Three Kingdoms will be the series of Huo Jun
Cooking wine on heroes, but also about the characters of the Three Kingdoms.
Speaking of famous generals in the history of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Wei and Eastern Wu have many characters that everyone is familiar with. As for Shu Han, it seems that there are no more famous generals except for the Five Tiger Generals, Wei Yan, and Jiang Wei. There are three main reasons for this phenomenon: First, the historical materials of the Shu Han Dynasty have rarely been preserved, and the deeds of many important figures have not been handed down; second, the Battle of Yiling shu Han was defeated too badly, and a large number of middle-level backbone cadres were killed, and the talent loss was serious; third, the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" highlighted the main and secondary, so that the five tiger generals, Zhuge Liang, and Jiang Wei, the protagonists, occupied a large space, and the appearance opportunities of other characters of the Shu Han Were naturally sacrificed.
In fact, liu bei was able to establish the Shu Han Dynasty without the full support of the core teams of Guan, Zhang, and Zhuge Ge, but it was obviously far from enough for a few people to rely on major state affairs. Many talents whose fame may not be very large, but whose role is very important, are indispensable figures in the establishment process of Shu Han, such as Huo Jun, the famous general of Shu Han who will tell you about today.
Huo Jun (178–217), courtesy name Zhongmiao, was a native of Zhijiang County, Nan Commandery (南郡; present-day Zhijiang, Hubei). Huo Jun had an older brother named Huo Du, who was very influential in the local area and took advantage of the chaos in the world to recruit hundreds of subordinates in his hometown and cast them under Liu Biao. After Huo Du's death, Liu Biao asked Huo Jun to inherit Huo Du to lead this army.
In the thirteenth year of Jian'an (208), Liu Biao died of illness, and Huo Jun led his troops to surrender to Liu Bei and served as a general of Zhonglang. It should be noted that shortly after Liu Biao's death, his son Liu Chun surrendered to Cao Cao in Jingzhou, and Liu Bei fled to Jiangxia in a hurry.
The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Huo Jun's biography, contains that "The cousin, Jun led the crowd to the first lord, and the first lord took Jun as the middle general." ”
This sentence is very clear, liu biao just died, Huo Jun defected to Liu Bei instead of following Liu Chun, which shows that he belongs to a faction that resolutely advocates resistance to Cao. When Jingzhou was in danger, Huo Jun resolutely chose to follow Liu Bei, and few people dared to make the same choice at that time. According to this point in time, Huo Jun could be counted as the elder of the Jingzhou faction in Liu Bei's group, earlier than Huang Zhong and Wei Yan's joining time.
With the Battle of Chibi as a watershed, Liu Bei's life can be divided into two completely different stages. The first half was turbulent and displaced, constantly sending people under the fence, and the second half of the spring breeze was triumphant, creating the Shu Han Dynasty. Compared with Liu Bei's sweep of the four counties of Jingnan after the Battle of Chibi, the icing on the cake for the rapid expansion of the talent team, Huo Jun's act of sending charcoal in the snow at a time of crisis is more significant. Liu Bei's confidant Shan Ren was very famous, and he admired Huo Jun very much and gave him great trust. How much trust did Liu Bei really have in Huo Jun? And look down.
In the sixteenth year of Jian'an (211), Liu Zhang, at the instigation of Zhang Song, welcomed Liu Bei into Shu, intending to use Liu Bei's help to defeat Zhang Lu and resist Cao Cao. Of course, Liu Bei, who was given a good opportunity by heaven, would not miss it, and immediately personally led his army into Shu. Although Jingzhou was the rear, it was also the front line bordering Cao Sun and The Two Families, so Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, and Zhuge Liang all stayed in Jingzhou, and Liu Bei led Pang Tong, Huang Zhong, Wei Yan and other native forces in Jingzhou, including Huo Jun.
In December of that year, Liu Bei and Liu Zhang's two armies met in Fucheng, and the two actually feasted for 100 days, and the atmosphere was very harmonious. Of course, we all know that this kind of harmony is just the wishful thinking of the honest man Liu Zhang, and Liu Bei's purpose is very clear, that is, to seize Yizhou.
