Lu Meng's signature victory indeed seems lacking, from a storytelling perspective. Zhou Yu faced down and destroyed Cao Cao's gigantic fleet. Guan Yu boldly rode into the middle of Yan Liang's army and took his head. Zhang Liao ripped apart the armies of Wu and nearly captured Sun Quan. Cao Cao has more signature victories than you can count – riding into the far north in the dead of winter and annihilating the Wuhuan perhaps being his most impressive, even over Guandu. In all these instances, the leading generals boldly fought their opponents on a level field, placing themselves at great personal risk, and conquered through courage and cunning.
No doubt Meng was a self-made man, and a top notch general. Certainly his defeat of Guan Yu was fair, as far as the art of war is concerned (Sun Tzu probably would've loved Meng's conquest of Jingzhou). It was a brilliant stroke done in service of his lord, and he was right to do it. It was his duty.
But his crowning victory offends later readers' senses of honor and fair play, and it's simply not the stuff legends are made of. To be blunt: Slipping in behind a helpless enemy who has already been vanquished by another foe and sticking a dagger in his back simply can't compare to the examples of personal valor (Meng was never in any danger) and audacity I mentioned above, no matter how well it was executed. It can hardly inspire later men's hearts and imaginations. It reads more like kicking a great man while he's down, rather than having the guts to deal with him face-to-face.
I'm not saying Meng was wrong to do what he did (as Zhuge Liang says in the novel, Guan Yu was really destroyed by his own arrogance). I'm just saying life, and the way we see and remember people, simply isn't fair.
Another thought: Guan Yu's final campaign is absolutely mystifying to me. One of the strangest things to happen in the Three Kingdoms saga. Why on earth would he launch a campaign from the most vulnerable and far afield section of his lords realm, instead of defending what he had? His corner of Jingzhou lacked the natural defenses of Shu. Most of Shu's top military talent was elsewhere. He had to contend with two extremely dangerous enemies on his border, rather than one. IIRC, he realized when he set out that he was growing old, and even predicted his own death before the start of the campaign. Maybe I could understand his expedition it if it was launched in concert against Wei with a force from Hanzhong, but going it alone? Why didn't Liu Bei or Zhuge Liang put a stop to it?
Lu Meng's signature victory indeed seems lacking, from a storytelling perspective. Zhou Yu faced down and destroyed Cao Cao's gigantic fleet. Guan Yu boldly rode into the middle of Yan Liang's army and took his head. Zhang Liao ripped apart the armies of Wu and nearly captured Sun Quan. Cao Cao has more signature victories than you can count – riding into the far north in the dead of winter and annihilating the Wuhuan perhaps being his most impressive, even over Guandu. In all these instances, the leading generals boldly fought their opponents on a level field, placing themselves at great personal risk, and conquered through courage and cunning.
No doubt Meng was a self-made man, and a top notch general. Certainly his defeat of Guan Yu was fair, as far as the art of war is concerned (Sun Tzu probably would've loved Meng's conquest of Jingzhou). It was a brilliant stroke done in service of his lord, and he was right to do it. It was his duty.
But his crowning victory offends later readers' senses of honor and fair play, and it's simply not the stuff legends are made of. To be blunt: Slipping in behind a helpless enemy who has already been vanquished by another foe and sticking a dagger in his back simply can't compare to the examples of personal valor (Meng was never in any danger) and audacity I mentioned above, no matter how well it was executed. It can hardly inspire later men's hearts and imaginations. It reads more like kicking a great man while he's down, rather than having the guts to deal with him face-to-face.
I'm not saying Meng was wrong to do what he did (as Zhuge Liang says in the novel, Guan Yu was really destroyed by his own arrogance). I'm just saying life, and the way we see and remember people, simply isn't fair.
Another thought: Guan Yu's final campaign is absolutely mystifying to me. One of the strangest things to happen in the Three Kingdoms saga. Why on earth would he launch a campaign from the most vulnerable and far afield section of his lords realm, instead of defending what he had? His corner of Jingzhou lacked the natural defenses of Shu. Most of Shu's top military talent was elsewhere. He had to contend with two extremely dangerous enemies on his border, rather than one. IIRC, he realized when he set out that he was growing old, and even predicted his own death before the start of the campaign. Maybe I could understand his expedition it if it was launched in concert against Wei with a force from Hanzhong, but going it alone? Why didn't Liu Bei or Zhuge Liang put a stop to it?