In 263 AD, Sima Zhao, in view of the fact that most of the domestic opposition forces had been swept away, the political situation had stabilized, and Liu Chan was faint, Jiang Wei had failed many Northern Expeditions, and the shu Han state was weakening, so he decided to launch a war against the Shu Han in order to increase his political capital.
Sima Zhao was still very involved in the battle against Shu, and he ordered Deng Ai to lead an army of more than 30,000 troops to attack Jiang Wei in Gansong and Tuzhong Tuntian. Yongzhou Assassin Shi Zhuge Xu led an army of more than 30,000 to attack Wujie and Qiaotou, cutting off Jiang Wei's retreat to Hanzhong. Zhong Hui led the main force of the Wei army of more than 100,000 people to take Hanzhong directly from Xiegu and Luogu, and Wei Xingtaishou Liu Qin also attacked Hanzhong from Shangyong along the water, with a total strength of more than 160,000 troops.
At the beginning of the Battle of Shu, jiang Wei, after learning that Zhong Hui had arrived in Chang'an, already had a premonition that the State of Wei might send troops to attack Shu Han, so he wrote to Liu Chan, hoping to strengthen the defenses at Yang'an Pass and Yinping Bridge. However, Liu Chan listened to the words of the ghost witch and did not react in time. Coupled with the rebellion of Jiang Shu, Zhong Hui was able to take Hanzhong lightly, and only the Shu army in Seoul, Shucheng, and Jinwei remained in the city.
However, although Deng Ai defeated Jiang Wei in Puzhong, Jiang Wei still used his plan to kill Zhuge Xu, retreated to the Sword Pavilion through the bridgehead, and joined forces with Liu Chan to reinforce the Right Rider Liao Hua, the Left Rider Zhang Yi, and the Auxiliary General Dong Yue to hold the Sword Pavilion together. Because the terrain of the Sword Pavilion was dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, although Zhong Hui had the advantage of troops, he failed to attack many times, and the two sides fell into a stalemate.
Deng Ai saw that the Sword Pavilion was difficult to conquer, so he decided to risk taking the Yinping Trail through Hande and Yangting to take Fucheng directly, in order to force Jiang Wei to return to help, and if Jiang Wei did not come, he would directly attack Chengdu. Immediately Deng Ai personally led his army to open a road and build a bridge on the Yinping Trail, and arrived at Jiangyou via more than 700 miles. The Jiangyou general Ma Mi did not expect that the Wei army would come from the Yinping Path, and did not make preparations, and could only surrender in the face of the sudden killing of the Wei army.
Liu Chan learned that the Wei army had crossed the Yinping Trail and approached Fucheng, and ordered Zhuge Liang's son Zhuge Zhan to lead an army to fucheng to the wei army. After Zhuge Zhan arrived at Fucheng, Huang Chong advised him to occupy a dangerous position to prevent the Wei army from breaking into the plain. However, Zhuge Zhan did not listen, but fought with the Wei army at Fucheng, and as a result, the army was defeated and retreated to Mianzhu. At Mianzhu Zhuge Zhan once again fought a decisive battle with the Wei army, and the soldiers were defeated and killed. Deng Ai was able to take Chengdu directly, and Liu Chan Kaesong surrendered.
Many people believe that Zhuge Zhan's improper measures led to the defeat of the Shu army. Zhuge Zhan's ability may indeed be inferior to Deng Ai's, but a careful analysis of the situation and the comparison of troops on both sides can be found that Zhuge Zhan's defeat is inevitable.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > in terms of time, Zhuge Zhan could not prevent the Wei army from entering the plains and lost its geographical advantages</h1>
Since the Jiangyou defender Ma Mi did not expect that the Wei army would take the Yinping path to neglect defenses, then Zhuge Zhan was ordered to meet the Wei army after Deng Ai captured Jiangyou, otherwise the Jiangyou defenders would not be unprepared. According to Deng Ai, Fucheng is more than three hundred miles away from Chengdu. From Liu Chan, he learned that the Wei army had captured Jiangyou through the Yinping Trail, and then asked Zhuge Zhan to mobilize troops to rush to Fucheng, during which time had passed.
From Jiangyou to the plains is only more than a hundred miles, Deng Ai is also a famous general, naturally knows that he can not be blocked by the Shu army in the mountains, certainly will not stay in Jiangyou for too long, but rush into the plains. According to the calculation of the distance, even considering that the Wei army was taking a mountain road, the marching speed was slower than that of the Shu army, and it had already entered or was about to enter the plain when the Shu army arrived at Fucheng. If Zhuge Zhan left Fucheng to lead the army to continue to advance, it was very likely that it would be too late to block the Wei army, but instead met the enemy army in the middle of the road, and a field battle broke out between the two sides.
