Author: Hanging Bi (public name of the same name), authorized to read the history of the release. Click here to view the previous article
In March 219, Cao Cao's army set out from Chang'an and headed south through the Chu Chu Road, and after nearly a month's trek, arrived in Hanzhong around April.
In the middle of the way, Cao Cao was very cautious in dividing his troops at various dangerous places, and after everything was ready, he marched into Yangping Pass and joined forces with Zhang Gao and other soldiers.
Although Xiahou Yuan was defeated and killed, due to the efforts of Guo Huai and Zhang Guo, the losses of the Cao army were not too large, and there were still tens of thousands.
On the other hand, this time Cao Cao personally went south, and there were also garrisons in various key places in the middle of the way, and the total strength of the army would naturally not be less, and it was expected to be at least about 100,000 people.
With so many armies launching an eight-hundred-mile expedition, the logistical pressure can be imagined.
Cao Cao's four divisions of troops defended in order to protect the grain road. The grain road is really too important, once it is lost, it will be ruined, and for Cao Cao, who has experienced the Battle of Guandu, it is really not too prudent.
For Liu Bei, this time Cao Cao was real, the other side had an advantage in troop strength, and it was not wise to take the initiative to attack at this time.
On the other hand, although there were many Cao troops, the corresponding logistical pressure would also be greater, so it was Cao Cao, not Liu Bei, who hoped to rely on the superiority of troop strength to make a quick decision.
Therefore, Liu Bei decided to give full play to the advantages of terrain, stick to Dingjun Mountain, and never fight.
In fact, Liu Bei's logistical pressure is not small, even the length of the supply line is more than Cao Cao, the entire Golden Bull Road is more than a thousand miles long, in order to supply tens of thousands of troops for the expedition, Yizhou has reached the point where men are in battle, women are in luck, and human resources are close to exhaustion.
So there is unspeakable suffering on both sides. In this way, the stalemate continues, the fight is comprehensive national strength, there is no need to divide the victory and defeat on the battlefield, and whoever cuts off the grain first will be forced to abandon Hanzhong.
However, it was obvious that cao Cao's side was under more pressure, after all, it had reached the point of rebellion before, although it could be temporarily suppressed, but it was inevitable that there would be chaos again after a long time, so Cao Cao decided to try to open up the situation.
Cao Cao had been stationed in the plains east of Yangping Pass, and this was the purpose. If he had made up his mind to fight with Liu Bei, he should obviously retreat to the east, so that he could shorten the supply line and reduce his own pressure.
However, Cao Cao had been staying near Yangping Pass, so he must have had an idea about Yangping Pass, and if he could take Yangping Pass, it would seriously threaten Liu Bei's grain routes and force him to withdraw from Hanzhong.
Cao Cao immediately took action, and the last time he rescued Wudu, Cao Cao chose Cao Xiu to take on the heavy responsibility, this time leaving the task to Cao Zhen, another rising star of the Cao family's second generation.
Cao Zhen was a famous general who commanded the tiger and leopard riding, experienced in hundreds of battles, and experienced, this time Cao Cao gave Xu Huang to him as his deputy, and let him attack Yangpingguan as a real official position of defending the Shu army, which showed the depth of trust.
At this time, Liu Bei's Side of the Yangping Pass Defender Gao Xiang did not have many troops, and the opponent was still a famous general of the Cao Army, so he was under great pressure and the situation was very critical.
According to the records of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Zhen won a great victory at Yangping Pass, so it is reasonable to say that he should cut off Liu Bei's grain road and force Liu Bei to withdraw his troops, so why can Liu Bei continue to insist?
With Zhen as the defender of Shu, Xu Huang and other liu beibei generals Gao Yuyang ping. (Three Kingdoms Chronicles of the Book of Wei, Marquis Cao of the Ninth)
I think the truth of the matter is that although Cao Zhen won, he did not capture Yangping Pass, because Liu Bei sent troops to support him after hearing the news, which made Cao Zhengong lose.
This inference can be corroborated by Fa Zheng's biography.
According to the note quoting Pei Songzhi in Fazheng's biography, during the Great Battle of Hanzhong, there was a time when the situation was unfavorable, and Liu Bei was a pioneer and was exposed to the crossbow of the Cao army, but he insisted on refusing to retreat, and no one persuaded him to listen.
