Han Sui

Han Sui (onyomi: Kan Sui) is an officer who historically never served one of the three major kingdoms, but in the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he defected to Wei.

Role in Games
In the Dynasty Warriors series, he will support Ma Chao at the Battle of Tong Gate. During the battle, he is usually persuaded by Cao Cao to defect. Depending on the game, his surrender can be prevented by the player.

In Dynasty Warriors 5, he is an old friend of Cao Cao and cannot find himself to fight him. When he defects, most of the other generals under Ma Chao may follow his example or abandon the field and retreat.

In Dynasty Warriors 7, Jia Xu uses the circumstances around the relationship between Han Sui and Cao Cao to make Han Sui defect. If the plan works, Han Sui will follow the player around and when he meets his former allies, they may either defect to Cao Cao as well or flee from the battle.

In Dynasty Warriors 8, the player again has the option to make Han Sui defect in order to inflict a high morale drop on Ma Chao's forces. This will also cause two of his officers to defect.

In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms games, Han Sui is usually a capable cavalry general with high intelligence and leadership stats. He and Ma Teng are sworn brothers, although this depends on the scenario. In the eleventh installment, Han Sui commands his own force in the Rise of Heroes scenario.

Quotes

 * "The enemy attack is faltering... Now's our chance to retaliate!"
 * "Wait! There's something not right about the enemy's movements. I suspect a trap."
 * "Surely not, Master Ma Chao. Look at them flee! We can't win through defense alone! Everyone, attack!"
 * Han Sui and Ma Chao; Dynasty Warriors 6: Special

Historical Information
Han Sui was born sometime around 144 in the Jincheng region. He was also the sworn brother of the warlord Ma Teng, father of the eventual Shu officer Ma Chao, and uncle to Ma Dai. In 186, Han Sui participated in the Liang Province Rebellion led by Bian Zhang and others. Although they were initially defeated by Dong Zhuo, Han Sui managed to retain control over the territory due to his ties with the Qiang people. After Bian Zhang and most of the other leaders died, Han Sui placed Wang Guo in charge of the region and had him aided by Ma Teng. Wang Guo was defeated by Huangfu Song shortly afterwards and thus, Han Sui and Ma Teng declared themselves co-leaders of Liang Province.

Han Sui and Ma Teng allied themselves with Dong Zhuo when the latter took power, but he was eventually assassinated by Wang Yun and Lu Bu. The two subsequently allied themselves with Liu Yan of Yi Province and led an army to Chang'an. There, they suffered a major defeat against Dong Zhuo's remnant forces led by Li Jue and others and they were forced to retreat. Not long afterwards, the two started to battle over control of Liang Province, eventually ending up killing the other general's wives and children.

In 200, the warlord Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao at Guandu and sent Zhong Yao to make peace between Han Sui and Ma Teng. The two eventually agreed to the terms and submited to Cao Cao, aiding him during the campaign against Yuan Shao and his sons. After Cao Cao united the north, he forced Ma Teng to serve in the Imperial Court. Han Sui appointed Ma Teng's son Ma Chao as his successor.

Around 211, Cao Cao led an expedition against Zhang Lu in Hanzhong. Han Sui and Ma Chao suspected that Cao Cao wanted to attack them instead of Zhang Lu, so they gathered the warlords of Liang Province and started to fight against Cao Cao's forces. Cao Cao retreated and eventually defeated the allied forces at Tong Gate. During the battle, Cao Cao sought an audience with Han Sui and the two talked about anything but military matters. This made Ma Chao suspicious. Finally, Cao Cao sent a forged letter by Jia Xu to Han Sui and had some words smuged out, making it look like they were smuged out by Han Sui. Ma Chao saw the latter and never trusted Han Sui again, leading their forces to split. Han Sui retreated to Liang Province after their defeat.

In the following years, Xiahou Yuan started his conquest of Liang Province. Han Sui fought against him, but was defeated and retreated. He thought about fleeing to Shu, but his general Cheng Gongying encouraged him to keep fighting. Han Sui eventually died in 215 and his head was cut off by his former generals, who brought the head to Cao Cao and surrendered. The cause of his death is unknown, he might have died of illness or he was murdered by his own men.

