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Original
(immediately following the previous issue)
Lure down Munda
Zhuge Liangtun soldiers were stationed in Yangping and did not send out for nearly a year. This is actually a big taboo for soldiers, one is that it is difficult to keep secrets. The Northern Expedition was raided, the large army lived for a long time, once the news leaked, Cao Wei had some precautions, the Northern Expedition would be difficult to achieve the expected results. Fortunately, Cao Wei never paid attention to Shu Han, and the transportation and communication conditions at that time were also poor, and Cao Wei did not take precautions in advance.
Second, it is difficult to maintain high morale, that is, the so-called exhaustion and decline. It is impossible for the soldiers to maintain their fighting spirit without fighting any war for a year, but will only gradually slack off in the long wait.
The third is to consume a large amount of grain and grass. More than 100,000 soldiers and civilians gathered together to consume too much grain and grass every day, and whether there was enough grain and grass was a very important factor in determining the outcome of the war. How long can the grain and grass accumulated by Zhuge Liang in more than two years last? If you stay like this, this battle will not be fought.
By merely holding on to this point, it can be seen that Zhuge Liang's military ability is indeed not as strong as boasted in the novel, and in fact this improper arrangement became the first mistake of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition, and thus led to the second mistake.
Why did Zhuge Liang stay for a long time? You still have to go back to "Longzhong Pair" to find the reason.
The path of the Northern Expedition of the "Longzhong Pair" is that Jingzhou and Yizhou go north at the same time. Mao Zedong scoffed at this strategy and tactics, believing that this would lead to the dispersion of troops and weaken the combat effectiveness, and it would be better to concentrate superior forces to break through a little.
But Zhuge Liang had always envisioned a two-way attack, and his mind did not change, but at this time, Jingzhou had been lost, how could it be possible to send troops in two ways?
There are conditions to go up, and there are no conditions to create conditions to go up. Zhuge Liang just wanted to create the conditions for two ways to send troops. It is true that there are no Shu Han armies on the eastern front, but there is a former (Shu) Han general, that is, Xincheng Taishou Mengda.
Zhuge Liang wanted to lure Meng Da down and let Meng Da send troops from the eastern front.
In the autumn of 225, when Zhuge Liang marched to Hanyang County (present-day Gao County, Sichuan Province), a man named Li Hong, who had surrendered from the State of Wei, came to see Zhuge Liang and told Zhuge Liang that he had just passed by Meng Da, and Meng Da's trust and admiration for you could not be repeated.
From this time on, Zhuge Liang had the heart to seduce Meng Da. After returning to Chengdu, Zhuge Liang wrote a letter to Meng Da, first praising Meng Da and praising Meng Da for not being "a person who chases vanity and is lighter than going!" "It's about tying up Mengda from a moral perspective.
The second is to apologize for Liu Feng's bullying of Meng Da that year, which is essentially to excuse Liu Bei from distrusting Meng Da and shift the spearhead to Liu Feng.
Finally, I would like to thank Meng Da for trusting me and say that we are friendly in life, and I still miss you. This is a guarantee of friendship, so that Meng Da will not have any worries and return with confidence.
Meng Da's relationship with Liu Bei was not close. He was originally a general of Liu Zhang, and went with Fa Zheng to Jingzhou to welcome Liu Bei into Shu, during which Time Fa Zheng betrayed Liu Zhang, but there is no record of Meng Da also explicitly betraying Liu Zhang and defecting to Liu Bei.
Liu Bei took Fa Zheng into Shu and left Meng Da in Jingzhou. The men and horses led by Meng Da were also brought from Shu by him and Fa Zheng, not by Liu Bei. (For the matter of Meng Da, see this title "Did Liu Bei Kill Liu Feng Really Listen to Zhuge Liang's Words?") 》）
After Liu Bei gained Yizhou, Meng Da succeeded Zhang Fei as The Capital Taishou (宜都太守), attacking Fangling and Shangyong Counties in the north, killing Zhuge Liang's eldest brother-in-law, the former Fangling Taishou (蒯祺). The history books say that Liu Bei was "afraid" that Meng Da was incompetent at this time, that is, he privately felt that Meng Da was incompetent, and sent his righteous son Liu Feng to Shangyong to meet Meng Da.
This statement is very false, in fact, Liu Bei is worried that Meng Da is unreliable. Meng Da was Liu Zhang's old subordinate, Liu Bei did not have much contact with him, and Meng Da was capable and capable of fighting. Liu Bei's doubts and worries about him were also normal.
