In 219 AD, Guan Yu personally led more than 70,000 elite people from Jingzhou to attack the Xiangfan area and soon besieged it. Cao Wei's general Cao Ren, who is good at defensive warfare, is helpless. With the passage of time, the Xiangfan area gradually fell into the hands of Guan Yu. Cao Cao was forced by the situation and urgently dispatched the general Ban to lead the Seventh Army to relieve the siege.
Yu Ban is a good general of Cao Wei's five sons, known for his excellent comprehensive ability. Leading the Seventh Army of more than 30,000 people, he should be able to theoretically relieve the pressure on Xiangfan. If the strategy is right, it may even be possible to turn the situation around and defeat the Jingzhou army led by Guan Yu. It is worth noting that at that time, the Jingzhou army had besieged Fancheng for three months, and the soldiers were exhausted.
However, unexpectedly, the Seventh Army led by Yu Ban was defeated and retreated under Guan Yu's attack. Historical records mention in the "Huayang National Chronicles" that the king of Cao Wei sent the general Zuo Yu Ban to lead the 7th army of 30,000 people to rescue Fancheng, but the whole army was wiped out due to the surge of the Han River. Guan Yu was good at taking advantage of the situation of the war, and took advantage of the surging Han River to successfully capture Yu Ban's Seventh Army.
Cao Wei's vanguard general Pang De chose to fight to the death heroically after being flooded by Guan Yu, and was finally beheaded by Guan Yu. In stark contrast, Yu Ban chose to surrender to Guan Yu immediately after the army was flooded. This action not only saved Yu Ban's life, but also saved the 30,000 troops he led from falling. However, Yu Ban's surrender was despised by many people, especially in stark contrast to Pound's resolute resistance to the war.
During the Battle of Xiangfan, who were the main generals of the Forbidden Seventh Army?In ancient times, the strength of a division was about 10,000 people, while the size of an army was about 4,000 people. At that time, Yu Ban led the Seventh Army, with a total strength of nearly 28,000 people. If you add the soldiers and horses to which Yu Ban belongs, the total number of soldiers and horses just reaches more than 30,000, which provides sufficient combat power for Yu Ban.
In the face of such a large force, it is obviously not enough to ban a single person to command, even if he works 48 hours a day. Therefore, at that time, there were other generals who coordinated the command and jointly supported Yu Ban.
However, among the generals who supported Xiangfan, except for Pang De, everyone else surrendered to Guan Yu, which was very humiliating. After Guan Yu carried out a water attack, Xuzhou assassin Shi Haozhou chose to surrender Guan Yu. Hao Zhou, with different words, is a member of the party.
After Guan Yu's defeat, Haozhou returned to Sun Quan. However, in order to show favor to Cao Wei, Sun Quan actually sent Hao Zhou and Yu Ban back to Cao Wei. Although Hao Zhou returned to Cao Wei again, he was not reused by the Cao Wei group during his lifetime.
On the whole, Hao Zhou first considered his personal safety in times of crisis, but ignored the general interests of the country. This shows that Hao Zhou did not give full play to the role of the assassin. At the same time, when the lord was facing a dilemma, Hao Zhou, as an entourage general, did not desperately advise Cao Ren like Man Chong, advocating to hold on to Fancheng and wait for the arrival of reinforcements, which was the best policy.
If you abandon the city and flee, you will not only lose Fancheng, but also make the Central Plains become the target of Shu invasion. Overall, although Hao Zhou was in danger, he failed to bring a substantial change to the situation of the war.
The second general who suggested surrendering to Guan Yu was Dongligon, who was originally the Taishou of Nanyang and Sima under the command of Yu Ban. Dongligon's main duties involved managing the training and distribution of work for the horses, and he held an important position in the army. Especially for cavalry, having a strong war horse can greatly increase their combat effectiveness.
However, despite his important position, Dongligon chose to surrender to Guan Yu in the face of a critical moment. Dongligon's fate was similar to that of Hao Zhou, who first surrendered to Guan Yu and then to Eastern Wu, and was eventually released back to Cao Wei by Sun Quan. Historical records in the Wei Luo show that Dongligon surrendered Guan Yu out of sincere and sincere considerations, but unfortunately he failed to fully realize his potential value in Cao Wei.
