What is Wu Peifu's military command ability? Zhang Xueliang: I look down on him
Outside Beijing in 1922, an earth-shattering battle was being staged. In the smoke of gunpowder, two huge armies fought to the death. This was the first Zhifeng War that shocked the whole country, and it was also the pinnacle of the military career of the Beiyang warlord Wu Peifu. At that time, Wu Peifu was like the "first brother" in the northern military circles. However, in the eyes of his opponents, this "winning general" is a "straw bag who can't fight". What is Wu Peifu's real level? Let's uncover this long-lost history.
To say that this Wu Peifu is really a legend. You see, he was still a serious scholar at the beginning, and he was admitted to Xiucai, and he was about to embark on a career in office. Whoever thinks that he will offend someone who shouldn't be offended in the second year will not only be dismissed, but also wanted. This is good, I can only go to Beijing to eat as a fortune teller.
You say how dramatic this life is, a fortune teller, and then he became a powerful warlord. This has to be put on hold now, I'm afraid it will have to be spread all over the Internet as a joke. But in that troubled era, it really made him famous.
Wu Peifu has a set of wars. What he is best at is to be on the spot, and he can always come up with a stroke of genius at a critical moment. Take the Zhiwan War as an example, when the two sides were equal in strength and the battle was stalemate. Wu Peifu had an idea and led a surprise attack on the enemy's headquarters, which turned the situation around at once. This trick "Black Tiger Digs Out the Heart" is really beautiful.
However, if you want to say that Wu Peifu is the most proud battle, it has to be the first direct war. The situation was very unfavorable to him at that time, and the enemy army was strong and well-armed. But Wu Peifu relied on his wit to play his opponent around.
He first sent a large number of scouts to get a clear picture of the enemy's disposition. Then, concentrate the main forces on the Western Front, intending to crush the enemy's right flank in one fell swoop. This trick is called "key breakthroughs," and in today's parlance, it means "concentrating superior forces to strike at the enemy's weak links."
During the battle, Wu Peifu showed superb on-the-spot command ability. He went to the front line many times to supervise the battle and adjust his tactics in time. When the direct army was in trouble, he immediately mobilized reserves to implement a roundabout outflanking and successfully defused the crisis. This kind of ability to adapt to emergencies is not something that ordinary people can have.
The most wonderful thing is the final stage of the war. Wu Peifu adopted the tactic of "detouring on the double line and attacking from three directions" and beat the Feng army into a daze. The Feng army was in turmoil, and suddenly collapsed. Wu Peifu took advantage of the victory to pursue and drove the Feng army out of the pass in one fell swoop. This battle is like acting in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
However, Wu Peifu also has shortcomings. To put it bluntly, his set of military thinking is still the same old-fashioned tradition. In fact, I don't know much about modern warfare. This explains why his performance in the Northern Expedition was mediocre. In the face of the revolutionary army's brand-new combat methods, Wu Peifu's old style is not very effective.
In the final analysis, Wu Peifu's success is inseparable from the special background of that era. In the era of warlord warfare, he was indeed a standout. But in the context of modern warfare, Wu Peifu's level is just like that. In today's words, among the Beiyang warlords, he can be regarded as "there is no tiger in the mountains, and the monkey is the king".
Looking back at Wu Peifu's military career, I have to say that this guy does have two brushes. He was adept at adapting to the situation, proficient in the use of tactics, and was comfortable in commanding large-scale operations. In those days, Wu Peifu could be said to be a rare military talent.
However, the development of history is always full of drama. Just as Wu Peifu's fame was rising, an even bigger storm was brewing. The clarion call for the Northern Expedition is about to sound, and this war will completely change the political landscape of China.
In this magnificent historical drama, Wu Peifu was finally defeated. His tactics, which had been tried and tested in the warlord melee, were ineffective in the face of the revolutionary army. In the end, this once powerful Beiyang tycoon could only withdraw from the stage of history.
Some people say that Wu Peifu's failure is the inevitability of the times. In the face of the wave of revolution, the old warlords were doomed to obsolescence. Some people also said that Wu Peifu lost because he didn't understand politics, and he could only fight and not govern the country. In any case, Wu Peifu's story shows us a microcosm of a special era, and also allows us to see the power of historical change.