Why did Liu Meiling be defeated by Cao Cao so many times and Cao Cao still regarded him as his mortal enemy?

If we talk about Cao Cao's military capabilities, there is no need to discuss it. "A great and brilliant strategist". Even Quan, Liu's old enemy, would respectfully call him "Cao Gong" when talking about Cao Cao's use of troops. But when it comes to Liu Bei, his ability in leading troops to fight gives the impression that he is not up to par. Especially when Liu Bei met Cao Cao, it was like a mouse meeting a cat. it's over.

Let’s take a look at Liu Bei’s military route in his early years: starting from Xuzhou, east of Cao Cao, he was defeated. Run to Yuan Shao, which is north of Cao Cao. He and Wen Chou attacked Cao Cao, but were defeated by Cao Cao's plan. Wen Chou was beheaded, and Liu Bei escaped with his extraordinary talent. In the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao sent Liu Bei to harass Cao Cao in the west, but was defeated by Cao Ren. Finally, before the defeat of Guandu, he left Yuan Shao and defected to Liu Biao. Then he ran to the south of Cao Cao. They really circled around Cao Cao. After the Battle of Chibi, if Liu Bei is willing to serve Sun Quan, he should be sent to attack Xuzhou. Isn't this back to the starting point? Therefore, Liu Bei's military capabilities are simply a joke.

But Cao Cao didn’t think so. There is more than one evaluation of Cao Cao and Liu Bei. In addition to "big-eared thief" and "weaving mats and selling shoes", there are two more pertinent ones. 1. "Green plums boil wine" is said to be "the heroes of the world only act as kings and control the ears." Everyone knows that, needless to say, but this seems to emphasize Liu Bei's leadership ability. Some people may not know Cao Cao's other evaluation of Liu Bei. After Cao Cao's defeat at Huarong Road, he didn't know whether it was because he didn't change his true nature as a hero, or because he made jokes to boost morale. Cao Cao looked up to the sky and laughed: "Liu Bei, you are really my enemy. Let me slow down. If we set fire here earlier, we will not end well." "Three Kingdoms" records that Liu Bei did come to Huarong Road to set fire, but he gained nothing. Cao Cao's evaluation should refer to Liu Bei's military capabilities.

Cao Cao was not the only one who valued Liu Bei's combat prowess at that time. For example, when Zhuge Liang sent Wu Dong as an envoy to promote the alliance, Sun Quan once said: "Unless you are in Liu Yuzhou, you cannot be Cao Cao." Liu Zhang's Zhang Song also said something similar, "Liu Bei is the only person Cao Cao fears today." It seems that this was a common world view during the Three Kingdoms period. Cao He and Cao are not only incompatible with each other, but also rivals in chess.

Discussing heroes over wine.

So what is Liu Bei’s combat capability? Why does Liu Bei, whom everyone respects, always run away when meeting Cao Cao? Let's take a look at Liu Bei's record of fighting against Cao Cao and his generals in official history.

Liu Bei and Cao Cao first met on the battlefield when they rescued Xuzhou shepherd Tao Qian. According to the "Records of Emperor Liang Wu of the Three Kingdoms", Liu Bei led more than a thousand of his own troops and fought against Cao Cao together with his general Cao Bao. This battle should not be big. There is only one sentence in the Three Kingdoms: Mao lost. Liu Bei and Cao Cao fought for the second time after Mei Qing cooked wine. I don't know what was going on in Cao Cao's mind, but he sent tens of thousands of troops to Liu Bei to stop Yuan Shu. It's like letting the tiger return to the mountains. Liu Bei will not return to Xuzhou. Liu Dai and Wang Zhong from Cao Cao's platoon attacked Liu Bei but were defeated by Liu Bei. At this time Liu Bei said a very important thing, "For people like you, a hundred more people will be of no use to me. If Cao Gong comes in person, the result will be hard to say." Crow Zui said he would, and Cao Gong did come. This battle seems to have become the biggest shame in Liu Bei's life. He began to hear that Cao Cao was coming, but still didn't believe it. Later, when I saw Cao Cao's flag, I didn't even resist, I turned around and ran away. One person fled to Yuan Shao. His wife and Guan Yu were given to Cao Cao, and Zhang Fei flew away to no one knows where. You said you wanted to fight, but it's so ugly! Later, people often used this example to say that Liu Bei's troops were weak in combat effectiveness.

But in my opinion, there are sufficient objective reasons for Liu Bei to flee without fighting. This battle is unwinnable and impossible to fight. Think about it, where did Liu Bei's soldiers come from? Cao Cao gave it to him. You, Liu Bei, have lofty aspirations, and Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are brothers, but how can this gentleman be loyal to you? At this time, they thought they were rebels and there was no time to restore morale in a short period of time. With such a force, it is not easy to defeat Cao Cao's men. If you meet Cao Cao himself, I'm afraid there will be no need to fight. You'll screw yourself up first. Perhaps in the chaos, Liu Bei's head had been chopped off and presented to Cao Cao. Liu Bei's escape was indeed a bit embarrassing, but it also showed that Liu Bei was not slow in his determination to fight. The so-called wise man is to take over the king.

