Why did Xu Huang win Guan Yu in the Battle of Fancheng?

The background of the Battle of Fancheng

The Battle of Fancheng refers to the battle of Fancheng in the 24th year of Jian 'an, the Emperor Xian of the Eastern Han Dynasty, when Guan Yu, a subordinate of Liu Bei of Shu State, led troops to besiege Jingzhou (now Xinye, Henan Province) and Xiangyang (now Xiangfan, Hubei Province).

movie stills of fancheng battle

so, what is the background of fancheng battle? Why did Sun Quan finally defect to Cao Cao to deal with Guan Yu with this Fancheng battle?

It is said that the Battle of Fancheng took place at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. At that time, the political background of the central government was that the central government in the Eastern Han Dynasty was dark, its control over the local government was getting weaker and weaker, the social crisis was getting deeper and deeper, and the phenomenon of land annexation was serious. Coupled with the changes in the secretariat system, there were many independent regimes. At first, the local strongmen organized armed forces to defend their homes with their own financial resources, and gradually they became stronger and stronger and evolved into big warlords with private armed forces. In this context, big warlords such as Cao Cao and Liu Bei gradually emerged, and the central government * * * was even more helpless in the face of such a situation, but relied on them to maintain local stability. At that time, the Eastern Han Dynasty was divided into thirteen States, each of which had a strongman's separatist regime. All forces are at war with each other, and people's lives are getting harder and harder.

In addition, the background of the power distribution of separatist forces at that time was that Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, Sun Jian, his son, Liu Bei and others were the biggest forces. Among these major forces, Cao Cao's "holding the emperor to make him disobey the minister" is the largest of many warlord forces. Cao Cao's troops have extended to Yangzhou, and Sun Quan has been committed to Yangzhou's inability to capture, and Liu Bei lost Xiakou. Therefore, the relationship between Sun Quan Liu Bei Group and Cao Cao intensified at this time, so Sun Liu Group formed a military alliance against Cao Cao. In the thirteenth year of Jian' an (28), Sun Quan and Liu Bei's Coalition forces defeated Cao Cao in Battle of Red Cliffs. Sun Quan and Liu Bei shared Jingzhou. At this time, the external threat of the cooperation foundation of Sun Liu Group temporarily disappeared, which led to the loosening of the political foundation of the two groups and the emergence of contradictions. Next, as Liu Bei seized Yizhou, Sun Quan became increasingly uneasy. In 215 AD, Liu Bei took Shu, and Sun Quan asked Liu Bei for Jingzhou, but Liu Bei refused. Sun Quan ordered Lv Meng to win Changsha, Guiyang and Lingling. Liu Bei took up 5, troops and rushed to the public security, and the war between Sun and Liu was on the verge. Cao Cao attacked Hanzhong at this time, and Liu Bei was threatened by both sides. He could only make peace with Sun Quan, and Liu Bei could only return the land east of Changsha, Jiangxia and Guiyang to Sun Quan. It can only be said that at this time, Sun Quan and Liu Bei's respective foreign policies changed fundamentally, and their intention to occupy Jingzhou as much as possible was gradually revealed. The alliance between Sun Quan and Liu Bei existed in name only, and Sun Quan put more energy into dealing with Liu Bei. At this time, the pattern of the three countries actually changed subtly. Under this background, the battle of Fancheng broke out.

How did Xu Huang win the battle of Fancheng?

In the twenty-fourth autumn of Jian 'an in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Guan Yu surrounded Fancheng. The Hanshui River suddenly surged, and the seven armies led by Cao Weijun in the Forbidden City were flooded and wiped out. Guan Yu led the army to surround Fancheng and attack it day and night. Coss in the city was besieged, food was exhausted, and Fancheng was in danger.

Movie stills of the Battle of Fancheng

Fancheng was an important stronghold of Cao Wei in Jingzhou. Once Fancheng fell, there was no danger to defend the vast plain to the north, so Cao Wei had to return to the front line of Wancheng (now Nanyang, Henan). Under such a situation, Cao Wei sent Xu Huang to help Cao Renlai compete with Guan Yu.

So, how did Xu Huang win Guan Yu in the battle of Fancheng?

