In the nineteenth year of Jian'an (214), Liu Bei besieged Luocheng, and his army commander Pang Tong led the people to attack the city, was shot by arrows, and died, at the age of Chinese New Year's Eve.

[Guo Fengxiao in Liu Bei Group]

In history, Pang Tong and Guo Jia, both died young, Pang Tong was only thirty-six years old when he died, while Guo Jia was thirty-eight years old, not only that, their status and identity within their respective groups are also very similar.

Guo Jia was one of the core strategists under Cao Cao in his early years, and Pang Tong was also Liu Bei's military advisor when he entered Shu.

On the other hand, Guo Jia and Pang Tong are also among the few celebrities who are overestimated by later generations, and the two are indeed talented in the Three Kingdoms era, but to be honest, people still have too high expectations for Guo Jia and Pang Tong's ability.

Now many people think that Guo Jia is the first strategist of Cao Wei, and even the first strategist of the Three Kingdoms era, but in fact, it is difficult for Guo Jia to rank among the top five strategists of Cao Wei by virtue of his own ability alone, let alone the entire Three Kingdoms era, and Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang are called Wolong and Phoenix Chicks, but in terms of real ability, Pang Tong is far inferior to Zhuge Liang.

Historically, Pang Tong's political, military, and strategic abilities have been demonstrated, which is indeed similar to Zhuge Liang, but the level of his performance is not very convincing.

First of all, in terms of politics, Pang Tong mainly served as the Gongcao of Jingzhou South County, and was later sent by Liu Bei to manage Leiyang County. There are not many records of relevant information when Pang Tong served as Nanjun Gongcao, but he was directly dismissed by Liu Bei because he ignored county affairs in Leiyang County, although later Zhuge Liang, Lu Su and others spoke for Pang Tong, saying that Pang Tong was not a talent of a hundred miles, but how could he sweep the world if he did not sweep a house.

Secondly, in terms of military affairs, Pang Tong later sent troops to fight with Liu Bei, and when he attacked Luocheng, his army was lost and died, which was Pang Tong's only military record.

Finally, in terms of key strategies, Pang Tong's level is indeed above that of ordinary strategists, which is undeniable. When following Liu Bei, Pang Tong mainly put forward three opinions for him, all of which showed considerable strategic ability.

The first time was when Liu Bei hesitated to accept Liu Zhang's invitation to enter Sichuan and seek Yizhou, Pang Tong advocated Liu Bei to seize Yizhou, Liu Bei said that he did not want to lose his trust in the world, and wanted to be different from Cao Cao, Pang Tong persuaded Liu Bei at this time, you must not miss the opportunity and never come again, you don't take Yizhou, it doesn't mean that others are not interested, if you lose this opportunity, resulting in Yizhou being seized by Cao Cao and others in the future, it will be a tragedy

Think about Yuan Shao's refusal to listen to the advice of frustration, which led to Emperor Xian finally being controlled by Cao Cao, and in the future, he was turned over and pressed under his feet by his younger brother Cao Cao, and Liu Bei himself once persuaded Liu Biao to take advantage of Cao Cao's crusade against Karasuma to go north, Liu Biao was also very remorseful after missing the opportunity, plus Yizhou itself was the target that Zhuge Liang emphasized in "Longzhong Pair", Liu Bei finally made up his mind and sent troops to Yizhou.

The second time was when Liu Bei and Liu Zhang met in Fucheng, when Pang Tong and others actively persuaded Liu Bei to hold Liu Zhang hostage in the banquet, so as not to have many dreams at night, but in the end Liu Bei refused, which I have already said before, I personally agree with Liu Bei, after all, Liu Zhang was the landlord at that time, Liu Bei did not have many opportunities to do something to Liu Zhang, and the risk was still great, in case of failure, it was not Liu Bei who arrested Liu Zhang, but Liu Bei himself was left in Yizhou.

The third time was after Liu Bei went north, Pang Tong proposed three strategies for him to seize Shu, and the time is uncertain whether it was before Liu Zhang executed Zhang Song, and it was not clear whether Liu Zhang was aware of Liu Bei's plot at that time. Pang Tong's best strategy was to raid Chengdu before Liu Zhang reacted, but if Liu Zhang had already executed Zhang Song at that time and was on guard against Liu Bei, this suggestion would not have much meaning.

But even if Liu Zhang did not guard against Liu Bei at that time, Zhang Song was still lurking in Chengdu as an internal candidate, and it was still very difficult to realize Pang Tong's best policy, which was mainly reflected in the execution. After all, Jiameng Pass is not far from Chengdu, but it is not close to it, and it has been lurking alone for a long time, and then raiding Chengdu is a test of the general's ability to command, even if Liu Bei and others have this ability, in case of bad luck and exposure, it will be in vain, so the best strategy looks beautiful, but the risk is actually very high, not in the absence of a way, there is no need to take this risk.

