The urban battles that changed the pattern of the Eastern Wei and Western Wei dynasties were no less tragic than the Battle of Stalingrad

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Author: Zuo Guangdou

If you want to evaluate the most classic city defense battle of World War II, there is no doubt that it is the Battle of Stalingrad. This industrial city on the banks of the Volga River held back the invading German army, which had always been aggressive, and inflicted huge casualties on the latter, which was a turning point in the decline of Nazi Germany after the casualties of 1.5 million Axis soldiers.

Nearly 1,500 years ago, in the Central Plains of China, a battle of cities as tragic as the Battle of Stalingrad broke out, and the outcome and impact of this battle were similar to the Battle of Stalingrad - the attackers were menacing and overwhelming, but finally returned with heavy casualties.

This was the famous Battle of Jade in the Northern Dynasties.

Above_ Ruins of Yubi City in Jishan, Shanxi

Yubi, located in the southwest of today's Shanxi Province, is located on an important passage for troops and grain transportation during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. After the split of the Northern Wei Dynasty, if the Gao Huan forces of the Eastern Wei Dynasty wanted to enter the Western Wei Dynasty, Yubi would bear the brunt.

Before Gao Huan set out on the expedition, his subordinate general Cao Weizu also dissuaded him and said: "This August, the king of the West is angry with his dead spirit, and it is not good for the guest, but the master can do it." The soldiers are good, and the general is injured" bluntly said that if you start fighting, you have to kill the general (really bluntly).

At that time, there were always yellow and black ants fighting each other outside Yecheng, and yellow was believed by the soothsayers to be the Eastern Wei forces (the Eastern Wei army wore yellow robes, while the Western Wei was black), and just before Gao Huan set out on the expedition, the yellow ants were all killed. Although these are inevitably superstitious, they also reflect that the Eastern Wei Dynasty was not optimistic about this battle. However, Gao Huan, who hoped to be able to unify the north in his lifetime, did not care, and insisted on launching this large-scale battle.

Above_ Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534)

In October of the twelfth year of Liang Datong (546 AD), Gao Huan, the actual ruler of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, personally led an army of 100,000 from Jinyang, and the troops pointed directly at Yubi, aiming to capture Yubi and use it as a springboard to fight for the Guanzhong Plain.

Gao Huan's insistence on sending troops is based on facts: because not long before, he led the Eastern Wei troops to achieve a great victory in Bishan, and the Western Wei Yuwentai troops were completely lost, and it was impossible to stop the reinforcements that could compete with the Eastern Wei army in a short period of time - that is to say, the jade bi is the turtle in the urn, which is where Gao Huan's confidence lies.

The guard of the jade is Wei Xiaokuan, the general of the Western Wei Dynasty - this duke is resourceful and has always been reused by Yuwentai of the Western Wei Dynasty, and whenever the situation becomes chaotic, he always asks him to stabilize the situation. From the Three Dynasties to the Northern Weekend Period and the Yang Jian dictatorship, it was also highly used.

Above_ Yuwentai (507-556), the word black otter (a black Tai)

At the beginning of the war, Gao Huan ordered his soldiers to build a mound on the south side of the city, hoping to be condescending and take advantage of the situation. Wei Xiaokuan ordered the troops to connect the two high-rise buildings in the city with wood, and patrolled day and night to prevent the Eastern Wei army from taking advantage of it. If the heavens can't do it, then go to the ground, and the Eastern Wei Dynasty dug tunnels in the south of the city, Wei Xiaokuan ordered his subordinates to dig trenches in the south of the city and sent people to defend them, grabbing the siege soldiers who ran out of the tunnels like whack-a-moles and killing them; As soon as the fire rushes, the salty is scorched", and the Eastern Wei army in the tunnel choked on smoke and suffered heavy losses, so they gave up the tunnel war.

Gao Huan rushed to make a strengthened version of the siege vehicle, "where the car is reached, it is not destroyed, although there is a row, Mo can resist", Wei Xiaokuan chose to use the soft to overcome the rigid, "is the sewing cloth for the man, and set it up wherever it goes." The cloth was suspended in the air, and its car could not be broken", the sharp siege equipment could not break through the huge mancloth, so the Eastern Wei army lit a torch on the long pole to burn the mancloth, and at the same time burned the defenders' towers. Wei Xiaokuan ordered his subordinates to make longer sharp iron hooks to hook off the burning part of the top of the long rod.

Gao Huan was helpless, so he sacrificed the final killing weapon - destroying the foundation and trapping the city wall. This is a method that the besieging side has always used, but the damage to the city is very serious. This technique is usually used against large cities, because the defense surface of large cities is wide, and once the city collapses in many places, the limited forces cannot block the loopholes in time, which will give the besieging side a lot of room to break through - but Yubi is a small city.

Gao Huan ordered his subordinates to "pierce the ground on all sides of the city, make twenty-one roads, divide them into four roads, and put beams and pillars in each of them." and poured oil into the pillars, and set them on fire, and the pillars were broken, and the city collapsed." But as soon as the city wall collapsed, Wei Xiaokuan immediately blocked the wooden fence in the gap, and continued to block it in combination with the terrain and the high-rise buildings in the city.

Above_ The North and South Koreas show their intentions

This is the end of the duel between the two engineers, and then the psychological warfare and the war of words begins.

