The revival of Shu Han

Chapter 421

When the Eastern Han Dynasty was still relatively strong, the Bingzhou under its control was very different from the Bingzhou in the Wei and Jin Dynasties.

To put it simply, Bingzhou in the Eastern Han Dynasty included most of today’s Shanxi Province, the northern half of Shaanxi Province (called Shangjun in the Eastern Han Dynasty, including today’s Yan’an, Yulin, etc.), and a part of Inner Mongolia (called Shuofang, Wulin, etc. Yuan, Yunzhong and other counties, including today's Baotou, Bayannaoer, Ordos, Hohhot and other places).In the Eastern Han Dynasty, except for the interior of Shanxi Province, most of the other places were mixed with Han and Hungarian. (Therefore, some documents say that Lu Bu, who was born in Wuyuan County, has the blood of the Huns)
In Bingzhou in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, on the one hand, China was caught in civil war, its national strength was declining, and its control over border areas was rapidly weakening.On the one hand, the grassland peoples moved southward and occupied a lot of the inherent land of Bingzhou.And the Southern Huns who used to graze on these lands were powerless to resist... Therefore, Bingzhou in the Wei and Jin Dynasties is basically the same as the modern Shanxi Province.

The two parts that were dismembered, the northern part of Shaanxi, were mainly dominated by the Qiang people in this era, and there were also many Xianbei people here, and the Huns also retained a certain amount of territory.Therefore, historians always use the word "Qiang Hu mixed residence" when labeling this period of land.As for the essence of Inner Mongolia, it was all occupied by the Xianbei people.

Because the Hetao is too fat and its strategic location is too important, Guan Yi sent Wenyang to take back the Hetao shortly after taking Guanzhong.Therefore, now Ji Han has an enclave in the northwest of Bingzhou in the former Eastern Han Dynasty: Wuyuan County.Jiang Wei's departure base is here.

As for Shangjun, which links Chang'an and Wuyuan County, Ji Han has no ability to restore it at this time.It just runs through Shangjun and built a straight road.Guan Da Sima did not make too many demands on the many tribes grazing on this land: you sell us the wool, and you can help me maintain the smoothness and safety of the straight road at ordinary times.For other things, you can do whatever you want.

Going east from Shangjun and crossing the Yellow River is Xihe County.This is the base camp of the Huns after they moved south.The Xiongnu Shanyuting was set up here.Going further east from Xihe is the core county of Bingzhou: Taiyuan County.

To the north of Taiyuan County is Yanmen County.But at this time, Yanmen County in Jin State was much smaller than Yanmen County in Eastern Han Dynasty. At least the area north of the Great Wall was basically occupied by Xianbei people.

To the south of Taiyuan County is Shangdang County (Gaoguanzhi City, Shanxi).Huguan, the south gate of Bingzhou, and Jingxingguan, the current east gate (Niangziguan only existed at the end of the Sui Dynasty and the beginning of Tang Dynasty), are both in Shangdang County.The core of the so-called Bingzhou-shaped place of victory is actually Shangdang County.Only by winning Shangdang County can we really have the advantage of overlooking the Central Plains.

However, according to the traditional marching route, if Guan Yi's 15 troops want to enter Bingzhou, they will not go to Shangjun and cross the Yellow River to enter Bingzhou.Instead, cross the river at Pubanjin in Fengyi County, first go eastward into Hedong County in Sizhou, and then go northward into Bingzhou.

The reason for marching along this route was of course determined by Shanxi's special geographical environment.

Shanxi, mountains and rivers inside and outside.On its west side, the Yellow River borders Shaanxi Province.Crossing the Yellow River from northern Shaanxi, while entering Shanxi Province, it also entered a north-south vertical mountain: Luliang Mountain.

The east side of Shanxi: Taihang Mountains.North side: Mount Wutai and Mount Heng.South side: Zhongtiao Mountain and Wangwu Mountain.It can be said that the entire Shanxi Province, like Sichuan, is surrounded by mountains on all sides.

However, although there are many hills in the Sichuan Basin, there are basically no large mountains, and there are many plains in the basin.In the interior of this province surrounded by mountains on all sides, there are also mountains such as Xizhou Mountain, Taiyue Mountain, Yunzhong Mountain and a part of the Loess Plateau.The entire interior of Shanxi Province is not a whole big basin like Sichuan.Rather, it was divided into six larger basins and more than ten small basins because of various mountain topography and plateaus.These six basins are the essence of ancient Shanxi.

