Before saying why Liu Feng and Meng Da did not save Guan Yu, we must first clarify two questions:
First, why were Liu Feng and Meng Da sent by Liu Bei to attack the three counties of Shangyong?
The two-year-long Battle of Hanzhong ended in May 219 with Cao Cao withdrawing from Hanzhong Commandery, after which Liu Bei sent Meng Da north from Zigui to attack Fangling Commandery, Meng Da successfully captured Fangling and killed Fangling Taishou Qifu, zhuge Liang's brother-in-law, Meng Da continued to attack Shangyong, and then Liu Bei sent Liu Feng from Hanzhong by boat and down the Han River (then called Chu Shui) down the river to Shangyong.
Liu Feng and Meng Da joined forces and forced the three counties of Shangyong to surrender, and the brothers Shen Yan and Shen Yi of Shangyong locally surrendered to Liu Bei, and Liu Bei added him to the rank of knight, at this point, Liu Feng and Meng Da controlled the three counties of Shangyong, so the question is, why did Liu Bei attack Shangyong?
Liu Feng and Meng Da
Looking at the map, you can see that after Liu Bei took Hanzhong County from Cao Jun, he began to prepare for the next big strategy, and then Liu Bei sent Liu Feng and Meng Da to capture the three counties of Shangyong, the upper reaches of the Han River are Hanzhong County, which has been controlled by Liu Bei, and the upper reaches of the Han River are the three counties of Shangyong, which are also controlled by Liu Bei, and then Guan Yu began the Northern Expedition, attacking Xiangyang and Fancheng, and the location of Xiangyang and Fancheng was very coincidental, just in the middle and lower reaches of the Han River.
If Guan Yu took Xiangyang and Fancheng, then Liu Bei could control the entire HanShui, which was a strategic passageway, the most convenient and cheap water transportation in ancient times, the Hanshui was close to the Central Plains, and it was also the best transportation line of the Northern Expedition, once Liu Bei controlled the Hanshui River Valley, the next move was to use the Hanshui to transport soldiers and materials, and launch the Northern Expedition, which was Liu Bei's highest strategic arrangement after taking Hanzhong County.
Therefore, Liu Feng and Meng Da's attack on the three counties of Shangyong was one link in the strategic passage of Liu Bei's regime to control the Han River, and Guan Yu's Northern Expedition to Xiangfan was another link.
Schematic of the Battle of Xiangfan
Second, whose order was Guan Yu's Northern Expedition?
Of course, the Northern Expedition Xiangfan was Liu Bei's order, although Guan Yu had the power to fake the festival, even if Guan Yu could kill the jie general without notification, even if he could replace Liu Bei, it was absolutely impossible to make decisions in place of Liu Bei, the expedition and the decision-making were two different things, the Northern Expedition Xiangfan such a major war decision, absolutely not Guan Yu can do, this is the political red line, Guan Yu absolutely can not touch, although Guan Yu is somewhat proud, but for the big things will never be confused.
Not informing the lord (emperor) to lead the army to fight privately was equivalent to rebellion in ancient times, Guan Yu could look down on anyone, but definitely would not look down on Liu Bei, so the Northern Expedition xiangfan was not Guan Yu acting without authorization, but Liu Bei's orders, so there would be a later Liu Bei to blame Liu Feng for not saving Guan Yu, if it was Guan Yu acting without authorization, Liu Bei did not have to blame Liu Feng.
The Han River flows into the Yangtze River through Hanzhong, Shangyong and Xiangfan
These two questions are clear, let's see why Liu Feng and Meng Da did not save Guan Yu?
"Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Biography of Liu Feng": Zi Guan Yu besieged Fancheng and Xiangyang, and even called for feng and Da, and ordered the troops to help themselves. Feng, Daci and Da resigned to the mountain county initially attached, can not be shaken, do not accept the fate of the feather.
The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms records this incident, and when Guan Yu besieged Fancheng and Xiangyang, he successively ordered Liu Feng and Meng Da to send troops to help, but Liu Feng and Meng Da refused on the grounds that the various places of Shangyong had just been pacified and could not be shaken, and did not accept Guan Yu's orders.
Some people say that Guan Yu is not qualified to order Liu Feng and Meng Da, this is not true, this passage can at least prove that Guan Yu can order Liu Feng and Meng Da, Guan Yu is "ordering the army to help themselves", and Liu Feng and Meng Da are "not to accept Yu's life", Guan Yu can order them, which means that Guan Yu is a superior, can recruit Liu Feng and Meng Da, but liu Feng and Meng Da above Yong Gang ping can not leave as the reason refused, this is obviously disobedience to the order, disobedience is a capital crime of killing, so Meng Da fled.
Battle of Guan Yu Xiangfan
If only Liu Feng had taken Meng Da's honor guard, it would not have allowed Meng Da to defect, and the reason why Liu Feng did not flee was because he felt that he was Liu Bei's adopted son and had a special status, and Liu Bei would not kill him in this matter, so Liu Feng did not escape.