Gao Huan sent his subordinates to ask Wei Xiaokuan: "I haven't heard of the rescuers, why don't you surrender?"

Wei Xiaokuan's answer was also very straightforward: "My city is strong, the soldiers have more than enough food, the attackers work by themselves, and the defenders are always easy. Filial piety Kansai men, will not be for the general. "To put it simply: I have a strong city, enough to eat, and I am worried that many of you will not be able to return alive, so how can you surrender.

Not long after, Gao Huan sent someone to tell the defenders in the city: "Those who can behead the city lord, worship the captain, seal the county prince, 10,000 households, and reward 10,000 horses." Wei Xiaokuan turned around and told the siege troops outside the city: "If there is a person who beheads the high joy, he will be rewarded accordingly."

Gao Huan was so angry that he grabbed Wei Xiaokuan's nephew Wei Qian, and shouted, "If you don't descend early, you will be killed", Wei Xiaokuan ignored it, and the hearts of the people in the city became more determined.

Above_ Western Wei Dynasty (535-556), a secessionist regime split from the Northern Wei Dynasty during the Northern and Southern Dynasties of China.

In this way, an offensive and defensive battle with a huge disparity of forces was fought until November of that year, and the soldiers of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, who had fought for 60 days, had no hope of victory. There were many troops killed in the siege, and Gao Huan ordered "70,000 dead to gather into one grave". At that time, "a star fell in the Shenwu (referring to Gao Huan) camp, and all the donkeys roared together, and the soldiers were afraid." In ancient times when it was believed in celestial phenomena, it was popular to fall in the barracks, and the wailing of donkeys and horses all signaled that the general would be lost, and this general undoubtedly referred to Gao Huan, so the military heart began to fluctuate, and it happened that Gao Huan also got sick at this time (it is estimated that he was angry), so he withdrew the troops and divisions overnight in November of that year.

This large-scale siege war came to an end, and the Eastern Wei Dynasty not only achieved a "complete defeat" in the campaign, but also turned from prosperity to decline in strategy.

This is related to the political-military structure of the Eastern Wei Dynasty at that time.

Above_ Eastern Wei Dynasty (534-550) was one of the Northern Dynasties

Although Gao Huan of the Eastern Wei Dynasty and Yuwentai of the Western Wei Dynasty were both military wizards, Gao Huan's forces in the Eastern Wei Dynasty were formed earlier and their military strength was stronger, so they were always in an offensive position in the war. The Western Wei Dynasty implemented the government and military system while developing production, and exchanged time for defense, which was more and more beneficial to the Western Wei Dynasty. This is also one of the reasons why Gao Huan insisted on attacking Western Wei. However, the Battle of Yubi turned the Eastern Wei Dynasty, which was originally in a superior military position, into a military disadvantage, and it was even more inevitable that one would lose the other.

Politically, the contrast between the advantages and disadvantages of the two sides is even more obvious. Gao Huan is a Xianbei Han, and Yuwentai is a Sinicized Xianbei person, the vast number of wealthy Wubao lords and scholars in the Central Plains are naturally closer to the Yuwen family, and the continuous inflow of talents also makes the economic development of the Yuwen clan more rapid, and the government military system can be smoothly implemented. The Yuwen clan and its important generals and allies have also formed an inseparable interest group through continuous intermarriage and kinship, the Guanlong Hao clan, who have mastered the absolute military power of the country, and the country is extremely stable under the strong and weak branches.

Above_ Heavy cavalry during the Northern and Southern Dynasties

On the other hand, Gao Huan has many brave warriors and fierce generals under his subordinates, but he lacks a group of ministers who can implement reforms and unite various factions, and his own Xianbei attributes also make it difficult for him to obtain talents from the Central Plains. The result of Xianbei and Huhua is that the tribal consciousness is strong and the concept of family and country is weak, the consciousness of master and servant is strong and the consciousness of monarchs and ministers is weak, and the internal cohesion is far inferior to that of Yuwen.

After all, war is a continuation of the economy and politics, and only politically united and economically efficient forces can have the last laugh.

Gao Huan knew the stakes well, so he was worried about the difficulty of sleeping and eating.

After this defeat and return to Jinyang, he hurriedly recruited the prince Gao Cheng and a group of important ministers to entrust the future, and ordered Taiyuan Gong Gao Yang to guard Yecheng.

Above_ Northern and Southern Dynasties period

Before the sickbed, he and the prince introduced their subordinate generals one by one, and told him which people can use and which people to guard, when it comes to the general Hou Jingshi, he sighed and said: "Jing has been in charge of Henan for 14 years, and there are often flying and domineering ambitions, and I can raise them, how can I be the emperor for you!" Yuwentai) has fought against each other, and he is considered a celebrity among the saboteurs.

More than a month later, Gao Huan, who was full of grief and indignation, died in Jinyang at the age of fifty-two. His old rival, Yu Wentai, the founder of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, outlived him by ten years, and during these ten years, the Western Wei Dynasty expanded violently and became the most unified and powerful regime, and the trend of being strong in the west and weak in the east was unstoppable.

References: "Northern History, Wei Xiaokuan's Biography", "Northern Qi Book, Emperor Ji's Second Shenwuxia"