15 miles east of Henan's Xun County, there is an ancient city, located in the transition zone between the Taihang Mountains and the North China Plain, east of the Yellow River, west of the Wei River, is in and out of the Central Plains, communication between the north and south of the throat of the throat, since ancient times is the place where soldiers must fight. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, the two major forces in the north, were inextricably linked to this ancient city.
In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, Han Gaozu's ancestor Liu Bang placed Liyang county. During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the Yellow River flooded frequently, and Later Zhao did not hesitate to use the people's strength to chisel the Eight Zhangshi Buddha on the cliff wall of the East Mountain in Liyang to pray for blessings and protect the people, named "Zhenhe Great General". When it came to the Jin Dynasty, the Yellow River moved 50 kilometers east, and the people rushed to tell each other, all shouting: "The great general appears." ”
The Sui Emperor Yang Jian took advantage of the convenience of water transportation in Liyang to set up a Liyang warehouse, which was close to Hebei and as far as Jianghuai, where mountains of rice millet were hoarded and transferred. According to the research, Liyang Warehouse covers an area of nearly 80,000 square meters, with a total of 84 large and small warehouses, with a total reserve of 33.6 million jin, which can be fed by 80,000 people for one year. Liyang Cang is one of the eight granaries of the Sui Dynasty, and in ancient times there was a saying of "Liyang Harvest, Gu Jiuzhou".
Above_Schematic diagram of LiyangCang
Above_Sui and Tang Dynasty Grand Canal (Liyangcang, Huiluocang, Luokoucang, Guangtongcang)
At the end of the Han Dynasty, political corruption, social darkness, and the people did not have a good life. The people rose up and organized the Yellow Turban Uprising. On the pretext of suppressing the rebels, bureaucrats in various localities took the opportunity to privately take advantage of the plots and expand their strength. It formed yuan shao in Jizhou, Cao Cao in Yanzhou, Lü Bu in Xuzhou, Yuan Shu in Yangzhou, Liu Biao in Jingzhou, Sun Ce in Jiangdong, Gongsun Zhan in Youzhou, and Zhang Xiu in Nanyang.
In the first year of Jian'an (196), Cao Cao welcomed emperor and moved the capital to Xuchang, occupying the commanding heights of morality. Cao Cao's forces occupied the Central Plains, defeating Lü Bu and Yuan Shu successively, forcing Zhang Xiu to surrender, and further expanding his sphere of influence. In the fourth year of Jian'an (199), Yuan Shao defeated Gongsun Zhan in one fell swoop, occupied the four prefectures of Ji, You, Qing, and He, and became the most powerful warlord in the north, so the situation in the north became clearer, and the confrontation between Yuan Cao and Cao became the main theme at that time.
In June of the fourth year of Jian'an (199), Yuan Shao preemptively attacked and commanded 100,000 elite soldiers and more than 10,000 horses, intending to attack Xuchang and sweep the north. Cao Cao had only 20,000 soldiers and horses in his hands, with few enemies and many enemies, and Cao's army was panicked and uneasy, and people's hearts were floating. Cao Cao led his army to seize Liyang and established a forward base on the north bank of the Yellow River. The general Chu led 2,000 soldiers and horses to Yanjin (延津, in present-day Yanjin, Henan), and Liu Yan (東郡太守) held Baima (白馬, in present-day Hua County, Henan, on the south bank of the Yellow River). The purpose of the two was to prevent Yuan jun from crossing the river, threatening Xuchang, and the main force of Cao's army stationed at Guandu.
In the schematic map of the Battle of Guandu, the geographical locations of Liyang, Baima, Yanjin, and Guandu
From the map, Liyang is in the north, to the south is Baima, west of Baima is Yanjin, south of Yanjin is Guandu, and the four places rely on the Yellow River, forming an irregular quadrilateral. As the only stronghold on the north bank of the Yellow River, Liyang was an outpost in Cao Cao's battle plan. Yanjin and Baima were defensive depths, and Guandu was Cao Cao's last line of defense. Cao Cao's strategic intentions were clear, giving full play to geographical advantages and depleting Yuan Shao's troops.