We must pay attention to the time point when Guan Yu asked Liu Feng and Meng Da for support, here it is said that when Guan Yu besieged Xiangyang and Fancheng, he asked Liu Feng and Meng Da to send troops, this time point must be when Guan Yu's troops were nervous, and it was speculated that it was after the ban and beheaded Pang Dewei after shaking Huaxia.
Guan Yu imprisoned Yu Ban's 30,000 soldiers in Jiangling City, and at the same time Cao Cao sent Xu Huang's reinforcements, in addition to the soldiers of the twelve battalions led by Yin Shu and Zhu Gai to aid Xiangyang and Fancheng, at this time Guan Yu had been waging the war for two or three months, and the veterans of the division were tired, so they would ask Liu Feng and Meng Da for support, if before the flooding of the Seventh Army, at that time, when Guan Yu's soldiers were in full swing and morale was strong, there was no need for support.
Liu Feng and Meng Da did not save Guan Yu
Therefore, it can be inferred that the time point at which Guan Yu asked Liu Feng and Meng Da for support was after the flooding of the Seventh Army, and the period before Xu Huang defeated Guan Yu, Cao Wei continued to have reinforcements to join, and Guan Yu sent all his troops to the battlefield, Guan Yu's troops were not only nervous, but also tired, no reserves, and urgently needed support.
However, Liu Feng and Meng Da had no support, and Guan Yu had not been able to capture Xiangyang and Fancheng, and as far as he could still surround these two cities, but he could not capture them, and over time, it would cause serious consequences, if xiangyang and Fancheng could not be captured, the entire Battle of Xiangfan, Guan Yu could not achieve the strategic goal, which would lead to the abandonment of Liu Bei's Hanshui grand strategy.
There are several main reasons why Liu Feng and Meng Da cannot support Guan Yu:
1. The three counties of Shangyong are not very peaceful.
This is the main reason why Liu Feng and Meng Da did not save Guan Yu, Liu Feng and Meng Da were not familiar with the situation on the battlefield in Xiangfan, and it was reasonable to say, but they must be familiar with the situation in the three counties of Shangyong, Shen Tan and Shen Yi brothers were local heroes and strong, there were connections and resources in Shangyong, and they were also wall grass, but they only temporarily turned to Liu Bei, once Liu Feng and Meng Da sent troops to rescue Guan Yu, the three counties of Shangyong must not be able to keep it, if Shangyong was lost, then Liu Bei's Hanshui grand strategy still failed.
Map of the three counties of Shangyong
Therefore, Liu Feng and Meng Da can not save Guan Yu is to choose one, and at the same time give up a choice of a choice, Liu Feng and Meng Da's mission is to hold the three counties of Shangyong, let them give up their mission, to help Guan Yu complete the appointment, I am afraid it is impossible, which is also one of the reasons why Liu Feng and Meng Da dare to disobey.
2, Guan Yu has been winning the battle, giving people an illusion.
From the beginning of the Battle of Xiangfan to the time when Guan Yu asked Liu Feng and Meng Da to support the troops, Guan Yu had been winning the battle and had not yet been defeated, because Guan Yu's troops were tense, but before being defeated by Xu Huang, Guan Yu had always occupied the upper hand, and Xiangyang Taishou Lü Chang, the general Cao Ren of Zhengnan, and The Taishou Man of Runan were all beaten by Guan Yu to shrink the city and did not dare to fight.
Well, this Guan Yu has been winning the battle, and on the other side, he asked Liu Feng and Meng Da for reinforcements, if you are Liu Feng and Meng Da, will you send troops? Have you always won the battle and sent troops? I'm afraid that Liu Feng and Meng Da have a lot of questions in their hearts, which gives them the illusion that Guan Yu has the advantage of how to need reinforcements, if they lose, it is still reasonable to have reinforcements, and if you win, you also need reinforcements, so Liu Feng and Meng Da are not willing to support.
Guan Yu Wei shook Huaxia
3, Liu Feng this person personality is brash and fierce.
"Romance of the Three Kingdoms" Liu Feng Biography: Zhuge Liang worried about the fierce sealing, and it was difficult to control the emperor after yi shi, and persuaded the first lord to get rid of it.
In the end, Liu Feng not only did not save Guan Yu, but was defeated by Cao Jun, and lost the three counties of Shangyong, Liu Feng neither saved Guan Yu nor defended the three counties of Shangyong, but also forced Meng Da to rebel, which was a combination of several crimes and punishments, but this was not the real reason why Zhuge Liang persuaded Liu Bei to kill Liu Feng, the real reason was that Liu Feng's personality was flamboyant and fierce, and after Liu Bei's death, I was afraid that it was difficult to balance him, so he persuaded Liu Bei to kill Liu Feng, and Liu Bei agreed, indicating that Liu Bei approved of Zhuge Liang's suggestion.
