After the Battle of Chibi, Liu, Cao and Sun confronted each other in Jiangling, and Sun Wu Ganning took Yiling and held out until reinforcements arrived, and Cao Ren immediately retreated.
Fourteen years later, Lu Xun burned the company camp in Yiling, burned Liu Bei's tens of thousands of troops, and also burned himself to become the governor of the capital, which laid the foundation of the Three Kingdoms from then on.
After the Western Jin Dynasty destroyed Shu, determined to destroy Wu, Longxiang's general Wang Jun went down the river and first Keyi Ling (also called Xiling at this time). As soon as Yiling arrived, Wang Jun received a letter of commendation from the imperial court. Soon after, Soochow went to extinction.
To a certain extent, "the three kingdoms compete for hegemony in Yiling". How can a small Yiling be so important as to affect the fortunes of the country?
Map of the Three Kingdoms
1. The protracted struggle for Yiling
The dispute between the Three Kingdoms is in Jingzhou. And the battle for Jingzhou is focused on Yiling. Therefore, to a certain extent, the situation in Yiling can be seen as a microcosm of the dispute between the Three Kingdoms. The end of the Battle of Yiling, just like Gongsun Zhan finished the Battle of Jieqiao and Yuan Shao finished the Battle of Guandu, marked that the situation was about to enter the next stage.
Cao Cao chased the dead in the north, the Sun brothers made contributions to Jiangdong, Liu Bei worked under Liu Biao, Yiling was still very peaceful at this time, and after Cao Cao went south in the thirteenth year of Jian'an, Yiling became one of the main battlefields of the tripartite battle. From the thirteenth year of Jian'an (208) to the first year of Taikang (280), a total of seventy years, the large and small battles are innumerable, and the large-scale battles alone include the battle of Cao Liu Dangyang, the battle of Cao Sun Yiling, the battle of Guan Yu Maicheng, the battle of Wu Shu Yiling and so on.
Battle of Yiling
In the thirteenth year of Jian'an, Cao Cao went south, and Liu Bei's soldiers retreated south in two ways, one led by Guan Yu by water, and one by Liu Bei by land, and agreed to meet in Jiangling. But Liu Bei and his entourage did not rush directly to Jiangling, but turned to Nanyang. In order to seize Yiling, he was chased by Cao's army on a forced march.
"Cao Gong will chase after him with five thousand horses, traveling more than 300 miles in one day and one night, and in Changsaka in Dangyang. The first lord abandoned his wife and rode away with Zhuge Liang, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and dozens of others, and Cao Gong won the weight of his people. - "Romance of the Three Kingdoms· Biography of the First Lord"
After the plan went bankrupt, Liu Bei "leaned towards Hanjin" and joined Guan Yu. Yiling fell into the hands of Cao's army.
Guan Yu (160-220 years), the original character Changsheng, later changed to the word Yunchang
Cao Cao sensitively realized the importance of Yiling, and merged Yiling with neighboring counties to establish "Linjiang County". After the Battle of Chibi, the offensive and defensive positions were different, and the Sun-Liu coalition army attacked Yiling and captured Yiling before Cao Ren could react. Later, Zhou Yu led the reinforcements to arrive quickly, and Cao Ren saw that there was nothing to do, so he immediately retreated.
After Yiling fell into the hands of the Sun-Liu coalition army, Liu Bei "borrowed Jingzhou" and gained control of the place.
After a period of stability, Cao Cao took the lead and provoked the battle for Jingzhou, which was not only the highlight moment of Guan Yu's flooding of the Seventh Army, but also the final curtain call of the defeat of Maicheng. An important reason for Guan Yu's defeat lies in the transfer of talents, a large number of talents have been transferred to Sichuan and Shu, Guan Yu's subordinates are embarrassed and useful, Fu Shiren, Mi Fang, Fan You and other generations are indiscriminately filled, and small horses and carts are pulled.
At the end of this battle, Yiling also fell into the hands of Sun Wu and was guarded by Lu Xun. Liu Bei went east to seek Sun Wu in the name of revenge, and Lu Xun lured the enemy to go deeper, resisted a little, and finally burned the company camp. At that time, the scene was "boat equipment, water step military funds, and a little bit for a while." The corpses drifted down the river. - "Romance of the Three Kingdoms· Wu Shu · Lu Xun Biography"
After that, Yiling was in the hands of Sun Wu until the fall of Shu Han.
Lu Kang (226-274), a native of Wu County, Wu County (now Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province).
Second, Yiling changed hands, and the Three Kingdoms ended
Lu Kang once went to the sparse and said that Yiling "If there is no defense, not only will a county be lost, then Jingzhou will not be Wu." If there is no danger, the country should fight for it. In fact, this is not the first time he has emphasized the importance of Yiling.
At first, Yiling was guarded by the Bu brothers, and Sun Hao recruited Bu Yan to enter the capital Jianye. The three generations of the Bu family guarded Yiling for 40 years, and Bu Xian had concerns and doubts, and finally surrendered to the Western Jin Dynasty.
