In the later period, Zhuge Liang devoted himself to the cause of the Northern Expedition to Cao Wei. In the novel, it is said that Zhuge Liang was six out of Qishan, but in fact, Zhuge Liang personally went north only five times and attacked Qishan only twice. From the sixth year of Jianxing in the Shu Han Dynasty to the twelfth year of Jianxing (that is, from 228 to 234 AD), five Northern Expeditions were carried out in six years, which is not a high frequency. However, in fact, the motives and meanings of the five Northern Expeditions were different. The effect is also different. The following small editor will talk about the motivation and significance of Zhuge Liang's five Northern Expeditions and which one is closer to success.
The ultimate goal of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition
Zhuge Liang's ultimate goal was, of course, to fulfill Liu Bei's last wishes, kuang fu Han room, no matter how bad it was, he had to fight to Chang'an, and returned to the old capital, and the land of the middle also had some advantages in facing Cao Wei. The strategy of "Longzhong Pair" proposed to Liu Bei is also to take all the way to Guanzhong and take Heluo all the way, which can be said to be the most perfect idea. However, the idea is beautiful, and the reality is very bone. Since Guan Yu lost Jingzhou, "Longzhong Pair" has also been finished.
In fact, after losing Jingzhou, Shu Han was still able to attack Xiangyang from Hanzhong to the east through the so-called "Three Eastern Counties" before the Northern Expedition from Xiangyang. Jiang Huan had planned to do so, but in all fairness, this northern expedition plan was too idealistic, not to mention whether it could successfully take Xiangyang, even if xiangyang was really achieved, it was also necessary to guard against the military threat of Eastern Wu. Jiang Huan was also stopped before he had time to implement it, and he moved from Hanzhong to FuXian county in a grievous manner.
Zhuge Liang had no interest in Xiangyang at all, except for his move to woo Meng Da. The ultimate goal of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition was to take the Longyou region, slowly digest Liangzhou, and form a pincer against Guanzhong in Hanzhong. As for the Guanzhong region, Zhuge Liang also had some desires, but it was lower than the Longyou region.
The motives and significance of Zhuge Liang's five Northern Expeditions
Zhuge Liang: Long Right Shakes; Failure
Zhuge Liang's first expedition was in the sixth year of Jianxing in the Shu Han Dynasty, and in the third year of Jianxing (that is, in 225 AD), the southern conquest of the four counties in southern China ensured the stability of the rear; in the fifth year of Jianxing (that is, in 227 AD), he entered Hanzhong to prepare for war, and Zhuge Liang attached great importance to the first Northern Expedition, and also played a good role in the early stage.
Zhuge Liang asked Zhao Yunbing to draw Cao Zhen's firepower, and he himself ran to the Longyou region to attack Qishan. Zhuge Liang had no intention of northern expedition for a long time, and suddenly came to this place, and he obtained a lot of battle results. Nan'an, Tianshui, and Anding surrendered, Longxi County had one foot in the surrender gate, and Qishanbao defender Gao Gang's tendency to surrender could be said to be a long right shock and a guanzhong earthquake. Zhuge Liang's purpose was the purest, that is, to take down Long Right and then enter Tu Guanzhong.
Unfortunately, Zhuge Liang entrusted the non-people, he asked Ma Mo to guard the portal street pavilion on the right side of Long, but was arbitrarily pierced by Zhang Guo, and he lost everything. Although Zhuge Liang migrated more than a thousand households and captured Jiang Wei, a pillar of the late Shu Han Dynasty, this significance was almost incomparable with the capture of Long Right, and it also attracted the attention of Cao Wei and lost the best opportunity.
Zhuge Liang's second attack: cooperate with Eastern Wu; kill Wang Shuang
Zhuge Liang's Second Northern Expedition set its sights on the Guanzhong region, and its motivation was to cooperate with Eastern Wu. Because at that time, Eastern Wu had just won a great victory in the "Battle of Shiting" on the western front. The "Zhuge Liang Collection" says that Zhuge Liang sent troops to Guanzhong in order to contain Cao Wei and make it difficult for Cao Wei to retaliate against Eastern Wu; in the Han Jin Spring and Autumn Period, it is said that Zhuge Liang seized the opportunity for Cao Wei to mobilize Guanzhong's army to go east. In any case, Zhuge Liang's second cut was to cooperate with The Hasty Action of Eastern Wu, rather than a major strategic decision such as the First Cut, which is probably no problem.
