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In the history of the mainland, there have been three tragic heroes, who once won the world, but lost all the games because of a wrong step. They were Xiang Yu, Cao Cao, and Li Zicheng, the leader of the peasant rebel army at the end of the Ming Dynasty.
The Curse of Helo
In the long history of history, there are three such heroic characters, all of whom were only a stone's throw away from the supreme power under the dome, but failed to cross the ocean at the last moment: Xiang Yu, Cao Cao, and Li Zicheng, the leader of the peasant rebel army in the late Ming Dynasty.
Xiang Yu, the overlord of Western Chu, bravely crowned the three armies, but due to arrogance, not making good use of people, and contempt for the Heluo region, it eventually led to the self-slaughter of Wujiang, leaving behind a legend that has been heroic through the ages. Cao Cao, Emperor Wu of Wei, a capable minister who ruled the world, and a traitor in troubled times, but in the end he failed to complete the great cause of reunification.
As for Li Zicheng, who was born in cloth, he once broke the Ming Dynasty for many years, but unfortunately failed to stabilize the foundation, especially the poor governance of the Heluo region, which finally made the Dashun rivers and mountains wake up like a dream and disperse in a hurry. Their footprints are still rippling in the long river of history.
The above three heroes belonged to three dynasties, and all of them became the overlords of the Central Plains at one time, and their short-lived victories and rapid defeats were all related to a geographical unit. That is the Heluo region, which is located in the middle of the continent, roughly overlapping with the southern part of present-day Shaanxi Province and the entire territory of Henan Province.
The mountains and rivers in the Heluo area are dangerous
What is different from today's high-tech information warfare is that in the era of cold weapons, the main form of military operations is direct confrontational warfare with vehicles, infantry, and cavalry as carriers, and in this sense, the influence of the geographical environment on military activities is particularly important.
Heluo area is located in the middle of the continent, between 33°-36°N, 110°-114°E, and has a warm temperate continental monsoon climate. In terms of topography, it is located in the transition zone from the second ladder to the third echelon, and the overall geographical characteristics are high in the west and low in the east.
Mountains and rivers together constitute the most important natural geographical environment that influenced the ancient military activities in the Heluo area. In summary, we have examined the main mountain ranges in the Heluo region. From the perspective of military geography alone, the mountains in the southern part of the Taihang Mountains and the eastern part of the Qinling Mountains play a non-negligible role in the military activities in the Luoyang area.
The three mountain ranges of Taihang Mountain, Wangwu Mountain and Zhongtiao Mountain are connected to each other, and are basically arranged in the area north of the Yellow River in the north of the Heluo area in a southwest-northeast direction, which is an important geographical barrier for the Shanxi Plateau to flow southward to the Huanghuai Plain. The grooved mountain with the opening facing the northeast also forms a geographical barrier around the Luoyang area.
As far as the Heluo area is concerned, on the one hand, the western and southern mountain ranges can effectively hinder the attackers on the periphery of the Heluo area with their high geographical situation, and are the natural fortifications guarding the Luoyang area. On the other hand, Luoyang is a traffic channel that connects Luoyang with the outside world formed by the above-mentioned mountains.
For example, the Cuihan Passage into Shaanxi in the west, the Wanluo Passage in the south to Jingxiang, and the vast low mountains and hilly areas together constitute a strategic depth conducive to Luoyang, and are undoubtedly the key factors in military deployment and strategic decision-making. In short, the Heluo area is located on land and water for north-south and east-west traffic.
In addition, Luoyang has been the influence of the capital for a long time, so it is mostly coveted by external armed forces, and the war is endless. The surrounding mountains of the Luoyang Basin actually serve as an important geographical barrier, which plays a very important role in the transformation of the superior and inferior positions of the offensive and defensive sides.
As a part of natural geography, rivers also play a vital role in military activities, there are many rivers in the Heluo area, and the Yellow River and its tributaries on the north and south banks together constitute a huge Yellow River water system, which has a role that cannot be ignored in ancient military activities, such as strategic defense and logistics transportation.
The pass is a military fortification built by the rulers of the previous dynasties to defend the capital and prevent the internal people's uprising and the invasion of external forces. Jindu is located on land and water, and is an important transportation hub.
In the military, it has the responsibility of garrison and defense, and once there is a war, it is a military important place, which has always been valued by soldiers. The pass is a product of ancient warfare. In the era of cold weapons, geographical advantages played a crucial role in the victory or defeat of wars, so when talking about military warfare in ancient times, it must be closely related to dangers and key points, and they cannot be separated.
