The Battle of Hanzhong was a war between Liu Bei and Cao Cao over Hanzhong during the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty.
1. Combat time. From the beginning of jian'an in the 22nd year (217) to the end of May of the 24th year of Jian'an (219), the war lasted for nearly two years.
2. The belligerents. Cao Cao and Liu Bei were two camps.
3. Invest troops. Cao Cao's army – put in two phases
The first stage: before Cao Cao arrived in Hanzhong (winter 217 to January 219).
The generals involved in the battle were: Xiahou Yuan, Zhang Gao, Xu Huang, Cao Hong, Cao Zhen, Zhao Zhi, Guo Huai, and unknown troops, estimated at 25,000-30,000 people.
The second stage: Cao Cao arrived in Hanzhong (February 219) and ended the campaign.
Cao Cao and the Central Mobile Corps, the number unknown, estimated at 20,000-30,000 people. The total strength of the troops involved in the war is about 50,000-60,000.
At that time, Cao Cao's five most famous generals, Zhang Liao and Le Jin, were in Hefei on the eastern front, Yu was banned in Jingzhou on the southern front, and Zhang Gao and Xu Huang were in Hanzhong; Among Cao Cao's relatives and generals, there was Xiahou Huan on the eastern front, Cao Ren on the southern front, and Xiahou Yuan, Cao Hong, and Cao Zhen in Han, indicating that Cao Cao still invested a considerable number of main elite troops in Hanzhong.
Liu Beijun - put in two phases
The first stage: Before Liu Bei increased his troops from Chengdu.
The generals who participated in the battle were: Liu Bei, Fazheng, Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, Huang Zhong, Wei Yan, Zhao Yun, Chen Shi, Gao Xiang, Wu Lan, Lei Tong, Ren Kui, and Liu Feng. The strength of the army is unknown, estimated at 40,000-50,000 people, that is, all of Liu Bei's main forces from Jingzhou and Liu Zhang's army partially surrendered.
The second stage: After Liu Bei increased his troops from Chengdu.
The increase in strength is unknown, but it is estimated that the newly integrated troops of Liu Zhang's surrender army remaining in Chengdu are 20,000-30,000 people. The total strength of the troops involved in the war is about 60,000-80,000.
4. War effects. In this battle, Liu Bei occupied Hanzhong, expanded his territory, and then became king. After this and the other, Cao Cao was powerless to move to Hanzhong any longer.
The Battle of Hanzhong lasted about two years, including the Battle of Dingjun Mountain, the pinnacle of the veteran general Huang Zhong; the Battle of Hanshui, which was the pinnacle of Zhao Yun, in which Zhao Yun defeated Cao Cao head-on, laying the foundation for Liu Bei's seizure of the land of Hanzhong. Today, let's take a look at the Battle of Hanshui, how Zhao Yun defeated Cao Cao's army with more than a dozen people.
Hanshui, that is, the Han River, known as the Han River in ancient times, is the longest tributary of the Yangtze River, 1532 kilometers long, with a basin area of 174,300 square kilometers, originating from the Panzuka Mountain in Ningqiang County, Shaanxi Province, China, and the main stream flows from west to east through Shaanxi into Hubei Province in Hankou to inject into the Yangtze River, which is the large river with the best water quality standards in central China, and some people say that it is the only large river in China that has not been polluted.
In the 20th year of Jian'an (215 AD), Cao Cao, who was sixty-one years old at the time, personally commanded an army of 100,000 to conquer Zhang Lu in Hanzhong. Cao Cao led a large army to the west to march west to Zhang Lu, who was in Hanzhong, Zhang Lu and his brother Zhang Wei refused to defend Yangping Pass, and barely resisted before being broken by Cao Cao, Zhang Lu fled into Bashi County, while The Seven Princes of Ba County, Pu Hu, the Prince of Yi, du Yi, and The Marquis of Ba Yi, surrendered to Cao Cao, and Park Hu was made the Marquis of Cao Cao and entrusted with the title of Taishou of Badong, and Du Hu was made the Marquis of Liehou and entrusted with the Title of Taishou of Brazil, which can be described as a full harvest.
In November of the same year, Zhang Lu had no choice but to lead the Rest of the people to surrender to Cao Cao, Hanzhong was geographically important, it was the gateway to Western Shu, and now Cao Cao could say that one foot had stepped into the gate of Western Shu, and at this time Cao Cao and Liu Bei had already faced each other.
"I'd rather be a slave to Cao Gong than a guest for Liu Bei"
Why would Zhang Lu rather surrender to Cao Cao than join forces with Liu Bei and Liu Bei to resist Cao cao and have another "Battle of Chibi"? Maybe with Liu Kangcao, the three points in the world will be another change.
Zhang Lu is not a small person.