The evidence is that Liu Bei did not send Liu Feng to assist Meng Da, but to replace Meng Da, take over Meng Da's command, and command Meng Da's troops, and bully Meng Da. Meng Da was immediately squeezed to the side to cool off.
Meng Da could not stand Liu Feng's bullying, and feared becoming a scapegoat for Liu Bei to pursue Guan Yu's defeat at the Battle of Xiangyang, so he could not afford to hide, and led the four thousand men and horses brought from Shu to surrender to Cao Wei.
Meng Da was ostensibly bullied by Liu Feng, and now that Liu Feng is dead, the more critical figure Liu Bei is also dead, and the unfavorable factors for Meng Da in (Shu) Hanzhong are gone, and Zhuge Liang has the conditions and environment to lure Meng Da.
At this time, Meng Da's situation in the State of Wei was somewhat embarrassing, and Cao Pi, who liked and trusted him, died, and his friends Huan Jie and Xiahou Shang also died, and there was no closer relationship between the two kingdoms. Originally, there were people in the imperial court who did not like him (such as Liu Ye), and as a general, he was sensitive and fragile, and in an environment of no relatives, his heart was even more restless. Zhuge Liang's letter hit the fragile string in his heart.
Meng Da immediately replied to Zhuge Liang. In this way, the two sides began to establish contact. Interestingly, at this time, Li Yan also wrote a letter to Meng Da, saying: "I and Kong Ming accept the entrustment of the first master, with great responsibilities and worries, and I want to get excellent talents as companions." ”
It is not known whether this was a concerted action taken by Zhuge Liang and Li Yan after discussing it. Li Yan's letter revealed at least two pieces of information: First, the abduction of Meng Da was something that zhuge liang and Li Yan both thought should be done; second, Li Yan placed himself in a juxtaposed position with Zhuge Liang, and was also a minister of entrustment. From this point of view, did Li Yan lure Meng Da for the Northern Expedition of the Shu Han Dynasty or to strengthen his own forces? Not clear.
After many letters, Meng Da finally could not withstand the temptation of Zhuge Liang and planned to surrender.
The army entered Hanzhong, and Meng Da had not yet surrendered. At this time, the mistake of Zhuge Liang's long-term stay and not sending a hair appeared -- Zhuge Liang could not afford to wait.
It was necessary to get Meng Da to surrender and send troops north as soon as possible in order to eliminate the unfavorable factors mentioned above as soon as possible, and Zhuge Liang sent Guo Mo to Wei Xingtai shou Shenyi to surrender.
Shen Yi has always been at odds with Meng Da, and has repeatedly reflected to the imperial court that Meng Da has a bad heart. Zhuge Liang sent Guo Mo to Shen Yi to tell Meng Da about surrendering, hoping to force Meng Da to surrender as soon as possible.
Shen Yi quickly informed Sima Yi of this situation, who was stationed in Wancheng. Sima Yi was afraid of Meng Da's sudden attack, and in order to buy time for him to lead troops to suppress the rebellion, he first wrote a letter to Meng Da, saying that he did not believe what Guo Mo said, so as to paralyze Meng Da.
Meng Da received Sima Yi's letter and hesitated again. After Sima Yi stabilized Meng Da, he immediately secretly led an army to attack Xincheng.
Because Xincheng bordered both Wu and Shu Han, Sima Yi's generals advised Sima Yi to observe for a while before attacking, but Sima Yi disagreed and insisted on settling Meng Da before he could make a final decision.
Earlier, Zhuge Liang had warned Meng Da to strengthen precautions. Meng Da was not impressed, and wrote to Zhuge Liang: "Wancheng and Luoyang are eight hundred miles apart, and twelve hundred miles away from me. If Sima Yi wanted to come, he would first have to give it to Tianzi, and the round trip would take at least a month, when my city had been repaired and all the armies were ready. Besides, the terrain where I am stationed is dangerous, Sima Yi will not come personally, and the other departments will have nothing to worry about in the future."
Unexpectedly, Sima Yi did not ask Cao Rui at all, but first cut and then played, personally led the troops to come, and only took eight days to attack the city. Meng Da wrote to Zhuge Liang again, marveling at this, saying: "I want to do something, but I didn't expect that in just eight days, Sima Yi's army came to the city, how fast!" ”
Shangyong City, where Meng Da was stationed, was surrounded by water on three sides, and it was easy to defend and difficult to attack. Meng Da set up a wooden fence outside the city to strengthen the city defenses and defend the city. Han and Eastern Wu sent troops to the rescue at the same time, (Shu) Han troops came to the rescue from Xicheng Anqiao (in present-day Ankang, Shaanxi Province), and Wu troops came to the aid from Mulansai (the specific location is unknown, it should be in Hubei), but were intercepted by Sima Yi's troops.
