After Liu Bei defeated Dangyang Changbanpo, he chose to retreat from the waterway to Xiakou, which was guarded by Liu Qi, which was the refuge that Zhuge Liang had prepared for Liu Bei a long time ago. Xiakou not only has a natural geographical advantage, but also can go down the river to Chaisang, which is an excellent military choice for Liu Bei.
At that time, Liu Cong, who took over Jingzhou, chose to give up resistance and surrendered to Cao Cao. Liu Bei was the only survivor of the edict, and Cao Cao regarded him as a thorn in his side, so after taking Jingzhou, he pursued Liu Bei non-stop. This is Liu Bei's crisis, and it is also a great opportunity - a chance to seize Jingzhou.
Liu Bei's theoretical guidance comes from Zhuge Liang's "Longzhong pair" strategy. In order to realize the strategic plan of "crossing Jing and benefiting", Liu Bei must seize Jingzhou. At the same time, the capture of Jingzhou is also the key to achieving the grand goal of "restoring the Han dynasty". Although Liu Bei had long had ambitions for Jingzhou, due to Liu Biao's prestige and status as the queen of the clan, he could only choose to forbear.
But now the situation has changed.
Subjectively, Liu Bei will pass the 100th pass last year, and there is not much time left for him, and this may be his last chance to seize Jingzhou.
Objectively, Liu Biao has passed away, and Liu Bei doesn't have to worry about anything anymore;And Cao Cao had just taken over Jingzhou, and his foothold was not stable. These are all favorable factors.
The downside was that Liu Bei's forces could not compete with the powerful Cao Cao, even with Liu Qi's assistance, it still couldn't. Therefore, the only way is to borrow the power of Sun Quan of Eastern Wu, form an anti-Cao alliance, and wait for the opportunity to seize Jingzhou. It was against this background that Liu Bei withdrew to Xiakou.
Xiakou is located at the throat of Soochow, is the transportation hub of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, controls the traffic and exchanges between the Han River and the Yangtze River, and is crucial to the economic, military and political status of Soochow. By controlling Xiakou, it was possible to take advantage of the water transportation advantages of the Han River and the Yangtze River to transport a large number of troops and materials, threatening the security and stability of Eastern Wu. For Soochow, the loss of Xiakou is the loss of the strategic initiative. Therefore, Sun Quan had to defend Xiakou with all his might in order to ensure the safety and stability of Eastern Wu.
Liu Bei's strategic intention to retreat from Fancheng all the way to Xiakou was obvious, that is, to spread the war to the doorstep of Eastern Wu. If Cao Cao decided to attack Xiakou, Sun Quan would be forced to join the battle to ensure that Liu Bei would not be defeated by Cao Cao. Now, it depends on whether Cao Cao is worthy of cooperating with the troops.
Cao Cao has conquered the two strong enemies of Yuan Shao and Liu Biao, and is now only one step away from the dream of dominating the world. His forces are at the peak of their history, and they will never miss the opportunity to attack Soochow. In fact, long before going south to Jingzhou, Cao Cao wrote in the poem "Turtle Although Shou": "Lao Ji is in ambush, and his ambition is thousands of miles. The martyrs are in their twilight years, and their hearts are strong. This shows his determination to complete the great cause of dominating the world in the near future.
Not surprisingly, after Cao Cao successfully captured Jingzhou, he immediately sent a war letter to Sun Quan despite the opposition of all the strategists. He hinted in the war book that if Sun Quan could raise the white flag and surrender like Liu Cong, he would be given preferential treatment and ensure the peace of the party. Otherwise, he will lead an army of 800,000 to the east and "hunt" with Sun Quan in Wu. At that time, it will not only lead to the destruction of lives, but also cure Sun Quan for the crime of "resisting the decree".
After the young Sun Quan received Cao Cao's war book, he couldn't make up his mind for a while, so he passed the war book to his subordinates to read. When everyone learned that Cao Cao was about to go east, they immediately panicked, and the conservatives** led by Zhang Zhao, the long history, and the local wealthy families of Eastern Wu all advocated surrender to avoid the scourge of war. They gave plausible reasons: first, Cao Cao was giving orders in the name of the imperial court, and if he resisted, it would appear unjustifiable;Secondly, after Cao Cao took Jingzhou, he had already shared the Yangtze River with Eastern Wu, and the number of Cao's army was much larger than that of Eastern Wu.
However, the Mesozoic generals of Eastern Wu, represented by Zhou Yu and Lu Su, resolutely advocated the war. Lu Su sharply tortured Sun Quan: "Has the general ever thought about how he will be treated if he surrenders to Cao Cao?"This question was like a sharp sword, piercing into the depths of Sun Quan's heart, making him sober up in an instant. He understood that if he submitted to Cao Cao, he would be reduced from a hegemon to someone else's courtier, and he would be transferred out of Eastern Wu, as can be seen from what happened to Liu Cong after his surrender. Leaving his father and brother to pay the price of his life to build a hard foundation. In the future, under Jiuquan, what face will you have to see your father and brother?Thinking of this, Sun Quan began to lean towards fighting.
