Liu Bei was regarded as an image of a benevolent and righteous monarch during the Three Kingdoms period, however, his historical status was full of twists and turns and regrets. Especially in the competition with Cao Wei and Sun Wu, Liu Bei's strategic layout and use of strategists appeared weak, leading to the final defeat. The reason for this may be from his use of strategists, geographical strategy, and attitude towards allies.
First of all, the importance of strategists in the Three Kingdoms period is self-evident. Although Liu Bei has Zhuge Liang, a wise man who is praised by the world, he has never been able to give full play to his role as a strategist. Unlike Cao Cao, Liu Bei did not have the support of some strategists until he received a strategist like Xu Shu. However, this was a relatively late stage, and Cao Cao had already won a number of advisors, including Yuan Shao and Lü Bu. The Sun family has stabilized its position in three generations, and when Sun Quan took over, it was already a stable situation. This lack of strategists led to Liu Bei's relatively simple military strategy, which was difficult to compete with Cao Wei and Sun Wu.
Secondly, Liu Bei's time and foundation have also become a constraint. Compared with Cao Cao and Sun Quan, Liu Bei's position is relatively weak, and he entered the game late. Cao Cao's first step south was to attack Jingzhou, which showed the importance of the Jingzhou region. Liu Bei's late entry deprived him of the opportunity to capture more strategic locations, while Cao Wei had already firmly grasped Jingzhou, and even Hanzhong was already under their control. Liu Bei missed the opportunity to compete with Cao Wei for these important areas, which led to an unfavorable situation in the war.
More importantly, the alliance between Liu Bei and Sun Wu is also not stable enough. Although the two had a common enemy, Cao Wei, Liu Bei failed to take advantage of this alliance. Sun Quan's victory in the Battle of Red Cliffs essentially provided Liu Bei with an opportunity, which Liu Bei failed to seize. On the contrary, his actions are more of a haste and immaturity. For example, when Cao Cao went south, Liu Bei actually sent troops to support Jingzhou, which led to the loss of Hanzhong. This risky behavior of Liu Bei not only put himself in a difficult situation, but also weakened his alliance with Sun Wu.
In addition, Liu Bei's personal decision-making was also one of the reasons for his failure. He appeared too impulsive and imprudent in his handling of the relationship between Jingzhou and Sun Quan. Guan Yu's lack of caution in Jingzhou eventually led to the fall of Jingzhou, which was also part of Liu Bei's strategic mistakes. In the Battle of Yiling, Liu Bei's formation was even worse, and the loss of a large number of talents made him even more isolated militarily. Zhuge Liang's high-minded personality and insufficient recruitment of talents also made Liu Bei unable to give full play to his role as a strategist.
To sum up, the reason why Liu Bei was defeated by Cao Wei and Sun Wu was not only due to strategic reasons, but also to the problem of personal decision-making. The combination of his late intake, lack of support from his advisors, unstable relationships with allies, and poor personal decision-making contributed to his defeat in the Three Kingdoms Quest. This is also a regret given by history to Liu Bei, he may be a benevolent and righteous king, but in the tide of the turbulent times of the Three Kingdoms, he finally failed to be invincible.