Throughout the Three Kingdoms period, there are many examples of victories with few victories, among which the most famous is the brave and martial performance of the Wei general Zhang Liao in the Battle of Hefei. Sun Quan's 100,000-strong army besieged Hefei, and after several months of fruitless fighting, the epidemic in the camp was rampant, and when Eastern Wu was forced to withdraw, Zhang Liao only led 800 warriors to attack Sun Quan's Chinese army camp at Xiaoyaojin. In this battle, Zhang Liao broke through the encirclement of the Wu army several times, and once killed Sun Quan's imperial car, if it were not for the joint efforts of the Eastern Wu generals who sacrificed their lives to stop it, Sun Quan was taken down by Zhang Liao in the 100,000 army. With this battle, Zhang Liao became a famous general from Shuozhou City, Shanxi Province, who was honored by the Three Kingdoms and passed down to future generations.
Coincidentally, during Zhuge Liang's Second Northern Expedition, there was also such a wonderful battle in which less won more. The disparity in strength between Wei and Shu was basically similar to the Battle of Hefei, with only a thousand Wei troops defending against the 100,000 Northern Expeditionary Army led by Zhuge Liang. What is more interesting is that the defender of the Wei army was also a general of Shanxi nationality, although he did not have the fame of Zhang Liao during the Three Kingdoms period, but in the barbarian lands in the northwest region and the Yizhou region occupied by shu Han, he was a famous Cao Wei general. The only difference between the two campaigns: the Battle of Hefei was an active attack, while this one was a passive defense.
Zhuge Liang's Second Northern Expedition;
In the second year of Wei Taihe (228 AD), Cao Wei's army won a victory on the battlefield of Longyou, crushing Zhuge Liang's long-planned first Northern Expedition. In August of the same year, Emperor Cao of Wei ordered Sima Yi to personally supervise the three-way army to advance into Eastern Wu, and launched a fierce battle with the Wu army in the southeast battlefield. Sun Quan saw that the Wei army was fierce and numerous, and on the one hand ordered Lu Xun to be the governor and led some of his troops to resist the enemy, and on the other hand, he urgently ordered Zhuge Jin, a heavy minister, to write to Zhuge Liang of Shu Han to ask for assistance.
Zhuge second brothers
After receiving the letter, Zhuge Liang believed that Cao Wei's attention was all on the southeast battlefield and that the Guanzhong region was bound to be empty in defense, so he decided to adopt the strategy of "encircling Wei and saving Zhao" to carry out the Second Northern Expedition and achieve a surprise attack on the Guanlong battlefield. After a brief period of adjustment and preparation, in December of the same year, the 100,000 Northern Expeditionary Army marched from Chen Cangdao to Chen Cangdao and directly approached Cao Wei's important town of "Chen Cangcheng". This battle, which won more with less, was the famous "Battle of Chen Cang" at that time.
It is said that Zhuge Liang's analysis is still very correct, the southeast battlefield did attract most of Cao Wei's attention, the defensive forces in the Guanzhong area were relatively empty, and there were only more than a thousand defenders in the important town of Chen Cang. However, there was one thing that Zhuge Liang did not expect, regarding the strategic intention of the Shu army to capture Chen Cang, the Cao Wei general Cao Zhen had already anticipated it when Zhuge Liang's first Northern Expedition failed.
According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Wei Shu, and Cao Zhen's biography, the Shu army lost the street pavilion, and Zhuge Liang urgently withdrew his troops from the Long right battlefield, while Zhao Yun and others who were in charge of pretending to attack Mei County were also severely damaged by Cao Wei's main force, and withdrew to Hanzhong. When Zhao Yun was retreating, in order to stop the Pursuit of the Wei Army, a torch burned the slope. Cao Zhen's post-war analysis believes that after this battle, there was no crisis in all parts of Longyou for the time being, and the Chu Chuan Road was burned down by the Shu generals, and Zhuge Liang once again sent troops, "from Chen Cang". Therefore, Cao Zhen went to the Wei emperor Cao Rui and appointed Hao Zhao, who was proficient in city defense operations, to lead Wang Shuang and other generals into Chen Cang's defense.
Hao Zhao, a famous general from Shanxi;
Another reason why Hao Zhao did not have the fame of Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, Guan Yu, Guo Huai, Yu Qiujian, and other Shanxi generals was that he was not written in the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, and only mentioned in the notes to Wei Luo: Hao Zhao, a zi Bo Dao, a native of Taiyuan, Shanxi, looked majestic and powerful when he was a teenager. It is said that Hao Zhao is nine feet tall. What is the concept of nine feet? According to the "Bulletin on the Excavation of Zhu Ran's Tomb", one foot in the Three Kingdoms period was 24.8 centimeters, which is equivalent to Hao Zhao's height of 223.2 centimeters. Two meters tall, it can indeed be called tall and mighty.
