The story of the Three Kingdoms War in this issue is found in the 103rd episode of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which takes place during the Battle of Huainan, and the relevant characters are Lu Xun, Zhuge Jin, and Man Yu. The synopsis is as follows:
Zhuge Liang used the unique design of the wooden cow and the flowing horse to lead the Cao army into his own encirclement. After some fighting, Guo Huai was defeated and fled in a hurry. Sima Yi, who came to reinforcements, was also ambushed by the Northern Expeditionary Army and suffered heavy casualties. Sima Yi was chased and killed by Liao Hua, so he had to throw down his golden helmet and get out. After this battle, Sima Yi received a holy decree from the Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui, saying that Sun Quan had gathered a large army and invaded the southeastern region of Cao Wei in three ways. Cao Rui ordered Sima Yi to stick to the camp and not to fight.
On the southeastern front, The Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui ordered Liu Shao to lead troops to support Jiangxia, Tian Yu to rescue Xiangyang, and himself to reinforce Hefei with his full favor. When Man Yu came to the mouth of Chaohu Lake, he found that Eastern Wu's warships appeared on the opposite bank, and proposed to sneak into the Wu army's water village overnight, which was adopted by Cao Rui. After that, Man Yu led an army to attack, burning a large number of Wu warships, grain and grass, and equipment. Zhuge Jin's army was defeated, and Cao Jun returned with a great victory.
The next day, the Eastern Wu commander Lu Xun decided to petition Sun Quan to withdraw his forces besieging Xincheng and cut off the Cao army's retreat. Who knew that the messenger sent by Lu Xun was captured by Cao Jun, and Cao Rui ordered Liu Shao to pay close attention to the actions of wu jun to prevent the rear road from being cut off.
At the same time, Zhuge Jin, who had just been defeated, sent a letter to Lu Xun to withdraw his troops and return to Eastern Wu. Lu Xun told Zhuge Jin that he had a strategy to stabilize the war. Zhuge Jin was very confused about Lu Xun's reply and personally came to Lu Xun's camp. Lu Xun told Zhuge Jin that the messenger he had sent had been captured by the Cao army, and the original tactical plan could not be implemented, and the army could only be withdrawn. However, if the army is withdrawn in a hurry, it will inevitably be pursued and killed by the Cao army, so it has to put on a posture of continuing to fight and quietly retreat. After that, Lu Xun withdrew his troops according to the established plan, and Cao Junzhong suggested a pursuit, but Cao Rui refused. At this point, the Northern Expedition of Eastern Wu was fruitless.
The author mentioned in the previous article that when Zhuge Liang decided to deploy the main force in the Wuzhangyuan area, he lost the initiative in the war, and Sima Yi was able to calmly deploy his troops, trapping Zhuge Liang in the Wuzhangyuan area and unable to move. Although there were several battles since then, Sima Yi tried his best to ensure that his position was not lost. Therefore, the story of Sima Yi being hunted down and killed by Liao Hua that appears in the novel naturally does not occur in real history.
The Northern Expedition led by Sun Quan in the novel is indeed a historical fact, and it is indeed launched by Sun Quan in response to Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition. This battle was also a large-scale contest between Eastern Wu and Cao Wei. In this contest, Emperor Ming of Wei recruited three famous generals of the middle period of Cao Wei, Namely, Man Yu, Wang Ling, and Tian Yu, into the Huainan battlefield, and Sun Quan, commanded by Lu Xun, launched an attack on the southern region of Cao Wei with nearly 100,000 troops. Among the many generals who participated in the war in Eastern Wu, there was a special person, who was Zhuge Liang's brother Zhuge Jin, who was then the general of Eastern Wu. So, what were the results of Zhuge Jin's Northern Expedition?
According to the relevant biography of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, after the battle began, Zhuge Jintun's army was in the area of Chukou, and the main direction of attack was Xiangyang, a major town of Cao Wei. Shortly after the beginning of the war, Cao Rui personally marched and led an army to reinforce Hefei New City. After hearing the news, Sun Quan not only immediately withdrew his troops from Hefei New City, but also ordered Sun Shao and Zhang Chengbu on the East Road to withdraw from the battlefield. In this way, Zhuge Jin on the Xiangyang front fell into a situation of isolation and helplessness.
After learning the news of the retreat of the two major armies, Lu Xun immediately sent Han Bian to send a letter to Zhuge Jin, hoping that Zhuge Jin would make emergency preparations in advance. Who knew that Han Bian was captured by Cao Jun on the way home. When Zhuge Jin heard this news, he panicked and immediately proposed the retreat of the whole army. However, Lu Xun did not take Zhuge Jin's advice, and Zhuge Jin rushed to Lu Xun's camp impatiently and again demanded the withdrawal of the army. Lu Xun told Zhuge Jin that a hasty withdrawal would inevitably be pursued by the Cao army, and there was a danger that the entire army would be destroyed. As long as the advance to Xiangyang was continued according to the original plan, the Cao army could be confused and the purpose of safe retreat could finally be achieved.
Lu Xun's words finally brought Zhuge Jin's mood back to normal. After that, Zhuge Jin led his troops to Xiangyang in accordance with Lu Xun's deployment. This move really confused the Cao army, and the Cao army shrank in all directions and retreated to Xiangyang to prepare for defense. Seeing that the time had come, Lu Xun resolutely ordered an attack on Jiangxia, Xinshi, Anlu, Shiyang and other places, annihilating more than a thousand Cao troops in one fell swoop, and then led his troops to board the ship with a big swing, and the whole army withdrew from the battlefield. At this time, the Cao army did not know Lu Xun's intentions and did not dare to launch a pursuit, so the Wu army withdrew to Jiangdong safely.
Compared with his younger brother Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Jin's military ability was obviously more clumsy. Although his younger brother Zhuge Liang worked hard and failed, he defeated his opponents many times. His brother Zhuge Jin had not yet engaged the enemy and was already panicked. If it were not for Lu Xun's timely plan to stop Zhuge Jin's withdrawal, Zhuge Jin's army would not have been able to escape the end of the total annihilation of the army.
Reference Books: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Romance of the Three Kingdoms