Although Huo Jun is not known to the public, he has played an important role in the history of Shu Han. In the seventeenth year of Jian'an, Liu Bei led his army south to attack Chengdu, and Liu Zhang's original purpose in inviting Liu Bei into Shu was to deal with Zhang Lu in Hanzhong, or to use Liu Bei's power to recapture Hanzhong in order to become a barrier to the north. However, Liu Bei spent nearly a year in Jiamengguan and did not go north, so Liu Zhang lost patience. According to the Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, Zhang Song's brother betrayed Zhang Song, calling him a traitor in Yizhou, and told Liu Zhang that Liu Bei had already captured Yizhou and was ready to sacrifice the land.
But this statement is not reliable, because if Liu Zhang really trusts Liu Bei like this, then he is an idiot. Perhaps his real idea was to make Liu Bei and Zhang Lu lose both. Thus, the battle between Liu Bei and Liu Zhang began, and they attacked from the north and south respectively. In the end, Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, Zhao Yun, and Zhang Fei went against the current from east to west and joined Liu Zhang in Chengdu. The army sent by Liu Zhang was quickly defeated by Liu Bei, among whom Wu Yi surrendered, while Leng Bao, Zhang Ren and others retreated to Mianzhu. Liu Zhang also appointed Li Yan as a protector to supervise the Mianzhou army to monitor the generals and prevent anyone from rebelling.
Li Yan is Liu Bei's trusted minister, and he is the only candidate who can serve as the minister of Tuogu. But he only held on to Mianzhu for a few months before Kaecheng surrendered. Due to the limited historical record, we do not know how Liu Bei captured Yizhou, whether by military strength or by political means and by combining Liu Zhang's men to break it from within. However, when Liu Bei captured Mianzhu, there were less than 50 kilometers left, and the victory in Chengdu was in front of his eyes. When Liu Bei attacked Yizhou, he encountered the offensive and defensive battle of Luocheng, and Liu Zhang sent Wu Yi and Li Yan and others to betray, resulting in Liu Bei's inability to break through.
Liu Zhang did not just defend passively, he also ordered Fu Ban and Xiang Cun to lead 10,000 elite soldiers to surround Jia Mengguan for more than a year, in order to copy Liu Bei from the rear. Liu Bei's army was not sufficient, the main force was still in Jingzhou, and there were only about 30,000 people when he entered Shu, which was difficult to deal with Liu Zhang's strategy. If Fu Ban and the others converge with Liu Zhang's frontal army, Liu Bei will be in crisis. Jiameng Pass was originally just an isolated city, with only a few hundred defenders, but it was held for more than a year. Huo Jun, the general who defended the city, was a native of Jingzhou and became a member of Liu Bei's entry into Shu.
There is no detailed historical record of the defensive battle of Jiameng Pass, but you can imagine the difficulties of the defending side. Whether the people in the city are united or not is the key to whether the defenders of the city can hold on. If you can't win over the people of Jiameng, the city is likely to be breached. The reason why Huo Jun was able to keep Jia Meng and mobilize the support of the people was all because of his personality charm. The human heart is the heart of the people who are willing to live and die with you when you are in trouble. This sentence may be too absolute, but for Huo Jun at that time, it couldn't be more appropriate. Fu Ban and others attacked for a year, but they made no achievements, so they had no choice but to give up.
However, Fu Ban never expected that hundreds of Huo Jun's subordinates would dare to go out of the city to pursue, but Fu Ban was surrounded and killed by the men and horses led by Huo Jun for a while, so he had to flee in embarrassment. It was Huo Jun's bravery and good fighting that kept Liu Bei's back road and made the front safe. When Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang and others converged, the overall situation of Yizhou had already been decided. If it weren't for Huo Jun's protection, Fu Ban and the others would join the army on the frontal battlefield, Liu Bei would probably not only be defeated and die, but could only flee east. Huo Jun made outstanding achievements, and after Liu Bei took Yizhou, he named him Zitong Taishou and became one of the powerful figures in Shu Han.
However, it is a pity that only three years later, Huo Jun died of illness at a young age, only forty years old. If Huo Jun is still alive, or has the position of Taishou in Hanzhong, maybe he will be able to fight for more power.