When it comes to Guan Yu's defeat in Jingzhou, many people blame guan Yu's carelessness. Indeed, Guan Yu led the main force on expeditions to Xiangyang and Fancheng, and the emptiness of the Jingzhou garrison gave Eastern Wu an opportunity to take advantage of it, thus causing the tragedy of the subsequent fall of Jingzhou and his own capture and murder. However, it is undeniable that in addition to Guan Yu's carelessness, there is another important reason for the loss of Jingzhou, which is the strategizing of Lü Meng, the commander of Eastern Wu.
According to the comprehensive historical records, Lü Meng's capture of Jingzhou was not only based on sneak attacks, but on his excellent command ability and adaptability, which made Guan Yu lose Jingzhou painfully. So, how did Lü Meng take Jingzhou? This also begins with Lu Meng's illness.
According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms? According to the biography of Lu Xun, in the twenty-fourth year of Emperor Jian'an (219 AD), Guan Yu personally led his troops north to launch the Battle of Xiangfan. In order to ensure the safety of the Base Camp in Jingzhou, Guan Yu left heavy troops in Jingzhou. At this time, Lü Meng returned to Jianye from Lukou for treatment due to illness. During this period, Lu Xun proposed a strategy to paralyze Guan Yu and capture Jingzhou, which was affirmed by Lü Meng. After that, Lü Meng proposed to Sun Quan that he resign on the grounds of illness and be replaced by Lu Xun. The obscure Lu Xun succeeded him, causing Guan Yu to let down his guard. The legend says: "Yu Guo Xinzhi, slightly withdraw his troops to Fan." This caused a shortage of garrison troops in Jingzhou, and created favorable conditions for Eastern Wu to seize Jingzhou later.
Upon learning that Guan Yu had transferred most of the troops remaining in Jingzhou to the Xiangfan front, Lü Meng immediately launched a substantial operation to capture Jingzhou. According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms? The biography of Lü Meng reads: "Mengzhi Xunyang ... Let the white clothes shake the bridge, make the merchants and the people, travel day and night, go to the river where Yu is located, and collect it as much as possible, which Yu yu does not know. Through the tactic of "crossing the river in white clothes", Lü Meng finally led his troops into the territory of Jingzhou controlled by Guan Yu. However, at this time, the jingzhou town of public security and Jiangling were still under the control of Guan Yu, and if these two strategic places were taken in a short period of time, the success or failure of the battle would be determined.
Lü Meng's first target was the public security guarded by Guan Yu's general Shiren Zhenshou. According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms? The "Biography of the First Lord" quotes the "Biography of Jiang Biao" as saying: "Zhou Yu was the Taishou of Nan Commandery and divided the land on the south bank to prepare. Bibei set up camp at the mouth of the Youjiang River and changed its name to Public Security. After more than ten years of hard work, this area has become a strategic place in Jingzhou under Guan Yu's rule. The fortifications of the city were strong, and it was difficult to predict the outcome of the offensive in a hasty attack. Therefore, how to take the city as soon as possible became the first problem facing Lü Meng in seizing Jingzhou.
According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms? The Biography of Lü Meng, quoting the Book of Wu, records that Lü Meng's strategy of taking over the police was very clever. The book states: "The general ShiRen refused to guard the police, and (Lü) was ordered by Yu to translate it. Flip to the city gate... Ren refused to see each other. It's for the book... Ren de shuddered, drooling down. Obviously, Lü Meng would not wait until the soldiers came to the city before he remembered to let Yu Tuan come forward to persuade him to surrender. This plan was designed before the "white-clothed crossing of the river".
Why did Lü Meng take the form of persuasion instead of a strong attack? Romance of the Three Kingdoms? Guan Yu's biography says: "Younan County's Taishou Lufang was in Jiangling, and the general Ren tun was in public security, and he always hated Yu and despised himself. Since Yu zhi left the army, Fang and Ren provided military resources, and did not know how to save each other. Yu said ' should still be cured', Fang and Ren Xian were afraid and uneasy. Obviously, the key information of the discord between Lu Fang, Shi Ren and Guan Yu had long been mastered by Lü Meng, and Lü Meng had already thought of a way to deal with it. Therefore, Yu Tuan would come forward to successfully persuade Shi Ren to surrender.
After capturing The Police without bloodshed, Lü Meng once again took Jiangling, a major town in Jingzhou, by way of persuasion. According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms? Lü Meng's biography quotes the Wu Lu as saying: "In the beginning, there was a fire in the city of Nan County, and quite a few military weapons were burned. Yu blames Fang, Fang Nei fears, Quan hears and seduces, and Fang lurks in harmony. and those who are attacked are descended with ox wine. The commentary quotes the Book of Wu as saying: "(Lü Meng) then sent Ren to Nan Commandery. Nanjun Taishou (南郡太守麋芳城守), who was shown by benevolence, surrendered. These two records show that long before Lü Meng "crossed the river in white clothes", Eastern Wu had secret contact with the Jiangling guard general Lu Fang. For the sake of safety, after Lü Meng took the police, he sent Shiren to Gangneung to persuade him to surrender. Faced with Shi Ren's persuasion and the pressure of the Eastern Wu army, Lu Fang eventually betrayed Guan Yu and defected to Eastern Wu. At this point, Jingzhou finally fell into the hands of Lü Meng.
Judging from the whole process of Lü Meng's seizure of Jingzhou, "crossing the river in white clothes" was only a factor in Lü Meng's success, and the more important thing was that before launching a sneak attack on Jingzhou, Lü Meng had already designed an effective method to seize The Public Security and Jiangling, that is, to take advantage of the discord between Guan Yu and the defenders Ren and Lufang to persuade the two to surrender. The effect of this method is obviously much more advanced than launching a strong attack, and it is also the most critical winner of this battle.
Reference book: Romance of the Three Kingdoms