The next strategy is that Liu Bei retreats to the White Emperor City, communicates with Jingzhou, and then fights with Liu Zhang, this strategy is very safe, but in fact, it is equivalent to Liu Bei giving up everything originally, if this is done, it will be meaningless for Liu Bei to enter Shu at the beginning, so it is just a policy, Liu Bei will not take it unless there is no better way.

The middle strategy proposed by Pang Tong is to pretend to return to Jingzhou, lure Liu Zhang's subordinates Yang Huai and Gao Pei over, and then annex their subordinates, and then turn south to crusade against Liu Zhang, which is relatively safe and clear, even if Yang Huai and Gao Pei did not come, Liu Bei did not lose, this strategy is generally not high, but the benefits are relatively large, which is very cost-effective, so Liu Bei finally adopted the middle strategy.

Of course, Pang Tong actually said a next step, that is, to hesitate, wait, and do nothing.

Although it is not clear in "The Biography of Pang Tong" that Pang Tong proposed the time of the three strategies, from the perspective of Pang Tong's next strategy, if Liu Zhang had not known Liu Bei's intentions, then Liu Bei would not have to go back to the White Emperor, he would have to go back to the White Emperor, but he would have to spend a lot of time talking, and finally Pang Tong also said: "If Shen Yin does not go, it will lead to a great cause, and it will not last long." This also implies that Liu Zhang already knew Liu Bei's intentions at that time, and Liu Bei could not delay it any longer, and needed to make a decision as soon as possible, so the time point when Pang Tong proposed the three strategies was more likely after Zhang Song's death.

Considering the situation after Zhang Song's death, among the three strategies, it is obvious that only the middle strategy is more feasible, the upper strategy is more risky, and the lower strategy is unnecessary.

As a qualified military advisor, Pang Tong should also point out the monarch's mistakes in a timely manner while assisting the monarch, which Pang Tong did very well, after capturing Fucheng, Liu Bei was a little carried away, Pang Tong dared to directly point out Liu Bei's mistake at the banquet, and finally let Liu Bei know the mistake.

Pang Tong is definitely a qualified strategist, but Pang Tong has followed Liu Bei for too short a time, and there are not many strategies left, and it is not enough to prove that Pang Tong is a top strategist, Pang Tong's persuasion of Liu Bei to enter Sichuan was obvious at that time, Fa Zhengdu had already come, and Liu Bei certainly had to seize this opportunity; In Fucheng, he persuaded Liu Bei to take the opportunity to hold Liu Zhang hostage, but this suggestion was too risky, and was not adopted by Liu Bei in the end; In the end, Pang Tong's three strategies to pacify Yizhou, in fact, only the middle policy is more feasible.

Pang Tong, who died early, and Guo Jia, who died early, although they were both considered to be the top strategists at that time in later generations, their performance was actually much worse than the standard of top strategists.

The abilities of the two of them are similar to Chen Gong, and they are not at the same level as Zhou Yu, who also died young.

【Afterlife】

After Pang Tong's death, Liu Bei was extremely sad, and cried when he talked about Pang Tong. In recognition of his merits, Liu Bei appointed Pang Tong's father as a councilor, and later promoted to a counselor. Later, Pang Tong was posthumously given the Marquis of Guannei, and his nickname was Marquis Jing.

One more thing, although "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" describes Pang Tong's ugly appearance, this is not in the official history.

【Pangtong in History】

Name: Pang Tong

Attributes: Strategy (B+) Pang Tong is qualified as a military advisor, but he is not yet at the top

Commander (C) Because Pang Tong almost died in battle, of course this evaluation cannot be high

Politics (B-) Pang Tong has no record of outstanding political achievements in this area, on the contrary, there have been "bad reviews"

General Comment (B) Pang Tong is similar to Guo Jia, because he died too early, and his impact on history is more average

Aliases (titles): Zi Shiyuan, number phoenix

Gender: Male

Ethnicity: Han

Occupation: Military Division

Official position: General of the military division

Nickname: Jinghou

Family background: Jingzhou scholars

Birth and death: 179-214

Place of birth: A native of Xiangyang, Jingzhou

Main social relations: from his father (Pang Degong) to his peers (Pang Shanmin)

Major Experiences:

From 179 to 209, he was born in a scholar family, and Zhuge Liang was called Wolong and Phoenix, and later served as Nanjun Gongcao

From 209 to 214, after Zhou Yu's death, he returned to Liu Bei, was reused by him, and died in battle when Liu Bei entered Shu

Summary: Although Pang Tong is not yet the crown of Nanzhou scholars, he is already a rare elite in Jingzhou.

ps: I'm sorry, it's been a few days