Before the battle of Guandu officially began, Yuan Shao sent the general Yan Liang as the vanguard to attack Baima, intending to seize the key points on the south bank of the Yellow River, so that the main force of Yuan's army could cross the river.
However, Cao Cao quickly organized his men and brought elite generals including: Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, Xu Chu, Xiahoudun and other generals. Support the White Horse, but Yuan Shao's general Yan Liang had already set up a position here, just waiting for Cao Cao to lead the army to come. At that time, Yan Liang had 100,000 soldiers and horses in his hands, and Cao Cao could only use 20,000 soldiers and horses.
How to solve the siege of the White Horse, Cao Cao and the strategist Xun You decided that defeating Yan Liang was a good choice after careful consideration, why? Yan Liang is a martial artist, although he has the courage to be unstoppable, but Yuan Shao did not assign a military division to Yan Liang at that time, so as long as Yan Liang is defeated, the siege of the White Horse will naturally be solved.
Yan Liang defeated Song Xian and Wei Xu in seconds
In the face of Yan Liang's provocation with the army, Cao Cao first set his sights on Song Xian, the eight strong generals under Lu Bu in the past, and was shocked, looking back at Lu Bu's old general Song Xian and saying: "I heard that you are a fierce general under Lu Bu, and now you can fight with Yan Liang." Song Xian had just defected to Cao Cao at that time, so he was anxious to show himself, so he gladly accepted the order.
It's just that reality taught Song Xian a lesson, Song Xian went out and fought with Yan Liang alone, and was killed in less than 3 rounds.
Then Wei Xu went into battle and fought against Yan Liang again, but Wei Xu's buddy was not as good as Song Xian, and he only fought with Yan Liang for one round and lay directly on the ground, and he didn't know how Wei Xu got mixed with the position of Lu Bu's eight strong generals back then.
Cao Cao was beheaded by Yan Liang twice, and his morale was damaged, so Cao Wei's fierce general Xu Huang personally went out, hoping to save face for Cao Cao. Xu Huang was Cao Cao's fierce general before, and he fought with Xu Chu for 50 rounds without winning or losing, and Xu Huang's force value was first-class among Cao Ying's generals.
However, in the face of Yan Liang, Xu Huang also lost his temper, Xu Huang picked up the mountain axe and fought with Yan Liang for 20 rounds, and gradually lost the battle. Cao Cao was afraid that Xu Huang would lose, so he had to let Xu Huang retreat.
"Who dares to deserve it today?" Xu Huang came out in response, fought with Yan Liang for twenty battles, and returned to his own camp in defeat. The generals shuddered. After Xu Huang retreated, Zhang Liao, Xu Chu, Xiahoudun and other generals were also silent, and Cao Cao realized how terrible Yan Liang was. So he chose to temporarily withdraw from the army and think about ways to deal with Yan Liang.
Guan Yu took advantage of the situation to kill Yan Liang
After Cao Cao returned to the formation, he discussed with the strategist Cheng Yu, and finally decided to let Guan Yu go into battle to deal with Yan Liang. Second, Guan Yu has not returned to Cao Cao for the time being, and if he unfortunately dies in battle, it will not be too much of a loss.
Soon, Guan Yu came to the front line of the battlefield with the help of the Red Rabbit Horse, and Cao Cao immediately introduced Guan Yu, claiming that the person opposite was the famous Hebei general Yan Liang, who had beheaded Song Xian and Wei Xu, and Xu Huang was also defeated at the hands of this person. After listening to it, Guan Yu said two famous sayings that have been circulated so far, and in my opinion, they are like broken bricks and broken tiles. I look at Yan Liang, such as inserting a label to sell the first ear!
At that time, Cao Cao also jokingly said that he should not be too arrogant, and was ready to use wine to strengthen his courage, and then let Guan Yu fight. However, Guan Yu was a strong temper, and before Cao Cao finished speaking, Guan Yu rushed to kill Yan Liang with the assistance of the Red Rabbit Horse, and Yan Liang was killed by Guan Yu.
Guan Yu killed Yan Liang, which shocked Cao Junjun's heart, and Cao Cao immediately made Guan Yu the Marquis of Hanshou Pavilion, and gave gold and silver.
If it is fair and heads-up, Yan Liang vs. Guan Yu, who can win?
When Guan Yu faced Yan Liang, he almost achieved a second kill, but careful friends may find a problem, that is, Guan Yu made a move at that time, which is also recorded in the historical materials, "Guan Yu saw Yan Liang's cover", what does this mean? It is very simple, it proves that Yan Liang and Guan Yu do not know each other, Lu Gai refers to the car that the ancient general store, and Guan Yu used the cover to lock Yan Liang's position.
