If the Battle of Guandu is the most infuriating and the Battle of Chibi is the most suspicious, then the last of the "three major battles", the Battle of Yiling, is the most regrettable.
The process of this battle was not complicated, and could be summed up in one sentence: Lu Xun, who had retreated to the Yiling area, defeated Liu Bei's army of seven hundred miles in a battle by means of fire attack.
Many people, including Zhuge Liang, believed that Liu Bei should not have conquered Sun Quan. Pei Songzhi's note, quoted in the Biography of Yun Bei, also records the beautiful blueprint that Zhao Yun drew for Liu Bei:
The state thief was Cao Cao, not Sun Quanye, and if he destroyed Wei first, then Wu submitted to himself. Although the body is killed, the Son Pi usurps the thief, when the hearts of the people, early in the guanzhong, juhe, Wei upstream to please the fierce rebellion, the Kanto righteous soldiers will wrap grain and horses to welcome the king's master. Wei should not be ignored, and Wu Zhan should be fought first; once the army is exchanged, it must not be dissoluted.
Judging from what everyone said and the results of the Battle of Yiling, it seems that Liu Bei's attack on Sun Quan was wrong, even a stupid choice, but I think Liu Bei had to fight.
1. The name of righteousness
Liu Bei's eastern crusade was to clearly express his desire to avenge Guan Yu.
Zhuge Jin once wrote a letter to Liu Bei to the effect that he put the overall situation first, and Guan Yu's relatives were far inferior to the Han Family Emperor. It can be seen that in Zhuge Jin's view, Liu Bei's revenge for Guan Yu is actually justified, but it is only a matter of hindering brotherhood but the righteousness of the world, and there must be a sequence.
Since ancient times, it is indeed difficult to be loyal to both, but at this time, how should Liu Bei be loyal to the Han Room? When Sun Quan secretly attacked Jingzhou, did he ever think of "The First Emperor of the Han Dynasty"?
On the contrary, if Liu Bei "puts the overall situation first", how many people will think that giving up revenge is for the sake of this big Han world? Or how many people will praise him, believe in him, or even turn to him for this? Moreover, Liu Bei chose to be called emperor, and from his standpoint, both the Wei and Wu families were rebel thieves.
Liu Bei and Guan Yu were not only a monarch-subject relationship, when Guan Yu gave up his glory and wealth to find Liu Bei after cutting off Yan Liang, the brotherhood and loyalty of the name locked the two deeply together.
2. The wind of the Lord
Since Zhuge Jin had this idea, I am afraid that the same was true of the people of the time, then "the soldier of Xingren" and "the act of righteousness" must be the heart of the bloody boy.
In addition to the unreliable "eighty thousand theory", it is clearly recorded that the Shu Han sent 40,000 troops. So, how many people came to help the five barbarians in the war? ten thousand! If it was only for the money and grain and officials promised by the Shu Han, I am afraid that the scale would still be larger.
Think of Xu Jing, this nominal "vase", which was provided by Liu Bei all the way, and finally ranked third duke. And Fa Zheng even more clearly pointed out that the literati have many names, even if Xu Jing is talentless, there will be an endless stream of people who come to see him. In the same way, the warriors have multiple righteousnesses, and even if the real purpose of this battle is not to avenge Guan Yu, there will be a large number of loyal and righteous people who will come to defect.
After all, the hero chooses the Lord, not just for the stomach; the ma ge shroud, not just the figment of the name.
Third, seize strategic places
When talking about the Battle of Yiling, Mr. Yi Zhongtian pointed out that Jingzhou was a strategic place.
There is also the place where the battle took place- Yiling, Yiling belongs to the rule of Jingzhou, Lu Xun once said: "Yiling is critical, the limit of the country, although it is easy to gain, it is also easy to lose." The loss is not in vain to damage the land of a county, and Jingzhou can be worried. ”
Let me try to talk about why Jingzhou is important:
First of all, the Jingzhou area can train a strong water army. This is a bit of a surprise, after all, the battle to destroy Wu was also a decade of shipbuilding in Shudi, and I am only here in view of the relationship between time and the effect of Cao Cao's military training in "Xuanwu Lake"...
