Text: Glen (author's original authorization)
Ma Mo was defeated by the Wei general Zhang Guo at the street pavilion, and the strategic initiative of the Shu army was completely lost. In order to avoid greater losses, Zhuge Liang had to collect remnants of soldiers and return to Hanzhong. In this way, the first Northern Expedition, which was the best in the situation, failed. Zhuge Liang depreciated himself to the right general, as for the ending of Ma Mo, there are many versions, the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is said to be Zhuge Liang", in addition to being killed after going to prison, died in prison and many other theories.
Should Matthew be killed? This issue has always been highly controversial. Professor Yi Zhongtian believes that Ma Mo can be killed, but not killed. In any case, Ma Mo's death was indeed a great loss and a great tragedy for Shu Han, but if he said that he was alive and cutting Wei, Zhuge Liang would not be tired and die of exhaustion, which was a bit of a surprise. As for Ma Mo's death, "at the time of his death, "a hundred thousand people wept for it" is found in the "Xiangyang Chronicle", but the entire army of the Shu state was only 100,000, and the losses were heavy during the first cutting of Wei, the soldiers were certainly less than 100,000, and the total population of the Shu state was not more than one million. Does the 100,000 "drooling" equivalent to the entire army or one-tenth of the country's total population crying at him stand up to scrutiny? It's not hard to come to conclusions when you think about it. But one thing is certain, Zhuge Liang will never be willing to accept this defeat, he "encouraged the army to preach martial arts, set up a siege and water crossing instrument, amassed grain and grass, and prepared a raft" in Hanzhong, waiting for the next opportunity. Sure enough, half a year later, he thought the opportunity came.
Originally, Cao Xiu had fallen into The Hands of Zhou Que and suffered heavy losses, and Zhuge Liang believed that from the outside, Cao Xiu's army was defeated, the Wei army was gathered in the southeast, and Guanzhong was weak (Sima Xuanwang ruled the water army in Jingzhou, wanted to follow the River to cut down Wu, and zhaoguo oversaw the guanzhong armies to be tempered); from the inside, he believed that "the soldiers were concise, the people forgot their defeat, and the Shu army gradually recovered." Therefore, Zhuge Liang immediately went to the "Later Division Table" and once again raised troops in the Northern Expedition. Whether the "Table of Later Masters" was really written by Zhuge Liang is very controversial in the historical circles, but Zhuge Liang's northern expedition again is a very certain thing. In December 228, only half a year after the defeat of the First Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang, the Right General, led a large army through Dashanguan (大散關, 50 miles southwest of present-day Baoji, Shaanxi Province), into the Guanzhong Plain, and besieged Chen Cang.
However, Zhuge Liang's route of sending troops was expected by Cao Wei at the beginning. In the ninety-sixth episode of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the Wei lord Cao Rui and Sima Yi have a dialogue:
"If the Shu soldiers come back to Kou, why should they?" ”
Yi Yue: "The minister has calculated that Zhuge Liang will follow Han Xin's plan to darken Chen Cang." The subject raised a man to the Chen Cang Pass, built a city to guard the imperial palace, and there was no mistake..."
In fact, it was expected that Zhuge Liang would send troops to Chen Cang to the general Cao Zhen instead of Sima Yi, and he left Hao Zhao to step up the repair of combat equipment and wait for him. So, why did Cao Zhen expect that Zhuge Liang would take this road? Did he really have the power of an uncertain prophet?
We know that the Hanzhong Valley, the base of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition, and the Guanzhong Plain controlled by Cao Wei are separated by the high and dangerous Qinling Mountains, which have become an important barrier between the north and the south. There are four channels for travel, which we briefly introduced before, and then talk about these four channels in a little detail. As shown in the following figure:
Sanguan - The western end of the Qinling Mountains and the boundary between Longshan mountain are the upper reaches of the Jialing River, which is one of the most important passages for north-south travel in the western Qinling Mountains. The Sanguan (also known as the Great Scattered Pass) is the northern end of this passage when the road stands in danger. It is the throat of Guanzhong and Hanzhong Bashu, whether you want to go north or south, occupying Sanguan is a must. The exit of The Scattered Customs is the ChenCang Area.
Chute - The Chute Is mainly along the ChuShui and Diagonal River Valleys. The river valley is deep and dangerous, the cliffs are standing, and the passage is not easy. Therefore, in the past dynasties, when Zhao Yun retreated from the first Northern Expedition, in order to prevent Cao Zhen's pursuit, he burned a section of the Chiya Trail, which could not be repaired in a short time, so the probability of Zhuge Liang coming out of this road was extremely small.
Luo Luo Road - one of the sections of the main peak of the Qinling Mountains, winding mountain road twists and turns for more than 80 miles, a total of 84 plates, the march is not easy, easy to block. The valley road is 420 miles long, and it is difficult to pass through, which is not conducive to the passage of heavy grain and grass by the army.
Meridian Road - located at the easternmost end of the Qinling Mountains, the valley road is 660 miles long, because the Qinling Mountains are steep, the road is tortuous and roundabout, deep and dangerous, which is extremely unfavorable to the operation of large-scale manpower and material resources.