The third and fourth generals who recommended surrendering to Guan Yu were Dong Heng and Dong Chao, respectively. The two had served as Pound's lieutenant generals, and were also subordinate to Ban's command. At the critical juncture, Dong Heng and Dong Chao chose to surrender Guan Yu.
Dong Heng and Dong Chao are likely to be the Western Liang generals who surrendered to Cao Cao with Pang De. Historical records show that when Guan Yu led the ship to attack, Pang De wore armor and held a bow on the embankment, and the arrows were not missing. Dong Heng, Dong Chao and other subordinates wanted to surrender, but Pang De beheaded them all.
As we all know, Pang De once raised an oath in front of Cao Cao and vowed to let Guan Yu know how powerful he was. Before setting out on the expedition, Pang De also personally ordered someone to build a coffin to show his determination to swear allegiance to Cao Cao.
When Dong Heng and Dong Chao decided to surrender to Guan Yu, Pang De quickly arrived and killed the two on the spot. Overall, Dong Heng and Dong Chao did not die at the hands of Guan Yu, but were brutally killed by their colleagues, which is really sad. However, judging from their performance at the critical juncture, it is not difficult to find that their timidity can be described as irresponsible, which is really embarrassing.
The fifth general was Cheng He, who served as a general under Pound's account. Although Cheng He's reputation was not prominent, he was keenly aware of the hidden dangers in the place where it was forbidden to camp troops, and repeatedly advised Yu Ban not to station troops in low-lying areas to avoid the threat of flooding. However, Yu Ban ignored Cheng He's advice.
After Guan Yu successfully flooded the Seventh Army, Cheng He and Pang De resisted bravely and resolutely did not surrender, but were finally shot and killed in the battle. The sixth general is Pang De, in the face of Guan Yu's approach, he resolutely chose to fight to the death and never give in.
On the whole, Hao Zhou, Dongligon, Dong Heng, Dong Chao and others who were under the ban at that time were all mediocre. It can even be said that even the main general is forbidden and can hardly be compared with the vanguard general Pound. Therefore, judging from the overall quality of this army, why should it be expected that Yu Ban will lead the generals to defeat Guan Yu?At the time of the defeat of the ban, Cao Cao was resigned by Guan Yu's momentum and planned to move the capital to avoid his sharp spirit. However, fortunately, Jiang Ji and Sima Yi were able to stop Cao Cao's reckless move, and proposed to join forces with Sun Quan to induce Sun Quan to attack Guan Yu, which was the wisest strategy at that time.
Eventually, Cao Cao adopted the strategy proposed by Sima Yi and Jiang Ji. Obviously, Sun Quan had already planned to seize Jingzhou. At present, Guan Yu transferred the defenders of Jingzhou to other places, resulting in weak troops in the three counties of Nanjun, Lingling, and Wuling. This provided an excellent opportunity for Sun Quan to attack Jingzhou. Although Guan Yu left Mi Fang and Fu Shiren, they were no match for Lu Meng and Lu Xun.
Cao Cao and Sun Quan came to an agreement, and at the same time, Lü Meng led the Eastern Wu naval army to cross the river in white clothes, quickly captured Fu Shiren, and surrendered Mifang. Cao Cao immediately dispatched the general Xu Huang to command Xu Shang, Lü Jian and others to attack Guan Yu together. At the same time, Cao Cao also sent his ace general Zhang Liao to the front line in Xiangfan, but before Zhang Liao arrived, Xu Huang had already successfully defeated Guan Yu.
Taizu returned again, and sent generals Xu Shang and Lü Jian to meet Xu Huang, and ordered: "Wait for the soldiers and horses to gather, and then advance together." The thieves were stationed in the city of Yancheng. Before the attack began, Taizu sent a total of 12 battalions including Yin and Zhu Gai to support Xu Huang.
Overall, according to the above historical records, Cao Cao mobilized almost all the generals at that time, and only the guards of the border pass were not moved. However, due to the rather comical defeat of Yu Ban, Cao Cao had to send Zhang Liao to the front. On the whole, although Yu Ban led the Seventh Army to Xiangfan to rescue, he basically did not launch a substantial attack, and finally surrendered without entering the battle. For Cao Wei, this is actually a meaningless action, which only increases the unnecessary consumption of resources. What do you think about this period of history?