It is said to be the tenth grandson of Zhang Liang, the Marquis of the Western Han Dynasty, and the grandson of Zhang Ling, the ancestor of Tianshi Taoism. Zhang Lu was the third generation of The Heavenly Master (called the Zhishi) of wudou midao, who successively attacked and killed Hanzhong Taishou Sugu and Sima Zhang Xiuhou of The beibu in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, and established a political and religious regime here, consolidating his rule with Wudou Midao and calling himself "Shi Jun", which lasted for 30 years, and the Hanzhong region was also a rare paradise on earth during the Three Kingdoms period.
Since ancient times, Hanzhong has been a place where soldiers must fight.
The Hanshui river in the Hanzhong region, as well as the Qinling Mountains and Daba Mountain, also provide the basic geographical background for Hanzhong.
From the perspective of geographical ecology, the majestic Qinling Mountains block the cold current in the north, making the climate in Hanzhong region more mild and humid than the same latitude, which is very suitable for crop growth; mountains, rivers, plains and other geographical sectors exist at the same time, which also greatly increases the variety and resources of crops, so the Hanzhong region has been known as "national treasure Tianfu, the hometown of corn" since ancient times, and the products are very rich. From the perspective of strategic position, the land of Hanzhong has a very special geographical location in controlling Bashu, leading Jingqiu, and connecting Guanzhong, and Gu Zuyu believes that Hanzhong has important strategic significance in military geography, "The safety of the rivers and Shaanxi in Hanzhong must be contested by those who establish a country in the north and south." Hanzhong not only communicated between Jingchu and Guanzhong, but also entered Bashu from Guanzhong and Longxi. Historically, the land of Bashu was not only "fertile and thousands of miles", but also due to inconvenient transportation, it was mostly a place divided by the forces of the princes, and it was an ideal area for the male lords who competed for world domination to cultivate obscurity.
If the lord of the Central Plains wants to advance into Bashu to unify the world, he often needs to first pass through Hanzhong; similarly, if the Bashu forces want to go north to chase the Central Plains, they also need to borrow the way of Hanzhong.
After Zhang Lu surrendered to Cao Cao, Guanbai was the general of Zhennan, the Marquis of Langzhong, and the Emperor of Yiyi. In the twenty-first year of Jian'an (216), Zhang Lu died, and his posthumous name was Yuan. In the first year of the reign of Emperor Wuzong of Yuan (1308), he was posthumously awarded the title of "True Emperor of Guangde of the Zhengyi Lineage".
"Man is not satisfied with his suffering, he is peaceful, he looks back at Shu, and every soldier is white."
According to the general view, there was a rebellion behind Cao Cao. But this reason is not very strong. One is that Baidu was searched and the information was checked, and there was not enough evidence to prove this; the other was that in the event of a rebellion, powerful generals, strategists, etc. could be sent to suppress it, and it was not necessary for Cao Cao to return personally, and Cao Cao also sent Zhang Gao to attack Brazil (west of the Eight Juns, that is, near present-day Langzhong). This is enough to show that Cao Cao was completely aware of the situation, but he had to go.
In this regard, Fa Zheng once said that he expected that there were "internal worries", that is, serious problems had arisen within Cao Cao, forcing him to solve them immediately.
Maybe from another angle, you'll find out. Initially Cao Cao defeated Zhang Lu and Zhang Wei to capture Hanzhong twenty years after Jian'an, and then Cao Cao led an army back. Liu Bei launched an attack on Hanzhong in the year 22 of Jian'an, and it was in the year that Cao Pi defeated Cao Cao and established himself as heir to the Wei throne. After the announcement of cao pi, the fierce competition between the brothers subsided, and the following year, that is, in the twenty-third year of Jian'an, in September, Cao Cao led his army west to Chang'an, preparing to rescue Hanzhong.
The importance of the heir to a princely regime is self-evident, and many of the courtiers have been involved. Jia Xu Ding Yi, Ding Xi, Wu Qian, and Yang Xiu all participated in it. Therefore, it is also analyzed that the reason why Cao Cao killed Yang Xiu was not because Yang Xiu loved to play clever and violated the prohibition, but because Yang Xiu participated in the seizure of the concubine.
Perhaps the almost white-hot dispute between several princes of the Cao family for concubines has reached the point where cao cao himself has to deal with it, which is the real reason why Cao Cao has not wanted Shu.
"Zilong is full of guts."
In the twenty-second year of Jian'an (217 AD), after Liu Bei's army basically stabilized the situation in Yizhou, at the suggestion of Fazheng, Liu Bei poured out the strength of the state and captured Hanzhong.
At the beginning of the Battle of Hanzhong, Liu Bei sent Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, Wu Lan, Lei Tong, and others to argue from depression, but they were defeated by Cao Hong, Xu Huang, and others, and Wu Lan and Lei Tong were killed.
