At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the royal family declined and the king had no way, resulting in great chaos in the world. After the outbreak of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, princes from all over the country stood on their own, thus opening the prelude to a struggle for hegemony among the princes. In the perennial war career, many far-sighted tyrants have formed their own ace troops, such as the white horse Yicong under Gongsun Zhan and the tiger and leopard riding trained by Cao Cao. Such elite divisions range from a few hundred to as many as three or five thousand, but they can repeatedly achieve amazing results and be praised by the world.
Liu Bei, the lord of Shu, rose to prominence in Yizhou and was worthy of the title of Xiongcai. Therefore, even if the national strength of the Shu state was weakened, they did not waste the cultivation of special forces. Before Liu Bei's death, there were "White Soldiers" known as western soldiers.
After Liu Bei's death, Shu Xiang Zhuge Liang also painted a gourd and personally formed a strong brigade called the Wudang Flying Army. Don't look at this army, most of which is composed of barbarians, but they have used their achievements to show that they are the first strong force in the Shu kingdom. In a series of wars in the late Shu Kingdom, the Wudang Flying Army was extremely successful and supported half of the Shu army.
At the height of the Shu state, he defeated Cao Wei and took the land of Hanzhong with a single blow. However, Sheng Ji was bound to decline, first Guan Yu was defeated at the hands of Eastern Wu and lost the three counties of Jingzhou; secondly, Liu Bei was defeated in the Battle of Yiling, and the national strength of the Shu state weakened. What worried Zhuge Liang even more was that these two battles caused a large number of elites of the Shu state to be damaged. Liu Bei's elite army that he had formed in Jingzhou in the past was also very little.
The roof leaked during the overnight rain. Not long after Liu Bei's death, the Shu sergeant clan colluded with Nan Man again, waiting for an opportunity to rebel. Zhuge Liang was well aware of the strength of the Shu state, and spent two years training the army, which led the army to go deep into the barren land and suppress the Southern Barbarian tribes.
In the course of this battle, Zhuge Liang adopted the advice of Joining the Army, attacked the heart, and used the means of enwei to subdue the major tribes in southern China. What was amazing was that in the face of the brave and fierce barbarians, Zhuge Liang integrated them and formed a unit called the Wudang Flying Army.
This army is equivalent to the sons and daughters of the South Central region, and their military expenses should also be paid by the tribes in south and central China. In this way, Zhuge Liang did not spend half a point of strength, and let the family in various parts of Shuzhong honestly settle down. Similarly, this move also solved the hidden dangers of the southern central region for many years, and also gave the Shu kingdom a brave and unstoppable force from then on.
After the establishment of the Wudang Flying Army, it was mainly used by Zhuge Liang and his successors in two aspects. One was to suppress rebellions on the borders of the Shu state. According to the "Huayang Guozhi", "Liang Yi yi is more fierce, not the surname of Hao Qiang, but orders the golden veil, hires the evil Yi as the family part, and many luan hereditary officials." Therefore, the Yi people coveted goods, and they belonged to the Han in order to obey and become the Yi Han clan. ”
The Nanzhong tribe is relatively backward and extremely scarce in various materials, so they are most easily impressed by the wealth. Zhuge Liang attracted many barbarians with heavy gold. "Ruling yi yi" was the task of the Wudang Flying Army at the beginning of its establishment. Therefore, this army was mostly Qingqiang soldiers, who could march quickly among the mountains and forests, thus providing the necessary armed support for Ma Zhong and Zhang Ling to pacify the frontier later. According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, in the third year of Yanxi (240 AD), the tribes near Hanjia launched a rebellion, suppressed the favored soldiers, and unfortunately died in battle. It was only when the flying army moved that the rebellion was put down.
The second is to cooperate in defending the rear and doing the most dangerous post-break work. According to scattered historical records, the Wudang Flying Army was clad in iron armor, good at using bows and arrows, and its defensive ability even exceeded its offensive ability. In the ninth year of Shu Jianxing (231 AD), Zhuge Liang launched the Fourth Northern Expedition, ordered Wang Ping to lead his troops to besiege the south, and designed to besiege Sima Yi at Qishan, while Sima Yi ordered Zhang Gao to lead 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers and horses to attack Wang Ping's lone army.
Wang Ping was the first leader of the Wudang Flying Army. He was cautious but brave and decisive in his life, quite a general, and the Flying Army was also famous during his tenure. After this battle began, although there were only three thousand soldiers and horses in the Wudang Flying Army, they were all brave and brave, and they were not afraid of life and death. Against Zhang Gao's tens of thousands of strong troops, they stubbornly resisted, repeatedly repelled the opponent's attacks, and successfully persisted until Zhuge Liang conquered Sima Yi's camp. After that, the Wudang Flying Army launched a counterattack against the opponent and achieved impressive results. After the news reached the Wei army, all the generals were horrified, and after that, they heard no longer the name of the flying army, and the momentum was inferior by three points.
Of course, the job of the Wudang Flying Army is still the most insistent in the rear of the army. Once the army retreated, they also had to bear the dangerous task of breaking off. During Zhuge Liang's First Northern Expedition, Ma Mo was responsible for guarding the main streets and pavilions, and Wang Ping led the Wudang Flying Army to respond to it. Ma Mo has a high self-esteem, and Ping Bai will give up the danger, and eventually lose the street kiosk. Fortunately, after Wang Ping led the Wudang Flying Army, the Shu army would not be completely destroyed. After the Battle of Jieting, Ma Mo and many other generals were convicted, and only Wang Ping received Zhuge Liang's praise and weight for his defensive merits.
In the late Shu Han Dynasty, the Wei general Cao Shuang led a large army to attack Shudi. Wang Ping, who was guarding Hanzhong, led three thousand Wudang flying troops to hold their positions, and finally repelled Cao Shuang's attack, leaving Cao Shuang fruitless. After the war, Wang Ping was promoted to the rank of General of Zhenbei.
The final outcome of the Wudang Flying Army was very spectacular, and it was killed along with its last commander, Zhang Ling. This happened during Jiang Wei's Eighth Northern Expedition, in order to cover the retreat of the commander, Zhang Ling, who was already seriously ill, did not retreat and led 5,000 Wudang Flying Army to resist tens of thousands of elites of the enemy army.
The battle was so fierce that the Fei Army and commander Zhang Ling were completely annihilated. And they killed several times more enemies than their own. When the news reached Chengdu, the later lord Liu Chan also wept over it, lamenting the loyalty and tragedy of the Wudang Flying Army.
Reference books: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Chronicle of the State of Huayang