Death of Guan Yu

Sun Quan, tired of Liu Bei’s repeated refusals to hand over Jingzhou, made plans to retake it. He made peace with Cao Cao and was bestowed the title of Prince of Wu. Liu Bei left his sworn brother Guan Yu in charge of Jingzhou, and Guan led the Jingzhou troops to attack Cao Cao. Sun Quan took advantage of the situation and sent Lu Meng to seize Jingzhou. Lu Meng disguised his troops as merchants and finessed a quiet entry. As Guan Yu was besieging Cao Wei general Cao Ren, Lu Meng's forces attacked Guan Yu from the rear, and routed his army with ease. Guan Yu's general Liao Hua volunteered to ride his horse through the oncoming horde of Wu soldiers to Liu Feng's castle to request reinforcements. Liu Feng, fearing that he would be in danger with a smaller force of soldiers, refused, and this ultimately led to the fall of Guan Yu. In desperate retreat, Guan Yu's army scattered, and Guan was captured. Sun Quan had him beheaded after he refused to renounce his loyalty to Liu Bei. Liu Bei deeply grieved the death of Guan Yu and the loss of Jingzhou. He was already planning to avenge Guan Yu when he heard that his other sworn brother, Zhang Fei, had been murdered in his sleep by subordinates who then fled to Eastern Wu. Liu Bei was determined to avenge both brothers. Disregarding advice from Zhuge Liang, Zhao Yun, and others, Liu Bei led a formidable army of 750,000 to attack Eastern Wu.