The story of the Three Kingdoms War in this issue is found in the 88th episode of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which takes place during the "Zhuge Liang Ii Capture of Meng", and the relevant characters are Zhuge Liang, Ma Dai and Meng Yue. The gist of the story goes something like this:
After Zhuge Liang released Meng, the crowd would not understand his intentions. Zhuge Liang said that it was easy to catch Meng, but it was necessary to let this person lose convincingly, only in this way could he calm Nanzhong. However, the generals still believed Zhuge Liang's remarks.
After Meng Yu returned to the nest, he gathered the remnants and consulted with the chiefs of the caves. At the instigation of Meng Yue, the chiefs of the caves gathered more than 100,000 soldiers and horses to support Meng Yue, and Dong Dina and Ah Huilan, who were released by Zhuge Liang, had to join the rebels again. Meng was ordered to adopt the tactics of deep ditches and high fortresses in an attempt to drag Zhuge Liang down.
Soon after, Zhuge Liang led his troops to the other side of Lushui, found that there was not a single ship on the shore, and learned that Meng Yu had built an earthen city on the opposite bank and sent troops to guard it. After Zhuge Liang came to Lushui to inspect, he ordered all the troops to camp in the mountains and trees, picking up places where the trees were lush, so as to avoid the extreme heat of June. After that, Zhuge Liang asked Ma Dai to lead 3,000 soldiers and horses as the vanguard of the army to the raft of Shakou one hundred and fifteen miles downstream. Ma Dai took the order and left.
However, just when Ma Dai led his troops to cross the river from the Shahe River, they were suddenly attacked, and many soldiers fell down after being launched into the water, and after being rescued to the shore, they bled to death. Ma Dai was horrified and reported the situation to Zhuge Liang, who hurriedly found the locals to inquire. According to locals, due to the hot weather, poisonous gas filled the water. During the day, the poisonous gas is in full swing, and someone crossing the river is bound to be poisoned. If you drink the river water, you will be poisoned and die. Locals also told Zhuge Liang that if he crossed the river at night, the poison gas could not be lifted, and he could cross the river safely.
Hearing this news, Zhuge Liang changed his deployment and ordered Ma Dai to cross the river in the middle of the night. Ma Dai followed Zhuge Liang's instructions and crossed the Lushui River. After that, Ma Dai led his troops to occupy Jiashanyu, seized the food and grass of the rebels, and beheaded Busy Yachang. Meng Yu sent Dong Di Na to fight, and as a result, Dong Di Na's army was defeated. Meng Yu believed that Dong Di was deliberately defeated because he returned Zhuge Liang's last favor of not killing, and beat Dong Di's hundred military sticks. Dong Di was very angry about this, and led his men to Mengyu Camp to capture him alive and sacrifice him to Zhuge Liang. At this point, Meng Yu fell into the hands of Zhuge Liang for the second time.
Judging from the process of "seven captures" described in the novel, Ma Dai's performance seems to be very active, and he must be present in almost every key battle. So, did Ma Dai really participate in Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition? There is no trace of it in the historical data.
As a cousin of a generation of famous generals Ma Chao, Ma Dai's performance in Zhuge Liang's era was lackluster, neither appearing in the Battle of Nanzhong, and even whether he participated in the previous Northern Expeditions was a question. The reason why the author of the novel pulled Ma Dai into the Battle of Nanzhong was mainly because of the lack of well-known generals in the middle of the Shu Han Dynasty, and Ma Dai was a person with a very special status. As soon as Ma Dai is mentioned, readers will immediately think of Ma Chao. At the same time, increasing Ma Dai's role can also pave the way for him to kill Wei Yan in the future.
In fact, during the Battle of Nanzhong, the most outstanding performance of the Shu Han army was Ma Zhong, a general with the same surname and surname as Ma Dai. Unlike Ma Dai's prominent family background, Ma Zhong was born in the grassroots, and in his early years, because he was fostered in his grandfather's house, he changed his surname to Fox, and did not change back to his original surname until he became an adult.
During Liu Bei's time, Ma Zhong's talents were gradually excavated, and he served as a county magistrate and the county magistrate of Hanchang County. Later, because he rushed to the White Emperor City in time to save the car, he was appreciated by Liu Bei. According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms? According to the biography of Ma Zhong, Liu Bei once praised Ma Zhong in front of Liu Ba as "the sage of the world".
After Zhuge Liang took power, Ma Zhong continued to be reused, successively serving as the governor of Menxia, and later appointed as the Taishou of Mu Mu Commandery. After the Battle of Nanzhong began, the main general of the Eastern Route Army of the Shu Han Army was Ma Zhong, and Zhu Zhong's rebellion was also quelled by Ma Zhong's own strength, and Ma Zhong became famous in this battle. A few years later, Ma Zhong was appointed by Zhuge Liang as the governor of Yu Prefecture, with full responsibility for the military and political affairs of the Southern Central region, and made outstanding contributions to the stability of the Southern Central Region. Regrettably, this famous general in the history of the Shu Han Dynasty was ignored by the author of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. In the novel, Ma Zhong only becomes a very ordinary general in the Shu Han army.
Finally, let's talk about a plot in the novel. The novel mentions that many of Ma Dai's soldiers died of poisoning when he crossed the Lushui River. Many readers will ask: Is there really a river in the world that can poison people? The answer is yes. In the U.S. state of Oregon, there is a large river called Tuladin. Because the river contains a large number of poisonous algae organisms, the release of toxic substances has caused a large number of animal and human deaths. The river is also known locally as the "River of Death".
Reference Books: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Romance of the Three Kingdoms