The revival of Shu Han

Chapter 228 The Temple Calculation of the Northern Expedition ([-])
More than 40 years after the founding of the Shu Han, the Northern Expedition was divided into two stages.

The first stage was Zhuge Liang's five Northern Expeditions.Among the five Northern Expeditions, the first Northern Expedition was the closest to success, and the fifth Northern Expedition was the most tragic.

Zhuge Liang's strategic goal of the Northern Expedition is: take Liangzhou and rule here.Narrow the national power gap with Cao Wei.Then go to Yongzhou.

The second stage was the Northern Expedition presided over by Jiang Wei.Jiang Wei's Northern Expedition's attack points were much more scattered than Zhuge Liang's.Moreover, the Shu Han Northern Expedition at this stage was no longer obsessed with fighting for one city and one place, but more focused on plundering Cao Wei's population in Longxi.But in any case, the overall strategic goal of Jiang Wei's Northern Expedition is still very clear: to weaken Cao Wei's rule in Liangzhou, especially Longxi, through frequent offensives.Cao Wei kept losing blood in Longxi.Finally had to quit here.And once Cao Wei withdraws from Longxi, Liangzhou will naturally break away from Cao Wei's rule (the Hexi Corridor is very narrow, once Longxi is lost, the portal of the Hexi Corridor will be gone, and Liangzhou will lose contact with the Central Plains).At that time, it was time for the diplomats of the Shu Han to play.

It can be said that Zhuge Liang and Jiang Wei knew very well that with the weak national strength of the Shu Han, it was impossible to swallow the two states of Yongliang and Liangzhou in one go.Cool first and then Yong, gradually progress.It is the basic strategy of the Northern Expedition of the Shu Han for more than 40 years.Although the methods are different, the goal is the same.

And what about Guan Yi's Northern Expedition this time?
Before that, it is very necessary for everyone to take a geography class.

Now, please sit in front of a relatively empty table and prepare two pens (preferably one thick and one thin).

First of all, please put the thicker pen on the table sideways.

Then, put the thinner pen vertically on top of the thick pen.The tail side of the thin pen fits snugly into the middle of the body of the thick pen.

After that, adjust the angle of the thin pen so that the angle formed by the thin pen and the thick pen is 60 degrees on the left side and 120 degrees on the right side.

Well, this is the simplest topographic map of Yibei Guanzhong.

This thick pen is Qinling.Below the thick pen, south of the Qinling Mountains, counting from your right hand side, are Hanzhong County, Wudu County, and Yinping County of the Shu Han.

To the north of the Qinling Mountains, it is divided into three parts.

That thin pen is Longshan.It is the dividing line between Guanzhong Plain and Tianshui loess hills.It is also the boundary mountain between Shaanxi Province and Gansu Province today.

On the east side of Longshan Mountain, that is, on your right hand side, is the Guanzhong Plain, which is the core area of ​​Yongzhou that is often mentioned in this book.

On the west side of Longshan Mountain, that is, on your left hand side, are the loess hills, which is the key node of Liangzhou often mentioned in this book-Longxi. (The so-called Longxi refers to the west of Longshan Mountain. This is the starting point of the Hexi Corridor).

Because of the existence of Longshan, it doesn't matter whether it is Cao Wei or Jin.Its Yongzhou and Liangzhou are separated geographically.The traffic between each other is very inconvenient.

Therefore, the Northern Expedition of the Shu Han always revolved around Longshan.

Because the national power of the Shu Han was weak and unable to eat Yongliang in one go, the Northern Expedition of the Shu Han mainly started from Wudu and Yinping and entered Longxi.

Liangzhou's output is relatively small, and it cannot afford to support a large army.Therefore, the permanent troops of Cao Wei or Jin in Liangzhou are relatively small—at least not as large as the main force of the Shu Han.Therefore, after the Shu Han Northern Expedition entered Longxi, it was often able to occupy a certain advantage in the early stage.However, when the main forces of the Wei and Jin Dynasties in the Guanzhong Plain entered Longxi, the military strength of the Shu Han would become a disadvantage.At this time, the Northern Expedition often had to be terminated.

Then the problem came, it was extremely difficult for the Shu Han to cross the Qinling Mountains.Although Longshan Mountain is much smaller than Qinling Mountains, it is also a mountain with a main peak of nearly 3000 meters.Where is it so easy to cross.How can the main force of the Wei and Jin Dynasties be quickly deployed to Longxi?
This is because, in the middle of Longshan Mountain, there is a canyon suitable for the passage of large troops.As long as this canyon is in hand, Cao Wei or Jin can quickly put the main force in the Guanzhong Plain and even Luoyang into the Longxi battlefield.In this way, a strategic advantage over the Shu Han was formed.