Second, Jingzhou is the junction of the three forces. Down the river is Yangzhou, against the current is Yizhou, to the north is the vast Central Plains, all the intelligence is converged here, very convenient.
Again, Jingzhou is a springboard for the three forces. If Cao Wei lost Jingzhou, Luoyang, Xuchang, and other places would open their gates; sun Quan lost Jingzhou, so he had to fight against the river, and at the same time defend against the threat from the north;
There are many others, for example, Jingzhou is the granary and talent pool of Yizhou, and even Li Yan, a big man of the Dongzhou clique, was also an official under Liu Biao in Jingzhou.
Fourth, Jingzhou is not yet stable
Eastern Wu's sneak attack on Jingzhou succeeded, except for Fan You and others who abandoned the county and fled, most of them were forced to surrender, including the heads of various cities and barbarian leaders.
In addition, there was constant war around Jingzhou, not only the Shu Han generals were struggling, but the clans in Zigui and other places were also rebelling against the Eastern Wu people, and even the Eastern Wu generals were fighting everywhere, such as Li Yi, Xie Jing and others, attacking Fangling, Nanxiang and other places.
According to historical records, because Eastern Wu moved too quickly and Guan Yu was defeated too thoroughly, although there were many native exiles in Jingzhou, they could only return to Jingzhou in the end, including many talented people.
This suggestion is very similar to Cao Cao's line of thinking.
How many of them can there be? How much energy did Yu Tuan have to mock these surrendered people like Mi Fang and Yu Ban did?
According to the "Biography of Wu Lord", after the successful sneak attack on Guan Yu, a major plague occurred in the Eastern Wu army, the severity of the epidemic is unknown, and the historical materials of all parties only count the total number of deaths during the epidemic.
Therefore, when Jingzhou was unstable, General Siguo, and Eastern Wu had no foundation, and the epidemic was rife, we must immediately send troops, and the more we delayed, the more difficult it was to conquer.
Fifth, the morale of the Shu army was high
Needless to say, Lu Xun has deeply experienced this, and historical materials such as the Zizhi Tongjian and the Book of Wu have recorded the words he used--the sharp spirit began to flourish.
Although it had been a long time since Guan Yu's death and the loss of Jingzhou, Liu Bei shouted the slogan of "revenge for Guan Yu", and the anger of the generals was rekindled, even if Zhang Fei's sudden murder caused Shu Han to lose a fierce general, but the anger burned even more.
Morale is also a thing that decays with time, even if you can recharge your strength and recharge your strength, and then start a military conquest when the soldiers are full of food, but you must know that in the era of cold weapons, angry soldiers often fight with their lives, and their combat effectiveness will increase exponentially. I often joke that on the battlefield, there are three kinds of people who are the most terrible: heroic generals, hungry people, and angry soldiers.
The hatred lies in Eastern Wu, but it wants to raise troops to cut down Wei, how does this make the soldiers who are highly emotional feel?
Sixth, Han took the offensive as the defense
The strategist Liu Ye believed that the military characteristics of the Shu Han were "to attack and defend", and to maintain their unity and stability through continuous attacks. As for why he avoided Wei and Wu, Mr. Lü Simian's answer was: Persimmon should pick a soft pinch, just like Lü Meng chose to sneak attack Jingzhou instead of attacking Xuzhou.
Believing in the situation of shu Han, Liu Ye has the right to speak, so what are the advantages of "attacking and defending"? I think there are three main points:
First, the unanimous external can dilute internal contradictions, after all, the Shu Han regime has three major forces.
Second, "the capital of the enemy is only Jin'er", Shu Han is not like Eastern Wu, look at what Cao Pi asked Sun Quan for - finches, large shells, pearls, ivory, rhino horns, tortoiseshells, peacocks, jade, fighting ducks, long singing chickens...
Third, although the Shu Road is dangerous, it also restricts its own development, in the era of farming, the dangerous pass is the place where the soldiers must fight, but the fertile land and the pingchuan are the place where the soldiers stand.
