After Zhang Fei and Ma Chao failed in the first attack on Hanzhong, Liu Bei personally led the army into battle, although he was once hindered by Zhang He, but finally succeeded in killing Xiahou Yuan and achieved a phased victory.

【Kill Xiahou Yuan】

In the twenty-third year of Jian'an (218), after Zhang Fei and Ma Chao were defeated, Liu Bei personally led the army to occupy Yangping Pass. At the same time, Cao Cao was also in Xudu to govern the army, preparing to rescue Hanzhong. In September of that year, Cao Cao led his army to Chang'an.

In the first month of the following year, Liu Bei crossed the river in the south, camped at the foot of Dingjun Mountain and Xingshi Mountain, and confronted Xiahou Yuanbu who led the army. At that time, Xiahou Yuan was stationed in the southern stronghold of Zouma Valley, and Zhang He was stationed in Guangshi, the stronghold of the eastern front. Liu Bei divided more than 10,000 elite soldiers into ten teams and took turns to attack Guangshi at night. Zhang He led his own troops to fight, although he did not lose his stronghold, but he could not withstand Liu Beijun's repeated attacks, so he asked Xiahou Yuan for reinforcements.

On the other hand, Liu Bei was also very impatient when he couldn't conquer it for a long time, so he wrote a letter asking Yizhou to send reinforcements. Zhuge Liang hesitated for a while, so he asked Yang Hong about this matter, Yang Hong said: "The land of Hanzhong is the throat of Yizhou, the key pivot of our country's survival, if there is no Hanzhong, there is no Shu State, this is a disaster at the doorstep; Now in the situation, men should participate in the war, women should participate in transportation, and what doubts are there about sending troops to rescue! Zhuge Liang later made a statement that Yang Hong concurrently served as the Taishou of Shu County, in place of Fa Zheng, who went north with Liu Bei, to manage the affairs of Shu County (Note 1).

After Zhang He asked for help, Xiahou Yuan allocated half of his elite troops to support Zhang He, and continued to hold on to the southern front. Later, Liu Bei sent troops to attack Zouma Valley, set fire to the antlers of the defensive fortifications in front of Cao's position, and Xiahou Yuan personally led 400 soldiers to fight the fire and repair the antlers. At this time, Fa Zheng saw the opportunity, saw that Xiahou Yuan was at a disadvantage, and proposed to attack Xiahou Yuan with all his might, Liu Bei then ordered Huang Zhong to condescendingly beat the drum from the rear to raid, Xiahou Yuan was suddenly killed by Huang Zhongjun, and Cao Cao's appointed Yizhou assassin Zhao Hao and others were also killed in this battle, and Cao's army was defeated. From then on, Liu Bei occupied the initiative in the battle of Hanzhong and won a phased victory in the war. Soon, Cao Cao personally conquered and heard that it was Fa Zheng who planned to take Hanzhong, so he sighed with emotion: "I know that Xuande does not do this, and it will be taught by others."

According to the record of "Wei Luo", although Xiahou Yuan was the governor at that time, in fact, Liu Bei was even more afraid of Zhang He, and after Xiahou Yuan's death, Liu Bei even said: "If you want to kill, kill Zhang He, what's the use of killing Xiahou Yuan!" ”

At the beginning, although Xiahou Yuan won many battles, Cao Cao, the king of Wei, often admonished him: "As a general, when you should be timid, you can't rely on courage alone." Generals should be brave, but they should rely on wisdom and cunning in their actions; Relying on bravery, he can only beat an ordinary person. After Xiahou Yuan died, Zhang Fei's wife, Xiahou Shi, buried him.

According to the record of "Wei Luo", in the early years of the Yan and Henan turmoil, Xiahou Yuan was unable to support the whole family because of hunger, and he even gave up his young son in order to support his dead brother and orphan daughter. This orphan girl is likely to be the future Xiahou clan.

In the fifth year of Jian'an (200), the thirteen or fourteen-year-old niece of Xiahou Yuan, Xiahou Yuan, was obtained by Zhang Fei when she went out of the city to collect firewood, and Zhang Fei knew that she was a daughter of a good family, so he took her as his wife.

