Author: Sasha
This article is Sasha's original and will not be reprinted by any media
Why did Liu Chan, the lord of the Three Kingdoms, sigh that "Wei Yan did not die and Shu Han did not perish"? Sasha Q&A Episode 64
Many people do not know that after Zhuge Liang's death, it was the unknown Wang Ping, who held the Shu Han alone for more than 10 years.
Hanzhong, where Wang Ping's 30,000 troops were stationed, was the strategic gateway to the Shu state.
If Cao Wei wanted to attack the Shu state, he had to first capture Hanzhong.
If the Shu state could control Hanzhong, Sichuan would be as stable as Mount Tai.
On the contrary, if Cao Wei occupied Hanzhong, although it was still difficult to attack Sichuan, it could maintain a strong strategic advantage. The Shu kingdom was always under great threat, passively beaten, and sooner or later it would be finished.
Wang Ping was able to garrison Hanzhong for more than 10 years, which was equivalent to keeping the security of Shu Han for more than 10 years.
Speaking of which, Wang Ping is nothing remarkable.
He was originally just an illiterate Cao Wei general, and later became Zhuge Liang's deputy general.
Although his ability was not mediocre, compared with Wei Yan, it was still 108,000 miles.
It was such a Wang Ping who was able to garrison Hanzhong for so many years and repelled Cao Shuang's more than 100,000 invading troops.
Why can Wang Ping have such a brilliant record?
He fully implemented Wei Yan's defensive strategy.
While Wang Ping was still under Cao Cao's command, Liu Bei appointed Wei Yan as the governor of Hanzhong Zhenyuan and the Taishou of Hanzhong.
Liu Bei completely entrusted wei with the heavy responsibility of defending Cao Wei in the north.
Speaking of which, the battle-hardened general Zhang Fei was a good candidate, but Liu Bei chose Wei Yan.
Obviously, Liu Bei trusted Wei Yan's abilities more, believing that he was both wise and courageous.
Wei Yan was also unambiguous, and directly replied to Liu Bei: "If Cao Cao comes from all over the world, please refuse it for the king; if you want to be a hundred thousand people, please swallow it for the king." ”
That is to say, even if Cao Cao led all the troops and horses in the world to come, these tens of thousands of people could stop him. If general Cao Wei had led an army of 100,000 to attack, I would have been able to annihilate them all.
It turned out that Wei Yan was not bragging and adopted a very powerful defensive strategy.
From Hanzhong to Shaanxi, separated by the Qinling Mountains, you must take a series of rugged mountain roads.
For both sides, this is a natural geographical barrier that is difficult to pass.
Taking advantage of the favorable terrain, Wei Yan built a large number of fortifications at the key passes of Hanzhong, with strong bows and crossbows in the fortifications, and many cavalry that could respond to each other.
At the same time, Wei Yan hoarded a large amount of grain in Hanzhong to prepare for a protracted war.
Cao Jun killed him several times, but all of them were defeated by Wei Yan.
Here, Zhuge Liang's several Northern Expeditions were fruitless, and Wei Yan proposed a military adventure of the Meridian Valley.
Objectively speaking, the probability of success of the Meridian Valley conspiracy is low, but it is the only feasible victory plan. Once successful, shu Han could control the entire northwestern region, including Shaanxi, doubling its strength.
The cautious Zhuge Liang did not adopt it, and eventually the Northern Expedition failed, and the national strength of the Shu Han Dynasty was exhausted.
After Zhuge Liang fell ill and died in Wuzhangyuan, Wei Yan and Yang Yi were killed in a struggle for power.
Interestingly, after Wei Yan's death, the successor general Wang Ping completely continued the previous defensive policy.
In the battle mentioned above, in 244, the general Cao Shuang led more than 100,000 troops to kill.
Wang Ping used the fortifications and defensive strategies built by Wei Yan to fight a protracted war, with a mere 30,000 people to consume the Cao army half to death, cut off military food, and forced to retreat.
The fundamental reason for the demise of the Shu Han was that the main force of Zhong Hui occupied Hanzhong in one fell swoop.
After the loss of Hanzhong, Shu Han fell into extreme passivity, and was eventually copied the back road of the Yinping Trail, and the desolate country was destroyed.
At this time, Wang Ping died nearly 20 years ago, not to mention Wei Yan.
If Wei Yan was still alive, Hanzhong would probably not be lost.
If Hanzhong is not lost, where will Deng Ai go to encircle the back road?
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