Zhuge Liang fought Chen Cang and Guo County in the Second Expedition, and the "Battle of Chen Cang" is only recorded in the "Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms" of Pei Zhu, and it is very detailed. Zhuge Liang attacked Chen Cang for a long time, and all siege methods were defused by Chen Cang's general Hao Zhao, and finally withdrew his army. The Cao Wei general Wang Shuang pursued Zhuge Liang, only to be killed by Zhuge Liang. However, the whole campaign was of little significance, and if it had to be evaluated, zhang Guo on the central front was transferred to the western front, which somewhat alleviated some of the pressure on Eastern Wu.
Zhuge Liang's Three Expeditions: Forced to retreat from Guo Huai; took Wudu and Yinping Counties
Zhuge Liang's three expeditions were often overlooked and the heat was not high, but this Northern Expedition was the most meaningful for the Shu Han. Zhuge Liang Sanfa differed from the other four Northern Expeditions, Zhuge Liang first sent Chen Shi to attack Wudu Commandery and Yinping Commandery, and Chen Shi was also a veteran of Liu Bei's period, but there is no personal biography. Taking Wudu and Yinping is also his greatest credit.
Cao Wei Yongzhou assassinated Shi Guo Huai and led an army to attack Chen Shi in an attempt to protect Wudu and Yinping; Zhuge Liang led his army to Jianwei north of Wudu and Yinping, and Guo Huai returned to Cao Wei without fighting, and Wudu and Yinping were successfully taken by Chen Shi. The two counties of Wudu and Yinping were not so important to Cao Wei, and Cao Cao migrated from Wudu during the "Battle of Hanzhong", basically giving up.
However, for the Shu Han, these two counties are still more meaningful. Taking Wudu and Yinping could ease the defensive pressure of Hanzhong in the west; in addition, Wudu and Yinping were also conducive to the Shu Han Northern Expedition to Longyou or Hexi, and indeed shared the offensive function of the Hanzhong Plain in the later period.
Zhuge Liang forced Guo Huai to retreat and captured Er county, which can be said to be the only result in the entire Northern Expedition, and also made up for the mistake of appointing Ma Chen in the First Expedition and restored the official position of chancellor.
Zhuge Liang's four expeditions: defeated Sima Yi and retreated due to poor food
Zhuge Liang's first, fourth, and fifth cuts were relatively large-scale military activities, and the purpose was also very clear. The purpose of Zhuge Liang's fourth expedition was still Qishan Fort, and at this time his opponent changed from Cao Zhen to Sima Yi. Zhuge Liang attacked Qishan, and Sima Yi moved from Jingzhou on the central front to the western front. Zhuge Liang continued to move north to defeat Guo Huai, Fei Yao, and others to preemptively cut the wheat of Shangyi, but Sima Yi also arrived in time, and the battle line was pushed back to the city of Halo, north of Mount Qi.
The "Spring and Autumn of the Han Dynasty" records that a frontal battle broke out between the two sides, and Zhuge Liang defeated Sima Yi and achieved the record of "three thousand heads of the first". The contents of the "Spring and Autumn of the Han Dynasty" are corroborated to a certain extent by the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Shushu, and The Biography of Wang Ping", which should be credible. Because Chen Shou wrote the Romance of the Three Kingdoms as a Jin courtier, he inevitably ignored Sima Yi's failure.
Zhuge Liang's frontal defeat of Sima Yi was a good opportunity to besiege Qishan and continue to advance northward, but at that time, there was a rainy weather, and the grain could not be sent to the front, and Li Yan, who remained in Hanzhong, demanded that Zhuge Liang withdraw his army. In the process of Zhuge Liang's withdrawal, he also shot and killed Zhang Gao, who was pursuing. The battle itself had little effect on the pattern between Shu Han and Cao Wei, but it led to Li Yan's removal and Zhuge Liang's tightening of control over the Shu Han regime. Sima Yi also removed Zhang Guo's thorn head, and everyone seemed to be very happy.