First of all, the first factor for Xu Huang to win Guan Yu is that Xu Huang has more troops than Guan Yu. At that time, Xu Huang's soldiers were mostly recruits, but it was actually difficult to compete with Guan Yu's army, so Xu Huang was stationed in Yanglingpo at that time, waiting for reinforcements. When reinforcements arrived, Xu Huang began to attack. Xu Huang's forces reached tens of thousands at that time, while Guan Yu's forces were relatively scattered, and Jingzhou and Yizhou were too far apart, so it was too difficult for Guan Yu to transfer troops. At that time, Guan Yu resisted about 5, troops, which showed that Xu Huang's forces had certain advantages at that time.

Secondly, the second factor of Xu Huang's victory over Guan Yu was that Xu Huang used a diversion strategy, which not only dispersed Guan Yu's forces, but also caught Guan Yu off guard. Xu Huang threatened to attack Wai Tou, but unexpectedly attacked Si Tombs. Guan Yu hastily led the troops into battle and was repelled by Xu Huang.

In addition, Guan Yu's army has been exhausted by previous wars, and Xu Huang's army has come well prepared. This is the third factor for Xu Huang to win Guan Yu.

fourthly, the fourth factor for Xu Huang to win Guan Yu was Xu Huang's rigorous management of the army and his courage and resourcefulness. Later, it can be seen that Cao Wei's army was in Mobei * * *, because only Xu Huang's men's barracks were neat, the soldiers stayed in the array.

Fifthly, Xu Huang also took advantage of the victory to pursue Guan Yu's encirclement and drove him away. Many of Guan Yu's soldiers drowned in the water, and Guan Yu was defeated. This is the fifth factor for Xu Huang to win Guan Yu.

The above are the major factors why Xu Huang won the battle of Fancheng against Guan Yu.

The Battle of Fancheng

The Battle of Fancheng in the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty refers to the battle in 219 AD in which Guan Yu, a subordinate of Liu Bei, led an army to attack the southern county of Jingzhou (Xiangyang and Fancheng occupied by Cao Wei). This war damaged the strength of Shu Han, lost his troops and lost Jingzhou, which was an important turning point in the history of the Three Kingdoms. In addition, this war also caused the alliance between Shu Han and Dongwu to turn against each other.

movie stills of the Battle of Fancheng

So, what was the story of the Battle of Fancheng?

The battle of Fancheng can be roughly divided into three periods:

The early period started almost from the spring of 219 AD (twenty-four years of Jian 'an), when Liu Bei's army attacked Hanzhong, and Cao Cao's subordinates Xia Houyuan and Zhang Hejun were at loggerheads with Dongwu's army. Finally, Cao Cao retreated and Hanzhong fell. In the same year, Guan Yu, a subordinate of Liu Bei, led an army to attack Fancheng in the north of Jingzhou. In August, there was heavy rain and the Hanshui River soared. In the Forbidden City, Pound's army was flooded and forced to surrender. Pound refused to surrender and was killed by Guan Yu.

in October, Lu Hunmin, Sun Lang and others made a riot and killed the county master book. They joined Guan Yu to the south. Later, Guan Yu gave Sun Wolf their official seal and gave them an army to harass Cao Wei. At this time, Liang Yong and Lu Hun thieves in Xudu accepted the title of Guan Yu in succession, "supporting the party for it", and Guan Yu's fame shook the whole Central Plains. It can be said that Guan Yu is very beautiful at this time.

in the middle of the war, Cao Cao thought that Emperor Xian of Han Dynasty was in Xudu, which was close to the enemy, and planned to move the capital to avoid Guan Yu's sharp edge. At this time, Sima Yi said to Cao Cao, "The reason why Yu Jin and others were defeated was that they were flooded, not because they lost in the offensive, so it did not do much harm to the overall plan of the country. In addition, Liu Bei and Sun Quan are closely related in appearance, but in fact they are not. In addition, Sun Quan will not want to see Guan Yu succeed. You can send Sun Quan to attack Guan Yu's rear and promise Sun Quan to seal Jiangnan to him afterwards, so that the siege of Fancheng can be lifted naturally. " Cao Cao followed the advice.

On the other hand, Sun Quan's subordinate Lv Meng pretended to be ill and handed over his official position to Lu Xun. After Lu Xun took office, he wrote to Guan Yu, "The calligraphy is extremely humble", and praised Guan Yu for his merits, expressed his admiration and said that he would never be an enemy of Guan Yu. Guan Yu lost his guard. He transferred the Jingzhou garrison, which was used to guard against Dongwu, to Fancheng, and made every effort to deal with Cao Cao. At this time, although Guan Yu won successive victories in Fancheng, his rear was empty.