At this time, Fa Zheng stepped forward to block Liu Bei's face, ignoring the rain of arrows in the sky.
Liu Bei asked him to go down and hide, but Fa Zheng replied, "The lord is in danger, how can he go first?" ”
As a result, Liu Bei suddenly realized, which promised to retreat.
The ancestor lord and Cao Gong quarreled, and it was inconvenient to retreat, but the first lord was furious and refused to retreat, and there was no one who dared to advise. It rained like rain, and it was before the Lord, the Lord clouded: "Filial piety avoids arrows." Zheng Yue: "Ming Gong is a yashi, but what is the case?" The First Lord said, "Filial piety, I am gone with Ru." "Retreat. (Three Kingdoms ZhiShu Book Pang Tong Fa Zheng Zhuan Vii)
This record is somewhat problematic when carefully scrutinized, because Liu Bei has always stubbornly defended the Dingjun Mountain and cannot go down to fight, so how can Cao Jun's crossbow threaten him?
It should be known that although Dingjun Mountain is not a high mountain, the height is also more than three hundred meters different from the basin below, and even if Youyuki reincarnates, it is impossible to shoot a bow and arrow on the mountain.
On the other hand, during the previous confrontation with Xiahou Yuan, there was no record of Liu Bei leading his troops down the mountain to engage. And because Xiahou Yuan was always pinned down, there would certainly be no unfavorable situation for Liu Bei.
Therefore, this battle must not have taken place at Dingjun Mountain.
I think it is very likely that the place where this battle took place was at Yangping Pass, and Liu Bei personally led his troops back to support after hearing that Yangping Pass was in danger.
In this way, the two sides launched a close-range battle, and it was possible that Liu Bei was a pioneer and was thus enveloped by the rain of arrows of the Cao army.
On the other hand, the previous defeat of Cao Zhen is also consistent with the record of "potential inconvenience".
All in all, if Liu Bei had not returned to Yangpingguan, by the time the grain route was cut off, it would be the day he would bid farewell to Hanzhong once and for all. His decisive rescue finally saved the once-critical situation.
The surprise attack on Yangping Pass was Cao Cao's only chance to reverse the unfavorable situation, and although he now won, he did not achieve the purpose of the battle, so he could only be forced to return to the old road of fighting and attrition.
However, for Cao Cao, the bad news was more than this one, because not only did he know that he had to cut off the other party's grain route, but in this matter, Liu Bei was not kind to him. This is called treating others in the way of others.
Since Cao Cao also took the initiative to attack even if he did not hesitate to stretch the supply line, he had to bear the risk of the grain road being attacked and disturbed.
In ancient times, transporting grain by water must have been as far as possible, so Cao Cao's grain route was most likely to start from Chang'an and then go west along Weishui, after passing Through Mei County, turning south into Xieshui (Wugong Shui), and then taking a section of land transport in today's Taibai County, Baoji City, and then turning into Baoshui, going south to Shuishui, and then going up against the current to reach Yangping Pass.
The route seems to be fairly smooth, with only a small section in the middle being land transported, but it has a fatal flaw.
Previously, Cao Cao divided his troops to guard the dangerous places in order to maintain the smooth flow of the grain route, but although he was fully prepared, he was still a hundred secrets, and a strategic place fell into the hands of Liu Bei.
Before we introduced the twelve consecutive pearls of the peaks of Dingjun Mountain, the last of these twelve mountains is called Yuan Mountain, which is much shorter than the Dingjun Mountain, which is more than three hundred meters high, about one hundred meters, and later Zhuge Liang built a very important Hancheng in the Hanzhong defense system on this mountain, also known as Xile City.
To the east of Seoul, there is a valley called Rongqiu Valley, and there is rongqiu creek water (now Yangjia River), also called Luoshui, and this small river flows into the water in a northeast direction.
Just east of the mouth of the Rongqiu Creek and the main stream, there is a steep hill that overlooks the water and is an excellent fortification site, and this hill has an old city to garrison. Of course, although the name of the old city is called a city, it is not a kind of fortified city, according to the historical description, it should be a camp.