Hao Zhao began to fight in the army from a young age, when he served under the account of Yuan Shao's old subordinate Cui Yan, who had followed Cui Yan to fight against barbarians in the Hexi region for more than ten years, and was known for his bravery and resourcefulness. After Hao Zhao followed Cui Yan to Cao Cao, he also made many military achievements in the early conquests, and was gradually promoted to the rank of miscellaneous general. Later, Cui Yan violated Cao Cao's taboo and was thrown into prison, and Hao Zhao was also implicated and could not be reused. In the days when he was snubbed, according to the repeated actions of the Xiongnu, Hao Zhao studied military books and specialized in city defense operations, and became a very well-known expert in the defense of the city among the Generals of Cao Wei.
From this point of view, Cao Zhen arranged for Hao Zhao to garrison Chen Cang, which was specially prepared for Zhuge Liang. Of course, Hao Zhao did not disappoint Cao Zhen, and during his garrison in ChenCang, he led more than a thousand defenders and fought a beautiful defensive battle against a hundred thousand troops, which became a famous battle in the Three Kingdoms period.
Cao Zhen, Wang Lang
CHEN Cangcheng;
Regarding Chen Cangcheng, the author mentioned slightly in the previous article, named after Han Xin's secret chen cang in the late Qin dynasty, located in Chen Cang Township, Jintai District, Baoji City, Shaanxi Province. According to the "Baoji County Chronicle", there are two Chen Cangcheng, one was built at the end of the Qin State, and the other is the Chen Cangcheng built after Hao Zhao's arrival in the Three Kingdoms period, and later in order to distinguish, it was named "Shangcheng" and "Xiacheng". Today, ChenCang City has been eroded by wind and rain and man-made destruction, and the old city has disappeared, leaving only some remnants of broken walls.
The Chen CangCheng that Hao Zhao had built was right at the throat of the Guanlong Passage. Once the city was occupied by the Shu army, the longyou region's connection with Guanzhong would be severed. Moreover, Chen Cangcheng could also be used as a base for the Shu army to conquer the Guanzhong region in the east, and its geographical location was quite important. This is also the reason why Zhuge Liang sent troops to Chen Cang.
Battle of Chencang;
According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Wei Shu, and The Chronicle of the Ming Emperor, after the Shu Han army surrounded Chen Cang, Zhuge Liang was shocked to hear that Hao Zhao was holding out in the city. However, seeing that the strength of the troops he brought with him was nearly a hundred times that of the defenders, his heart was much calmer. In order not to leave a reputation for bullying, Hao Zhao's compatriots were first sent to shout and surrender, but after being sternly rejected, they ordered the generals to start attacking the city.
The Chen CangCheng built by Hao Zhao not only had thick and strong walls, but also made many defensive tools for siege warfare, such as fire arrows and large millstones tied with iron chains, which played a great role in the process of defense. At first, the Shu army hit the city gate with a punching cart, and Hao Zhao ordered the defenders to use a large millstone to smash down from a high place, smash it down, and then pull it up, and so on, until the rushing car was smashed. Zhuge Liang also ordered his soldiers to fill in the ravines outside the city and attack from all directions. As a result, the ladder was all ignited by the defenders with fire arrows, which not only burned the ladder, but also suffered heavy casualties in the process of attacking the city. In this way, the Shu army attacked day and night for more than twenty days, but still did not succeed.
According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Shu Shu, and The Biography of Zhuge Liang, Chen Cang' siege of Chen Cang, after many days of fruitless siege, had exhausted the shu army's military food, and Zhuge Liang had no choice but to issue an order to withdraw. The greatest achievement of Zhuge Liang's Second Northern Expedition was that when the army was withdrawn, the Wei general Wang Shuang led his troops out of the city and was surrounded and killed by the Shu army in pursuit of the Shu army, and that was all.
This is also recorded in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, The Biography of Zhang Guo. According to the legend, after the Wei emperor Cao Rui learned of the Shu army's siege of Chen Cang, he immediately ordered Zhang Gao to lead his troops to rush to the rescue. Before Zhang Gao could reach Chen Cang, he had already learned that the Shu army was running out of food, and the army retreated, and the defender Wang Shuang was killed in the process of pursuing the Shu army.
Zhuge Liang's second vigorous Northern Expedition, because of the light enemy's adventurism, was once again ruthlessly crushed by a small Chen Cangcheng and a famous Taiyuan general Hao Zhao, who was not too well-known.
Reference books: "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Military Chronicle of Mian County", "Chronicle of Baoji County", "Briefing on the Excavation of Zhu Ran's Tomb"