During the Three Kingdoms period, many mountains and rivers were listed as military strategic points. Before Zhuge Liang's death, he regarded a mountain as a military stronghold, and several Northern Expeditions wanted to capture it, and this mountain was Qishan Mountain. Zhuge Liang's six departures from Qishan are also regarded as six Northern Expeditions. But Zhuge Liang's "Six Out of Qishan" is only a statement in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. In fact, Zhuge Liang in the main history only carried out the Northern Expedition five times.
So since Qishan is so important, where is it now? And why does Qishan have such important military significance? The following are my personal views.
First, analyze the geographical location of Qishan.
Qishan mountain is located in the east of Li County, Gansu, on the north side of the Western Han River, from Beidi (present-day Pingquan Dabaozi Mountain) in the west to Halocheng (present-day Yanguan Town) in the east. It stretches for more than 50 miles, with beautiful mountains, Luo Feng, and quite high terrain, known as the name of 'Kyushu'' and the wonder of the world. And Qishan was the throat of Shu Long, and the force of attack and defense was strong, so it became a place where Wei shu had to fight during the Three Kingdoms.
Near Qishan Mountain, if you walk along the mountain road, you can directly go out of the river into Shu, which is why this mountain road is also called Qishan Road. Although this road is somewhat bumpy, compared with the other four Chencang Road, Chu Chuan Road, Qiluo Road and Meridian Valley Road that cross the Qinling Mountains from Hanzhong, Qishan Road is still relatively wide and gentle. Then it is obvious that Zhuge Liang will certainly choose Qishan Road among these roads.
It is precisely because of the unique and superior geographical location of Qishan that Zhuge Liang will choose to go out of Qishan six times and expand outward. Because this is not only conducive to the transportation of grain and grass, the army march, but also caters to the purpose of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition to revive the Han Dynasty, expand the Shu Han region, and enhance the strength of the Shu Han. Therefore, it is not surprising that Zhuge Liang attached so much importance to Qishan and made it the first choice for the Northern Expedition. Moreover, in the main history, Zhuge Liang's five Northern Expeditions, two of which were taken by the Longxi Ancient Road, shows the importance he attaches to Qishan.
Second, analyze the military significance of Mount Qi for the Shu Han Dynasty.
As we all know, zhuge Liang's initial goal of the Northern Expedition was to take Chang'an. Because Chang'an was not only the capital of the Han Dynasty, in the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Dong Zhuo even threatened the Han Emperor to move the capital here. Once Zhuge Liang captured Chang'an, it meant that Shu Han occupied the capital of the former Han Dynasty, and Liu Bei personally lived in the Han Dynasty, which was tantamount to declaring that the great cause of Shu Han ''s 'rejuvenation of the Han Dynasty'' was half completed.
Unfortunately, although Zhuge Liang made five Northern Expeditions, he was unable to capture Chang'an in the end, and this outcome was not achieved. If Zhuge Liang set out from Qishan Province, after the success of the Northern Expedition, its military significance would naturally be very important. Shu Han could directly occupy Chang'an and control Guanzhong. The military significance of Guanzhong naturally goes without saying much, this is the place where Han Gaozu achieved the foundation of wang ye in that year, and the Shu Han occupied this place, which not only cut off the connection between Luoyang and the Longyou region, but also connected Shaanxi, Long, and Shu together, laying the foundation for the prosperity of the late Shu Han Dynasty.
However, this is only imagination, in the main history, Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition was generally unsuccessful. But Zhuge Liang chose to go out of Qishan six times, and this choice was also correct. Such a move could not only suppress the overbloated forces of Cao Wei, but also unite the ethnic minorities such as the Qi and Qiang and use them to expand the strength of the Shu Han itself. If Shu Han was able to occupy the Longxi region, Zhuge Liang would be able to enter Guanzhong directly and form a pincer-shaped offensive with Hanzhong to vigorously attack Cao Wei's forces. It can be seen that Zhuge Liang's choice of Qishan is also expected.
Third, the reason why Zhuge Liang chose to go out of Qishan was also a major reason for the difficulty of Shu Han's own path.
As mentioned above, Qishan is not only a military stronghold stationed in natural dangers, but also connected to the Wei River, and the Qishan Mountains to the east of Longyou are adjacent to Qin Chuan, and if Zhuge Liang attacks the Wei army from Qishan Road, he also has a certain degree of certainty to realize the plan to invade the Wei state. However, as to why the successive Northern Expeditions were not successful, the transportation of grain and grass was probably also a major factor affecting the war situation.
The road taken by the Shu army was not smooth and wide, not to mention that the Shu army also had to transport grain and grass, and it was naturally difficult for horse-drawn carriages to travel on the Shu Road. If it is difficult to keep up with the supply of grain and grass, it will inevitably lead to the difficulty of the main army. And this is precisely one of the main reasons that led to the failure of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition to Wei. But if Zhuge Liang chooses Qishan, the ending may be able to change. Not to mention that Shu Han could avoid the main force of the Wei state, and the flatness of the Qishan road alone was enough to reduce the transportation pressure for the grain transport team.
And the Qishan Road did not have many natural dangers, so it was difficult to hinder the Shu Han army. And Zhuge Liang also called the Northern Expedition War "soldiers out of Qishan", and it is not difficult to see the important military significance of Qishan itself.
It can be seen that Qishan is now roughly located in the east and north of the West Han River in LiXian County, Gansu. It is precisely because of the geographical location and traffic of Qishan itself that it has such important military significance.
How do you see the military significance of Mount Qi?
Stay tuned and tell the story of the Three Kingdoms and learn about that little-known story.