Text: Mustard Lao Sheng (author's original authorization)
In the summer of the 24th year of Jian'an (219 CE), shortly after Liu Bei occupied Hanzhong, Guan Yu, who was guarding Jingzhou, led an army north to attack Xiangyang (襄城, in modern Xiangyang, Hubei Province) and Fancheng (樊城, in present-day Xiangyang, Hubei).
Why do you want to enter Xiangxiang and Fan? Because their location is so important! In the "Minutes of Reading the History of Public Opinion", it is said: "The husband xiangyang, the waist of the world is also." The original can be combined with the southeast. The southeast can also be the northwest. Therefore, the emphasis is on Xiangyang also. ”
Zhuge Liang said to Liu Bei more than ten years ago: "Once the opportunity is ripe, divide the troops into two routes to attack Guanzhong in Yizhou, and attack Wancheng and Luoyang from Jingzhou, then hegemony can be achieved and Han Room can be xing!" "Xiangyang and Fancheng are located on the upper reaches of the Han River, guarding the southern gate of the Nanyang Basin, and are on the throat road to attack Wancheng and Luoyang.
"Romance of the Three Kingdoms" Zhuge Liang Biography: If there is Jing, Yi, Baoqi Rock Obstruction, West and Zhurong, South Fuyiyue, Outer Alliance Sun Quan, Internal Repair Of Governance; if there is a change in the world, then the general of Jingzhou will be Xiang Wan, Luo, and the general will lead the army of Yizhou out of Qinchuan, and the people will dare not eat pot pulp to welcome the general? If so, then hegemony can be achieved, and the Han room can be prosperous.
Judging from the local situation in the three counties of Jingzhou controlled by Guan Yu at that time, there were Cao Ren in the north and Lü Meng in the east, and they were attacked on both sides, and there was no danger to defend in both directions.
Jiangling (present-day Jingzhou, Hubei Province) and Xiangyang were about five hundred miles apart, and there was a smooth road between them, and the Southern Qi Shu Zhou Junzhi said: "Jiangling went to Xiangyang for five hundred steps, and the situation was the same, and without Xiangyang, Jiangling was not attacked." That is to say, Xiangyang is also the northern gate of the Jingbei Plain, and It is like lips and teeth with Jiangling, and if you want to defend the important town of Jiangling, you must control the two cities of Xiang and Fan.
In addition, after Sun Liu's two families demarcated the border along the Xiangshui River, the border line between the remaining three counties of Jingzhou and Eastern Wu was too long and leaked almost everywhere, and only after taking Xiang and Fan in the north and connecting with Hanzhong through Shangyong County, and getting rid of the dilemma of being attacked on both sides, could we rely on the Han River, the Yangtze River, and the Xiang River to establish a relatively effective and stable defensive line that could resist the threat from Jiangdong.
More crucially, although Cao Cao had withdrawn from Hanzhong at this time, he was still stationed in Chang'an (present-day Xi'an, Shaanxi Province), and if he did not withdraw his troops from Chang'an for a day, the threat to Hanzhong could not be lifted for a day, and Yizhou would have to bear the huge burden of sending supplies to Hanzhong. Although Yizhou is rich, it is already on the verge of collapse in the desperate situation of "men fighting and women being lucky". Then, the most urgent task was to mobilize Cao Cao from Guanzhong and eliminate the huge pressure on Yizhou and Hanzhong.
Not long ago, Liu Feng and Meng Da, under Liu Bei's orders, had already captured Fangling County and Shangyong County, and the flanks of Xiang and Fan Ercheng had been completely exposed to their threat, so at this time Guan Yu's attack on Xiang and Fan Ercheng was a move that could reverse the overall situation.
There is no detailed record of the battle between Guan Yu and Cao Ren in the history books, and the general situation should be that there were mutual victories and losses, such as Cao Ren's general Pang De (Ma Chao's old department) who once shot Guan Yu in the forehead, making Guan Yu's officers and soldiers very jealous of him (shooting Yu in the middle forehead... All fearful)... However, the final result was Cao Ren (曹仁), who was known as the first of all the generals of Cao Cao (曹大司馬之勇, Benyu Fujiaye). Zhang Liao followed. Defeated, he had to retreat to Fancheng and urgently ask Cao Cao for help.
After Cao Cao received the battle report, he wanted to send his son Cao Zhi to oversee the army to support, but unexpectedly Cao Zhi was unable to accept military orders because he was drunk and unconscious, and Cao Cao, in a fit of rage, changed his orders to command a 30,000-strong army (the Seventh Army) to Fancheng on the Forbidden Holiday Festival, and then sent Xu Huang to lead the army as a reserve to garrison Wancheng (present-day Nanyang, Hubei Province), which had been slaughtered by Cao Ren.
Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms: Twenty-four years later, Cao Ren was surrounded by Guan Yu. Taizu made Zhi zhi the general of Nanzhong Lang and the general of Xingzheng. To save Ren, he called for a vow. Plant drunk can not be ordered, so regret and give up.
"Romance of the Three Kingdoms in forbidden biography": Twenty-four years after Jian'an, Taizu was in Chang'an, so Cao Ren begged Guan Yu Yu Fan and sent him to help Ren.
"Romance of the Three Kingdoms: The Biography of Xu Huang": Fu Huang assisted Cao Ren to beg Guan Yu, Tun Wan
Yu Ban was a famous general under Cao Cao, during the Battle of Guandu, he once led 2,000 infantry alone to carry the attack of Tens of thousands of Yuan Shao's troops without being defeated, "Every time Taizu marched, Xian handed over to the army, he also refused to do so, and held the army strictly," and was praised as "Although the ancient famous generals, why add!" Guan Bai zuo was a general with a foreign surname who was most trusted by Cao Cao.