The military offensive and defensive points in the east are mainly in Xingyang. In the battle of Chu-Han Chenggao, Liu Bang's group adjusted its strategic thinking in a timely manner, turned offensive to defensive, and adopted the principle and strategy of defending the key points according to the danger, attaching importance to the construction of Aocang, and simultaneously attacking and harassing the internal line and the external line, thus reversing the unfavorable situation in the battle situation.
However, the Chu army not only focused its strategic offensive on the choke points of Xingyang and Chenggao, which were favorable to the enemy's defense, but also relied on long logistical supply lines, so that under the repeated attacks and harassment of the Han army Peng Yue, it could not help but fall into a passive situation of being overstretched and difficult to take care of.
In a series of wars in the late Sui and early Tang dynasties, Xingyang, especially the Hugao Pass area, became the focus of contention between all parties. Tongguan, located at the junction of Guanzhong and Heluo, has both offensive and defensive two-way.
That is, if the pass is strong, it will attack Luo in the east, and if it is strong in Heluo, it will break through in the west. For the Heluo area, Tongguan is not only the west gate guarding Luoyang, but also a military barrier in the attack pass, and its offensive and defensive nature changes with the shift of military gravity.
The mountains in the Heluo area are crisscrossed, the rivers are crisscrossed, and Luoyang is the political regional center, so the successive dynasties based on the consideration of protecting Luoyang, often have many construction of fortress defense projects in the Heluo area, and all the rulers who occupy the Heluo area will focus on operating the fortress facilities.
The transportation in Heluo area is convenient
On the whole, although the Heluo area is "surrounded by enemies on all sides", due to the geographical situation surrounded by mountains and rivers, the importance of the pass and Jindu during this period is extremely prominent. Especially in the period of war, no matter who is attacking or defending, if you can occupy these passes and Jindu scattered along the valley and the big river, you can easily control the military passage where it is located, and then gain the initiative in battle.
Luoyang is located in the center of the Heluo region, and under the dual influence of geographical and human factors, it formed a relatively superior transportation condition in the pre-Qin period. The reason why King Zhou Ping chose to move east to Luoyang after the western capital fell into ruins was because of its convenient conditions as a transportation hub between the Heluo region and the Central Plains.
From the perspective of the ancient transportation system, waterways and land routes together constitute the two major modes of transportation of national materials and personnel, and the relationship between them and military activities has always been valued by people. However, from the perspective of army movements, the most important mode of transportation in ancient warfare in the Heluo area was land routes.
The Heluo area is accessible in all directions. From the perspective of military movements, the most important land military passages such as Chenggao Road, Cuihan Road, Jinluo Road, and Wanluo Road were formed. These military passages are centered on Luoyang, passing through mountains and dangerous peaks to form many military routes.
On the one hand, these radial water systems have become the main way for Luoyang to connect with the outside world. Strictly speaking, these roads, which were formed earlier, actually have no clear functional direction in economic and trade exchanges, population migration, information transmission, or military activities.
But if there is a war, the importance of these routes, especially those of special military value, tends to increase rapidly – because the choice of roads in military activities often takes into account the accessibility of the roads and the fit of the troops.
On the other hand, these communication routes, which seem to extend and radiate in different directions, are not actually unrelated or intersecting in specific military activities. Taking the southern roads of Luoyang as an example, due to the barrier of Songji, its southward passage first extended along the mountain passes.
Subsequently, after leaving the western Henan Mountains and entering the western edge of the Huanghuai Plain, it began to meet between the eastern foot of Funiu Mountain and Yingru. This transportation hub area reaches Xiangwan in the south, Heluo in the north, and Jianghuai in the east, and has a very important strategic value in terms of military geography and has become a hot spot for military activities.
The same is true for northbound roads leading to Shanxi and Hebei. These intersecting and converging roads make the military traffic in the Heluo area very complicated, and it is for this reason that the outstanding military strategists who fought for Heluo in the past dynasties are well aware of this. It is even said that the choice of military line often profoundly affects the outcome of a war.
Epilogue:
Xiang Yu, Cao Cao, and Li Zicheng, the leader of the peasant army in the late Ming Dynasty, once won the world, but they all fell short and died because they did not manage the Heluo region well. What other views and evaluations do you have?Welcome to share, discuss, and communicate progress with us in the comment area. If you still have questions or questions about the article, please also leave a message in the comment area, and we will answer you in time.