In the first month of 228, Sima Yi's troops attacked the city in eight ways, and in only sixteen days, Meng Da's nephew Deng Xian and his general Li Fukaicheng surrendered. The Wei army entered the city, captured Meng Da, passed the capital division, and captured more than 10,000 people.
Sima Yi moved more than 7,000 of the captured Meng Da remnants to Youzhou. Soon, the (Shu) Han generals Yao Jing, Zheng He, and others led more than 7,000 subordinates to surrender, presumably the unit that came to the rescue of Meng Da, the task was not completed, afraid of going back and being punished, and the retreat route was also cut off by Shen Yi, and simply surrendered on the spot.
It took nearly a year, a large amount of grain and grass, to wait for a rebellion, and then to deceive and force a rebellion, this plan loss is too great, obviously inappropriate.
The First Northern Expedition
To clarify a fact, there is a personal grudge between Zhuge Liang and Meng Da, as mentioned earlier, Meng Da killed Zhuge Liang's eldest brother-in-law and the former Fang Ling Taishou Pu Qi when he attacked Fangling. The two sides were at war, each was its own master, and Zhuge Liang did not think about this matter, which was the quality of a politician. Some people said that Zhuge Liang held a grudge in his heart and did not send troops to rescue Meng Da when he was surrounded. Yao Jing, Zheng He, and others led more than 7,000 people to the rescue, and based on the total strength of shu Han, it was already a large army.
In the spring of 228, Zhuge Liang trumpeted that he would send troops from Xiegu Road to capture Yu County, and sent the Zhendong general Zhao Yun, the Zhongjian Army, and the Yangwu general Deng Zhi as suspects to occupy Jigu (north of Hanzhong City, south of Baoji City), confusing and containing the main force of the Wei army. Zhuge Liang led the main force to attack Qishan (qishan) (northwest of present-day Xihe County, Gansu).
The most talked about Northern Expedition to the Central Plains began.
Since Cao Pi established the State of Wei, he had always regarded Eastern Wu as his main rival, and had almost ignored the (Shu) Han. First, there were few villains in the (Shu) Han Dynasty; second, the Shu Dao was difficult, and it was not easy to get in and out; third, Liu Bei died, and there were no well-known leaders in the (Shu) Han.
Zhuge Liang suddenly sent troops to the Northern Expedition, and the Wei state was shaken and panicked. The Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui, with the general Cao Zhen (曹真), garrisoned the main force in Yu County, and was caught in Zhuge Liang's suspicious tactics. Cao Rui personally went to Chang'an to supervise the battle and coordinate the command. The three northwestern counties, Nan'an (郡治豲道, northeast of present-day Longxi County, Gansu), Tianshui (郡治冀, in present-day gangu County, Gansu Province), and Anding (郡治林泾, in present-day Zhenyuan County, Gansu Province) betrayed the State of Wei and responded to Zhuge Liang.
Zhuge Liangsheng's plan to attack the west was successful. Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi attracted the main force of Cao Zhen's Wei army. Zhuge Liang led the main force of the (Shu) Han army to attack the city of Jicheng in Tianshui County. Tianshui Commandery Taishou Ma Zun accompanied Guo Huai, the assassin of Yongzhou, on a tour outside, and Junzhong Lang, Jiang Wei, Gongcao Liangxu, Yin Reward, And Liang Qian, the chief bookkeeper, followed them, and when they walked to Luomen (present-day eastern Wushan County, Gansu Province), they received news that Zhuge Liang's troops had left Qishan.
Guo Huai judged that the comers were not good, so he took Ma Zun to Shangyi (上邽, in modern Qinzhou District, Tianshui City, Gansu Province) to deploy. Jiang Wei wanted Ma Zun to return to the county to defend the city, but Ma Zun suspected of collaborating with the enemy and was accused, Jiang Wei had to return to Jicheng with the others, who knew that Jicheng would not let them enter the city, and in desperation, the group chose to surrender to Zhuge Liang.
After Zhuge Liang occupied Jicheng, he took Nan'an Commandery (南安郡) as the vanguard of the former governor, Sima Xiang (司馬), and Liangzhou (梁州) assassin Shi Weiyan (梁州) as the vanguard. Nam An County surrendered.
Cao Zhen sat in YiXian and waited for Zhuge Liang's army to not come, and sent troops to attack Jigu. Facing the main force of the Wei army, Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi, who had originally brought only a small number of soldiers as suspects, were naturally not opponents and were defeated by Cao Zhen. After Zhao Yun personally broke off, the generals in the army did not scatter and flee, and the military equipment was not lost, reducing the losses to a minimum.