Therefore, the side of the partial security can dominate the Central Plains without drama, and not take advantage of the morale to send troops to seize the strategic points that have just been lost, when will it take?
7. Wu Ming will fall
The Eastern Wu generals who participated in the Battle of Yiling included Lu Xun, Zhu Ran, Pan Zhang, Song Qian, Han Dang, Xu Sheng, Xian Yudan, and Sun Huan. Compared with the lineup of the 215 Battle of Hefei, it is really not a grade.
So where did the famous generals of Eastern Wu go?
As mentioned above, there was a plague in the Eastern Wu army, so some people speculated that the deaths of Lü Meng, Sun Jiao, and Jiang Qin were all related to the epidemic. In addition, famous generals such as Gan Ning also died of the epidemic.
According to the Chronology of Plagues in China, one of the three most serious periods in the history of plague was this one that lasted for twenty years. From the biographies of different characters in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it is not difficult to find records of the plague.
Although the year of death of many famous Eastern Wu generals is not clearly stated, according to historical analysis, in the period from the Battle of Hefei in 215 to the Battle of Yiling in 221, not a few people died of illness, among which Ling Tong was more controversial, and I prefer the theory of 217 years.
However, the famous generals of Eastern Wu fell, the generals of Shu Han were almost withered away, Huang Zhong and Guan Yu were dead, and Ma Chao died after a serious illness in 222. Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun are most likely no longer in their prime, and even Liu Bei himself is sixty years old.
Isn't it wise to send troops to attack the troubled Eastern Wu when the famous generals are not old and the new ones are emerging?
Eighth, Sun Quan has already struck
Ever since Sun Quan decided to sneak up on Jingzhou, he knew that a battle with Liu Bei was inevitable.
What preparations did he make?
First of all, he gave Guan Yu's head to Cao Cao and wanted to pull him into the water, but he did not expect that Cao Cao would bury Guan Yu in Luoyang with princely etiquette. Therefore, when it comes to playing politics, Sun and Liu are both small children in Cao Cao's eyes.
Although Sun Quan's movements were not slow, he also buried Guan Yu's body in Dangyang with the courtesy of the princes, but it was no longer helpful.
Secondly, Sun Quan had close contacts with Cao Wei, not only writing to claim subjects, but also openly denying Liu Bei as The Pastor of Yizhou, believing that The Pastor of Yizhou was still Liu Zhang, and Cao Cao also appointed Sun Quan as the Pastor of Jingzhou. That is to say, in the so-called official view, Liu Bei changed from being a second pastor to a commoner.
When Cao Pi usurped Han, Sun Quan did not have the slightest intention of opposing, and the purpose was obvious, that is, to leave a way for himself, and when Liu Bei came to attack, he could get the support of Cao Wei. Moreover, at that time, the world was already divided into three parts, and no other princes opposed the "usurper of Han".
Thinking back to the Battle of Chibi that year, Sun Quan's series of operations was really a slap in the face...
In the end, Sun Quan changed "E" to "Wuchang", which means "wu for chang", and moved the command post, it is easy to understand from the map that the most important thing in moving the capital is to deal with Liu Bei.
As we all know, this practice has been opposed by the people of Jianye, who have said one after another: I would rather drink Jianye water than eat Wuchang fish, and I would rather die than Wuchangju. However, at that time, Sun Quan encouraged the people of Eastern Wu to "think of danger in times of peace" and did not hesitate to borrow The manpower and material resources of Jianye to supplement the strategic needs of Wuchang.
To sum up, those Shu Han people who dreamed of "joining forces with Sun to resist Cao" still think that it is right not to attack Sun Quan? Not to mention the later Sun Liu Alliance, after the strength of Shu Han was greatly reduced, even if Cao Wei was destroyed in the future, the shu Han territory shaped like a long snake would how to compete with the dominant Eastern Wu?
9. Cao Wei helped Sun Quan
For Liu Bei's eastern conquest of Sun Quan, Cao Pi's attitude was very clear, that is, to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight. I think that if it were not for Ma Chao, Wei Yan and others guarding the northern defensive line of Shu Han, I am afraid that Cao Pi would still have to raid Liu Bei's old lair.
