In 220 AD, with the defeat and death of Guan Yu, a famous general of the mighty generation of China, the situation in the Three Kingdoms restarted.
Cao Pi became the emperor of Han and established Cao Wei, Sun Quan captured Jingzhou and sent Guan Yu's head to Cao Wei and was named King of Wu, while Shu Han, who had lost the important place in Jingzhou, decided to march east to attack Wu. After learning that Cao Pi was proclaimed emperor, Liu Bei succeeded to the throne as emperor in Chengdu, Yizhou, as the orthodox identity of the Han family.
Cao Pi stills. In 221 AD, Cao Wei just carried out a change of power, and his internal instability was unstable, and he had no time to look south. Taking advantage of this occasion, Liu Bei decided to march eastward and raise troops to attack Wu.
However, Zhao Yun believed that Cao Wei was the great enemy, and he should first focus on Guanzhong, destroy Cao Wei, and Sun Wu would surrender; Qin Mi, a famous scholar in Yizhou, persuaded Liu Bei to give up the Eastern Crusade on the grounds of "improper time". Liu Bei didn't listen.
Liu Bei's other brother-in-law Zhang Fei responded quickly, but before Zhang Fei set off, his subordinates Zhang Da and Fan Qiang killed Zhang Fei while Zhang Fei was asleep, cut off his head, and defected to Eastern Wu.
Sun Wu sent Zhuge Jin to lobby, hoping to re-alliance, but Liu Bei naturally refused to allow it. But also because of Zhuge Jin's arrival, Zhuge Liang had to avoid suspicion and sit in the rear this time.
In July of that year, Liu Bei personally led a large army to attack Wu, and Wei Yan and Ma Chao stayed in Hanzhong in order to prevent Cao Wei.
Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Huang Zhong have all passed away, and Zhuge is sitting in the rear because of suspicion, and there are few talents around Liu Bei.
Sun Quan appointed Lu Xun as the governor of the capital and the fake festival, and supervised the generals Zhu Ran, Pan Zhang, Song Qian, Han Dang, Xu Sheng, and other 50,000 people to resist Liu Bei's eastern expeditionary army.
At first, Liu Bei's army won the first battle with an unstoppable momentum, and in the first month of 222 AD, he was stationed in Zigui to prepare to continue the attack.
At this time, Lu Xun had also led his army to Yiling.
Huang Quan suggested to Liu Bei: "The Wu people are fighting fiercely, and the water army is downstream, it is easy to advance and difficult to retreat, please be the pioneer to taste the thief, and Your Majesty should be the back town." However, Liu Bei may have distrusted the Yizhou faction and did not adopt Huang Quan's suggestion.
In February, Liu Bei crossed the mountains and led his army to arrive at Yaoting, garrisoned his position, and constantly designed to lure Wu's army to attack.
The Wu generals asked for orders to send troops to meet the attack, but Lu Xun refused, Lu Xun thought that Liu Bei's army was in full swing at this time, and it was difficult to defeat, so he should hold on and wait for the opportunity.
The two sides confronted each other for seven or eight months, and Lu Xun gradually figured out Liu Beijun's situation and prepared to launch an attack. At this time, the Wu generals did not agree, thinking that if they wanted to attack the enemy, they should attack when the opponent was trying to gain a firm foothold, and now the opponent has consolidated the defense and is not suitable for attacking.
Lu Xun retorted that it was precisely because "I have lived for a long time now, I can't help it, the soldiers are tired and depressed, and they can't recover", this is a good time to break Liu Bei's army. Regardless of the opposition of the generals, Lu Xun asked the whole army to bring thatch, ignited the fire, and launched a crucial blow to the position of the Shu army.
A fire in Yiling, the burning Liu Bei's army was defeated, the Wu army broke more than 40 battalions of the Shu army, and besieged the remnants of Liu Bei's army in Ma'anshan, Liu Bei took advantage of the night to break through the light cavalry and retreat to the White Emperor City.
Fortunately, Zhao Yun, who stayed in Jiangzhou, came to help, and finally withstood the decline, and the two sides began to confront each other again. On Sun Wu's side, Lu Xun was worried that Cao Wei would "help the country from the outside to get prepared, and he really had treacherous intentions inside", Sun Quan thought so, so he withdrew his troops and returned.
Liu Bei's war against Sun and Wu in the east was declared a failure, and there was pressure from Cao Wei in the north. The following year, Liu Bei died of illness in the White Emperor City, entrusting the future of Shu Han to Zhuge Liang.
For Liu Bei, why does this battle of the Eastern Crusade have to be fought?Is it just to avenge his righteous brother?
In "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Guan Yu and Zhang Fei died one after another, and the reason for Liu Bei's attack on Wu was simply attributed to avenging his brother. Guan Yu's revenge must be avenged, but this revenge is not a personal vendetta, and it is in the interests of the Shu Han group to avenge Guan Yu.
It is recorded in the Book of Wei of the Three Kingdoms that before Shu Han sent troops to Eastern Wu, Cao Pi asked his ministers: "Will Liu Bei send troops?"”
The ministers replied: "Shu, a small country, a famous general Wei Yu." The feather army was broken, the country was afraid, and there was no chance to make a comeback. "They think that Shu will not send troops after Guan Yu's death.