Liu Feng's personality is brash and fierce, and during his time in Shangyong, he robbed Meng Da's honor guard to advocate, including Liu Feng's failure to save Guan Yu, and there are also reasons why Liu Feng does not put Guan Yu in his eyes, why is Liu Feng so arrogant? Just because he was Liu Bei's adopted son and had a special status, if there was no such relationship, Liu Feng would be an ordinary general, who would have the courage to rob Meng Da's honor guard, and who would have the courage not to save Guan Yu?
Liu Feng has a fierce personality
But then again, if Liu Feng and Meng Da really sent troops to support Guan Yu, what would happen? Will Guan Yu die? Will Jingzhou be lost?
First of all, I have to say that whether to save or not to save is a matter of attitude, whether it can be saved is a matter of ability, even if Liu Feng and Meng Da are willing to support Guan Yu, it also depends on the time point they cut into, the time point is different, the ending is different. In addition, it also takes time to send troops from Shangyong to rescue Guan Yu, if you take Hanshui as fast as a few days, if you take the land route, it is all mountain roads, it will take longer.
1. After flooding the Seventh Army, Xu Huang supported Guan Yu before defeating Him.
If it is to support Guan Yu at this point in time, then the final outcome is no different from history. Liu Feng and Meng Da sent troops to assist Guan Yu in attacking Xiangyang and Fancheng, and they could not change the result of Sun Quan's sneak attack on Jingzhou, because this was the real reason for Guan Yu's defeat, even if liu Feng and Meng Da supported Guan Yu and prevented Xu Huang from defeating Guan Yu, and the two sides formed a confrontation, then what if Sun Quan sneaked into Jingzhou in the rear?
Guan Yu fought Xu Huang
As soon as the news reached the front, Guan Yu would still collapse, Liu Feng and Meng Da would not be able to change history even if they came in person, which would cause the same result as Guan Yu, the city was destroyed, and the three counties of Shangyong could not be saved, once Jingzhou was lost, Shangyong lost its support point, and there were enemies before and after, how to hold it, so supporting Guan Yu at this time had no use.
Unless reinforcements arrive, they can attack Xiangyang and Fancheng under Xu Huang's eyes, this is not very realistic, these two cities are strong cities, not easy to break, more than a thousand years later, the Mongols attacked Xiangfan for more than six years, only to break through, it can be seen how difficult it is to siege the city.
2. Support Guan Yu as he is defeated by Xu Huang and flees south.
This process is the process of Guan Yu fleeing from Xiangfan to Maicheng, along the way the soldiers continue to decrease, if there are reinforcements from Liu Feng and Meng Da, at most it is to cheer Up Guan Yu, can not solve any practical problems, if Guan Yu with his soldiers directly fled to Shangyong, there is a possibility of survival, but Jingzhou is not saved, because the Eastern Wu army has prepared an ambush, just waiting for Guan Yu to come to the door, but with Guan Yu's character, there is absolutely no possibility of giving up Jingzhou to escape.
Guan Yu defeated Maicheng
In this way, Liu Feng and Meng Da's reinforcements could not play any role, their army was at most ten thousand people, even if half of them were given to Guan Yu, five thousand people, it would be impossible to take Jingzhou back, moreover, guan Yu's soldiers' families were all controlled by Lü Meng, there was no fighting spirit, there was no combat effectiveness, in the end they would still lose Maicheng, but there were only a few more people, and they could not change the outcome.
3. Guan Yu supported Guan Yu after the defeat of Maicheng.
After Guan Yu defeated Maicheng, judging from his escape route, he fled in the direction of Shangyong, because Linyong was in the northwest of Maicheng, and Shangyong was in the northwest of Lincheng, and Guan Yu ran to Yong, because Guan Yu obviously found a way to retreat from Jingzhou to Yizhou, and all of them were blocked by the Eastern Wu army, and the Eastern Wu army had already calculated Guan Yu's escape route and set up an ambush in Linfeng.
Liu Bei killed Liu Feng
The number of troops used by Eastern Wu to occupy Jingzhou was very large, even if Liu Feng and Meng Da divided five thousand soldiers to save Guan Yu, it was likely that they would not be able to save Guan Yu, because Eastern Wu had already prepared an ambush, even if it could save Guan Yu, in that environment at that time, how could the reinforcements contact Guan Yu? At that time, there was no mobile phone and no GPS, and the reinforcements did not know where Guan Yu was, so they still could not save Guan Yu and Jingzhou.
In the end, you will find that Liu Feng and Meng Da cannot save Guan Yu, neither can change history, and there is only one possibility that can change history: that is, to prevent Sun Quan from sneaking into Jingzhou and sending people to support the Jingzhou defenders, it is possible to save Guan Yu and Jingzhou, in addition, it is impossible to save Guan Yu and Jingzhou.