Early adventures with Ma Teng
When Guo Si and Li Jue seized Chang'an and the imperial court, Han Sui, along with his sworn brother, Ma Teng, Governor of Xiliang, devised plans to defeat them. Scouts were sent to the capital to find those who would help their cause. Soon, the Court Counselors Chong Shao and Ma Yu, along with Imperial Commander Liu Fan, agreed to help them from within. The three men obtained secret imperial edicts from the Emperor, that promoted Han Sui to the Commander Who Guards the West, and Ma Teng was made Commander Who Conquers the West.

As they marched onto the capital with one hundred thousand troops, two subordinates of the duo of Guo Si and Li Jue, Wang Fang and Li Meng stopped them with an army behind them. Han Sui and his sworn brother rode out to the forefront, verbally attacking the enemy army. Han Sui shouted, "There are the rebels! Who will capture them?". Ma Chao, Ma Teng's seventeen-year old son, rode out and dueled Wang Fang. After a few bouts, Wang Fang was speared through, and Ma Chao captured Li Meng. With their commanders' absence, the enemy troops began a broken retreat, but Han Sui and his army pursued them and inflicted heavy losses. Their armies then set up camp in a nearby pass and executed Li Meng.

Because the rebel forces would not take action, the allied forces of Ma Teng and Han Sui were running low on supplies. Scouts reported that Chong Shao, Ma Yu, and Liu Fan were discovered as co-conspirators against Guo Si and Li Jue and thus were executed. The armies of Ma Teng and Han Sui were dismissed to go back to their respective regions, as their helpers were dead and supplies were at an all-time low. Fan Chou pursued Han Sui as his army left. When the rebel general reached Han Sui, the latter asked, "You and I are fellow townsmen. How can you hunt me down like this?" Fan Chou responded by saying that he was acting in the name of the emperor, to which Han Sui said, "I too fight for the ruling house, why press me so hard?" Fan Chou turned his army around and allowed Han Sui to flee. Guo Si and Li Jue's forces were eventually defeated by Cao Cao, who moved the capital to Xuchang.

Revenge
In the year 208AD, Han Sui received a letter that Ma Teng had been executed for his part in a conspiracy against Cao Cao, who had become the prime minister after defeating Li Jue and Guo Si. Han Sui was to march on Xiliang, capture Ma Chao, and as a reward, would be promoted to Lord of Xiliang. He assembled an army of eight officers leading eight divisions those officers being Hou Xuan, Cheng Yin, Hou Xuan, Cheng Yi, Yang Qiu, Liang Xing, Zhang Han, Ma Wan and Li Kan. He traveled to Xiliang, and there he found Ma Chao with an army, readied to avenge his father by attacking the capital. Han Sui showed the letter sent to him by Cao Cao to Ma Chao, to which he offered his surrender. Han Sui said, "Your father and I were sworn brothers. Think you I would harm you? Rather will I help if you are going to fight." Cao Cao's messenger was dragged about and executed.

Han Sui and Ma Chao's forces marched on Chang'an, but as it was the former capital of the Western Han dynasty, it was well-fortified. Pang De, Ma Chao's vassal, snuck into the city as the army rested, and opened the gates from the inside, allowing for a successful capture of the city. They marched onto Tong Pass, but Cao Cao sent an army of ten thousand led by Cao Ren, Xu Huang, and Cao Hong. Ma Chao and Han Sui rode out and insulted the defenders to provoke them into battle, but it happened to no effect. On the ninth day of battle, Han Sui and Ma Chao had come up with an ingenious plan. Their army let loose their horses and set aside their weapons, so Xu Huang and Cao Hong marched to attack. They were trapped in an ambush, but they escaped and Cao Cao's forces retreated. Ma Chao's forces occupied Tong Pass. Cao Cao personally led a force to Tong Pass, and gave wait in three camps. Ma Chao suggested starving their army then attacking, but Han Sui disapproved of the plan and suggested that he attacked when Cao Cao's army was crossing the river, so that they'd drown. Ma Chao attacked by his uncle's plan, and came back, saying, "I would have captured Cao Cao, but a certain bold general had taken him on his back and leaped with him into a boat."

