In the first year of Zhang Wu (221 AD), Liu Bei's first year as emperor was about to march to avenge Guan Yu's revenge. The former camp suddenly passed on the urgent report in Langzhong, and Liu Bei heard the sound and burst into tears: "Oh! My brother Zhang Fei is dead." Sure enough, Zhang Feibu would report that Zhang Da and Fan Qiang attacked and killed Zhang Fei, fled with the first rank overnight, and went away from Sun Quan.
Guan Yu treated soldiers well and despised scholars, Zhang Fei admired gentlemen but did not sympathize with pawns, and Liu Bei often warned that this was the way to take misfortune. However, Zhang Fei listened and did not accept it, and eventually Guan Yu died in mi fang and Shi Ren (fu shiren in the novel, pejoratively not human) to surrender to the enemy, and Zhang Fei died in the attacks of Zhang Da and Fan Qiang.
Therefore, under the artistic processing of many novels, commentaries, and operas, Zhang Fei became a violent and unkind, rough and reckless black-faced man. However, as the second most important of the Shu Han generals after Guan Yu, Zhang Fei's military talent was far from being summed up by Dangyang Changsakapo's sudden drinking. This article analyzes in detail Zhang Fei's life course from a general to a generation of famous generals from the loss of Xuzhou:
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First of all, in order to objectively evaluate the impact of Zhang Fei's loss of Xuzhou, it is necessary to recognize the fact that Liu Bei's foundation in Xuzhou is insufficient. Xuzhou under Tao Qian's rule has 6 counties and 50 counties, but not all of them are actually controlled by Tao Qian.
Langya County, north of Xuzhou, Kaiyang City on the side of Mount Tai, was the independent territory of Zang Ba, Sun Guan, and others; in Guangling County, south of Xuzhou, Chen Deng had resisted Sun Ce's northward march in the early years, which belonged to the conflict zone of forces; in addition, Cao Cao slaughtered Xuzhou, Surabaya did not flow, and the people's livelihood in the west and central parts of Xuzhou had long withered.
Therefore, Xuzhou nominally had 6 counties, but Liu Bei actually controlled Pengcheng County, Xia Pi County, Donghai County, and 3 counties that were slaughtered by Cao Cao. Therefore, usually a state raises 100,000 soldiers, but Liu Bei has a maximum of 50,000 or 60,000 people here. Coupled with the capture of Lü Bu's army, Liu Bei's actual strength and territorial area had to be reduced to provide for Lü Bu's army.
More seriously, from Tao Qian's death from illness, Liu Bei taking over Xuzhou, to Yuan Shu's invasion of Guangling County, it was less than a year. Liu Bei simply did not have enough time to pacify the local warriors and control the Danyang soldiers that Tao Qian had relied on. There were strong enemies such as Yuan Shu and Cao Cao on the outside, and there were contradictions between the native warrior clan and the Danyang soldiers on the inside, which was the main problem after Liu Bei entered Xuzhou.
Zhang Fei was left to guard Xia Pi, and led his troops to fight with Yuan Shu at the Huaiyin Stone Pavilion, and won more victories and defeats. - Romance of the Three Kingdoms
The cause of Xuzhou's change of lordship was that Yuan Shu of Huainan took advantage of Liu Bei's unstable foothold and invaded Guangling County in southern Xuzhou. Liu Bei led Guan Yu and led the main force of Xuzhou to confront Yuan Shu in the Huaiyin area, and the two sides fought for more than 30 days and won or lost each other. Zhang Fei stayed behind in Xia Pi and clashed with Tao Qian's old general Cao Bao.
Tao Qian sent Cao Bao to Xia Pi, and Zhang Fei wanted to kill him. The leopards camped themselves and made people recruit Lü Bu. - Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Zhang Fei wanted to kill Cao Bao, who led the old danyang army to hold the camp, and the two sides were a life-and-death collision between the old and new forces, rather than a simple oral sex dispute like persuasion in the speech. Cao Bao could not defeat Zhang Fei, so he sent someone to ask Lü Bujun for help.
Lü Bu was excited, and immediately marched down to Xia Pi, all the way to 40 miles away from Xia Pi City, Zhang Fei did not notice. Tao Qian first gave Liu Bei the 4,000 Danyang Army, but eventually betrayed Zhang Fei and fell to Cao Bao. The Danyang general Xu Tan ordered Sima Zhangyi to open the city gates and welcome Lü Bu into the city. Zhang Fei was caught off guard, with Cao Bao Danyang's troops inside and Lü Bu and Zhou's cavalry outside, and for a time the army was defeated like a mountain.
