The three major battles of the Three Kingdoms were the Battle of Guandu, the Battle of Battle of Red Cliffs and the Battle of Yiling. These three battles not only took a long time, but also had a great influence on the development trend of the three countries. Here's a question. Why did the last two battles take place in Jingzhou? In addition to these two major battles, Jingzhou continued to have small and medium-sized battles during the Three Kingdoms period. It can be said that from the beginning of Liu Biao in the Three Kingdoms to the demise of Shu Han, the war here has never stopped for a long time. What is the reason for this?
In the autumn of the 13th year of Jian 'an, after Cao Cao unified most of northern China, he began to send troops to Liu Biao, Jingzhou. In August, Liu Biao died of illness, and his son Liu Cong led the whole state to surrender. After placing the surrenders in Jingzhou, Cao Cao led an army to continue south, aiming at Soochow where Sun Quan was located. At that time, Liu Bei was defeated, and Liu Zhang, Yizhou, sent people to accept Cao Cao's call-up and sent troops to help Cao Cao fight. It can be said that Cao Cao has only one powerful enemy-Sun Quan. In other words, as long as Sun Quan was conquered and Jiangdong was recovered, Cao Cao basically completed national reunification. Is it difficult to achieve the goal of recovering Jiangdong? Cao Cao wants to cross the river, but what he lacks is the water army. However, after Brittany surrendered, he got the Jingzhou Water Army, which is equivalent to making up this shortcoming. However, Cao Cao also has shortcomings. In Zhou Yu's words, it is not as good as Sun Quan politically, and there are four problems militarily. In other words, politically, although Cao Cao was the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, many people still thought that he was a traitor who usurped the Han Dynasty. Sun Quan was able to rule Jiangdong for many years because of the strength of his father and brother. Militarily, even if Cao Cao is United internally, it can only be a quick decision, and it is impossible to compete with Jiangdong for a long time to win or defeat the water army; Moreover, the north is not very peaceful, and Ma Chao and Han Sui in the northwest have become Cao Cao's future troubles; Cao Jun's advantage lies in its infantry and cavalry. Now they have given up their own advantages and want to open warships against Wu Dong, which is not good for them; Now, the weather is cold and the war horses lack feed. Soldiers from the north came to Jiangnan water town. They are not used to the water here, and they are sure to get sick. These four things are taboo. If Cao Cao takes risks, he will surely fail.
Under the analysis of Zhou Yu, Wu Dong unified his thoughts and decided to fight against Cao Cao. Under the persuasion of Lu Su and Zhuge Liang, Sun Quan and Liu Bei joined forces against Cao. Besides, Cao Cao's soldiers were really infected with the plague. Finally, Sun He returned to the north with a great army. The central battle of this war is called Battle of Red Cliffs.
However, although Cao Cao failed, he got nothing, but put Fan Cheng in his pocket. Later, Guan Yu launched the battle of Xiangfan against Cao Cao's general Coss. After Cao Cao returned to the north, Zhou Yu fought side by side with Cao Ren who stayed in Jiangling, and finally recovered Jiangling. Liu Bei took the opportunity to win Wuling, Changsha, Guiyang and Lingling counties in the south of the Yangtze River. In this way, the areas south of Xiangfan and Fan will be owned by Sun Quan and Liu Bei. For example, Liu Bei is the secretariat of Jingzhou, responsible for public security, Zhou Yu is the satrap of Nanjun, and Nanjun is in Jiangling, which is now under the jurisdiction of Jingzhou City, Hubei Province. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms quoted the biography of Jiang Biao: Zhou Yu was the prefect of Nanjun County and was divided into Nan 'an Compilation. In other words, this situation.
Battle of Red Cliffs, Liu Bei benefited the most. Not only was he not destroyed by Cao Cao, but he was also recommended by Sun Quan as the secretariat of Jingzhou. He has both territory and expanded the army. Cao Cao is a loser. He didn't get much benefit, but he also lost something. What he lost was the loss of soldiers, and what he got was Fancheng, the southern border. The Chibi War was a victory for Wu Dong, but it was also Wu Dong that suffered the most. Not only did he lose many soldiers, but Zhou Yu died soon because of injuries when he seized Jingzhou.
After Battle of Red Cliffs, Jingzhou area was temporarily quiet for a period of time. Cao Cao in the northwest to deal with Ma Chao and Han Sui; After the war, Liu Bei wanted to appease Jingzhou area; Sun Quan needed a rest, so he asked Lu Su to train his army.
But this situation cannot last long, because Jingzhou is the only place to compete for the world, and the three countries cannot exist for a long time. Therefore, in the twentieth year of Jian 'an, Sun Quan asked Liu Bei to return to Jingzhou on the grounds that Liu Bei was profitable. Liu Bei refused on the pretext of waiting for Liangzhou. As a result, the two families went to war, with Sun Quan retaking Changsha, Lingling and Guiyang, and Liu Bei taking Gongan and Yiyang. This year, Cao Cao attacked Hanzhong and threatened Liu Bei's Yizhou. When Liu Bei heard about it, he had to make peace with Sun Quan. In this way, Jiangxia, Changsha and Guiyang in Jingzhou are owned by Wu Dong of Sun Quan, and Nanjun, Lingling and Wuling are owned by Liu Bei.