Taking Guan Yi as an example, starting from Chang'an, he wanted to march into Bingzhou and take down Shangdang County, the core of the world's most victorious place.The best route is: go north from Chang'an, take Pubanjin, and enter Hedong County in Sizhou, Jin State-this place is in the Yuncheng Basin that belongs to Shanxi Province in modern times.Not only is the terrain flat here, but there is also Laishui that flows from east to west, which is convenient for transporting military rations and other logistical materials.

After taking Hedong County, the Han army can continue to march northeast: the northeast of the Yuncheng Basin is the Linfen Basin.The terrain is also very flat, and there are also big rivers like Fenshui to help it transport soldiers and supplies.After taking here, in the north, going north along the Fenshui River is the Taiyuan Basin. There are Fenshui River and the river valleys along the coast to use, and it is very comfortable to march.To the east, although there is a large area of ​​the Loess Plateau, there are no huge mountain ranges to block it-over this plateau, it is the Changzhi Basin-this era is called Shangdang County.

In short, this process is basically the process of conquering Bingzhou from west to east.After taking Taiyuan County and Shangdang County, Bingzhou is considered to be in hand.

Of course, due to terrain constraints, the best route to merge the state from west to east is almost unique.So, how could people like Du Yu and Wang Jun fail to see this?

From November of 271, after it was confirmed that Ji Han started the national conscription.Wang Jun set off from Taiyuan County and personally led [-] elite troops to station in Puban City in Hedong County, Sizhou.While continuously strengthening Puban City, local civilians were also recruited to build small docks along the east bank of the Yellow River, south and north, with Puban City as the midpoint. In short, Shaanxi wants to enter Shanxi. There is only such a section of the lot.I'll just stick to this section - if you have the ability, go to Luliang Mountain!
In December, when Jin's conscription was successful, Du Yu directly added [-] soldiers and [-] civilian husbands to Wang Jun.

Now, the distribution of Jin's troops on the Bingzhou front (including Hedong County in Sizhou) is as follows:

Wang Jun, the former enemy commander, was stationed in Puban City, Hedong, with a force of [-].

Du Yu, the commander of the front army, is in Shangdang County, with a force of [-].

The sixth son of Sima Fuqi, who has died, Taiyuan King Sima Gui and his son Sima Yong sit in Taiyuan County with a force of [-].

In Du Yu's view, the key to resisting Ji Han's Bingzhou attack was not Bingzhou itself, but Puban City.Therefore, he deployed heavy troops in Hedong County of Sizhou.According to Du Yu's idea, it is absolutely impossible for Ji Han to forcibly cross the Yellow River and grab the beach in this season, and then attack Puban City on the shallow river beach without paying a price of more than 5 people.

Of course, Ji Han has made many military miracles in recent years, so it is not impossible for Puban City to be captured.Therefore, Du Yu did not push all his troops to Hedong County.

In Du Yu's plan, it would be fine if Ji Han took Puban City with heavy casualties or a miracle of war: Wang Jun's troops just retreated.

After taking Puban, Guan Yi is unlikely to attack Taiyuan when there are heavy troops stationed in Shangdang-it is meaningless to take Taiyuan County without Shangdang County.Therefore, in Du Yu's inference, if Guan Yi wins Puban, he will definitely take the Eastern Front to win Shangdang.

But is Shangdang such a good place?Although one of the two most important checkpoints in Shangdang faces south and the other faces east, they cannot restrict Guan Yi from the west.But there is a large loess plateau between Hedong County and Shangdang County. The key point is that Hedong County belongs to Sizhou, which is very close to Luoyang!In addition to being the strongest city in the world, Luoyang also has [-] national standing soldiers and [-] princely guards.

So, what will you Guan Zifeng do after crossing the Yellow River and taking down Puban?Go directly to Luoyang?Then my Shangdang troops will hit you behind.Are you going to hit the party?Alright, I'll take a big step back, stretch your supply line, and fight you at Huguan—your back will be attacked by the Luoyang Chinese Army.

This is Du Yu's Bingzhou strategy: first use Puban City to prevent the opponent from crossing the river, and consume its vital strength.Then put the Han army into two huge tongs composed of the Bingzhou Army and the Luoyang Central Army.It can be said that due to the natural terrain advantages, if Guan Yi's 15 troops really crossed the Yellow River and entered Puban, if they were not careful, the entire army would be wiped out.

On June 15, AD [-], Guan Yi led [-] Han soldiers to Pubanjin.

The Yellow River in this season has a huge amount of water and a very fast flow.On the bank of the Yellow River, looking at the roaring Yellow River, and on the other side of the Yellow River, Puban City with flags flying and many people.All of Ji Han's soldiers turned pale and complained in their hearts.

The only one with a normal expression was Guan Yi: "Here's an order, the whole army is camping on the west bank of the Yellow River, we're not leaving!"

(End of this chapter)