Since Guan Yu lost the battle in Maicheng and unfortunately died at the hands of Eastern Wu, Liu Bei once again ignited his determination to avenge Guan Yu! However, at this critical moment, Zhuge Liang and Zhao Yun resolutely objected, which made Liu Bei feel quite annoyed but helpless.
As the new emperor, Liu Bei knew that he needed to rely more on wise men like Zhuge Liang and Zhao Yun to assist him at this moment. Therefore, despite their opposition, Liu Bei firmly suspended the revenge operation. Shortly thereafter, the sad news came that Zhang Fei was also beheaded, and his body was even sent to Soochow. The two brothers suffered this misfortune one after another, which made Liu Bei furious, and vowed to avenge the grievances of his deceased friends and realize his lifelong wish - to restore the unity of the Han Dynasty. He secretly decided in his heart that if he wanted to avenge his two brothers and achieve his grand ambition and hegemony, he must first destroy Soochow, which has become the highest mission he is determined to fight for.
In the face of Liu Bei's persistence and stubbornness, Zhuge Liang and Zhao Yun didn't dare to say anything more, knowing that continuing to persuade would only exacerbate the contradictions. At this moment, the civil and military ministers of the Manchu Dynasty were worried, they were worried that Liu Bei had fallen into the abyss of hatred, and blindly pursued the impulsive act of avenging Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, but they did not necessarily understand that in fact, in addition to revenge, defeating Dongwu was also the actual action he would pay. Prior to this, Cao Cao in the Battle of Chibi made it clear that among the heroes in the world, the only ones who really dare to compete are you and me. Liu Bei naturally tasted the deeper meaning, but he didn't pay enough attention to it at that time, because he really didn't have enough strength to fight Cao Cao at that time.
With the passage of time, under the careful planning of Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong, Liu Bei successfully advanced into the Xichuan region, and his power gradually expanded, and the number of troops under his command reached hundreds of thousands. At this time, Liu Bei re-examined the world situation, and he realized that Cao Cao's past words were not unreasonable, and the only one in the world who posed a threat to himself seemed to be Cao Cao. So he resolutely decided to use the excuse of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's death in Eastern Wu to send troops to attack Eastern Wu to find a high-sounding reason for his actions.
At that time, the pattern of the world showed a situation of three kingdoms. The armies of Cao Cao and Liu Bei each occupied large territories and had hundreds of thousands of troops; However, Jiangdong Sun Quan's territory was relatively narrow, with less than 200,000 troops. In other words, whether in terms of military strength or geographical location, Liu Bei or Cao Cao had sufficient ability to easily defeat Sun Quan, but neither side was willing to act rashly, for fear of being caught by the other side in the course of the battle.
In fact, Soochow was in a very difficult situation. Lu Su, a famous minister of Eastern Wu, once profoundly pointed out: If Cao Cao is strong, we must unite with Liu Bei to fight against Cao Cao; Conversely, if Liu Bei is stronger, he should ally with Cao Cao to fight against Liu Bei. This does show the survival strategy of Eastern Wu, that is, always trying to survive in the cracks, whether it is Cao Cao or Liu Bei, they dare not underestimate their existence at all.
However, both Liu Bei and Cao Cao regarded Dongwu as their biggest enemy in the future, and they wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible. In Zhuge Liang's view, only by eliminating Cao Cao first, Eastern Wu would automatically surrender without resistance. At this time, the focus of the question is, if we act according to the plan and conquer Cao Cao first, will Soochow really give up the fruits of victory as imagined? The answer is obviously not optimistic, after all, Cao Cao and Liu Bei are equal forces, and it is not easy to annihilate Cao Cao. Liu Bei understood that only by pulling out the thorn in the side of Dongwu first could he make himself go all out to compete with Cao Cao without any worries.