In December of the same year, Liu Bei openly rebelled against Cao at Xia Qiong, gathered tens of thousands of soldiers under his command, and made contact with Yuan Shao. In order to avoid a two-front battle, Cao Cao crossed the Yellow River south and led an army to conquer Liu Bei. In February of the fifth year of Jian'an (200), the Yuan army occupied Liyang, turned it into its former enemy headquarters, and sent the general Yan Liang across the Yellow River to attack Baima. With the change of hands of Li Yang, the Battle of Guandu officially began.
Liu Bei (161-223)
Liu Bei's rebellion disrupted Cao Cao's deployment, and he lost LiYang, who was a strategic support, and fell into a passive situation. In order to gain the initiative, Cao Cao pacified Liu Bei and quickly withdrew to Guandu. After gaining insight into the movements of Yuan's army and listening to Xun Yousheng's suggestion to attack the east and the west, he personally led his troops to Yanjin and pretended to cross the river north, intending to attack Hebei. Yuan Shao heard the edict, and sure enough, he made a plan and divided his troops to march west.
In April of the fifth year of Jian'an (200), Cao Cao saw Yuan Shao dividing his troops, sent Zhang Liao and Guan Yu to lead light horses, quickly maneuvered, and went straight to the white horse. As soon as the two armies came into contact, Guan Yu's front was broken, Yuan's army was leaderless, and fled in defeat, the siege of the white horse was solved, and the Cao army won the initial battle and regained the strategic initiative, but the situation of Yuan Qiang and Cao's weakness did not change.
The Battle of Baima, also known as the "White Horse Siege", took place in the fifth year of Jian'an of the Eastern Han Dynasty (200 AD)
At the first victory of the White Horse, Cao Cao moved the local people and retreated west along the Yellow River. Yuan Shao then sent the general Wen Ug across the Yellow River and set out from Yanjin South to pursue Cao Jun. At this time, Cao Cao only had five or six hundred horsemen, and Yuan's army had five or six thousand men on light horses alone, plus a large number of infantry. Cao Cao abandoned Yuan Zhong on both sides of the road in order to lure Yuan Jun. The pursuing Yuan army was indeed successful, the sergeants dismounted one after another to rob the property, Cao Cao saw the situation, and immediately organized a counterattack, the Yuan army was defeated again, and Wen Ugly was also killed in the battle. The Yuan army was defeated one after another, and morale was low.
In July, Yuan Shao advanced to Occupy Yangwu (present-day Zhongmubei, Henan), and Yuan and Cao's armies entered a stalemate, and Liyang became Yuan Shao's strategic rear. Three months later, Cao Cao raided Wuchao, and a fire in early winter burned yuan shao's army's army's grain and also burned yuan's fighting spirit. Zhang Gao and Gao Lan led some of the Yuan army to surrender to Cao, and more than 70,000 Yuan troops were killed or killed in battle, and Yuan Shao and Yuan Tan only took 800 light horses and ran back to Liyang.
Above_Yuan Shao(?) –202), the beginning of the character
Chen Shou commented that Yuan Shao was "wide on the outside and jealous on the inside, and there was no decision in the plot", but yuan Shao attacked Cao in the south and chose Jiang Yiqu to stay in Liyang, which was a wise move. According to the Book of Later Han, after the defeat of guandu, Yuan Shao retired to Liyang. Jiang Yiqu did not beat the falling water dog, but welcomed Yuan Shao into the big tent, showing his die-hard loyalty. Yuan Shao was very touched by this, and took his hand and said, "Alone with the leader to pay each other!" Only then did Yuan Shao find a sense of security. Jiang Yiqu was ordered to gather the defeated troops, and The Yuan army regained its prestige. This period of history is also vividly described in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which is basically consistent with historical facts.
