From a cloth garment of "weaving mats and selling shoes" to the "King of Hanzhong" who shocked the world, Liu Bei's ups and downs and heartache experienced were little known. After wandering around in the first half of his life and lamenting that his merits were not enough, with the assistance of Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei finally had the foundation to win the world. After defeating Cao Cao head-on, Liu Bei was bound to be proud. After being promoted to the throne of Hanzhong and rewarding his subjects, Guan Yu also played the record of "Wei Zhen Huaxia". Liu Bei's clique, the power has reached its peak, it seems that the time to achieve the "Longzhong pair" has arrived.
However, Le Ji was sad, Liu Bei's clique did not sing for long, Guan Yu, who was fighting alone, was jointly hanged by Cao Cao and Sun Quan, and Jingzhou was occupied by Eastern Wu. As soon as Jingzhou was lost, Longzhong's strategy was completely ruined. Because guan Yu was alone in the Northern Expedition from beginning to end. Therefore, many people blamed Liu Bei for not reinforcing Jingzhou. Was Liu Bei really drifting because he was bitter and willing, and was careless not to reinforce Jingzhou? In fact, this problem has long been recorded in history.
The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and the Biography of Guan Yu records: "When it was the year, Yu led the crowd to attack Cao Ren yu Fan. Cao Gong dispatched him to the Forbidden Aiding Ren. In autumn, the rain was heavy, the Han River overflowed, and the Seven Armies of the Forbidden House were gone. Forbidden to descend feathers, feathers and beheaded general Pound. That is to say, in the same year of the Great War between Liu Bei and Cao Cao, Guan Yu sent troops to the Northern Expedition, and with the help of Autumn Rain, he achieved very good results. The Northern Expedition to Xiangyang and Fancheng not only severely damaged Cao Ren, but also captured 30,000 horses, and Guan Yu's prestige reached its peak.
In this case, Cao Cao was afraid of Guan Yu's fierce soldiers and prepared to move the capital. However, Cao Cao was afraid of Guan Yu because of his panic, and there were still many rational people in the Cao Wei group. At the suggestion of Sima Yi and Jiang Ji, Cao Cao began to arrange for the rescue of Xiangfan in an orderly manner. On the one hand, Cao Cao sent Xu Huang to reinforce Fancheng, and on the other hand, he joined forces with Sun Quan to sneak into Guan Yu's rear. After Sun Quan agreed to unite, he ordered Zhang Liao to rush to Jingzhou to rescue him. It can be said that guan yu at this time is no longer possible to succeed.
However, even though the situation was so critical, there was no support from Liu Bei's soldiers and pawns. With Xu Huang's arrival, Guan Yu's blocking position on the back of Fancheng was quickly broken, and it was only three inches away from Guan Yu's encirclement. After that, the main force of Cao Cao's 12th Battalion supporting Xu Huang arrived, and Xu Huang felt that the time was ripe, so he decisively fought Guan Yu. The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and The Biography of Guan Yu records: "Yu could not be restrained, and the army was returned." Guan Yu finally withdrew from the siege of Fancheng and withdrew his army back to Jingzhou. However, it was too late. Due to the surrender of Lu Fang and Shi Ren, Nan Gun and Gong An fell into the hands of Lü Meng.
The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and the Biography of Guan Yu records: "Quan has been taken to Jiangling, and as many wives as Yu Shi have been captured, the Yu army has dispersed. Quan Shu will counterattack Yu, behead Yu and Zi Ping in Linfeng. Guan Yu had no choice but to start a breakthrough in the direction of Yizhou, but unfortunately Guan Yu's forces were defeated by Lü Meng's offensive plan and soon collapsed, and Guan Yu himself was captured and killed by Eastern Wu, along with his son Guan Ping.
In addition to the fact that Guan Yu's defeat was too sudden and Liu Bei was too late to organize a rescue, there was a more important reason, that is, the news was not clear. There are two pieces of information, the first is that the news of Lü Meng's sneak attack on Jingzhou failed to reach Guan Yu's side in time, and the other is that the news of the loss of Jingzhou and Guan Yu's loss of evidence could not reach Liu Bei's side. In fact, these two aspects of the problem are clearly recorded in history.
The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Lü Meng's biography, says: "Mengzhi Xunyang ... To the river where Yu placed him, he waited, and collected it as much as he could, but Yu Yu did not know it. In the Book of Wu, when Yu Turned over to persuade Shi Ren to surrender, he also said: "On the journey of a large army, the reprimand is not enough, and the beacon is not enough." Obviously, guan yu's painstakingly laid beacon along the river was quietly taken down by Lü Meng's white-clothed crossing of the river, so the news could not be delivered in time. This explains why Guan Yu, after being persuaded to retreat by Cao Ren, still did not believe that Jingzhou had been lost.
The other is the credit of Lu Xun, according to the "Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms Lu Xun": "Sun Jingjin, Lingyi Du Taishou, pay homage to the general of the border, and fenghuating Marquis." The Capital of Beiyi was too defensive of Fan You's committee to go to the county, and the governors of the cities and the barbarian rulers all surrendered. In the process of sneaking into Jingzhou, Lü Meng's intentions could not be described as deep. At the same time as capturing Nan Commandery, Lu Xun was also sent to capture Yidu, cutting off the news between Jingzhou and Yizhou. Therefore, what happened to Jingzhou was unknown to Liu Bei in a short period of time.
Therefore, Liu Bei did not rescue Guan Yu in time, not because Liu Bei did not want to save. Rather, it was because the message transmission was too slow, resulting in Liu Bei failing to obtain accurate information in time. In this battle, Eastern Wu was well prepared, well-thought-out, and secretive, and almost bloodlessly occupied Jingzhou, which can also be regarded as a huge tactical success. Liu Bei's failure to change its strategic thinking in a timely manner and the failure to recognize the reversal of the situation in the Three Kingdoms, which led to the failure of Guan Yu's lone army, may be the root cause of the loss of Jingzhou.
Reference book: Romance of the Three Kingdoms