At this point, Cao Pi, who had always been willing to listen to the correct opinions, ignored Liu Ye's suggestion to "help Shu destroy Wu". Judging from the historical development, the difficulty of destroying Eastern Wu was obviously higher than that of Shu Han, so now I think that if Cao Pi sent troops to attack Sun Quan, I am afraid that the situation of three points in the world would be more short-lived.
Cao Pi accepted Sun Quan's claims, and if Shu Han attacked Cao Wei at this time, then Cao Pi was likely to eat Liu Bei with Sun Quan.
Therefore, attacking Sun Quan, Cao Pi may not move, but attacking Cao Pi is far more difficult than Sun Quan. Even if the soldiers do not move, how can they use the strength of one state to develop and fight with the two major forces?
The Northern Expedition was more difficult
The change of power of Cao Wei seems to be an excellent opportunity for the Shu Han Dynasty to cut down Wei, but when you think about it, it is just the opposite.
First, opposition is not strong. Cao Cao died, and the state of Wei was in turmoil, but even if Cao Pi claimed the title of emperor, the conflict was far less intense than when Cao Cao entered the Duke of Wei and Jia Jiuxi, because the Cao family's power was already incomparably stable.
Looking through the historical data, the results that are not conducive to Cao Pi are nothing more than the rebellion of Huang Hua, Zhang Jin and others, who are not even too defensive, in my opinion, it is not as influential as the dissolution of the Qingzhou soldiers.
Secondly, there were internal contradictions in the Cao Wei forces, but all the contradictions were not enough to shake their roots. For example, Cao Pi solved the two brothers Cao Zhi and Cao Zhang, and still had the heart to deal with Ding Yi, who had once opposed him and now had no real power.
Once Liu liu has the intention of attacking, then the "internal contradictions" are likely to be transformed into "unanimous external", and who is in favor of such a result?
In the end, although Cao Pi destroyed the Han, Liu Bei was also called the emperor, and Cao Pi's throne was the Han Xian Emperor Chan Rang, and Liu Bei was the han who stood on his own behalf. Isn't it ridiculous that the so-called "famous teacher" is not funny?
Taking ten thousand steps back, even if Zhao Yun's idea is feasible, Liu Bei's Northern Expedition was successful and Cao Wei was destroyed, so how should Liu Xie, the emperor of Han Xian, deal with it? Killed him? Or continue to honor him as emperor? Don't forget, Liu Bei only ascended to the throne of God through the "propaganda slogan" that "the emperor is dead."
Judging from these ten reasons, Liu Bei's war was not only harmless, but also beneficial!
It's just that what Shu Han needs most is to grab time! It is better to keep Yizhou in peace and control, and after the two families of Cao Sun are stable, they will bow to one of them and be subordinate, or learn from Liu Jiyu, so that the people will not be destroyed.
Of course, the reason for sending troops cannot be equated with victory, just like the Battle of Guandu, Xun Yu's "four victories and four defeats" and Guo Jia's "ten victories and ten defeats", if it were not for Cao Cao's gambler mentality and death mentality, I am afraid that no amount of theory would help.
In the battle of Yiling, Liu Bei lost very badly, in the previous article, a friend left a message, saying "Loser, everything is wrong, victor, everything is right."
I don't quite agree with this statement, because Liu Bei had many correct decisions in this battle, and he was therefore infinitely close to victory.
One win: Autumn use of troops.
Liu Bei was wise in choosing the time to send troops, he had been in Jingzhou for many years, and he was well aware of the geographical environment and climate change, and the same was true of Guan Yu's "flooded Seventh Army".
Remember the classic battle of "Li Jing destroyed Xiao Liang"? Li Jing also used troops from Shu to Jingzhou, so how did he win?
In a word: the water rises to surprise the soldiers.
Liu Bei sent troops in July, and in February and March of the following year, he confronted the Wu army at Yiling Province. I guess that when Liu Bei was on the Eastern Expedition, he wanted to take advantage of the rainy season, "the soldiers are precious and fast", and during the confrontation, although there was a reason why the Eastern Wu people could not hold out, he was also waiting for a heavy rain, waiting for an opportunity for him to "surprise the soldiers", waiting for an opportunity to save his entire army.