In particular, this canyon.The starting point in the east is called Qinchuan.The west end is called Jieting.

Sao Nian, do you now understand why the entire army of the Shu Han collapsed in an instant after Ma Di lost the Jieting during Zhuge Liang's first Northern Expedition?
In 228 AD, Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of Shu Han, launched the first Northern Expedition against Cao Wei with an army of [-].At that time, Zhuge Liang's strategy was: with Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi as partial divisions, he led an army of [-] troops from the Xiegu in the north of Hanzhong County to the north of Guanzhong, and made a gesture of attacking Mei County on the west side of Chang'an to contain Cao Zhen's corps in the Guanzhong area.Then he led the main force of [-] people out of Qishan Mountain to the west of Longshan Mountain.For a time, three of the five counties in Longxi surrendered.If Zhuge Liang storms the remaining two counties again, then the entire west of Longshan Mountain will be completely belonged to the Shu Han, and the strategic goal of annexing Liangzhou will be achieved (the five counties in Longxi will be cut off, and Zhangye and Dunhuang in the west will have to follow. Surrender .Even with Cao Wei, the Governor of the Western Regions had no choice but to surrender).If such a situation arises, many problems behind the Shu Han can be completely resolved. (For example, the gap in national power is too large, the conflict between the Jingzhou faction and the Yizhou faction, etc.)

Fortunately (maybe it is more appropriate to call it unfortunate), Cao Wei Chaotang's reaction speed is extremely fast.

On the one hand, Sima Yi, the commander of the Jingzhou Legion, and Xu Huang, the right general, were ordered to set off from Jingzhou and enter the Ankang Basin (the three counties of Shangyong) to pacify Mengda who responded to Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition.

On the other hand, Wei Emperor Cao Rui led 20 Chinese troops to march in person and entered Chang'an.

And the most crucial move is to send General Zhang Yun, leading the [-] elite Chinese army, galloping all the way through the starry night, passing Qinchuan, crossing Longshan, and reaching Jieting!

Of course, Zhuge Liang also saw the key strategic node of Jieting.So from the 5000 army, [-] people were assigned to Ma Di, and he was asked to guard the street pavilion... Everyone knows the rest.

What if Ma Su had guarded the street pavilion?

Then Wei Guo was embarrassed.Because they want to complete the deployment of troops to Longxi without Jieting, or go over Longshan.Or you have to go north for more than 400 miles, go to the territory of Ningxia today, and then go south for more than 400 miles to bypass Longshan... And once this happens, it is estimated that Zhuge Liang has already taken all the five counties of Longxi. down.Moreover, what you need to know is that if you go north from Chencang, you will enter the Loess Plateau in a short time.The straight-line distance above may be very short, but if you really want to walk, it will kill you! (For specific examples, please refer to Hu Zongnan's pursuit of the Taizu of the dynasty in the Northern Shaanxi Plateau)
Therefore, if the Shu Han guarded the Jieting, wait until Cao Wei's army detours into Longxi.Zhuge Liang has already eaten the five counties of Longxi.At that time, Zhuge Liang was the host, and Cao Wei became the guest.Zhuge Liang has the resources of the five counties in Longxi, but Cao Wei's logistics route is extremely difficult.As a result, the strategic roles of the two sides have been exchanged. At that time, Cao Wei will become eager to fight, but Zhuge Liang can play tricks... In short, if you don't lose the street pavilion, you can get Liangzhou!

After all, Ma Di lost the street pavilion.With Cao Wei's strong national power and hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers, they can quickly invest in Longxi.At this time, there are still two counties in the five counties of Longxi that have not been taken down, and the three newly recruited counties do not even have all the officials.What's more, Cao Wei's logistical pressure is not great... Shu Han's Northern Expeditionary Army has no choice but to retreat across the board.

The Shu Han's first Northern Expedition was the closest to success among the more than a dozen Northern Expeditions of the Shu Han in more than 40 years, and of course it was also the most regrettable one.

