu's hometown.
At this time, Ma Chao was fighting Liu Bei in the street pavilion. Ma Chao had two fierce generals, Huang Kui and Sun Qian, who challenged Liu Beijun. When Zhao Yun learned the news, his eyes flashed with determination, and he asked to fight the two opponents.
Ma Chao stood on the battlefield and watched from a distance, only to see Zhao Yun wearing silver armor, holding a spear in both hands, his body was like electricity, and his marksmanship was like a rainbow. With a thunderous force, he defeated two opponents and demoralized the enemy army.
Ma Chao was dumbfounded, and unprecedented admiration and awe rose in his heart, he realized that this was Zhao Yun under Liu Bei, with such speed and high combat skills, it was really difficult to match!
In this battle, Zhao Yun demonstrated the power of the Xichuan forces with his unparalleled talent, which made Ma Chao deeply realize that Zhao Yun was not only a personal winner, but also a representative of the entire Xichuan forces.
This battle caused a huge psychological pressure on Ma Chao, because he had always dreamed of being able to occupy Xichuan, and Zhao Yun and Liu Bei broke this dream.
Therefore, Ma Chao began to see Zhao Yun as a psychological opponent, no longer a secondary role, but a challenger that he must pay attention to.
This laid the groundwork for their future disputes.
Zhang Fei and Ma Chao are both fierce generals with strong personalities, and their martial arts are unrivaled. However, despite their same martial arts, they lack true tacit understanding and often go toe-to-toe.
Once, when the two were drinking and chatting, Zhang Fei talked about his heroic performance, and his tone revealed a sense of arrogance and conceit. Ma Chao was very unhappy in his heart, thinking that Zhang Fei was exaggerating and exaggerating.
The two almost fought, which shows that there is not much trust and friendship between Ma Chao and Zhang Fei. Ma Chao was disgusted with Zhang Fei's arrogant attitude, and Zhang Fei was also wary of Ma Chao's arrogance.
If there are still some politeness and etiquette between Ma Chao and Zhang Fei, then the relationship between Ma Chao and Guan Yu is even more delicate.
Guan Yu was in Liu Bei's military camp, challenging Ma Chao for no reason, with a tough attitude. Ma Chao felt uncomfortable, and he realized that Guan Yu was doing this to establish his prestige in Liu Bei's army and show that he was the true leader.
Not to be outdone, Ma Chao had a thrilling duel. In the end, Guan Yu was only one step away from defeating Ma Chao, which brought huge psychological pressure to Ma Chao.
From then on, Ma Chao was full of vigilance against Guan Yu and never dared to openly confront him. He realized that to survive in the area controlled by Liu Bei, he could not directly confront Guan Yu.
From the attitudes of Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, we can see that many of Liu Bei's generals did not take Ma Chao seriously, which made Ma Chao feel dissatisfied and suppressed.
Ma Chao's contempt for Huang Zhong stemmed from his unfamiliarity with the northern battlefield and the misunderstanding of Huang Zhong's advanced age. However, Ma Chao's error in judgment reflects his lack of comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the character's judgment.
Xu Chu, known as the "Martial Saint", is one of the eight tiger generals under Cao Cao, and his strength is very strong. Before Xu Chu took refuge in Cao Cao, he was famous all over the world as the "Tiger Marquis".
Ma Chao has also heard about this. Therefore, when the two armies fought, when Ma Chao saw Xu Chu, a feeling of admiration surged in his heart. In 217, in the Battle of Guandu, Ma Chao was appointed to lead the army to assist.
When he learned that he was going to face the "Tiger Hou" Xu Chu, his face flushed slightly. Ma Chao knows that Xu Chu's martial arts are strong, and if he goes head-to-head, he may lose the battle. So he adopted a cunning strategy, set up an ambush, and captured Xu Chu in one fell swoop.
This incident reflects Ma Chao's awe and importance for Xu Chu. He does not want to go head-to-head, and can only use his wits to win. This also reflects from the side that Xu Chu's status in Ma Chao's heart is unparalleled.
Xu Chu's bravery and prestige made Ma Chao dare not underestimate him. This is also one of the few objects of awe of Ma Chao among the heroes of the Three Kingdoms.
Through the above elaboration, we understand that Ma Chao's inner view of heroes from all walks of life is multi-dimensional and in-depth. When facing the fierce general Zhao Yun, Ma Chao changed from initial contempt to deep admiration.
The rise of Zhao Yun made Ma Chao realize that Xichuan's advantage was threatened, and the huge gap in his heart made him feel pressure. And Zhang Fei and Guan Yu's attitude and vigilance also made Ma Chao feel suppressed by hostile forces.
Huang Zhong's aging and Xu Chu's prestige intertwined Ma Chao's indifference to veterans and his vigilance of cutting-edge. All kinds of signs show that Ma Chao's inner balance is not as firm and fearless as it seems.
He also has his own psychological burden, not hard-hearted.
Ma Chao, a fierce general on the battlefield, has experienced life and death, and is accustomed to seeing the hot and cold world. However, the scales in his heart often waver. In the face of challenges from all sides, although he is calm and calm on the outside, he is often volatile on the inside.
He is sometimes arrogant, sometimes cautious, sometimes arrogant, sometimes inferior. This psychological imbalance has become the pain of Ma Chao's life. The emergence of this situation is inseparable from his personality.
His arrogance and open-mindedness make him unprepared in the face of the truly powerful. Either he instantly swelled and became arrogant, or he collapsed. It can be said that the repeated imbalance in Ma Chao's heart is not only an obstacle for him, but also an important reason for his final failure.
Ma Chao, a heroic warrior, a man full of mystery. He is a strong martial artist and arrogant in his demeanor, but his heart is not as ruthless as it seems. All signs show that Ma Chao's heart is also full of emotional fluctuations.
In the face of Zhao Yun's speed, Zhang Fei's arrogance, Guan Yu's strictness, Huang Zhong's aging, and Xu Chu's coldness, he was also struggling violently in his heart. This is Ma Chao, a seemingly indestructible hero, but also extremely fragile.
In the long history of the Three Kingdoms, his dramatic life will surely be remembered by future generations.