After the Battle of Chibi, sun-liu alliance seemed solid, but contradictions were also quietly breeding. In the face of the growing strength of Liu Bei's clique and the increasing uneasiness of the Eastern Wu side, after the deaths of Zhou Yu and Lu Su, Sun Quan and Lü Meng basically reached a consensus - to kill Guan Yu and seize Jingzhou.
During the Battle of Xiangfan, Lü Meng took advantage of Guan Yu's battle with Cao Jun to cross the river in white clothes, and not only captured Jingzhou, but also killed Guan Yu. As a result, Sun Quan and Liu Bei completely tore their faces. Although many civilian and military generals, including Zhuge Liang and others, did not approve of Liu Bei raising troops to attack Wu, Liu Bei still insisted on personal conquest in an attempt to restore Jingzhou and destroy Eastern Wu.
At the Battle of Yiling, Liu Bei led his troops on the expedition
In many historical novels and film and television dramas, Zhuge Liang and the Five Tigers generals have been exaggerated, giving people the illusion that Liu Bei is not good at leading the army. In fact, when Liu Bei was alive, he was the core figure who really led the army to fight and strategize, and the Shu Han's Jiangshan was not only won by Kong Ming's strategy.
As far as the military generals are concerned, there is no so-called "five tiger generals" in the main history. Of course, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Ma Chao and Huang Zhong and others can really be regarded as famous generals in the world, so Chen Shoucai has a "Biography of Guan Zhang Zhao Ma Huang" in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
Then, in the Battle of Yiling, which concerned the fate of the Shu kingdom, why did Liu Bei not take Zhao Yun, Ma Chao, Wei Yan and others with him?
First of all, it should be pointed out that there was nothing wrong with Liu Bei when he dispatched troops and generals, and the reason why he did not bring the above three generals was also repeatedly pondered.
Zhao Yun stills
Although the historical Zhao Yun has the reputation of a general who has always won, he is still much inferior to Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and others, and is more suitable for guarding and receiving work. Such a fierce general, usually with him or as a pioneer, is purely normal. However, during the Battle of Yiling, Liu Bei's side could also be regarded as a general like a cloud, and a confidant like Zhao Yun was placed in the rear wing of the army, but it was more secure.
Speaking of The Western Liang general Ma Chao, Liu Bei has been on guard since he subdued Ma Chao. According to Ma Chao's influence and military talent, if it is not better than Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, it will never be much worse than the two of them. However, as for tasks that have a bearing on the overall situation, Liu Bei will not give too much power to Ma Chao. More importantly, after Ma Chao returned to Shu, his body seemed to have gradually exposed problems, and he was not suitable for participating in the war.
Ma Chao stills
As for Wei Yan, that can be regarded as a trump card for Liu Bei to stay in the base camp. It should be known that after Liu Bei captured Hanzhong, he chose Wei Yan to garrison Hanzhong, and many people originally felt that this position was bound to belong to Zhang Fei. In any case, from Liu Bei's arrangement, it can be seen that he admired this person and handed over Hanzhong to Wei Yan.
As can be seen from the foregoing, Liu Bei has his own arrangements for Zhao Yun and Wei Yan, and Ma Chao is between available and unavailable. At the same time, when Liu Bei led the army out on the expedition, he was also surrounded by civilian and military generals, and it was absolutely impossible to bring all his confidants to the front line together, after all, Shudi and Hanzhong were all new soon, in case the expedition was unfavorable, it would not be worth it to lose the base camp.
Wei Yan stills
As for not taking Zhuge Liang, first, it is necessary to have someone in the rear to take charge of the overall situation, and secondly, because there is no shortage of excellent strategists around Liu Bei, and more importantly, Liu Bei himself has been traversing the battlefield for many years, which can be described as a male master with both culture and martial arts. Putting aside the historical interpretation, Liu Bei's Eastern Crusade is really not unable to play without Zhuge Liang.
Of course, no war is a sure winner. Although Liu Bei mobilized almost all the elite and led a large number of civil and military officials to the east, he was still defeated by the young Lu Xun. History is like this, often changing the trajectory of development because of a war. Of course, the fiasco of shu Han in the Battle of Yiling was, in the final analysis, the result of the disparity in strength between the two sides.