After that, Zhuge Liang's second Northern Expedition was to echo Sun Quan and Lu Xun's scramble for Hefei.This time the Northern Expedition took Chen Cang, and ended up running into a pervert like Hao Zhao.Of course, Zhuge Liang was not prepared to actually fight (the first Northern Expedition was sent in the spring of 228 and was defeated in the autumn. The second Northern Expedition was in the winter of that year. The main thing was to respond to the strategy and have an explanation to the allies, not to really fight), so Chen Cang After more than 20 days, I couldn't take it off, so I returned it.

Strictly speaking, the third Northern Expedition was not going north, but going west.He took Yinping and Wudu counties.As long as you have carefully read the above geographical introduction, you should know that the Guanzhong area of ​​Cao Wei is separated from the two counties of Yinping and Wudu by a Longshan Mountain and a Qinling Mountain.Therefore, as long as Hanzhong is not in hand, if these two counties want to hold on, it will cost a lot.Strategic abandonment is the best option.

In the fourth Northern Expedition, Sima Yi, who had just succeeded Cao Zhen as the commander-in-chief of the Yongliang Corps, was full of ambitions and insisted on fighting against Zhuge Liang.As a result, Zhuge Liang photographed him as a pig's head when he had half as many troops as the opponent.Since then, the Sima family's art of war has changed from the blade style to the turtle style.But during the Northern Expedition, the national strength of the Shu Han was finally overwhelmed, and Zhuge Liang encountered the dilemma of running out of food and retreating for the first time.

During the fifth Northern Expedition, he recuperated for three years and accumulated enough food and grass.And knowing that his time is numbered, Zhuge Liang is desperate.Leading an army of [-] troops directly from Hanzhong to the Guanzhong Plain—it doesn't matter what the strategy of taking Liangzhou first, come on, let's have a decisive battle!If I win, I will take down Yongliang in one fell swoop.Shu Han was defeated and almost perished!
In this battle, the Shu Han marched very smoothly at the beginning, and they reached Wuzhangyuan without any trouble.Climbing high and looking far, you can see the palace of Chang'an.But Sima Yi was stubbornly stuck here.

Regardless of whether Zhuge Liang grows food on the spot in Wuzhangyuan, it's good to act like I won't leave until you defeat me.Or Zhuge Liang gave him women's clothes to wear.Anyway, Sima Yi, who has achieved great success in Wuguiliu, just refuses to accept the move.I just can't get out of the fortress.

The final result is the Sad Wind Wuzhang Plain that everyone knows...

After Zhuge Liang, Jiang Wan lacked prestige, and Fei Yi was a pacifist.Jiang Wei could not completely control the state affairs of the Shu Han.So since then, the Shu Han has never launched a Northern Expedition with a scale of 10 people.Jiang Wei's strategy can only change from occupation to loosening...

So, what is the strategy of the Northern Expedition led by the traversers this time?

　In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the five prefectures of Anding, Guangwei, Tianshui, Nan'an and Longxi to the west of Longshan belonged to Liangzhou in terms of administrative division.Regardless of the customs or geographical boundaries, this division is very reasonable.Therefore, when Cao Wei first founded the country, he also inherited this administrative division.

　　After Zhuge Liang's first Northern Expedition, he felt that the strategic position of the five counties in Longxi was important.The Cao Wei regime cut off these five counties from Liangzhou and stuffed them into Yongzhou.Then the governor of Guanzhong sat in Chang'an (Guanzhong area, east of Longshan).The governor of Yongzhou was established in the five counties of Longxi.

　　Cao Wei's successive commanders of the Western Military Region were all paired.One in Guanzhong and one in Longxi.For example, Cao Zhen and Guo Huai, Sima Yi and Guo Huai, Guo Huai and Chen Tai, Chen Tai and Wang Jing, Sima Fu and Deng Ai, Sima Wang and Deng Ai, Zhong Hui and Deng Ai, and the current Sima Wang and Hu Fen in this book (The former is in Guanzhong, the latter is in Longxi).

　　However, the five counties of Longxi are very different from the Guanzhong area in terms of customs and customs. They are closer to Liangzhou and are part of the cultural scope of Liangzhou.Therefore, on the basis of history, after the fall of the Shu Han, the Western Jin Dynasty simply put these five counties together and established a new state: Qinzhou.

　　During the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms, Longshan was the boundary between Qianliang and Qianzhao.Later, Longshan Mountain became the boundary mountain between Gansu (Liangzhou) and Shaanxi (Yongzhou).

　　In general, as long as the Shu Han wins the five counties of Longxi, Liangzhou and the Western Regions, which have lost contact with the mainland, will naturally surrender to the Shu Han.Winning Longxi is basically equivalent to winning Liangzhou.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)