Liu Bei avenged Guan Yu, why didn't he capture Jingzhou first and then attack Soochow?

Liu Bei avenged Guan Yu. Why didn't he send troops to capture Jingzhou first, but instead went straight to Soochow's home base?

We know that Guan Yu defeated Maicheng and was killed by Lu Meng of Dongwu, resulting in the fall of Jingzhou. Liu Bei had just finished the Battle of Hanzhong and Cao Cao had not had time to rejoice, so he hurried to the east to clean up the mess.

So in order to avenge Guan Yu, why didn't Liu Bei seize Jingzhou and then attack Soochow?

In fact, there is a logical loophole in this question, because Jingzhou has been lost. Regardless of whether he robs Jingzhou first or not, Liu Bei is attacking Soochow's territory. This also led to the fact that the war launched by Liu Bei against Sun Quan ended up in Yiling, not Jingzhou.

But Liu Bei’s ultimate goal in launching the Yiling War was to seize the eight counties of Jingzhou. We all know that Zhuge Liang clearly pointed out the importance of Yizhou and Jingzhou to the Shu Han in Longzhong. If you want to eliminate Cao Wei and support the Han Dynasty, Jingzhou is the most important. Losing one of Jing and Yi is like breaking an arm. The door to the east is wide open. Let alone attacking the Central Plains, it would be a good thing not to be invaded.

After Jingzhou was lost, Liu Bei had two options. The first was to seek peace with Sun Quan and unite Wu against Cao Cao. He would first settle the bulk and then settle internal accounts. The second one is to completely defeat Soochow, take Jingzhou back, even level Jiangdong, and fight Cao Cao decisively.

We all know that the first choice is far better than the second choice, so many officials in Shu will advise Liu Bei to take the overall situation into consideration, but Liu Bei is already red-eyed. What's more, the Battle of Hanzhong had just been won, and now a brother who was kowtowing to the ground was actually killed. It was harder for him to swallow this breath than to kill him, so he simply went down the river without stopping and annihilated Sun Quan.

Revenge for Guan Yu is of course a very important reason, but it is definitely not the whole story. The conflict between Shu and Wu has actually been brewing for a long time. At that time, Cao Cao threatened the emperor to order the princes, and Liu Bei was blatantly "rebellious". Self-established Shu Han, but Sun Quan was a little embarrassed because he was actually a local warlord. Logically speaking, he was still subordinate to the Han government under the control of Cao Cao, and his position was antagonistic. What's more, after the Battle of Yiling started, Sun Quan wanted to surrender to Cao Wei in order to avoid fighting on multiple fronts. Liu Bei had just driven Cao Cao away in Hanzhong. Looking at Sun Quan's virtue, how could he hold back, plus the two men who killed Zhang Fei? A rebel general also surrendered to Sun Quan. Various factors intertwined and strengthened his determination to destroy Soochow.

But when it comes to the Battle of Yiling, the person we have to introduce is Lu Xun. In fact, Lu Xun did not participate in the battle at the beginning of the war. Liu Bei joined the fierce tiger, captured the mouth of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, invaded the Wu territory, and defeated the Wu army and occupied Zigui. Faced with the furious Shu army, Sun Quan appointed Lu Xun as the Grand Governor and sent an additional 50,000 people to the front line to support him. When Lu Xun arrived at the front line, he was shocked by Liu Bei's determination to fight to the death. He patiently persuaded the Wu army generals to give up the decisive battle and avoid him. Sharp edge, waiting for the opportunity to move. In this way, the Wu army retreated to Yiling and built a fortress to defend it, while the Shu army stationed troops on the Baili Mountain Road where it was difficult to deploy its troops.

In this way, the two sides were in a stalemate from the first month to June. The initial fighting spirit of the Shu army officers and soldiers was wiped out by the scorching heat. Liu Bei saw that the strategy of going down the river was not going well, so he had to move his navy to On land, all flags and drums ceased, the troops stopped to rest, and they prepared to launch an attack again when the weather cooled down.

Lu Xun saw that the Shu army's hundred-mile company camp was surrounded by woods and weeds, and it was hot summer, so he immediately decided to attack the company camp under fire at night. With the fire, the Shu army was in chaos, and the Wu army cut off the Shu army's retreat and besieged it on all sides. Liu Bei's entire line collapsed, with numerous casualties and casualties, and the seizure of vehicles, ships, and military supplies. In this battle, the Shu army was almost completely wiped out. Liu Bei fled to Baidi City. Zhao Yun led troops to help and stationed in Yong'an. Lu Xun knew that taking Yong'an by force was not easy, so he withdrew his troops and returned to Wu.