Liu Bei's wife and Buqu were all captured, and Zhang Fei rushed out of Xia Pi City with only a small number of his own soldiers. Then Liu Bei abandoned Guangling County, led the main force of Xuzhou to counterattack Picheng, helpless to have the soldiers and their families in the city, and the siege did not defeat the soldiers and soldiers to flee. Liu Bei had no choice but to flee back to Guangling to gain a foothold, fight Yuan Shu again, and suffer defeats, and finally return to Lü Bu after losing all his foundations.
This is the whole process of Xuzhou's change of ownership, and looking back at the fundamental reason for Xuzhou's loss, it is Liu Bei's time to integrate Xuzhou. The extremely prosperous Yuan Shu was originally a strong enemy attack, and there were many contradictions within Xuzhou, such as Cao Bao, Danyang Army, and native warriors, coupled with the attack of the guest army Lü Bu, the combination of inside and outside was the cause of the fall of Xuzhou, not Zhang Fei's drunkenness or carelessness.
However, judging from the entire process of Xuzhou's loss, Zhang Fei, who was less careless, and the tactical command at this time was still particularly young and ignorant. First, Liu Bei's main force was engaged in battle with Yuan Shu in Guangling, and Zhang Fei should not attack Cao Bao's camp under any circumstances, which was a sabotage of the grand strategy; second, Lü Bu's army marched to 40 miles below Pi, and Zhang Fei had not yet detected it in time, which was a loophole in the deployment of the war; third, the defection of Xu Yan, the general of the Danyang army, lacked timely detection, and it was a taboo for the main general of the side to not be strict.
Therefore, compared with Liu Bei and Guan Yu, who fought against the peak Yuan Shu in Guangling, there was still a victory or defeat for more than one month. Zhang Fei, who was a few years younger, lost the city and lost land within a few days by virtue of the lower Pi Jian City, and could not even wait for a few days for Liu Bei to return to help, and the degree of his battlefield command ability was evident. However, Liu Bei did not snubbed Zhang Fei because of Xuzhou's loss, but carefully guided him for more than ten years, and still regarded him as a confidant, which is Liu Bei's temperament and personality charm.
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Long before Changshanpo, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were famous generals in the eyes of Cao Cao's strategists. For example, both Guo Jia and Cheng Yu agreed that Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were "enemies of ten thousand people":
He has great talent and has won the hearts of the people. Zhang Fei and Guan Yu are the enemies of all people. --Guo Jia
However, Zhang Fei's "ten thousand enemies", in the biography of the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", is recorded in detail from the beginning of Changsakapo drinking and retreating from Cao Jun. The deeds of Jingzhou before are all unknown, in fact, except for Guan Yu, who was once in Cao Ying, and Ma Chao, who was a prince of the generations, Zhang Fei, Huang Zhong, and Zhao Yun's early deeds were all lost, which is inseparable from the lack of historical materials of the Shu and Han Dynasties.
Flying according to the water broken bridge, the blind spear said: "As Zhang Yideye, you can come to the joint decision to die!" "No one dares to come near the enemy, so he is spared." - Romance of the Three Kingdoms
However, judging from Zhang Fei's breaking of drinking, Cao Jun's retreat, and Guo Jia and Cheng Yu's "ten thousand enemies" evaluation. Zhang Fei before Dangyang must have been a veteran of the battlefront, otherwise he would not have been famous in the enemy country and enjoyed great prestige. Therefore, Zhang Fei's early achievements must be combined with Liu Beifengpei's information and the deeds left by Guan Yu in Cao Ying, and the forgotten young Zhang Fei must be excavated little by little.
Zhang Fei was a few years younger than Guan Yu, lost Xuzhou in 196, and Liu Bei's Yellow Turban Rebellion was in 184. At this time, Zhang Fei followed Liu Bei for 12 years, and was a few years younger than Guan Yu, and his age should be around thirty years old. Only in Qingzhou with Tian Kai, with Yuan Shao's son Yuan Tan had a small confrontation, and the North Sea to save Kong Rong, has not yet experienced a big war.
After the loss of Xuzhou, Liu Bei's power shrank and there was no longer any need to divide the troops, and Liu Bei had been fighting with Zhang Fei for more than ten years. Xuzhou fought Lü Bu, beheaded Che to capture Xuzhou, Ben Runan joined forces with Liu Pei to harass Cao Cao, Cai Yang was defeated by Cao Ren, and Liu Bei burned Bowangpo (yanyi turned into Zhuge Liang's hand), during which various big battles and small battles were the only way for Zhang Fei to change from a general to a famous general.
