In the 219 years when Guan Yu attacked Xiangfan in the north, he repeatedly called on Liu Feng and Meng Da to come to support, but he did not receive their assistance. At the moment when Guan Yu was defeated and the situation was critical, it turned out to be Liu Feng and Meng Da, who were in the upper ranks, to become the most likely helpers. However, despite the dire situation, they have not provided the slightest support. This raises questions about why Liu Feng didn't help Guan Yu and whether they could change Guan Yu's fate. ** Describes the plot of the personal feud between Guan Yu and Liu Feng. When Guan Yu "flooded the Seventh Army and shocked China", he was not dispatched by Liu Feng. It wasn't until Guan Yu was defeated and the situation was critical that he sent people to ask for help.
Liu Feng, as Guan Yu's nephew, was willing to go to help. However, Meng Da revealed an old story. When Liu Bei was about to ascend the throne as the king of Hanzhong, he asked Zhuge Liang about succession. Zhuge Liang said that this was a family matter and should be discussed with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. So, Liu Bei sent someone to ask Guan Yu, and Guan Yu's reply was: "The son of the moth, you can't stand!."Liu Feng should be allowed to live in the land of Shangyong Mountain City to prevent future troubles!”。Therefore, Liu Feng gave up the idea of rescuing Guan Yu, and refused to support Guan Yu's request to support Guan Yu by saying that "the mountain city was first attached, and the people's hearts were undecided, so they did not dare to act rashly, for fear of losing their guards", and refused the request to support Guan Yu.
Although this plot is vividly described in **, some people later thought that Liu Feng may indeed not save Guan Yu because of personal grievances. However, this is just a statement and does not need to be taken seriously. Guan Yu opposed the appointment of Liu Feng as his heir, so Liu Feng did not send troops to help, which has not been recorded in serious official history. The records in the official history do not mention Guan Yu's views on the issue of Liu Feng's succession... Therefore, Guan Yu may not have made any remarks against Liu Feng's succession. The reason why Liu Feng and Meng Da did not send troops to help: "The mountain city was attached at the beginning, and it was not possible to act rashly" is a conclusive fact.
Liu Feng and Meng Da's statement that "the mountain city was attached at the beginning and should not be acted upon rashly" was not an excuse, but an objective reflection of the situation at that time. Prior to this, Liu Feng had participated in the Battle of Hanzhong with Liu Bei. At that time, Meng Da had already led the army from Zigui, seized Fangling, and attacked the three eastern counties, but the three eastern counties still resisted stubbornly. After the Battle of Hanzhong, Liu Feng was ordered to go down from the water and cooperate with Meng Da to attack the three eastern counties. Subsequently, Shangyong Taishou Shen Tan surrendered, and Liu Feng and others successfully captured the three eastern counties. Presumably, this happened around the end of May or the beginning of June. The battle of Guan Yu's attack on Xiangfan took place between July and December of the same year, less than half a year apart. Therefore, the saying "the first attachment of the mountain city" is true.
Considering the strength of Shen Tan and Shen Yi brothers in the three eastern counties, Liu Bei chose the strategy of "comforting". He appointed Shen Tan as the general of Zhengbei and continued to serve as the Taishou of Shangyong, while Shen Yi was appointed as the general of Jianxin and continued to serve as the Taishou of Xicheng. When Meng Da attacked the three eastern counties alone, it did not lead to the surrender of the three counties. It was not until Liu Bei captured Hanzhong that Liu Feng came to attack and forced the three counties to surrender. Therefore, during this period, the Shen brothers still held a strong power. Since Liu Bei's benevolence had not yet been fully demonstrated, Liu Bei's group still relied on military deterrence to control the three eastern counties. Therefore, if Liu Feng and Meng Da went to support Guan Yu and the deterrence of force was reduced, the rule of Liu Bei's clique in the region would be shaken.
Therefore, the statement that "the mountain city is attached at the beginning and cannot be shaken" is indeed valid, and it also makes Liu Feng and Meng Da unable to support Guan Yu in time. During the Battle of Xiangfan, Liu Feng would play an important role if he supported Guan Yu. The support of Liu Feng and Meng Da was crucial to Guan Yu. How many troops can Liu Feng and Meng Da send?Liu Feng's strength at that time is not known, but Meng Da's strength can be tested. The army led by Meng Da was more than 4,000. Those who are familiar with the military system at the end of the Han Dynasty know that the general's subordinates usually acted with the general. Therefore, even if Liu Feng does not move and let Meng Da lead the headquarters to support, he can bring 4,000 soldiers. These 4,000 soldiers are very important to Guan Yu.
