During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there was a very famous war, namely Chen Qingzhi's Northern Expedition. In 528, the Liang Dynasty general Chen Qingzhi led an army of 7,000 troops on the Northern Expedition, but broke through hundreds of thousands of Northern Wei troops, attacking the city along the way, "fourteen years of peace and thirty-two cities, forty-seven battles, the direction is invincible." At that time, luoyang city, the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty, spread the nursery rhyme of "Mo Zi imprisoned by famous teachers and generals, thousands of soldiers and horses avoid white robes". So, why was Chen Qingzhi able to achieve such a result?
Some people may say that it is because Chen Qingzhi is too powerful, but according to the historical records, he "can't shoot through the za, the horse is not convenient", riding and shooting is very poor, and there is no name for him among the seventy-two generals of the Martial Temple evaluated by later generations. In addition, Chen Qing's life, in addition to this Northern Expedition, he also carried out two Northern Expeditions after that, and the result was a big defeat by the unknown Eastern Wei general Yao Xiong, who not only captured his soldiers, but also abandoned his weight and fled, which surprised people.
So the question is, Chen Qingzhi's first Northern Expedition was able to win a complete victory, but the next two times he returned home? It is not difficult to explain this problem, in fact, Chen Qingzhi is not a top famous general in history at all, and even within the Liang Dynasty, his ability is not as good as Wei Rui, Cao Jingzong and others. Therefore, in the later Northern Expedition, Chen Qingzhi was defeated by the unknown Yao Xiong. Since Chen Qingzhi's ability was limited, why could he still achieve the great victory of the first Northern Expedition?
The reason is simple, Chen Qingzhi got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! First, the political situation in the Northern Wei Dynasty was shaken. In April 528, Empress Dowager Hu poisoned Emperor Xiaoming of Northern Wei. After Erzhu Rong heard the news, he marched into Luoyang and supported Yuan Ziyou as emperor. Later, Erzhu Rong also created the Heyin Rebellion, killing Empress Dowager Hu and the young emperor Yuanzhao, as well as more than 2,000 officials of the prince. The change in Heyin weakened the power of the Northern Wei Dynasty and triggered a violent shock in the political situation.
Second, Chen Qingzhi's teacher was famous. The purpose of Chen Qingzhi's Northern Expedition was not to seize Northern Wei territory, but to help Northern Wei Emperor Yuan Hao return to Luoyang as emperor. Due to the changes in the political situation in Northern Wei, and Yuan Hao was the grandson of Emperor Xianwen Tuoba Hong, Chen Qingzhi's military operations were supported by many Northern Wei officials, and all the areas south of the Yellow River supported Yuan Hao. Chen Qingzhi only had 7,000 people, but Yuan Hao quickly gathered more than 100,000 people around him.
Third, the contempt of the Northern Wei emperors. Since Chen Qingzhi only had more than 7,000 people at the beginning of the Northern Expedition, Emperor Xiaozhuang of Northern Wei did not pay attention to this army at all. At that time, the Xing Gao Rebellion broke out in the Shandong region of Northern Wei, and the number of rebels reached more than 100,000, and the momentum was huge, so Emperor Xiaozhuang of Northern Wei sent the general Yuan Tianmu to lead the army to pacify Qidi first. At this time, Chen Qingzhi seized the opportunity to attack Xingyang and Suiyang in one fell swoop. Yuan Tianmu quickly led his troops back to reinforcements, while Chen Qingzhi waited for work and broke the Northern Wei army.
In this case, Chen Qingzhi ushered in the highlight moment of his life, leading 7,000 troops deep into the territory of Northern Wei, repeatedly winning battles, it can be said that it was invincible and invincible, and soon occupied Luoyang. Of course, in addition to the favorable situation at that time, Chen Qingzhi himself still had advantages, although he was not good at charging into the battlefield, but he was deeply rooted in the hearts of the army, "good at caring for non-commissioned officers, can get their deadly strength", so in the course of the battle, the soldiers can bravely move forward.
After the occupation of Luoyang, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse, and the deputy military deputy Ma Fonian once suggested to Chen Qingzhi, "Kill Luo, this is a thousand years long", but Chen Qingzhi refused. After that, Erzhu Rong personally led the troops to fight, and the two sides fought fiercely at the river bridge, and Although Chen Qingzhi fought bravely under the command, he was still defeated. In the end, Chen Qingzhi's entire army was destroyed, he shaved off his hair, beard, dressed up as a monk, and returned to the Liang Dynasty after several turns.
References: 1. Book of Liang, 2. Zizhi Tongjian, 3. Book of Wei