In the history of the Three Kingdoms, Guan Yu's loss of Jingzhou had a far-reaching influence, which can be said to be a whole body. For this matter, most people attributed the reason to Guan Yu's arrogance and carelessness, giving Eastern Wu the opportunity to sneak attack. However, what Xiaobian wants to say is that this matter is really not completely Guan Yu's responsibility. There was an opportunity in front of Liu Bei, but unfortunately Liu Bei's decision-making mistakes led to Guan Yu finally losing Jingzhou.
The dispute over Jingzhou has always been quite controversial. Liu had the rationality of occupying Jingzhou, and Eastern Wu also had a reason to claim Jingzhou. This matter is a typical "public saying that the public is reasonable and the wife is reasonable", so it has always been difficult for the two families of Sun and Liu to reach an agreement. After Liu Bei entered Sichuan under the pretext of helping Liu Zhang resist Zhang Lu, it took a full 3 years to finally pacify Yizhou and realize the first step of Zhuge Liang's "Longzhong Pair". Sensing Liu Bei's threat, Sun Quan sent Zhuge Liang's eldest brother Zhuge Jin to demand Jingzhou.
The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms records that "in the past twenty years, Sun Quan has gained Yizhou with his ancestors, and the envoy wants to obtain Jingzhou. First of all, he said, 'Liangzhou shall be obtained, and Jingzhou shall be with him.' For Liu Bei, at this time, Yizhou was acquired, and Jingzhou was also an indispensable part of the strategic planning, so it was absolutely impossible to cede it to Sun Quan. So he found an excuse to lay the land of Liangzhou and return Jingzhou. In this way, Sun Quan was very dissatisfied, but there was no way.
Perhaps Liu Bei overestimated his position in Sun Quan's heart, and blindly underestimated Sun Quan's consciousness of seizing Jingzhou, and even naively thought that sun Quan would buy it by relying on his own excuses. Unfortunately, although Sun Quan was not as fierce as Sun Jian and Sun Ce, he was not a cowardly and incompetent person. Reasoning failed, and Sun Quan decided to act recklessly.
The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and the Biography of Wu Lord records: "The governor of the three southern counties was placed, and Guan Yu was expelled." Quan was furious and sent Lü Meng to oversee The 20,000-strong troops of Dan, Xu Zhong, and Sun Gui to take the three counties of Changsha, Lingling, and Guiyang, and make Lu Su use ten thousand people to take Tun Baqiu as yu GuanYu. Seeing that Liu Bei did not cooperate, Sun Quan could be said to have exhausted his thoughts. First, he forcibly dispatched the governors of the southern three counties of Jingzhou to confuse Liu Bei. After Guan Yu was forcibly expelled, Sun Quan immediately sent troops to seize it by force, and almost without bloodshed, he occupied the three southern counties.
Liu Beifang's importance to Jingzhou was naturally clear, but the defense of Jingzhou was indeed too loose. Of course, Sun Quan's undeclared war was also unexpected by Liu Bei's clique. For Sun Quan's behavior, Liu Bei was furious and immediately confronted him. Liu Bei personally led an army of 50,000 from Yizhou to support Guan Yu. If there are no surprises, this battle will determine the ownership of Jingzhou. Unfortunately, Cao Cao was not willing to sit idle. When Sun Liu was about to make a big attack, Cao Cao began to attack Hanzhong.
The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms records that "before the war, Cao Gong entered Hanzhong, fearing the loss of the state, and making peace." In the choice of Yizhou and Jingzhou, Liu Bei still chose Yizhou, which was suitable as a stable rear. Therefore, Liu Bei had no choice but to make an armistice with Sun Quan and cut off the land to seek peace. Before this battle could be fought, Liu Bei lost a large area of land west of Xiangshui, and even Changsha, which was richer in Jingzhou, was given to Sun Quan. Although Liu Bei was humiliated, he had no choice. But no matter what, Jingzhou has saved most of it, and Yizhou can also have a chance to rescue.
In fact, in this battle, Liu Bei obviously did not grasp the opportunity given to him by heaven. The Jingzhou issue has always been a hurdle between sun and Liu alliances, and if it is not solved, it will bring problems sooner or later. Unfortunately, for this opportunity, Liu Bei did not seize it, but instead made a series of faint moves, resulting in the final killing of Guan Yu and the loss of Jingzhou.
What is this opportunity? In fact, since Liu Bei had already led 50,000 troops to Jingzhou, he could take this opportunity to change the defense of Jingzhou to relieve the unknown crisis. First of all, to state that some people think that Guan Yu should be transferred, Wei Yan or Zhao Yun Zhenshou, this view is very wrong. The Shu Han Clique, except for Liu Bei, in terms of prestige, seniority and ability, no one was above Guan Yu, and arranging for Guan Yu to guard Jingzhou was the most appropriate choice.
However, Liu Bei's team left in Jingzhou was too weak. In the entire Jingzhou army, there were few courtiers who could get on the card. Ma Liang, the only one who was more powerful, was also transferred away from Jingzhou by Liu Bei, but left Behind Wang Fu, who was not very powerful and not necessarily loyal. The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and the Biography of Yang Opera reads: "(Wang Fu) Guanghan Yiren also. Good guy gossip. When Liu Zhang was a state scholar. After the first lord fixed Shu, he was engaged in the Mianzhu Order, and also for Jingzhou Yicao. Obviously, at this time, how can Liu Zhang's old department be able to advise Guan Yu? Even if Zhuge Liang is not left, Fa zheng, Ma Liang, and the like will have to leave one person. In addition, he arranged for Lu Fang to be the Taishou of Nan County, and this move directly killed Guan Yu.
How important the place was in Nan County, and how capable Elk Fang was, Liu Bei certainly knew it in his heart. At this time, the most appropriate thing is to leave Zhao Yun with Guan Yu. Zhao Yun had both prestige and ability and experience, and he guarded the rear and would never surrender to Eastern Wu. Unfortunately, Liu Bei did not take this opportunity to adjust the personnel arrangements of Jingzhou, but further weakened the strength of Jingzhou, and Guan Yu also lost Maicheng, laughing at the shame of the world.
Reference book: Romance of the Three Kingdoms