For thousands of years, Guan Yu has always been a powerful image in people’s hearts. In the kingdom of Shu, Guan Yu was Liu Bei’s top general. He was Liu Bei’s sworn brother and was even more loyal to Liu Bei. When Liu Bei took Yizhou to the west, he ordered him to stay in Jingzhou for nine years (from the 16th to the 24th year of Jian’an), which was an important stage in his life. The war of Shu Kingdom won one after another. At that time, it was powerful in China, and his achievements reached the peak. The significance of Jingzhou to Liu Bei is extraordinary, but surprisingly, Jingzhou was invaded in the end.
Historically, many people will accuse Guan Yu of losing Jingzhou as soon as they mention this matter, and make comments only based on the results without analyzing the process. In fact, there are many reasons for Guan Yu’s loss of Jingzhou. On the surface, it is unfair for him to blame him for the loss of Jingzhou. If we comprehensively review his activities during the period of guarding Jingzhou, it is not difficult to find his achievements. If we only accuse him of launching the battle of Xiangfan without authorization and undermining Zhugeliang’s sun Liu alliance strategic policy, it will be contrary to the facts.
Judging from the situation at that time, Jingzhou played a very important role in the Warlord’s scuffle at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. For Shu, Kongming Longzhong said, “Jingzhou is located in the north of Han and Mianyang, making full use of the South China Sea, connecting Wu Hui in the East and Ba and Shu in the West. This place cannot be defended unless its owner; when the world changes, he orders a general to send the troops of Jingzhou to Wan and Luo.” Jingzhou was very important to the Three Kingdoms at that time. From the aspect of Wei, if Jingzhou could threaten Wan and Luo, how could Wei ignore it. For Wu, seizing Jingzhou “based on the Yangtze River and waiting for changes in the world” is also a major policy and strategy. For the three countries, Jingzhou wants to take it as its own as long as there is an opportunity. Since all the three countries are eyeing Jingzhou, as long as the people guarding Jingzhou are slightly negligent, they may lose. Moreover, in the fifth year of Jian’an, Lu Su said to Sun Quan: Jingchu… The water flows smoothly to the north, with Jianghan outside and mountains inside. There is a solid city of gold, fertile fields and thousands of miles, and the scholars and people are rich. If they are based on it, this is the capital of the emperor. Everyone recognizes the importance of Jingzhou, so this task is not only for Guan Yu, but also for everyone. There may be danger if you are not vigilant.
Liu Bei should also bear some responsibility for Guan Yu’s loss to Jingzhou. At that time, Liu Bei wanted to take Xichuan, so Wei and Wu had an opportunity. At that time, after consultation, they began to take Xichuan. Kongming said, “Jingzhou is an important place, and we must divide our troops to defend it.” Xuande said, “I will go to Xichuan with pangshiyuan, Huang Zhong and Wei Yan; the military division can guard Jingzhou with Guan Yunchang, Zhang Yide and Zhao Zilong.” Kongming agreed. So Kongming always guarded Jingzhou; Guan Gong refused Xiangyang main road and became a qingni pass; Zhang Fei led the four counties to patrol the river, zhaoyuntun Jiangling, and the town public security. Xuande ordered Huang Zhong as the front, Wei Yan as the rear, and Xuande was in the middle army with Liu Feng and Guan Ping. Pang Tong, a military division with 50000 horse infantry, set out for the West. There are 50000 horse infantry here.
Later, because Pang Tong was shot dead by an arrow in front of Luofeng slope, Kongming said, “since the LORD was in a dilemma at Fuguan, Liang had to go.” Kongming then ordered civil servants Ma Liang, Yi Ji, Xiang Lang, MI Zhu, and military generals Mi Fang, Liao Hua, Guan Ping, and Zhou Cang to assist Yun Chang in guarding Jingzhou, while personally unifying troops into Sichuan. Ten thousand elite soldiers were allocated first, and Zhang Fei, the commander, took the main road to kill the west of Bazhou and Luocheng, and the first to arrive was the first merit. Then another troop was sent, with Zhao Yun as the vanguard, to go up the river and meet in Luocheng. Kongming then led Jian Yong, Jiang Wan and others to set out. On the same day, Kongming led 15000 troops and set out with Zhang Fei on the same day. So at least 15000 soldiers are divided here in Jingzhou, so how many soldiers can Jingzhou have to guard?
Jingzhou is an important place. He divided his troops twice before and after. In a critical time, Liu Bei did not send troops from two rivers to save Jingzhou. Liu Bei had no choice but to abandon the light and pay more attention to the soldiers of Sichuan and Sichuan. Therefore, Liu Bei should also bear some responsibility for the loss of Jingzhou. Another is Sun Quan’s betrayal, and before Guan Yu refused to marry, Soochow had been eyeing Jingzhou twice.
Lu Su died in the 22nd year of Jian’an. Lu Meng, the left guard of the eastern Wu faction and general Huwei, stationed at Lukou, connecting with Gongan, Nanjun and other areas occupied by Guan Yu. Lu Meng knew that Guan Yu occupied his downstream and had plans to annex him, so he took the initiative to have a good relationship with Guan Yu on the surface.