Although Yuan Shao defeated Guandu, the four prefectures of Hebei were still intact. The eldest son, Yuan Tan, was the Assassin of Qingzhou, the second son, Yuan Xi, was the Assassin of Youzhou, the third son, Yuan Shang, was the Pastor of Jizhou, and the nephew Gao Gan was the Assassin of Hezhou. Although Yuan Tan was the eldest son, Yuan Shao favored Yuan Tan. In order to support Yuan Shang, Yuan Shao passed Yuan Tan over to his dead brother. Yuan Shao's move also showed to eliminate the discord between the two men, but instead prompted the two sides to form gangs and factions, openly fighting and secretly fighting. In the seventh year of Jian'an (202 AD), Yuan Shao died of grief. Before his death, there was no heir, Yuan Shang inherited his father's throne at Yicheng (邺城, in present-day southwest of Linzhang, Hebei), and Yuan Tan, with a grudge in his heart, declared himself a general and stationed himself in Liyang.
Cao Cao (155–220)
In September, Cao Cao crossed the Yellow River north and besieged Liyang, where Yuan Tan was stationed. Yuan Tan had few soldiers and a single wooden branch, and asked Yuan Shang for help. Yuan Shang understood the truth of the cold lips and teeth, and was afraid that Yuan Tan would seize the military power and take advantage of the opportunity to sit on the throne, so he stayed in the trial and guarded the city of Yicheng, and personally led the army to aid Liyang. Cao Cao attacked Liyang, and Eryuan was defeated in a row. Faced with an opponent that even the father could not beat, the two descendants were frustrated.
In February of the seventh year of Jian'an (202 AD), Yuan Cao's two armies fought a decisive battle under Liyang City, but Yuan's army was still defeated, and Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang were defeated and took Yecheng. Cao's army was like a bamboo, chasing and crushing, until it stopped under The city of Yicheng. Yicheng was the base camp of the Yuan Group, and after years of operation, the city had a thick wall, and cao jun could not conquer it for a while. At this time, Guo Jia offered a plan to Cao Cao: "If you are in a hurry, you will hold on to each other, and then you will fight for your heart." Cao Cao was convinced, so he cut off the wheat around Yecheng, withdrew the siege, and waited for the Eryuan brothers to build the wall. Cao Cao strategically retreated, sent his general Jia Xin to garrison Liyang, and controlled the Yellow River crossing, creating good conditions for the next step of attacking the Yuan clique.
Above_ Cao Cao purged the remnants of yuan's forces in the north and conquered Wuhuan in the north
In the twelfth year of Jian'an (207), Gongsun Kang of Liaodong beheaded Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi, who had come to defect, and the Yuan clique completely withdrew from the stage of history. Cao Cao's strategic focus shifted to Liu Biao of Jingzhou and Sun Quan of Jiangdong. Li Yang lost its original strategic value, re-entered the dusty history, and waited for the next era of heroes.
In the first year of Han Yankang (220 AD), Cao Pi passed through Liyang and wrote the poem "Three Poems of Liyang", which described the scenes of muddy roads, difficult trekking, and difficult marching. The second poem, the day of praise of the king's husband: "If you write it with a sound, this prince is not allowed to be a poet." "It can be seen that the evaluation is very high.
Liyang, as the starting and ending point of the Battle of Guandu, witnessed the decline of the Yuan clique and the strong rise of Cao Cao. As Cao Pi sang in "Li Yang Zuo", "Remembering The Virtue of Taiwang, Xu Yu knows enough Zang." After experiencing Long Live Lin, travel to Liyang. After Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao, he became the most powerful tyrant in the late Han Dynasty, changing the political pattern at that time and laying the foundation of the Wei state.
Text: Count white as black
References: Book of the Later Han Dynasty, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Romance of the Three Kingdoms
The text was created by the History University Hall team, and the picture originated from the Internet and the copyright belongs to the original author