The Three Kingdoms (220-280) is a period of Chinese history that followed the Han Dynasty and preceded the Jin Dynasty. During this period, the three main forces of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu appeared successively. In 220, the Han Dynasty minister Cao Pi forced Emperor Chan of Han to give up the throne and set the capital at Luoyang, with the state name "Wei", known in history as Cao Wei, marking the official end of the Han Dynasty era. In 221, Liu Bei was proclaimed emperor, with the capital at Chengdu, and the history was called Shu Han. In 229, Sun Quan was proclaimed emperor, the capital was Jianye, the state name was "Wu", and the history was called Eastern Wu.
In the following decades, Zhuge Liang and Jiang Wei of the Shu Han Dynasty led the Northern Expedition against Cao Wei many times, but they never changed the pattern of the three-legged standing. The real power of cao wei in the later period was gradually controlled by Sima Yi. In 263, Sima Zhao of Cao Wei launched the Battle of Wei to destroy Shu, and Shu Han perished. It is worth noting that before 263 AD, Cao Wei also had two major attacks on Shu Han. So, the question is, Cao Wei attacked Shu Han three times, why did the first two fail? Didn't succeed until the third time?
I. Cao Wei's first attack on Shu Han
According to Chen Shou's record in the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, in the fourth year, (Cao Zhen) went to Luoyang, moved to Sima Da, gave the sword to the temple, and entered the dynasty. It is true that "Shu Lian invaded the border, it is advisable to cut it down, and several roads are merged, but the big keye." "The emperor follows his plan. Really when the west is begged, the emperor himself came to send it. True in August, chang'an, from the meridian road south. Sima Xuanwang traced the Han River and met Nan Zheng. The armies entered either from the Xiegu Road or from Wuwei. It will rain for more than thirty days, or the boardwalk will be cut off, and the zhao zhen will return the army.
In the fourth year of Taihe (230), Cao Zhen entered the dynasty, succeeded Cao Xiu, moved to the position of Grand Sima and gave the sword to the temple, and entered the dynasty. Cao Zhen believed that Shu Han had repeatedly invaded the territory and suggested that several large armies attack Shu Han. The Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui accepted it, but Sikong Chen Qun opposed the plan to march from Xiegu Valley, and Cao Zhen again wrote to attack Hanzhong from the Meridian Road, Chen Qun once again stated the reasons for not being able to send troops, and believed that large-scale conquest was very expensive. Cao Rui sent Chen Qun's advice to Cao Zhen for reference, but Cao Zhen immediately set out from the meridian road according to this edict; another general Sima Yi marched through Hanshui, and Guo Huai, Fei Yao, and other troops either entered from Xiegu or from Wuwei. Later, due to the hardships in Hanzhong, during the rainy season, the boardwalk was washed away by the rain, and Cao Zhen spent a month before he walked halfway, and the ministers Hua Xin, Yang Fu, and Wang Su all went up to persuade Emperor Wei Ming to withdraw his troops, and by September, Cao Zhen had to be ordered to retreat.
In 230 AD, Cao Zhen's first attack on Shu Han was unsuccessful, mainly due to continuous heavy rains, which led to rough roads. On this basis, Cao Zhen's army stagnated in the road to attack Hanzhong, which not only increased the pressure of logistical supplies, but also caused the morale of Cao Wei's generals to continue to be depressed. Therefore, in the author's opinion, even if Cao Zhen did not choose to withdraw his army, how could such a tired division meet the Shu Han army that was waiting for work?
At the same time, in 230 AD, after learning of Cao Zhen's army attacking Shu Han, Zhuge Liang not only personally sat in Hanzhong, but also sent Wei Yan and Wu Yixi into Qiangzhong, and the Wei generals Fei Yao (瑶) and Yongzhou Shi Guohuai (雍州) were in Yangxi (南安郡, in present-day southwestern Wushan, Gansu). Therefore, it is very obvious that Zhuge Liang's strategy of attacking instead of defending also made Cao Zhen dare not stay on the road to Hanzhong for a long time. Therefore, for Cao Wei, the first attack on Shu Han was naturally the end of nowhere.
Second, Cao Wei attacked Shu Han for the second time
In the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Pei's note "Spring and Autumn of the Han Dynasty" records that Sima Xuanwang said of Xiahou Xuanyue: "The Spring and Autumn Period blamed The Great Virtue, And Emperor Xiwu re-entered Hanzhong, and was defeated several times, and the king knew it." Now that the road to Xingping is dangerous, Shu has already taken the lead; if the advance is not won, it will retreat to despair, and the army will be overthrown. Why leave it at your disposal! "Fearful, words are cool, leading the army to retreat." Fei Yi entered the army to intercept shuang in sanling, and shuang fought hard, but he only got through it. The cattle and horses that were sent out were lost and lost, and Qiang and Hu complained, while Guan Youxi was wasted.