Historically, there are not many similar examples of battles, there are no more than two ways to win, Liu Bei cannot attack from the west and the north like the Western Jin Dynasty destroyed Wu, then choosing the rainy season to go down the river is the wisest approach.
Two wins: land and water.
At first, when Liu Bei sent troops, there were water armies to fight together, and its role was not only to add a means of attack, but also to provide rapid support through waterways, including water, grain, and soldiers.
During the Northern Expedition of the Shu Han Dynasty, supply was a big problem, and even several times of fruitless return were due to lack of grain. In the Battle of Hanzhong, if Zhuge Liang dragged on without reinforcements, I am afraid that there would not be that big victory, although I personally think that this is a good thing.
According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, after Liu Bei's defeat, "he returned from the Pavilion of the Dragon to the remnants, gathered the scattered soldiers, abandoned the ship, returned the fish from the trail, and changed the fish to Yong'an." It can be seen that Liu Bei has a water army, or a boat, but he just goes against the river, and the boat is inconvenient.
Sansheng: Appease the barbarians.
Since ancient times, the use of troops is beneficial to the defenders, and from the perspective of the comparison of troop strength alone, Liu Bei's 40,000 troops have no advantage compared with the 50,000 defenders of Eastern Wu, and even appear to be weak.
Of course, Liu Bei was not a fool, first went north to seek peace with Cao Pi, and then when he was stationed at Xiaoting, he "passed through Wuling from The Mountain", sent Ma Liang to appease the Wubei barbarians, and finally expanded his troops to 50,000 people.
Barbarians are not as fragile as we think, "the country is destroyed by weakness, and Han independence is destroyed by strength", and the reasons are very complicated, such as weapons and equipment and the success of the policy of "using Hu to make Hu" and so on.
Therefore, appeasing the barbarians and causing the minority troops led by Shamoko to participate in this crusade undoubtedly greatly increased the chips for victory.
Four wins: Ride the high and keep the risk.
Lu Xun's original words when talking about Liu Bei's attack were: Prepare to raise the army to the east, the vigor begins to be strong, and take advantage of the high defense, it is difficult to attack, and it is difficult to attack when attacking, it is difficult to overcome, if there is an unfavorable situation, it will damage our general situation, not a small reason.
Where is the embodiment of "riding the high and guarding the danger"? In fact, there is no need to find any topographic map, the history books have already explained very clearly, the place where Liu Bei was burned is the mountain forest.
"Take advantage of the high guard, it is difficult to attack." Supporting my point of view is the military man Lu Xun.
As for the advantages of "riding high and guarding danger", there are too many, for example, it is conducive to throwing or projectile weapons such as bows and arrows; for example, it is conducive to observing the movement of the enemy and so on.
The so-called "dangerous obstacles in the bud plains" depends on the actual situation and on who the general who commands it is.
Time, location, people, Liu Bei "seized" the geographical advantage, this is another correct decision.
Five wins: the strategy is right.
Strategy right? You read that right, the Battle of Yiling, at least until Liu Bei decided to abandon the waterway and place his camp in the mountains and forests, was in the right strategic direction.
In addition to the above four points, what else did Liu Bei do?
First, besiege Sun Huan. Sun Huan was a nephew of Sun Quan's clan, although he was only twenty-three years old at the time, he was a heavy minister of Eastern Wu, and once Sun Huan lost, the morale of the Eastern Wu army would plummet, and Lu Xun's position as governor would probably be given to Zhu Ran.
Moreover, Sun Huan guarded the Yi Dao, and if the Yi Dao was passed, the Pavilion would be broken.
Second, ambushes were set up in the valley. Although the attack is urgent, but in the stage of stalemate, we still do not forget to use strategies, which is what military experts do.
Finally, divide the troops to the north. This point is useless from the actual effect, but without this step, once Cao Pi or Sun Quan attacked from the north, Liu Bei would be very passive.