In the end, when Guan Yu and Xu Huang started a decisive battle in Sizuka, Guan Yu's mobile strength was 5,000 people. If Liu Bei's troops were supported by Meng Da's 4,000 soldiers, Guan Yu's mobile strength would almost double, which was undoubtedly very important to Guan Yu. However, even so, Liu Feng and Meng Da's reinforcements were not enough to play a decisive role. At that time, Cao Cao continued to send reinforcements from all over the country, and even Zhang Liao and other troops in Huainan and other places were also ordered to come.
Therefore, although Liu Feng and Meng Daruo went to reinforce Guan Yu, it could indeed strengthen Guan Yu's strength, and might even force Xu Huang to postpone the attack, but compared to Cao Cao's continuous transfer of troops, this could only be regarded as a drop in the bucket, and it was difficult to reverse the situation. At the same time, Guan Yu eventually retreated because Sun Quan attacked his rear. Regardless of whether Meng Da came to help or not, as long as Guan Yu believed that the threat of Eastern Wu was not great, he would mobilize the rear army to come to support. Therefore, although Liu Feng and Meng Da's reinforcements can enhance Guan Yu's strength, they are not a decisive factor, but only a drop in the bucket.
Therefore, the reason why Liu Feng failed to rescue Guan Yu in Maicheng was not because they were unwilling, but because they were forced by the situation. At that time, the situation was still in a state of "the first annex of the mountain city, unshakable", and it seemed to have become more serious. Guan Yu withdrew from Xiangfan to defeat Maicheng, and then died in defeat, in just one month, Liu Feng and Meng Da's situation in Shangyong has not changed substantially, and they are still facing the dilemma of "the mountain city is attached at the beginning, and it cannot be shaken". At the same time, Liu Feng and Meng Da's main passage to reinforcements had been blocked by Soochow. Meng Da first captured Fangling and began to capture the three eastern counties.
After Lu Xun attacked Yiling and other places, "he attacked Fangling too much to guard Deng Fu and Nanxiang to guard Guo Mu, and broke it"·· This means that Lu Xun has captured Fangling and other places, not only cutting off the road of eastern aid to the three eastern counties, but even posing a huge threat to the three eastern counties themselves!In addition, after the Cao army relieved the siege of Xiangfan, a large number of troops were still stationed in the relevant areas, posing a threat to the three eastern counties from the side!Therefore, in this case, Liu Feng and Meng Da were indeed powerless to rescue Guan Yu. Liu Feng and Meng Daruo will succeed in rescuing Guan Yu?The answer to this question may not be so important.
Importantly, their efforts and determination, as well as that period of turbulent history, constitute a wonderful chapter in ancient Chinese history. Can Liu Feng and Meng Da succeed in rescuing Guan Yu?During Guan Yu's defeat in Maicheng, Lü Meng had already set up a heavy siege in an attempt to capture Guan Yu. Considering the strength of Liu Feng and Meng Da, it was almost impossible to break the siege and meet Guan Yu. Their only hope was to avoid the interception of Soochow and go to support Guan Yu. If the two sides can maintain close contact, then the chances of receiving Guan Yu will be greatly increased. However, if there is no timely communication, it will be difficult to meet Guan Yu and even find his location.
In this case, Liu Feng and Meng Da going to meet may be able to contain some of the Eastern Wu forces, thus indirectly creating some conditions for Guan Yu to break through, but whether they can successfully rescue Guan Yu depends on Guan Yu's own actions. It can be said that although their help may have helped, it cannot be decisive. At that time, Liu Feng and Meng Da did not have many troops, and they had just pacified the three eastern counties, and at this critical moment, they were unable to provide critical support. At the same time, Liu Bei, who occupied Hanzhong, did not send reinforcements himself;The tens of thousands of troops under Guan Yu's own command were also in trouble after the Eastern Wu captured Jiangling, and finally collapsed.
In the case of Cao Cao and Sun Quan's two major forces attacking Guan Yu, whether it was "assist" or "rescue", Liu Feng and Meng Da could not play much of a role. Therefore, in this case, what is the point of holding Liu Feng and Meng Da accountable?