In the twenty-third year of Jian'an (218 AD), Liu Bei entered Yangping Pass and opposed Xiahou Yuan. The following year, at the suggestion of Fazheng, Liu Bei crossed the river in the south, formed a camp at Dingjun Mountain, and was condescending, Xiahou Yuan was attacked, and Liu Bei's general Huang Zhong was beheaded.
Xiahou Yuan was killed, with Zhang Gao as acting commander, stabilizing the current chaotic situation of Cao Wei's army.
In March of the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an (219 AD), Cao Cao personally led a large army to compete with Liu Bei in Hanzhong. Liu Bei said: "Although Cao Cao came, there is nothing he can do, I will have Hanchuan." So the wall did not come out. In order to be able to hold on with Liu Bei's army, Cao Cao transported tens of millions of bags of military grain to the north mountain, Huang Zhong learned of this and consulted Zhao Yun, Zhao Yun saw that Huang Zhong had just beheaded Xiahou Yuan's morale, so he suggested to Zhao Yun that this rice was desirable. The Battle of Hanshui began.
Chen Shou recorded in the "Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and Zhao Yun": If loyalty expires and does not return, Yun will ride dozens of horses out of the siege to meet Zhong. When Cao Gong raised his troops, Yun was attacked by the Gong Forwards, fang zhan, its masses to the point, the force, so the front of the attack, and the fight and the fight. The public army was defeated, it was compounded, the cloud trapped the enemy, and it was still fun. Zhang Zhu was wounded, and Yun Fu chi rode back to the camp to meet it. The public army chased after the siege".
Huang Zhong led his troops to rob the grain, but after the agreed time, he still did not return to the camp. In this regard, Zhao Yun was worried that something had happened to Huang Zhong, and his own large battalion would have to stay in the garrison, so Zhao Yun left Zhang Yi to lead the rest of the soldiers to guard the camp, and he only led dozens of cavalry out to find huang Zhong.
As a result, Zhao Yun happened to encounter a large army sent by Cao Cao, and was attacked by the vanguard of Cao Cao's army, and just after fighting with the enemy, Cao Cao's army had come to the front, and the momentum was compelling. Zhao Yun attacked the Cao army array again and again, and fought and retreated, and even with dozens of cavalry, he scattered the large army of Cao Cao's army and broke through. However, the well-trained Cao army quickly integrated the scattered troops and pursued Zhao Yun. At this time, Zhao Yun's general Zhang Zhu was wounded and surrounded by Cao Jun, and Zhao Yun, who had already broken out, once again galloped to attack Cao Jun, rushed into the encirclement circle of Cao Jun, rescued Zhang Zhu, broke through again, and brought him back to the camp. Although Zhao Yun successfully broke through the siege, the Cao army pursued it tightly and chased it all the way to the camp of Zhao Yun's army.
With only a dozen people, they dared to repeatedly assault among the Cao army, killing the enemy and rescuing them, which showed that Zhao Yun was really bold.
When Zhao Yun retreated to the camp, Zhang Yi was defending the camp, and when he saw Cao Cao's army killed, he had to close the door and refuse to defend. Zhao Yun had fewer troops at this time, and he thought that sticking to the camp was not the best way, so after entering the camp, he ordered the camp gate to be opened, and then let his army stop.
Zhao Yunzhiyong showed it at this moment, normal people will naturally close the door like Zhang Yi, but Zhao Yun did the opposite, opened the camp door and put an end to the flag, which was precisely the characteristics of Cao Cao's suspicious nature, in order to confuse Cao Cao's army.
Cao Cao really made a plan, when Cao Cao's army came here, it actually saw this look, there must be an ambush, so it retreated backwards. When Cao Cao's army retreated, at this time Zhao Yun ordered the beating of war drums, the drums were tremendous, and the soldiers fired Cao Cao's rear army with crossbows, and the frightened Cao army threw away their armor and trampled on each other, falling into the Han Water and drowning countless people.
Zhao Yun, who had limited troops, was surprised and severely damaged Cao Cao's army. After the Battle of Hanshui, Liu Bei couldn't help but sigh: Zilong was full of guts. The generals in the army even praised Zhao Yun as "General Huwei".
In the Battle of Hanshui, Huang Zhong not only led his army to destroy the grain and grass of Cao Cao's army, but Zhao Yun also gave Cao Cao's army a blow in the head, severely damaging the morale of Cao Cao's army. Therefore, after less than two months of holding Liu Bei, Cao Jun had no choice but to withdraw from Hanzhong. From this point of view, the victory at the Battle of Hanshui accelerated the process of Liu Bei's seizure of the land of Hanzhong.