Han Sui had replied, "I have heard that Cao Cao has bodyguards of the bravest and strongest soldiers under the command of Dian Wei and Xu Chu. They are called the Tiger Guard. As Dian Wei is dead, the man you saw must have been Xu Chu. He is both brave and powerful and goes by the name of Tiger Lust. You will do well to avoid him."

Betrayal to an Oath

 * "You herd of rebels! Would you dare to plot against me?"
 * ―Ma Chao, when he discovered Han Sui's plot to assassinate him.

In the winter of 211 AD, successions were made against the Wei army, and one day, an unarmed soldier came and told Han Sui that Cao Cao wanted to gain audience with him. Because the soldier was unarmed, Han Sui wore only light robes and rode out to meet Cao Cao. Cao Cao said sternly, "Your father and I were granted filial degrees at the same time, and I used to treat him as an uncle. Moreover, you and I set out to serve the court at the same time, too, and yet we have not met for years. How old may you be now, General?" The response was forty. Cao Cao continued his talk, "In those old days in the capital, we were both very young and never thought about middle age. If we could only restore tranquility to the state, that would be a matter of rejoicing." For hours, the two reminisced about life before the wars had started, but never mentioned anything about military matters.

Ma Chao heard of the meeting soon and confronted Han Sui on what Cao Cao wanted to talk about. Han Sui said, "He just recalled the old days when we were together in the capital." Later, Cao Cao sent a letter with alterations on it, and Ma Chao once again heard of it. He demanded to know what it contained and saw the alterations. Ma Chao, suspicious, argued with Han Sui, asking him why would he betray him if they were working towards the same goal. Han Sui offered a proposition: The next day, he would ask Cao Cao to come out and talk in full view of the army, and told Ma Chao he could hide in the lines behind him ready to kill Sui.

The next day, Cao Hong rode to Han Sui with his five generals and Ma Chao behind Han Sui. Cao Hong said, "Last night the prime minister quite understood. Let there be no mistake," and immediately rode back to camp. Ma Chao leaped to kill Han Sui, but the five generals stopped him, and checked Han Sui who said to Ma Chao, "Nephew, trust me, really I have no evil intentions." Though he was unconvinced, Ma Chao returned to his camp, and the generals urged Han Sui to return to his camp as well.

He conversed with his generals, asking how could the distrust in Ma Chao be cleared up, but Yang Qiu said, "Ma Chao trusts too much to his strength. He is always inclined to despise you, Sir. If we overcome Cao Cao, do you think he will give way to you? I think you should rather take care of your own interests, go over to the prime minister’s side, and you will surely get rank one day."

Han Sui replied, "I was his father's pledged brother and could not bear to desert him." Yang Qiu and the other generals continued their argument, and Sui saw that he had no other choice. Han Sui wrote a letter, trusting it to Yang Qiu. Cao Cao replied back, saying that he would grant Han Sui the rank of Lord of Xiliang, and Yang Qiu its governor. Sui, delighted, made a plan to invite Ma Chao to a banquet and assassinate him, then light a signal fire for Cao Cao's armies to attack. However, a delay in preparations had Ma Chao leap into the tent and say, "You herd of rebels! Would you dare to plot against me?" Ma Chao charged at Han Sui, attempting to slash him at the face. Han Sui instinctively tried to block the blow with his hand, but his hand was cut off. The five generals accompanying Han Sui drew their weapons while the servants carried Han Sui off. Ma Chao killed Ma Wan and disarmed Liang Xing, but the troops of Han Sui managed to light the signal fire, and the Wei forces rushed in the camp and a confusing battle ensued, during which Li Kan was killed.

As promised, Han Sui was given Lordship of Xiliang, and his only two surviving officers, Hou Xuan and Yang Qiu, were given noble offices.