After Cao Zhen defeated Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi, he quickly led the main force to the west, and the front army quickly entered Shangyi to meet Guo Huai and others to fight against Zhuge Liang.
The street kiosk is lost
Zhuge Liang saw that Cao Allah force and rushed to urgently summon Wei Yan back to shi dong to help. Wei Yan drove five hundred miles to capture Anding Commandery and threatened the rear of the Wei army's flank northeast of Shangyi. Zhuge Liang divided his troops into two routes to receive Wei Yan: Wang Ping and Zhang Xiu, Li Sheng, and Huang Xun, five other generals who joined the army, led the generals Wang Ping and Zhang Xiu, Li Sheng, and Huang Xun out of Jieting (present-day Qin'an County, Gansu Province); Gao Wei led his troops to garrison Lieliucheng (present-day Baojifeng County, Shaanxi).
Zhuge Liang's appointment of Ma Mo as a vanguard caused some criticism in the military camp, and the history called it "violating the crowd to promote Ma Mo as a pioneer", which was to violate the opinions of the people and promote Ma Mo as a pioneer. The reason why the crowd opposed it was because there were still famous generals such as Wu Yi in the army, and Ma Mo was only a civilian official and had no actual experience in leading troops. What happened later also proves it.
As mentioned earlier, Ma Mo is talented and has a relatively high level of military theory, so he is good at talking about military affairs. In addition, the "art of attacking the heart" proposed during Zhuge Liang's southern expedition did play a role, and zhuge liang's personal relations were good, and they were all people who could be appointed.
However, Ma Mo has the talent of talking on paper, and the practical operation ability is lacking. When choosing a defensive position, the most important thing is the water source. If there is water and no food, you can still persist for a few days, and if there is food and no water, you cannot stick to it. One of the important reasons why the Defenders of Diaoyu City in the Southern Song Dynasty were able to successfully defend against the Mongol army for more than thirty years was that there was sufficient water in the city.
After Ma Mo led his army to the street pavilion, he chose to camp in Nanshan, far from the water source, and the general Wang Ping repeatedly advised him not to listen.
There was only one spring in the street pavilion, and even the most mentally handicapped general knew that the first task was to protect this water source, and even if Ma Mo did not want to be stationed at the bottom of the mountain, he should send a garrison to lead the others up the mountain to deploy and form a corner with the mountain to ensure that the water source was foolproof.
Emperor Ming of Wei believed that Zhuge Liang was greedy for the three counties, and knew that the time had come to defeat Zhuge Liang, so he divided his troops into two ways to block the attack, and the left general Zhang Gao made a special advance and attacked Jieting; Guo Huai attacked The city of Lieliu.
After Zhang Hao entered the street pavilion, he saw at a glance the fatal flaw in Ma Mo's defense and immediately sent troops to cut off Ma Mo's water intake channel. There was no water in ma Mo's army, and it was difficult to hold on, so the whole army scattered and fled.
Shamefully, as the supreme military commander, Ma Mo did not want to gather the remnants of the soldiers and reorganize his forces to fight again, but fled with the soldiers. Zhuge Liang tearfully chopped off the mystery of the horse and talked about it later.
Wang Ping led his 1,000 men and horses, beat the drums of war, maintained the queue, and retreated in an orderly manner. Zhang Hao was worried about an ambush and did not advance. Wang Ping gathered the other fleeing soldiers and retreated with his whole army.
The street kiosk is lost.
At the same time, Guo Huai also successfully defeated Gao Xiang.
Wei Yan lost his response and did not dare to hang alone, so he had to retreat to Jicheng and join Zhuge Liang. Cao Zhen led the main army to attack Jicheng. Zhang Gao led an army to quell the rebellion of the three counties and recover the three counties.
When Ma Mo's army was defeated, Zhuge Liang had already reached Rongqiu (present-day Li County, Gansu), ma Mo was defeated too quickly, Zhuge Liang was too late to save each other, so he had to move more than a thousand local people to Hanzhong, which was considered a trophy and somewhat comforting.
Zhuge Liang's first Northern Expedition was a complete failure. Interestingly, the most important thing discussed in this war is not the actual war process, but a tactical idea that did not occur, that is, Wei Yan's sneak attack on the Meridian Valley plan, what was Wei Yan's plan, and was it really feasible? We'll talk about it in the next issue.
(To be continued)
(All the pictures in the article are from the Internet, invaded and deleted)
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