Rongqiu in the east of the city, the stream water injection, commonly known as luoshui also. The water flows south to Baling Mountain and northeast to the northeast. There is an old city on the left side of the water, and the mountain is dangerous and blocked on all sides. The former lord sent Huang Zhongzhi to resist Cao Gong. (Water injection)
The distance between the ancient city and Dingjun Mountain is not far, it is more than twenty miles, and it can be reached by walking a little faster and half a day, and there are Rongqiu Creek waters in the two places, and if the ancient city is divided, it is relatively fast to support.
In fact, during Cao Cao's southward march, Liu Bei had already begun to lay out, and he sent Huang Zhong and Zhao Yun to lead troops to defend the ancient city and occupy the initiative.
At this time, Cao Cao suffered a loss of too long a supply line, and although he tried his best to deploy defenses, he was still one step late in the end, and as a result, his grain route was greatly threatened.
In this way, under the eyes of Huang Zhong and Zhao Yun, it would be difficult for Cao Jun to use the Shuishui waterway to transport grain, and in the last section of the grain road, they could only choose land transportation with relatively high costs.
However, Huang Zhong was still not very satisfied with this, and the Kuangshi Qigong established by killing Xiahou Yuan before made the veteran's self-confidence burst, and he planned to play another big game.
At that time, the grain and grass distribution center of the Cao army in Hanzhong was located in Beishan, where tens of millions of bags of grain and grass were hoarded, and Huang Zhong proposed to lead the troops to attack, if it could succeed, the Cao army would be destroyed.
Where is this North Mountain located? In fact, the North Mountain refers to the Qinling Mountains, relative to Hanzhong, the Qinling Mountains are in the north so it is called the North Mountain. Later, cao cao wrote that cao had "lost several northern mountains", referring to this.
About ten miles east of Rongqiu Creek is the Dukou, the mouth of the river with its tributaries Dushui (present-day Huangsha River), which is said to be the place where Zhuge Liang later made wooden cattle and horses.
Dushui originated in the mountains of Qinling Mountains, and the remnants of the Qinling Mountains where it flowed into the Hanzhong Basin were the specific locations where Cao Cao hoarded grain, and concentrating grain and grass here could be kept away from enemy harassment.
Han Shui salivated again, out of yang ping bei shan. (Water injection)
The suggestion put forward by Huang Zhong is worth a try, after all, at present, the Cao Army's grain road has been far away from the old city, and the significance of continuing to garrison the old city is much smaller, so it is better to take the initiative to attack.
However, Cao Cao would definitely attach great importance to the defense of Beishan, and it was natural that the offensive strength was less, so Huang Zhong took Zhao Yun's troops with him, after all, he was the main general, and Zhao Yun was to be restrained.
However, as soon as Huang Zhong left, there was no news, and he did not come back at the agreed time, Zhao Yunyi wanted to have an accident, don't be ambushed by Cao Cao.
However, his troops were all taken away by Huang Zhong, and he couldn't support him, and in the end Zhao Yun couldn't do anything, so he simply went with dozens of cavalrymen.
In fact, all this is Cao Cao's trap, for the Beishan granary, he must attach great importance to it, Huang Zhong will not have any chance, so there is a high probability that he is caught in a bitter battle there, which leads to overdue return.
On the other hand, Cao Cao was also sure that someone would come to support Huang Zhong, so he ambushed heavy troops on the road, specifically for the sake of reinforcement, and Zhao Yun was blocked.
However, Zhao Yun is not so easy to deal with, and the story of killing a seven-in-seven-out in and seven-out story in Nagasaka Slope is naturally an artistic processing, and the source of the material should be this time.
Zhao Yun led his troops to attack the vanguard of the Cao army, and after a small victory, he fought and left, and after the Cao army regrouped, Zhao Yun had withdrawn to the old city.
The Cao army pursued him, and Zhao Yun's general Zhang Was wounded and fell into the enemy position, Zhao Yun found out and turned around to kill him and rescued him, which was safe to return to the camp.
At that time, Zhang Yi, who remained in the old city, proposed that the gate of the village should be closed tightly, but Zhao Yun, who was both wise and courageous, did the opposite, and came to an empty city plan, he ordered the flag to be stopped and the camp gate was opened. The Cao army was afraid of ambushing troops, and did not dare to venture forward, so it had to withdraw.