Comparing the four passages, only the scattered passes are most likely to pass through the army, and the other three valley roads may be used for surprise soldiers. In history, when the north and south are competing for the wind, most of them take the scattered passes as the key point.
Let's look at the comparison of the strength of the two sides: the First Northern Expedition Shu army was about 100,000, and the troops of the Northern Expedition that failed suffered great losses, and the specific number of troops lost, historians have different views. After Zhuge Liang returned to Hanzhong, "reducing the number of troops and generals, thinking about the punishment of Ming", it should be that the army was streamlined. Therefore, although the speech is exaggerated as "300,000 elite soldiers", it is estimated that the number of troops that can be gathered is at most about 50,000. On the Wei side, Hao Zhao's troops in Chen Cangcheng were only more than 1,000, and the reinforcements of Fei Yao and Wang Shuang were estimated to be about 3,000. In total, the total number of troops participating in the Battle of Wei Fang in this battle was more than 4,000. It can be said that in terms of the comparison of troop strength, Shu Han occupied an overwhelming advantage. But how was this battle fought? The Zizhi Tongjian has the following records:
"Liang thought that there were tens of thousands of people, and the Zhao soldiers were only more than a thousand people, and they failed to arrive in the east to save them, but they attacked Zhao, and they rushed up the ladder to the city. Zhao then fired a rocket at his ladder, and the ladder ran (through "burning"), and everyone on the ladder burned to death; Zhao then used a rope and stone to grind his punching car and break the car. Ryo is more well-lit to shoot the city, fills the moat with earthen pills, wants to climb the castle directly, and Akira builds a heavy wall inside. Liang was suddenly out of the city, and Zhao crossed the ground in the city. After attacking day and night for more than twenty days, Cao Zhen sent the general Fei Yao and others to save him. ”
Zhuge Liang attacked Chen Cang, who had only a thousand men, with the absolute superiority of tens of thousands of troops, and used all the methods he could think of to attack continuously for more than twenty days, but he was always helpless in front of a small city. How to view Zhuge Liang's dispatch this time?
Some people think that Zhuge Liang sent troops to attract Wei jun and reduce the pressure on Eastern Wu, which is a bit funny. Although the two countries of Shu and Wu were superficially allied, they were always calculating for their own interests, and it was ridiculous that Zhuge Liang would pay such a great price in order to alleviate the pressure of "allies". Some people also believe that fighting Chen Cang is actually a siege training of Zhuge Liang, a fire reconnaissance of Cao Wei's reaction speed, and Zhuge Liang wants to test Cao Wei's rescue speed. We know that a serious problem in the Shu army's attack on Wei is that logistical support is very difficult, tens of thousands of troops are dispatched, huge manpower, material and financial resources are spent, and heavy casualties are paid, just to "fire reconnaissance" and "test the rescue speed of Cao Wei"? It was like a child's play. Doesn't Zhuge Liang understand the truth that "soldiers are also the great affairs of the country"?
Zhuge Liang's real purpose in this battle was undoubtedly to take advantage of the fact that when the Wei army moved east and the troops in Guanzhong were weak, the Wei army could not quickly organize a powerful rescue army after the new defeat, seize the important city of ChenCang, and then use it as a stronghold to attack Chang'an and eventually seize the entire Guanzhong. The minimum standard is also to annex several cities in Guanzhong, hoping to make up for the losses of the First Northern Expedition. However, under the leadership of Hao Zhao, the Wei army defended Chen Cang extremely well, so that the Shu army in this campaign was fruitless, and only beheaded Wang Shuang, which was more than worth the loss. This battle fully proved that the Shu army was not good at attacking the city at all. In fact, during the first Northern Expedition, the Shu army also had an absolute superiority in strength, and the war was launched suddenly, but the Shu army's siege of Longyou achieved little success, which also showed the inferiority of the Shu army's low ability to attack the stronghold.
So, Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition again, what was the attitude of the other ministers? Both the Zizhi Tongjian and the Romance of the Three Kingdoms clearly record the opposing attitude of the Shu Han courtiers. The Zizhi Tongjian records that: "... Wanting to send troops to attack Wei, the group of ministers was suspicious. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms says that "the courtiers should not move lightly if they talk much." Unfortunately, Zhuge Liang did not listen to it, strategically blindly moved, and in the specific battle, he attacked the enemy when he was extremely weak, consuming a large amount of strategic materials, paying heavy casualties to attack the city, and finally finding nothing.
Perhaps we have these doubts: when the Chu and Han dynasties fought, Han Xin's "Ming Xiu Zhan Dao, Darkness Chen Cang" was a great success, while Zhuge Liang's "Dark Chen Cang" became "Brightness", and the defeat was unbearable. Although Han Xin's secret Chen Cang was risky, the Han army was facing princes who often fought for their own interests, and the overlord Xiang Yu had no brains, and he could fish in the water. Moreover, at that time, the Central Plains were constantly at war, but Liu Bang was recuperating. Zhuge Liang was different, he was facing the powerful and unified Cao Wei, the Shu Han war for many years, the national strength was weak, de sichuan had to overcome the complex terrain, the army was tired, the combat effectiveness was low, the morale was low, and it was not very surprising that he could not attack Chen Cang, which had only a thousand people.