A hundred days later, Liu Zhang replenished Liu Bei's troops, provided him with grain and grass, and asked Liu Bei to go north to attack Zhang Lu. Liu Bei led his army north to Yemeng County, where he set up a base camp and stationed himself. Liu Bei no longer went north, but established the name of enderre benevolence and righteousness in the local area and bought people's hearts. Liu Zhang repeatedly asked when to attack Zhang Lu, but Liu Bei only found a reason to shirk that the time had not yet come. In fact, Liu Bei, far from having no intention of going north, was making preparations to go south to Chengdu, but the people's hearts were not convinced, and they did not dare to act rashly.
At the end of the seventeenth year of Jian'an (212), Zhang Song secretly communicated with Liu Bei's east window incident, and Liu Zhang beheaded Zhang Song and ordered liu bei to be forbidden to pass.
Since Liu Zhang already knew, Liu Bei had to go to war in advance. Liu Bei took advantage of the fact that the two sides had not yet completely torn their faces to meet with the Baishui Guanguan general Yang Huai, set up a Hongmen banquet to kill him, and then quickly led the army south with Huang Zhong and Zhuo Bing, and himself entered baishui Pass, collected the guards, and then led the army to meet with Huang Zhong and Zhuo Bing at Fucheng. Compared with the distance between Ye Meng and Chengdu, the distance between Ye Meng and Chengdu was shortened by more than half, so Liu Bei used this as a new base for attacking Liu Zhang.
At this time, Ye Meng was not only Liu Bei's rear in Yizhou, but also the front line facing Zhang Lu, and his strategic position was extremely important. Liu Bei entrusted Huo Jun with the heavy responsibility of guarding Ye Meng, which showed Liu Bei's trust in Huo Jun.
Liu Bei attacked Liu Zhang from the south, and the lone army went deep into the enemy territory and did not dare to be idle, and almost all the troops that could be taken with him were taken away, and there were very few troops left in Yemeng City. Regarding Liu Bei's troop strength, see the following paragraph.
"Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Fazheng Biography": Zheng Du said zhang: "The left general county army attacked me, the soldiers were not satisfied, the soldiers were not attached, the wild valley was the capital, and the army was not heavy." His plan is to drive brazil and Zi Tong people to the west of the Fushui, and its barns and wild valleys will be burned down, and the high fortresses and deep ditches will be waited for. Then, please fight, do not allow, for a long time there is nothing to gain, but in a hundred days, it will go on its own. If you walk and hit it, you will have a bird's ear. ”
This Zheng Du was loyal to Liu Zhang, and Liu Zhang believed that his proposal to build a solid wall and clear the wilderness was a poisonous plan to destroy the people, and not only did not adopt it, but instead removed Zheng Du from his official position. However, after Liu Zhang's defeat, Zheng Du remained loyal and refused to leave Liu Bei, and returned to his family for life.
From Zheng Du's standpoint, calling Liu Bei "a soldier dissatisfied with Wan" meant to belittle Liu Bei and encourage Liu Zhang, but in general, Liu Bei's lone army penetrated deep into Yizhou, and it was certain that liu Bei's troop strength was far less than Liu Zhang's. Therefore, Liu Bei could only concentrate his forces to the south and strive for a quick battle, leaving Huo Jun with a pitifully small number of troops, and to what extent, as will be mentioned below.
Zhang Lu learned that Liu Bei and Liu Zhanghuo were in harmony, and he was also eager to try to take chestnuts in the fire, but was pushed back by Huo Jun very strongly.
The "Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Huo Jun's Biography" says: Zhang Lu sent Yang Shuai to lure Jun, asking to defend the city together, and Jun said: "The head of the villain can be obtained, but the city cannot be obtained." "The veil receded.
The Yang Shuai in this passage was amended by the Zizhi Tongjian and changed to Yang Ang, believing that Yang Shuai was Yang Ang, a general under Zhang Lu, and belonged to Chen Shou's clerical error.