Obviously, Guan Yu was taken by surprise at that time and killed Yan Liang. Otherwise, with Yan Liang's first-class martial arts level, it is impossible to be killed by Guan Yu in seconds. This can be seen from Zhang Liao and Zhang He, who is also one of the four pillars of Hebei, Zhang He can still protect himself in the face of Zhang Fei, and even Zhang He can still carry 30 rounds in the face of Ma Chao, who came in anger, Guan Yu's force value is the same level as Zhang Fei, even if it is higher than Zhang Fei, it is not much higher.
And Yan Liang, as the head of the Four Courts of Hebei, his martial arts will not be under Zhang Liao, and at that time, Yan Liang defeated Xu Huang in 20 rounds after slashing Song Xian and Wei Xu in a row, and even if he faced Lu Bu with such strength, he would not be killed in seconds, let alone Guan Yu?
There is a clear record in the historical material "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms: The Biography of Guan Yu": Yu Wang saw the good man, rode the horse to spur the good in the crowd, beheaded it, and the generals could not be the one, so he relieved the white horse siege. This historical record is written by Mr. Chen Shou, Chen Shou is a person from Shu, he will not record indiscriminately, let alone slander Guan Yu.
Judging from the two keywords of Wanglu Gai and Spur Liang, it is enough to prove that Guan Yu was indeed caught off guard by Yan Liang at that time, and Liu Bei happened to defect to Yuan Shao's account at that time, as the chief general under Yuan Shao's account, Yan Liang must have heard of it.
Liu Bei is Guan Yu's eldest brother, Guan Yu puts benevolence and righteousness first, since Liu Bei cooperates with Yuan Shao, then Guan Yu will definitely not go against Liu Bei. As Yan Liang, he has every possibility of thinking so. When facing Guan Yu's Pegasus, Yan Liang's first reaction was likely to ask Guan Yu's intentions here, rather than preparing to fight with the generals.
In addition, Yan Liang and Guan Yu didn't know each other at that time, and Yan Liang was largely ready to ask if it was Guan Yu?
If you want to figure out the above problems, you must compare the ages of Guan Yu and Yan Liang, as well as the level of force value. Yan Liang, born in 160 AD, was about 40 years old when he fought Guan Yu. Guan Yu was born in 161 AD, so it seems that Yan Liang is about a year older than Guan Yu, Guan Yu and Yan Liang are of the same age, and they are the same age.
Let's take a look at the level of force value of Guan Yu and Yan Liang at that time? First of all, the weapon used by Guan Yu was the Qinglong Yanyue Knife, which was about 2.3 meters long and weighed 82 catties. And Yan Liang's weapon is also a big knife, about 2.4 meters long, and weighs about 60 catties.
Judging from the weapons of Guan Yu and Yan Liang, Guan Erye's weapon is 20 catties heavier than Yan Liang's weapon, and if it is a long-term battle, Guan Yu will definitely consume more.
And Yan Liang was already the chief general under Yuan Shao's account at that time, and he already had a natural advantage in charging into battle and going heads-up. Guan Yu lacks actual combat experience compared to Yan Liang, and at the same time, Yan Liang's martial arts are slightly higher than Wen Chou, Cao Wei's generals Xu Huang and Zhang Liao joined forces to attack Wen Chou and could not win, and they were still at a disadvantage, and Yan Liang only needed 20 rounds to defeat Xu Huang, which was enough to prove that Yan Liang's martial arts were higher than Wen Chou.
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei said privately back then, "Zhang Liao is an upright person, and his martial arts are not below you and me", and Xu Huang's defeat of Guan Yu in the battle of Xiangfan is enough to prove that if Guan Yu fails to win the opponent in the first 30 rounds, then he is very likely to be in a passive state, and will even be counterattacked! Especially when facing a general with similar force value.
From this point of view, if Guan Yu and Yan Liang had a fair duel at that time, it was very likely that Guan Yu would lose in the end, after all, as long as Yan Liang withstood Guan Yu's onslaught for 30 rounds, after his physical strength was rapidly consumed, Yan Liang could be in an active state. Yan Liang, as the head of the four court pillars in Hebei, his force value is obviously not bad, and it is basically impossible for Guan Yu to take him down quickly, so it is not a matter for Yan Liang to withstand Guan Yu's attack for 30 rounds.
The reason why Guan Yu was able to kill Yan Liang in seconds back then was largely a surprise attack. Strictly speaking, Guan Yu's behavior at that time was not martial arts, just like Xu Huang once said to Guan Yu during the Battle of Xiangfan: "Although I am not martial today, I have to act like this!", why did Xu Huang say that he was not martial at that time, because Guan Yu's arm was shot by Pang De at that time and had not yet healed.
Xu Huang was able to defeat Guan Yu in the Battle of Xiangfan, and it was indeed a victory. And when Guan Yu killed Yan Liang on the White Horse, he also did not talk about martial arts. What do you think about this?