The controversy of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition in history is still quite large, especially the fact that Zhuge Liang's many Northern Expeditions have returned without success. Many people's research directions on this matter are focused on "people" and ignore the importance of "heaven and time" and "geographical advantages", and today Jiang Lang looks at the reason why Zhuge Liang's many northern expeditions have failed to return from the perspective of "interests".
The importance of location
The three elements of war are: "heaven and time", "geographical advantage", and "people". The former "tianshi" is well understood, such as the meteorite smashed into the new dynasty military camp during the Battle of Kunyang, and Liu Xiu took the opportunity to break Wang Mang. It has to be said that this meteorite played a decisive role in the battle situation, but this matter is uncontrollable, and the meteorite may be smashed into the New Dynasty military camp or into the Liu Xiu military camp. What is really controllable is "geographical advantage" and "people", and it is very important to choose where, when and how to start a war. The reason for the failure of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition was not necessarily that he could not command well, but that he lacked "geographical advantages".
Qinling Six Roads
The Qinling Mountains are sandwiched between Sichuan and Shaanxi and Longxi, and there are six roads between these lofty mountains, namely: Chencang Road, Chu Xie Dao, Luo Luo Dao, Meridian Road, Yugu Road, and Wuguan Road, which are the necessary places for Sichuan to lead to Shaanxi and Longxi. Don't try to take other roads, don't try to open up other roads, the terrain of Qinling Mountains is doomed to all this in vain, zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition can only take the "Six Roads of Qinling Mountains". Of course, many people will use the smuggling of Deng Ai to refute it, but the smuggling of Deng Ai into Yin Ping is very suspenseful. If Zhuge Liang wants to smuggle or open up other roads, he must meet the following conditions:
1: Heaven's providence
Heaven needs to prepare the food needed for Zhuge Liang's army, Heaven wants to bless Zhuge Liang that he has not encountered a dead end, and Heaven needs to bless Cao Wei are all straw bales. But in fact, this is an impossible thing, Qinling does not have rich products, and the problem of eating tens of thousands of troops cannot be solved at all. If Zhuge Liang let the soldiers eat grass and climb the mountains, would the soldiers still have combat effectiveness when they reached the Wei territory? Moreover, the terrain of Qinling Mountains is dangerous, cliffs and cliffs are too common, Deng Ai encountered cliffs when he smuggled himself, if he did not let the soldiers roll down, then there would be no surrender of Liu Chan. In addition, Cao Wei was not all straw bales, at that time, Cao Wei was like a day in the sky, and Xiao Yong was by no means a minority. The most important thing is that Zhuge Liang is such a conservative person, he will not put all the hopes of the Northern Expedition army and the country on the heavens, and the rejection of the Meridian Valley plot is an example.
2: There are other logistics tools
This other logistical tool refers to the aircraft, if you can't break through the ground transportation then you don't have to think about smuggling. Zhuge Liang often encountered the situation of grain shortages when he walked the avenue, so that the grain trucks could take the mountain road, and who could guarantee this logistics? In the history of ancient warfare, there is a question "Why can't large armies bypass checkpoints and cities?" This is not to say that the army cannot bypass the checkpoints and the city, the army can bypass, but how do your logistics vehicles go around? Keeping the official road open is to keep the logistics open, which dooms Zhuge Liang not to smuggle.
3: Years and months of labor
This point refers to the need for Zhuge Liang to "cultivate the darkness of the Path of Darkness Chen Cang" like Han Xin, and let the minfu open a smooth and hidden road before qinling. At that time, there were millions of people in the Shu state, and it was difficult to draw out hundreds of thousands of people in addition to the garrisons, northern expeditionary troops, peasants, and workers in various places to be responsible for such a huge project. Ancient engineering and construction capabilities were weaker than they are now, and it took years for modern times to open the way in the mountains and mountains, not to mention ancient times. When the road is almost repaired, it is estimated that Zhuge Liang's grave head grass is three feet high.
In summary, Zhuge Liang's smuggling and opening up other roads are unrealistic, and in this case, we can only analyze the geographical advantages based on the "Six Paths of Qinling Mountains".
1: Wuguan Road
Zhuge Liang did not take the Wuguan Road during the Northern Expedition, not because this road was not important, but because this road could not be passed. When Longzhong was right, Zhuge Liang suggested that Liu Bei take Jing and Yizhou, and then when the world changed, the army was divided into two roads, one from Jingzhou to the Central Plains (Nanyang, Luoyang) northern expedition, and the other out of Qinchuan. After the Eastern Route Army captured Nanyang, it could go to Chang'an through Wuguan Road to conspire with the Western Route Army to the land of Guanlong (Xi'an), or to attack the western flank to assist the Western Route Army. However, after Guan Yu carelessly lost Jingzhou, this strategy did not work, as shown in the figure, Wuguan Dao was surrounded by mountains, and Zhuge Liang could not throw his army into Wuguan Dao. This path was crucial, and in peace it could contain Cao Wei and increase Cao Wei's military expenditure; in time of war, it could go north to the Central Plains, and in the west it could conspire with Xi'an. It is precisely because of the very important that Liu Bei launched the "Battle of Yiling", but unfortunately did not retake Jingzhou, and this strategy was also buried in the long river of history. The direct consequence was that Cao Wei had a vast depth, and there was no need to worry about the attack on Wuguan Dao, Chang'an only needed to concentrate his forces to defend the other five roads.