To be fair, Zhang Luqi is similar to Liu Zhang, a good hand at governing the localities, and his military ability is not strong. Occupying Hanzhong for nearly twenty years, he did not show a strong interest in expanding power, and in addition to the small fights with Liu Zhang, he seemed to focus on the dissemination of the Wudou Rice Sect. Therefore, Zhang Lu sent Yang Ang to Ye Meng Guan, which belongs to "there are dates without dates to hit three poles", just to test the water.
After all, this was the analysis of later generations, and the pressure on Huo Jun under the dangerous situation at that time was still very huge. Yang Ang's "seeking to defend the city together" contains two meanings: first, to surrender Huo Jun; second, if he does not surrender, he will attack the city.
In the face of far more troops than his own troops outside the city, Huo Jun shouted out in a categorical manner: "The head of the villain can be obtained, but the city cannot be obtained." Resisting the pressure, Yang Ang retreated in frustration.
The real reason for Yang Ang's retirement was actually another reason.
In the eighteenth year of Jian'an (213), Liu Bei gradually approached Chengdu, attacked Mianzhu, and forced Luocheng, and the war tended to be white-hot. At the same time, Liangzhou was also in chaos: at the beginning of the year, Ma Chao once again made a comeback to sweep around, besieging Liangzhou's capital Jicheng and sending an invitation to Zhang Lu for reinforcements. Under the good situation, Zhang Lu sent Yang Ang to lead 10,000 troops to support Ma Chao. Ma Chao even repelled Xiahou Yuan, who had rushed from Chang'an to support, and the limelight was in full swing.
Unexpectedly, in September of that year, Ma Chao was defeated by Yang Fu, Jiang Xu and others in Liangzhou and fled to Hanzhong. Therefore, the author believes that it is not realistic for Yang Ang to retire from the army based on Huo Jun's righteous words alone, but Zhang Lu believes that it is more profitable to help Ma Chao participate in the chaos in Liangzhou, so he turned the gun.
Huo Jun was thrilled this time, and his will had withstood the test. Next, we must see the real chapter on the battlefield.
Map of northern Yizhou
When Liu Bei and Liu Zhang fought fiercely on the front line of Mianzhu and Luocheng, another army of more than 10,000 people, led by Fu Ban and Xiang Cun, attacked Yemeng Pass along the Lang river. Liu Bei's attack on Luocheng took a year, and Huo Jun guarded Ye Meng for a year.
In the past year, Liu Bei encountered stubborn resistance in Luocheng, and in the case of Pang Tong's death and loss of troops, he had to urgently recruit Zhuge Liang, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and others into Shu. In this case, Liu Bei, who was five hundred miles away, had no time to take care of it at all, and Huo Jun could only stand alone. Yemeng City takes the city as the pass, the city and the pass are integrated, and it is built by relying on the mountainous terrain, guarding the road to Hanzhong, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack.
Huo Jun held the city pass with hundreds of people, and in the face of Liu Zhang's army siege, he was not afraid, and held out for a full year to ensure that the city was not lost. The time dragged on for too long, and Xiang Cun felt that although they could not attack it, the defenders had so few troops that it was impossible to come out to counterattack, so Liu Zhang's army gradually slackened off and relaxed its vigilance.
Huo Jun saw the opportunity, selected elites from a small number of soldiers to form a death squad, and suddenly went out of the city and directly attacked the opponent's main general. Liu Zhangjun never expected huo Jun to be so bold, and he was so able to fight after being besieged for a year, and he was suddenly in chaos. Huo Jun's soldiers could not fight for a long time, so he led his troops into the chinese army camp, and "took the first rank of general in the ten thousand army bushes" successfully killed the enemy's main general Xiang Cun and returned to the city in triumph. Liu Zhang's army collapsed and fled one after another, and the siege of Ye Meng was lifted.
The "Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and The Biography of Huo Jun" says: Hou Zhang sent more than 10,000 handsome people such as Fu Ban and Xiang Cun from Lang Shui to attack and besiege Jun, and for a year, they could not go down. There were only a few hundred soldiers in Juncheng, waiting for their slack, choosing elites to attack, and breaking them, that is, beheading them.