In fact, it was not only Sun Quan who had the idea of recovering Jingzhou, but also Lu Meng, who did not find a suitable opportunity. Lu Meng took Lu Su to Lukou, but he was still very friendly on the surface. Even the marriage with Guan Yu was just a trap. Lu Meng often said to Sun Quan, “Guan Yu is not afraid to expand to the east now, because you are wise, and our class is still there. If we don’t take advantage of the current strong military forces to seek Guan Yu’s place, once we are gone, it’s probably very difficult to use force to conquer Jingzhou.”
Although Sun Quan had such an idea, he never really started fighting. Lu Meng still insisted on his own opinion. He said to Sun Quan: “Cao Cao is now far away in the north of the Yellow River. He has just eliminated yuan’s forces recently and has no time to take into account the east of the river. The garrison in Xuzhou is not worth mentioning. We can naturally win if we go there. However, you should think that that place is the main road by land. If you take Xuzhou today, Cao Cao will fight for it tomorrow. At that time, even if there are 70000 or 80000 troops, I’m afraid it will be difficult to hold it. It’s better to seize Guan Yu’s place, and that will be all under control By controlling the Yangtze River region, our power will be even stronger and invincible. ” After hearing Lu Meng’s words, Sun Quan felt justified, so his determination to recover Jingzhou was increasingly strengthened.
After the civil and military consultation of the Wu Marquis Sun Quan Association, Gu Yongjin said, “Liu Bei divided his troops and went far away through the mountains, and it was not easy to return. Why not send an army to cut off the entrance of Sichuan first, cut off its way back, and then do all the troops of the eastern Wu and go down to Jingxiang with a drum? This is an opportunity that cannot be missed.” Quan said, “this plan is great!”
Because Wu was too angry: “I have only one woman in my life, married to Liu Bei. If I start fighting now, how will my woman’s life be!” So he rebuked and retired all the officials, and the country hated him too much. Sun Quan stood under the porch and thought to himself, “if this opportunity is lost, when will Jingxiang get it?” After Mrs. sun returned to Wu, Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun killed Zhou Shan, intercepted the river and captured ah Dou. Sun Quan was furious and said, “now that my sister has returned, how can I not repay her for not killing Zhou Shan?” Summon the civil and military forces to negotiate to attack Jingzhou.
If there were no rebel League of Sun Quan, even if Xu Huang and other troops attacked from the front, Guan Yu would not be completely defeated, and several counties in Jingzhou south of the Yangtze River would still be protected. When Guan Yu lost Jingzhou, there was a rebellion and betrayal of Sun Quan group outside. At this time, Guan Yu’s successive victories on the front line made the Liu Bei group more powerful, but also threatened the interests of Cao and sun. Cao Cao, on the other hand, failed in military affairs and was ready to move the capital. Guan Yu’s victory seriously threatened Cao Cao and Sun Quan. So the Cao and sun families had a common desire to fight against Shu and defeat or destroy Guan Yu to capture Jingzhou. The contradiction between sun and Liu is an open secret, which gives the Cao Cao group an opportunity.
Sima Yi offered advice to Cao Cao: “I have a plan. Jiang Dong Sun Quan married Liu Bei as a younger sister, and took advantage of it to steal it back; Liu Bei occupied Jingzhou and didn’t return it. In this way, the two must have a gnash of hatred. If there is a defender in the middle who convinces Sun Quan to mobilize troops to attack Jingzhou, then Liu Bei will send troops from both rivers to save Jingzhou. At that time, the king will send troops to take Hanchuan again, causing a double attack, which will make Liu Bei unable to take care of his head and tail, and there is bound to be a crisis.”
After hearing this, Cao Cao was also willing to help Sun Quan. At that time, Guan Yu had only about 100000 people, and the combination of Wu and Wei dynasties far exceeded Guan Yu’s army. Cao Cao’s reinforcements are 500000, and Cao Ren’s soldiers in Fancheng plus Xu Huang’s 50000 have to have 100000 troops. Lu Meng crossed the river in white for 30000. Later, Han Dang, Zhou Tai and other seven generals entered in turn, and the rest followed Sun Quan to rescue. It can be seen that Sun Quan’s troops at that time could not be less than 200000. The two countries add up to 800000 troops. In this way, no matter how smart and brave people are, they will also lose. Although Guan Yu is both wise and brave, there is no lack of people in the Wu and Wei dynasties who give advice and are skilled in war.