But Liu Ye disagreed: "Although Shu is narrow, and Bei Zhi wants to strengthen himself with might, he is bound to use the public to show that he is more than enough." And Guan Yu and Bei, righteousness is the monarch and minister, and the father and son of Enyu;Yu died and could not repay the enemy for the rejuvenation of the army, and the distinction between the end and the beginning was insufficient. ”
The meaning of this passage is that Guan Yu is dead, and Liu Bei needs to make a name for himself to stabilize people's hearts. Moreover, if an important minister like Guan Yu dies, and Liu Bei still does not send troops, then the people within the Shuhan group will inevitably be disheartened.
And what about Zhuge Liang?Does this talented Shu Hancheng support or oppose Liu Bei's Eastern Expedition?
Zhuge Liang is naturally supportive. First of all, Zhuge Liang belongs to the Jingzhou faction, and most of the opponents of the decision of this Eastern Crusade are the ** of the Yizhou faction, and almost no one opposes the scholars from Jingzhou.
We all know that most of the officials in the late Han Dynasty were scholars and gate lords, and the defeat of Guan Yu and the loss of the Shu Han group were Jingzhou, which is not only the Jingzhou of Shu Han, but also the Jingzhou of these Jingzhou factions.
They have land and industry in Jingzhou, and the loss of Jingzhou is also the loss of their interests, so for the Eastern Expedition to defeat Soochow and take back Jingzhou, the ** of the Jingzhou faction basically supports it.
Some people may say that just because Zhuge Liang is from the Jingzhou faction, can it be shown that Zhuge Liang supports the Eastern Crusade? Zhuge Liang did not sigh after the failure of the Eastern Crusade: "If the law is filial piety, it can control the lord's order not to go east; and when they return to the east, they will not fall into danger. ”
can control the lord's order not to go east", doesn't it mean that the statement can dissuade Liu Bei's eastward crusade, that doesn't mean that Zhuge Liang actually disagrees with the eastward crusade.
In fact, there is a second half of this sentence, "If you go back to the east, you will not be in danger." Even if he still decides to go east, at least he will not let Liu Bei lose so badly.
The focus of this sentence is in the second half of the sentence, Zhuge Liang does not disagree with the Eastern Crusade, but he does not want to see such a miserable defeat.
In addition, the celebrity "Longzhong Pair" was also proposed by Zhuge Liang, which also mentioned "crossing the jing, benefiting, and protecting its rock resistance". Jingzhou is an important passage out of Shu in the east, and the border with Wu Wei, from Yizhou Hanzhong can send troops to the Guanzhong Plain, from Jingzhou Northern Expedition can threaten the hinterland of Cao Wei, and Jingzhou is lost, Liu Bei's group's living space is compressed to only Yizhou one continent.
If Cao Wei sent heavy troops to guard Guanzhong, it would be even more difficult for Liu Bei's group to attack Cao Wei from Hanzhong alone.
If you want to continue to implement the strategic policy of "Longzhong Pair", Jingzhou will inevitably have to try to take it back.
Shu Han has Zhuge 's "Longzhong Pair", what about Sun Wu? Does Sun Wu only have "Couch Strategy"? No, there is also a dichotomy of the world. The plan of dividing the world was not first proposed by Zhou Yu, the plan of dividing the world was mentioned by Lu Su as early as 200 AD, and the time was earlier than "Couch Policy".
"For the general's plan, the only way to stay in Jiangdong is to watch the provocation of the world. With such a scale, there is no suspicion. Who? The north is honest and multi-tasking. Because of its many affairs, the elimination of Huang Zu, into the Liu Biao, the Yangtze River extreme, according to it, and then build the emperor to map the world, this high emperor's business also. ”It means that Sun Wu first defeated Huangzu Liu Biao, sat in Jingzhou, and then gradually Tubashu, confronted Cao Cao in the north and south, and reached the idea of dividing the world into two. So now that Sun Wu has won Jingzhou, the next step is to gradually Tu Bashu.
But now the person in power in Bashu is Liu Bei, Liu Bei himself knows that Sun Quan has the heart of Shu, before Liu Bei entered Shu, Sun Quan asked Liu Bei about taking Xichuan, so Liu Bei must go east to break Sun Wu's heart of Shu.
Although Liu Bei is a monarch, and the decision-making of the political group cannot be influenced by private feelings, as mentioned above, avenging Guan Yu is not only for selfishness, but also in line with the interests of the Shu Han group, so in order to take revenge, the battle of Wu must be fought.
Liu Bei Group has always followed the strategic policy of "Longzhong Pair", and Jingzhou is an important part, so in order to realize "Longzhong Pair", the battle of Wu must be fought.
The loss of Jingzhou led to the instability of the Jingzhou group, so in order to stabilize the hearts of the people, the battle of Wu must be fought.
Eastern Wu has always had the ambition of Tushu, so in order to dispel the idea of Sun Wu, this battle against Wu must be fought.
We knew the results of the Eastern Crusade, but Liu Bei didn't know. For Liu Bei at that time, this battle was a battle that had to be fought.
Let Liu Bei, who was lying on the bed in the White Emperor City, have a chance to choose again, let him, who has suffered defeat, choose whether to go east again, maybe Liu Bei's choice will still be to fight Wu.
It's just that in this battle of Yiling, Liu Bei should pay more attention to the person named Lu Xun.