Later, under Yuan Shao, he was defeated by Cao Jun twice in a row. The first time was when he and Wen Chou were defeated by Cao Cao. The second time was when he colluded with the thieves behind Cao Cao, but was defeated by Cao Ren who stayed in Xuchang. These two battles seem to mean nothing.

In Cao Ren's own words, Liu Bei had just taken control of Yuan Shao's army and could not escape from top to bottom. It is not difficult to defeat him at this time. Liu Bei, who had suffered repeated defeats but was never discouraged, with the support of Yuan Shao, led his troops to Runan and once again integrated the defeated bandits. This time, Xiaojun performed in Cai Yang. This is Cai Yang, standing under Sir Guan Zhong's horse after five romantic passes and six beheadings. In official history, he was actually killed by Liu Bei. Liu Bei finally recaptured a city.

Liu Bei established a firm foothold in Runan. If he is given a little more time to develop and grow, I'm afraid Cao Cao's Xuchang will be really in danger. But Yuan's collapsed. Here is a detail that has been ignored by everyone: after the Battle of Guandu, the first thing Cao Cao did was not to chase Yuan Shao and occupy the north, but to turn around and kill Liu Bei in Runan. Because of Cao Cao's point of view, Yuan Shao has nothing to worry about, and it doesn't hurt to let him take a breather. But Liu Bei is different. Giving him some time is a big annoyance. Liu Bei's reaction is also very interesting. Although his business in Runan was prosperous at this time, he still packed up his belongings and went to find Liu Biao before Cao Cao could take action. Look, these two are really close friends.

The Battle of Guandu

Liu Bei had been dormant under Liu Biao for several years, but he gained some weight on his thighs. Liu Bei can be regarded as useless. Cao Cao completely eliminated the Yuan family and unified northern China. Jingzhou and Liu Bei were in danger at this time. But Cao, Hou Yi, and Yu Jin entered the new wilderness, and Xuande fought with them at Wang Bo. I think everyone knows that I hope this fire is not Zhuge Liang's fault. It is Liu Bei's masterpiece. Instead of burning the king, they set fire to the camp, pretended to retreat, set up an ambush, and drove off Xiahou and Yu Jin who were chasing after them. Both of them are famous generals of the Three Kingdoms, and Cao Cao will definitely not give them fewer troops than Liu Bei. This victory that Luo Guanzhong added to Zhuge Liang can be regarded as Liu Bei's most brilliant tactical victory, and it is recorded in detail in official history.

Then Liu Biao died and Cao Cao's army came. At this time, let’s take a closer look. When did Liu Bei start running? It's not like running away. Before Liu Cong surrendered to Cao Cao without telling Liu Bei, he actively prepared to confront Cao Jun in Xinye. After Liu Cong surrendered, if Liu Bei did not run away, he would not only take the tiny territory of Xinye, but also have weak troops to fight against Cao Cao alone, and the south would also be attacked by Jingzhou. After all this trouble, I also missed the best opportunity to retreat. Let Cao Cao's five thousand elite cavalry catch up to Dangyang Changban for 300 miles in one day and one night. He was killed. But compared with the people in Xuzhou, Liu Bei's growth in recent years is remarkable: this time he only lost his wife and children, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, and Zhuge Liang were all by his side. In Xuzhou, my brothers and sisters were all gone, but this time they were stripped of their clothes in Jingzhou.

The Battle of Red Cliff

I won’t talk about "The Battle of Red Cliff". After all, everyone seems to know this section, but in fact no one knows it at all. The romance is so famous that there are very few official records. We can see Liu Bei's scenes, chasing Cao Cao's back and setting fire to him. After the Battle of Chibi, Liu Bei also played a role in Zhou Yu's attack on Nanjun, but it was only a side check. When Liu Bei and Cao Jun faced off again, they had already arrived in Hanzhong. The Battle of Hanzhong is divided into two parts. In the first stage, Liu Bei had a bad start and was unable to enter the battle. Taking Huang Zhong's killing of Xia as an opportunity, Zhang Fei defeated Zhang He again. After Liu Bei occupied the favorable terrain, Cao Cao's reinforcements finally arrived. "Three Kingdoms" records that "Cao Gong attacked from Chang'an". This was Cao Cao's last personal visit to the battlefield, and he mobilized almost all the troops that could maneuver and mobilized all the famous generals around him. At this time, Liu Bei was obviously in high spirits: "Although Duke Cao is here, there is nothing we can do, but I must take Hanchuan." Except for Liu Bei, it seems that no one else can say such big things to Cao Cao. In the end, Liu Bei, who was at the peak of his life, defeated Cao Cao, who had reached the end of his life. Liu Bei's capture of Hanzhong was equivalent to the Liu family continuing in the Han Dynasty for several decades. If Hanzhong cannot be won this time, Zhuge Liang and Liu Chan may not be able to hold on for long. For Liu Bei, this was his most important victory and the last confrontation with Cao Cao.

"Liu Bei, I love you", whenever I think of these words, my heart will always be moved. Let's think about it. After Liu Bei's death, he met Cao Cao and put aside the struggle for fame and wealth in the world. What would these two sworn enemies, the orangutan rivals, say when they sat together? "My grandson, a world hero, that's it. It's still us." This is what a hero is. This is the occasion.