The above five victories showed Liu Bei's ability and proved that he was not a military idiot.
Liu Bei had many character flaws, but he rose up in the chaotic world and fought in the chaotic army, although he lost more and won less, it was also related to the fact that most of his opponents were not generalists.
However, in the Battle of Yiling, Liu Bei was defeated after all, and the defeat was very thorough, and the reason for this was also five points.
One defeat: eager to claim the title of emperor
Why did you want to be called emperor at this time? I think there are three main reasons:
First, the life and death of Emperor Xian of Han is unknown. As mentioned above, Liu Bei claimed the title of emperor on the grounds that "Emperor Xian is dead", and if he received conclusive news that Emperor Xian of Han was still alive, then Liu Bei's dream would be shattered, and it would be impossible to claim the title of emperor in the name of "Han" without breaking through Xu Du and entering Shanyang County.
Second, the group of ministers on the table, "difficult to push back." Compared with the title of King of Hanzhong, the number of people who wrote to persuade Liu Bei to be called emperor was several times greater, and the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms said that there were eight hundred people. These people express only one meaning: you are not the emperor, that is, you are going against the heavens, against the meaning of your subordinates!
Third, the great war is imminent, and life and death are unknown. Perhaps Liu Bei was mentally prepared, once he went out on the expedition, there was a possibility of death, and his greatest wish in this life was to become an emperor, and if he failed to achieve his wish before death, he would die blindly.
In addition, there is a simple and crude possibility that he only has a whim because Hanzhong has been decided, but he ignores the consequences of becoming emperor.
First of all, there will be no more justification for sending troops to cut down Wei. This was mentioned above.
Secondly, the military and civilians in Jingzhou were cold. Jingzhou was lost, and there were many people who were nostalgic for the old lord, and they were waiting for the heroic Liu Bei to come and rescue themselves.
However, Liu Bei completely disregarded the people of Jingzhou and proclaimed himself emperor in the distant Yizhou, which was half cold, and lü Meng gave him better treatment than in Guan Yu's time, so how could they respond when Liu Bei marched into the army?
The odds of winning the battle with the help of foreign tribes are better than the combination of the inside and the outside.
Two defeats: delayed fighters.
Because to prepare to become emperor, the time has dragged on too long.
Hanzhong was newly determined, and the generals were tired, which was one of the reasons, but until Guan Yu died, it had been several months, and it had been nearly two years since he became emperor.
Only Zhang Fei has always harbored hatred, and I think that his death is more or less related to Liu Bei's delay in sending troops. Guan Yu, who was as close as his brother, was brutally killed by Sun Quan by despicable means, and he already had the problem of whipping close soldiers, and it is not known whether he will intensify his efforts during this period.
As explained earlier, it is correct to choose to send troops in the autumn, but if you advance one year, the odds of winning will be greatly improved.
Three defeats: improper employment.
"Changing the fish to Yong'an" contrasted with "Wuchang", if there was no such change, then it would be worth talking about letting Li Yan take charge of the internal and external military, but ordering him to stay in Yong'an.
Of course, when I say improper employment, I don't mean them.
Huang Quan, who was Liu Zhang and Liu Bei, had produced many correct strategies, and was transferred to Jiangbei by Liu Bei simply because he put forward the suggestion that "the water army is smooth, it is easy to advance and difficult to retreat, and the subjects should be the pioneers to be Kou, and His Majesty should be the rear town".
Judging from the relationship between Huang Quan and Liu Bei, and the sentence that Liu Bei said when Huang Quan surrendered to Cao Wei later, "Huang Quan is alone, and the power is not alone", Liu Bei should think that Huang Quan thinks of retreating and shakes the hearts of the army, but he cannot bear to kill him, so he is transferred away.
Incidentally, the Biography of the Ancestor says that the Zhenbei general Huang Quan was at odds with the Wu army in Jiangbei against Yiling Dao, while the Biography of Huang Quan says that he commanded the Army of Northern Jiangbei to defend against Cao Wei's attack. Whether from the map or the actual effect, "Huang Quan Biography" is more accurate.
