In the battle of Xiangfan at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the story of Guan Yu's defeat of Maicheng is widely known. Prior to this battle, Liu Bei and Sun Quan defeated Cao Cao in the Battle of Chibi, forcing Cao Cao to retreat to the north in disgrace.
Liu Bei took the opportunity to expand his territory in Jingzhou and went south to capture the four counties of Changsha, Wuling, Lingling, and Guiyang. He personally went to Jingkou to negotiate with Sun Quan, and successfully borrowed the southern county that Zhou Yu had previously occupied. At this point, Liu Bei finally had a relatively stable foothold.
Subsequently, Liu Bei took advantage of Liu Zhang's invitation to assist in the defense of Yizhou and led his army into Sichuan. When Liu Zhang saw through Liu Bei's intentions, Liu Bei decisively took force to seize Yizhou.
Soon after, Cao Cao captured Hanzhong, and Zhang Lu surrendered. But Liu Bei quickly launched the Battle of Hanzhong, eventually defeating Cao Cao and capturing Hanzhong. This victory opened up a channel for Liu Bei's group to advance northward.
In the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an, Liu Bei established himself as the king of Hanzhong under the support of his subordinates, marking the heyday of Liu Bei's group. At this time, the situation of the whole group is very good, and it seems that it is about to realize the ambition of sweeping the world and reviving the Han family.
In the same year that Liu Bei established himself as king of Hanzhong, Guan Yu, who was guarding Jingzhou, launched the Battle of Xiangfan. At the beginning of the campaign, Guan Yu attacked Fancheng, and Cao Cao sent Yu Ban to lead an army of 30,000 to the rescue. However, Guan Yu skillfully used the flood to flood the Seventh Army and defeat Cao's army. He took advantage of the situation to besiege Fancheng, plunging the Xiangfan area into a crisis.
At this time, there was a rebellion in many Cao Cao's territories south of Xudu, and these rebels accepted Guan Yu's seal letter one after another, and Guan Yu was shocked in the Central Plains for a while. Faced with this situation, Cao Cao even considered moving the capital to avoid Guan Yu's edge.
However, the tide of the battle then changed dramatically. Cao Cao secretly allied himself with Sun Quan to deal with Guan Yu together. Cao Cao constantly sent reinforcements to the front line in Xiangfan, while Sun Quan sent Lü Meng to attack Guan Yu's rear. Guan Yu fell into the predicament of attacking back and forth, and finally defeated Maicheng.
The Jingzhou army led by Guan Yu was completely lost, and the territory of Jingzhou also fell into the hands of Sun Quan. Guan Yu himself was captured and killed by Sun Quan, marking a major defeat for Shu Han.
When analyzing the reasons for Guan Yu's success or failure in the Battle of Xiangfan, we can find some clues from the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
In the twentieth year of Jian'an, Liu Bei defeated Liu Zhang and captured Yizhou. At this time, Sun Quan asked Liu Bei to return Jingzhou, but Liu Bei refused. As a result, Sun Quan's side marched into Jingzhou, and Liu Bei personally led his troops to Jingzhou to confront Sun Quan, and a war between the two sides was about to break out.
At this time, Cao Cao marched into Hanzhong, and Liu Bei, worried about the safety of Yizhou, was forced to return the three counties of Changsha, Lingling, and Jiangxia to Sun Quan, and the two sides reached peace talks and divided Jingzhou equally. Although the Sun and Liu families were still able to maintain a superficial peace at this time, in fact, their relationship was not as close as before, and the Sun-Liu alliance began to crack.
This series of events laid the groundwork for Guan Yu's encounter in the Battle of Xiangfan. The contradiction between Liu Bei and Sun Quan, the question of the ownership of Jingzhou, and the rift in the Sun-Liu alliance all laid hidden dangers for Guan Yu's predicament and failure in the future. Therefore, to fully understand Guan Yu's failure, it is necessary to delve into the background and impact of these historical events.
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