Zhao Yun was waiting for this opportunity, as soon as Cao Jun turned around and turned back, he heard the drums behind him shaking the sky, and ten thousand arrows were fired in unison, so he immediately fell into chaos, trampled on each other and fell into the water and drowned many people.
Of course, Zhao Yun did not pursue, after all, he did not have many people, and he was exposed as soon as he struck.
The Battle of gucheng was the highlight of Zhao Yun's life, he smashed Cao Cao's plan to encircle the point of reinforcement with a very small number of troops, and after the war, Liu Bei came to the battlefield to inspect and praised Zhao Yun, praising: "Zilong is full of guts. ”
As for Huang Zhong's way, I think it should not have been successful, otherwise this is definitely a miracle and will not be completely recorded in the historical data.
However, he should not have been defeated, after all, Lejin and Wen Ping had recorded the two insignificant small victories against Guan Yu, and huang Zhong would definitely miss it if he lost the battle.
Therefore, the biggest possibility is that Cao Cao was heavily defended at the Northern Mountains, and Huang Zhong did not make progress after launching an attack, so he led his troops to retreat, and the two sides did not distinguish between victory and defeat.
In this way, after Cao Cao arrived in Hanzhong, the two sides successively broke out the Battle of Yangping pass and the Battle of Gucheng, two small-scale battles, the purpose of which was to destroy the other side's grain routes, but in the end they failed to achieve it, and the two sides returned to the same running line again.
In fact, at this time, Cao Cao's situation was relatively worse, although Liu Bei's grain road was longer, but almost all of them were safe rear areas, as long as Yangping Pass was not lost, the grain road could be kept smooth.
Although Cao Cao's grain routes were shorter, there were more places to guard, from Baogukou to Yangping Pass, and all the dangerous places had to be garrisoned.
In this way, in order to maintain a force on an equal footing with Liu Bei at least on the front line, he needed more total troops, otherwise he would fall into the dilemma of "everything is prepared, everything is invincible".
On the other hand, at this time, Liu Bei's rear area should also be more stable, because at least for the time being, there has been no rebellion, and Cao Cao's side is really unable to hold up.
Hundreds of thousands of people shuttled through the steep boardwalks in the mountains of Qinling Mountains, and the huge amount of materials transported to the front line often did not even have a tenth left. As the war raged and the supply of grain and grass became more and more strained, Cao's soldiers complained bitterly, and finally began to flee on a large scale at the end of April and the beginning of May.
Liu Bei was well aware of Cao Cao's predicament, and he took the opportunity to send Liu Feng down the mountain to challenge Cao Cao, of course, this was only a trick to lure the enemy.
This provocative act made Cao Cao angry, and his former confidant general Xiahou Yuan was killed, and now his own pro-unification army was also frustrated, and this series of blows finally made him unable to even take care of the demeanor of the King of Wei.
Cao Cao yelled at the mountain, "You straw shoe seller, send an adopted son to deal with me?" Wait for me to send my son! So Cao Cao immediately sent someone to recruit Cao Zhang to come to help in the battle.
However, soon Cao Cao calmed down, he knew that Hanzhong was no longer saved, and it was not only meaningless to continue to consume, but also the rear would change.
We have analyzed before that for so many years, Cao Cao generally did not leave the imperial court to go out to fight for more than a year, but this time he sent an army to the west in July 218, and it has been about ten months now, and he has no choice but to withdraw his troops.
In May 219, Cao Cao officially abandoned Hanzhong and went north. At this time, Cao Zhang had just arrived in Chang'an, and the real son and the false son could not be separated in the end.
At this point, the Hanzhong War, which lasted for about a year and a half, finally came to an end, for which the Cao and Liu families almost tried their best.
For Liu Bei, although he almost exhausted his national strength, the results were also gratifying.
Yizhou without Hanzhong is not a complete Yizhou, the last piece of the puzzle of Longzhong has been completed, and after more than thirty years of rising up, Liu Bei has finally reached the peak of his life.
However, for Cao Cao, it was just the opposite, paying such a huge price, not only did he not reap any grain, but he also damaged his beloved general, and this blow was really heavy.
But is that the end of it? No, just three months later, another major blow will fall on him, and that basically declares that Cao Cao will have no connection with the throne in this life.