Guan Yu is a famous general of the Three Kingdoms, he once beheaded Yan Liang and Wen Ugly, walked a thousand miles to ride alone, passed five levels and beheaded six generals, flooded the Seventh Army, and threatened Huaxia. But in the end, he ended up carelessly losing Jingzhou, walking maicheng, and being killed by Eastern Wu. What's going on here?
There are two main reasons for this, strategic and tactical. Because of these two reasons, Guan Yu ended up in a defeated end.
The strategic reason is that Liu Bei's "Longzhong Pair" and Sun Quan's "Asking questions on the bed" have clashed. In the end, it developed to the point of irreconcilability.
Liu Bei's "Longzhong Pair" is to possess Jingyi and carry out the Northern Expedition in two ways. And Sun Quan's "Asking for Advice on the Bed" is all based on the Yangtze River, and the north is fighting for the world. In this way, Liu Bei and Sun Quan clashed over the possession of Jingzhou. For Liu Bei, Jingzhou was an indispensable starting point for the Northern Expedition. For Sun Quan, Jingzhou was the key to his survival, and being occupied by any other party would threaten his safety, so he had to get his hands on it.
Tactically. After the Battle of Chibi, Zhou Yu took Jiangling directly, ignoring other areas. Liu Beiqi had one trick and had to take the four counties of Jiangnan in Jingzhou. However, in this way, Liu Bei was surrounded by sun quan group in the middle, and there was no direction for development. Zhou Yu persuaded Sun Quan to annex Liu Bei's clique, but Sun Quan refused. After Zhou Yu's death, Eastern Wu lost the ability to annex Liu Bei's clique.
In this way, Sun Quan agreed to lend Nan Commandery to Liu Bei and give Liu Bei a way out. If Liu Bei had developed, he could also use the excuse to squeeze Liu Bei's forces out of Jingzhou. Therefore, after Liu Bei obtained Xichuan, Sun Quan wanted to return Jingzhou. Note that this is not just the South County, but all the Jingzhou including the four counties of Jiangnan.
Of course, Liu Bei would not agree. In this way, the two sides broke out in the Xiangshui dispute, and some swords and soldiers almost met each other. In the end, because Cao Cao took Hanzhong, he reconciled and divided the four counties of Jiangnan equally. From here, we can see that Sun Quan's determination to win Jingzhou and Liu Bei's inability to protect Jingzhou. Jingzhou and Eastern Wu are within easy reach, while Xichuan is thousands of miles away. If there is really a struggle between forces, Liu Bei will not be able to fight for Sun Quan at all. This was the main reason why Guan Yu lost Jingzhou.
When Liu Bei took Hanzhong, Sun Quan again demanded Jingzhou, and Liu Bei shirked again. Sun Quan realized that Liu Bei had no possibility of returning Jingzhou, and that Lu Su was dead, so he decided to retake Jingzhou by force. This is a matter of life and death for Eastern Wu, and Sun Quan will not be soft.
And Liu Bei Group did not realize this. Immersed in the joy of defeating Cao Cao, Liu Bei hurriedly ascended the throne of Hanzhong. They believe that the problem of Jingzhou has been solved by dividing the four counties of Jiangnan equally, and they did not expect the disaster to come.
Guan Yu's Northern Expedition to Jingxiang was appropriately chosen, tactics were properly used, and brilliant results were achieved. But at this time, what was Nishikawa doing? While busy with Liu Bei's ascension to the throne, he rewarded hundreds of officials, adjusted the government, and mobilized a large number of manpower and material resources for infrastructure construction. Not only the road was repaired, but more than 300 buildings were built along the road alone. No one cared about Guan Yu's Jingzhou affairs at all.
As a result, Guan Yu transferred the Yong army and had to transfer the Jingzhou garrison, and finally was taken advantage of by Eastern Wu to enter, lost Jingzhou, and defeated Maicheng.
Guan Yu also made a major mistake in tactical command. Guan Yu did not believe in the defeat of the Eastern Wu Alliance, and although he was defensive, it was only a superficial article. So the upward and downward effects, no one takes seriously. This is the reason why Eastern Wu Baiyi crossed the river easily.
During the attack on Xiangfan, Lu Xun wrote a letter to paralyze Guan Yu, and it was unforgivable for Guan Yu to be easily deceived. After receiving a letter deliberately sent to him by Cao Cao telling him that Eastern Wu had defeated the alliance, he did not take the opportunity to make a decision and withdraw his army back to Jingzhou, which was especially unforgivable. Because of the protracted period, it was impossible to take Xiangfan, so he immediately returned to the army, which was the best policy. Guan Yu hesitated, which was one of the reasons for his failure.
In short, Jingzhou could not be defended. Guan Yu's defeat was doomed from the moment he took over the task of defending Jingzhou.