Hanzhong is located in the north of Yizhou, overlooking Guanzhong in the north, covering Bashu in the south, Jingxiang in the east, and Controlling Qinlong in the west. The mountains are hugged, and the Han River runs through them. Due to the natural environment of Hanzhong and the rugged terrain of Sisai, Hanzhong has been a place of contention for soldiers since ancient times. During the Three Kingdoms period, Hanzhong was the northern barrier of Liu Bei's military clique standing on Bashu, and Hanzhong was lost and Bashu was not protected. Cao Cao wanted to use Hanzhong as a springboard. Hanzhong became the main battlefield for Shu and Wei.
In 218 AD, Liu Bei led his troops north, and in 219 AD, Liu Bei and Cao Cao launched a decisive battle for Hanzhong. Fifteen generals were thrown into the two sides, of which Cao Cao dispatched seven famous generals, all of whom were first-class. Liu Bei dispatched eight generals, and both sides sent elites, which shows the importance attached to this battle.
Cao Cao sent famous generals: Xiahou Yuan, Cao Hong, Zhang Jie, Xu Huang, Cao Xiu, Cao Zhen, Guo Huai and so on
Liu Bei sent famous generals: Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, Huang Zhong, Zhao Yun, Huang Quan, Wu Lan, Lei Tong, Ren Kui and so on.
Liu Beibing took Hanzhong
In the spring of 218, Liu Bei let Zhuge Liang guard the rear. Liu Bei listened to Fazheng's suggestion and sent an army to attack Hanzhong, and Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, Lei Tong, and Wu Zhu attacked Xiafang first. Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong, Wei Yan and other main forces attacked Southern Zheng. Cao Cao sent Cao Hong to resist Wu Zhu, and Liu Bei sent Zhang Feitun to gushan.
At that time, Cao Xiu advised Cao Hong: "Thieves who break the way, be ambush soldiers sneaking." Now it is the first momentum, which cannot be understood. It is advisable to be ungrouped, to promote Zhu, to break, and to fly away. Cao Hong took Cao Xiu's advice and attacked Wu Zhu, beheading Ren Chuan, and so on. In March, the Yin Ping clan beheaded Wu Zhu. Zhang Fei and Ma Chao retreated.
Liu Bei personally led 10 battalions to march into Hanzhong from the southeast, Xu Huang broke Liu Bei, Liu Bei's men and horses died in the valley very much, Cao Cao knew that Xu Huang had resisted Liu Bei, and was very happy to say: "This cabinet road, the danger of Hanzhong is also throat. Liu Bei wanted to cut off the inside and outside, in order to take Hanzhong, the general in one fell swoop, to defeat the thief, and the good to the good. ”
However, Liu Bei still broke the Ma Ming Pavilion, and then Liu Bei divided his troops into 10 units and attacked Zhang Gao, who was stationed in Guangshi, at night. Zhang Gao personally resisted Liu Bei, and Liu Bei did not capture Guangshi. Liu Bei wrote a letter to Zhuge Liang, asking Yizhou to send troops. Zhuge Liang hesitated about sending troops, so Zhuge Liang went to consult Yang Hong.
Hong Yue: "Hanzhong is the throat of Yizhou, and if the chance of survival is in Hanzhong, there is no Shu; the disaster of this family is also." In the matter of Fang Jin, men should fight, women should be lucky, why should we doubt the dispatch of troops? Zhuge Liang only then sent troops from Yizhou to reinforce Liu Bei. In July, Liu Bei personally led an army to stay at Yangping Pass and resisted Xiahou Yuan and Zhang Guo. Cao Cao commanded troops at XuDu and prepared to rescue Hanzhong. In September, Cao Cao led an army to Chang'an.
In the first month of 219 AD, Liu Bei attacked Yangping Pass and Guangshi without capturing it, and led his army south to cross the Han River with superior troops, and camped at Dingjun Mountain. Xiahou Yuan led his troops to fight for the mountain and confronted Liu Bei's army. Xiahou Yuan sent Zhang Guo to guard the eastern siege, and he himself led a large army to defend the southern siege. When Liu Bei attacked Dongwei first, and Zhang Gao could not hold on, Xiahou Yuan sent some troops to help Zhang Gao.