2: Michi Utani
Yutani Road is a very chicken road, because this road has always been a small road before, and was officially opened during the Yuan Dynasty. Before the Tang Dynasty, this road was a very dangerous road, and the number of people walking was very small, which was not suitable for the passage of the army. In fact, the degree of steepness is similar to that of the Meridian Valley, but the total length is longer than the Meridian Valley, and the difficulty for soldiers to pass is also greater than that of the Meridian Valley. And it is precisely because this road is relatively long, so the use of "suspicious soldiers" is not very feasible, after all, it was not very convenient to contact at that time. If there were mobile phones at that time, it should have some effect, but the main road used to do the Northern Expedition was a bit ridiculous and unrealistic. There is no historical record of Cao Wei's large-scale garrison here, and Cao Wei did not cut down Shu through this road, which shows that neither side put the main energy here at that time.
3: Meridian Valley
The Meridian Valley is one of the more famous of these roads, because Wei Yan once suggested that he lead his elite troops to the Northern Expedition from the Meridian Valley, and then attack Chang'an with Zhuge Liang. But this problem is back to the difficulty of smuggling above, the Meridian Valley is not a big road, the logistics ability is weak, and it also needs to be loved by heaven. It took Deng Ai only seven hundred miles to smuggle Yin Ping into Yin Ping, and the meridian valley was about the same, so it was not realistic for Wei Yan to pass through the meridian valley (660 miles) within ten days. Later, Cao Zhen also walked this road when he was cutting Shu, but he only walked half the way in a month, and he had to give up because it was too dangerous. After Learning of this suggestion, Zhuge Liang's evaluation was: "An Congtan Dao, you can take long right flat, and you will be able to conquer without worry", it is obvious that Zhuge Liang does not want to gamble, he feels that he should go from the main road and be more stable.
4: Luo Luo Dao
There are actually not many records of Luo Dao, but there were several records of large-scale use of troops at that time, Cao Shuang walked when he was cutting Shu, Jiang Wei also walked during the Northern Expedition, and Zhong Hui also walked. This road is the fastest of these roads, but it is also the most dangerous. It is more dangerous than the Meridian Valley, and during this period, it is necessary to pass through the valleys of the West Luo Valley, Black Water, Xiangshui, Unitary Water, and Wushui, which is not suitable for the main road. Reason 1: The road is dangerous and the logistical ability is weak; 2: the Shu army does not have a large-scale water army and the means to cross the river; 3: the terrain is dangerous, and the speed of troop deployment is slow. If the other side has a defender at the mouth of the valley, then it is likely to be lined up to die, and the terrain cannot open up large-scale troops.
5: Ramp
This road was opened before the Zhou Dynasty ("Reading the History of Fang Public Opinion": "The Way of Chu Chu, Xia Yu Fa Zhi"), and during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, merchants took this road to sell goods, which was the main traffic route at that time. However, after that, the boardwalk was artificially destroyed, and when the Shu and Han dynasties fought, they were cut off for a while, and Wei and Shu repaired the boardwalk many times in order to achieve strategic goals. The problem lies here, this trail is too easy to be cut off, if you send someone to defend the trail, then you need to increase the cost of soldiers, the number of the Northern Expeditionary Army will be reduced. And not only to prevent the enemy from engaging in sabotage, Zhuge Liang once had a headache for floods, and the instability of the boardwalk was too great. However, because it is relatively fast, it is used more for suspects. During Zhuge Liang's first Northern Expedition, he let Zhao Yun walk through this path, but after walking through it, he blew it up.
6: Chen CangDao
Zhuge Liang walked the most is Chen Cangdao, and the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" says that "six out of Qishan", why take this road? It is because this road is spacious enough that it is more secure to take this road. Han Xin "Ming Xiu Zhan Dao Darkness Chen Cang", this Chen Cang said that it was Chen Cang Dao. For a long time, the churn road has been conservatively attached to as a traffic artery, and military operations are generally deployed, so the prevention is also very strict. However, since Han Xin, there has been a change, and Chencang Road has replaced the Chu Chuan Road and become the main traffic route at that time. However, because Chen Cangdao was relatively flat and Zhuge Liang's personality was more conservative, Cao Wei was very wary of Chen Cangdao. After Zhuge Liang's first Northern Expedition, Cao Zhen sent Hao Zhao and others to garrison Chen Cang and overhaul Chen Cangcheng. After that, Zhuge Liang made a two-fold problem, and it was difficult to take other roads, but Cao Wei's defense was relatively weak; it was easier to take Chen Cang's road, but Cao Wei's defense was stronger.
summary
After the failure of the First Northern Expedition, it was actually doomed to failure, because the Shu Han did not have the dominance of several other roads, and because the terrain was not conducive to large-scale military operations. The only Chen Cang Road suitable for large-scale military operations was valued by Cao Wei, and the rebuilt Chen Cang City was extremely strong. During the Second Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang led tens of thousands of people to besiege Chen Cang, but Hao Zhao only held out with more than a thousand defenders for more than twenty years, forcing Zhuge Liang to retreat. The geographical advantage is completely absent, several other roads are difficult to pass, the only Chen Cang Road is heavily defended, and Zhuge Liang is already old enough to return to heaven and powerless. During Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition, there were two problems that could not be solved, one was that there was no other way, and the other was that it was easy to cut off grain. Both of these problems are caused by "geographical advantages", and everyone in the world says that Shudi is a gentle township, but I think that Shudi is a cage. The lofty mountains around the Sichuan Basin have built a cage, and people outside can't get in, and people inside can't get out.