Night Fight Against Ma Chao

　　This is a story from Three Kingdoms. Zhang Lu ordered Ma Chao to attack Jiameng Pass. Learning this， Liu Bei immediately went to his military advisor Zhuge Liang for ideas. Zhuge Liang said， “Mao Chao is so brave that only Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun can match him. But Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun can match him. But Zhao Yun is not available； only Zhang Fei is around at the moment.”

　　Knowing that Ma Chao was attacking the pass， Zhang Fei came to ask for a fight against him. Pretending not to hear， Zhuge Liang said to Liu Bei， “Ma Chao is attacking， and only Zhao Yun can defeat him.” Feeling snubbed， Zhang Fei noted his past merits and shouted， “If I can not defeat Ma Chao， I am willing to be punished according the rule.” Only then did Zhuge Liang nod his aGREement. Liu Bei himself acted as the chief commander and ordered Zhang Fei to fight in the vanguard. Liu Bei led the army to the pass. Time and again Ma Chao challenged them to fight. At every challenge， Zhang Fei wanted to engage him， but was stopped by Liu Bei. When Liu Bei saw Ma Chao and his army became fatigued， he ordered Zhang Fei to take on the challenge. Zhang Fei and Ma Chao fought one hundred rounds with an even hand. When Liu Bei saw that it was turning dark， he asked Zhang Fei to come back for a fight tomorrow. But Zhang Fei became infuriated and shouted， “Light more torches and get ready for a night fight. I will not return to the pass without defeating Ma Chao！” Ma Chao also pledged that he would not return to his camp without winning over Zhang Fei. Each of them mounted fresh horses to start the night fight. After another twenty rounds， Ma Chao saw that he could not win by force， so he had an idea. He pretended to flee. At the moment， Zhuge Liang arrived. He analyzed Ma Chao's situation and laid a trap for him. With Ma Chao in a fight spot， Zhuge Liang sent someone who succeeded in persuading him to fight for Liu Bei.

　　Note： Zhang Lu was the Magistrate of Hanning. Ma Chao was a general in Xilling （nowadays Gansu Province） under Zhang Lu.

夜战马超

　　汉宁太守张鲁命马超攻葭萌关。刘备得知，忙找军师诸葛亮商义，军师说：“ 马超英勇无比，若要除他，只有张飞和赵云二人！”但赵云在外，只有张飞在此。张飞见马超攻关，大叫着请战。诸葛亮假装没听见，对刘备说：“马超来侵犯，唯有云长才能得胜。”张飞闻言不高兴，历述自己以前的战绩后说：“我若不胜马超，甘愿军令处罚。”诸葛亮这才答应。让刘备亲自带兵，命张飞为先锋。刘备领兵来到关上，马超三番五次叫阵。张飞屡欲下关迎战，均被刘备阻拦。后来，刘备见马超人马疲乏，令张飞下关克敌。张飞、马超大战一百回合，不分胜败。这时天色已晚，刘备劝张飞回关，明日再战。张飞却大叫：“多点火把，安排夜战，不胜马超，誓不回关！”马超也发誓：“不胜张飞，誓不回寨！”二人各换一匹马，开始了挑灯夜战。又战二十回合，马超见不能取胜张飞，佯装败走。此时，诸葛亮赶到，略施小计，使马超陷于困境，然后投降。