In 215 AD, Liu Bei captured Yizhou. Sun Quan sent people to return the three counties of Changsha, Lingling, and Guiyang, but Liu Bei ignored them, which made Sun Quan very dissatisfied, so he sent Lü Meng to lead an army of 20,000 to capture the three counties.
The two counties of Changsha and Guiyang surrendered one after another under the deterrence of Lü Meng, only Hao Pu, the commander of Lingling County, refused to surrender, and Lü Meng used his wits to induce Hao Pu to submit, and finally succeeded in controlling the three southern counties.
At this time, Guan Yu, as the supreme military and political leader of Liu Bei's regime in Jingzhou, was in a stalemate with Lu Su in Yiyang. Gan Ning was a general under Lu Su, Guan Yu claimed that he had 30,000 soldiers, and in order to cross the water at night, he led 5,000 elite soldiers to throw items into the river, trying to block the shallow water more than ten miles upstream.
However, after consulting with the generals, Lu Su decided to send a thousand soldiers to reinforce Ganning. So, after nightfall, Gan Ning led reinforcements to go. When Guan Yu heard the news, he stopped crossing the river and set up a firewood camp on the bank.
The place is therefore known as Seki Hase to commemorate this historical event.
Guan Yu's actions were clearly aimed at fighting for favorable terrain in the three southern counties of Jingzhou, and Lu Su and his generals were discussing countermeasures. At this time, Gan Ning had three hundred soldiers, and he asked Lu Su for reinforcements, hoping to get five hundred soldiers to fight against Guan Yu.
Gan Ning said confidently that as long as he coughed, Guan Yu would retreat, and if Guan Yu insisted on crossing the river, he would be able to easily catch him. So, Lu Su selected a thousand soldiers to reinforce Ganning.
After Gan Ning received reinforcements, he immediately rushed to the upper reaches of Zishui overnight. When Guan Yu learned of Gan Ning's arrival, he immediately stopped crossing the river, camped on the spot, and built barracks. This place came to be known as "Seki Hase".
However, why did Gan Ning only bring a thousand people to make Guan Yu dare not cross the river? The answer may not be simple. First of all, we need to understand the situation in Jingzhou at that time.
Yiyang belonged to Changsha County at that time, which was Guan Yu's territory. And now, Lu Su has led his army from the east to confront Guan Yu, which means that Changsha County has been lost, which shows that Lü Meng's operation in Jingnan has been successful.
Changsha County is lost, and Guiyang County and Lingling County may also be in danger. Therefore, Guan Yu may have felt the pressure and threat, so he did not dare to cross the river easily.
Guan Yu and Lu Su confronted each other in Yiyang, Lü Meng was south of Guan Yu, and Lu Su was east of Guan Yu, forming a semi-encirclement posture against Guan Yu. At this time, Guan Yu, although he was in Jingzhou, was facing the dilemma of insufficient personnel, and there were few generals under him who could take charge alone.
Although Mi Fang and Shiren were barely available, they were dissatisfied with Guan Yu. What's even more unfavorable is that Sun Jiao and Pan Zhang, the generals of Eastern Wu, also went to war with Lusu, and the situation in Jingzhou became increasingly severe.
And Guan Yu's situation in Yiyang is not optimistic, the south of Zishui and the Xiangjiang River basin have been occupied by Eastern Wu, if Guan Yu crosses Zishui and goes south, once the retreat route is cut off by Eastern Wu, he will not be able to return to Nanjun.
After the demarcation of the Hunan River, Guan Yu faced three major concerns when making the decision of whether to cross the river with excessive water. First of all, he feared that he would be surrounded by the Soochow army and fall into an embattled situation.
Secondly, he was worried that he would be suddenly attacked by the Soochow army during the crossing of the river and would be in trouble. Finally, he feared that after crossing the river, his army would be cut off by the Soochow army and would be left in a helpless situation.
Although Guan Yu's strength was 5 times that of Gan Ning, under the circumstances at that time, his troops to the east and south had been controlled by Eastern Wu, and if he led his army south, he would undoubtedly become a lone army and face the danger of being surrounded.
Moreover, he also had to consider the risk of his retreat being cut off by Soochow. His army crossing the water to the south can only control one crossing, and the Soochow army can use the water army to attack his defenders at this crossing, once the defenders are defeated, his army to the south will be cut off, even if there are more people, it will be alone.
In short, Guan Yu faced tremendous pressure and risk when making the decision of whether to cross the river with excessive water, and had to act cautiously.
There is no bridge to cross the river, and it all depends on boats. If Eastern Wu could destroy Guan Yu's ships, it would be difficult for his army to return. No matter how strong the land battle is, without the assistance of the naval army, the entire army will be annihilated.
Guan Yu also needs to cross Dongting Lake and the Yangtze River, and everything is inseparable from the water army. The Soochow Navy is clearly superior. But the most critical thing is that if Guan Yu's army is found crossing the river, Soochow will immediately attack, which is the so-called "half-crossing attack".
Under such circumstances, it would be difficult for Guan Yu's army to organize a counterattack, and anyone who knew a little about military affairs knew that it would be difficult for the army that was crossing the river to gain a foothold unless a base was established on the opposite bank.
And if Gan Ning organized archers to shoot arrows on the shore, coupled with the attack of the navy, Guan Yu's army could suffer heavy losses. This is what Guan Yu really cares about. He was not afraid of Gan Ning, but he was deeply worried about these three points.
No matter what generals Dongwu sent, Guan Yu would not be afraid, he was just proud and never stupid. It was impossible for him to cross the river under the surveillance of the Soochow army, and once discovered, the significance of the raid on crossing the river would be lost, so he had to give up.
Guan Yu, a famous general in the Three Kingdoms period, everyone knows and everyone knows. He once single-handedly killed the enemy's main general, Yan Liang, and this record was enough to make Guan Yu unique among the generals of the Three Kingdoms.
And Gan Ning, although he is also a brave general, the gap between him and Guan Yu is huge. Gan Ning once boasted in front of Lu Su, "As soon as Guan Yu heard my cough, he didn't dare to cross the river, and if he crossed the river, he would be captured by me." ”
This is just Gan Ning's personal boasting, and it doesn't show his strength. In fact, if you really compare it in terms of ability, the three Gan Ning together are not Guan Yu's opponents.
Guan Yu is a general who suppresses one side alone, and his identity, status, merits, and abilities are much higher than Gan Ning's. Guan Yu's Battle of the White Horse beheaded Yan Liang, a feat that all the other generals of the Three Kingdoms could not reach.
If Gan Ning could scare Guan Yu away with a word, then he would be underestimating the Martial Saint Guan Yu. In general, Guan Yu's strength is unmatched, although Gan Ning is brave, the gap with Guan Yu is still very obvious.
Although Guan Yu is brave and good at fighting, he is difficult to defeat with four hands. Eastern Wu had the upper hand and was in dire need of reinforcements. In the confrontation, although Guan Yu was frustrated, he was still not defeated. At this time, Lu Su invited Guan Yu to meet, and both of them only led soldiers and horses a hundred steps away to the meeting alone.
Lu Su blamed Guan Yu for borrowing Nanjun to Liu Bei at the beginning, why he didn't return it now. Guan Yu was speechless, obviously in the wrong. But in fact, in private, he had already sent 800 li to inform Liu Bei urgently, and soon Liu Bei rushed to Jingzhou to confront Eastern Wu, until an agreement was reached, Xiangshui negotiated peace, and the two sides did not cease fighting.