But in any case, transferring the guy with strategic vision not only harmed himself, but also caused Huang Quan to be forced to surrender. On the contrary, Cao Pi, who was watching the drama from the sidelines, suddenly won the first prize, winning both talents and an entire army.
Four defeats: abandon the waterway.
With regard to Liu Bei's defeat, many people believe that "abandoning the waterway" was a major mistake of Liu Bei, and even Lu Xun said: When the subjects initially suspected it, the land and water advanced, and now they are giving up their boats, camping everywhere, and observing their arrangements, there will be no other changes.
I think so too, but I just want to share a few of my own views on this:
First of all, Liu Bei gave up the water army, which was also helpless. His previous deployment was very correct, but he couldn't fight...
Because of the help of heaven, Guan Yu flooded the Seventh Army, and the First World War threatened Huaxia, but the unfortunate Liu Bei could not wait for a heavy rain. The soldiers were unbearable due to the extreme heat, and the river was even more unobstructed, so they could only abandon the ship and go ashore.
Secondly, the combat effectiveness of the water army left in Yizhou was far inferior to that of the water army in Jingzhou, and the loss of Jingzhou also buried the advantage of Shu Han in the water army.
Of course, when the water army came ashore, it was in the mountains and forests with the various armies, causing Lu Xun to enter with grass and set fire to the camp, and the whole army was defenseless.
Therefore, the combat strength of the water army is on the one hand, and the angle between each other is even more critical. Liu Bei gave up, and he only had to be passively beaten.
Five defeats: tactical blunders.
Lu Xun was a military genius, and he completely left hundreds of miles of mountain roads to the Shu Han army, but Liu Bei did not know his own plan, and thus made a fatal mistake that even Cao Pi could see--700 miles of camp.
The Shu army was on a rugged mountain road, far away from the base area, lost logistical support, and abandoned the strategy of the water army, which was the fundamental reason for Liu Bei's failure.
In addition, Liu Bei's faint moves are frequent. For example, when he sent Wu Ban to lead thousands of people to set up camps on the flat ground and wanted to lead the Wu army to battle, he once set up eight thousand ambush troops in the valley, which was very wise, but because Lu Xun saw through it, he delayed "taking the bait", so he withdrew the ambush troops back...
This practice is tantamount to suicide!
First, the two armies are already in a stalemate stage, and if they do not retreat, they can also deter the enemy and detect the enemy's movements, even if it is useless, it has nothing to do with the overall situation.
Second, by taking the initiative to withdraw the ambush troops, the Wu army knew that it was a plan and never dared to venture forward again, which greatly increased the difficulty of Liu Bei's "surprise victory" of the army.
Third, the Generals of the Wu Army complained a lot about Lu Xun's adherence to the policy, and the ambush of the troops would increase the psychological burden of the Wu Generals. On the contrary, as soon as the ambush troops were withdrawn, General Wu saw Lu Xun's correct decision, and since then, the generals have the same heart, and it is even more difficult for the Shu army to win.
Looking back at Liu Bei's words " Isn't it heavenly" that I felt a little weak in my heart.
In this way, Liu Bei, under the tricks of heaven, Lu Xun's schemes, and his own tricks, failed miserably and returned, ending this vigorous battle. Like Guan Yu, he chose to carry it when he should give up, thinking that this was not his previous style.
Maybe the sixty-year-old Liu Bei wanted to go crazy again, but he couldn't do it anymore. From the time of the army, he helped Yu and Zhang Fei, ate at the same table, slept in the same bed, and even if they were later displaced, there was no shortage of cronies around them, but in this last battle, none of the people who followed Liu Bei were close to him who had suffered with him.
Therefore, when the Wu people still remember the fire in Chibi, Liu Bei has forgotten the Bowangpo of that year. He was obviously very good at using fire, but this time, he did not take any precautions.
In this life, Liu Bei cannot sing or cry, but it is a pity. If the Battle of Yiling had taken place more than ten years ago, or earlier, I believe that he would have been able to calm down, know and make good use of people, and draw a satisfactory end to the plot of "revenge for Guan Yu".