Battle of Xiaoting

The Battle of Xiaoting (猇亭之戰), also known as the Battle of Yiling and the Battle of Yiling and Xiaoting, was fought between the states of Shu Han and Eastern Wu, in the years 221 and 222 during the early Three Kingdoms period of China. The battle is significant because Wu was able to turn the situation from a series of initial losses into a defensive stalemate, before proceeding to win a decisive victory over Shu. The Wu victory halted the Shu invasion and preceded the death of Liu Bei, Shu's founding emperor.

In late 219, Lü Meng, a general serving under Sun Quan, led an army to invade Liu Bei's territories in southern Jing Province. Guan Yu, Liu Bei's general in charge of guarding Jing Province, was away at the Battle of Fancheng and did not know about the invasion until after he returned from his Pyrrhic victory at Fancheng. He was surrounded by Sun Quan's forces in Maicheng (麥城; in Dangyang, Hubei), captured in an ambush while trying to break out of the siege, and eventually executed by Sun Quan's forces in Linju (臨沮; present-day Nanzhang County, Hubei).

On 25 November 220, Emperor Xian, the figurehead monarch of the Eastern Han dynasty, abdicated in favour of Cao Pi and ended the Eastern Han dynasty. On 11 December, Cao Pi established the state of Wei to replace the Eastern Han dynasty and became its first emperor. On 10 May 221, Liu Bei declared himself emperor of the Han, effectively establishing a new state (today known as Shu Han) in opposition to Cao Pi's Wei. Around the same time, Sun Quan shifted the capital of his territories from Gong'an County to E County, which he renamed "Wuchang" (武昌). On 23 September 221, Sun Quan pledged allegiance to Cao Pi and became a vassal of the Wei state; in return, Cao Pi awarded Sun Quan the title "King of Wu" (吳王).

Liu Bei desired to avenge Guan Yu and take back Jing Province, so he made preparations for war against Sun Quan. When Zhao Yun, a veteran general under Liu Bei, tried to dissuade his lord from going to war with Sun Quan, Liu Bei ignored him. Later, when Liu Bei launched the campaign against Sun Quan, he did not bring Zhao Yun along and instead left him behind to guard Jiangzhou. Qin Mi, an official under Liu Bei, also advised his lord against going to war with Sun Quan but ended up being thrown into prison.

Liu Bei ordered Zhang Fei to lead 10,000 troops from Langzhong to join him at Jiangzhou. During the mobilisation, Zhang Fei was assassinated by his subordinates Fan Qiang (范彊) and Zhang Da (張達), who cut off his head and brought it along with them as they defected to Sun Quan's side. Zhang Fei's adjutant wrote a report to Liu Bei. When Liu Bei heard that Zhang Fei's adjutant sent him a report, he exclaimed: "Oh! (Zhang) Fei is dead."

In August 221, Liu Bei personally led his army to attack Sun Quan. He also gave higher appointments to some mid-ranking Shu officers from Jing Province, such as Feng Xi and Zhang Nan, to further raise his army's morale for the campaign. Sun Quan sent Zhuge Jin as his representative to meet Liu Bei and start peace talks. When Zhuge Jin met Liu Bei, he said:

"I heard that your army has come from Baidicheng, and that your subjects have advised you to reject peace talks due to the hostilities between us which arose from the King of Wu's occupation of Jing Province and Guan Yu's death. I am deeply worried because such thinking shows narrow-mindedness on their part, as well as their failure to take the bigger picture into consideration. I shall attempt to explain the gravity of the situation to Your Majesty. If Your Majesty can temporarily lower your pride, put aside your anger, and carefully think through what I am about to say, I am sure that Your Majesty will be able to finalise your decision. There will also be no need to seek further counsel from your subjects. Is Your Majesty's relationship with Guan Yu comparable to that with the emperors (of the Han dynasty)? Is one Jing Province comparable to the entire Empire? Between your two enemies, whom do you hate more? If you can answer these questions, then I am sure it won't be difficult for you to finalise your decision."

Liu Bei refused to listen to him.