Guan Yu's Defeat at Maicheng

Liu Bei had just become King of Hanzhong.

His power seemed to have reached a new height. Then Jingzhou sent terrible news.

Guan Yu was dead.

Guan Yu's Pride

Later generations worshiped Guan Yu as a martial saint.

In the late Han, he was first Liu Bei's old companion and the commander left to hold Jingzhou.

After Liu Bei became King of Hanzhong, Guan Yu was appointed General of the Vanguard. When he heard that Huang Zhong had also received a high rank, he was offended. How could he stand alongside an old soldier?

The envoy reminded him that Guan Yu's bond with Liu Bei was different from that of Ma Chao or Huang Zhong. Guan Yu accepted the appointment.

He was proud, and that pride mattered.

He could hold Jingzhou. He could also underestimate people, including Sun Quan.

Jingzhou Was in His Hands

When Liu Bei entered Shu, Zhuge Liang, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun originally remained in Jingzhou.

As the Yi Province campaign dragged on, Zhuge Liang, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun went west to support Liu Bei. Jingzhou was left mainly to Guan Yu.

After Liu Bei gained Yi Province, he still did not replace him.

Zhang Fei was fierce but not necessarily suited to independent command. Zhao Yun was trusted but not a sworn brother. Ma Chao was newly surrendered.

So Guan Yu remained.

After Liu Bei became king, Guan Yu saw an opportunity. Cao Wei was stretched between fronts. He marched north against Fancheng, where Cao Ren defended.

Cao Cao sent Yu Jin and Pang De with seven armies to reinforce Cao Ren.

The battlefield was difficult. Guan Yu attacked the city, while Yu Jin and Pang De could relieve it. If he attacked the relief force, Cao Ren could press from the city.

Then the Han River rose.

The Seven Armies Were Flooded

Yu Jin's troops were camped on low ground.

When heavy rain and floodwaters came, the camps were submerged. The famous flooding of the seven armies was not a magical release of water. It was Guan Yu seizing a flood-created opportunity.

Guan Yu prepared boats and attacked.

Yu Jin was trapped and surrendered.

Pang De kept fighting.

Before the campaign he had said that either he would kill Guan Yu or Guan Yu would kill him. In battle, he had even shot Guan Yu with an arrow.

Now, surrounded by water, he continued to resist. When men urged him to surrender, he killed those who advised it.

His arrows ran out. He fought with a blade. At last his small boat overturned and Guan Yu's men captured him.

Guan Yu offered surrender, noting that Ma Chao now served Liu Bei. Pang De cursed him and refused.

Guan Yu had him killed.

After this victory, Guan Yu "shook China." Some areas south of Xu responded to him. Cao Cao even considered moving the capital.

Fancheng itself was near crisis. Floodwater damaged the walls, and some urged Cao Ren to escape by boat.

Man Chong persuaded him to stay. The flood would not rise forever. If Fancheng was abandoned, the whole region south of the Yellow River might waver.

Cao Ren held on.

Scraping the Bone

The famous story of scraping poison from Guan Yu's bone is often placed around this period.

Guan Yu had once been wounded by an arrow. The wound closed, but in damp weather the bone still hurt. A doctor said the poison had entered the bone and had to be scraped away.

Guan Yu stretched out his arm while the doctor cut and scraped. Blood flowed, but he drank and talked with the other officers as usual.

The historical record does not name Hua Tuo as the doctor. Hua Tuo had already died. That connection belongs to later fiction.

At this moment, Guan Yu's fame was at its peak.

The danger came from behind.

Sun Quan Moved

Cao Cao's advisers saw the opening.

Sima Yi argued that Cao Cao did not need to flee. Liu Bei and Sun Quan were allies in name, but they did not truly trust each other. If Cao Cao promised Sun Quan benefits, Jiangdong would strike Guan Yu from the rear.

Cao Cao accepted the plan and also sent Xu Huang to relieve Fancheng.

Sun Quan was ready.

The Jingzhou dispute had never been solved. Lu Su, who had tried to preserve the alliance, was dead. Guan Yu had also insulted Sun Quan. When Sun Quan asked for a marriage alliance between his son and Guan Yu's daughter, Guan Yu rejected it harshly.

Lü Meng, now guarding Lukou, believed Guan Yu could not be left alone.

Lu Xun Lowered His Posture

Guan Yu was not careless at first.

He had Mi Fang guard Jiangling and Fu Shiren guard Gong'an. He also kept defenses along the river.

Lü Meng pretended to be ill and asked to return to Jianye.

Sun Quan publicly recalled him and appointed the younger Lu Xun in his place.

Lu Xun wrote Guan Yu a humble letter, praising his victory over the seven armies and urging him to build greater merit in the north.

Guan Yu saw a young, respectful replacement and relaxed his guard.

He pulled more troops from the rear toward the Fancheng front.

Lu Xun reported the movement to Sun Quan. The moment had arrived.

White-Clad Crossing

Guan Yu's forward army needed more supplies.

Mi Fang and Fu Shiren often failed to provide enough grain. Guan Yu scolded them and threatened punishment after he returned.

Both men already feared and disliked him.

Guan Yu also seized grain that Jiangdong had stored at Xiangguan. Sun Quan now had his excuse.

In late 219, Lü Meng attacked Jingzhou. His men wore white clothing and disguised themselves as merchants, moving upriver.

The river defenses were deceived. Gong'an surrendered through Fu Shiren. Jiangling surrendered through Mi Fang.

Jingzhou's rear was gone.

Lü Meng then treated Guan Yu's soldiers' families well, giving medicine to the sick and clothing and food to those in need.

This was ruthless strategy. Guan Yu's men at the front had families in Jiangling. Once they heard those families were safe under Wu, their will to fight collapsed.

Maicheng

Guan Yu learned that Jiangling had fallen and that Xu Huang had beaten him at the front. He withdrew from Fancheng.

Cao Ren wanted to pursue, but Cao Cao ordered him not to. Let Guan Yu and Sun Quan drain each other.

Guan Yu retreated and sent envoys to Lü Meng. Lü Meng let the envoys visit the families in Jiangling. When they returned, Guan Yu's soldiers crowded around them to ask about home.

They heard that their families were safe. More men deserted.

Sun Quan came to Jiangling in person. Lu Xun took Yiling and cut off the road into Shu.

Guan Yu withdrew to Maicheng.

He could not return to Jiangling. He could not easily retreat into Yi Province. Cao's army had relieved Fancheng, Wu had cut the rear, and his own soldiers were disappearing.

Sun Quan offered surrender. Guan Yu pretended to agree, set up figures on the walls to mislead the enemy, and broke out by night.

Only a few riders remained.

Lü Meng had already predicted the route and set an ambush. Guan Yu and his son Guan Ping were captured and killed.

In the same year, Guan Yu went from shaking China to losing Jingzhou and dying at Maicheng.

Liu Bei's eastern foundation had been torn away.

Next, Guan Yu's death will reshape the moves of Cao Wei, Sun Quan, and Liu Bei.