The fifth year of Jian'an was basically the battle of Guandu, when Liu Bei was twice sent by Yuan Shao to disturb Cao Cao's rear, Zhang Fei went out with him, and finally kidnapped the little Lori of the Xiahou family, and there was no problem in time and timing. Later, the daughter of Xiahou and Zhang Fei was the wife of Liu Bei's son Liu Chan.

【Zhang Hedai Shuai】

After the death of Xiahou Yuan, the Wei army lost its new commander, and was afraid that it would be taken by the Shu army, and the three armies were disgraced. Sima Guohuai and the overseer Du raided to collect the scattered soldiers and ordered the troops: "General Zhang is a famous general of the country, and he is deeply feared by Liu Bei; Now that the military situation is urgent, only under the command of General Zhang can the crisis be turned into safety. So Zhang He was elected to succeed Xiahou Yuan as the commander of the Wei army. Zhang He then became the commander-in-chief, and all the generals were under the command of Zhang He, and the army's heart was determined.

The next day, Liu Bei wanted to cross the Han River to attack. The generals thought that they were outnumbered and wanted to rely on the water as a battle to resist the Shu army. Guo Huai said: "This is to show weakness to the enemy, and it is not the best policy to defeat the enemy." It is better to evacuate the shore, set up a formation in the distance, lure the enemy to come, and wait for them to cross to the middle of the river before launching an attack, and Liu Bei will definitely be defeated. So they lined up north of the Han River, intending to wait until the Shu army waded through the water to counterattack. Liu Bei himself was quite jealous of Zhang He, and when he saw this, he was suspicious, and he held on to each other across the water without crossing. Guo Huai then insisted and showed that he had no return. Soon, Cao Cao asked Zhang He to take a fake festival and Guo Huai as Zhang He's Sima.

After Zhang He became the commander of Cao Jun, he temporarily stabilized the situation and waited for Cao Cao's arrival, but when Liu Bei knew that Cao Cao was going to lead the army in person, he was not afraid, he said: "Although Cao Cao comes, there is nothing to do, I will have Hanchuan." ”

After Cao Cao learned of Xiahou Yuan's death, he took Cao Zhen as the protector of Shu, and the governor Xu Huang and other generals led the army to rescue Hanzhong, and Gao Xiang fought with him, but was defeated in Yangping.

【Before the Decisive Battle】

In order to seize Hanzhong, Liu Bei began to raise troops to fight from the twenty-second year of Jian'an (217), and it was not until the beginning of the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an (214) that he achieved a phased victory, this kind of long-term, large-scale operation is very heavy for the burden of logistics, and Liu Bei seized Yizhou itself after more than two years of conquest, so even Zhuge Liang hesitated when he learned that Liu Bei also asked for support, after all, Zhuge Liang himself supplied a lot of materials to the front line, and the burden on the people of Yizhou was already very large.

But hesitation is just hesitation, after Yang Hong's persuasion, Zhuge Liang also understands the significance of the battle of Hanzhong for Liu Bei's group, Liu Bei can't afford to lose this battle, so they have to win at any cost, as the logistics captain Zhuge Liang can only let go, "men should fight, women should be lucky" may not be just talking.

Xiahou Yuan's death was a turning point in the whole war, before Xiahou Yuan's death, although Liu Bei had invaded Hanzhong, but still failed to take advantage of the battle, but was blocked by Zhang He alone, at that time Cao Cao had basically arrived in Chang'an, and he could lead the army at any time, Liu Bei's pressure was actually very great.

After the battle of Junshan, Cao Cao's army was not only defeated, but even the commander was killed in Huangquan, which was a huge blow to morale, Liu Bei took the opportunity to reverse the situation, further expand the results of the battle, and also occupied a key geographical advantage, while Zhang He and others could only barely stalemate, but in fact they had lost the ability to attack.

And the reason why Liu Bei is not afraid of Cao Cao's upcoming army is precisely because of the geographical advantage he has occupied.

Note 1: The time point of this incident cannot be completely determined, it may be before Cao Cao came, or it may be after Cao Cao came, but it is certain that Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang and others will win the battle of Hanzhong at all costs.