Jingzhou is a place where Liu Bei can stay temporarily, because he has the steep Shu Road as a barrier, but he can't lose Hanzhong. Without it, there is no guarantee for Chengdu. Therefore, in order to capture Hanzhong, Liu Bei must make peace with Sun Quan. Sun Quan can't lose. He will eventually fail. If he fails, there will be no dangerous fortress in Dongwu, and the country will be in danger immediately. Sun Quandong defeated Cao Cao and Liu Bei in the west, so he had to make peace. Cao won't get lost. Xu Du opened the door and became the direct target of Jingzhou master.
This is the motive force for Guan Yu to launch the battle of Xiangfan.
As mentioned earlier, the battle of Guan Yu and Xiangfan not only threatened Cao Cao, but also threatened Wu Dong. So when Guan Yuyan captured the Seventh Army, captured the imperial army and beheaded Pound, the Central Plains shook, and Cao Cao even considered moving the capital to avoid losing his advantage. After all, Cao Cao himself is brave, talented and resourceful. Some people see the crux of the problem, Jingzhou is more important to Wu Dong! Both Sima Yi and Jiang Ji saw this and said: Yujin and others were defeated because of the flood, not because of the failure of the attack, and did not cause great damage to the national plan. On the surface, Liu Bei and Sun Quan are close relatives, but in fact they are far apart. Guan Yu succeeded, but Sun Quan was unwilling. You can send someone to persuade Sun Quan to threaten Guan Yu's rear and promise Sun Quan to seal Jiangnan, so that the siege of Fancheng will be lifted naturally. Cao Cao followed their advice. As expected, things were targeted by them. Sun Quan wrote a letter to Cao Cao, demanding to work for the imperial court and crusade against Guan Yu. In the meantime, please don't disclose this news. Cao Cao agreed to Sun Quan's request, but at the same time he listened to Dong Zhao's suggestion and leaked the news. Fan Cheng Coss insisted that Huang Xu came to meet them and break the encirclement. Sun Quan attacked Jiangling in the rear, and Guan Yu failed and died. Guan Yu was careless. He thought Sun Quan was afraid to fight. Monroe, the general of Soochow, was absent due to illness. On the contrary, Lu Xun was young and humble, and Soochow was unwilling to send troops. What I didn't expect was that my subordinates would betray me. This is an unintentional mistake of Jingzhou. Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang and Guan Yu quarreled as a bee, and no one suggested action or cooperation.
Why did Sima Yi and others say that Sun and Liu were separated? Jingzhou is too important for Wu Dong! Although this is not their heel, their heart, but this is their neck, lost Jingzhou, is the lifeblood of suffocation. Therefore, no matter what the agreement is, it is not as important as life, which is the root of Sun Quangan's attack on Guan Yu.
After the fall of Jingzhou, Liu Bei was still the king of Hanzhong and ascended the throne the following year. In the second year, Liu Bei, under the banner of revenge for Guan Yu, ignored the opposition of his subordinates and marched eastward to Wu. This led to the Yiling War between Shu and Wu. If Liu Bei was a rich and peaceful emperor, Jingzhou would be gone. Yunnan-Guizhou in the southwest and Liangzhou in the northwest still have a lot of land waiting for him to explore. But the problem is that Liu Bei is a descendant of the Han Dynasty royal family and a contemporary hero. He wants Han Hu. Without Jingzhou, he can't go back to the Central Plains. Just like Zhuge Liang later, he worked hard in the north, but the effect was very good. Why? That is not conducive to the attack of both sides, unless the strength of both sides is very different. Jingzhou is a different place. As Lu Xun said, Yiling is easy to gain and easy to lose, that is, it is beneficial to attack it and cannot be delayed for a long time.
Wu knows this truth very well, so they always deal with it skillfully first, and then give a fatal blow when they see the opportunity. It's true that Red Cliff fights Cao Cao and Jiangling flees feathers. With these two experiences, Lu Xun also adopted this strategy in the Yiling War. First of all, it lost its position and resisted one by one. When it reached a certain place, it put up a tenacious resistance. When it comes to persistence, Lu Xun even ignored the male Sun Huan. Because of this, after Liu Bei's offensive spirit was frustrated, Lu Xun burned more than 40 camps of Liu Bei, and Liu Bei completely withdrew from Jingzhou.
Although Shu Han has withdrawn from Jingzhou, Jingzhou is not peaceful. Neither Wei nor Wu dares to slack off. Before the demise of Shu Han, there were still battles here from time to time.
Why are there so many battles in Jingzhou? Because his geographical position is very important. For Wu Dong, Jingzhou is its neck. With it, you can open your mouth and bite. Losing it is like suffocating. After a long time, it is equal to extinction; For Cao Wei, Jingzhou is a box. With it, you can hold Wu Heshu in your arms. If you lose it, it may not be important, but it is too close to your heart. If you stab it, you may lose your life. Jingzhou is also a part of Shu Han. If there is, you can wave your arms hard. And lose it, from now on can only be a fist hit people.
This is Jingzhou, the axis of the Three Kingdoms, the tangled place of the Three Kingdoms, and a useful place. This turned Jingzhou into a meat grinder. During the Three Kingdoms period, too many people, too many generals and even famous soldiers gathered here. Therefore, Jingzhou was a fixed windmill during the Three Kingdoms period, and the Three Kingdoms stood on three legs and were the blades of the windmill. Although Shu is like a fan with broken leaves, it still restricts the separation of this area because his eyes are still looking at this place. This is the fundamental reason why the three major battles of the Three Kingdoms took place in this region twice.