In 234 AD, Zhuge Liang led 100,000 Shu generals to begin the fifth wei of his life, when he was 53 years old. After the failure of the first four Northern Expeditions, this time he used most of the Shu state's troops to garrison Wuzhangyuan. Unfortunately, the war situation did not develop as Zhuge Liang expected, and in the end Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi held each other in Wuzhangyuan for 5 months, not only did not have any results, but led to Zhuge Liang's own illness and death on the front line.
In terms of national strength, the Shu state was far inferior to Cao Wei, and the challenge of the weak side to the strong side was a very difficult thing in itself. Coupled with the long war of attrition, it was even more difficult for Shu Han. At that time, the State of Wei occupied yong, liang, qing, Xu, You, Ji, Yu, Yan, Sishi prefectures, as well as part of Jingzhou and Yangzhou, with a population of 4.43 million and an army of 300,000. According to statistics, the population of the late Shu Han Dynasty was only 940,000, and the army was 100,000. At this point, the military strength of the Shu Han was much inferior. Moreover, Cao Wei has paid attention to the development of production for many years, farming and accumulating grain, and using abundant resources. Coupled with the defense of the Yongliang region, sima Yi personally commanded, and the number of troops was 100,000. Therefore, in the case that Cao Wei was inferior to Cao Wei in land, population, economy, military and other aspects, Zhuge Liang wanted to go deep into Wei to fight it head-on, which was completely unequal.
Why did Zhuge Liang enter Wuzhangyuan? In fact, Zhuge Liang set up his base camp in Wuzhangyuan, not to make a random decision with his head, but to have his strategic plan. Its strategic intention was to occupy Longxi first. After much deliberation, Zhuge Liang believed that he "crossed the Wei Andenyuan, joined the army on the North Mountain, and isolated the Long Dao." Crossing the Wei river from the north of Wuzhangyuan and directly into the Guanlong area, it can directly threaten Cao Wei's right. From this point of view, Zhuge Liang's strategic plan is still very stable, which is also in line with his consistent and steady character. Because the area around Wuzhangyuan was close to the north mouth of the Xie valley, the terrain of the Qinling Mountains was dangerous, and it was possible to ensure that the rear road of the Shu army would not be cut off by the Wei army. In Zhuge Liang's view, only by ensuring the safety of the rear can the Shu army wholeheartedly deal with the enemy army.
Why does Zhuge Liang's strategy not work? Although the terrain around Gojohara was dangerous, it could prevent enemy attacks from the rear. But at the same time, the drawbacks are also obvious, that is, it is very unfavorable to large-scale operations. If Sima Yi adopted a strategy of sticking to the wall, Zhuge Liang's calculations would probably fail. This is why when Sima Yi learned that Zhuge Liang's army was out of the Valley of Slope, he would say to his subordinates: "If you are brave, when you are a martial artist, follow the mountain to the east, and if you go west to Wuzhangyuan, then the armies will have no worries." This is enough to reflect Sima Yi's extraordinary military talent and the sharpness of his vision. The reason why Sima Yi thought that as long as Zhuge Liang went west to Wuzhangyuan, he could sit back and relax. This is because the Area around Wuzhangyuan is held hostage by the Weishui and Wugong waters, and the river bank is too high, and it is inconvenient to attack from any direction, and it is even more impossible to attack the Wei army quickly, and if you want to win victory in battle, flexible mobility is an indispensable guarantee.
The combat advantage of the Shu army is flexible and lightweight, and if the traditional offensive battle is adopted, this is obviously the weakness of the Shu army. Looking at the previous battle in which the Shu army attacked Chen Cang, you can see that the Shu army invested a large number of troops, but in the end it was a waste of troops and food without any progress. Therefore, when Zhuge Liang found that the strategy he had formulated did not work, he had to constantly challenge Sima Yi. And Sima Yi had said long before Zhuge Liang entered Wuzhangyuan, "If (Zhuge Liang) goes west to Wuzhangyuan, then the armies will have no worries." In this way, it means that he has already had a countermeasure. Therefore, when Zhuge Liang constantly provoked, Sima Yi could not insist on it, that is, zhuge liang should not be consumed in battle. As a result, Zhuge Liang had no way and nothing to do, and eventually became depressed and died in Wuzhangyuan!
Where is Gojohara now? And where is the original location of Zhuge Liang's death? This place is located in the town of Caijiapo in Qishan County, Baoji City, Shaanxi Province, and is part of the Loess Plateau in the northern foothills of the Qinling Mountains. It is about 260 miles from Xi'an and 112 miles from Baoji City. The area is about 4 km long from north to south and about 1.8 km wide from east to west. Bordered by the Qinling Mountains in the south and Weishui in the north, the situation is dangerous. In the case of the disparity in strength between the Shu and Wei states, Zhuge Liang's defeat was accidental and inevitable, the general trend of the unification of the world is not reversible by manpower, even if he has great talent through the heavens and the earth, he cannot resist the trend of historical development, and can only leave endless regrets and sighs! Just as Du Fu lamented in his poem "Shu Xiang": "Death before the master is successful, and the hero is full of tears."