Background
In October 218, Cao Cao's general Hou Yin (侯音) and his deputy Wei Kai (衛開) of Wan (宛; present-day Nanyang, Henan) rose in rebellion with several thousand troops, and they requested Guan Yu for assistance. It would take four months for Cao Ren to finally crush the rebellion by killing both Hou Yin and Wei Kai, but Guan Yu did not respond to the rebels throughout the duration. After taking Hanzhong by defeating Cao Cao in May 219, Liu Bei further expanded his gains in June 219 by sending Meng Da and Liu Feng to take Fangling (房陵; present-day Fang County, Hubei) and Shangyong (上庸; north of present-day Zhushan County, Hubei). Cao Cao was temporarily forced to be on the defensive after a continuous setback and Sun Quan of Jiangdong decided to take the opportunity to attack Cao Cao while their newly defeated men were regrouping and resting.
Realizing the imminent attacks of Liu Bei and Sun Quan, Cao Cao planned to launch a preemptive strike on Jing Province (荊州; covering present-day Hubei and Hunan), the eastern part of Liu Bei's territory defended by Guan Yu. The plan reasoned that Liu Bei could not continue his offensive in the north due to the need to consolidate his new gains, and so an attack into Jing Province would not be hindered by Liu's invasion elsewhere. However, the plan was called off because Cao Cao's troops still needed time to recover, regroup and re-supply from the campaign to suppress the rebellion of Hou Yin and Wei Kai, as well as from earlier setbacks in the struggles for Hanzhong. The worn-out troops were not ready for another campaign.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Fancheng
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