The story of the Three Kingdoms War in this issue is found in the ninety-second episode of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which takes place during the Battle of Fengmingshan, and the relevant characters are Xiahou Shu, Cheng Wu, Zhao Yun, and Deng Zhi. The synopsis is as follows:
After Han De's defeat, he returned to the Cao Wei military camp. Xiahou Shu took Han De to fight again, and as a result, Han De was stabbed to death by Zhao Yun, and Xiahou Shu lost his troops and had to retreat more than ten miles to the village. After this battle, Xiahou Shu consulted with his subordinates on countermeasures, and Cheng Wu, who joined the army, believed that Zhao Yun had courage and strategy, and as long as he was properly deployed, he would be able to turn defeat into victory. Cheng Wu proposed a strategy to lure the enemy deeper, which was adopted by Xiahou Shu. Xiahou Shu followed the plan and made pre-war arrangements.
The next day, Xiahou Shu once again led his troops into battle, sending eight generals to engage Zhao Yun and retreat. Zhao Yun was careless for a moment, and led his troops to pursue closely, entering the encirclement circle of the Cao Army. Tens of thousands of horses of the Cao army surrounded Zhao Yun, and Zhao Yun rushed left and right, still unable to break out of the siege.
Deng Zhi, who was in the rear, found zhao yun trapped and led his troops to rescue him, but was violently blocked by Cao Jun. Deng Zhi was too weak to break through the blockade of the Cao army. At this time, Zhao Yun's situation became more and more critical, and most of his troops were damaged, leaving only more than a thousand people. After several hours of fierce fighting, Zhao Yun was exhausted, and just ready to unload his armor and rest for a while, the Cao army launched a new round of offensive. Zhao Yun not only looked up at the sky and sighed, "I didn't obey the old man, I died here!" ”
At the critical moment, Zhang Bao led his troops into the siege and met Zhao Yun. Zhang Bao told Zhao Yun that Zhuge Liang was afraid that Zhao Yun would lose and sent himself and Guan Xing to meet him. Not long after, Guan Xing also led his troops to kill, and the three of them joined forces to defeat Cao Jun and pursue Xiahou Shu. Xiahou Shu was defeated and fled to Nan'an Commandery. Zhao Yun, Guan Xing, zhang Bao, and others surrounded Nan'an County and launched an attack for ten consecutive days. Eventually, Nan'an County also fell into the hands of Zhuge Liang.
The author mentioned in the previous article that although the historical Zhao Yun participated in the battle of "One Out of Qishan", he was only a partial division, and the combat site was in Xiegu Road, not the Qishan mountain mentioned in the novel. Xiahou Shu was transferred back to the Central Plains by the Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui at the beginning of the "Qishan". Therefore, the battle described in the novel is only a fiction of the author, not a historical reality.
As for the two people mentioned in the novel, Guan Xing and Zhang Bao, although they are also real historical figures, they did not appear on the battlefield of the Northern Expedition. The plot of the two men who killed the enemy on the battlefield of the Northern Expedition and made meritorious contributions that appeared many times in the novel are also the author's fiction.
It is also mentioned in the novel that when Xiahou Shu was defeated by Zhao Yun and Zhang Bao, he fled to Nan'an County, and was immediately besieged by the Shu army. Under nan'an city, the two sides once again fought with wits and courage, and finally Zhuge Liang captured the county. In real history, the situation in Nam An County is very simple. According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, before the "Qishan" began, Zhuge Liang had already sent people to contact the officials of the county and obtain support. After the battle began, the county officials not only actively responded to the Northern Expeditionary Army, but also successfully persuaded Nan'an Taishou to submit to Zhuge Liang.
Whether from the novel or historical data, after Zhuge Liang "came out of qishan", the situation in the northwest of Cao Wei fell into chaos, and the counties of Nan'an, Tianshui, and Anding were lost. So, what exactly caused Zhuge Liang to progress so smoothly in the early days of the war? Judging from the historical records, there are two main reasons. The first is that Cao Wei is ill-prepared. Since Zhuge Liang came to power, the Shu army had never clashed with Cao Wei in the northwest, which made Cao Wei send a vigilance. At the same time, Cao Wei believed that the Shu Han state was weak and had no ability to launch an attack at all, and was paralyzed.
Another reason is related to Cao Wei's state policy at that time. How to deal with the two empires of Shu Han and Eastern Wu, there was a debate within Cao Wei. Eventually, sun zi's opinion became the national policy of the Cao Wei Empire. According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms? Liu Fang's biography quoted in the "Biography of Sun Zibie" shows that Sun Zi proposed that the northwest region is vast and it is impossible to send heavy troops in all regions. Therefore, using elite troops to defend Chang'an and Shangyi strategically is the most effective countermeasure. Once war broke out, while defending the strategic points, powerful cavalry were sent to reinforce them in order to achieve the purpose of encircling and annihilating them.
Judging from the process and results of Zhuge Liang's several Northern Expeditions, this strategy proposed by Sun Zi played a miraculous role. Although in the early stages of the war, Zhuge Liang often made smooth progress and occupied some areas, but often encountered obstacles in capturing strategic points in the northwest of Cao Wei, and the war situation was followed by a stalemate situation. With the participation of the cavalry of the Cao Army, Zhuge Liang had problems in both the number of troops and the supply of grain and grass, which became the most important reason why Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition was difficult to succeed.
Reference Books: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Romance of the Three Kingdoms