Zhou Yu then went on to say that although Cao Cao was nominally the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, he was actually a Han thief, so it was no problem to disobey Cao Cao legally. Then, Zhou Yu further analyzed, he believed that Cao's army was exhausted after a long journey, and he was not good at water warfare, plus the Jingzhou Navy was newly attached and had not yet formed combat effectiveness, so although Cao's army was numerous, it was not terrible;In addition, Ma Chao and Han Sui were eyeing the city in Guanxi and attacking at any time, Cao Cao would not dare to try his best to attack, so he thought that Cao Cao would lose this battle.
After Sun Quan listened to Zhou Yu's analysis and Lu Su's soul torture, his heart that had been hanging finally let go, and he made up his mind to join Liu Kangcao. Then the Battle of Guandu broke out, and as Zhou Yu expected, the Sun-Liu coalition defeated the seemingly powerful Cao army with fewer victories. After Cao Cao led the remnants of his troops to flee back to Jiangling from Huarong Dao in embarrassment, he left Cao Ren, Xu Huang and others to guard Nanjun, Lejin to defend Xiangyang, and led his army back to the north.
Sun Quan, who had been worried about Cao Cao's eastern expedition not long ago, was in high spirits at this time, and ordered to take advantage of the victory to pursue him, and to take the southern county he coveted, and drive Cao's army out of the area south of the Yangtze River.
Sun Quan had always had the idea of capturing Jingzhou, to be exact, it was a goal shared by him, his father Sun Jian, and his brother Sun Ce, but Liu Biao's army was so strong that they were never able to achieve this wish. But now that Liu Biao has died, Cao Cao has just experienced a major defeat, which gives Sun Quan the perfect opportunity to capture Jingzhou.
Sun Quan would never let go of this opportunity, and he decisively attacked in three directions: with Zhou Yu and Cheng Pu as the left and right governors, he led Gan Ning, Ling Tong and other generals to join Liu Bei to attack Nanjun;Sun Quan personally led the army to attack Hefei;Changshi Zhang Zhao was in charge of attacking Dangtu. The purpose of Sun Quan's move was obvious, that is, to capture Jingzhou and Huainan in one go, and to advance the overall defense line of Eastern Wu to the Huai River Valley.
However, Sun Quan is not the only one who is worried about Jingzhou, after all, seizing Jingzhou is also the established strategy of Liu Bei's group. However, Liu Bei's strength is not good, and he can't compete with Sun Quan for the time being, so under Zhuge Liang's suggestion, Liu Bei is quiet on the surface, and actively cooperates with Sun Quan to drive Cao Jun out of Jingzhou, but secretly he is actively arranged.
Liu Bei recommended Zhang Fei to Zhou Yu, the governor of Eastern Wu, who was in charge of attacking Nanjun, hoping that he could serve under Zhou Yu's account. At that time, Zhou Yu was worried about the lack of major generals, and when he saw Liu Bei sending charcoal in the snow, he naturally readily agreed.
At the same time, Liu Bei offered to take charge of severing the connection between Jiangling and Xiangyang in order to isolate Cao Ren. This strategy was endorsed by Sun Quan and Zhou Yu. Subsequently, Liu Bei ordered Guan Yu to lead the army to carry out the task of the North Dao, that is, to cut off the road for Cao Cao's reinforcements to enter Nanjun and slow down the advance of the reinforcements. Liu Bei himself led Zhao Yun and other generals, and when Sun Quan, Zhou Yu and others fought fiercely with Cao's army, they attacked Changsha, Guiyang, Wuling, Lingling and other Jingnan counties in the name of Jiangxia Taishou Liu Qi.
After Cao Cao entered Jingzhou, due to his defeat at Chibi, he had no time to send ** to receive the remote four counties of Jingnan, so he hurriedly retreated to the north. Therefore, although the four counties of Jingnan were nominally Cao Cao's territory, the actual control was still controlled by Liu Biao's old subordinates. Liu Bei ordered Zhuge Liang, the general of the military division, to be responsible for the governance of the three counties of Lingling, Guiyang, and Changsha, and let the partial general Zhao Yun replace Zhao Fan as the Taishou of Guiyang, and from then on firmly controlled the Jingnan region.
The four counties of Jingnan are located on the south bank of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, bordering Jiangling in the north, Wuchang in the east, Changsha in the south, and Xiangyang in the west. In addition to the waterway connection between the four counties, there is also a convenient land connection, which can be attacked and defended, and the strategic position is extremely important.
The significance of Liu Bei's seizure of the four counties of Jingnan is extraordinary, not only to solve the problem of foothold, but also to be the bridgehead of Liu Bei's group to dominate the world, laying the foundation for its later seizure of Yizhou.
