Having suffered 2 defeats, why did Quan Vu only surrender to Cao Cao, ignoring Sun Quan?

Winning and losing is normal, but that’s for a general. And if victory and defeat are placed on some famous generals, this problem may become more serious, even giving rise to influencing factors affecting the direction of history. One of the few famous generals that can be mentioned is Quan Vu.

Guan Yu was a famous general who had great merit in establishing the Shu Han Dynasty. Quan Vu’s talent and loyalty once made the three most powerful forces of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Wei, Thuc Han and Dong Ngo, to abstain.

In particular, about martial arts, according to Tam Quoc Dien Nghia, Quan Vu can easily take Nhan Luong’s head among thousands of troops, going in and out like a place without people.

In addition, Quan Vu can also go through 5 stages and cut 6 generals, extremely brave on the battlefield with the enemy’s strength of thousands of people, prestige to the top of the whole army. In 219, relying on rain and floods, Guan Yu defeated seven Wei armies in Fancheng, achieving a resounding victory.

Perhaps because the name is too big, having achieved great victories, the defeat for Quan Vu is an unusually outstanding thing.

In fact, overall, Quan Vu did not have many failures in his illustrious life. This brilliant general had only two major failures.

2 biggest failures in Quan Vu’s life

The first time was the battle of Ha Bi and the second time the battle of Phan Thanh.

In the battle of Xia Bi, Guan Yu’s first opponent was Cao Cao. In fact, there are two reasons why Quan Vu suffered defeat in this battle. The first, because the difference in strength between the two sides is too great. Liu Bei was defeated, had to flee to Vien Thieu’s land before the pursuit of Cao’s army. Therefore, Guan Yu and his army became alone.

Second, Guan Yu’s opponent Cao Cao is too strong. In addition to the huge disparity in military strength, Cao Cao’s ability and commanding ability is also extraordinary. Of course, at that time, Guan Yu was not Cao Cao’s opponent, in terms of strategy and cunning.

In the battle of Phan Thanh, Guan Yu’s opponents were Cao Nhan and La Mong. Initially, the army led by Quan Vu was very strong, even many times causing Cao’s army to fall into a difficult position. Specifically, after defeating the 7 armies of Cao, Quan Vu relied on the rain and floods to determine the victory and stormed up to flatten Phan Thanh, attacking the capital to capture Cao Cao.

The first, Phan Thanh at that time was very dangerous because many places in the city were damaged by flood water. However, Man Sung, a high priest of the Cao Wei dynasty, encouraged Cao Nhan to keep the city because the floodwaters would recede quickly. Before this situation, at first Cao Cao was very worried and intended to move the capital and take Emperor Han Hien out of Xuchang. However, after listening to the analysis of the benefits, Cao Cao decided not to move the capital and then ordered Tu Hoang to bring troops to save Phan Thanh.

Tu Hoang and Quan Vu have known each other for a long time and have a good relationship. Guan Yu at that time had his troops camped at Vitou and set up an additional post at Tu Trung. But Tu Hoang used the plan to spread east and west. Although he spread the news about the Vi Dau camp, he was rumored to be in Tu Trung. Quan Vu was caught in a conspiracy, so he lost a lot, then was beaten back by Tu Hoang.

Second, Quan Vu brought troops to Phan Thanh and launched the battle of Tuong Phan destroyed the balance of power in the Three Kingdoms, making Sun Quan’s faction worried. Moreover, because Quan Vu was not skillful in handling diplomatic relations with Ton Quyen, it led to the monarch of Dong Ngo secretly attacking ruthlessly. Ton Quyen sent General La Mong to beat Kinh Chau so that Quan Vu could not react.

Considering many factors combined, Quan Vu’s defeat is really inevitable. But the results of these two defeats were completely different. Both lost the battle, but Quan Vu temporarily surrendered to Cao Cao, but not Sun Quan.

The reason why Guan Yu surrendered to Cao Cao

What is the cause? It turned out that the key in Guan Yu’s decision was Han Hien De Luu Hiep.

When temporarily surrendering under Cao Cao, Quan Vu bravely killed Nhan Luong, Vien Thieu’s general, and at the same time relieved the siege of Bach Ma. This victory made Cao Cao extremely excited. Under the name of Emperor Han Hien, Cao Cao appointed Guan Yu as the Marquis of Han Tho.

The title “Han Tho court” is nominally conferred by the Han emperor, so it is reasonable for Guan Yu to always respect it.

Moreover, after the battle of Xia Bi, in a forced situation with the safety of Liu Bei’s family, Guan Yu had to surrender to Cao Cao. However, this famous general made a condition with Cao Cao, called the “three chapter convention” (commitment of 3 things). Guan Yu emphasized that only Han goods were not compared to Cao’s, showing his loyalty.

On the other hand, at that time, Cao Cao’s power was very strong when he took the name of serving “the son of heaven”. Quan Vu’s temporary surrender actually had two advantages. The first, Quan Vu both preserved his own life and kept his reputation.

Second, Guan Yu can take good care of Liu Bei’s two wives safely. Because if Quan Vu refuses to surrender, the lives of Liu Bei’s two wives will be very difficult to keep.

The same failure, but when switching to confront Sun Quan, the result is different, because the above benefits are no longer available. The key point here is that Sun Quan did not hold the emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, so it is reasonable for Guan Yu to refuse to surrender.

Guan Yu takes “loyalty” as his life principle, and has patiently implemented it all his life. Therefore, he would rather die than refuse to surrender to Ton Quyen.