According to the subsequent defeat of the Shu army at fucheng and Mianzhu, the result of the hasty encounter of the Wei army in the field battle of the Shu army in the march was even less optimistic. In this case, Zhuge Zhan's adoption of a prudent plan to defend Fucheng was not too much of a problem.
< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > and the Shu army lost to the Wei army, mainly because Zhuge Zhan was likely to have fewer troops than the Wei army</h1>
In the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, it is not recorded how many troops Deng Ai led to smuggle into Yinping, only that he selected elites from the army to set out, so his troop strength must be less than the more than 30,000 people he originally commanded. According to the "Book of Jin and the Biography of Duan Zhuo", Deng Ai's troops were about 20,000 or less
The Shu land is dangerous, the mountains are high and the valleys are deep, and Ai Bu is less than 20,000.
Duan Zhuo was in Deng Ai's army when he was in Deng Aifa Shu, and at that time he served as a sima in the army, personally experienced the Battle of Huashu, and his statement can also correspond to the record of the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", so the credibility should be relatively high. However, this is not all the troops after Deng Ai left Jiangyou.
Unlike zhong hui's idea of mocking Deng Ai's smuggling of Yinping in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, in history, Zhong Hui was keenly aware of the significance of taking Chengdu from Yinping, so he sent general Tian Zhang and others to lead an army to detour from the west of Jiange to Jiangyou and join Deng Ai. Deng Ai ordered Tian Zhang, as the vanguard, to launch an attack on Fucheng together.
There is no record of how many Men and Horses the Wei Army had on Tian Zhang's road, but after Tian Zhang set out, he encountered the three colonels of the Shu Army, and a battle broke out between the two sides, and the Wei Army won.
He sent the general Tian Zhang and others from the west of the Sword Pavilion to the river. Before reaching the hundred miles, Zhang Xian broke the shu ambush three schools, and Ai made Zhang xiandeng. So the long drive forward.
According to the Han army, the establishment of a colonel was at least seven hundred, and as many as two thousand. The Shu army of the three schools had at least two thousand people. Since Tian Zhang could defeat the Three Colonels Shu army in one fell swoop on the dangerous mountain road, the strength of his troops would certainly not be too small, at least a few thousand. Therefore, the total strength of Deng Ai's attack on Fucheng should be more than 20,000.
How many Shu troops Zhuge Zhan brought to meet Deng Ai is not recorded in the history books. However, at this time, most of the main forces of the Shu army were concentrated in the Sword Pavilion to defend against the Wei army, in addition, the Wei army could also take the Micang Road to take Ba County from Hanzhong, and the Shu army would definitely have to divide the troops to defend, and then deduct the troops stationed in nanzhong and other places, so Zhuge Zhan could not mobilize too many troops. Considering that the main force of the Shu army stationed in the Sword Pavilion was only 40,000 or 50,000, Zhuge Zhan's strength was definitely far less than this number, at most comparable to Deng Ai's, and perhaps even inferior.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the gap in comprehensive strength between the Shu and Wei armies was even greater</h1>
Compared with the strength of the troops, the greater difference between Zhuge Zhan and Deng Ai was the combat effectiveness of the troops. At this time, the most elite of the Shu army was the troops commanded by Jiang Wei, all of which were tied up in the Sword Pavilion. The second is the border garrison stationed in South Central and Yong'an. The troops left behind in Chengdu and nearby were mainly prefecture and county soldiers, lacking battlefield experience and limited actual combat capabilities.
In contrast, Deng Ai's troops had been guarding the frontier and repeatedly engaged the Shu army commanded by Jiang Wei. His troops can be said to have been experienced in battle and have a lot of combat experience. However, what came from smuggling into Yinping was obtained by Deng Ai selecting elites from among the troops to which he belonged, and its combat effectiveness was enough to rival the elite of the Shu army and much stronger than Zhuge Zhan's troops.
Moreover, the Wei army was in a dead place, there was no way to retreat, and the will to fight was stronger than that of the Shu army. At the Battle of Mianzhu, Deng Ai ordered Deng Zhong and Shi Lu to attack the Shu army from both flanks, but was once repulsed by Zhuge Zhan. However, Deng Ai said that "the difference between survival and death is in one fell swoop", commanded the Wei army to attack desperately, and finally defeated the Shu army.
Therefore, Zhuge Zhan's unit was much worse than Deng Ai in terms of comprehensive strength comparison.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > concluding remarks</h1>
The strength of the troops was not as good as that of the Wei army, and the combat effectiveness was even farther away, and it was too late to seize the danger before the Wei army, so it can be said that Zhuge Zhan was already in a very unfavorable situation before the two armies fought. But even so, when Zhuge Zhan faced a famous general like Deng Ai in his first battle, he could still repel the Wei army at one point in the Battle of Mianzhu, and his performance was not bad, and his ability was not as bad as some people thought. At this time, even if It was replaced by Jiang Wei under the same conditions, it would be difficult to stop Wei Jun.