Guan Yunchang explained Cao Mengde on Huarong Road and wrote a story for the ages, which was actually a win-win ending: Cao Cao picked up a life, Guan Yu got a reputation for righteousness, and Liu Bei didn't have to worry about the Cao family's revenge and Dongwu's backstabbing, only Sun Quan was so angry that he went crazy.
Sun Quan knew that Liu Bei was releasing water, and Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang also knew that Guan Yu, who guarded Huarong Dao, was replaced by Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun, and Cao Cao would still run away, so it was better to let Guan Yu repay Cao Cao's favor as soon as possible, and be debt-free and light in the future.
Of course, the "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms" and related historical materials did not record that Guan Yu guarded Huarong Dao, but only said that Liu Bei did not catch up with Cao Cao: "Gong to Chibi, and preparing for war, it is not good." The public ship was burned for the reserve, and the army was led back from Huarong Road, but it was muddy, the road was impassable, and the sky was windy. The soldiers were swept away by the men and horses, and they were trapped in the mud, and many died. When the army came out, the public was overjoyed, and the generals asked, and the public said: 'Liu Bei, I am also.' But I have to plan too late, and set fire to the envoy early, and I have no class. 'Waiting is also set on fire and there is no reach. ”
This record of historical materials is similar in the description in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Cao Cao really had a great joy after he escaped, but Liu Bei really couldn't catch up or didn't want to catch up at all, whether Guan Yu set up an ambush in Huarong Road, the historical data did not say, but readers can also analyze the eight or nine inseparable ten: Cao Cao walked and repaired the road, how could Liu Bei not catch up with him?
In the chaotic times at the end of the Han Dynasty, the heroes rose together, the gun is the king of grass, whoever grabs the territory is who's, Sun Quan Zhou Yu has more soldiers than Liu Bei, they don't chase Cao Cao and kill them all, naturally they also have their own little abacus: the hundred-legged insect is broken but not kicked, the emaciated camel is bigger than the horse, if Cao Cao is forced to be anxious, he will definitely kill the enemy and lose eight hundred, and in the end it is not cheap Liu Da'er?
Sun Quan and Liu Bei are not good at stubble, these two heroes have a long-term strategic vision, after defeating Cao Cao, the first thing to consider is to be able to eat a few more bites of fat in Jingzhou, as for Xiangyang Fancheng and other important towns guarded by Cao Ren, they can't gnaw it down for a while, and the southeast and northwest winds are useless.
Although Cao Cao was defeated in Chibi, he was not seriously injured - even if it is only based on "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Cao Cao really has an army of 800,000, which is not something that can be eliminated by the Sun-Liu coalition army in a battle, and Cao Ying's generals have not broken a single one: Jingxiang Nine Counties, after the Battle of Chibi, was divided by the three families, although Cao Cao was defeated, he occupied Nanyang County, Xiangyang County, Nanxiang County and Jiangxia County in the north of Jingzhou, and the Jiangbei part of Jiangxia County was not lost; Sun Quan occupied the southern part of Jiangxia County, and later took Nanjun (which was later replaced by Liu Bei); Liu Bei collected the four counties of Wuling, Lingling, Guiyang, and Changsha and became the biggest winner.
If Liu Bei gave up his old capital in order to annihilate Cao Cao, then he would not have the strength to attack the city after the war, and the battle of Chibi would be a wasted play.
Based on the analysis of historical data, we came to the conclusion that Liu Bei and Sun Quan both wanted to occupy more territory and were unwilling to fight a decisive battle with Cao Cao, so Cao Cao was defeated, Sun Quan did not send anyone to chase at all, Liu Bei symbolically chased, but slowly soared, and only after Cao Cao passed Huarong Dao did he set a fire, and the fire was not to cut off Cao Cao's way back, but to burn it to Sun Quan: I have done my best, but Lao Cao ran too fast!
After the analysis of historical data, let's look at "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" next, since the history books did not say that it was not Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun who guarded Huarong Dao, we can expand the association: If it was not Guan Yu and the five hundred school swordsmen who blocked Cao Jun's way, but Zhang Fei's eighteen cavalry generals or Zhao Yun's Changshan soldiers, could Cao Cao still escape?
According to the description of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Cao Cao collected a total of 503,000 soldiers and horses from Jingzhou: "Cao Ren and Cao Hong are the first team, and Zhang Liao and Zhang He are the second team." Xiahou Yuan and Xiahou Dun are the third team, Yu Ban and Li Dian are the fourth team, and Cao Ziling is the fifth team: each team leads 100,000 troops. He also ordered Xu Chu to be the general of Zhichong and lead 3,000 troops as the vanguard. ”
When Zhang Fei broke the bridge according to the water, the general Cao Ying on the opposite side was Wen Ping, who had just returned to Shun, and Cao Ren, Li Dian, Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Le Jin, Zhang Liao, Zhang He, Xu Chu brought Cao Cao to bring all the top masters to Jingzhou, these nine people, although their martial arts may be slightly inferior to Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun, but it should be no problem to single out Guan Zhang Zhao and support thirty or fifty rounds, so our first question came out: Zhao Yun guarded Huarong Dao, can he prevent Cao Jun from breaking through?
Readers who are familiar with "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" certainly know that Zhao Yun singled out Xu Chu and tied the game, and Zhang He could also fight Zhao Yun for thirty rounds.