This battle is of great significance.
First of all, the preservation of Ye Mengguan saved Liu Bei from the enemy in the belly and back, prevented Liu Zhang's army from encircling from the north, and ensured that Liu Bei could concentrate on dealing with the defenders of Luocheng.
Secondly, as a necessary place to go north to Hanzhong, if Ye Meng is lost, the hinterland of Yizhou will be threatened by northern forces, and the difficulty of advancing into Hanzhong will increase sharply.
Finally, this is also Huo Jun's fame battle. Huo Jun held out for a year without foreign aid, with hundreds of people against tens of thousands of people, perhaps with one husband and one pass, the dangerous terrain of the ten thousand people could be done, which was enough to praise and not be surprising, but after a year of being trapped, he could also complete the counter-killing, which was rare in ancient times. In terms of troop strength, the Battle of Hefei, which can be described as ten times smaller, has similarities with Zhang Liao's 800 foot soldiers raiding 100,000 Sun Quan's army, except that Zhang Liao is taking advantage of Sun Quan's unstable foothold, and Huo Jun is waiting for the enemy army to slacken off.
The author believes that most of Huo Jun's hundreds of defenders are the parts of his brother Huo Du's period, and only these fellow villagers and ethnic groups can have such cohesion and combat effectiveness. Although the historical records are not clearly recorded, Huo Jun must be kind to the soldiers in his daily life, so that these people can maintain their combat effectiveness and unity in the face of adversity. From this point of view, Huo Jun did have the style of a famous general.
In the nineteenth year of Jian'an (214), Liu Bei finally took Luocheng and marched into Chengdu. Soon Liu Zhang's Kaesong surrendered, and Liu Bei entered Yizhou. Because of Huo Jun's great merits, Liu Bei specially set up Zitong Commandery from Guanghan County, with Huo Jun as the General of Zitong Taishou and Pei.
We know that Yizhou is also called Bashu, and the whole of Yizhou can be roughly divided into the eastern half of The Bashi and the western half of the Shudi, if Zhang Fei's town guarded the Bashi County Langzhong is the northern gate of the Badi, Zitong is the northern gate of the Shudi. A series of famous passes, including Baishui Pass, Sword Pavilion, and Yemeng Pass, were all under the jurisdiction of Zitong County, which shows liu Bei's emphasis on Huo Jun.
Why did Huo Jun make great contributions and guard important places, but he did not make a name for himself in the future generations?
Originally, Huo Jun had only been in office for three years, and died in the twenty-second year of Jian'an (217), at the age of forty. At this time, there was still a year before Liu Bei launched the Battle of Hanzhong and ascended the throne as the King of Hanzhong, and Huo Jun could not wait to play his talents on a larger stage, so there are not many historical records of him.
Huo Jun was buried in Chengdu, and Liu Bei was very sad and said to Zhuge Liang, "Jun is a good soldier, plus meritorious service to the country, and wants to do it." The word 酹 indicates the action of spilling wine in front of the grave of the deceased, indicating drinking with the deceased. Liu Bei not only personally led his courtiers to pay homage to Huo Jun, but also stayed overnight in front of Huo Jun's tomb, and people at that time believed that Huo Jun had received a very high honor.
Huo Jun's death was undoubtedly a major loss for Liu Bei's camp, and it was regrettable that he could not participate in the later Battle of Hanzhong and did not wait for Liu Bei to become king and die early. Resolutely joining Liu Bei at the time of the crisis in Jingzhou proved his loyalty to Liu Bei, and his lone army at Yemeng Pass proved his extraordinary military ability. Although he died before the establishment of the Shu Han Dynasty, he was still worthy of the title of a famous general of the Shu Han Dynasty, and his son Huo Yi later commanded Nanzhong and was also a major subject of the Shu Han Dynasty, and both father and son were famous generals. Regarding Huo Yi, the author will also introduce it separately in the future.