In the fifth year of the reign (244), Deng Biao and Li Sheng, in order to make Cao Shuang's meritorious deeds, proposed to conquer Shu Han, so Cao Shuang came to Chang'an, did not listen to Sima Yi's advice, and appointed Xiahou Xuan as the general of Zhengxi, and the false festival capital yongzhou and Liangzhou soldiers and horses, and led 60,000 to 70,000 troops from Luogu into Shu.
However, because the transportation of Guanzhong and Qiang and Qi could not meet the needs of the march, Cao Shuang's army lacked materials and food, and the Shu Han general Fei Yi led his troops to defend the mountains one step ahead, and Cao Shuang was unable to advance. Both Yang Wei and Xiahou Xuan persuaded him to withdraw, but Deng Biao vigorously advocated continuing to march, and argued with Yang Wei in front of Cao Shuang, who was in a rage: "Deng Biao and Li Sheng will destroy the world's major events, and they should be beheaded." Cao Shuang was displeased, and had no choice but to withdraw his troops, but he had already been guarded by Fei Yishi's advanced troops to defend the rear road of the Wei army, and Cao Shuang was able to evacuate after a bitter battle, with many casualties, and the cattle and horses he brought to transport were almost exhausted, and Qiang, Hu and other places complained about him, and Guanzhong was also greatly wasted.
Therefore, it is very obvious that Cao Shuang's attack on Shu Han in 244 AD can be said to be a relatively hasty operation, and he was not prepared for the supply of grain and grass in the early stage. When it came time to really fight against the Shu Han army, due to the lack of grain and grass, it affected the morale of Cao Wei's generals. More crucially, in the face of Cao Wei's army, Wang Ping, Fei Yi and other Shu Han generals made full use of the terrain advantages of Hanzhong, seized the favorable terrain, blocked Cao Wei out of the city, and constantly sent soldiers and horses to harass the other side, thus achieving the final victory. In this regard, in the author's view, the gap in the ability of the generals on both sides is undoubtedly an important reason for the fiasco of Cao Wei's second attack on Shu Han. For Cao Shuang, although he was a general of Cao Wei, he was a vain man, that is, he was very different from his father Cao Zhen, which was also an important reason why he was eventually eliminated by Sima Yi.
3. Cao Wei attacked Shu Han for the third time
As we all know, Cao Wei attacked shu Han in 263 AD and achieved success. In this battle, the later lord Liu Chan faced Deng Ai's army and finally gave up resistance, which meant the official demise of Shu Han. Compared with the previous two attacks, Cao Wei invested more troops in this battle, reaching about 180,000. Correspondingly, at the time of the second attack on Shu Han, Cao Shuang only had 60,000 or 70,000 troops in his hands. Although the overall strength of Shu Han was relatively weak, it was undoubtedly delusional to want to destroy Shu Han through an army of 60,000 or 70,000.
However, in 263 AD, Sima Zhao's Cao Wei mobilized 180,000 troops, and after relatively adequate preparations, in 260 AD, after killing the emperor Cao Xian, Sima Zhao was already planning to eliminate shu Han. To this end, he chose Zhong Hui, Deng Ai and other names to lead the army in the future. Therefore, it is very obvious that when attacking Shu Han for the third time, Cao Wei surpassed Shu Han by a large margin in terms of the size of his troops and the ability of his generals. In particular, Deng Ai, by fending off Jiang Wei's attacks many times, was already familiar with the situation of Shu Han.
In addition, in September 263, the Wei army launched a full-scale offensive, and the Shu side, in accordance with Jiang Wei's deployment plan, ordered the Shu army in Hanzhong not to fight and retreated to the second city of Hanle to garrison. Zhong Hui sent Li Fu to attack Wang Han and Xun Kai of Lecheng to attack Jiang Bin in Seoul, while he himself led troops to attack Yang'an Pass and sent Hu Lie to attack Guancheng. Wei Xing Taishou Liu Qin set out from the Meridian Valley to meet the main force of the Wei army. Fu You, the defender of Guancheng and the governor of Guanzhong, wanted to hold out, but the general Jiang Shu, resentful of his demotion, suggested that Fu You go to war. While Fu You was in battle, Jiang Shu surrendered to the Wei army, and Fu You fought and died. At this time, in addition to the Golden City and hanle city that Liu Yin insisted on, most of the data points in Hanzhong had been captured.
In this regard, in the author's opinion, Jiang Wei changed the defensive strategy of Hanzhong (contrary to the defensive strategy of Wei Yan and Wang Pingren), coupled with the betrayal of Shu Han by Generals such as Jiang Shu, which prompted Zhong Hui to quickly break through Hanzhong and directly come to the hinterland of Shu Han. After Jiang Wei was attracted to Zhong Hui, Deng Ai also had the opportunity to smuggle yinping and directly attack Chengdu.