Chapter 27: Ma Su Loses the Position

Upon hearing that Ma Su was taking only one hundred men—a motley crew where perhaps only ten were true veterans—a flicker of worry crossed Shi Ren’s eyes. After all, his own talent for drilling troops was, at best, mediocre. These soldiers were little more than a facade.

Yet, Shi Ren found it difficult to advise Ma Su. Although he was an old follower of Liu Bei from Youzhou, Ma Su hailed from a prominent Jingzhou clan, and his support—emptying his own coffers for Liu Bei—put him on par with Mi Fang.

"I wish you, Youchang, a resounding victory over the bandits! I shall prepare a celebratory feast here and await your triumphant return!" Shi Ren suppressed his anxiety and offered a flattering smile.

Ma Su nodded confidently. "Indeed, that is exactly how it shall be!"

...

That very day, Ma Su departed the camp with his hundred men, heading toward the bandits' lair. Along the way, he refused to let them rest. Though he detested Zhao Shaojie’s frequent humiliations, some of what Zhao said held merit: practicing ten times is not as good as engaging in battle once.

Success is built through action. Ma Su, well-versed in military classics and intimate with all manner of stratagems, believed that matters of the battlefield were well within his grasp. If he could just win a few battles, he would force Zhao Shaojie to acknowledge him. He, Ma Su, was a genius of military affairs!

"Yes, that is it!" The more Ma Su thought about it, the more convinced he became. He galloped forward, his spirits soaring.

Half a day later, his battalion commander stepped forward and said, "Colonel Ma, the bandits' stronghold is not far ahead. Should we rest for a while to regain our strength before launching the assault?"

Ma Su was instantly displeased. "We have only been marching for half a day; what fatigue is there to speak of? Press on! We must strike in one go and give the enemy no chance to breathe. Just like the capture of Yulin, we shall descend like divine soldiers and settle this in one battle! Do you not know that speed is the essence of war?"

"Not only are we not resting, we are to pick up the pace!"

The commander hesitated, but dared not argue, and ordered the men to quicken their march. Ma Su shook his head; these boorish men simply did not understand military strategy.

The army pushed forward into a mountain pass. The winding path was lined with continuous wooden camps housing hundreds of people. While it looked like a secluded paradise, it was, in truth, a nest of vicious thugs.

In a large wooden hut, a burly man frowned. "They're coming to attack us again?"

A subordinate shouted, "Yes, about a hundred of them! They are marching very fast and will be entering the mountain soon!"

The burly man stood up, radiating a fierce aura. His eyes, sharp and piercing, glinted with resentment. "I do not go looking for trouble, yet they come seeking me. What insolence!"

"Gather the men immediately! Follow me to meet the enemy!"

...

The mountain valley was silent. Ma Su led his hundred-plus men into the mountain pass. At first, the path was wide enough for ten men to march abreast, but it narrowed as they ventured deeper, eventually allowing only four to walk side-by-side.

Observing the treacherous terrain, the battalion commander ventured another plea: "Colonel Ma, this place is too narrow to deploy our formation. Should we..."

"Should we what? Worried about an ambush? It is all rock and mountain around us; how could they possibly ambush us?" Ma Su was furious. What was wrong with this commander? Did he really think a brilliant strategist like himself needed such hand-holding? All the man needed to do was obey orders.

"Speed up! Stop making excuses, or I will have you disciplined under military law!" Ma Su barked. The commander dared not speak again.

The column continued to advance. Suddenly, a thundering sound echoed from ahead. A ferocious warrior clad in battered armor charged out from the end of the path like a tiger, followed closely by a dozen cavalrymen.

Ma Su was slightly startled. "Cavalry? The bandits have cavalry here?" He quickly commanded, "Quick, block them! This place is narrow, unfavorable for cavalry to maneuver! They are bound to fail!"

His soldiers scrambled to form a defensive line. But the fierce warrior did not slow down; holding a long spear, he charged like a piercing arrow. With a thunderous crash, the spear cleared the way, and the trampling horses shattered the formation. The cavalry behind them followed, and the soldiers who fell were trampled again before they could even rise.

Seeing his formation crumble like paper, Ma Su panicked. "Quick! Go! All of you, go!" he roared. "Hold them back! Hold them back!"

But the remaining men, seeing the front line collapse, lost their nerve and scattered, opening a path. Meanwhile, the infantry behind the enemy cavalry surged forward. Ma Su’s already panicked troops had no strength left to resist.

His aides, seeing the situation was dire, shouted to him, "Retreat, Colonel! We must retreat!"

But Ma Su was plunged into sheer terror. He was a gifted son of heaven, a brilliant talent of the Ma family, one of the most promising young men in all of Jingzhou! How could he retreat?

"Forward! Keep going!" Ma Su’s mind had gone blank; the military classics he knew so well seemed to have vanished. He could only urge his men to throw their lives away.

But the battle was a one-sided slaughter. The soldiers, mostly raw recruits who were already exhausted from the march, had no stomach for a fight. Some scrambled up the mountainside to hide; others turned and fled.

"You white-faced brat, surrender your life!" The fierce warrior leading the charge spotted Ma Su and bellowed.

The shout jolted Ma Su awake. Seeing his soldiers falling and the warrior closing in, Ma Su let out a cry, turned his horse, and fled without a word to anyone.

"Colonel Ma..." his aides cried out in shock and horror.

In the entire hundred-man force, only Ma Su had a horse. His flight was glaringly obvious; everyone saw their commander abandoning them. The remaining men lost all will to fight, and many threw down their weapons and knelt in surrender.

"I cannot be captured! I must not be captured!" Ma Su chanted, whipping his horse frantically.

...

"What was that?" The warrior ultimately failed to catch Ma Su and stopped at the foot of the mountain, cursing in frustration. "Was that a joke? How could a man like that hold a military rank?"

He shook his head and looked at his men. "Enough. Seize the weapons, escort the captives back to the camp, and search the mountain for any stragglers. Leave those who fled outside the mountains alone."

...

A few days later, Zhao Shaojie arrived at the site.

"What? Ma Su is missing?" Zhao Shaojie had been in a wonderful mood upon returning to Bushan, but the moment he encountered Shi Ren, he felt his head spin.

"Yes. Youchang led the troops to suppress the bandits, but they were soundly defeated. The soldiers who fled back said Youchang retreated on horseback first, but he never returned. I sent men to search for him, but found nothing. I even sent an envoy to the bandits to ransom him, but they claimed they never captured him!" Shi Ren was genuinely panicked. Ma Su was no ordinary man; if he had escaped, why had he vanished?

Zhao Shaojie was equally bewildered. Where could Ma Su have gone? Had he been so terrified that he ran off into the wilderness to survive on his own?