Even during the defeat of Yang, the Battle of Chibi, and the capture of the four counties of Jingnan, Liu Bei ordered Guan Yu to divide his troops into Xiakou to join Liu Qi and command the large and small wars in Jingzhou. This is all Liu Bei's love and tempering for Zhang Fei as an elder who is also a teacher and friend.
The first lord entered Yizhou, and also attacked Liu Zhang, Fei and Zhuge Liang and others went up the river and divided the counties. To Jiangzhou, The Broken Zhang's general Ba Jun's strict face was too strict and was born with Yan. - Romance of the Three Kingdoms
It was not until Liu Bei entered the Battle of Sichuan, and Zhang Fei, who had been tempered for 13 years from the loss of Xuzhou, that together with Zhuge Liang and Zhao Yun, led an army into Shu alone. At this time, Zhang Fei not only fought bravely, but also came to a hand to interpret Yan Yan and effortlessly harvest the hearts of the people of Berkshire. From Ba County to Chengdu, Zhang Fei's flags have been surrendered, and Chen Shou praised this move as having the "wind of the national soldier". This is Zhang Fei's growth, the siege of the city to take the ground for the bottom, the attack to convince the people first, at this time Zhang Fei already has the wind of a famous general.
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But Zhang Fei's real peak was still in the battle of The Canal after that, with the five sons of Liang's general Zhang Guo's needle tip against Mai Mang. The background of the Battle of Tangqu was that after Cao Cao destroyed Zhang Lu in Hanzhong, due to frequent internal unrest, xiahou yuan and Zhang Guo were left in Hanzhong. At the same time, Liu Bei obtained Shu land, and Sun Quan took advantage of Guan Yu's military deficit in Jingzhou to conquer the three counties of Lingling, Changsha, and Guiyang.
Liu Bei was disgruntled, and led the main force of 50,000 Shu to Jingnan to join Guan Yu's Jingzhou troops and prepare to counterattack Sun Quan. However, the fall of Zhang Lu in Hanzhong made Shudi face the risk of Cao Cao's invasion at any time, and Liu Bei had no choice but to demarcate the border with Xiangshui. Sun Quan returned the land of Lingling County, took away the counties of Changsha and Guiyang, and the Sun and Liu families ruled across the Xiang River, not invading each other and thinking that they were allies.
On Liu Bei's journey to and from Jingnan, Cao Cao did not have long to look forward to Shu, but Zhang Guo, who remained in Hanzhong, invaded Ba County in northern Shu. Zhang Gao came here to explore the virtual reality of Shu Land, the strength of the troops was not too much, it belonged to the partial division of Hanzhong.
Fei led more than 10,000 people to invite the Guo army to fight from him, the mountain road was narrow, and they could not save each other before and after, and the fly broke through. - Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Zhang Fei heard that Zhang Gao had invaded Ba County, and that Liu Bei's main force was in Jingnan, so he could only bring more than 10,000 elite troops to engage Zhang Guo. The battle between the two sides was very fierce, and they fought for more than fifty days in the ditches, mengtou, dangshi and other places. In the end, Zhang Fei was superior in skill, and in a narrow mountain road, he cut off the contact between Zhang Gao's army and fought Zhang Gao's defeat.
Abandoning Mayuan Mountain, He and more than ten of his men retreated from the middle road, led the army back to Southern Zheng, and Batu was secured. - Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Zhang Gao was even embarrassed to abandon his warhorse, climb the mountain alone, and take more than a dozen of his own soldiers over the mountains and flee back to Southern Zheng. Then Ba County gained peace, liu bei group turned to defense to attack, kicking off the prelude to the Battle of Hanzhong, which was the impact of the Battle of Zhang Fei' Canal.
Throughout the Battle of Tangqu, Zhang Fei and Zhang Gao had equal troops, and neither side had any support, which was a completely fair tactical duel. Both sides were scorched for more than 50 days and the army was cleaned up, and they were all elite divisions. However, the result was that Zhang Fei seized the opportunity to cut off the contact between Zhang Gao's front and rear troops in the narrow mountain road, and only more than a dozen people remained in Zhang Gao to flee back to Southern Zheng, which showed the high level of Zhang Fei's command at this time.
The one who can lead the army alone and defeat the five sons of the good generals, in addition to Guan Yu, who has been captured in the forbidden, is Zhang Fei in the Battle of Tangqu. Even if such Zhang Fei has the character flaw of beating a soldier, he is definitely not a reckless and rough black-faced man. Thick and thin can grasp the fighter; righteous interpretation of yan has the style of a national soldier; respect for gentlemen has a studious heart (by no means a reckless man); at the same time, some of the temperamental Zhang Yide (the novel does Yide); is the original appearance of zhang Fei, a famous general of the Shu Han Dynasty.