Zhao Yun showed his might in Changbanpo, but except for Zhang He, Cao Ying's first-class generals did not come forward, Cao Hong went back after asking Zhao Yun's name, and did not think about fighting with Zhao Yun - later in Tongguan in order to save Cao Cao, Cao Hong fought with Ma Chao for fifty rounds, although the strength was not scattered with knife skills, but still fought to the death, and Ma Chao did not kill or wound him.
Aside from Xu Chu, Zhang He, Zhang Liao, Li Dian, and Le Jin, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Xiahou Dun, and Xiahou Yuan, the "four brothers", are all willing to give up their lives for Cao Cao, Huarong Dao is the last hurdle for Cao Cao to escape, as long as he rushes over, he can safely reach the Nanjun guarded by Cao Ren (at that time, Nanjun was in Cao Ren's hands, after the Battle of Chibi, Cao Ren Shounan County also shot and injured Zhou Yu), Cao Ying's generals fought the last time, Zhao Yun really may not be able to stop - Zhao Yun has a strong ability to break through, and defense is not what he is good at.
After Zhao Yun burned in the Chibi fire, he fought with Cao Ying's generals, Cao Cao only sent Xu Huang and Zhang He to entangle Zhao Yun, and he escaped with a large group of men: "Zilong didn't come to chase, he only cared about snatching the flag." ”
Cao Cao escaped, but Zhao Yun actually did not chase him, indicating that he may have received Zhuge Liang's express or hint, or he thought that his own ability and strength were not enough to annihilate Cao Cao's defeated army.
Zhao Yun is both wise and brave, and has the demeanor of a Confucian general, so he naturally knows that killing Cao Cao at this time will not benefit the lord Liu Bei at all, so even if he can assassinate Cao Cao, he will never do that, not to mention that the generals of Cao Ying were not very afraid of Zhao Yun at that time, if everyone surrounded and beat him, Zhao Yun might not be able to win.
Zhao Yun didn't want to stop it, and he couldn't stop it, so even if Zhao Yun guarded Huarong Dao, Cao Cao could still escape, as for what would happen if Zhang Fei and Zhang Yide came to guard Huarong Dao, readers would definitely give the answer with a smile: When Zhang Sanye meets the second master, can he still stand up with the Zhangba snake spear?
If we take a closer look at the historical materials and novels of the Three Kingdoms, we will find that the so-called Three Kingdoms hegemony is actually a group of relatives fighting, and even Yuan Shao is related to Cao Cao.
The relationship between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao is not that they have a common daughter-in-law, but that Cao Cao later asked his son Cao Cheng to marry Yuan Tan's daughter, if Yuan Shao is still alive, he will be a generation older than Cao Cao.
Cao Cao's son married Yuan Shao's granddaughter, and later (after the Battle of Chibi) married his niece to Sun Quan's younger brother Sun Kuang, and let his son Cao Zhang marry Sun Quan's cousin's niece (Sun Ben's daughter).
As we said earlier, Guan Yu owes Cao Cao a favor, so Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang asked him to guard Huarong Dao, in order to give the effect of killing three birds with one stone, Zhao Yun and Cao Jun in Huarong Dao may not be able to stop it, but it hurts Zhao Yun's prestige, and if Zhang Fei goes to guard, then the fun may be great: Guan Yu owes Cao Cao a "favor", and Zhang Fei owes the Cao family a "lover"!
This "lover" is not the "little three" that is often said now, but a lover who eventually becomes a dependent, that is, Xiahou Yuan's niece - Xiahou Yuan's niece, and Cao Cao's niece. The south of the Dingjun is also the south of the Dingjun Mountain; Broken by a share, Naiyuan and Cao have a brotherly affection. ”
Before the Battle of Chibi, Cao Yingjiu faced Zhang Fei alone, and no one went up to fight hard, obviously not afraid that he would not be able to beat Zhang Fei - those nine people could fight two Lu Bu, how could they be afraid of one Zhang Fei?
Everyone is always in the rivers and lakes, Le Jin, Zhang Liao, Zhang He, Xu Chu, and Li Dian saw that Cao Ren, Xiahou Xuan, and Xiahou Yuan had complicated expressions and were motionless, naturally no one would make a move, and the newly surrendered Wen Ping naturally would not bother to touch his head.
If we take a closer look at "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", we will find a strange problem: Guan Yu passed five levels and cut six generals like chopping melons and vegetables, Zhao Yun put Cao Jiang through a sugar gourd in Changban Slope, and Zhang Fei's Zhangba snake spear once poked to death how many Cao Ying generals?
In the battle of Hanzhong, Zhang Fei beat Zhang He away, did not chase after him, stabbed Xu Chu, and did not make up another shot, Xiahou Yuan was beheaded, and Zhang Fei came forward to collect the funeral, if you want to say that love and righteousness are important, Zhang Fei is no worse than Guan Yu at all.
When the ancient city met, Zhang Fei angrily reprimanded Guan Yu for "demoting Cao Cao and giving him the title of Marquis", if Guan Yu asked "What were you doing when my eldest brother and I were cornered", how should Zhang Fei answer?
Wu Jingzhong said that politics without human feelings is short-lived, and famous generals who don't talk about human feelings don't seem to be very respectable, so we can ask such a question with a smile: If Zhang Fei guards Huarong Dao, Cao Cao asks Xiahoudun to open the way, and Xiahou Yuan breaks off, will Zhang Fei fight or not? What will be the result?