As we all know, Guan Yu and three generals, Cao Ren, pound and Xu Huang, have also fought one after another. These three generals are not ordinary people. At this time, Guan Yu should not only lead the troops to guard Jingzhou, but also face a steady stream of enemy reinforcements, which is a very difficult thing for anyone. Even if Guan Yu is extremely brave, powerful and will fight again, it will be difficult to deal with the powerful Cao soldiers led by these three generals at the same time. However, he successfully surrounded Fancheng, flooded the seven armies, captured pound and killed pound. From here, we can see that Guan Yu is a very good soldier. However, after several major battles, the troops have been depleted, and the other side has reinforcements, Guan Yu’s army will inevitably be insufficient. Not only that, at that time, when we were in a hurry to use troops, the news came that LV Meng was ill and Lu Xun was leading the troops. As a senior general, he will certainly consider transferring Jingzhou garrison to support the front line. If he does not transfer reinforcements from Jingzhou, the battle of Fancheng in the north will fail. Once Guan Yu is defeated by Cao Bing, Cao Jun can wave his troops straight down to sweep Jingzhou and point directly at Xishu. The situation will be more dangerous. Therefore, it seems that Guan Yu’s deployment to the North was wise. The main reason for his failure was that at that time, he had no generals who could guard Jingzhou, and there were no virtuous military masters who could particularly understand the operation. At that time, all the strategies needed to be decided by him. We should not only give advice, but also unify the army and fight. Everything is carried out by ourselves. The other side is a group of good generals and advisers. In the Northern Wei Dynasty, there are Xu Huang’s martial arts, Cao Hong’s courage and man Pang’s wisdom. In the eastern Wu Dynasty, there are LV Mengtong’s soldiers and Lu Xun’s advice. The troops of Wei and Wu are far more than Guan Yu’s. Guan Yu is not a God. Even if he has thousands of enemies, he can’t fight so many powerful enemies! After all, two fists are difficult to defeat four hands… But later, many people believed that Guan Yu’s failure was to transfer the troops of Jingzhou to the north, so that Wu soldiers had an opportunity to take advantage of it. But judging from the situation at that time, how could he withstand Cao Bing without sending troops north? In this regard, it is a correct military strategy to send troops northward. This also has a lot to do with the pride and conceit of Liu Bei and Zhugeliang. They thought Guan Yu could hold on, so the Western Shu reinforcements were delayed. Half of Jingzhou was borne by Guan Yu alone. Guan Yu’s responsibility and pressure were too great, and his troops were too few to be used. How could he be invincible?
In this failure, Zhugeliang should also bear some responsibility, because Zhugeliang put “resisting Cao Cao in the north” in front, which not only made Jingzhou garrison lose its strong allies, but also added a powerful and deadly enemy – this may be an unintentional loss of his, but it is a fatal loss. He neglected to guide and manage the matter of guarding Jingzhou, did not give strong guidance and help in Guan Yu’s employment, and did not put forward some more scientific opinions and suggestions. Guan Yu’s guarding Jingzhou can be said to be the first major task. In many aspects, especially personnel issues and work arrangements, he needs specific and meticulous guidance and help. Especially at that time, Jingzhou was an important military area for all countries. He was so careless and thoughtless, so he also had to bear some responsibility.
At that time, when Zhugeliang handed over the power of Jingzhou to Guan Yu, he also expressed doubts about Guan Yu’s ability, but at that time he “wanted to stay away from it”, but “his words have come out”. Is it possible that such an important military plan can easily be entrusted just because it takes care of its temporary face? This is not necessarily a little ridiculous. If he really did not think about the long term in order to take care of his own face, Zhugeliang would be too irresponsible to the rivers and mountains of Shu! Since this important work is entrusted to a person with limited ability and little trust, it should often give guidance on work. However, Zhugeliang left Guan Yu an eight character policy, but after leading the army to the west, he never gave Guan Yu opinions and suggestions on Guarding Jingzhou, nor did he inspect and supervise the guarding work of Jingzhou, but only sent a large number of condolences after obtaining Xichuan. After Guan Yu refused to propose marriage from the eastern Wu Dynasty, he just said, “Jingzhou is in danger!” Although “dangerous”, no measures have been taken. Later, when Zhugeliang heard a series of victory reports from Guan Yu, especially the defense plan reported by Guan Ping, he safely and boldly put “Jingzhou is in danger” aside. Zhugeliang, who has always been wise and knows things like gods, should feel the crisis of Jingzhou after Zhuge Jin failed to plan for Jing and Guan Yu refused to marry him. At that time, Guan Yu should also be reminded to be careful against “Jiangdong rats”. However, until Guan Yu lost his Jingzhou base camp and lost his life, Liu Bei “shouted and fainted to the ground” in pain, until he lost his reason and vowed to attack Wu all over the country – which directly caused the decline of Shu and even its destruction. This also has a lot to do with the military division who is fully responsible for the military and political affairs of Shu Kingdom. He should be responsible for this, rather than shifting the main responsibility to Guan Yu.
In a word, the loss of Jingzhou was caused by the improper strategy of Liu Bei group and the overall strategic situation at that time, not Guan Yu’s personal fault. It is unfair to blame Guan Yu for the loss of Jingzhou.
It’s sad to lose Jingzhou carelessly, Guan Gong! In fact, in the face of this major historical change, Guan Yu is undoubtedly a loser; However, from the perspective of process analysis, he is not a tragic figure. It is not necessarily his fault to lose Jingzhou carelessly. Guan Yu, who was granted the title of “Gaitian ancient Buddha”, was guilty of “carelessly losing Jingzhou” for a long time, which is really puzzling.