When the Jin and Wu sides learned the news, they immediately sent heavy troops to the front line. The Western Jin Dynasty was divided into two routes, one to attack Jiangling and the other to aid Yiling. The leader of the Eastern Wu army was the famous general Lu Kang, and in the face of the problem of choosing one of Yiling and Jiangling, Lu Kang did not hesitate to choose to go to Yiling.
"If Xiling is knotted, then the Nanshan Mountains should be disturbed, and it is difficult to talk about the worries. I would rather abandon Jiangling and go to Xiling. ”
Subsequently, Lu Kang defeated the army of the Western Jin Dynasty and recaptured Yiling, which had become an isolated city. After that, Lu Kang repeatedly reiterated the strategic significance of Yiling. It's a pity that after the death of Lu Kang, the Eastern Wu Dynasty became increasingly abandoned.
After Wang Jun used a trick to capture Yiling, he went down the river, and Dongwu had no power to fight back. It is the same as the consequences of Lu Kang's expected loss of Yiling.
Soochow territory
3. The significance of the military location of Yiling itself
The ancient military strategists of the mainland believed that there was a difference between "scattered land", "enclaves", and "land contention". The so-called "land grab" means that it is advantageous for us to occupy it, and it is also advantageous for the enemy to occupy it for the enemy. Yiling is such a strategic place that soldiers must fight.
First of all, the geographical location of Yiling, the interconnection between the three important economic zones of the Taihu Plain, the Jianghan Plain and the Sichuan Basin during the Three Kingdoms period mainly depends on the water transportation of the Yangtze River, especially the Three Gorges waterway centered on Jiangling.
Yiling is located at the east mouth of Xiling Gorge, one of the Three Gorges, the river channel of hundreds of miles before Yiling is narrow, the torrent is rushing, and the boat navigation often has the difficulty of being broken, and it is full of "accident-prone road sections". The roads on both sides are similarly rough and difficult to walk. But once you pass Yiling, the river suddenly opens up and the water flow is relatively gentle. The roads on both sides also enter the flat river area, which can be used for cars and horses.
Liu Bei (161-223)
For the defenders of Eastern Wu, this meant that if the Shu army wanted to conquer Yiling, whether it was by water or mountain, it would be limited by bumpy geographical conditions, and could only advance in turn as a column. "There are millions of sharp divisions, but only a thousand people can start, thousands of miles away, and no more than 100 ships will drive forward", which is the terrain of Yiling. The reason why Liu Bei camped for hundreds of miles is also related to this kind of terrain. Once Liu Bei passed Yiling, he could feel the marching speed of "the white emperor of the court, and the thousands of miles of Jiangling in one day". This is also the reason why Lu Xun must block Liu Bei in Yiling.
Yiling is connected to Zhangshui and Fushui in the north, and there is a road to Xiangyang in the meantime. After the Battle of Yiting, Yiling Shu surrendered Huang Quan to Wei, and from this road to Xiangyang and then to Wancheng, and finally north to Luoyang. To the south, you can go to Wuling in Xiangxi through Yidao. Therefore, Yiling can attack Bashu to the west, threaten the Central Plains to the north, and look at the entire Yangtze River basin to the east. For the enemy army, controlling Yiling can block the enemy's way in these directions, so the three parties in the Three Kingdoms are sensitive to this place.
Yangtze River Basin
Occupying Yiling has at least three advantages for the enemy army, one is that the transportation task is difficult, which restricts the logistics supply. Second, the roads are rugged and the space is narrow, which hinders the deployment of the army. The third is the slowness of the march due to the difficulty of the roads.
The advantages of Shu and Wei occupying Yiling are obvious, and the attack from Yiling down the river, whether it is grain transshipment or marching speed, it is a thousand miles a day.
Yiling is in Wei, and Wei's soldiers can point to Shu and Wu at any time. Yiling is in Shu, then Guan Yu can wave Xiangyang at any time. Yiling is in Wu, and the border can be safe. Everyone has to take it, and everyone has to calculate, so when the strength of the three kingdoms is still balanced, Yiling has changed hands several times.
After the Battle of Chibi, Sun and Liu's allied forces attacked Jingzhou, choosing to attack Yiling first and then Jingzhou. A few years later, Liu Bei was burned to the company camp in Yiling. And the Western Jin Dynasty destroyed Wu, and also chose to fight Yiling first, when Sun Liu attacked Jingzhou, it seemed to be a rehearsal of the Western Jin Dynasty to destroy Wu.
After Sun Quan got Yiling, he changed its name to Xiling, and after the establishment of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, it was changed back to Yiling. It can be said that Yiling witnessed the rise of Eastern Wu and the demise of Eastern Wu.
Yiling Yiling, where is the destiny of heaven?
Resources:
[1] "A Brief Discussion on the Battle of Yiling" Chen Liao
[2] "Yiling" and "Yiling"" Zheng Tiesheng
Source: "History School-kun"
Editors: Wu Xicheng, Applejack
[Disclaimer: This number is the official public welfare account of "National Reading Promotion", and this article is reprinted for the purpose of conveying more information. If there is a source label error or other inaccuracies, please contact us. We will correct it in a timely manner. Thank you]