Sun Quan wrote to Cao Cao, asking him to be allowed to crusade against Guan Yu and work for the imperial court, and asking Cao Cao not to leak the news, lest Guan Yu take precautions. Cao Cao promised Sun Quan to keep his secret, but secretly shot Sun Quan's book credit arrow into the city and Guan Yu's military camp. After Guan Yu's soldiers got the letter, Guan Yu hesitated and refused to withdraw his troops.

As the end of the war approached, Cao Cao was stationed in Mobei, and sent twelve battalions of troops to Xu Huang to reinforce him. Guan Yu has troops at Weitou and Sizhu. Xu Huang deliberately threatened to attack around the head, but secretly attacked the four graves. Guan Yu saw that the four graves were in danger, so he personally led the troops to battle, and as a result, Guan Yu lost. Xu Huang pursued them, and they entered Guan Yu's encirclement of Fancheng. Guan Yu was ready to retreat, but Guan Yu's ship was holed up in Mianshui, but the road to Xiangyang was blocked.

In addition, Guan Yu was not good at winning the hearts of his men, which made Mi Fang and Shiren, the generals who stayed in Jiangling, disloyal. At the same time, Wu Jun Lv Meng and Lu Xun seized the opportunity to attack separately, and Lv Meng led the army to attack Jiangling. Tracing the cause, however, went straight ahead. In the 24th year of Jian 'an, Jiangling was presented to Dongwu Army by Mi Fang and Shiren. Nanjun fell.

Guan Yu was caught between Scylla and Charybdis and had to retreat to Maicheng. Later, Sun Quan's Sima Ma Zhong captured Guan Yu and his son Guan Ping and beheaded them. Sun Quan occupied Jingzhou.

finally, Guan Yu lost three counties in Jingzhou, was defeated and died, and the strength of Liu Bei Group was greatly reduced. Sun Quan Group occupies six counties in the south of Jingzhou.

the influence of the battle of fancheng

the battle of fancheng at the end of the eastern Han dynasty refers to a battle in which Guan Yu, Liu Bei's subordinate, led troops to the south county of Jingzhou and occupied Xiangyang and fancheng in the 24th year of Jian' an (ad 219). Guan Yu first flooded the Seventh Army and dealt a heavy blow to Cao Wei. Later, he was attacked by Cao Cao's Lu Meng, and finally forced Guan Yu to defeat Maicheng, and Guan Yu and his son were killed.

movie stills of the battle of Fancheng

So what's the impact of this battle of Fancheng?

The influence of Fancheng War mainly includes the following aspects:

First of all, Jingzhou is where the conflicts of interests among the three countries are concentrated. When Fancheng War broke out, the issue of the ownership of the southern county in Jingzhou finally came to an end, and Soochow occupied six counties in Jingzhou from then on, which not only increased the territory, but also was "all in the Yangtze River" and achieved a staged victory.

Secondly, the battle of Fancheng greatly damaged the strength of Cao Wei and Shu Han, especially Liu Bei's Shu Han, which not only lost his troops, but also lost Jingzhou. Liu Bei's army and military talents in Jingzhou were basically lost.

The third influence is that Shangyong is located at the border of Wei and Shu. No one in Wei and Shu wanted to push Mengda, the manager of Shangyong, to the enemy side, but the battle of Fancheng made Mengda betray Liu Bei and surrender to Cao Wei, which led to the loss of Shangyong and other places in Shu Han.

The fourth influence is that Shu Han lost the big base of the Northern Expedition in the east, which made Longzhong's confrontation become empty talk. Although Sun Quan took Jingzhou, the alliance between Sun and Liu was completely broken, and it was difficult to * * * fight against Cao, Sun and Liu, and Cao Gong benefited. The initiative to unify China was firmly in the hands of the north, and Cao Wei and his successors finally destroyed Shu Han. Soochow lost the situation and opportunity to win the battle in the Central Plains, Shu Han was located in the middle of Sichuan, and Sun Wu was unable to explore the North alone, all of which lost the qualification to unify China, and the historical trend of the three countries was doomed.

the fifth influence is that this battle turned the alliance between Shu Han and Dongwu against each other, and finally led to Liu Bei's battle against Sun Quan's Yiling. It made the weak Shu-Han regime worse, so this campaign was also an important turning point in the historical development of the Three Kingdoms.