In the "Art of War of Sun Tzu" that appeared in the Warring States period, it was specifically mentioned that the army would die without heavy grain and grass. It can be seen that at that time, the logistical supply of grain and grass became a major factor that plagued military operations. In the history of the Warring States, we can see many places that record the tragedies caused by the lack of grain and grass.
First, analyze the fact that the six countries were rarely short of food in the conquest.
For example, the allusion to folding the skeleton and cooking, changing children and eating, occurred in this period. In the famous Battle of Changping, when the Zhao monarchs discussed before the battle, some people mentioned that the Qin state had sufficient logistical support and was irresistible. However, King Li of Zhao was dizzy and still accepted the shangdang, and as a result, in the course of the battle, the long-term confrontation made the Zhao army poor in grain and grass, and had to ask for help from the State of Qi to borrow grain. The State of Qi did not agree to Zhao Guo's request, and Zhao Guo was defeated in the end. The shortage of grain and grass was also a reason that forced zhao guo to launch a counterattack.
However, during the Warring States period, operations were generally carried out in or near their own countries, and grain and grass were generally easy to collect and transport. The only Qin state to launch a conquest against the other six countries also launched a war on the basis of efforts to develop agriculture and with food guarantees.
At that time, the Shang martingale transformation law of the Qin State stipulated that the achievements of grain production were equivalent to the achievements of battle, and they could also be rewarded by the lord. Therefore, the peasants in the Qin state were very enthusiastic about production. In addition, the Qin state adopted advanced farming technology and built water conservancy, which greatly increased the grain output of the Qin state. This also laid the foundation for the unification of the Qin kingdom.
Secondly, analyze Zhuge Liang's Frequent Shortage of Grain during the Northern Expedition.
During the Three Kingdoms period, Zhuge Liang carried out the Northern Expedition against Cao Wei. After Zhuge Liang accepted Liu Beituo's isolation in the White Emperor's City, he took it as his mission to restore the Han Dynasty. Zhuge Liang repaired politics internally, developed production, expanded military strength, and quelled rebellions. Zhuge Liang formed a new alliance with Eastern Wu and jointly opposed Cao Wei.
After making all the preparations, Zhuge Liang presented Liu Chan with the famous "Table of Teachers" and began his long Northern Expedition. After this, Zhuge Liang launched a total of five Northern Expeditions against Cao Wei, until the last time, Zhuge Liang died of illness, and the Northern Expedition came to an end.
During Zhuge Liang's five Northern Expeditions, the supply of grain and grass was a major problem that made Zhuge Liang difficult. We see that in Zhuge Liang's five Northern Expeditions, two of them retired because of lack of food. In the Second Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang went out of the Valley and attacked Chen Cang. Due to the insistence of the Wei general Hao Zhao, Zhuge Liang ran out of grain and was forced to withdraw after more than twenty days of fruitless attack.
In the Fourth Northern Expedition, due to rainfall, logistics were difficult to transport. At that time, Li Yan, who was in charge of Zhuge Liang's logistical support in Hanzhong, had no way to transport grain to Zhuge Liang's army on the front line in time. Under these circumstances, Li Yan had to consult with Zhuge Liang, and finally Zhuge Liang led his army to withdraw. The sequelae caused by this incident was that Li Yan was removed from his post and exiled.
Analyze again the main reasons for Zhuge Liang's lack of food and how he solved these difficulties.
Zhuge Liang's problem of lack of grain is mainly composed of two aspects. One is the production and mobilization of food, and the other is the difficulty of logistics and transportation. The first factor was that the Shu state was weak, and it was indeed difficult to support the food supply of the 100,000-strong army. During Zhuge Liang's Second Northern Expedition, he was forced to withdraw his troops because he was in a hurry and did not raise enough grain in advance.
In order to solve this problem, Zhuge Liang adopted the method of developing agricultural production and persuading Konongsang. Zhuge Liang led by example, buying farmland and mulberry trees in Chengdu and leading his people to carry out agricultural production. Driven by Zhuge Liang, the agricultural production of the Shu Han Dynasty has developed greatly.
Before Zhuge Liang launched the Northern Expedition, he had to make a lot of preparations. For example, when he retreated from the Fourth Northern Expedition, the General Cao Wei thought that he would soon launch the Fifth Northern Expedition. Sima Yi judged that Zhuge Liang would have to go through three years of preparation and raise enough grain before the Northern Expedition. Later, as Sima Yi expected, Zhuge Liang launched the last Northern Expedition three years later.
It was difficult to raise grain and grass, but what was more difficult than collecting grain and grass was how to transport these grains and grasses to the front line of the Northern Expedition. On the route of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition, there was a huge geographical obstacle, that is, the Qinling Mountains. If the grain and grass were transported through the Qinling Mountains, it would be a huge problem that Zhuge Liang would have to face.
Zhuge Liang always sent troops out of Qishan, and the main reason was that the road from Qishan was relatively smooth. This greatly alleviates the logistical difficulties. In order to alleviate the difficulties of grain transportation, Zhuge Liang also adopted the method of raising grain and grass on the spot. In the Qishan area, the population is relatively dense, the products are abundant, and it can provide some grain and grass. During the Fourth Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang led an army to cut off the wheat in the enemy area, which greatly replenished the army's food.
In terms of transportation, Zhuge Liang also tried his best. Zhuge Liang invented the famous wooden cow flowing horse, which used mechanical methods to alleviate the difficulties in transportation. In terms of transportation, Zhuge Liang also tried his best to adopt the method of water transportation, and adopted the method of multiple transshipment, which greatly improved the efficiency of transportation. However, despite this, Zhuge Liang's grain and grass problem was still the most difficult problem he felt.
When Zhuge Liang's opponents fought against him, they also grasped this difficult problem that Zhuge Liang could not solve and adopted the strategy of sticking to no battle. Cao Wei believed that Zhuge Liangye had nothing to plunder, that transportation in the rear was difficult, and that the supply of grain was tight. After the two sides entered the confrontation, once Zhuge Liang ran out of grain and grass, there was only one way to retreat. When Zhuge Liang retreated, the Wei army pursued it again and won.
In the end, Zhuge Liang took the final countermeasure against Cao Wei's strategy, that is, the battlefield Tuntian. The history books record that Zhuge Liang did not reach his ambitions because of the grain problem, so he adopted the method of battlefield tun tian to break this situation. At that time, the Shu army and the local people farmed together in the Weihe Plain, without interfering with each other, forming a spectacle in the history of war.
In this way, Zhuge Liang solved the problem of grain supply. However, in the year of heaven, Zhuge Liang fell ill and died of Wuzhangyuan, making his ambition for the Northern Expedition unpaid. When his army withdrew, a large amount of food was abandoned on the ground. It is really a hero who died before he could succeed, and the hero was in tears.