Liu Bei took the opportunity to burn the antlers of the Southern Wai, and the horns of the Southern Wai were in full swing, Xiahou Yuan hurried to put out the fire, and met Liu Bei on the way, and Fa Zheng said to Liu Bei that he could attack Xiahou Yuan, so Liu Bei sent Huang Zhong to lead his men and horses to attack Xiahou Yuan. Xiahou Yuan was slashed by Huang Zhong.com. Cao Cao's Yizhou assassin Zhao U was also killed.
Xiahou Yuan was dead, and Zhang Gao led troops from Guangshi to guard Yangping Pass. Liu Bei once again crossed the Han River and attacked Yangping Pass. Zhang Gao adopted Guo Huai's strategy to deploy the array, and Liu Bei saw that the Wei army was far away from the water, but hesitated to cross. Cao Cao was in Chang'an and sent Cao Ren to recruit Hou Yin. Cao Ren Kewan City, Chop Hou Yin. Cao Ren once again garrisoned Fancheng to the town of Jingzhou.
In March, Cao Cao personally came to Hanzhong, fearing Liu Bei's attack, and first covered the key points with his army and covered the advance, so as to approach Hanzhong. Cao Cao came to Yangping and sent Xu Huangtun to garrison Wancheng to help Cao Ren defend against Guan Yu's attack. Cao Cao transported tens of millions of bags of military grain to the North Mountain, and when Huang Zhong learned of this, he suggested that Zhao Yun sneak into the North Mountain, and for the sake of prudence, Zhao Yun and Huang Zhong agreed on a time to let Huang Zhong go on the expedition.
Huang Zhong led the soldiers to rob the grain, but did not return to the camp at the time agreed by Zhao Yun. Zhao Yun was worried that something was wrong, so he asked Zhang Yi to defend the camp and lead dozens of cavalry to find Huang Zhong. As a result, when cao Cao's army was encountered, Zhao Yun scattered Cao Cao's army with dozens of cavalry, and Cao Cao's army immediately pursued Zhao Yun, at this time the general Zhang Zhu was wounded and surrounded by Cao Cao's army, and Zhao Yun once again attacked Cao Cao's army and brought Zhang Fei back to the camp.
Zhang Yi, who was stationed in Xingyang, saw that Cao Jun had killed him, and he could not hold out. Zhao Yun believed that sticking to it was not the best way to let his army die, and Cao Cao's army was afraid of ambushing and did not dare to attack Zhao Yun and retreat. At this time, Zhao Yun let the soldiers shoot Cao Cao's rear army with crossbows, and Cao Jun fell into the Han River and drowned a lot.
Huang Zhong proposed a sneak attack, after the implementation of the plan, Zhao Yun's army fell into a disadvantage, at the critical moment Zhao Yun not only rescued Huang Zhong and Zhang Zhu, but also inflicted heavy damage on the Cao army, Liu Bei praised Zhao Yun: Zilong was full of guts, and the generals in the army called Zhao Yun "General Huwei".
The two armies faced each other for several months, and the Cao army suffered many casualties. So he withdrew from Hanzhong and returned to Chang'an. Before retreating, Cao Cao asked Zhang Li to guard Chen Cang, let Cao Zhen be judged, let Cao Hongzhen guard Chen Cang, and after Liu Bei got Hanzhong, he presented Himself to Emperor Han and honored Liu Bei as the King of Hanzhong and formally established the Shu Han regime. After the victory in Hanzhong, Liu Bei sent Liu Feng to lead his troops by boat down the Han River to the east, and Meng Dahui attacked Shangyong, and then ordered Guan Yu to attack Xiangyang and Fancheng.
When Sun Quan fought for Hanzhong between Liu and Cao, he stood still and sat on the mountain to watch the tiger fight. Sun Quan regarded Cao Cao as a traitor and Liu Bei as a tyrant, both of which were strong causes. Capturing Sun Quan to sneak into Jiangling, inviting Guan Yu to behead, the soldiers did not bloodshed, and drove Liu Bei's forces out of Jingzhou, Wu and Shu fought against each other, and Eastern Wu was difficult to survive alone, so he had to bow down to Cao Wei.