Zhuge Liang Wufa: Confronting Sima Yi in Guanzhong, he died of overwork
Zhuge Liang's five cuts were three years after the fourth cut, and there was a gap of three years between the first cut and the four cuts, which shows the law of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition and the demand for grain and grass. Unlike the First And Fourth Cuts, Zhuge Liang's Five Cuts were to take the Chu Road to the Guanzhong area. However, according to the "Biography of Guo Huai", Zhuge Liang's purpose this time was still to long right, hoping to cut off the connection between Cao Wei guanzhong and long right from Guanzhong. If successful, Zhuge Liang could send a partial division to digest Long Right, which was exactly the opposite of Yi Fa's deployment. However, this plan was sabotaged by Guo Huai.
Zhuge Liang cut off LongYou and began to seek opportunities to fight a decisive battle with Sima Yi. Unfortunately, Sima Yi did not respond to the battle, as long as he prevented Zhuge Liang's attack, Sima Yi's purpose would be achieved. Zhuge Liang did not have the opportunity to engage in large-scale battles with Sima Yi, and small-scale battles did occur, but they had little impact, and he could only confront Sima Yi in the Guanzhong area for a long time, and eventually died of illness due to overwork. Sima Yi won the final victory. After that, the Northern Expedition of the Shu Han Dynasty entered a very depressed situation.
Which Northern Expedition is most likely to succeed
Zhuge Liang personally went on the Northern Expedition five times, and in addition to the Fifth Northern Expedition, he more or less achieved some results. On the whole, the effect of Zhuge Liang's three expeditions was the greatest, after all, the two counties of Wudu and Yinping lasted until the fall of the Shu Han Dynasty, from the seventh year of Jianxing to the first year of Yanxing (that is, from 229 to 263 AD), playing a role for more than thirty years. However, the original purpose of the Northern Expedition was these two counties, which was far from the ultimate goal of capturing Longyou and Hexi, let alone the complete success of the Northern Expedition.
It is generally believed that Zhuge Liang's first and fourth felling were the closest to success, and that the first felling had an unexpected advantage, and the shock caused to Cao Wei was very large, at least three counties were in his hands, and it was not only Long right, but also related to and north of the central and northern Anding County. Sifa eliminated a large number of Cao Wei soldiers, but it is not clear how many were gained.
In the "Spring and Autumn of the Han Dynasty", it is recorded that "three thousand heads of the first one", there is no specific number, and it is impossible to judge the killing and injury of Sima Yi. Some people speculate that the "first three thousand" is tens of thousands or even tens of thousands of people, which cannot be convincing. Jiang Wei killed and wounded tens of thousands of Cao Wei soldiers in the "Battle of Taoxi", resulting in the effect that Deng Ai and others almost wanted to abandon Longyou directly, and a large number of reinforcements rushed to Longyou and Guanzhong on the western front. Zhuge Liang's four expeditions apparently did not reach such a level, and Sima Yi was rewarded afterwards. It can be seen that "three thousand in the first place" is not a relatively large number.
Zhuge Liang's first attack was not the case, although it did not kill and injure Cao Wei's army in large quantities, but it was extremely close to the purpose of cutting off Long Right. As long as Ma Mo held the street pavilion, Zhuge Liang attacked Qishan Fort, and Longxi County surrendered, Shu Han's control over the Long right region would be relatively stable; then Zhuge Liang could either invade Guanzhong or attack Liangzhou to the west, continuing to accumulate strength for Shu Han. No matter what kind of decision, it could open up a new situation for shu Han's northern expedition. Unfortunately, Ma Mo betrayed Zhuge Liang's trust, and his failure not only led to the bankruptcy of one of the Northern Expeditions that Shu Han was most likely to succeed in, but also left himself and Zhuge Liang with criticism on paper and not using people.
References: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Book of Jin, Zhuge LiangJi, Historical Atlas of China