Yu Ban finally arrived at the battlefield in July, and led his men and horses to garrison Pinglu City on the outskirts of Fancheng, and Cao Ren sent Pound to camp more than ten miles north of Fancheng, and the three defenders responded to each other.
Xiangyang City was located on the south bank of the Han River, the city was high, and the two sides of the city were lined with high mountains, and Cao Cao's general Cao Ren was stationed at Fancheng, which was across the river from it. The two cities are at each other's corners, and the Han River is both a barrier and a link. This special terrain makes the cities of Xiang and Fan extremely easy to defend and difficult to attack.
After Yu Ban's reinforcements arrived, the total strength of the Cao army had formed an advantage over Guan Yu. The other side had famous generals who came to support him, his own troops were insufficient, and he still had to conquer Jiancheng, which seemed like an impossible task for Guan Yu. What to do? Since the other side is divided, it is only necessary to try to break through one by one.
The Han River meanders and flows from Baihe County in Shaanxi Province, through the south of Yunyang Prefecture, north of Lijun Prefecture and Gwanghwa County, and then east to Xiangyang Prefecture north and southeast. It is a stormy river, which means that the river often erupts with torrential rains in the summer and autumn of each year.
Floods, there are summer floods and autumn floods, floods that occur after August (lunar calendar) are collectively called autumn floods. During this time period, the subtropical high pressure in this area is extremely strong, the west wind trough continues to move eastward, and the cold air goes south to meet the warm and humid air flow, which will cause a significant rainfall process, mostly from large to heavy rain, and then there will be continuous flood peaks in the Han River, and it will last a long time, a large flood volume, and a wide coverage area.
Guan Yu, who had been fighting in the Jingxiang region for many years, was very familiar with this climatic characteristic, and at this time it was already August, and the rain was coming, so he turned his attention to Yu Ban and Pound and began to prepare for the destruction of the enemy.
Soon after, the heavy rainstorm did come as scheduled, and it lasted for more than ten days, so the water level of the Han River soared, the levee broke, the flood of several inches high swooped downstream like a beast, and the old and dilapidated Pinglu City was destroyed as soon as it was rushed, and the unprepared Yu Forbidden troops were besieged by the surging water and had to climb to a high place to avoid the water. However, before they could find a place to hide, Guan Yu's large army was already flocking to it in a large boat. At this time, the armor and weapons of the Forbidden Forces had all been swept away by the flood, and they did not even have a foothold, and they had no ability to resist at all, so all the officers and men, including Yu Ban, surrendered en masse.
"Water Notes Sutra Volume 28": In Jian'an, Guan Yu was confined to this city, and the water would overflow for more than three inches, and the city would fall and be forbidden to descend.
"Romance of the Three Kingdoms in forbidden legends": Autumn, Da Lin Rain, Han Shui Overflow, Flat Land Water Counts, Forbidden and other seven armies are gone. Forbidden and the generals ascended to the water, there was no evasion, Yu took a big boat to attack the forbidden, etc., forbidden to descend.
Guan Yu then led his troops to encircle and suppress Pound's troops. Also flooded, Pound was fortunate to climb a large embankment with a small number of troops to avoid the water, and in the face of Guan Yu's army driving the boat, Pound fought to the end, helplessly finally fell into the water and was captured. Guan Yu intended to surrender Pound because his brother had defected to Liu Bei with Ma Chao, but Pound had already had a dead heart before the start of the great war, and was determined to become a ren if he did not succeed, and Guan Yu had no choice but to behead him.
He attacked Anduan with Cao Ren, cut the sound, opened it, and then Nan Tun Fan and begged Guan Yu. Fan Xia's generals were suspicious in Hanzhong. Wei Liuyue: Brother Shu's name is Rou, when he was in Shu. "I have received the grace of the nation, and righteousness is in death." I want to shoot myself. This year I will not kill Yu, Yu should kill me. "The rear relatives fought with the feather and shot the feather in the forehead. Shi Wei often rode on a white horse, and Yu Jun was called a white horse general, and they were all worried. Ren envoys to the north of Fan for ten miles, will rain for more than ten days, the Han River overflows, Fan xia flat ground five or six zhang, And the generals avoid the water embankment. Yu attacked it by boat and shot it on the embankment on all sides with a large boat. He was armed with a bow, and the arrows were not false. The general Dong Heng and the general Dong Chao wanted to surrender, and they all beheaded him. From the pingdan force to the middle of the day, the feather attack was urgent, the target was exhausted, and the short soldiers engaged. "I will not be afraid to die to avoid it, and the martyrs will not destroy the festival to survive, and today, I will die." "The battle is more angry, the qi is stronger, and the water is soaked, and the officials are all descending." One of his generals, Two of Wu Bo, bent his bow and fu ya, took a small boat to return to Ren's camp. The water is covered by the boat, the bow is lost, and the boat is covered in the water alone, and the feather is obtained, standing without kneeling. Yu Yu said, "Brother Qing is in Hanzhong, and I want to take Qing as a general, so why don't I surrender early?" Scolding Yu Yue: "Shuzi, what is descending!" The King of Wei brought a million armor and vied the world. Ru Liu Beiyong is only an ear, how can he be an enemy of evil! I would rather be a ghost of the country than a thief. "So he was killed by Yu."
After this battle, the 30,000 horses and horses brought by Yu Ban, together with all the generals and officers of all levels, were captured, leaving only Cao Ren to sit in the city of Sorrow, and the situation on the battlefield changed one-sidedly...