In the annals of the Three Kingdoms, few figures embody the resilience of the human spirit more than Liu Bei. Though destined to become one of the Three Sovereigns, his path was paved with defeat, betrayal, and near annihilation.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the catastrophic year of 196 AD, when a perfect storm of military disaster, logistical collapse, and psychological breakdown brought Liu Bei to the brink of extinction. Drawing from Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi) and historical context, this article reconstructs Liu Bei’s most desperate campaign—a tale of famine, cannibalism, and ultimate salvation through the loyalty of a single ally. Though, many of the events to be mentioned below are absent from Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Yet they are essential to understanding Liu Bei’s character and the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
The standoff on the Huai River
In 196 AD, Liu Bei, then Governor of Yu Province, faced Yuan Shu along the Huai River, specifically in the region of Huaiyin. As recorded in the Sanguozhi:
“The First Ruler (Liu Bei) held off Yuan Shu for over a month.”
— Sanguozhi
This stalemate was Liu Bei’s attempt to protect Xu Province from Yuan Shu’s northern expansion. His forces were deployed along the northern bank, relying on supply lines from Xiaopei and Xiapi.
But while Liu Bei was preoccupied, Lü Bu, seizing an opportunity, attacked and captured Xiapi, the provincial capital.
The collapse of loyalty
When news reached Liu Bei that Xiapi had fallen and that his officers’ families were now hostages of Lü Bu, he immediately turned back to relieve the city.
However, as he approached Xiapi, disaster struck:
“When Liu Bei heard this, he led his army back. But before reaching Xiapi, his troops disintegrated. He gathered scattered soldiers and turned east to seize Guangling, where he fought Yuan Shu again—and was defeated.”
The cause of the collapse was psychological, not military. As Sun Tzu’s Art of War explains, fighting on one’s own territory is “dispersed ground”, where soldiers are prone to desertion out of concern for their families.
Liu Bei’s troops—fearing for their loved ones in Lü Bu’s hands—abandoned the army en masse, likely heading north toward Xiapi.
The “scattered soldiers” Liu Bei later collected were not deserters, but units from the Huai River front that had also collapsed under the news of the capital’s fall.
Meanwhile, Yuan Shu had learned of Lü Bu’s coup in Xuzhou and promised him fifty thousand bushels of grain, five hundred horses, ten thousand ounces of gold and silver, and one thousand rolls of varicolored silk. Lü Bu, encouraged by this offer, eagerly sent General Gao Shun and fifty thousand men to attack Xuande from the rear. Xuande, however, was informed in time and under cover of foul weather managed to flee east to Guangling.
— Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Chapter 15
The failed eastern gambit
With Xiapi unreachable, Liu Bei retreated eastward across the Huai River, aiming to seize Guangling—specifically, the Shaying region (modern Baoying, Yangzhou) in southeastern Guangling Commandery.
This area had recently belonged to the Pizhou Chen clan, a powerful local family. Though now under Yuan Shu’s control, it still had residual loyalty to the old Xu Province regime. Liu Bei likely hoped to ally with the Chen clan at Huaipu and establish a new base.
But Yuan Shu’s forces pursued and engaged him again. Liu Bei, weakened and demoralized, was defeated once more.
Famine and Cannibalism
Trapped in enemy territory, cut off from supply lines, and hunted by Yuan Shu’s army, Liu Bei’s situation became apocalyptic:
“Liu Bei’s army in Guangling suffered from hunger and distress. Officers and soldiers resorted to eating each other.”
This horrific detail—cannibalism among the ranks—is one of the most graphic accounts of military collapse in the Sanguozhi. It underscores the complete breakdown of order and logistical failure.
Unlike earlier campaigns in northern Huai, where Mi Zhu could supply him, Liu Bei now had no rear support. His army shrank rapidly as survivors fled or perished.
Salvation at Haixi
After unimaginable hardship, Liu Bei managed to cross back north of the Huai River, reaching Haixi County in Guangling Commandery.
Here, at last, he found temporary refuge.
Meanwhile, the Pizhou Chen clan, still engaged with Yuan Shu’s forces at Huaipu, was too preoccupied to assist him.
Liu Bei’s salvation came from Mi Zhu, the former Chief Clerk of Xu Province, who had returned to his hometown of Quxian.
Mi Zhu did not merely offer aid—he gave everything:
- He donated his vast personal wealth.
- He provided thousands of servants and soldiers.
- Most significantly, he gave his younger sister in marriage to Liu Bei, forging a blood alliance.
This act of unwavering loyalty—recorded in the Sanguozhi·Biography of Mi Zhu—rescued Liu Bei from oblivion.
Liu Bei’s submission to Lü Bu
Even with Mi Zhu’s support, Liu Bei was no longer a major power. He had lost his army, his territory, and his prestige. Recognizing that resistance was futile, he sent envoys to Lü Bu, formally surrendering and requesting mercy. Lü Bu, perhaps seeing value in keeping Liu Bei as a buffer against Yuan Shu, allowed him to garrison at Xiaopei.
Thus, Liu Bei—the man who had briefly ruled Xu Province—was reduced to a vassal of the man who had betrayed him.
Liu Bei’s 196 AD campaign was a catastrophe by every measure. Yet, from this darkest hour, his legend was forged. His ability to endure unimaginable suffering, combined with the loyalty he inspired—exemplified by Mi Zhu’s sacrifice—proves that true leadership is not measured by victory, but by resilience.
This episode, though absent from Romance of the Three Kingdoms, is essential to understanding Liu Bei’s character: a man who, though repeatedly broken, never surrendered his ambition or virtue.
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