First of all, from an economic point of view, the four counties of Jingnan are rich places in southern China, which not only have rich agricultural resources, but also rich mineral resources. Therefore, after Liu Bei successfully occupied the four counties of Jingnan, his army had a strong economic backing and achieved self-sufficiency in military rations. This is a major breakthrough in Liu Bei's development and is of great significance.
Liu Bei had previously struggled due to his inability to achieve military self-sufficiency, and could only rely on the support of others to barely maintain the operation of the army. If we don't have enough food and armaments, how can we fight for the world?However, now that Liu Bei has successfully solved this problem, his army can go into battle without any worries.
Second, Liu Bei's success in controlling the four counties of Jingnan greatly increased his military strength, and his personal prestige and status were significantly improved, quickly making up for the power vacuum created by Liu Biao's death and Cao Cao's defeat and retreat from Jingzhou, and his political influence was greatly increased.
After the Battle of Chibi, although Cao Cao suffered losses in the war, he was still the most powerful prince of the time, and Sun Quan's rapid rise through this battle not only significantly increased his military strength, but also reached the peak of his personal prestige and influence. If Sun Quan captures Jingzhou, then Liu Bei will be marginalized, and the only ones who are qualified to compete for the world in the end are Cao Cao and Sun Quan. However, Liu Bei succeeded in seizing the four counties of Jingnan before Sun Quan, which gave him the strength to challenge Sun Quan, and even Cao Cao could not ignore his presence.
Through this move, Liu Bei successfully reversed the situation that was unfavorable to him and changed from passive to active. But that's not all.
In the northern battlefield of Jingzhou, Guan Yu successfully completed the task in accordance with Liu Bei's orders. Although Guan Yu's troops were limited, he flexibly used guerrilla tactics to successfully block Cao's army that came to support Nanjun, winning the opportunity for Zhou Yu to take Nanjun, and also laying the groundwork for Liu Bei to borrow Nanjun.
After Zhou Yu occupied Nanjun as he wished, Sun Quan was overjoyed, but soon found that the situation was not optimistic. The north of Nanjun has been controlled by Guan Yu, and to the south are the four counties of Jingnan guarded by Zhuge Liang and Zhao Yun. At the same time, Liu Bei himself was also personally stationed at the public security on the other side of Nanjun. Nanjun had actually fallen into the encirclement woven by Liu Bei.
Liu Bei, citing his large number of troops and small territory, asked Sun Quan to lend him Nanjun. Sun Quan was very dissatisfied with this: Isn't this taking advantage of the fire to rob?No credit at all!However, despite his dissatisfaction, he also clearly realized that the current situation was not optimistic, and Cao Cao had already shifted the direction of his main attack to the east, and he had to make targeted troop arrangements. If he turns his face with Liu Bei at this time, the consequences will be unimaginable - Sun Quan will be forced to fight on two fronts, and he will definitely lose.
The reality is cruel, the forces of Eastern Wu are limited, and they cannot support a two-front operation, nor can they take into account the defense in the direction of Xiangyang and Hefei at the same time. Considering the existing forces of Eastern Wu, the best strategy was to concentrate the main forces in the direction of Misu to prevent the main force of Cao's army from moving south from Hefei. As for the task of preventing Cao's army in Xiangyang from moving south, it also needs to rely on Liu Bei's strength.
Sun Quan went through a lot of hardships to fulfill his father's and brother's last wish and take Nanjun, but he was about to lend it to Liu Bei, his heart was full of unwillingness and helplessness, and now the initiative has fallen into Liu Bei's hands. In this case, Sun Quan could only push the boat down the river and agreed to Liu Bei's request.
The question arises, why didn't Sun Quan seize the four counties of Jingnan before Liu Bei?
Sun Quan's attitude towards the four counties of Jingnan lacked the strategic vision of an excellent military strategist, and he did not see the problem in the long term. He believes that the four counties of Jingnan will be his sooner or later, because he looks at Jiaozhou and Yizhou, which are adjacent to the four counties of Jingnan, and he believes that the strategic position of Jiaozhou and Yizhou is more important. In his eyes, although the four counties of Jingnan occupy the key points of the Yangtze River in terms of geographical location, they are in a corner, and compared with the states and counties in the Central Plains, they are too small and do not have much strategic value for his hegemony.
However, as Zhuge Liang said in a letter to Sun Quan, the four counties of Jingnan were a very important place, as they were both important fulcrums of military strategy and important hubs of economic development. Their military and economic potential is enormous. However, Sun Quan ignored the strategic value of the four counties of Jingnan and mistakenly believed that they were in his pocket, so he made mistakes in some important decisions, and was finally successfully attacked by Liu Bei.
On the whole, although Sun Quan successfully captured Nanjun from Cao Cao, Liu Bei used the battle of Nanjun to build an encirclement of Nanjun, which made Sun Quan lose the strategic initiative. In this case, Sun Quan could only be forced to lend Nanjun to Liu Bei.